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[b][u]Thaum - The Azure Sea:[/b][/u]

Before he could say anything that could forever diminish his reputation, Lute was greeted by Atlas and escorted to the table where everyone was seated in. A girl jumped on top of her chair caught his attention; he realized that she really was trying to get him to notice her, especially since she had a query about the subject matter he and Ms./Mr. Blobfish ‘talked’ about. “I think I offended him or her when I smudged the glass?” Lute answered quite unhelpfully since he didn’t know what else to say to Trixie; it was a one-sided conversation with the blobfish, after all.

[i]”Thank goodness Atlas is here to prevent you from making an even bigger fool of yourself,”[/i] Delilah chastised with not just a small amount of admiration for Lute’s friend. He rolled his eyes when she swooned and (was forcefully) plopped down on his seat, feeling a bit overwhelmed by all the new faces not to mention his failed entrance earlier. Well, to tell you the truth, he was more flabbergasted by all the reactions to his arrival, and Lute decided to address each person one by one just to avoid having them feel left out. His intention to interact with certain individuals skidded to a halt when a man placed a dish on the table, and he had to do a double take because he was pretty sure that the thing on the plate was Ms./Mr. Blobfish. Except he/she wasn’t a blob anymore.

The blobfish was cooked and it stared up at Lute with the most agonized expression on his/her face, as if saying, [i][b]“You could have saved meeee!”[/i][/b]

Lute gasped in horror and his eyes started tearing up. Oh gods. It was like those two beady eyes were staring into the very depths of his soul, condemning him to eternal damnation because he didn’t help the blobfish when he had the chance. With this depressing sight ingrained into his mind, the only answer he had for Trixie’s next question was a glum shake of his head, and he angled his face away so that he wouldn’t see the pitiful creature. In doing so he met Estelle’s hand, and Lute immediately flinched away in case she wanted to slap him. This made him recognize who owned the hand, and the other person nearby. “Ah, Estelle, Marcus-“ He winced when she almost knocked over glasses in the nearby vicinity as the red-haired woman leaned back against her chair, then listened to her greeting. The virtuoso laughed when he remembered the incident the three of them were in a year ago. “I’m fine, thank you. And wow, rank F? That’s great! Congratulations, you two! I’m still stuck at G-"

The young man rocked back in his chair when somebody flew at him, black feathers ruffling in the air with her movement, and before he knew it Aria was hugging him and he couldn’t see, much less realize that she had kindly twirled the blob’s face away from him. 

Dellie, being the Aria-centric creature that she is, amplified the illusionist’s voice so that Lute had no other sound to listen to except that. Sorry Don. 

Thing is, he didn’t need much help with paying attention to this girl. Lute, acting on instinct, hugged her back but flushed red upon realizing the situation, both inwardly pleased and struggling to keep his balance since he just might fall out of his chair due to her enthusiastic greeting. “I didn’t know you were coming! If I did I should’ve- Oh look at me! This is just great! Uggggh- No it’s really great to see you, Aria, it’s just that I’m not mentally prepared for this! I wanted to look [i][b]cool[/i][/b]!” Lute’s voice was muffled by the fluffy scarf, but Aria heard it.

When Lute finally got his mouth free of the many black feathers, the face he turned towards Don was still as red as a beet. Aria beat him to the punch and answered Don’s question though, but he had a few things to add. “Yeah, Delilah does that for fun-“, Before he could finish, the sound spirit (still hiding within the virtuoso’s mind) snorted and played a short rock and roll bit for Don. “Yep, see?” He grinned when the last note faded away, the flushed color on his skin slowly returning to normal.

“Oh yeah, coliseum! The coliseum’s great! I think. Robin says it’s so, right Atlas?” Lute attempted to rejoin the main conversation but ended up asking his friend for confirmation again. “I-in any case, please choose how to spend your time without feeling pressured about… it… That didn’t make any sense, did it?” His voice dropped at the few last words and he shut his mouth, blushing yet again at the blunder.

How many times did he blush today?