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Aaron had actually been pretty excited about the practical, but that anticipation had dimmed considerably by the time they finally disembarked. With Varis pushing him harder than normal lately and the added strain of watching him abuse Dawn every chance he got, exhaustion largely eclipsed his excitement; tonight had been one of the nights that the circles under his eyes were dark enough to need concealer, though he wasn’t sure whether to be proud or annoyed that he’d gotten pretty practiced at applying it. Additionally, an irritating headache was starting to form at the base of his neck, no doubt a remnant of Varis’ little ear-ringing tantrum back at the dorm. He didn’t look it, sitting next to Aaron on the bus all calm and dignified, but a displeased Varis could get [i]incredibly[/i] loud. At least [i]he[/i] wasn't the source of Varis’ outrage this time, although Aaron had a sneaking suspicion the consequences would still find their way back to him somehow. 

The cold air, at least, was a blessing, helping him clear his head a little as they stepped off the bus onto the staging grounds. Aaron pulled up the collar of his turtleneck against the wind; it wasn’t [i]too[/i] cold, but he knew it would feel a lot colder after six hours in the woods and had dressed accordingly, opting for a black double-breasted coat and matching leather gloves with a pair of insulated boots replacing his usual oxfords for the evening. He wasn’t fond of giving up his watch (he kept moving to check it out of habit, only to come up empty) but what really made him uneasy was the lack of a scabbard on his hip. The few days since Dawn was taken away had been weird enough [i]without[/i] being dropped into the middle of the forest unarmed, and Aaron was feeling more vulnerable than he’d like without it, no matter how safe and well-guarded the practical grounds logically were. 

He caught a glimpse of Lilie through the crowd of first-years getting off the buses—goodness those earmuffs were cute—but didn’t follow her to the supply tables just yet, opting to hang back out of the way until the crowd dispersed a little. He’d say he was being polite and letting other people have their turn first, which he supposed wasn’t altogether [i]false[/i], but mostly he just had neither the energy nor the patience to wade through a crowd of nervous and excited mages at the moment. 

He winced when the announcement sounded—oh good, a megaphone, that felt great on his pounding head—and cast a weary glance over to where the Princess stood with one of the Spell Theory professors, waiting for the vampires to assemble and receive their enchantments. Oh boy, he did not envy her the earful she was about to get from Varis. He had no doubt she wouldn’t budge, but Varis seemed to think he could lean on her to get out of this ordeal, and far be it from Aaron to try and stop him. Aaron just hoped he didn’t cause too much of a scene. 
[right][sub]Ogling [@Hero] and dreading [@Achronum]'s oncoming episode[/sub][/right]