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Still a little on edge from Max’s little gem, Aaron did his best to listen to the others, though now that Max had awakened that stupid analytical part of his brain, it was hard to turn off. Lilie’s story in particular was irritating it, the symbolism of the statues she mentioned a little too pertinent for his liking. There was no way it was an accident—not with all the other pieces of history woven into the practical—but if not, why target an Eve? Unless… well, Lilie did say she and Count Benjamin failed a few challenges, so perhaps they’d stumbled onto a puzzle that wasn’t meant for them? But still, the only student something like that should have had any effect on was Varis, and even then it seemed unlikely given his and Ryner’s particular dynamic. So what then?

Maybe Max was right. Maybe someone on the Mental magic side of things [i]did[/i] fuck up—or had motives of their own.

Aaron only came out of his pondering in time to hear something from Lilie about a [i]kiss[/i] between a vampire and mage, and was so shocked he almost interrupted Salem. He managed to keep his comments to himself, but for the millionth time he had to wonder what on [i]earth[/i] Ryner was thinking! Having a vampire and mage [i]kiss[/i] to complete a course objective—that should have gone against everything she stood for! And how utterly unnatural and strange—it’d be like forcing him to kiss one of the horses in a riding lesson, so wide was the gap between them. And what if some poor mage with a cruel master stumbled on that challenge? What sort of precedent was she trying to set? He had half a mind to march to her office and demand some reasoning, if only to reconcile it with every contradictory Council motion she’d put forward in living memory.

Perhaps fortunately, his inner reeling skimmed over most of what Salem said; maybe he should have paid more attention, but it had been a while since Varis inquired about him and he’d be lying if he said he cared. Besides, by Maddie’s brief summary it didn’t sound like he missed much; Salem saw some examples of plant magic, big whoop. It almost brought a smirk to his face to think of how gigantic of a learning opportunity had been right under Salem’s nose for two weeks at Noila Castle, only to go completely unnoticed. He almost wanted to tell him just to see how he’d react when he found out.

But when Max’s weird little grin caught his eye, Aaron pushed the thought away, inwardly priming for whatever fire he’d have to put out next. This prick was doing this on purpose, and Aaron couldn’t even rise above it; Max’s information was more valuable than he’d prefer, and even on the chance that it was fabricated, he still had to bite. Max knew it, too. Bastard.

He shot Max a piercing look as he listened, but listen he did; it seemed Eris and Varis each had the same idea, speaking to Ryner and having their mages poke around behind the scenes. Although, it surprised Aaron that Eris went to such greater lengths than Varis did; he’d have expected the shrewd and merciless heir of House Sinnenodel to go after any possible conspiracy like a dog on a bone, but it was cavalier playboy Eris who seemed the most concerned about it. What did it mean to him, then? Lovers or not—or whatever that relationship was now, he tried not to think too hard on it—Aaron sincerely doubted an illusion of a confused Varis could shake Eris so deeply. Clearly something happened in that trial he didn’t know about.

Hm, maybe Max’s little flex was more valuable than the metal mage bargained on; his story about Mental professors would be far less interesting to Varis than the implication that Eris was so deeply interested in the matter. Surprisingly satisfied, he shot Max another look, equal to his in smugness but a bit less overt.

[color=f0d705]“Mr. Samael must be pleased that you’ve been so proactive,”[/color] he commented smoothly, every bit the perfect gentleman who’d gotten what he wanted. [color=f0d705]“Even I wouldn’t be too keen on seeing the Mental faculty, and I’m supposed to be joining them. And there you are diving right into the hornet’s nest.”[/color] He offered Max a knowing smile. [color=f0d705]“If the practical was meant to mend some fences between the two of you, I’d say it must have done its job.”[/color]
[right][sub][@Hero] [@Scribe of Thoth][/sub][/right]