"Right, my mind must be muddled for which day it is. Goodnight, Rukeewei!" Ariel said as the barman retired for the night.

Ariel had a couple more mouthfuls of soup as Meesei spoke. She nodded at the time estimate, and the mention of leaving. The letter business was something she hadn't thought of, but it stood to reason that it was within the pack's power. Ariel swallowed and considered this. It would be wonderful to hear how Sabine and the rest of the pack were. She put her spoon on the table for a moment to reply. "If you could do that, I would love to hear from you. From you all, even." She smiled and put her hand up at Meesei to gently halt her, "But, don't trouble yourself unnecessarily. If you have to keep information to yourself about anything, I won't mind, I understand." Ariel put her hand back on the table and cocked her head curiously at Sabine, who was staring at the table in front of her. "It would be wonderful to hear from you, sister. Would you write me letters every now and then?" Ariel asked.

Sabine looked up and breathed in.Then looked away, unsure. She could read passably, but she wasn't very good at writing. She tightened her lips for a moment. "I'll try," she mumbled, not enjoying that a nod or a shake of the head wasn't sufficient to communicate at that point.

In response, Ariel smiled. She might not get frequent or long letters, but to know that Sabine was okay was good enough for her. She was especially interested to know how the ritual that Meesei planned was going to turn out. If it would help Sabine to overcome her fears.

Ariel addressed the entire pack, she appeared tired after such an activity-filled day, but her tone was upbeat. "I should probably tell you that I have an appointment with the An-Xileel... oh, what did they call him..." Ariel snapped her fingers a couple of times and looked at the ceiling, trying to remember, "I think he was a guildmaster of sorts? Or an adviser? Something in Jel along that... line of thought... Anyway, they said that if I come by tomorrow afternoon at about four o'clock, I can discuss a loan to purchase a shop and have it fitted." She bobbed her head to the side, "Of course, they were too busy to discuss much else at the time, as you can imagine with the festival. I'll also have to contact suppliers and scope out what any other alchemists are selling in the city, but who knows? Perhaps I'll have a place to call my own by tomorrow. It's funny, I never thought..." Ariel stopped and leaned her head against her hand, covering one eye. She was smiling, but her next breath had a hint of emotion to it that she was trying to suppress. "I never thought I would end up here. I couldn't have done this without you all." She sniffed, but she didn't quite let go of any tears. Looking at each of their faces in turn, she continued, "You have no idea how much this means to me. Thank you all."

Janius, who was sitting next to Sabine, grabbed her shoulder and ran his hand over it comfortingly. "Any family of Sabine's is family of us," He said, leaning back on his chair. Fendros nodded in agreement from across the table. For all Ariel rightly could have been, she had turned out to be a friend of the pack. She wasn't a lycan, or even a follower of Hircine, but she had shown understanding and actively helped the pack and any lycan besides who might have fallen to the suppression gas.

The reaction Ariel had to this was gradual. Her face became red, and her jaw tensed until her mouth opened suddenly with a short, sharp exhale. A tear ran down from the eye she wasn't covering and dripped into her soup. She tried not to sob, but she was tired and overwhelmed. She closed her mouth for a moment to sniff again, this time her nose sounded like it was running. "... I'm going to miss you all..." She managed to say shakily as she wrenched her eyes shut and bowed her head forward further. It was all she could communicate as she cried in almost silent sobs. Over the past few months, the pack had become some of the best friends she ever had. That when they left she might never see them again held no small amount of grief, even if it was something she couldn't change.