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Despite several attempts to pay closer attention and commit at least her classmates’ names to memory, Lienna’s attention began to fade as introductions wore on. Likely out of habit, the state of her stomach drew much more attention than the other students, especially when most of their titles and places of birth went over her head anyway. But ironically, despite her main focus being whether meals were set by schedule or available on demand, Lienna still had the presence of mind to scoff at a few select introductions – particularly, the nervous ones. Kellen performed as expected, but somehow, the other two made him look good; the Deer girl seemed like she’d crumple under a harsh look, and Lienna didn’t even turn around to look at the last kid to go, so unimpressed was she by his total lack of presence. Was this really the state of the ruling houses of Fódlan? She thought the problem with her landed classmates was going to be [i]too much[/i] confidence, not too little. The world they knew was all guarded keeps, warm clothes, and full bellies, so what on earth did they have to be afraid of?

Dismissal couldn’t come soon enough, but Lienna managed to control herself enough not to get caught up in the melee of students rushing for – and then awkwardly shuffling out of – the door all at once. Instead, she got up and hovered near the back while Professor Kalonic began her spiel to the House Leaders, trying to give them as wide a berth as possible. The very last thing she wanted was to catch the eye of that blond Alliance wretch; something told her that her betrothal wouldn’t do much good if his type was ‘moving and breathing,’ and she didn’t want to have to resort to violence on her first day. 

Rather than watch that mess unfold, she cast her gaze on the [i]other[/i] professor; the tall one who called on the last Eagle to introduce himself. He was the one who said he liked “crest research,” and it only just now occurred to Lienna that she wasn’t really sure what that meant. Of course, she knew what a Crest was, but what was there to research about them? Some people had them, most didn’t, and nobles really highly valued them. Wasn’t that just about it? 

The entire idea settled a stone of dread in Lienna’s stomach. Whatever “crest research” was, it didn’t seem good. Suddenly, her desire to leave was even more urgent, and she turned on her heel and made for the door. 

Of course, she was barely one step into the courtyard before she was nearly bowled over, something jamming into her side and sending her stumbling. 

[color=gray]“Ah!”[/color] the assailant yelped, also recovering from the impact. It was a young woman wearing an apron, scrambling to regain her grip of a large wooden bowl she held in both arms. The bowl was piled high with extravagantly colourful things Lienna could only assume were fruits, apparently stacked tall enough to obscure the other girl’s vision. 

[color=gray]“Sorry, sorry!”[/color] the girl cried, expertly regaining her balance before her precarious tower of fruits collapsed. She leaned far enough to the side for Lienna to see her look of concern. [color=gray]“Are you okay? I’m so sorry I didn’t see you, everything is just chaos today!”[/color]

Lienna blinked at the girl, rubbing her arm where the bowl made impact. [color=baa7c7]“Oh, I’m… fine,”[/color] she said hesitantly, although she noticed a crack splitting the side of the bowl down to the base. [color=baa7c7]“Um, I don’t think your bowl is, though.”[/color]

The aproned girl’s eyes went wide, and she awkwardly turned the bowl in her hands, looking upon the crack with dread. [color=gray]“Oh, drat! This is for the party— I’ll need to go get a new one!”[/color]

[color=baa7c7]“That’s all just for a party?”[/color] Lienna questioned. 

[color=gray]“Yes! In the Reception Hall, after the last bell!”[/color] The girl replied hurriedly, [color=gray]“But they only told us an hour ago, and look where that gets us!”[/color] She huffed with frustration, but apparently remembered herself when she set her eyes back on Lienna. [color=gray]“Oh boy, but that must have been quite a hit to crack the bowl! Are you sure you’re alright?”[/color]

Lienna’s brow furrowed in confusion, but she nodded, dropping her hand as if to sell the idea. [color=baa7c7]“Yes,”[/color] she insisted, [color=baa7c7]“I think you guys need stronger bowls.”[/color] 

[color=gray]“We’ll need a lot more than strong bowls to make a deadline this tight,”[/color] the girl sighed, adjusting her grip as she shrugged. [color=gray]“But, with the Goddess’ help, we’ll get it done! It takes more than a little scheduling error to beat the staff of Garreg Mach!”[/color] With that, her energy seemed to return to her, and she stepped out around Lienna into the courtyard – now walking sideways, probably to avoid another collision. [color=gray]“Anyway, gotta go! Sorry again!”[/color]

As the girl swept off at an impressive speed, Lienna noticed a spot of colour on the paving stones just shy of the courtyard. Despite the kitchen girl’s surprising agility, she lost one fruit in the collision after all. Lienna’s stomach growled at her at the sight of the fruit, and reflexively, she picked it up— it wasn’t until she was halfway to biting the thing that she realized how picking food up off the ground would make her look to anyone who happened to be watching. 

Suddenly self-conscious, Lienna straightened like a rod, peering around in what she hoped was a discreet manner to see if anybody was looking. Fortunately, as far as she could tell, people were minding their own business. Still, for good measure, she made a show of dusting the fruit off with one of the tails of her scarf; maybe that way, she’d look less like a hungry savage and more like she just didn’t want to be wasteful. 

Her facade didn’t last long, though. She probably ogled the fruit too long, but she couldn’t help it. It was unlike anything she could ever have even dreamt up back in Gautier; about the size of her fist, it was a deep, vibrant pink with soft green spines, a far cry even from the few rare Noa fruits her village might see on a special occasion. Stranger still, when she bit into it, its juices ran clear – lucky, since she didn’t anticipate it squirting onto her collar and running down her hand and onto her sleeve. She was so caught up in her first taste of something from beyond Fódlan’s borders that she forgot all about the handkerchief in her pocket; she licked the juice from her fingers instead, not wanting to waste a drop. 

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