[center][img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/60169326-d55e-4adf-8f6d-dfd795abf6f2.png[/img][/center][hr] Max propped his head up lazily with one arm, the other hand resting idly on the table. He looked on with fleeting interest at the trio that he'd been roped into sitting with, eyes lidded and unattentive. He remained mostly silent throughout the exchange - he had nothing to say to these losers anyway, and definitely nothing pleasant. [Color=82ca9d]"Pleasure to meet you Max, I'm Salem."[/color] They've already met, why was this idiot introducing himself as if he wasn't responsible for that string of annoyances Max was put through yesterday? [color=82ca9d]"I think you're our partner for the Treaty Law class."[/color] This school just keeps getting better and better. [color=82ca9d]"Guys look, I got something called a [i]Hamburger.[/i]"[/color] What kind of shut-in was this guy that he didn't know what a fucking hamburger was? And - this one was the real million dollar question - [i]why the hell did he think it was appropriate to sit back down right next to Max?![/i] [color=deepskyblue]"It's only the first day, but there's already a hot topic going around. Apparently some girl got sent to the mines for having...[i]relations[/i] with a Noila mage. I didn't even know there was a Noila mage attending! Or that you could get sent to the mines for [i]that[/i]...think they got caught and that's how everyone found out?"[/color] That actually caught his attention, although his face didn't reflect it. He stayed outwardly bored as can be, but internally he was delighted at the gossip of Noila dogs getting punished. His interest shifted from sick sadism to... a different kind of sick sadism when he learned the rumor wasn't about just any Noila dog, but a Noila [i]retriever[/i]. The rumor may have been false, but it was interesting to hear that Max's hypothesis of the Retriever being in bed with half the campus by the end of the week was an assumption that he wasn't alone in holding. Aaron must be even more lascivious than he thought. Gross. The fingers of his hand resting on the table slowly curled inward into a fist at Salem's mention of affinity mastery. [i]There[/i] was the issue in taking it slow. People expect things of him and they'll bug him about it. Or worse, they hear he's some defective failure of a mage and start [i]pitying[/i] him. He hated to admit it, but he was actually thankful when the Retriever shifted the conversation solely onto Paleface. Although he assumed that was a deliberate move to keep him from blowing up on someone than an innocent gesture of curiosity. He didn't know whether to be grateful or insulted. Max's fist clenched even tighter when Paleface started talking about her prior experience. Sure, she had a basic affinity, but [i]no[/i] magical training and she was already leaving him in the dust? This was bullshit. He barely even acknowledged the new arrival to the table. She looked vaguely familiar, but he was too preoccupied to remember where he'd met her. He supposed there was going to be a nice discussion about [i]her[/i] magic now too. Fire mage, basic affinity, probably miles ahead of him too. [color=8585AD]"I'm getting something to eat."[/color] He muttered as Cassandra sat down, not bothering to acknowledge her after Lilie introduced him. If what he was already seething about wasn't enough reason to want to leave, [i]'keeping up Paleface's trend'[/i] sounded like torture. He stuffed his hands in his pockets with a huff, pacing off toward the cafeteria line. That hamburger had actually looked good, he almost didn't notice under the stench of Flower Boy being utterly out of touch. Were mage families really that sheltered? The leeches had them so confined in their little cattle pens that they didn't even know what basic foods were? Max took his sweet time getting food, returning to the table with a cheeseburger and an already half-eaten order of fries and sitting down one seat over from his previous spot, pointedly putting another seat of distance between him and Salem. He didn't have a plan yet for if Flower Boy decided to scoot over [i]again[/i], but he was sure he could figure something out, probably involving violence. [hr][@Hero][@Obscene Symphony][@Trainerblue192][@Gisk]