Toru had kind of zoned out of the conversation as they watched the fish swim around, however they did slowly tune back in when people started talking about what kind of fish they would be. To be honest, Toru did have the a hobby of mentally associating people with kinds of fish when they learned more about them. Fish and people both tended to have unique personalities when you got to know them after all. "I t-think you w-would be an Axolotl, Jona." They weren't really fish, but Jona checked most of the animal's boxes. They paused and glacned at Blade. "I think y-you would b-be a Red Crowntail Betta Fish." Bettas were notorious for being more aggressive, especially to other Bettas, but were also brilliant and occasionally could get along with others. Red Crowntails also matched Blade's hair exactly.

Jona caught a questioning glance form Blade and looked back at him with equal inquisition. He eyes lit up as if to say, "Oh!" They he smiled mischievously and said,"You'd be an angler fish." He laughed at the teasing comment, but before it could be taken to harshly he threw his hands up in jest. "I'm just kidding. I think you'd be a lion fish, Blade. And Magnus would be......hmph. I'm not sure yet." He looked between Paddy and Magnus, thinking about how there were catfish in some places in the States. Without the intention of being rude, he said, "Are there dog fish? Would that be too obvious a connection?" He smiled sheepishly.

[edit] Scrunching up his brows, Jona asked, "What's an axotail? Sounds cool, whatever it is. I'm not so good at knowing the aquatic animals." He felt a bit embraced and took a sip of cocoa. This didn't taste so great though, because the cocoa shot out of Jona's nose when he heard Toru call Blade a beta. Jona was a little surprised at the implication and also impressed at why Hufflepuff's comment. Looking at Blade, Jona hopes his cocoa-rocketing laughter had eased the comment and not made it worse.

Toru gave an excited smile. "T-There are several s-species of dog fish. T-They are r-related to sharks!" They answered Jona while turning back to the massive tank.

"I don't know," Niamh replied thoughtfully, "I thought you'd be more for pets you could interact with, rather than ones you just sit and watch." She stared at the tank for a while, "although I can kind of see the appeal of jellies."

Paddy smiled, "I'd definitely be a dogfish. My Uncle always told me they were called mud sharks when we spotted any in the rivers, as he thought dogfish sounded silly."

((this rp will change over on Thrusday at 11.59pm subeta time. And then we're going to the BEACH!))

Blade’s eyebrow rose. A Siamese fighting fish? Was he considered aggressive or prone to harming others? Then Jona said an angler fish and then changed to a lion fish. He clenched his hand together tightly. He could feel his arm shaking with anger. He knew he didn’t look angry right now but that would change, he was sure.

“I’m not a dogfish,” Magnus replied.

“Yes,” Blade said to Niamh, "I do prefer that. But I like marine life a lot.” His voice sounded strained. “Jellies have been my favourite since I was very young.”

Blade was trying to stay calm but then Jona’s burst of laughter happened. His arm was shaking as he tried to stay calm. He felt the veins in his neck tighten. “You know,” Blade said as calm as he could, “for someone who wanted to be my friend you have an interesting way of showing it. First you speak to me to which I reply, then you ignore me and now you make fun of me. Perhaps you should pick one, Jona. To my knowledge, I’ve never done anything aggressive enough to warrant the betta or angler. I certainly don’t lure people in with treats in hopes of attacking them like the angler. I have never picked on anyone either. I’m getting rather tired of being judged on things no one knows anything about. You all want something to judge me on? Fine, take this bit of information, I’ve never been allowed to have a single friend. I honestly have never talked to anyone my age—ever. So take that morsal and chew on it. Then go ahead and make fun of me, when I haven’t done a damn thing to anyone except be freaked out for a few moments after learning of werewolf peers. And apparently, it’s enough to condemn me.” He waited to see what their replies would be.

"Er, uh, sorry." Jona put his hands up in defense and looked around the table. He was good at getting out of conflict, but not actually dealing with it. "I mean, when you said I ignored you, are you talking about when I asked 'what's up?' 'Cause I thought my body language was enough, thinking it was a cliche reply. I didn't realize it warranted a verbal response, so - my bad." He put his hands palm down on the table, thinking maybe thta would make Blade feel worse. Like, he was the one attacking Jona.

Obviously Jona had said or done something to make the boy feel bad. "Look, man, I'm really sorry that I hurt you. I didn't mean anything by it. I was just teasing about the angler fish thing, and I said so. I tease people that I like -" He blushed awkwardly. "Not like I like you, like, like like or anything. Not like that. I just mean as, like, friends. Man, I need to stop saying 'like.'" He scratched his head and sighed. "My family is kinda messed up and one of the ways I learned to show people I appreciate them is to tease them. Like, we are on such good terms and I will say this semi-hurtful thing, but you won't be hurt by it 'cause you know it's a joke, sorta thing. But, obviously I am too soon in assuming that. So. Sorry."

He looked down at his hands on the table. Another thought came to him: "And about the lion fish, I think those are some pretty awesome looking fish. And since your look was one of the things I liked about you when we first met..." He blushed again, keeping his eyes on his hands. "I just...made that connection." His voice got smaller and smaller each time he spoke. Then he sat in silence, staring a hole into the wooden table.

Toru was puzzled by Blade's sudden anger. Was their answer that upsetting? They definitely had a bewildered look on their face as they looked at Blade. They listened to their statement and processed it a bit, it did explain why they didn't get along well with others for the most part. Toru could understand not being able to talk to people their own age for most of their life. Their parents home schooled them after their public school incident in Kindergarten. Where as Blade came off as cool and aloof, Toru came off as anxious and shy.

"I t-think Betas are c-cute though." They mumbled softly and fidgeted with the edge of their sleeve. "A-And they're really s-smart! They can b-be aggressive a-and t-territorial, but t-that's a small piece to them..." Toru looked about to cry because of Blade's lashing and feeling the need to defend their choice. "I-I'm sorry if it came off wrong..."

Perhaps it was best to give Blade some space, but also not wanting to isolate him anymore. So instead of answering anyone else, they waited for Blade to say something.

Niamh looked at Blade, "fond memories, or something you'd rather not talk about?"

Paddy sighed, "look, while I can't say I'm overjoyed each time someone gets a bit freaked out when they learn what I am, I've learnt to deal with it. I can't speak for Magnus, but I know that my friends can appear a bit .... well, over protective at times. But that's part of friendship, right? Someone watching out for you?" She pushed the last slab of Honeydukes chocolate towards Jona, in the hope that eating it would help him feel less subdued. It'd taken her a while to get used to his nature, but she found now he did tend to bring some light to what could sometimes be a heavy conversation between the students.

Blade’s anger was dispelled almost instantaneously. “Oh,” he said when Jona explained he no reply. “No one’s ever teased me like what you are saying.” Not even his parents did that. “Well I admit, lionfish is one of my favourite fish but I thought you were just picking it because it was a ‘lion.’ So…er, sorry.” He shifted very awkwardly. “But I suppose I’m flattered you picked the fish for me with those reasons. Personally, if I was to choose one for you, it’d be a yellow tang. It’s bright and playful.”

“I’m sorry Toru, I misunderstood,” Blade said.

“Well, I like them because they are haunting and beautiful,” Blade said. “No real story really.”

“I can understand how it would get old,” Blade agreed to Paddy. “Yet I honestly couldn’t help my reaction and then felt like everyone was rather abrasive to me.” He shrugged his shoulders. “I wouldn’t know, like I said, I’ve never had a friendship. I’m trying and I’m still here so I think that shows I’ve moved on from the initial shock.”

Magnus shrugged. “I ‘ate being a werewolf. I ‘ate the werewolf and don’t wanna be known for it, but for meself. I am Magnus.”

Blade eased back down with a nod. What else could he say?

Jona stared wide-eyed at Blade who had seem ready to burst and was now suddenly the one for apologizing. "'s okay," he muttered awkwardly. He contemplated being called bright and playful, not really feeling either of those things at the moment.

It was Paddy's actions that pulled Jona from his funk. Sliding the chocolate toward him was one of the best things she could have offered. He didn't say thank you, but he did throw a big toothy grin her way as he nabbed the sweet and popped it in his way. He closed his eyes. Rather than chewing, he let the velvety chocolate melt on his tongue and he let all his problems melt away there, too.

Once he swallowed, a realization came to him and Jona gasped as his eyes popped open again. "I know!" He said to Magnus. "You're an octupus, 'cause you're not like any other fish in the sea. You're you!" Jona seemed very confident in his answer this time around and hoped Magnus would agree.

Blade sat awkwardly having know idea what to say or how to act. His food was barely touched.

Magnus laughed. "An octopus eh? Sure its not cos I got a big 'ead?" he teased. "I like it though, cute. Toru, I think you are a Wrasse cos they are easy going. And Paddy, a Cardinalfish. It's pretty and a little shy."

Toru nodded when Blade apologized and wiped their face so tears didn't roll down their cheeks. They thought that the air was much less tense and took a bit of the chocolate to help calm down entirely.

"I-I think Magnus is a-an Oscar Fish... T-They are very outgoing and like to g-get creative in their e-environments." They said softly before turning to Paddy. "A-And Paddy y-you're a Pacus. T-They look like a piranha, but are a-actually very sweet herbivores."

Jona laughed again; everyone seemed pretty happy at the table. Except for Blade who looked awkward as hell. Jona waved at him to get his attention.

"Here," he said and handed Blade a churro. Then he pushed his mug of hot chocolate over, too. "It's way better when you dip it in the cocoa."

Blade broke off a piece of the Honeyduke's chocolate that Paddy had given him. He stood up, walked over to Toru and handed him the piece. Wordlessly, he went back to his seat and sat down beside Niamh.

"Ooh I like that Toru," Magnus said with a smile. "Oh I've seen the pacus, their brilliant."

Blade had been playing with something in his hands, but slid the silver object into his pocket when he notice Jona's wave. "Thanks," he said. Then added, "Er...what is it?" he asked Jona. "It looks like a stick." He examined the churro with a look of curiosity on his face before he sniffed it. He still wasn't quiet sure about it, but dipped it gently into the hot chocolate and took a hesitant bite. "Hmm," he said, "not bad. Not bad at all."

((since Niamh is there too)) Jona laughed at Blade's question. "Have you never had a churro before? That's crazy!" Saying that, he shoved the last churro in his mouth and took a big gulp of cocoa to wash it down. "My mom used to make them all the time. She wasn't a very good cook, but one thing she could make was churros." He smiled, thinking of a simpler time, but it didn't last long before the smile soured and his brows furrowed. "My dad never liked her churros, though. He'd always get angry when she made 'em..." A moment later he blinked, smile plastered back on his face. "But! That meant more for me and my brother so no complaining there!"

((and all))

"No," Blade said, "if they are muggle I won't know of it."

"I ain't ever 'eard of 'em either," Magnus said, "they ain't from England are they Jona?" Magnus thought it was strange the man got angry over a snack but chose not to say anything as Jona looked sad. "Are you all going to the beach trip coming up? Maybe you can bring more churros Jona.

"Hm, I don't know about them being muggle or not. Can food be muggle or magic? I mean, I know there are some magical foods, but it seems weird to me to not know about other food out there? Anyway, my mom's from Mexico and her dad taught her how to make these." He shrugged then nodded excitedly to Magnus. "Oh. I never miss a beach day! I probs won't bring any churros, though. I only eat them when I'm feeling homesick and they're not the best beach food either. I'll definitely think of something to bring, though!"

"According to my parents," Blade replied, "yes some food is eaten by muggles or was made by them and my parents won't touch it. Though to be honest I don't know if that's really true or not."

"Ah, I see. Might be why I ain't eard of 'em. But good to know. Oh I'm so excited about it. We can play with a ball in the water and on the sand. Maybe build sandcastles." Then he suddenly asked, "So, Jona... is Zoe like...a girl friend or just friend who's a girl?"

Jona was opened his mouth to ask Blade another question but quickly whipped his head around, with his mouth still hanging, so fast he actually got a little dizzy. "Whaaaaa?" He stared at Magnus flabbergasted after the question he'd just asked. He looked around at everyone at the table, not sure who was listening and who wasn't. Since it was only over the summer that Jona had experienced his first crush, the topic was rather sensitive. "I, er, - no! Pfft. Gross! She's my best friend. Okay, I don't mean gross. I'm sure she would make a great girlfriend - but for someone else! I just, she's way older than me and I consider her a close friend. And she practically treats me like a little brother, which I'm totally okay with, so I can only imagine she thinks the same?" Jona was breathing fast. There were few topics of conversation that rattled me so much, but that of crushes and likes was definitely one of them.

Magnus blushed. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything. She's a pretty girl is all." He really wanted to hide now.