Annabeth didn't really do much after Uicle dismissed her. The golem he gave her to use lead her to the dormatories, but she didn't have much of a clue which room she wanted. She was told that she may get a dormmate, but that was done at random. And she didn't really fancy the idea of having a stranger of unknown personality being her dormmate for the duration of her time at the college. So, she figured that she'd scout for a suitable partner at the feast. Many of the students were going to be attending, and if she was lucky she could find someone pleasant to room with. Or just make some friends, which was fine with her as well.
The feast was quiet a gathering. She was certain that the dinning hall itself was at least five times the size of the inn back at home, not even including how big their kitchen or pantry must have been. Their food selections was fit for royalty, and the drinks were simply divine. Annabeth was tempted to take some to her dorm, if she had one. She doubted that it would be this fine during most of the time at the college, but their efforts were not lost on Annabeth. As she ate a slice of some sort of roasted meat with a side of breaded onions boiled in oil, someone caught her eye. A tall, dark haired male. He seemed to be alone despite the others near him. He fit the broody stoic types she's see back at home, but most of them did it simply as an act. Seeking to make some conversation, Annabeth took a small drink of one of the college's alcoholic beverages and sought the man out.
Lord Haklo Thalen Desol, the only son of his father, Thalen Desol, was sitting at the gathering. His icy glare looked over each of those he could lay his eyes on and seemed to be categorizing them, filing them down for later reference. He wore a black jacket that reached with two gilded buttons. The jacket was made of soft yet comfortable cloth and underneath it he wore a velvet shirt that complimented the black of the jacket. He wore pants of similar material worn with a leather belt with brightly silver buckle. At the hip he wore a long dagger of blackened steel. At his left breast he wore a brooch of his house emblem, the black serpent getting impaled through the mouth by a golden sword. For the festivities, Haklo had his hair pulled into a ponytail with a band of silver. This richly regalia was his usual dress when it came to things like this. Although he would probably not choose to dress like this, he was raised as nobility and it was unbecoming of a Desol to show their face in other than their best.
To anyone that had less than desireable view of nobles might view his demenour as just oozing with noble arrogant pride. He ate politely and efficiently. Small pieces with knife and fork, napkin to dab away any sort of food remnants that got smeared across the corner of his mouth. He was eating salted yet very juicy poultry with vegetables and small cherry tomatos on the site along with some pork. He was drinking almost blood red wine with this food yet he didn't seem to show enjoyment, something along the lines of begruding duty to be there. Which it was.
He would've been more than happy to train his psychomancy powers in his family estate with his father but that wasn't an option so he had went without complaint. He had arrived at the collage with an enteroge of servants that assisted him to carry what belongings he would carry. Although he wouldn't mind carrying his belonging by himself or just have a single servant driving a wagon, the Desol family would not pass an oppertunity to show some of their power even if it just regarded the number of servants. Clothes was the majority of Haklo's luggage but also a few caskets of coin, all locked tightly with the finest of locks in Djarkal. The only way for someone to take even one coin would either need the key or smash the tough, polished iron bound wood. Another thing that followed Hako to the collage was a ceremonial armor of his great-great grandfather, Harken Desol as well as some weapons such as a bow of regular yet finely crafted wood and a steel sword that was still with the luggage. A sword would only get in the way of a gathering such as the feast.
Haklo looked up from his watch across the dining hall to lay his icy blue eyes on a black haired girl that, to him, seemed to be approaching him. He kept his eyes on her and got out of his seat to stand before her when she was to him. "May I assist you?" he asked of her. His voice, although not hostile or showing unpleasentness, it had a small tone that could only describe as cold underneath the surface if one was paying attention. It was also very clear but had a hint of a rasp that might become more emphisized in his later years.
"I was just wondering what a man like you is doing sitting alone at a feast. You're obviously not the type to fear conversation." Annabeth gently spun the drink in her hand around before taking another sip. "And surely someone as finely dressed as you aren't out of your element. So why such a lonesome aura from you?" Honestly Annabeth wasn't working with the most inteligent logic now that her mind has been addled a bit from the alcohol. But she could still think, just with less restraint. Remembering her manners, Annabeth bowed her head before looking back at the man. "That aside, my name is Annabeth Gulch. And yours?"
"Lord Haklo Desol pf Port Slaughter" Haklo said to the girl and answered her bow with one of his own as to be polite. "I tend to study where I am before I socialize. It seems that you have accelerated that process, Lady Gulch" He said, using a title for her as he reached for his wine glass and gave it a sip. "I assume you are here to train and study magic? What blood are you?" He asked a little bit bluntly.
Now, that was a question she was frankly unprepared for. Unbeknowest to her, Annabeth did not even know she was a mage. She was here looking for her brother. In fact, she needed to find Lucilia to discuss the fact. "Actually, Lord Desol, I'm not here as a student so much as I am... A guest. You see, I'm searching for someone actually. The college has allowed me to stay here, as the person I'm looking for once attended here." Suddenly Annabeth grew more solem. She did wonder where her brother would have gone. The way the letter was written made her think that her brother had died, but she was holding out on the hope that he wasn't. Which only begged to question, what happened? Annabeth quickly changed the subject as to not spoil the mood of the festival. "That said, I still intend to use my time here to the fullest. Magic is quite important in this world after all. And if you don't mind me asking, what is your magic?"
Haklo listened but occasionally looked around at other people that were a part of the feast, making stock of those he saw before returnint to the conversation. He took a deep breath at her question. "Much like my father, I possess Lues blood, psychomancy to be exact. Not a lot of things will be a secret to me after I leave this place with my time here complete." He said with a hint of vindictive glee that he didn't mean to show and tried to hide as soon as he could.
Annabeth smirked as he spoke about his blood. She knew that Psychomancy had something to do with mind reading, but she also read that there was a way for someone to resist their mind being read. Just to see if he spoke the truth, Annabeth decided to test his ability. "Is that so? So, Lord Desol, do you know what I'm thinking of right now?" Just to make it a bit easier for him, Annabeth consciencely took the time to think of something. "You seem to be the type who plans to do something naughty here. What's you're secret? I bet you could fit an entire steak in your mouth. Actually I think I ate a peice of horse a while ago, the meat was very tough, but at the same time tender. I should ask the chefs how they pulled that off. That reminds me, I need to see if I could save some of this for later. I wonder if they have ice boxes here..." Annabeth's thoughts soo began to trail off from her original thought into nonsensical randomness.
Haklo rolled his eyes at that and he activated his powers. He could somewhat make out her thoughts but with all the unguarded thoughts around him, it was kinda like trying to talk to someone in a loud bustling crowd. He did his best to single her thoughts out though it was hard and visibly so. He squeezed his eyes closed and a vein in his forehead bulged visibly. "Something about...naughty....my mouth....horse...tender...ice box" He said and then stopped when the thoughts got really unintelligable to him. It would've been easier if they were alone but with all those people around it was significantly hard to try and single a thought out.