* 87 * 3/8/13, 3/9/13

Lily awoke the next morning initially feeling divided. She knew Elanee hadn't meant to stir anything up and she wasn't trying to be difficult, but seeing the two of them again like that made a part of her turn off her emotions.

The sun elf sighed and rolled over to her left to stretch. When she opened her eyes again, she saw the vanilla flower she had placed by her bed the night before.

She stared at it, and she felt a smile returning to her face.

"I love vanilla," she said simply, plucking one of its petals and biting into it. She closed her eyes once more and chewed languorously slowly, savoring every taste and tiny sensation it had to offer.

Lily felt so pleased in every limb of her body. The end of the previous night may have been a little uncomfortable, but she had gotten quite a lot of attention from Casavir and Bishop the day before. She found herself drowning in the pleasant memories and sensations for a few minutes.

In a good mood now, and already regaining her usual mentality, Lily left the flower by her bedside, bounced to her feet, and started walking to the door before she spotted Bishop's gloves on the ground. She didn't let herself feel weird again this time. She picked up the gloves and put them over her shoulder as she walked outside of her room to the main hall.

And almost immediately bumped into a tall figure.

"Lily," it greeted her simply, warmly. Lily looked up.

"Duncan!" she cried happily. "It's so good to see you!"

"You too, Lily." He smiled.

"I have to admit, I didn't expect to see you here!"

"Bevil sent for me to take over for a plastered Sal at your Phoenix Tail Inn last night. I figured I'd come say hello before heading back to the Flagon."

The Sunken Flagon. That's where Lily had first met Bishop all those months ago. It seemed like such a short – yet simultaneously such a very long – time since they all had been at the Flagon. A lot had happened since then.

"I'm glad you did. It's really nice to see you." She gave him a hug and he returned it.

"I saw Daeghun outside in the courtyard. Been awhile since I've had a decent conversation with him in person. He wants to see you when you get a chance."

Lily pulled back from Duncan. "Really? My father's here? I'll have to pay him a visit, definitely. Can't say I was expecting that, either. Today is full of surprises!" she said enthusiastically.

Duncan was pleasantly surprised at her good mood after hearing about the situation from Bishop yesterday. This did not seem like a distraught, sullen Lily. Maybe something had happened since then that he didn't know about. When he drew back from the hug, he noticed a pair of gloves on Lily's shoulder. They indeed appeared to be Bishop's, though he had not an inkling as to why she had them.

No, it can't be. Not if she was upset with him.

Could they really have made up and gotten closer overnight?

He shook those thoughts off. "It's been great seeing everyone," he professed. "Some have changed, some haven't changed at all."

Duncan lowered his voice. "But between you and me, Lily, the ranger was out of sorts when I saw him yesterday. Seemed to feel guilty about something. If we're talking about surprises, that's an even bigger one for me than seeing Daeghun here." He didn't want to say too much, but he wanted to put in a good word for Bishop to help efforts along even further, if such a thing were possible. Duncan felt if anyone could make good use of a woman's charm to lighten him up, it'd definitely be Bishop.

Lily considered his words. "Really? Hm."

"Mhm," he nodded with a sly expression on his face. "I have to get going back to the Flagon, but I'm glad I got to see you before I left."

"I'm happy you stopped by! You're welcome anytime," she said as she gave him another quick hug, still thinking about what he said.

"I'm sure I'll be back. Who knows, maybe it'll be soon." When they separated, he waved and left through the large Keep doors.

Lily saw a flash of black in the corner of her eye. She turned toward it and called, "Good morning, Casavir!"

Casavir had been heading to the dining hall, but now stopped and faced the sudden voice. "Good morning, my la–...Lily," he responded. Old habits die hard.

Lily chuckled. "Guess what?" she said, approaching him.

"What is it?"

"You're supposed to guess," Lily complained, mock angrily.

"Um," the paladin answered inelegantly, unsure of what to guess. "You are hungry."

Lily burst into laughter at his incredibly simple guess. "Wow, thank you for the terribly revealing insight, Casavir," she managed through her giggles. Casavir grinned.

"Nope," she said finally, recovering. "Well, yes, but no, that's not what I meant. My father's here and I figured he could join us for breakfast. I was just about to go get him."

The paladin looked surprised. "Your father?" He immediately straightened at this. That was rather sudden. Meeting her father struck him as a slightly intimidating affair. He noted his own change in countenance at this and knew he wanted to give a good impression.

"Well, my adoptive father."

Casavir mulled over this. There was something he didn't know. He had had no idea that she was adopted. He wondered why, what the circumstances surrounding her real parents had been. But he didn't ask.

"Would you mind letting the others know? I'm going to go chat him up and then bring him inside the dining hall. It'd be lovely if you could have everyone waiting there by that time."

"Of course."

"Thanks!" she replied gratefully, giving him a peck on the cheek before exiting.

He grinned and looked after her, more than interested in finally meeting one of her kin.