“[color=skyblue]Hey hey![/color]” Dahlia greeted as Quinn walked through the door. She stood stirring a ladle over a slow-cooker. Savory smells filled the dorm—chunks of tender beef soaking in a thick, aromatic bone-broth stock. Spices drifted in the air that, even after a month were still foreign to a nose like Quinn’s, all of which Dahlia was careful to lay out and show her whenever she asked. “[color=skyblue]I asked Besca to prep stew for tonight, just finishing it up now! She ought be here in a few minutes.[/color]”

Quinn threw herself down into her blue chair, and Dahlia set out a few glasses on the counter. She was glad she’d changed the channel beforehand—it likely would have been weird for Quinn to hear strangers from other countries, or even just other cities, talking about her so animatedly. 

And, as if to prove her own point: “[color=ffe63d]Some people were listening to the communications from the end of the duel. Did I really sound like that?[/color]”

It wasn’t the first time comms had been leaked, and it was no more surprising. Often the Board would arrange for certain snippets to land in the laps of favored news organizations now and then, if they felt it would lead to good press. With the storm Quinn’s stunt had set in motion, they were likely trying to get ahead while they could. 

“[color=skyblue]It was pretty tense. You can get loud when you want to,[/color]” she giggled. “[color=skyblue]That’s not a bad thing. It’s good, you know, that you stick up for yourself. Even to Besca.[/color]”

Setting the lid on the cooker down, Dahlia came over and threw herself onto the couch. “[color=skyblue]Besides, for a first leak, I thought it was cool. You know what mine was? They got me on the lift riding up to connect for the first time—ohmygosh, you could hear my teeth chattering—and I asked Besca where the bathroom was in the cockpit.[/color]” Her ears went red, she rubbed her hands over her face. “[color=skyblue][i]Ughgod[/i], it still comes up sometimes. I’ll show up somewhere for an interview and they’ll make sure they put me near a restroom. [i]Kill me[/i]. At least this is something you can be, like, proud of.[/color]”