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Ah, [i]there[/i] was the look of distaste he’d been expecting. Although, in all fairness, Ander’s feelings about Varis were understandable enough; Aaron wasn’t sure he’d have wanted to be in the same room as the Count either if he wasn’t the one serving him. He was a little skeptical of how Ander could think he was a ‘cool dude’ without ever having spoken a word to him, but he could hear his mother’s voice in the back of his head as he considered it, chastising him about refusing compliments. Still, the acidic thought popped into his mind that this Ander guy must not have been around the dining hall much near the start of the semester, or otherwise have been living under a rock all year not to hear whatever vitriolic garbage got the rest of campus looking at him funny. Maybe whatever people said about him wasn’t as ubiquitous as Aaron thought, but given how crowds parted anytime he needed to get somewhere, it could have fooled him. 

But he wouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth—not yet anyway. After the night he’d had, it was probably worth it just to keep an open mind, go along with it, and potentially clear his name a bit and have a pleasant evening with some new people. 

Potentially. He’d still keep an eye out for any sudden drops in temperature. 

It didn’t take long to get to the library, and Aaron would admit that when the door to study room 6 opened up, he was taken aback. The flowering clearing on a lake at sunset was nothing like the bright, sunny beach where he’d met with Hannah; in fact, it was like nothing he’d ever seen before. Growing up in the depths of Noila forest didn’t allow for much waterfront time, and while attending the Academy brought with it his first real-life glimpse of the ocean, this would still be the first time he’d seen a lake in the flesh. Part of him wondered if the water was really there, or if the room really did stretch out to the trees on the other side. If he had more time, he might be tempted to try and find out. 

A screech of laughter turned his attention from the far coast to the picnic blanket full of people nearby, and Ander wasted no time tugging him toward it. He rattled off introductions almost too fast for Aaron to follow, the light mage certain he’d forget most of those names, but one was brought into sharp focus when Hilda piped up from the blanket. 

[color=f0d705]“[i]Wh—[/i] I— [i]No!”[/i][/color] Aaron stammered out indignantly, visibly flustered. Was [i]that[/i] why Ander dragged him here? Just to verify gossip? That [i]ridiculous[/i] rumour had been floating around since the first night of classes—Aaron thought people had moved on from it by now!

His left ear was flushed when he tugged on it, and he was just about ready to turn around and walk out, mostly deaf to the rest of the conversation as his suspicions about this little ‘chance encounter’ were confirmed. Oh yeah, it was all laughs and banter for [i]them[/i], the group moving on with introductions with nary a pause for breath. No skin off their backs when a man’s reputation was torn to ribbons, they just wanted to see the Starag monkey dance. It was bad enough when Varis humiliated him, but at least [i]he[/i] had the authority to do so; Aaron wasn’t about to stand there and be prodded at for answers like a magic eight ball by a bunch of [i]mages[/i]. He had better things to do tonight than generate the next round of rumours, thank you very much. 

He very nearly walked out, too, before he clued back in to the conversation. Alex, at least, sounded like he had a bit more of a decent head on his shoulders. But as his embarrassment and anger started to subside, the rational side of Aaron’s own brain started to kick back in, and he took a long, steadying breath. Maybe he should just calm down a bit. No one on the picnic blanket was looking at him with anything more than innocent curiosity, and it wasn't like they were accusing him of anything; the ‘gossip queen’ of the group just wanted an answer from the source, and apparently she didn't even think the rumour was true to begin with. He supposed that was more consideration than most of the student body gave him. No one ever bothered asking [i]him[/i] anything, they just made their judgement based on whatever nonsense they heard and kept their distance. Maybe he should be grateful for that. 

[color=f0d705]“It was… a bit of a slog,”[/color] Aaron admitted, responding to Alex at long last and finally moving from where he'd been rooted to sit on the blanket. The sore spots on his arms reminded him of their presence as he unbuttoned his coat, deciding to give the group a chance. A small chance—he'd be out the door in a heartbeat if this turned into gossip twenty questions—but a chance nonetheless. 

Gingerly pulling his coat off, he looked around at the spread. Fruit and cheese were scattered on plates between people, everyone looking quite at ease as they lounged on the blanket. His family had the odd picnic back home when they had their nights off during Revel, but those were a bit more… refined, to say the least, and definitely didn't involve anyone rolling on the grass—not since Aaron himself was a child, anyway. In fact, the only person who looked like she came from even remotely the same background as Aaron was the girl in black and white. Lilith, if he recalled correctly. 

[color=f0d705]“It's nice to meet you all,”[/color] he belatedly greeted, offering a bit of a tight smile. Hopefully he hadn't made a terrible impression with his little crisis, but he figured it was best to just move on. [color=f0d705]“I'd introduce myself, but it looks like you all already know me.”[/color] 

He grinned again, a bit more convincingly this time, before looking over to the modestly dressed girl. [color=f0d705]“Lilith, right?”[/color] he asked, [color=f0d705]“I hope you don’t mind my saying, but it’s nice to meet another Sound mage. I’m a Light mage myself—though I guess you guys probably knew that, too—but my aunt is a Sound mage, and I don’t think I’ve ever met another one.”[/color] 
[right][sub]Skittish but trying with [@Achronum] and gang[/sub][/right]