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Aaron’s bewildered question was met with a flurry of responses, though the light mage himself remained quiet until everyone had said their piece. He shouldn’t have been surprised that Max was so nonchalant about dismantling someone else’s property—in all honesty Aaron didn’t expect to get through the evening without [i]something[/i] breaking—but the rest was… unexpected, to put it mildly. According to Maddie, they’d been cautious that the clock could pose a threat; Aaron might have been sympathetic, if not for the laughable implausibility that someone with the power to reach across continents would bother to attack with something as gimmicky as a [i]clock[/i] when he just as easily could have simply blinked the entire dorm out of existence. 

Lilie’s response was characteristically uncouth, but what caught Aaron’s attention was Salem’s dismal attempt at subtlety—the man might as well have raised a flashing neon sign reading “DON’T MAKE MY MISTAKES” for all the good it did him. Fortunately, few people possessed the elite foot-eating skills that Salem did, and seeing as Lilie wasn’t exactly spouting revolution to the Queen, he was pretty sure she’d be fine; no need to speak to her like she was some sort of invalid. 

He shot Salem an unamused look before he heaved a breath, pinching the bridge of his nose for a moment. [color=f0d705]“I assure you, everything is fine,”[/color] he began, stepping over to the coffee table for a better look at the carnage. It was a discouraging sight, a fair share of the pieces bent or broken, and he doubted anyone here knew how to accurately reassemble an alarm clock. Great; he was going to have to mail Malek a box full of pieces this time. He heaved another sigh, looking forlornly at the parts before straightening up once more to pull himself together. 

[color=f0d705]“I’m sorry that you were startled,”[/color] Aaron told the room, starting to regain his former propriety. [color=f0d705]“It’s nothing magic or dangerous, just a regular clock. The rift you saw was just harmless Summoning magic, and the hand belonged to one of my superiors; he’s expecting this clock back in the mail.”[/color] 

He cast another exasperated look at the clock debris, but shook his head, looking back up between Max and Salem. [color=f0d705]“It’s a bit of a long story—kind of irrelevant, really—but in short, there’s nothing to worry about. This is perfectly normal, and it has nothing to do with any of you. Malek probably didn’t even know you were here.”[/color] Actually, the sneaky bastard probably [i]did[/i] know and did it anyway, but Aaron wouldn’t dwell on that now. He offered the gathered mages a tight smile before stepping out for a moment, returning from the kitchen with a spare serving tray. 

[color=f0d705]“Once again, please pardon the interruption. I’ll just get this mess out of your way and we can continue like nothing happened,”[/color] he offered, finally slipping back into the evening’s persona. He knelt next to the coffee table with the tray, carefully sweeping the broken pieces onto it to be put away until he found something to mail them back to Malek in.
[right][sub]All the mages[/sub][/right]