Closed Fall Ball 2023 Candle-Lit Banquet

The Entrance ~ Lookout ~ Expedition ~ Gondolier ~ Seahawk
Capsized ~ Gambit ~ Instinct ~ Landfall ~ Lashback ~ Envenomed

@Marietta Griffis & @Qrowley Beithir, Open to Interactions

Calming Presence in Effect;
All Student Entrees & Beast Master Familiars Affected

Cloak of Hyumming

Piérre blinked owlishly as the girl blinked at him after a small squeak had left her lips. Despite himself, he couldn't help but smile in a way that caused his nose to crinkle ever so slightly and caused him to lightly bite his tongue in amusement for a second. He wiggled his fingers in a wave as she suddenly got to her feet. "Hallooo!" He chirped brightly before his eyes settled on the girl's cat. "And hello good sir! I presume you are defending your good lady here well?" He nodded politely to the feline. "How dapper; did she have to force you into that outfit?" He winked at the girl before speaking to her directly again. "You picked a good one, he's very alert."

He appraised her keenly as she seemed to dress him up and down for a few seconds, following her eyes with his own and flaring his arms a bit so give the cloak of feathers some motion as she observed. When satisfied, she immediately launched into a series of questions, the type that caused the boy to slowly split into an excited closed smile and made his green eyes glow. "Naw, not made of real hyummingbyrd feathers." He had pronounced the vowels into 'y's on purpose, of course, which when mingled with a slight tinge of a Mediterranean lilt made the entire word very foreign indeed. "They're much too small for the size of, say, this guy here." Piérre lifted a large, what must have been a wing, feather. "Most of these probably came from ravens or crows originally; Gladrags was probably anticipating someone edgier than me to buy it. Personally I think it looks better all colorful like this." He flipped the cloak inside out ever so slightly to reveal the black inseam. "See? Dark and moody, just like me, oooOOOOOoooOOOoo..." He wiggled so as to cause the entire cloak to 'shiver' for a moment, and his yew wand was knocked from its holster and went clattering to the ground, shedding untrimmed yew leaves as it went.

"Oops." Quicker than lightning the boy's hand flashed down to snatch it up and restore it to its place, which caused a necklace of a small stone with a hole in its center (a thin leather cord was strung through that hole) to fall away from his chest and wobble briefly in the air before he tucked it away under his ruffle-collared white formal shirt once more. "Gotcha. You sneaky wand, you..." He muttered lightly, tightening the straps on the wand holster again so as to ensure the mischievous elder brother of a yew and snallygaster heartstring wand would stay where it was intended. He didn't even notice the girl's attempt to touch his outfit until she asked after trying to give excuses for doing a very natural thing whilst being social. "Ah don't worry about it, I'm a chatterbox too. Such a chatterbox, it gets me into so much trouble, you wouldn't believe. I'm surprised I'm not expelled yet--yeah you can touch it! It's pretty soft." He offered a cloak-covered arm to her, tipping his head slightly as he mulled over her last few questions for himself.

They were good questions, he would not be the first one to say that they weren't. His behaviors tended to most often be unusual at the best and down right perturbing at the worst; but this just so happened to also be the consequences of his need to beat to his own drum. It wasn't always right, but it sure beat being mundane. "I saw you siting alone." Honesty was a rare color for him; usually he devolved into a stupid joke or something. "Usually younger students gravitate towards other students, or sit on the sidelines if they really want to be left alone." These were assessments birthed primarily out of his personal observations and his history of watching people in general, but like many observations there was also the capacity for error and exception. At least he was being partially honest. "But even then, being left alone at an event like this usually doesn't bode well for the one. When I was in charge of the ball last fall... yeesh. Yeah. Not great."

At the mention of food, Piérre sucked the inside of his cheek a little bit. It wasn't that he wasn't hungry or anything, but... well... in truth he hadn't really had a voracious appetite for at least a year now, and he had been rather sick last year right around this time. There was, in truth, a cocktail of things that were causing him to be rather... uncomfortable in this situation, but since when had that ever scared him away from having a good time or from actively seeking out things that he could get in deep trouble over? "Ah... naw. I think I'm alright." Despite himself he swallowed tightly, as if holding down something that was disagreeing with him. He sucked through his teeth and swallowed the saliva that came with it again.

He blinked owlishly again. "What about you? Where did you get your outfit? Do you like it here at Hogwarts? I remember being a lowerclassman once. Now I'm old and geriatric."

Though deeply engaged in this conversation, emerald eyes continued to scan the environment, looking for the first indications of something or anything being out of place in the slightest. Based on his prior instructions, Figaro too should be doing the same thing... though perhaps in his feline's case it was more a matter of finding specific items or objects as opposed to actually observing anything that was out of place for the castle or the like. Piérre couldn't help but be suspicious. A pattern had repeated at least 4 times in his past years... and so now he could only assume that the pattern would continue to express itself tonight as well. A new complication being that he was now somewhat volunteering to keep an eye on this young student as well; just in case this was her first rodeo, chances were that she would be in for a ride within the next few hours or so...

Meanwhile, the silver cat picked his way here and there through the mess of people that could easily accidentally step on him if they didn't watch or care where it was that they were going. He may not have been totally sneaky when it came down to it, but at least he was being careful. Sitting for a moment, Figaro licked twice or thrice at a bit of fur on his chest, shaking his head in a way that caused the little golden messenger capsule on his collar (located opposite to his coin-sized tag) to jingle ever so slightly. Minty green eyes fixed upon a young student [Qrowley] that was looking at him as if to eat him right up, and the feline blinked as if to acknowledge that he saw that he was being actively watched by this human.

Nose twitching in the air ever so slightly, the bengal smelled the air in the hopes of picking up this human's scent. His master was always in pursuit of contacts, particularly individuals that he could connect with again and again. When satisfied, the cat gave a cracked purr-meow and full-body shook himself before licking the tip of his nose. Staring once more into the human's eyes (long enough to watch the student move to a different area), the black tip of the feline's ear and tail flicked in tandem once, and then the kitten ran off in a different direction.

After all, even though he was but an animal, he still had a chore to do; a chore that he quite loved to do for his human brother indeed.

Speaking to Marietta, but Glancing Around for anything Unusual

Beast Master Piérre's Familiar Abilities: 's Grace | Claws and Bite Action: Appraising Qrowley Looking for Anything "Odd"/Interesting Trinkets Status: Calming Presence (Piérre)

Figaro the Silver Bengal: 200/200

Open / Closed
For interactions

“ Already asking me out to the upcoming spring ball, Glade? My, don’t you move quick,” he retorted back with a usual playful undertone. Clearly amused by her choice of words when calling him a ‘pretty boy’. Yes, it was an overused nickname to call him and yet he still liked it, sue him.

"Hana, a pleasure," The briefest surprise crossed his features for a moment before he gave the other boy the tiniest hint of a smile and perhaps a grateful nod if he looked closely enough. It came to his realisation that if he were perhaps 3 years younger, he would have hated Stephan’s guts. His natural friendly demeanour off-putting, his smile - radiant and almost contagious. As if a subtle unintended urge for Hanako to do the same. Yes, if they met when Hanako was younger, he definitely would’ve disliked him far more. Activating a sort of wall between him and the other friendly boy. But he had grown past that phase in his life somewhat. And while he still preferred conversations with a bit more edge and bite to it, he grew tolerable to the more friendlier people. At the very least, he seemed appreciative of Stephan taking some effort to pronounce his name correctly. It was far more than what most people would do. It did not mean they were friends, of course.

"It seems that you are the one wishing and worried about us being third wheels, 'Anako." He returned the younger girl's mischievous look with one of his own. “ Guilty as charged “ he retorted with a playful lull in his tone, not intending to sound serious whatsoever. He decided last minute not to remind her to call him Hana. Frankly, he just figured Glade ought to have a more private space if she were to talk about who she actually wished to be her date. And while he didn’t entirely show it, he was thankful the other couple got the message and didn’t press or insist on their stay. They shared a few more quips before giving Glade a friendly goodbye and left on their own. The most Hanako did to show his appreciation for them reading the room was a brief weak wave.

A thought did cross his mind on what the other two might be thinking. They surely would not have not known Hanako’s flirty demeanour was not only extended towards Glade. He was not much of a traditional romantic, having eyes for only one person and devoting his entire charm to them. He was just as genuine with his flirty comments as much as he was genuine with his own feelings. Could they perhaps have thought there was more to his and Glade’s relationship from what they’ve witnessed? Him? Dating Bailey Glade? That was a humorous thought. In fact, there was another particular Ravenclaw he’d rather-

Hm?

That’s strange. Why did Eun-ji’s image pop into his head? Perhaps he thought it would be entertaining if he and Eun-ji were mistaken for dating. He admitted he was curious if she was at the ball or not. Mere curiosity, of course. Who might be the lucky fellow that managed to become her date for tonight, if she even came at all. Not that he cared, duh. They both merely were entertainment to one another. Nothing special. Which perhaps was the reason neither of them even brought up the topic of any upcoming balls. Dates at hogsmeade , flirty banters and subtle kisses were one thing. But being eachothers date for an official ball sounded much too… official. Nothing but a sickening knot formed in his stomach at the thought of it. His natural instinct to run kicking in. As if he was afraid something would change between them if they were to do anything of the sort. He liked their relationship now. Stringless, no attachment, just pure fun. He’d rather not change it. Much more than that, he rather not want to space out too much around Glade. This was hardly the time to think of someone like Eun-ji.

He let out a relieved sigh seeing the other pair move away, brushing back the front of his hair for a moment before he briefly glanced at Glade with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. “ I think they were rather fond of me, don’t you think?”, he jested a bit. “Now that they’re gone, I believe we can afford to be a bit more open with one another”, he commented, his tone subtly learning to a slightly more serious tone, as strictly reserved for her ears only. “ What was your grand plan for the night, again?” He seriously hoped she truly didn’t come here hoping Kim would naturally be by her side.

EᑎᑕY :	ᗩᗷIᒪITIEᔕ
ᑭOᔕT TᖇᗩᑕK *(*)*****	{ ᴮˡⁱⁿᵈᵛⁱˢⁱᵒⁿ } { ᴾᵉʳᶠᵉᶜᵗⁱᵒⁿⁱˢᵗ } { ᴾᵃʳˢᵉˡᵐᵒᵘᵗʰ }}

∫ S t a m i n a : 10 • S t r e n g t h : 3 • A r c a n e : 13
∫ A c c u r a c y : 12 • E v a s i o n : 6 • W i s d o m : 10

Reducio

Story Progression
* ( * )*(*)*****

Action: talking with @Bailey Glade,
Previously talking to:(@AngelFyre McCubbin) and @EmmaLee LeDames
Mentioning: @Eun-ji Lee Hunt

october 6th 2023
the great lake
19:00

While most of the chaos started to die down and more people joined the festivities, the same could not be said for a select few. After getting her dress ruined by some random guy, Astra decided to retaliate. Honestly, couldn't people leave conflict for a separate occasion?

@Astra Norrick kicks @Mathias Pride in the stomach
Matt auto-dodge Y1 Seer [d10 : 1], failed
Astra acc [d20 : 5] + 7 = 12
Matt eva [d20 : 19] + 12 = 31
12 < 31, Astra misses

One could say they were relieved that the kick didn't meet its target. At least physical violence wasn't in the cards for tonight (cough see Clark). It was expected, anyway, considering Astra was a First Year and Mathias was a Fourth Year, let alone a Seer. There would be a major difference in physical abilities.

Now that there was one @Winnie Harper attached to Mathias, you'd think he'd apologize and avoid any more conflict to spend some time with his beloved. After all, with the candles, lanterns, and overall decorations, it would make for a romantic date. But you'd be half-right.

mathias casts epoximise on astra; wdc 12 broom racing system
Matt wis [d20 : 1] + 5 = 6, critical failure
decided effect: mathias is stuck to winnie until nullified

Astra could probably count herself lucky with that poor casting since she wouldn't be stuck to the floor for the rest of the night. The couple, however, might have mixed opinions on being stuck together. I mean, they probably wanted to spend the night together, right? Anyways, they probably had a spell that could reverse the effects.

Previously trying to sneak up on a girl and now gaining her attention due to his attire, @Piérre Marchonné took a second to look around the banquet. Perhaps the years of balls gone wrong at Hogwarts were contributing to the paranoia. A lot of the older students had the same sentiment, anyway.

pierre looks around for anything unusual
pi's keen eye, success on 75+
[d100 : 71], pi doesn't notice anything unusual

But maybe this year's Fall Ball would be a different story. There weren't any human-eating mazes or brain-frying trials to get through, only relaxation for the evening. Nobody had even spiked the punch yet! What a record! He would just miss the unnatural movement of the water by the boats.

Oh! Remember the cat that's roaming around? Figaro's warming up to a few students, but the silver Bengal wouldn't find anything of interest at the moment.

What's this? A little birdy just told me that the boats are about to leave soon. Even if you don't want to decorate a lantern, it might be time to get one and head into a boat. It's going to be a magical experience.

OOC Information
Welcome to the banquet! Before you enter, please read the following:

1. Your character must be indexed. If you are not yet indexed, please register here
2. Moderation will occur once a week on Saturdays. Clarification is below
3. Your character is allowed one moderated action per round
   
   Reducio

   A moderated action is anything requiring rolls e.g. casting a spell (at someone), punching someone. If the action is only between PCs and is consensual, it will not require rolls e.g. asking someone to dance.
4. If your PC is moving between the banquet and the boat rides, please specify that action in your post
5. Please follow all normal H.io site rules while participating in the ball.

Enjoy the food and have fun dancing!

Reducio

When Renelle had came down here to the Great Lake, she had expected lots of things. Perhaps she would fall into the lake and drown, or the food would come to life and attack the students. Maybe there would even be a crazy doll that tried to possess a student (she’d heard rumours, all right?)

But a random guy who looked like he was at least half a decade older than the first years, thrusting his drink at Astra out of the blue, had definitely not been on that list. Yet it was always the unexpected that became the expected, and it had happened. As she looked on with wide eyes, the liquid hit her friend square in the stomach, ruining her dress without a doubt.

Maybe it would come off with a bit of washing and scrubbing, though the Ravenclaw highly doubted the material would ever be fully restored to its original state. To make matters worse, the night had only just started, and poor Astra was going to have to endure hours of walking around with a wet, sticky dress.

Who even was this guy to spill his drink on a poor eleven-year old girl? Like, dude, if you’re going to be a jerk, pick on someone your own size, at the very least. Renelle took in the scene in front of her incredulously, then glanced up, fixing the older student with a look so full of disgust and surprise, it was almost comical.

Luckily, she not would have to maintain this feeling of annoyed anger for long, as it was then that karma chose to take action. Sure, Astra hadn’t succeeded in kicking her assailant in the nuts, but their disappointment would not be for long. Stupidly, the guy had decided to retailate by casting some sort of likely high-level spell Renelle had never heard of before, and had no idea what the effect was meant to be.

It was fortunate that she had not found out first-hand, as from the events that happened after the spell failed and backfired beautifully, it was some sort of glueing charm, as evidenced by the jerk getting stuck to a girl next to him, most possibly his girlfriend, a redhead dressed all in pastel.

Smirking in satisfaction, the girl turned away from the chaos of all the wonky spells and spilled drinks. That was lovely. Suddenly, she caught sight of the dark-skinned girl, Mahlioz, once more, and frowned. In all the mayhem, this intruder of her and Astra’s happy evening had slipped from her mind completely.

But now she remembered it all once more, and all the pleasure gained from watching Astra’s assailant face a horrible fate from his crimes just about evaporated in its entirely, until all she could think about was how much she wished the older girl weren’t here.

No use crying about it and letting it ruining the evening. She through sullenly. Well, any more than it already had, anyway. Looking over the candle-lit magnificence of the beautiful banquet she had so admired upon first arriving, Renelle suddenly found it all suffocating. It was all so bright. So many people. She just wanted to be alone.

“Hey, do you wanna head over to the boat rides?” From anyone’s perspective, it would appear as if the dark-haired was only addressing the Slytherin next to her, ignoring the other girl entirely. This was no accident- maybe she couldn’t make Mahlioz leave, but she sure as hell wasn’t going to welcome her, either.

“The boats might be about to leave soon, we should totally get on one.” She glanced over briefly at Mahlioz., expression unreadable. “Or if you wanna stay here with your friend, that’s fine too. I kinda want some peace and quiet anyway.” Then, without waiting for a response, she turned and started heading in the direction of the tables of lanterns and art supplies, boats practically right beside them. Honestly, she didn’t even know if she was telling the truth anymore.

Interacting with @Astra Norrick | @Mahlioz Evethisawe___

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Mahoutokoro

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Reducio

Open to interaction

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It wasn't often that Ren got to attend balls. The few that he had attended with the Beithirs usually resulted in him sticking closely to his cousin Qrow as old purebloods were often unsurprisingly ableist and it was rather common for them to gawk or glower whenever Ren signed with his hands.
Either that, or they were capable of sniffing out muggleborns and that's why they didn’t like the boy, despite the fact that Ren's blood status had never been outed and was still very hidden from upper-class society.
On top of that, the last time that the boy could have attended a Hogwarts ball, he had been incredibly sick which had made him unable to attend.

Despite the less than nice experiences that he had had this far with balls (as well as the more concerning things he had been told by Qrow from the Slytherins own experiences), the turquoise eyed student quite enjoyed dressing up. Tonight, he had found himself dressed in a white suit with a tailcoat, adorned in gold accents and accessories to both match and oppose his cousin, who in turn wore black and gold instead.
In rather a pitiful attempt to make himself taller, he had also managed to get a hold of a pair of white and gold heeled pumps, however walking next to Qrowley (who, was also annoyingly wearing heels), even with the extra inches added to his height, he was dwarfed in comparison.

To many, it was rather odd seeing the short student in such clean clothes, with most of the white articles he owned often being covered in paint; actually, scratch that, all of Ren's clothes were covered in paint…
Qrow, at the beginning of the night, had even mused how weird it was to see their favourite cousin (their words, not his) without art supplies haphazardly tucked in his hair or hidden about his person and in all honesty, Ren felt sort of naked without them.

Regardless, the boy was much more focused on his cousin, who would have usually talked his ear off by now. Instead, the redhead was quiet, a stark contrast to their usually excitable self; though, who could blame them?
Ren couldn't imagine losing one of his own mothers.
Still, the silence was unsettling to say the least.

As the pair finally arrived at the banquet, Ren had to force himself to let go and not feel guilty for leaving his cousin. Three gentle squeezes of their hand - a silent gesture Qrow had shown them when they were younger that meant 'I love you' - and Ren was on his way.
However much he did not want to leave them alone, he knew his cousin, and had he attempted to stay, they would have forgone all upper-class regality and told him to fuck off and enjoy his night.

Ren knew better than to argue with Qrow Beithir…

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RPing as Zophyr Qethnis from Uagadou

Genderfluid, pronouns at the moment: they/them

☽ Kirundi | French | English | Swahili | Arabic | Tswana | Xhosa ☾

Date: October 6 2023 Time: Evening

Interacting with: Ren Willow-Saito @Qrowley Beithir Mentioning: X

Zophyr was at their first ball, and already they were grinning their face off. How could they not? Okay, sure, it was rather cold, but they'd gotten used to that since the last time they'd come to Scotland. And alright, they hadn't come with a date. But that didn't matter in the least. Because this way, they could do whatever they pleased without anyone clinging to them, or wanting something from them, or whatever else. People were bothersome.

Fortunately, people were also very pretty. Zophyr couldn't help but stare at every passer-by in awe. The last time they'd come was for the Summer Camp, and then, no one dressed up more than usual. But now that it was a formal event, everyone was looking their best, and Zophyr could not be more grateful. Lots of flirting potential.
Alright, so looks weren't everything. They knew that, obviously. But they sure did help. And they did say something about the person - whether they took care of themselves, cared about their appearance, had a style similar to Zophyr's... all of those were factors for whether the child wanted to talk to them. Looks weren't everything, but they were definitely something.

As they made their way towards the banquet (because eye-candy unfortunately didn't make you any less hungry), they wondered where the night would take them. They would probably mingle a little, spend a few minutes talking to some people, enjoy the food, and most of all observe and listen in on conversations. That was always fun. And never spend too much time with one person, that was important. They weren't here to make meaningful connections, they were here to have fun and cause chaos.

Looking around for their first victim, their eyes caught on a white-haired stranger. Though Zophyr wasn't ever sure of anyone's gender, they guessed he was a guy, and he was rather good looking. Eyes the color of warm seas, and wearing all white and gold (which was the Uagadou student's usual color scheme), with a few splatters of freckles. Zophyr had found their victim.

"Why hello there," they said, approaching him. "My name is Zophyr, Zophyr Qethnis. Could I know who you are? I absolutely love your outfit." Zophyr themself was wearing a dress and corset belt, with butterfly boots and leaf rings in their dreadlocks. Not very formal, to be sure, but it was autumn-ish colors and it fit the vibe of fall ball. Besides, they thought they looked awesome, and that was all that counted.

Yes Qrow, I couldn't resist interacting with Ren even though I have three thousand other threads to answer. Also, OOC I'm aroace so if Zophyr ends up flirting, keep in mind I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing.

@Aaron Jones @Vladimir Athanatos

It was suspicious. Opeila would not follow the Ravenclaw when he disappeared in the crowd after giving a response that made her doubt that he had even heard the question. For a second or two she would stand still, trying to sort her thoughts, eyebrows furrowed.
Why had he addressed her if he was going to run away after? Why bother? He had to know that she was worried after seeing him dissolve into a pile of spiders a few months back. He had to know that she would be alarmed.

Opeila only noticed Aaron rejoining her when he was next to her again, one hand on her back. The short exchange had sent a chill down her back and she stepped a little closer to the Hufflepuff. "Uhhh no... Not a friend.", she started, but wasn't sure how to continue. How on earth would she explain who Vlad was? She ended settling on something he had probably heard about sometime, placed one hand on his shoulder and stood on tip toes to whisper into his ear. No need to unsettle anyone who happened to overhear them. "He- he is um... Among other things the person who is responsible for half of Slytherin getting cursed in 2020. I don't know how he is here, he is supposed to be dead- I am sorry, this is such a mess."

She would look in the direction Vlad had gone to again, worry spreading through her. "If he is here, something is up. I just don't know... why he decided to talk to me. He has enough reasons to avoid me."
When he took her hand, she gratefully interlocked her fingers with his. It had been a while since she had felt so safe at a ball- not since Flash if she was entirely honest.

Trying to banish Vlad from her mind, Opeila would offer him a smile and start to walk backwards towards the dancefloor, facing Aaron and pulling him with her. "I'm not lucky with food and drinks at balls... Can we go dance?"

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Mahoutokoro

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Reducio

Interacting with @Mahlioz Evethisawe as iNPC Zophyr Qethnis
Sign Language | #70bfef | Communication Cards | #ef70df

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To say that Ren wasn’t expecting social interaction so soon upon their entrance to the banquet, would have been an understatement. Within seconds of leaving their cousin, a handsome stranger in a dress had strolled right up to him and introduced themself.

"Why hello there," they said, approaching him. "My name is Zophyr, Zophyr Qethnis. Could I know who you are? I absolutely love your outfit." Their skin was warm and dark, and their eyes golden like caramel. They were thin and a little taller than Ren, standing at roughly 5 ft 3. Zophyr themself was wearing a dress and corset belt, with butterfly boots and leaf rings that hung in their long blonde dreadlocks.
Not very formal, and yet Ren was already hopelessly encaptivated by their beauty….

The white haired boy looked on at Zophyr in awe for a few moments, their mouth slightly agape and their cheeks flushed a light shade of pink that stood out against their pale colour palette. For those few moments, the boy had completely forgotten himself, or rather more pressingly, that the person before him was very likely expecting him to respond with words of his own.
Suddenly his hands moved, digging through his pockets until he pulled out a bound collection of cards, attached to a lanyard.

Ren knew which card he was looking for, and it didn’t take long to find it. He had gone through and sorted them based on which ones he was likely to use the most and least not long after his mother had made them for him, the former of which were closer to the front, while the latter, closer to the back of the pile. Each card had two translations; English and Japanese, and cute little doodles that matched whatever the boy was trying to get across.
Finally he pulled out two cards, flipped them to face their current companion and waited with a small smile on his face.

‘Hello, my name is Ren Willow-Saito (pronouns he/him) and I’m mute’
‘I go to Mahoutokoro’

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