(XD I know. That was interesting timing.)
Alderic laughed at her joke. "Don't worry about Smokey, Mitch's got this." He said wondering more about what A'ine and Kanin were talking about that they were speaking so quietly for.

A'ine nodded. "And I'm sorry about just doing that. I usually ask." She said looking over at Alice. "I'm so ready... For bed." She said yawning a little in the middle.

Mitch shrugged a little. "I can in dragon form. I can't see very well in general as a human." He said tapping his glasses.

Jora smiled a little. She knew she could trust him. He hasn't proven anything to the contrary as of yet. She opened her eyes a bit when she felt his head move to look at her then move back to look at the path. "What is it Orion?" She asked quietly.

(For once we actually had coordinated timing! XD)
Alice looked over at Kanin. He flashed her a smile, and she stuck her tongue out at him. She pulled out the deck of cards she always kept in her pocket and began shuffling them again. "Why Mitch?" she asked Alderic.

Kanin shook his head. "It is alright. I do not mind. I was just slightly surprised," he said, yawning right after A'ine. "Why is it so contagious?" he asked rhetorically.

Ember nodded. "Do your glasses fog up when you drink something hot?" she asked. It was rather random, but her mother had reading glasses, and that always happened to her.

Orion looked up from the ground. "It's just that when I learned I was going to school, I thought the first night I would be sitting in my room doing homework alone. I'm really glad that's not how it turned out," he said, smiling at Jora.

Alderic grinned at her. Watching her and her brother interact made him miss his sisters. "Hey Mitch. I think we're done with the fire." He called over to the other boy.

Mitch stood up. "Just a second." he said to Ember before walking over to the fire blasting the logs with ice making the whole fire disappear. He walked back over to Ember Sitting down. His knee brushing hers as he did. "Yes, drinking hot beverages and using my powers a lot both fog up my glasses." He said smiling.

A'ine chuckled a little. "I have no idea." She said glad for the darkness which made her able to stop sending the image of her not being injured to all of them

Jora bit her lip. "How is watching me almost setting the school on fire better than that?" She whispered her arms heating up a bit as she his her face in his shoulder.

"Whoa, okay. Not expecting that," Alice said as she watched Mitch easily put out the fire. "What can A'ine, Ember, Orion, and Jora do?" she asked Alderic.

Ember laughed softly, inspecting Mitch's glasses. "If you don't mind me asking, what is it you wanted to discuss with me?" she asked him.

Kanin shrugged. "I'm sure there is science behind it," he said. "It is not as dark as I am used to. Light pollution is new to me. I assume you did not have light pollution either?" he said to A'ine. It was nice to talk about his home to someone who had never been there. It eased a bit of his homesickness.

"Because as I said before, I like your company. I didn't expect to make a friend so quickly," Orion said, turning his head to smile at her. He almost tripped, and quickly turned his attention back to the ground before he actually fell.

A'ine heard Alice ask Alderic what they could all do. 'Well, I can mindspeak.' She sent to Alice with a mental image of herself.

Alderic's eyebrows scrunched together. "It's not really my place to tell you." He said rubbing the back of his neck a little.

A'ine turned back to Kanin. "I lived in the ocean. The whole thing is light pollution." She joked a little smiling at him. "You miss it don't you? Your home." She said before quickly clarifying.

Mitch smiled at her. "I don't mind but I'd rather wait to reply until we were walking." He said before rubbing the back of his neck. "I talk better when I'm walking." He added smiling a little lopsided at her.

Jora shook her head a little before gasping a little when he stated to trip. "If your choices are drop me and fall, you'd better drop me or I don't know what I'd do." She said her eyes wide as she thought of just getting off his back then.

(MY MIND IS TOAST!)

Alice couldn't help but jump slightly. "Warn me next time!" she yelled over at A'ine angrily. "But, that is actually pretty cool..." she admitted. She turned back to Alderic. "Alright, fair enough," she conceded.

Kanin shook his head slightly. "Alice isn't really angry, just surprised," he clarified, not wanting A'ine to get offended. Then he answered her question. "I do, but we will go back every break. I am sure I will grow accustomed to the school grounds soon," he said.

Ember cocked her head slightly, now even more curious about what he wanted to talk about. "Alright," she replied.

"No way! That was my bad. I won't trip again," Orion said. "I just was looking away from the ground so I didn't see the stupid rock," he explained, not daring to look back up at Jora. He definitely was not going to let his clumsiness get the better of him here.

(Have some butter! Toast is always better with butter!)

(XD Reading that butter line made my day SOOOO much better then it was!)
A'ine sighed glaring a little at Alice. "I know Kanin, I can tell." She said about his commit of Alice. A'ine usually was a really nice person but she was tired and that was making her a little less agreeable then normal.

Alderic chuckled a little. "Be careful what you think and say, A'ine can;t always control her powers perfectly and sometimes gets into everyone elses thoughts." He said looking over at A'ine hoping she wouldn't be mad at him for saying that.

Mitch smiled at her rubbing the back of his neck a little. "Sorry for keeping you in anticipation." He said before hearing A'ine in the back of his mind. 'You two can go ahead, just don't fall asleep before I get there Ember.' She mindspoke and Mitch could tell she had sent it to both of them. He closed up his guitar picking it up before standing.

Jora shook her head. "No. I don't care if it was your fault or not. Please just drop me if it comes down to it." She said pleadingly.

(I told you butter makes everything better!)
Alice tensed a little at Kanin's comment as well. He didn't need to defend everything she said. He was always trying to stop her getting into fights, as if she was an angry kid under his watch. She looked over at Kanin, and noticed A'ine didn't look too pleased with her at the moment. As much as Alice wanted to confront both Kanin and A'ine, it was probably a really stupid idea. Instead she asked Alderic, "Why can't I keep anything private from you guys?" she asked.

Kanin kept an eye on Alice, but turned most of his attention back to A'ine. "Sorry," he said, changing the topic back to what they had been talking about before. "Are you homesick too?" he asked quietly.

I will be awake when you get back, promise. Ember thought, hoping A'ine heard. She stood up as well, dusting the dirt off the back of her black jeans. "So which way should we head back?" Ember asked, looking out over the lake.

"Well, it won't come to that, so don't worry," Orion said. Then he added cheekily, "But I still wouldn't drop you." The ground began to slope down, and Orion became even more careful.

Alderic sighed a little. "Well, A'ine does sense how people are feeling and can read their minds." He said glancing at A'ine hoping she wouldn't be mad at him. "I think A'ine's just tired. It hasn't been a great day for any of us." He said honestly for the first time not smiling even the tiniest bit.

A'ine looked at Kanin with a small smile. "Yeah. I really miss my mom. The only problem is we can't visit on weekends because it's too far from the ocean here and it would take too long to go." She said a little sadly.

Mitch smiled a little at Ember looking. "We could walk on the cliffs edge or go through the woods. Which would you like?" He asked her kindly smiling.

Jora shook her head. "No. You drop me if it comes to it. We can't have both of us being hurt, who would come and carry us down?" She said joking but really just wanting him not to get hurt no matter if she got hurt again.

It was rather unnerving to see Alderic not smiling, but he deserved to drop his guard, even if it was only slightly. "People say a good night's sleep makes everything better. I'm not sure if that's true, but you might as well test the theory," Alice said shrugging. "I can't be of much help because I don't know what happened, and I suck at talking but you have plenty of friends," she added.

"You can visit during breaks, can you not? I know it's not enough," Kanin said. He understood A'ine's plight, since the north was too far away as well. Plus the roads to the castle were often closed in the winter due to too much snow.

"The cliff, if that's alright with you," Ember replied, glad he asked her. She realized they should probably wish the others goodnight.

Orion laughed, although he was rather worried that he would fall. The slope had finally stopped, but there was a bunch of tree roots, and there was no way he was dropping Jora if he tripped.
(Should Orion trip, or would that be way too much falling for one day?)