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[sup][right]Collab between: [@Inertia] & [@mantou][/right][/sup]
[sup][right]Mentions: [@Heartfillia][@Aerandir][@datadogie][@Omni5876][/right][/sup]

[color=white][Ixius' POV][/color]

[indent][color=gray]More students poured into the main hall as time passed. Ixius sat perched onto his seat; a small, engraved, booklet on his left hand. His cheek rested on his right hand as his eyes flicked from word to word. Calven had been talking Ixius’ ears off, a skill he had now only begun to hone was tuning out the Blond chef. Though he did keep an open ear when the blond spoke about sewing mana directly into food. As unfortunate and unwanted as it was, Ixius now knew some odd facts about Calven’s, and by extension the Fallard’s, life.

A few interesting individuals passed his periphery- A long-eared, pink-haired student. She was attracting all kinds of attention-  [i][color=crimson]Kitsune? No, couldn’t be…[/color][/i] Ixius thought, as far as he knew Kitsunes were extinct- now nothing more than a story to scare 6-year olds to not venture into the forest or stay up late.

Two white-haired students accompanied her; one clearly an archer with what seems to be mechanical appendages. The other… seemed ‘normal, but Ixius felt that something was off, he couldn’t quite place what… after a short moment of deliberation, he chalked it off as nothing and forgot about it.

The three joined them, adjacent to where they sat. Another student would join their table- a dwarf. It was a relatively rare sight this far in-land but it seemed that Hoseforn was accepting of all races and had a myriad of them. Ixius didn’t pay them a single word when they seated themselves.[/color][/indent]

[color=white][Calven's POV][/color]

[indent][color=gray]After explaining to Ixius how he came up with the idea to imbue magic in his food, Calvin found 15 minutes had passed by like it was nothing! The other mage seemed to be very good at multi-tasking - with his eyes boring holes into a little pocketbook, while also nodding and "hm"-ing occasionally in response. [i][color=#85B0BE]What a great listener…[/color][/i] the blonde thought in admiration, ignoring the fact that Ixius' nods and "hm"s were oddly spaced out - almost as if in intervals. It was at that point that Cal noticed something about his companion. The chef intentionally spoke more about [b]how[/b] he imbued his mana into his cooking rather than the reason behind why. From then on, not only did he receive more nods and ''hm''s, but also a curious glance back or two. It seemed the process of magic intrigued the raven-haired magus to a degree. Calven smiled and allowed himself a moment to marinate in the sweet feeling of accomplishment.

During the span of his talk, the blond magus also took a moment from his enthusiastic word spew to peek to his left every now and then. The boy's legs swung under the table, and his body gently swayed side-to-side as he hummed to himself a simple tune. This was a habit he could not let go of after spending his childhood in solitude. Sometimes, a person just needed to fill in their own gaps as best as they possibly could, with whatever they had. Needless to say, he was really looking forward to this feast. The feeling of anticipation and optimism filled the boy up to the top of his head, and he couldn't hold back a smile. However, there was a little downside, he'd found, to being [i]too[/i] excited. Every single time he heard footsteps approaching his table, he would swivel his head to look at break-neck speed. The targets of his gaze would then either reverse into a U-turn or swerve to the opposite side of the hall where the two boys sat.

[b][color=#85B0BE]"..."[/color][/b]

[color=crimson][b]"Cease with the head-turning - I'm hurting my neck just watching you,"[/b][/color] Ixius remarked, disgruntled.

Calven let out a small hmph, [b][color=#85B0BE]"I'll have you know, making new friends was well worth the risk of whiplash-"[/color][/b] but paused, as he realized he had not made any friends thus far using this logic. The bummed-out mage resigned himself to attempt to sit quietly and patiently, and by the Gods' grace, more footsteps approached. After having learned his lesson, the blond turned his head, very gently, and let out an internal gasp the moment his eyes landed on a group of three students as they made their way towards where the two boys sat. The mage's eyes widened. Had Ixius noticed them too? The chef shot a quick glance at Ixius and confirmed that his attention was indeed, focused in the right direction.

Not only did three whole people come to sit at their table, but they, in Calven's fresh-out-of-the-womb perspective, looked [i]amazing[/i]. The first thing that caught his eyes was a pair of two pink rabbit ears. At this sight alone, Cal's eye-stretch capacity had been reached and had a hard time widening further. Those ears belonged to a girl with long locks of equally pink hair that seemed to flow seamlessly at her waist. [i][color=#85B0BE]Wow... neither my father nor my teacher ever told me about-[/color][/i] he paused momentarily - [i][color=#85B0BE]
That is definitely not a rabbit,[/color][/i] the blond quickly corrected himself as he took note of the giant tail trailing along behind her. In all his years of living, this was his very first time seeing a human fox... let alone one in the shade of baby pink!

The next thing he noticed was what she held in her hand - a boy's wrist. However, Cal's attention moved to the boy's other wrist after a glint of light seemed to reflect off it. He realized then that the hand attached to said wrist looked much like... bronze. Calven internally thanked his teacher for briefing him on the collection of various metals and ores present within the world not too many seasons ago. With not a moment more to spare, his eyes traveled up the person's metal arm until he was able to take in the boy's whole appearance. Ivory-colored hair, a strong, nimble bow with a quiver and leather bracers to match, a stern yet softened expression, and scarring mapped across his face that only added to Cal's amazement. As for the boy's metal arm, he did not question it, but instead simply basked in its mysterious, subtle glory. [i][color=#85B0BE]He already looks like a well-seasoned adventurer. What a guy…[/color][/i] Cal felt inspired as he thought to himself, and secretly hoped to match up to his charisma in time.

Finally, his eyes landed on the girl who trailed close by the pair. This person had a full head of white, silvery hair; much like the boy before her, but in a shade that Calven just could not describe. Quite frankly, he would have said that this girl looked completely normal, if not for the air around her that shifted as she walked. The expression on her face was strong and confident, one that clearly highlighted the minimal amount of armor that came with the academy's uniform. [i][color=#85B0BE]Beautiful…[/color][/i] Cal admired silently from his seat.

All of these observations happened within the span of ten seconds. Cal immediately turned back to face Ixius as he noticed the fox-girl and male adventurer glance at him. Their whispers were unintelligible, but his ears grew red nonetheless. As subtly as he could manage, Cal's pupils stayed fixed to the corners of his eyes - eager to not miss a beat should the opportunity come for him to approach them. 

In the middle of his one-sided stare down, another figure came into view. A... dwarf! A dwarf - with hair that looked as though it had been kissed by the sun and then bathed in chocolate. Calven's child-like wonder peaked this very day.

[color=0054a6]"Greetings. Respectfully request to use this seat if it has not been taken yet”[/color]

The figure spoke with a firm yet gentle voice, and the heaviness of his footfalls that came before he spoke commanded power and respect. Before any of this, the boy was ecstatic about the fact that he was able to recognize a dwarf. Being able to use the information he had learned from his teacher, he was just thankful he listened all these years.

Calven heard the white-haired boy reply with a simple "of course". The blond steeled himself to be sat next to and nearly vibrated out of his chair with excitement. [i][color=#85B0BE]Good things come to those who wait![/color][/i] Cal thought happily. His legs continued to swing as the dwarf took a seat right next to him. During his home-tutoring lessons, his teacher would tell him stories of how dwarven clans took it upon themselves to wield steel and hammer to forge, fight, and protect. Cal's eyes glazed over as images of epic battle scenes, molten swords, and sparks sputtering from forges transitioned one after another in his head. The compilation dissipated when Cal realized that the person next to him was too... [i]quiet[/i].

The student chef realized shortly afterward that the dwarf was simply trying not to get in anyone's way; because he was doing exactly the opposite of everything Calven would have done in the presence of new people. So Cal acted accordingly! He promptly turned to face the dwarf, and leaned in closer towards the brunet, sliding a little across the table with his cheek propped up on one hand. Calven cleared his throat to get his target's attention before starting:

[b][color=#85B0BE]"Hello there, I couldn't help but notice you staring at the empty space in front of you. Here, face us instead,"[/color][/b] Cal shifted backward in his seat, allowing space for Ixius to be seen before he pointed to himself and continued: [b][color=#85B0BE]"My name is Calven Fallard - but you can call me Cal!"[/color][/b] the blond chirped happily before pointing to the magus next to him, [b][color=#85B0BE]"...and this is my lovely roommate Ixius Delthrane! We’re both from the Magus’ Librarium if you’ve heard of it."[/color][/b]

[b][color=crimson]"When did I give you permission to introduce me you presumptuous rat."[/color][/b] he heard Ixius’ voice sound out from behind him, clearly annoyed and disgruntled. What Calven didn’t know was that Ixius’ annoyance stemmed from him off-handedly mentioning the Librarium, as if their names took precedence over it.

[b][color=#85B0BE]"...as you can see, he's a bucket of fun."[/color][/b] Calven looked apologetically towards the dwarf and ended his introduction with a smile.
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