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Eris was abnormally silent on the way back, which was as much a bad sign as it was a welcome reprieve. It was better than him nervously rambling and saying something he shouldn't in front of Varis, in any case. Max was too invested in this for comfort; Eris' piddly issues shouldn't concern him, but there was always a very real possibility that anything that inconvenienced Eris would inconvenience him too. Not that Max had the ability to do anything about it. This job fucking sucked.

When they emerged from the forest, Max gave Ryner the barest of attentions as she addressed them, responding to her praise with a noncommittal hum. This was definitely a game to her, she looked far too happy at Varis' squirming. At least she dismissed them promptly instead of asking any stupid questions. He didn't need any [i]opinions[/i] floating into his head while some mind mage was probably still lurking around. 

He was pretty sure he didn't get even a sliver of enjoyment out of this test. Should've walked Eris into a tree when he had the chance. Now he just had stress and the knowledge some asshat was reading his thoughts. He tilted his head toward Aaron was they were walking to the tent, offering a snide grin. If Eris was gonna go do something filthy with Cinnamon, he needed to nip any chance of Aaron trying to use him as an excuse to flee the scene in the bud. Not that he thought the other mage particularly valued his company, but he assumed Aaron would consider an impromptu playdate with the rude kid preferable to listening to [i]vampire romance[/i] in the next room.

[color=8585ad]"So, are you always on piggyback duty or is that a new development?"[/color] It was almost a genuine question. Varis seemed ashamed of it, considering he bothered to walk the last bit, but he wasn't sure how creative the leech got when it came to degrading his pet in private.

[hr][@Hero][@Achronum][@Obscene Symphony]