[ Devo perks up somewhat, hopeful that Dusty is right. After all, he'd been studying magic his entire life. Studying magic and practicing magic and not doing just about anything else. If that one skillset puts him in a better position to learn other magic and be of use to this fledgling world, maybe some small part of all those years will have been worth it.

He shoots Dusty a small, shy, grateful smile, tucking a stray bit of hair behind his ear. This guy seems very good-natured; he's not making fun of Devo in spite of what a mess he is, didn't jump to asking rude intrusive questions or scoff at him and walk away.

Devo does his best not to speak, to avoid spilling any other truths, but he can't help himself when Dusty mentions shitty teachers; he opens his mouth and it all just comes tumbling out. ]

Oh, believe me, 'crappy' doesn't even begin to cover it. The Parish are super fucked up and terrible. And they raised me, which means maybe some part of me will always be fucked up and terrible, too, no matter what I do. Maybe I can't ever escape it, even somewhere as far away as this.

[ That thought - which isn't one Devo even entirely realized he had - makes his shoulders slump in resigned worry. ]

I am not going to lie to you, because I cannot lie to you right now, I really hope they have an antidote. If I embarrass myself any more, I might actually start to cry, and I'll ruin my chances of even making one single friend in this world.

[ He can tell, for instance - is almost positive that he's making Dusty deeply uncomfortable. He's just spilling all this crap about his insecurities, and he'd actually said that comment about Dusty being cute out loud, and it's a bonafide nightmare. Devo isn't normally all that suave in social situations, but he's usually better than this. ]

My name is Devo, by the way. Devo la Main. I am making a very bad first impression, yes?