"We've just been hammering out arrangements to loan him mana storage." 

"Is it as useful if you're just borrowing it? Isn't the point to save up lots over a long time?"

"I think the idea was that he wants to be able to trade a week's worth to someone but he can't save up that much with nowhere to put it?" 

"With Shannon, yeah - we were all on the same supply run, on the weekend, and Shannon's selling her healing potion." 

"Oh, that makes sense. Landon, does this work period work for you for my thing?"

Landon had, in fact, forgotten about this entirely - he keeps a schedule in his notebook and is normally very good at remembering his appointments, but the note is now, like, six pages back. 

"Yeah. Just give me five to finish eating?" 

"Sure, no problem."

"Rebecca, you should talk to Val here," Cassie says brightly. "Convince him that Vanya's not hard to get along with. He's worried they'll hate each other or something." 

"What, no, Vanya's great! Very musical, great voice, he has a guitar and let me play it a little bit - if I can get through all the languages I have to do right now I'm gonna do Russian next."

BLUSH.

"Would he have to be terrible not to end up liking me? I'll take that as a compliment, but I believe you about him being great."

"Well, I don't know you at all," she points out, "so maybe you guys just won't click but Vanya's great."

"I'm also great. Admittedly less musical, though."

"Well, maybe you'll have something else in common."

"I hope so."

"I don't usually not like people?" Vanya says, staring down at his lap.

"Right, yes, we all know you've got trouble disliking people even if they're actively horrible to you." Larisa narrows her eyes at Val. "Don't be horrible to him." 

"I'll remember that your advice included, and I quote, 'be horrible to him.'" Ugh this is the one way teenagers are worse than Catholics, they just say you shouldn't be horrible and part of the test is that you have to figure out what counts as horrible.

Larisa, maybe noticing some of that in Val's expression, frowns. 

"- Take a quick walk with me?" she says quietly to Val. "I should - probably convey some background about, er, this request." 

"...Okay." He'll follow her wherever; if it's a trap it's not like he's not doomed anyway.

"Sorry, won't take long." She casts Vanya's silencing spell. It's not in-affinity for her but it's not like the mana cost is prohibitive for a senior.

This NEVER gets any less awkward, does it.

"Uh. Right. So - I'm assuming you've noticed that Vanya...isn't very happy." 

"That seems like what I've noticed."

"Well. Something - happened, last year. We don't talk about it much for - reasons that will probably be obvious once I tell you. So I'd appreciate if you don't spread it around either. But..." 

And, briefly and tonelessly, she describes the major events of the maleficer pileup as they affected Vanya. 

"Oh, uh, that sounds like a fustercluck."

"Yeah. That's an understatement."