"So he's... sad about that, or sick from what happened back then...?"

"We don't entirely know what's wrong. He was very sick from being nearly drained, and no one has any idea how long the effects of that last, and he directly experienced - whatever emotion an out-of-control maleficer with a powerful affinity for emotions is feeling while they drain and murder half a dozen people in a vengeance spree - and no one knows the long-term effects of that kind of mind-magic either." 

"And the thing that makes this better is not being lonely?"

"- Uh, sure, that seems to help any, but mostly he just - needs some support right now to look out for mals and get his homework done." And make sure he doesn't walk into the void but she's not quite ready to say that yet. "I should note that if you do spot any mals, he's got some great spells for exploding them." 

"So I play lookout and help him remember what he was working on?"

"- Yeah, that's basically it. If it turns out you actually enjoy hanging out with him, of course, we'd be happy to make this a longer-term thing, but - we're all very swamped and even if all you do is keep lookout and remind him what's due that day, that's valuable enough to us that it's worth lending you the mana storage." 

"This actually sounds like the kind of thing that might be worth more than just the storage, in terms of how much benefit you're getting."

"Oh?" Larisa raises an eyebrow. "What would you say it's worth, then?" 

(Plucky kid. He didn't look like much at first but she's starting to decide that maybe she likes him.) 

"Outgrown any magic outfits lately?"

"Hmm. I think that might be substantially more, and also no we haven't. Hmm - we've got a decent stash of stuff from the graduating class, it's in my room, if you'd like to swing by and pick out some alchemy ingredients or a minor magical item or two." 

"That and the mana storage? Sure."

"Great, sounds good, any questions?" 

"What, like I'll think of them before I've said no?"

Larisa rolls her eyes but she manages to keep it to a fairly restrained eyeroll. "Guess not, then, let's head back." 

Sure, he's not about to argue.

Back at the Sacramento table, one of the juniors is leaning across and asking Rebecca when she's got her first shop and lab classes. 

"I have shop first thing tomorrow and lab first thing Thursday."

"You got any friends in the same class to buddy with?" Glance over at Val. "Same question for you, new kid. Shop and lab when, are you covered for it. ...Mals probably won't be bad yet but it's a plausibly-deniable place for a maleficer to go after freshies." 

"All the New Yorkers are taking Monday morning shop, and I'm in language lab then, but... hopefully Orion'll have cleared the place out and it won't accumulate that many mals overnight? I don't know who else is in that section or if it'll be anybody I know."

"I've got lab before lunch Wednesday, shop early Thursday. Did you want me and one of your freshmen watching each other's backs?"

"- Uh, depends if it works out at all schedule-wise, we're pretty tight - oy, Landon! Check your book of all things, we got anyone with lab before lunch Wednesdays?" 

This earns Killian a harried look, but Landon flips around in his notebook while he finishes chewing his current bite of food. "...Not in Sacramento, and I don't see how to fit him into the roster without making someone walk halfway around the school, but - oh, good, it looks like one of the Oakland freshman has the same block. ...Oh, convenient, same for both lab and shop, actually. Destiny Williams. Val, have you met her? If not Killian can go do an introduction, they're sitting right over there."

"I haven't yet, thank you."

Expectant look at Killian. 

Killian rolls his eyes, but sure, whatever, he can go do an introduction. (Why are they schedule-wrangling for random freshman again? Oh right it's because Landon is into 'cheap but positive sum interventions' and also thinks that for some reason it's helpful to know the schedules of as many random freshmen as possible.)