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Nicole giggled too, sitting up straighter and kicking both her legs up over the armrest of her chair. She decided to try and enjoy her sandwich a little bit, since she wasn't sure when they would get to eat again upon arrival. Her stomach fluttered between bites, though, and she already knew she would be unable to finish even half. In the relative solitude of her cabin, between thoughts of excelling in school and dropping the ball on kisses, focusing on the occasional pangs of hunger had kept her grounded. But now she was here, and he excitement of it all - new classmates, new cities, a complete shift in the course of her life - had pretty much killed those cravings. Instead, she settled for breaking off little pieces of focaccia and nibbling on them while Astrelle spoke. 

[color=ec008c]"Two years ago,"[/color] she responded in the affirmative. [color=ec008c]"My parents and I went as a reward for, uh..."[/color]

She snapped her fingers, still trying to remember. So much of her childhood revolved around one good cause or another. They were all worthwile, but each demanded its own energy from her parents, and each had involved Nicole in whatever small way she could. The scope compounded; sometimes it could grow exhausting juggling it all, and that was for [i]her[/i] as a kid, handing out stickers or selling chocolate bars or whatever. She knew it had to be worse for her folks. So by the time she had discovered her magical potential...well, that just meant she had to find the energy somewhere.

[color=ec008c]"Some benefit or another. I think it was, like, funds for the [i]Castor[/i] families?"[/color] Now that she thought about it, that sounded right. [i]Castor[/i] had been an airship that had disappeared around that time, carrying some minor dignitaries amidst a flock of innocent civilians. Since the brunt were from Valentia, multiple benefactors from her sister city had gone about raising funds as relief for victims' families, the Cognoscenti family among them. [color=ec008c][i]Riiiight.[/i][/color] [color=ec008c]"We spent about a week. I spent a lot of the time with my parents or at the arcades, but I managed to sneak into a club or two and hear some music between all the speeches."[/color] She grinned playfully.