2024-01-31: The Night Before A Homecoming
- Log: 2024-01-31: The Night Before A Homecoming
- Cast: Redi Hayworth, Hicalu Wilwisp, Riley Arwell, Xander Lovell, Yulie Ahtreide
- Where: Hilton
- Date: January 31, 2024
- Summary: Redi, accompanied by Yulie, Hicalu, Riley, and Xander, is about to return to her hometown of Hilton. Excitement is in the air, but so is nervousness -- particularly amongst friends who have their concerns about what might be waiting for them.
<Pose Tracker> Redi Hayworth has posed.
After driving back the Veruni -- something that was a much closer call than any of them would have liked -- and tending to their wounds...
It was time to get back onto the road. They're now stopped for the evening, as there is a bit too long to walk to Hilton and dropping in on Redi's family in the dead of night seems like a bad idea. There is a camp, with a campfire and spaced out tents, sleeping bags, and other sleeping arrangements.
Dinner has been served!
And now... now, it's time to sit around the fire. And not feel awkward.
"...Soooooo..." Redi trails off. "Big day tomorrow!" She laughs nervously. And, as it happens, some motes of violet and dark red are still drifting off of her.
"...really hope this goes away by the time we get there."
<Pose Tracker> Hicalu Wilwisp has posed.
Hicalu was of course in his cooking cap and tail-net while helping whip up dinner. It's important for food safety to keep both hair and fur out of the food! He put them away when it was time to eat, of course, and now he's sitting in his breezy Baskar clothes around the campfire, poking a marshmellow into it on a stick.
"It'll be fine!" He encourages Redi, extending that stick over to her to offer her a Toasted Marshy Mallow. "It's always gone away before, so just think positive! That's what Lan would say!"
Of course, Lan might also say, 'HICALU WHY ARE YOU TRAVELLING WITH MURDERERS ARE YOU OKAY'... wait no, that's Hicalu. That's what Hicalu would say.
Give them some credit: Riley and Xander haven't made him faint once tonight. (Yulie might want to keep the smelling salts handy, though. Just... just in case.)
<Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
For everyone's sanity (and perhaps safety) the Fangs have been their seperate tent some ways away from the main group's camp. But that doesn't mean they can't socialize before it's time to turn in (sorry, Xander)! During their travels, Riley has been attempting ... outreach... to Hicalu in particular, since they very much got off on the wrong foot before. He tried offering him candy (the candy was blatantly evil) and fruit (probably shouldn't have reassured him aloud that it wasn't poisoned) and even played some music for him (and accidentally infused it with mood-altering magic). Alas, these overtures seem to have only made him scarier somehow???
But maybe facing conflict together is what will finally forge the bonds of trust...!!! Though hopefully that conflict is entirely in the past now, and the next part of the trip will be a happy one.
"What's your hometown like, Redi?"
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
Xander had alchemy supplies on hand to assist in healing, though largely refused to administer any himself. That probably wasn't a terrible issue: injections, candies, and liquid potions are not difficult for anyone to figure out. He's only used to keep stock for two people, however, and now that everyone's around the campfire to... socialize (ugh), Xander's busying himself by going through his reagents. He's carefully cutting stems, opening seeds, dividing strange liquids, and other such organizational tasks. He'll need to collect more later. For now, it's fine, unless they go and start a war in Hilton.
Perhaps he shouldn't be ruling that out.
Mostly, he's been trying to opt out of saying much of anything to keep to the agreement of not spooking anyone. But Hicalu did get a quiet thanks for dinner.
Redi generates dark motes and Xander glances up for his place seated on the ground. If she wants it to go away...
"...You'll have to calm down for that, based on what I've seen."
<Pose Tracker> Yulie Ahtreide has posed.
Enough time has passed that, with everyone's help, Yulie is back on her feet. The encounter with the Veruni still weighs on her mind... but, hopefully, they'll leave them alone, for now - at least long enough to see Redi to Hilton.
She knows that won't be the last they see of them. That isn't how it works.
For now, though - sitting around a campfire! She can push those thoughts out of her head, and just try to enjoy everyone's company.
"Big day tomorrow." Yulie agrees, looking Redi's away. She catches that nervous laugh. "...We'll be with you, okay?"
Those violet andd dark red motes... Yulie nods, at Hicalu's encouragement.
"Yes... Perhaps after a good night's sleep?" She suggests - and then nod, at Xander's comment. "Yes - that's a good start. Maybe try some breathing exercises...?"
Riley asks a question, then, and Yulie looks Redi's way.
"I'm curious about that, too..." She admits.
<Pose Tracker> Redi Hayworth has posed.
"Right!" Redi replies to Hicalu, flashing him a smile. She takes the toasted marshmallow off. "Thanks, Hicalu."
She takes the marshmallow and eats it -- and she's licking the remains off her fingers when she looks at Xander. She frowns a little. "...yeah," she says. "Probably so. It seems to get worse when I'm anxious. Or agitated..."
She looks sideways at Yulie, then she smiles. "Y-Yeah, I know. Thanks again, for coming with me..." She trails off. "I'll try those breathing exercises before I go to sleep. Maybe that'll do the trick."
What is Hilton like?
Redi looks thoughtful, for a second. "Well..." Then she looks back at Riley and Yulie. "...It's a port town. It's on the eastern part of Ignas, closer to Elru than Aquvy. It's usually pretty busy, though that changed a lot a few years ago. After Elru..."
After three kingdoms, in succession, were destroyed by three different disasters. "...But it's still lively. The market is amazing, with fresh fish for sale. And there's some big hotels, to appeal to tourists. There's some huge festivals, especially in summer and fall, and those draw in big crowds of people."
Redi leans back a little, looking at the campfire. "This time of year, it'll be a bit quieter. It's still nice, though," she says. "There's a lot of people coming through, locally. And the harbor's always breathtaking, with all the different ships. And the hill, just outside the city, looking down on it... and the lighthouse, out in the harbor. They say its light dates back from before the Day of Collapse."
<Pose Tracker> Hicalu Wilwisp has posed.
Hicalu ate the evil candy, and immediately went deathly pale (which is saying something, he's a desert fox) and fainted. He politely refused the fruit which Definitely Wasn't Poisoned, after that. As for the music, well...
... he ended up latching onto Yulie and weeping for the next HOUR about the inevitability of death.
So, all in all, Riley's efforts have been a big fat goose egg in terms of results.
Buuuut... Xander did leap into action to catch an attack meant for Redi, in the Veruni's assault. He made sure she didn't get sucked into a two-on-one battle, and that's not nothing.
Xander is, of course, also over there, but maybe that's for the best. But something Yulie says makes Hicalu look over there, because he has to ask: "Uh -- h-hey, uh -- you got any sleeping weeds in that pile? W-w-when I really can't sleep, somethin' like that can help a lot... Redi might need it?"
And as much as Hicalu can provide Redi with marshed mallows -- and he does grin, when she thanks him -- there are some things he's just not at great at. His everyday Symbology doesn't really deal with sleep.
He listens to Redi's account of Hilton, though, his tail wagging lightly back and forth. "Wow, it's the same light? It must be SO old!" It's probably not literally the same light, but he believes it. "And that fish sounds amazing... I never really had fish until I was an adult, so it's just, it's so cool now? And you can cook it up so many ways! It's not really a baking thing, so I'm not an expert or nothin', but..."
<Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
Technically, everyone faints after they eat the evil candy! Or maybe dies? It's unclear. Either way it only lasts a minute or so. The long-term effects are still unknown... now Hicalu is part of the experiment! (So is Riley, if that helps??)
Xander can make all kinds of stuff like that," he enthuses proudly, though he has no idea if Xander has any of the relevant ingredients on hand. Riley doesn't usually have trouble sleeping, and Xander... has the god power improved his insomnia? Either way, he has never been one to really treat it so much as just endure it.
Redi tells them of her hometown. "It sounds really nice! Maybe we can go back for a festival sometime... do you think the lighthouse has some special magic?" He's never thought about how long the light in a lighthouse is meant to last, but that seems like a really long time!
At some point in the description he reached out to put his hand on Xander's shoulder, a touch meant to reassure and distract him from ... something ... while letting him continue to focus on his work with the reagents.
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
If it's any consolation to anyone, Riley got in trouble with Xander over the candy thing. (It is probably not a consolation to Riley.)
"Seems nothing. That's what happens." Xander's seen it a few times now, both in attempted conversation, and in the ways he's provoked her during combat himself. Hicalu makes a wise suggestions, and Xander heaves a sigh, shifting through his bag.
"... Yes. I can brew a tea before bed."
(If there's a different kind of weed, does Xander even know what it is...?!)
Alchemical tea, naturally. Is he just taking it for granted anyone would want to consume anything he makes...?! His medicine worked though.
As she describes her hometown, Xander stops. He's not looking at anyone. Or anything. But Riley's hand touches his shoulder, and Xander continues on as if he'd never blanked out.
<Pose Tracker> Yulie Ahtreide has posed.
Yulie nods, offering Redi a small smile in return as she thanks her.
"It helps me. I don't know for sure if it will you in this situation, but... it couldn't hurt." She replies.
She looks briefly toward Hicalu - then, back to Redi as she talks about Hilton. Yulie listens intently, looking fascinated. It's nice to hear someone talking about their home like this.
"That sounds really nice." She replies. "I certainly don't the quiet... but I wouldn't mind going back for a festival sometime, either. That must be incredible."
She can picture it - all the different ships from all other, gathering in the harbor - the people, the sounds...
The lighthouse, though, also catches her interest.
"That's incredible..." Yulie considers. ...It really must be old, like Hicalu says. And magic... "I'm really curious, too. I wonder if they ever have to do maintenance on it..."
<Pose Tracker> Redi Hayworth has posed.
"I don't think it could hurt," Redi says to Yulie. "I'll give it a go."
"Sleeping weed...?" Redi asks Hicalu, then she looks at Xander. Riley seems confident, at least. She hasn't, actually, taken that before. But she hasn't taken many medicines before; a lot of the standard curatives don't quite work right on her.
Something about a curse.
She looks back at Xander -- and then she sighs a little, cheeks puffing out for just a moment. "Okay, okay, so it's what happens," she says. "But... yeah. Maybe the tea will help."
"Maybe fish pies," Redi tells Hicalu, with a grin. "They sell some of those in the market! After we get there and catch up with my folks, maybe we can go looking for fish."
She looks at Riley, as she thinks about that for a moment. "I'm not sure. I heard it's a device... so it could be more technology than magic," she admits. "But... it's hard to say. We didn't have that many specialists on ARMs in town." She looks at Yulie, then. "I know scholars from Linga come out to do some work on it, sometimes."
She smiles at Riley, then -- though there's a nervous flicker of her eyes to Xander, when she sees how he tenses. For just a moment, before he goes back to preparing reagents.
Redi looks back to Yulie, then, and she smiles again. "Maybe we can come back for one of the summer festivals," she says. "The one in the middle of summer, they do a big fireworks show from the lighthouse! And you can watch up on the hill. I went every year... well, except this year, since... y'know."
<Pose Tracker> Hicalu Wilwisp has posed.
Hicalu doesn't want to die!!!!
... maybe that's why he refused the fruit, later on.
It's so scary.
"Those festivals do sound cool..." Hicalu can agree with that much from the terrifying Riley, at least. "Yeah," he nods, to Yulie, "let's come see a festival!"
And when Xander says that he has tea which can help, Hicalu's ears perk up. "Great! T-thanks a lot!" Xander is as scary as Riley is, but at least his medicines don't seem... as evil as the candy. (The candy was blacker than the blackest night, but Hicalu THOUGHT it was LICORICE!)
His ears do kind of aeroplane out to either side of his head, though, because he does recognise when someone is zoning out. And -- "Y-you okay?" He asks about it.
"Fish pie? Huh! Yeah, that could work... like, more of a savoury-umami meat pie than a sweet pie..." Hicalu gets lost in thought, for a moment, contemplating pie.
Until, of course: "Yeah," Hicalu smiles, sympathetically, when Redi says that she missed the latest summer festival. "But hey, let's go see the next one together! Right, Yulie?" Even if she missed it one time... she can still go back for another festival, right?
<Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
Let him share his delicious abominations, Xander!! (bad things happen when Riley attempts alchemy; the candy was one of them)
"Mmm, mysterious," he says of the lighthouse. Redi missed a year of fireworks... will she be able to return to how things were? Riley hopes so. He... may be projecting onto Redi some wishes to have things turn out differently for her than they did for him and Xander, after their own curse... and if not... they'll do all the damage control they can.
"That really does sound fun," he says of the fireworks show. It's nice to think of things happening in the future again... 'this summer' is no longer a forbidden idea. He sighs happily and nudges Xander. "We're going to do things this summer...!" he tells him, the tone like it's some kind of inside joke. He is busy teasing (?) (expressing gratitude??) to him that he misses his chance to intercept Hicalu's question.
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
Anyone observant enough might notice that Xander is wearing a bracelet of beads blacker than night... a 'candy bracelet' as it were. Because the only thing that occursed creation is good for is jewelry. They're not fit for consumption, Riley!
Unfortunately, Xander never did figure out how to overcome his own curse in regards to certain medications either. But there's no harm in trying, and perhaps something warm and pleasant will have a positive effect on its own. It's too late for anyone to second guess it anyway. Xander's already setting water to boil and crushing reagents into a fine powder with his mortar and pestel.
But now Hicalu's asking after him and... at first Xander doesn't say anything, until he realizes no one else answered. He looks up to blink once at Hicalu, then to Redi and Yulie, before realizing this is directed at him. "... I--" 'm fine, is usually how that stock response ends. But Hicalu's ears are doing the thing, and Xander flinches. That's... illegal?!
"...It's just memories," he says, and he goes back to what he was doing.
But now Riley's nudging him and Xander looks back up. "Y-Yes?" He's still rattled?! But Xander swiftly recovers, sighing, but not unfondly. "...Yes. We are." That's why Xander is threatening the existence of everything. Hopefully present company doesn't think too hard about that.
"Festivals, fireworks, fish pie. Whaatever you want."
Riley didn't say fish pie Xander. (That's what Xander wants...)
<Pose Tracker> Yulie Ahtreide has posed.
Yulie nods back to Redi. Between that and the tea, hopefully it'll help. Meanwhile - fish pies! Yulie thinks on that, as Hicalu considers it.
"That sounds great. I'd love to try one." She agrees enthusiastically. She always loves trying new foods. She listens intently, too, as Redi talks a bit more about the lighthouse. A device... One that receives visits from scholars from Linga. "I see..."
It must be quite the sight.
Yulie smiles back to Redi, then, as she mentions the summer festival.
"Fireworks... that sounds lovely. I've never seen them in person." She replies, mystified - and then nods enthusiastically at Hicalu. "Yes! We should."
She offers Redi a smile, with a small tilt of the head.
"You have new friends to see the festival with, now. Doesn't that make up for lost time?" She asks.
She meets Xander's glance briefly as he looks toward her - but ultimately Hicalu's question is directed at him. ...Memories... she can understand that.
Riley enthuses to Xander, and Yulie smiles.
"Sounds like we're all in agreement." She comments.
<Pose Tracker> Redi Hayworth has posed.
"Right!" Redi says, beaming at Hicalu and Ylie. "And they're totally enclosed, too. Like... a flaky crust all around, that you can hold with one hand. They do them with other meats and vegetables, too."
She holds a hand up, miming the shape. "Some of them have cheese inside. Or a sauce, or something else."
Then, she looks at Riley -- and she smiles, head tilted. "Yeah," Redi says. "I don't really have the knowledge to say how it works. I delivered mail out there, sometimes. Had to take a ferry, it took a bit to get there and back. It was always fun to go see it, though."
Did Xander flinch, a little, at Hicalu's ears? Riley did say something about him liking cute Pokemon. Maybe the ears...
She keeps this information to herself. Even if she frowns, a little, when he mentions memories.
Redi thinks a little on the festival she missed. Her brow furrows, for a moment; she can almost picture it, going with her parents. "Mm-hm. No more being in Aquvy in early summer," she says.
She looks at Xander and Riley, then smiles a bit as she watches them interact. (She does, in fact, not make the connection about ending the world being why they'll be here come summer.) They do seem happy.
Yulie points out she has new friends, now, to go see the festival with. "Y-Yeah, it does. More than makes up for it." She grins sheepishly, looking at Hicalu, then at the whole group. "Yeah, let's do it! It'll be fun! And besides, if you've never seen fireworks--"
She beams at Yulie, pointing a finger at her. "We've gotta fix that!"
<Pose Tracker> Hicalu Wilwisp has posed.
"Oh... that sucks," Hicalu says, when Xander explains it as memories. He can guess they're not pleasant ones, after all.
Hicalu's ears wilt anew as he listens to Riley's excitement over doing things in the summer. He's so excited that Hicalu feels bad for judging him (for all the murders he's definitely done). His ears are so expressive.
He makes a note to make Xander some fish pie. (Hopefully, he won't kill him when he brings it over.) And Yulie wants fish pie, too, which is a much less dangerous cooking prospect. "Yeah! I'm gonna try makin' a fish pie, too!!" He chirps, to her, ears perking up again.
"I've heard of them! They're like, sky explosions, right?" Hicalu says to Redi, gesturing out. "Like a big fireball in the sky? Like that?" Oh no. HE'S NEVER SEEN FIREWORKS.
<Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
"And fish pie," Riley echoes resolutely, taking note of the addition and the important insight it represents into Xander's wishes.
Yulie mentions that Redi has new friends to bring to the festival. "That's right...! You must have met all kinds of people traveling around. And all kinds of... mail. Hopefully getting displaced" -- and cursed -- "wasn't all bad."
Hicalu and Xander... have an exchange. Riley wasn't expecting him to read into things so easily. The hand on Xander's shoulder squeezes. "...All the more reason we should be sure to make some good memories, even if it's not quite festival season yet..." He's going to will the universe to let this homecoming go right...
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
"Uh. Yeah," is all Xander can say to Hicalu's sympathy, slightly mystified, because Hicalu should not have sympathy for Xander. It is not something Xander requires, nor something Hicalu should give. But if he corrects that, he'll be breaking whatever get-along agreement he's got going.
Redi continues to describe fish pies in a way Xander is now desperately trying not to think about because these are temptations beyond his grasp at the moment. Meat in a flakey shell... it's not fair...
We're all in agreement, says Yulie, and Xander blinks up again. His mouth opens, then shuts. That's not really -- well. He sighs and crushes herbs. There's no point in contesting this. It isn't as if he thinks he'll be ending the world within the year.
An entirely different discomfort bubbles up. Yulie and Hicalu excited to see fireworks. Promises of a festival at Redi's hometown... against Redi's cursed motes smeared in red and violet.
Riley squeezes Xander's shoulder, and Xander lets that chase the thoughts away. It's fine. It's fine. He pushes it all away and, water boiling, dissolves his mixture into it, the color beginning to turn a faint violet.
<Pose Tracker> Yulie Ahtreide has posed.
The more they talk about fish pie, the more Yulie wants to try one. It sounds like there's so many different options... She's intrigued. She smiles at Hicalu's enthusiasm, too.
"If you come up with a good recipe, share it with me? I'd like to try my hand at it, too." She asks.
And with that, she grins back at Redi.
"Yes, definitely." She agrees with a nod, before looking toward Hicalu. "You haven't seen them, either? I guess it'll be a first for both of us... that's exciting."
She nods, then, at Riley's comment, looking back toward Redi.
"Yes... I hope so too." She agrees.
<Pose Tracker> Redi Hayworth has posed.
"I want to try it when you make it!" Redi adds, after Hicalu declares his intentions of cooking a fish pie. She may not be much help in preparing; she is only a middling cook, sadly.
"And yours, too, Yulie!" she adds. "See? I'm helping."
Redi looks at Xander, then smiles. She tilts her head a little, but then she nods at him. "Yeah... yeah, it wasn't all bad. Not by a long shot," she says. She looks over all of them, and there's a moment where she almost feels overwhelmed.
Almost.
After all, they all came here with her. They fought the Veruni for her. Even being cursed, she can't help but feel gratitude for that. She thinks of the fireworks; of the times in the past, and she thinks of the times to come.
It's easier, somehow, to imagine being there with these friends than it is to remember going with older friends. Their faces feel fuzzier; their memories feel more distant. Redi sniffs, then, and wipes her eye.
"Y-You guys..."
But then Hicalu says something. Something the others seem to take in stride.
Redi's pale blue eyes blink once, then twice at Hicalu. "W-Wait, you haven't seen fireworks either?" she asks. "Aah, we have to go, then!"
<Pose Tracker> Hicalu Wilwisp has posed.
OH NO. RILEY AND XANDER ARE SO SAD. Sorry, Xander: Hicalu is sympathising.
"Yeah!!" He's more enthusiastic when it comes to Yulie bonding with him over fireworks confusion, at least. "Sometimes people talked about them, but I was always too scared to go check it out. Like... sky explosions sound terrifying?! But these don't sound so bad. And since you're a Paladienne, you can protect me if it goes bad, anyway!!"
Is that really what a Paladienne does? That's probably what a Paladienne does.
"Are they really that cool?" He adds, tilting his head at Redi. "If you say they are... then yeah! Let's do it!!"
He pauses, and adds: "Hey," to Xander and Riley, "are you guys gonna come, too?" Oh, no: an invitation to a future event.
<Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
"The tea smells good..." Riley, don't go yearning after other people's medicine! But maybe Xander is making enough for everybody... It's not like a good night's sleep ever hurt anyone (did it?)
"Fireworks are great! You'll love them! They're sparkly and dazzling..." he enthuses to Hicalu. Well, okay, maybe Hicalu will be afraid of them, but maybe with Yulie to protect him things will be fine?
Riley perks up at Hicalu's invitation. "...Yes! Do you mind if we come?" His eyes sparkle. Has friendship... been achieved??
Redi gets a little choked up about friendship, herself. Riley offers an encouraging smile. She must be worried... "You did get new friends out of it! And you can count on us," he says. Even if later that means putting her in a safety bubble when Xander destroys the world. He still means it! (he is holding out hope Xander will find her family and hometown too adorable to threaten and too numerous to make exceptions for and maybe they'll be done with that whole 'destroying the world' thing before it really gets started. He'll feel very clever if that happens.)
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
This is what it was supposed to be like, wasn't it? If the curse never happened. This is what they could have had, if the curse had never happened. But it's happening right now. Redi's cursed, and she has it. For now. For now. An uplifting adventure, and then a homecoming. That's when it goes wrong.
Suddenly, the world feels like it's balanced on a precarious edge. Xander nearly spills a pot of boiling water on himself. He sucks in through his teeth, nearly avoiding disaster before pouring cups. More than one -- there is enough for everybody. He does not say anything about that, he just pushes his offering forward.
(It's tea to relax -- sweet, but floral. It encourages restful, dreamless sleep, but weak enough to happen on its own time. No one will pass out immediately.)
It's not going to be that way this time. Not for someone else. It's so stupid to think it. What does it matter? He'll end everything, if he has to. But thought crimes aren't real and he can make a stupid, pointless vow to himself if he wants. Redi will be fine, anyway.
All Xander has in him to communicate at the moment is a noncommital, "Mm," in response.
<Pose Tracker> Yulie Ahtreide has posed.
"Great! Look forward to it." Yulie replies, as Redi declares her intent to try her and Hicalu's fish pies.
"I'm glad." Yulie says, as Redi decides this time hasn't been all bad. She's tearing up a little... Yulie offers her a gentle smile.
...But suddenly, fireworks! Hicalu enthuses, too. Yulie giggles.
"Yes, that's right!" She confirms. Certainly, it's what a Paladienne should do. "I hear they can get pretty loud, so we'll probably want to make sure you have some ear protection..."
Sparkling and dazzling... That really does sound nice.
But, Xander has prepared tea for everyone, so when makes the offer, Yulie gratefully accepts a cup.
"Thank you." She replies politely.
<Pose Tracker> Redi Hayworth has posed.
"That tea does smell good," Redi agrees with Riley. She takes it,and has a sip of her tea. Her eyes close and she sighs. "Wow... that's good."
Redi cracks an eye open at Hicalu saying that Yulie can protect him. She certainly thinks it what a Paladienne does. Among other things.
"They're the best," she promises him.
She looks at Yulie -- and smiles back at her, with a nod. No more tears from her. It's not an unhappy occasion.
Even if it could have been one.
She looks at Hicalu, when he invites the Fangs -- and she doesn't argue with it. "Of course!" she tells Riley. "The more the merrier."
Maybe, she thinks, everything will be fine tomorrow. It feels like it might -- like any lingering worries she has are nothing to be concerned about. She doesn't quite catch how Xander nearly poured the tea on himself.
It will be fine, she tells herself.