Ronan checked in with Smeargle as Ignis stared around the near empty hall. Her mind was still occupied with the day prior. In her head, she imagined their success would be more… impressive.

What did you even do to help? Nona's the one who did most of the fighting. All you did was have the dungeon memorized and have a glowing butt… where's the skill in that?

She stared at Nona, who looked as if her mind was just as far away. When Ignis saw her, calm and collected, like none of this even bothered her at all- she couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy. That strength that Nona had, Ignis had always assumed it would come to her when she joined a team, yet right then she felt just as scared and anxious as she had always been.

Maybe you're not cut out for this, Ignis…

"You guys Team Giantslayers?" Heatmor hobbled over, interrupting her thoughts.

"Our tour guide is here!" Ronan exclaimed, skipping up behind him.

Ignis took in a deep breath before speaking. "Yes, that's us."

"I'm Heatmor, and Slowking said I'm gonna be your guide for today. Hey, Mudkip-" Heatmor greeted Nona. She looked slightly perturbed. "I heard you really wreaked havoc in there. Respect."

Ignis huffed. "Can we start the tour now, please?" She asked.

"Sure," Heatmor yawned with a shrug, "so where we are now is the entrance hall. Over there on the walls, you'll find the job boards. Basically, people come and put up rewards for jobs that they need done. Sometimes you'll get rescue missions, item retrievals, sometimes even just labor and chores. Just a tip from me- I'd recommend you guys start with those ones, cause they pay well and are hard to fail."

Ignis made a mental note, but really she hadn't joined a team just to carry some firewood and patch up a roof or two. Heatmor led them down a hallway to the right of the front desk, one she recognized as the team residencies, and her heart skipped a beat.

"Are we going to get our own room?" Her voice raised in excitement.

"Yep." Pulling out a key, Heatmor unlocked a door near the end of the hall. It creaked open, revealing a small room illuminated by a single circular window, its sunlight casting through a thick cloud of dust. There were two beds draped with plain white sheets, a sink in the corner, and a matching wooden chest and table.

It wasn't much, Ignis supposed, but at least they had their own house to sleep in.

"The groundskeeper was supposed to clean in here, but I wouldn't count on that happening for at least a few days. He's been really busy," Heatmor added.

Ronan was the first to step inside, spinning to take it all in and whipping up dust bunnies with his tail. "It's perfect! Once we clean it up, this'll be like our home away from home. We could have sleepovers at the guild, house new recruits, store all our goodies- all kinds of stuff!"

Ignis' fantasies of what her first guild quarters would look like filled her mind, and she couldn't hide her disappointment. If it weren't for Ronan's optimism, it might have been too much.

Keep it together for him. Maybe the rest will be different.

"Wait, are we-… I mean- are you guys moving?" Nona asked.

"Well, we could, but… I think we should stay at the house. We can keep this room in mind for if we find anyone else who wants to join our team, like Ronan said." Ignis answered.

Nona had that far-off look again, like she was thinking. Maybe she was just as disappointed as Ignis was.

Their tour of the quarters ended with the mess hall. It didn't have much room being built in a tree, but there were still two long tables packed with stools and chairs of all sizes. At the far end was the kitchen, separated only by a small wooden counter.

From the guild dinners Ignis attended, she remembered how packed this room could get- how lively it would feel- and it reminded her that maybe it wasn't all as bad as she thought.

"The groundskeeper is also the guild cook, so you can see why he's so busy," Heatmor explained, "for breakfast and lunch, you can come in here and buy some pre-made meals for here or to go. Dinners though are free, but you gotta eat in- Guildmaster wants us to bond and all that."

Ignis had memories of the groundskeeper, mainly that he was a very reclusive Spinda, just as swamped in work all those years before as he appeared to be just then.

The tour group doubled back, passing through the main hall into the far hallway opposite to the other, leading them to the library at its end.

Just like the cafeteria, they were ushered in through a grand arch, but this room was at least twice as tall. Bookshelves covered every wall with ladders for easier perusing, and in every corner there were chairs, tables, sofas and cushions for everyone's reading pleasure. Though Ignis had been here hundreds of times, she couldn't help but feel excited seeing it and knowing that she still had so much still to read.

"Good morning, Lurantis," Heatmor called from behind them.

Oh- I ran ahead. I hadn't even noticed. Looking to her side, she saw that Nona was thinking the same thing.

Lurantis slid down the ladder, landing with a click on the hardwood floors.

"Good morning, Heatmor. And a good morning to you too, Charmander and Cubone. I see you brought a friend with you."

"Yeah! She's a part of our team now!" Ronan explained, wrapping an arm over Nona's shoulders.

"Ah right, I should have assumed this was your new team member the Guildmaster told me about. It's nice to meet you, Mudkip, and I'm excited to work with you." Lurantis talked as she strolled over to her desk at the back corner of the room. It was perfectly organized- not a paper out of place. Lurantis carefully folded her mandible and flipped through a few pages of the book she had on her desk, forgetting for a moment that she had company.

Nona peered over her shoulder. "What are you reading?"

"Huh? Oh- this is just a book on Ambersap's history. I'm the guild historian as well as librarian. It's my job to keep our records and library up to date and organized," she explained, Ignis and Ronan crowding in to get a look, "I was reading up on this town's history. Did you know that it was founded only 50 years ago? That may sound like a lot, but to some pokemon, that's just a blink."

Ignis skimmed the page. Founded by a Delibird- broken off from Amberale- export of fruit and medicine- Guild formed 30 years after. Nothing she didn't already know, but still fascinating.

"Were any of the dungeons around back then that are here now?" She asked.

"I'm assuming many were. Regardless, it wasn't for a few years after its founding that Ambersap began exporting dungeon goods, so we at least know that there were enough for that," Lurantis explained, "some dungeons we can be sure are recent. For example..."

She reached over and carefully took another book from atop a pile on her desk, opening it on top of the first. Flicking through the pages, she stopped at one close to the end; it was covered in watercolor paintings of willow trees dispersed with purple smog. Beside them were texts explaining the dungeon's inner climate, pokemon, and treasure.

"Now this one… This one's really something. Worldwalker's-folly. The dungeon has this quirk that allows any pokemon inside to take on the effects of a ghost- things like walking through walls, lesser gravity, even levitation in some cases." She pointed to diagrams of pokemon floating off of the ground and phasing through objects.

"Why is that?" Nona asked.

Fomantis laughed wistfully. "Well, nobody is sure yet. Rumor has it that there was once a burial ground at the wood's center, but I have yet to confirm nor deny that. All I know is that it's my job to find out. I plan to investigate it some time this coming year… though I have been much too busy recently…"

She was lost in thought for a moment before snapping back to her senses. "Oh, I apologize for going on there. I'm sure you must have other duties you must attend to- as do I."

Heatmor, who looked to only started paying attention when it was time to leave, stretched his arms above his head. "Yeah, I gotta take these guys to see the Guildmaster before their first training starts."

"Ah, very well. It was nice getting to see you again, and it was good to finally be able to meet you Mudkip. I hope to be able to see more of you during your time here."

"M-Me too." Nona's eyes shifted between Fomantis and Heatmor, who was turning to leave.

"S'cuse me, but before I go… are we allowed to come into the library and read whenever we want?"

"Why of course. If you'll be reading past waking hours though, I'll just need to know. All apprentices are welcome here any time." She gave a reassuring smile.

Nona's shoulders relaxed. "Thank you, and it was nice to meet you too," she called back, leaving with her teammates.

Ignis remembered that book Nona was reading the day before, and figured that must have been why she asked.

Back in the main hall, most of the crowd was gone. Ignis remembered that it was about noon, and that most of the apprentices would either be in the mess hall, or on their way there by then.

Smeargle was hunched over their desk, swiftly swiping forms with their tail, their head in their free hand. It looked like they were taking the quiet to catch up before things picked up again.

The Guildmaster's office was to the left side of the hall, just a few hops away from the front desk and right outside of the hallway to the library. Heatmor knocked on it a few times with the back of his hand.

"Door's open!" Slowking called from inside.

Though Ignis recognized the room when they entered, it had been a while since she'd last seen it. It was small and painted a dark green, with one large window that remained covered by a thin curtain, leaving the floor painted in a dusky haze. Candles burned on every surface, illuminating small bookshelves, a few scattered chests, and a large wooden desk in the center. The work space was messy, with scattered books, notes, and papers all strewn about, most sporting at least a few droplets of candlewax.

Slowking sat in the center of the chaos, pen in hand, as he signed the bottom line of a document that Ignis recognized as the application for Team Giantslayers. She couldn't help but smile.

"So as you guys already know, this is the Guildmaster's office," Heatmor said, gesturing around, "not much to show really- hi Guildmaster." He waved.

Slowking raised a hand and smiled, gently folding and placing his pair of reading glasses on his table.

"Why hello there, Ignis, Ronan, Nona," he greeted them all in turn, "I trust your tour went well? Heatmor didn't give you too much trouble, did he?"

"N-None at all!" Ignis answered immediately. It only occurred to her after that it was probably a joke.

"Very good. Thank you for agreeing to usher them around, Heatmor. I know you and your teammates have been quite busy as of late."

Heatmor rubbed his neck. "Don't mention it. 'Sides, my teammates were helping build a house downtown, and I needed a reason to get out of that… I guess I should probably go join them now that I'm done though... I'll see you guys around."

As he waved goodbye, Ignis felt a warmth in her chest. It was nice to be just one of the apprentices, to belong with pokemon like Heatmor. You'll do them proud.

"So, how are you all feeling? It's a lot to take in, I'm sure," Slowking asked.

"Ronan and I have already seen it all before, but seeing it all as an apprentice definitely feels… strange, but in a good way." Ignis looked wistfully out the window.

"I'm excited about the library, personally," Nona interjected, "Lurantis seems cool."

Slowking smiled, "well I'm glad to hear that. She loves to help our apprentices wherever she can, so I'm sure she'd be thrilled to have you visit her."

He paused, sparing a concerned look at Ronan, who was fidgeting with a string tied around his bone. "Is there something bothering you, Ronan? It's not like you to be so quiet."

Ronan looked at his feet. "S-Sorry, I was just worried about whether or not Nona likes it here. She hasn't been here as much as me and Ignis, so…"

Instinctively, Ignis reached out to pull her brother close.

On his other side, Nona put an awkward paw on his shoulder. "Don't worry about it. It's pretty alright so far." He smiled at that.

Slowking got to his feet, grabbed his cane, and slung his coat over his shoulders. "Well, I'm sure that you'll like what you see next even more. Are you ready for your first day of training?"

Ignis' heart caught in her throat, her mouth drying up in an instant. Here it was- the point where she would really be tested.

She needed to answer, she knew that, but she couldn't help but ask herself- was she ready to jump off the deep end? To finally follow the path she'd always dreamed of taking?

The answers of her teammates were enough for Slowking, and Ignis nodded in agreement.

"Jolly good. Follow me outside."

Behind the guild was the training grounds, the place that Nona had passed through for her test but never had a name for. It was a wide field of grass interspersed with rectangular patches of dirt, the edges and middle marked with lines of rocks. In one of them, Nona saw Meganium sparring with a Manectric, who dodged against her flurry of razor leaves.

Farther from the guild and just outside the woods were scattered training dummies made of stone, wood, and metal- both quadrapedal and bipedal. Feraligatr was throwing punches at one of them, her arms close to her head and her movements fast.

Slowking led them to the center of the clearing, where a Heracross sat cross-legged, their eyes closed and their breathing slow.

"Good afternoon, Heracross," Slowking greeted.

Their eyes opened slowly, and they smiled a welcoming smile. "Ah, good to see you, Guildmaster. How have you been feeling?"

The Guildmaster looked a bit embarrassed, but answered anyway. "Quite well, but that's not what I'm here to see you about. I have three new apprentices here who need to go through their oriental training session."

"Ah, I see." With a yawn and a jumpy stretch, Heracross stood up to their full height, just a bit above Slowking. "You may call me Heracross. I'm the guild's dojo master and combat trainer."

Team Giantslayers all introduced themselves, and Heracross continued.

"In the future, you three will be free to come here and test, hone, and demonstrate your abilities as you wish, but for today, you will show me all of your available moves so I can properly record them. I will also give any advice I can on how to better perfect them. Is this alright with you?" Nona nodded along with the others. "Good, then we'll start with you, Cubone."

Heracross ushered them to the lineup of dummies and picked a bipedal one for Ronan.

Bone rush, growl, tail whip, and headbutt- Ronan rushed through his moves, executing them all with natural ease and simplicity. Judging from Heracross' reaction, it was nothing impressive, but Nona definitely felt a bit safer going into dungeons knowing Ronan could really use that club.

"Charmander, you next, please," Heracross said with a snap.

Hearing her name, Ignis froze completely. Nona hadn't noticed it before then, but she looked like she was fighting off the plague, wringing out her claws with sweaty palms, her breath growing feverish.

"You good?" Nona asked.

Ignis just looked at her then back at Heracross. Taking in a deep, shaky breath, she stepped over to the dummy.

I'm not sure what she was worried about, she's doing fine, Nona thought to herself while Ignis cracked a nasty-looking scratch followed by a growl. She showed off another move too, one that Nona recognized. Smoke rose from her mouth in a giant ashy cloud, blanketing the ground and shrouding Ignis' figure so it was hard to see her at all. There was a faint spark of orange inside, followed by Ignis coughing.

"Impressive smokescreen, Charmander." As the smoke faded, Heracross looked at her expectantly. Again, she froze up.

"I-… I can't do fire." Her voice was small, but firm.

"Can you try? There's no need to be embarrassed. I know it's been hard in the past, but you won't be in trouble if you fail."

"I have tried; it just doesn't… work."

"Show me. Maybe I can-"

"Those are all of my moves. That's all I can do." Ignis' voice cracked on the last word, and she walked back to Nona and the others, defeated.

Heracross only stared after her, her face painted with concern. She shook her head and sighed. "Then Mudkip, I suppose it's your turn."

Now it was Nona's turn to be nervous. Stepping up to the dummy, she felt Heracross eye her up and down, like she wasn't sure what she was looking at.

I guess I'm going to have to address the whole 'two legs' thing.

Nona opened her mouth to speak, but Medicham beat her to it. "For this exercise, may I ask you to use all of your legs? In combat, that is what will allow you to fight your best."

Nona nodded, lowing herself down onto all fours. It didn't feel bad or wrong- just very, very strange, like at any moment she was going to tilt too far forward and face-plant. She took a moment to adjust her standing until finally she felt stable.

Heracross cleared her throat. "You may start when you're ready with whatever move you wish."

Moves. Movesmovesmoves….. Nona repeated the word under her breath, trying to dig up any reflexes or memory that could spark one to life, but nothing came. Wait- that thing I did on Abomasnow, what was it called?- Bite!

She charged the dummy, opened her jaw, and bit down on its arm with a crunch, feeling the outer padding of straw rip and fall away under her teeth.

Heracross gave a respectful clap. "Well done, now for your other moves."

Nona pursed her lips. "I don't… I don't think I know any others."

"I highly doubt that. You most likely know more than you think- you just haven't learned to use them yet. Let's try water gun." Heracross stepped forward to stand beside the dummy. "As a water pokemon, you can blast water forcefully from your mouth to do a variety of moves. Feel the water stir in your body and the air around you, then force it out of your mouth and at the target."

Okay so… spit water at it. I can do that.

Widening her stance, Nona took in a deep breath and tried to visualize water filling her mouth. Locking her eyes on the dummy, she readied her attack.

Nona made a "pthoo" noise as she spat. She could hear Ronan trying very hard not to laugh just behind her.

"That wasn't bad for a first attempt, though maybe it could use a… bit more practice."

"Perhaps she could benefit from some one-on-one training," the Guildmaster interjected, "Mudkip, would you like to spar with me?"

Nona looked him over then glanced at her teammates. Ignis looked like she was lost somewhere in her head, but Ronan gave her an enthusiastic thumbs-up, neither of which giving her all that much comfort.

Still not sure if this guy could spot me as a human yet… try to play it cool.

Nona followed Slowking on all fours to another sparring ring while Ignis and Ronan stayed behind to finish.

Now that they stood opposite to each other, Nona was starting to doubt that it would be a fair fight sparring with Slowking. Despite his tall stature, he still hunched over his cane, and to Nona it looked like one well placed bite could bring him to the ground.

"Now, I see that you still haven't regained your memories of your moves," he began, "I did read your application, and I offer my condolences for your amnesia. Still, I'm sure you know many more moves than you think; you just have to relearn them, and one of the best ways to relearn those abilities is by trying to trigger them by reflex. I want you to attack me without using bite. Use whatever you have at hand to try to hit me."

Nona raised an eyebrow, looking at Slowking's face for any hint of sarcasm, but she found none. He was dead serious. Still a little unsure, she lowered again into an offensive stance and began to think of her next move.

I guess I just… attack him? A tentative step forward followed by a few more much quicker ones until she was bounding at him.

Plan A: bowl him over.

She shut her eyes just before impact, but impact never came.

"Not a bad start. Get your blood pumping a little." Slowking's voice was behind her. Nona whipped around to see him standing in the same spot she just ran through, undisturbed. "Now this time, plan your attack."

Nona furrowed her brow. She charged again, this time leaping from side to side in a zigzag pattern, keeping her eyes open. Diving forward, she held her paws out in front of her to try to scratch at him, but just as she was about to grab Slowking, her vision filled with a flash of pink light, and she rolled forward to the ground.

"A good plan, but you need to know your tools. You don't have claws. All that would have done was slap me, which would have been more rude than anything," Slowking chuckled from a few feet away, making Nona's face go hot.

Not bothering to catch her breath, she continued her feverish attempts to outrun Slowking's blinks until her lungs burned and her paws were sore. She stood there staring at Slowking while she fought to catch her breath. The gears in her head were whirring, trying to find some way to beat this game he was playing.

Mentally she noted all of the spots that Slowking had teleported to; they were never more than a meter away from where he started. A plan began to form.

Starting out in a trot, Nona advanced on Slowking, who stayed in place. Once she was close enough, she lowered herself to pounce as Slowking's eyes twinkled with power. Nona jumped in place slightly as a false start, and Slowking teleported a few feet to the right. She had her chance.

Water gun. Water gun. Water gun. She repeated it over and over again, focusing all of her energy into her mouth. She let it rip.

Water dribbled in a weak stream from her mouth, just barely going the length of her body, and nowhere near long enough to reach Slowking. All Nona could do was stare at the wet marks on the sand as it peetered out and died

"My, that was very clever of you. Had you more experience with that water gun, you would have had me." Slowking beamed at her, but Nona didn't even meet his eyes. Behind him, she saw Ronan sparring with Heracross and Ignis sitting off to the side. she was watching Nona, but quickly averted her eyes.

As if this isn't bad enough, I have to have an audience. Great.

Another face caught her attention just to her right. Leaning on the dummy she was just sparring with was Feraligatr, watching. Unlike Ignis, she didn't care that Nona noticed her, instead making a gesture that said 'keep going.' That was her tipping point.

Slowking wants me to prove myself? Fine. I'll show him. I'll show all of them.

Without any warning, Nona approached again, her eyes locked with Slowking. He appeared surprised, but quickly readied himself. Just like last time, she approached slowly, but when she was in range of an attack, she saw him ready another teleport. She knew he wouldn't use it so quickly this time. Instead of feinting again, she would just attack head on before he could react.

In one whipping movement, Nona leapt towards Slowking, fangs bared, but when she bit down, her teeth only felt wood. Slowking had teleported out of the way, but Nona had swept away his cane in her jaws before he could react. First, Nona felt a rush of triumph having beaten him, but when she saw the stern gaze Slowking had fixed on her, she quickly deflated.

"Shit- sorry." The cane clattered to the ground as she spoke.

"Our emotions sometimes get the better of us,," he began as he picked up his cane, which bent along her teethmarks, "but you can't allow your anger to blind you so easily. Yes, that bite of yours is strong, but out there you will meet enemies that require more than just brute force to defeat, and when that happens, you need to be prepared. Do you understand?"

Nona nodded. Her face was flushed red, and she couldn't bring herself to look at anyone.

His tone softened. "Would you like to continue? I believe we could polish up that water gun a little more."

"No," she managed to mutter out, "I'm uh... I'm good."

Embarrassed, Nona sat at the sidelines of Ignis and Ronan's sparring ring. Everyone had seen it happen- Feraligatr, Ignis, Ronan, Heracross- Nona didn't look at any of them in the eye the rest of the afternoon.

"Well, I'd say that overall, today was a success," Heracross said with a clap, "certainly had its ups and downs, but I learned all I need to know to help you advance your training, and that was our goal."

"Well, that's good at least!" It was clear that Ronan was trying to cheer them up, though it only made Nona feel even worse for remaining so sour about it.

The walk back to the guild was a short one, luckily, so they didn't have to stew in their silence for long before it was filled with the chatter of the other apprentices.

"Oh, Ignis, before I forget- Leavanny had come in earlier today asking about why her Sitrus berry wasn't delivered. You were the one who accepted that assignment, yes?" Slowking asked.

Ignis clasped a claw to her forehead. "I knew I forgot something! S-Sorry Guildmaster, we were on our way to get it when we had met Nona. I guess in all the excitement, we forgot to finish the job…"

"Well, I'm sure she'll understand if you explain it to her the situation." Slowking led them to the door of his office. "In any case, the reason I bring it up is because it might be a good mission to use as an introduction of sorts for Nona into guild work."

"I was… sorta hoping for something a little bit more exciting for our first mission, actually," Ignis mumbled.

He chuckled. "Excitement will come, but first, you have responsibilities you must complete. After today, you have full permission to accept dungeon quests from the job boards, I promise."

Ignis huffed, but didn't say anything more as the Guildmaster slipped back into his office.

"So... what mission is he talking about?" Nona asked.

Ronan leaned on her shoulder. "When Ignis and I heard you calling for help, we were on our way to deliver a sitrus berry. I guess Leavanny wasn't happy with us for taking so long. She's always been a sourpuss like that though, right Ignis?"

He looked expectantly to his sister, who took a few seconds to answer.

"What?" She looked surprised, no doubt tuning out the conversation up until this point. "Oh- Yeah, she's a bit of a character… We were on our way to a dungeon a bit away from town when we found you. We were going to grab some berries and bring them back to her. If we go now, we should be able to get it done before nightfall."

As the trio turned to leave, a tall, thin figure strode through the door.

"No need," said Leavanny, "You can just give it to me now."

Leavanny towered over everyone, both physically and metaphorically. Though she was spindly, she had broad shoulders and a large, sharp head like a spear. Her reddish eyes were locked along with her wrinkled mouth in a permanent unamused expression. Her gaze swept over Ignis, Ronan, then Nona, where Leavanny's eyes clashed with hers.

"Hello," she greeted, her expression not softening, "I haven't seen you around here before. Who are you?" As she spoke, she held out one of her leafy hands to accept the berry, her eyes never leaving.

"N-" Nona was about to say her name, but remembered her new manners at the last moment.. "Mudkip. You can call me Mudkip."

She didn't look offended by the answer, which Nona saw as a good thing. She accepted the berry, rolling it over and inspecting it before humming with approval.

"This'll do." With that she dropped a few coins into Ignis' hand before marching up to Slowking without so much as a thank you.

"Guildmaster."

"Ah nice to see you, Leavanny." Slowking stood opposite to her strict energy. "How may I help you?"

"I'm wondering if any of your guild members have found anything out about the missing pokemon? I had dropped off my latest report last week." She asked.

Nona looked to her teammates, but they looked just as confused as she was.

"No, unfortunately our searches haven't found them. The scouts we sent to Mr. Delibird's house found nothing but disturbed earth and an abandoned building," Slowking lamented, rubbing the bridge of his nose, "I was about to send out another notice to all of the guild members in hopes someone sees them, but things aren't looking well I'm afraid."

"Mm," was her only answer.

"Excuse me, is someone lost?" Ronan asked, raising his hand first, though not waiting for his queue.

"Unfortunately, yes," Leavanny answered before Slowking, "two pokemon actually, both Delibirds. They lived at the edge of Featherfall wood and disappeared two months ago. Have you seen either of them?"

All of them shook their heads, and Leavanny sighed.

"Though…" Ignis piped up, "we should probably tell you, we saw an infected pokemon a few days ago when we met Nona."

Waiting for her to continue, Leavanny only stared.

Nona was quick to add, "we don't know where it went though- an Abomasnow. Last we saw it was leaving off into the woods."

Silence followed for a few moments, Slowking and Leavanny swapping a concerned glance.

"Thank you," she finally said, "we will keep an eye out- all of us."

Leavanny marched to the exit, but Slowking slowly followed, the sound of his cane telling her the visit wasn't yet over.

"How is everything going with Beautifly and her daughter?" He asked, almost too softly for the others to hear.

"Beautifly and Wumrple are doing fine," she answered courtly, "they're staying with me for the time being. Beautifly will be looking for a job before long."

Slowking nodded, content. "Alright, just thought I'd ask. Thank you for stopping in, Leavanny. Be safe on your way home."

For a moment, her scowl softened. "I will, sir, thank you."