Welcome to Gaia! ::

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𝔏𝔢𝔳𝔶 𝔇𝔞𝔪𝔦𝔞𝔫𝔞
Princess of Fiore
Junior
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Tom's eyes brightened as he turned around and saw Markus at his shoulder. FINALLY, a familiar face. "Markus! Good to see you, man. Have a good break?"

He twisted around to see the other half of the "we." A lady friend? Oh man. Lady friend or lady friend? Lady friend or lady "friend?" So many questions, and not a one he was tactful enough to ask in front of other people.

"Friend, eh. She looks... sweet," he offered haphazardly, casting around for a change of subject and feeling exceptionally grateful Viola wasn't around. Oh GOD, how would he handle conversations with Viola? He shoved that thought out of his mind. That was a battle for another day. He was in too good a mood this morning to let her ruin it without even being in the room.

He took a sip of his juice, nearly choking when Kenton stabbed him in the gut with a robed elbow. "MMF—Ah!" He swallowed, wiping the juice off his mouth. "Geeze, how rude of me. Markus, this is my roommate, Lieutenant—"

"Lord," insisted the fairy flatly.

"—Kenton," Tom finished, defiant as ever. "Military man, super neat, here from the ocean or something. Ken, this is Prince—"

Kenton immediately leapt to his feet, bowing to Markus before standing up straight as a board.

"...Prince Markus," Tom finished lamely, rolling his eyes. "Ken, knock it off, you're embarrassing."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Sir Prince," Kenton said, remaining standing until Tom yanked him back down by the shirtsleeve.

"What the hell did I say, take it easy," Tom insisted, planting Kenton back in his seat. Kenton pulled at the cuffs of his robes, glaring at Tom. He was getting used to Tom's behavior, which was lucky: he had a feeling it wouldn't be changing anytime soon. Was it customary for royals and nobles to dine together here? He supposed there was no precedent, since this was the first year of co-attendance.

"Respect, but you are my superiors and I shall treat you as such with all the etiquette I may," Kenton said staunchly, standing back up. Tom let out a heavy, dramatized sigh. Kenton responded by giving his wings an irate flutter, letting them clatter together with an almost plasticky clicking sound. Tom scowled at him.

"Whatever." Kenton resisted the urge to smack his roommate, and instead made for the kitchens. Perhaps if not breakfast, he could help with brunch.

"Sorry if I might bug you with this, but who's that?" Tom asked Markus. He cast a pointed look over his shoulder at the girl navigating the table laden with food. "Like. Who is she?" he asked pointedly. Conversation was not his strongest suit.

[Exit Kenton to Kitchens]

☆═━Maeza Lee━═☆

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Maeza flew into the dining hall, grimacing a bit. Her wings were still healing and flying for that long made them sting. And they were tired, still regaining their endurance. It wasn't easy, growing new wings. She quickly spotted Tom and, despite everything, smiled and wave. She walked over and slid into the chair beside him, as though nothing had changed even though everything was different. "Hello again, Markus. Good to see you," she greeted the boy. She hadn't spoken to him much last year until after the attack. After her greeting, the Night Fairy glanced at Tom. "Sleep well?" she joked, a twinkle in her eye.

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Tom's face lit up as though nothing had changed. Mae!

Immediately after, it darkened, because everything had. Mae...

"Uh, Markus, you remember Mae," he said awkwardly, wishing that Kenton had stayed for even a minute longer to give him an excuse to use her name again. He grinned at her. "Probably just about as well as you did, I suspect. How's your morning? Got a nice room this year?"

He ran his fingers through his hair, trying to think of a way to explain this in the all too likely event that Viola walked in. "Um. Yeah, so banquet's tonight," he stated lamely, staring at the door and wishing for someone, anyone to walk in and save him from this most awkward, most uncomfortable, most painful of conversations.

It was a good thing Mae did not cast a shadow, else he'd have more than his fiancée to answer to.

Suddenly, a blast of color entered the room, shocking Tom's vision so much that he gave a little yelp, as though in pain. He whipped around, searching for the source, be it deadly light or unknown magic, that had caused it.

Haidee sashayed into the dining hall with the same bravado she had last night at dinner. She spied a few familiar faces, one less likable than the others. Trying not to let the jerkish prince's presence spoil her breakfast, she walked right past his table on her way to get food. All at once, an arm reached out and grabbed her by the sash.

"Unhand me!" she shrieked, swatting at the greyish hand. She recognized it, it belonged to her least favorite person in the room.

"How. Did you. Do that?" the dark prince asked, getting up. He was considerably taller than she was, and he was staring at her as though he'd never seen a woman before.

"Do what?" she peeped. He was rather scary standing up; she didn't feel as brave as she had in the student commons.

"I'm colorblind," he snarled. "What did you do?"

Oh. Was that it? "No one shall be colorblind with me around," she said, a smile creeping onto her face. "What a sad way to live! Please, let me help." She stood up on her tiptoes and touched Tom's cheek, watching his eyes widen and his jaw drop. He grabbed her wrist, shaking.

"How."

"Trust me," she said softly, her small smile breaking into a grin. "Stay with me and I will help you see any color you like."

► ► ► Robert Auditore ◄ ◄ ◄

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Robert walked into the room with his usual cheerful smile. He was an early riser, always had been, and the smell of food certainly helped his mood. He took a deep breath and sighed contently. All around him were familiar faces, students from the year before, the poor kids. Robert quickly pushed away thoughts of last year and focused on getting his food on a plate. He noticed that Princess Maeza was looking a bit...well, upset, and he could see why. Prince Thomas with a girl Robert didn't recognize. This could get...complicated.

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☆═━Maeza Lee━═☆

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Maeza couldn't miss the expressions on Tom's face. Her own mood saddened a bit. But she smiled back and replied, "Beautiful room. Though....Viola's my roommate." An awkward silence fell between them and Maeza wish she had thought to get food before she sat down. She looked down at the table, only to look again when Tom spoke. Ah..."Yes, so it is," she said, looking at the table once again.

Suddenly, Tom gave a small yelp that immediately had Maeza worried. "Tom, are you okay?" she gasped, reaching a hand out before drawing it back. Next thing the fairy knew, Tom had grabbed another princess and was then standing. Maeza watched the scene unfold in silence. She bristled when the girl's hand touched Tom's cheek. It seemed she was going to have some trouble getting over all of this...

Maeza stood and walked away from her chair, as though to get food, and made herself trip, falling so that she landed on top of this colorful girl. They went down, Maeza hitting her head on a chair and making a small gash appear. "I am so sorry!" she said immediately, though she was far from the emotion.

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