Romano chose not to watch Faussin, instead moving to another section of the table to clean up more crumbs. Admittedly, he didn't want to make Clair feel any worse than she already did--for that reason, he resolved not to say a word to her until he was sure none of them would be cruel.
"Good morning, Fauss!" The pep had returned to Madoka's voice. Risking a glance, Romano saw Clair staring vacantly at the flowers. She looked over at Madoka as if asking for permission to take them. Madoka gave a small nod, and Clair reached out cautiously to take the bouquet from Faussin, smiling for just a split second.
Romano returned his gaze to the table. Beside him, Oni shuffled, clearly noticing the influx of negative feelings.
"Yo, homies!" Faqir suddenly pushed the door open, sauntering inside. "How's it--oh."
What followed was a brief, uneasy silence. Romano turned to face Faqir, bowing.
"Good morning, Master Faqir. Miss Vivara was hoping for everyone to arrive. Have you seen the others?"
"None of the others I wanted to see." Faqir made a beeline for Graham, skirting around Clair entirely. Romano noticed her wince visibly. Her lips parted as if she would say something, then she apparently thought better of it and bit down on her bottom lip. "Anyway, sorry I'm late. I spent the last three hours jerking off to a recording of Clair and Braeden in that casino. Turns out the computer lab has video surveillance footage, who knew?"
Clair hid further behind Madoka, tugging on his arm. She whispered something in his ear. Madoka frowned.
"I've been in the computer lab and we're denied access from the security cameras. Those would be in the security offices we can't get into."
"Boo, you always ruin my fun. Can a guy not make terrible jokes in peace anymore?"
"She already apologized, Faqir."
Oni tensed. Romano didn't need her incredibly sharp intuition to notice where the conversation was steering.
"There is quite a lot of lingering tension after the events of our last trial," he said calmly. "However, I for one would love to ignore this tension for now so we may enjoy the gift Miss Vivara has prepared for us. To that end, I propose a temporary truce."
Madoka frowned. "If it will get everyone to stop."
Faqir snorted, staring at the wall. He kept quiet, however, leading Romano to assume his speaking up had at least calmed him for now.
He watched the door, longing for the rest of the group to enter so they could hurry to address more important matters--calming everyone down.