Honestly Anemone is not expecting this to be an incredibly useful course, but you can't say that the school's placing her in it doesn't make sense. Maybe it's specifically putting all of the weirdos here as a way to help them make friends with each other. And hey, magic users have been considered kind of freakish themselves in lots of cultures, so maybe they'll learn some interesting stuff after all. Maybe they'll even learn about kinds of magic that aren't wizardry! That would be cool.

It’s like this class was made for him.

He’s still shaking off Intro to Maleficaria, but he tries to reorient himself again as he sits down and focuses in on the projector screen.

Haozinne has exactly zero desire to learn about Western culture. She would refuse to participate in this class as protest, except that it would then eat her, and she has negative desire to be eaten.

The best seats are already taken when she arrives, because she has short legs and this is a handicap in getting places promptly. She sizes up her options and sits uncomfortably near the door, which will at least make for a quick escape.

Oh hey, does that guy have tats?

She moves over to sit next to him even though it puts her under a vent.

"Hey, I'm Hannah. Nice tats."

—oh, okay, hi.

"Uh — thanks," he says, assuming for the moment that this isn't sarcasm. "Z. Cool to meet you."

"Hannah. Did you do those yourself? If you did I might want a couple. Trade you for it."

Everything his parents told him about which skills are valuable is wrong, and despite the direness of his general situation he is so smug about that.

"Yeah, I did. And I'm down to swap for something."

"I've got a spare healing cookie, how much work could I get for that?"

"—how much do you want?"

"Haven't decided yet, I don't want to get something, like, stupid, but I figure I'll only have to regret it for four years at the outside so might as well go with my heart. I'm thinking maybe a wing or a feather for freedom."

"That's a terrible trade."

"What's wrong with it?"

"Healing's worth more than that. Also your tattoo ideas are dumb."

"What would you get as a tattoo if you were going to?"

She traces a circle on her forehead with one finger.

"Why?"

"'Cause it's a good tattoo."

He feels like he's being sabotaged, here.

"If you've got a line on the cookie-tattoo exchange rate, I'm listening."

"Lots."

"What would you call a fair trade, then?"

"What'm I, Amazon?"

"Then the offer stands."

"Well, you should take it, then," she tells the tattooed kid, even though he can obviously tell this for himself.