#suffearable

!!!

"Hm. It seems Ms. Lauma is headed in the direction of the Curatorium of Secrets. I wonder why that could be. Thoughts, Sir Varka?" To any outside observer that wasn't familiar with the Lantern Fae such words would seem like a mere observation, but with the gentle nudge of his elbow against Varka's own and how careful assessment could catch the hint of mirth in yellow eyes as well as the barest hint of a smile, it would be apparent Flins was absolutely teasing him. For all that Flins could and would acknowledge that the Grandmaster of the Knights of Favonius was a highly intelligent and capable man, it was an endless source of amusement to the Lightkeepter that some social cues and matters of the heart seemed to elude him entirely.

"Oh dear, oh dear!" Cacucu squawked, flying ahead of Ifa in an attempt to keep up with the quick redhead, with only a beat going by before the man called out a "What he said! Take it easy, bro! A little pitstop wouldn't kill ya but keeping on like that just might!" Now, was the situation truly that dire? He couldn't be certain until he'd gotten a closer look, but that much blood on a guy's shirt couldn't possibly mean anything good for him.

"I'll keep it real with ya, bro, I'm no physician but I am a well-practiced veterinarian with a good amount of experience tackling some human patients, too. Just let me take a little look at'cha to make sure you're not gonna croak in the middle of near nowhere, yeah? Promise it'll be quick, I just can't in good conscience let you keep on after seeing you're hurt, and neither can my friend there."

Her pardon from her crime of committing one of the Ten Sins came as a shock. Magnolia expected to serve the sentence for the rest of her life, however long that may last, but following the defeat of Lord Ravager Phantilya and the resealing of the Ambrosial Arbor, she was served a letter signed by the Arbiter General himself granting her pardon, with signatures from other commissions to boot. She's not certain what she did to earn this... Aside from her first aid when the Denizens of the Abundance and Antimatter Legion attacked. But even then, she didn't think that would be enough for what she had done.

Still, Magnolia was pretty happy that she could leave her home without an entourage, though the woman was certain she was still being monitored. If that was the price of freedom, then she wasn't upset about paying it. Finally, she could return to one of her pastimes: finding a nice tea shop to drink and read in quiet.

The place she found was a blink and you'll miss it sort. People hardly gave it a second glance because of the lack of advertisement and flashy decoration, but Magnolia knew it would be perfect for her. Setting up a spot with her brand new book and ordering a pot, she was about to start reading when a flash of movement caught her eye. As much as she wanted to just ignore it and read, her curiosity won out.

Excusing herself from the table and promising to return, Magnolia makes her way out of the shop to hopefully find the fleeting figure. A shock of raven hair and worn Xianzhou clothing... A strange feeling settled in her chest. Steeling her nerves, she decided to follow this person and put this odd feeling to rest.

“the water you asked for,” kept in a couple of canteens that he sets a safe distance away from the fire built center stage in their haven for the night. plus a few other things he found along the way that might come in handy, including a bit of extra wood and solid branches to extend the life of their fire if need be. “if you need more than this, i’ll go back for it.” the offer made consciously not in the effort of serving as the willing errand boy, but to carry his own weight out of the action as much as within it, even if he lacks the certain spark of enthusiasm. gladio was taking on the more extensive effort of setting up camp.

if he couldn’t do at least that, then he wouldn’t have any part in what he’d spent half the day listening to gladio tout as the holy grail of fine dining this world has to offer. white noise, really. not that the bar was set very high on the best of days, but he’s been force-fed to an exhaustive extent this education of ❛ fine, fresh ingredients ❜ and how adding them to something ❛ already delicious like cup noodles ❜ creates an ultimate flavor experience. like it was the only thing that occupied that head of his while tracking down one in a series of formidable marks. all the while, in his taciturn nature, keeping his doubts fine-pressed to the back of his teeth and his expression the unspoken voice of neutrality on the subject while forging ahead on the narrow road set in front of them. he had nothing of value to add to this one-sided conversation, much less anything of value to take away from it. they couldn't find their mark fast enough as far as he was concerned.

"Jing Yuan, it's good to see you again." Dan Heng greeted with a small smile and a polite bow of his head. Truthfully his reason for coming back to the Xianzhou had little to do with visiting an old friend, but he would've felt bad if he didn't take the opportunity to see the General while he was here. Though this friendship between them may never become as close as they once were, since coming to terms with his past Dan Heng could admit Jing Yuan was good company.

"I know I announced my visit on short notice, so if you have more important matters to attend to than meeting me here at the markets feel free to return to your duties. I wouldn't want to be the one to get you into trouble." He's surely done more than enough of that already across two lifetimes.