[quote=@Crimmy]
[@HereComesTheSnow]

[B]Gratia Mindaro - Beacon Cafeteria (Monday, Early Morning ~6-7am)[/B]

"[color=66cd00]If they want to, I will definitely accompany them.[/color]"

There was an undercurrent of another emotion, slight and almost unnoticeable, in her cold, impassioned tone. The stoic Mistralese girl's expression remained unchanged, and her declaration seemed little different to her standard icy fare, but the more perceptive would notice that certain 'more' to her voice. In fact, her boreal demeanour even felt a little brighter, her haughty sense of pride bubbling somewhat to the surface.

She bit into the banana, chewing away at its flesh and swallowing. Each and every one of her actions were committed with the same efficient, cool motions, but there was the tiniest of extra vigour in the way she engaged her breakfast. Family Day, it seemed, was something that she was willing to engage in at more than merely a surface level.

"[color=66cd00]And what of yours?[/color]" Gratia asked after a few seconds, her banana complete and peel placed down onto her nearly-empty plate.
[/quote]

[b]Luke Schwarz, Monday, Early O'Clock[/b]

...

Hold on.

Was I still half-dreaming?

I blinked a few times, even stopping to rub an eye with the bone of my wrist, but my vision was the same. No murkier or sharper. This was definitely reality that I had all the way immersed myself in, and no amount of self-delusion would take me out of that.

But that wasn't right.

That couldn't be right.

There wasn't any combat listed on the itinerary, but I could have sworn I was hearing a certain energy in Gratia Mindaro's voice. Just as a hint, but when you smell the same steak for years, if the chef switches from Thyme to Rosemary, you'll pick up on it.

Salty, meaty crunchiness coated my tongue as I mulled it over. Thankfully, my body has a decent bearing on what it needs and recognized how hungry I'd let myself get by making all that food.

By all means, I was slightly flabbergasted. I'd respected a reasonable chance of a response in the affirmative, but not the barest hint of an actual change in demeanor. This was... this was a historic moment.

So historic that I had nearly forgotten her question. Hints of dere under a mile of kuu aren't a reason to be an idiot, man!

[b]"Ah, erm... Not really. As far as I can tell, anyway. The only one that might interest them is the wrestling tournament, but I think they sent me something about a report on weapons last night..."[/b]

Oh, hey. Call back.

[b]"And to speak of weapons; would you mind if I picked your brain on that some time?"[/b]