Dev tilted his head at Aida’s inquiry. Aida mirrored his head tilt, returning his smile.

“Of course I was serious about being your friend.” Dev stepped back, leaving Aida leaning against the wall. He ran his fingers through his hair, leaving it mussed. He turned back towards Aida, arching an eyebrow at her. “Are you finally interested in engaging in friendship with me?”

Aida laughed awkwardly. “I guess I can’t say no, after what you did for me back there.” She shook her head ruefully. “I accept your friendship.” She stuck out her hand to him.

Dev looked at her outstretched hand for a long moment, causing Aida to begin panicking. He’s basically nobility. Am I being too forward in presuming to shake his hand? Fortunately, he reached out before she could draw her hand back, clasping her hand firmly. “I’ve waited a long time for this.”

Aida grimaced at him; partially at his mock formality, partially at trying to slip her hand out at their done deal. He didn’t release, only smiled as she shook their hands. “Okay, agreement’s been reached. You can let go now.”

“I have a question for you, if you don’t mind - as your friend.” Dev finally released her hand, his fingers briefly brushing the palm of her hand.

“What is it?”

“What’s going on with you and Levi?”

“What do you mean? We’re friends.”

Dev let out a thoughtful hum. “Well, I noticed that you two seemed pretty intimate during the Old Moon Festival…”

“Oh…” Aida dropped her gaze to the ground, flushing. “That…we had a misunderstanding that night, but we cleared it up. We’re still friends. Just friends.”

“Just friends,” Dev repeated. “Friends like how we’re friends?”

“Well technically, he’s a closer friend than you,” Aida said apologetically. “We’ve spent more time together, you see.”

“Right…like how Pritchard and I are closer friends than we are,” Dev stated, gesturing between the two of them while watching her carefully. She nodded at his analogy.

“I see. Well, I suppose this is not a bad position to be in.” Dev smiled at her again, this time more relaxed. “I hope you don’t mind me saying, but I hope our friendship can surpass that of yours and Levi’s.”

“You might have a chance,” Aida said airily. “Since I haven’t had as many chances to see Levi and Sue and the rest of the group since they split us into three classes.”

Dev shook his head mournfully. “Poor Levi and Ezra. Who would have thought my loss to my cousin would have been a blessing in disguise.”

Aida frowned, playfully offended. “I thought you said you deliberately lost to Lara so that you’d be in Class 2.”

“Ah, you remember that.” Dev flashed a smile at her, catching a stray sunbeam. “That’s true. Our friendship is young, but you are already quite a good influence on me, keeping me honest.”

“Congratulations on successfully achieving your goal of becoming my friend,” Aida said, saluting him. “Now, I have a question for you.”

“What is it?”

“Pritchard - do you really believe that he will let bygones be bygones?” Aida tried to keep her tone light and the suspicion from her voice. She hadn’t wanted to dwell on Pritchard’s apology, because even though he said all the right words - and had stopped tormenting her - she could very well imagine that he was merely biding his time. She had a sneaking suspicion that Gemma’s “mentoring” sessions might be like those employee training sessions, where all they did was teach offenders how to better hide their unsavory behaviors instead of actually changing their opinions.

Dev’s smile faded away.

“I don’t think you need to worry about him,” he finally said. He refused to meet her gaze.

“Dev,” Aida said slowly. She ducked to the side so that she could capture his eyes. “What are you not telling me?” He turned his head even more, trying to avoid her, but she followed his movements, staying in his view.

“He won’t bother you for the rest of the school year, that I can guarantee,” Dev said unwillingly. He hesitated. “I’m hoping Gemma will be able to get through to him, but with his personality…it’s hard to say.”

“What do you mean?” Aida felt dread build up in her stomach. Now that she thought about it, Pritchard didn’t pitch in with any fuzzy feel-good anecdotes about how she was a good classmate either…

“I don’t think you should worry,” Dev said with finality. “I think we can help him see reason.”

“You know, you not telling me the full story behind what’s going on with Pritchard isn’t going to help me not worry,” Aida pointed out. “All I’m learning from you is that he only apologized because Gemma made him, and not because he wanted to…which makes it an insincere apology.”

Dev clicked his tongue. “I could have sworn you wouldn’t have caught onto that kind of nuance during the previous school years. Have you just been hiding your true abilities since you joined the school?” he teased.

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Aida flushed. She was getting too comfortable, and forgetting that she had a well-established bimbo cover to maintain. “I was just trying to point out that it would be difficult to be your friend if your other friend doesn’t like me.”

“You’re right,” Dev agreed after a pause. “But I’m sure he’ll come around, especially if you are willing to extend a hand of friendship to him. After all, it seems like you and Pritchard have been cordial in class exercises.”

“And what if he thinks my ‘hand of friendship’ gives him license to expect more?” Aida asked flatly. “I don’t really look forward to making matters worse.”

Dev exhaled lightly as he chose his next words. “Pritchard is…I know I said his personality can be difficult, but he’s not a bad person,” Dev said gently. “I know it’s hard to believe, after everything that’s happened, but…if you gave him another chance, I’d appreciate the effort. As a request from your friend.”

Something about the way Dev spoke made her look at him again more carefully. From the way he acted before, she always assumed he was friends with Pritchard just because he was part of the clique - he never outright stoked any flames the way Myk did, but he did have an air of resignation whenever she observed the group. The way he was now petitioning her for clemency…he was serious. He wasn’t just saying things to appear “nice,” he really believed Pritchard had some sort of redeeming quality. Someone who doesn’t like their ‘friend’ wouldn’t ask for a second chance on their behalf like this.

Aida stepped away from Dev, dropping her gaze to the ground. She couldn’t think clearly with how intently he was staring at her - she had never been particularly good at public speaking in school, and even though Dev was one person, she couldn’t help but feel like she had a whole classroom of eyes on her.

Honestly, she was happy with the current status quo, where she and Pritchard left each other alone and just focused on their own lives. But knowing that the peace came more from Gemma’s influence over him - which was guaranteed to expire as soon as they graduated - meant that it would be in Aida’s best interest to try to seek true reconciliation with Pritchard. Especially since he was from a prominent family…she didn’t know how much influence the Spoak family would have over her life once she entered the workforce, but she knew it would be better to try to head off any animosity before it snowballed into something far beyond her control. Especially since she had just acquired another enemy in Teena Vega.

“…No promises.” She lifted her gaze back to Dev. “I’m not going to go out of my way to be Pritchard’s friend, but I…” she steeled herself to say the words, “…I’ll try not to treat him so suspiciously.”

The smallest smile spread across Dev’s face, loosening his facial muscles. “That’s all I could ask from you. And in return, I’ll do my best to help make sure your interactions with him go as smoothly as possible.”

Aida shook her head, unable to withhold her own smile. “You really are a good friend to him.”

Dev shook his head slowly. “Believe it or not, he’s been a good friend to me as well.”

Aida said nothing, only nodded with a serious expression on her face. She could believe that Pritchard could be a good friend to a brother-in-arms, despite his sense of entitlement. She just had to figure out how to position herself as a “bro” to him, so that he would stop thinking of her as a romantic interest. Can’t be too hard…

She sighed. “I guess we took enough time to ourselves. Do you think the professors or Affiliates will expect us back to socialize with them?”

Dev shrugged. “It will be a more difficult case for them to punish the two of us than if we trickle back one at a time.”

“That’s good, because I didn’t get a chance to pour any tea before Teena caught me,” Aida muttered. “Seriously, where does she get off on saying all that?” she burst out, unable to hold back her anger.

“I suspect she has an inferiority complex,” Dev supplied delicately. “She’s not a Maglica alumni, and your unique situation provided an easy target for her.”

Aida huffed, annoyed. Classic bully. “And she’s a Healer too…how badly do you think my chances of getting into a clinic is after that altercation with her?”

“Fortune Favors is one of the primary clinics servicing the large families,” Dev admitted reluctantly. “And unfortunately, though the Flau clan is the primary patron for Fortune Favors…I don’t have the pull to override Healer Vega’s words.”

Aida laughed dryly, heading back towards the school. She took the path in the opposite direction, towards the front of the school so that she didn’t have to return to the courtyard. Dev ambled after her. Of course. The one new alliance I make, who is theoretically at the top of the food chain, doesn’t have the power to make my problems go away.

“Speaking of pull…what’s going to happen with the Flau clan’s succession?”

Dev’s steps became stiffer, though he still kept up with her easily.

“…Honestly, I haven’t thought much about it.”

Aida looked at him questioningly. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye before sighing heavily.

“Before school started this year, I didn’t care if I became the next head of the clan or not. But…” he trailed off as he lifted his head, looking up into the sky. Aida followed his gaze, but all she saw were clouds. “…it goes back to what I said before. You tried so hard, even though you had no reason to. I suppose in a way, watching you made me ashamed of myself.” Dev’s lips twisted in a sardonic grin. “Here’s this girl, historically the worst student in the class, finally fighting. Even though she knows she’s likely to be last again, and arguably is choosing to fight at the worst time, when everything is pretty much already settled…she comes out swinging.”

Aida bit her lip, uncomfortable with his characterization of her. It wasn’t like she finally decided to get her act together...she just did what she was used to doing. Aida set a really low bar for me to clear…

Dev shook his head, the mocking smile still on his lips. But he wasn’t mocking her; he seemed to be talking to himself. “If this girl is fighting even when everything is hopeless, what does that say about me, when I have all the advantages over her?” He looked up at her, mirth sparkling in his eyes.

“I even wondered to myself - how stupid are you? Why didn’t you fight like you did earlier? What kind of losing strategy were you operating off of, that you decided to fight against momentum like that?

“But then, you actually made the cutoff to be in Class 2. Even though I saw your performance in the placement matches, part of me was still like Vega; I thought that must have been a fluke - a result of the change in scoring. But when you kept up your efforts in the actual classes, there was no denying it. You didn’t give up, and now you’re here.”

Aida couldn’t breathe. Dev had crept closer to her during his monologue, and his voice had quieted as he spoke, so that in order to hear his words she had to hold her breath. But now, he was far too close for her not to breathe onto him.

Nodding aggressively, Aida skipped backwards, sucking in a much-needed breath. “I guess I really am a good influence then. Are you feeling like you need to compete with me?”

“Ironically, yes,” Dev laughed. “You truly are an inspiration.”

Unable to stop the flush in her cheeks, Aida waved off his words as she started on her way again. “Sounds like I made things harder for myself. I’d hate to fight you when you’re doing your best.”

Dev laughed again. “You’re really not giving yourself enough credit.”

Aida laughed, shaking her head as she took the steps two at a time. Pulling the door open so that Dev could pass through, she felt a wave of hostility pass over her.