At the crack of dawn Andromeda was already awake. White kept perfect time after all, and could forcibly wake Andromeda up, what with the painful poking in the back of the skull. She opened her eyes, stretched, swung her feet over the side of the bed, stretched again, stood up, stretched again, and only then did her mind process that she was awake. The more things changed, the more they stayed the same.

Most of Andromeda’s new clothes were still in the boxes, and she had yet to fully unpack, so she (White) had the forethought to prepare something to wear. As much as she liked her robes, the sheer fact that she was more familiar with the seems and embroidered patterns on it then the touch of her own skin made her want to shake things up.

Because of the shirt, she started with her pants, they were an earthy brown, and lightly baggy around her legs. She couldn’t find any equivalent of sweatpants the other day when shopping so this was the best she could do. The next article was the long white shirt, it was a little long on her, but she solved that by tucking it under her belt. It bunched up near her waste, but kept it free and airy. She could also bend and stretch all she wanted and not worry about getting anything twisted. The only thing she didn’t like about the shirt were the trumpeted sleeves, but Alice wouldn’t let her walk out without it. It just so happened to be the thing she grabbed that day. Andromeda was almost tempted to put the boots that came with her robes back on, but lost interest the moment she caught a whiff of them. Instead electing to take some leather slip-ons. The final thing she had to consider was her wild bedhead. Her hair had grown to be well below her shoulders at his point, and it was getting to be a lot. The robes did a great job of keeping it all together, but now that it was out and about she had to do something about it. Rather then spend an hour braiding it, she just gave up and put it up in a messy bun.

Andromeda didn’t even need to step out the door to know things would be tense. Eli had arrived, Alice would still be shaken up by their conversation, and Garret would most likely be awake. Her only hope was that it wouldn’t be too dramatic.

It was perfectly quiet when Andromeda stepped out, she was the first downstairs, and started by taking a large bucket and taking it over to the creek nearby. She wanted to wash her face and get the sleep out of her eyes. The lack of a bathroom would be a continuing problem as she came to realize.

The walk was peaceful, and there was already a dirt trail that took her right there. She filled the bucket and just idly washed for a few minutes. For all the stress she had felt, that cool water on her face as the sun peaked over the mountains in the distance was relaxing. She sat there and soaked in the space around her. Not even the animals were awake yet, and she sat against a tree and listened to the morning begin. For a moment, she forgot where she was, and imagined herself back in her own world, listening to the sounds of the morning through her window before school. That life felt so far away now, but the nostalgia made it feel like it was right there.

When she felt as though she had absorbed enough of the mood she stood back up and returned to the hall. There was no rush for anything. There were no farm chores, or student meetings, no worry of highwaymen robbing her, or assassin’s looming over her. For the first time in months, Andromeda could just sit and do nothing. Something about that was almost scary.

After a few minutes she heard the clattering of footsteps above, and not long after that Chi came around the corner and leaned over the railing. “Morning.” She yelled to the floor.

“Morning, but keep your voice down. People are still sleeping.” Called back. A small “sorry” echoed down. She bumped down the stairs and before long was sat in an opposing seat across from Andromeda.

“How’d you sleep?” Andromeda asked.

“Oh just fine, I’m still getting used to it, but the bed was nice and soft.” Chi said.

Andromeda nodded with a smile, and they peacefully sat there for a moment. She sighed, realizing that Chi was the only one who wasn’t up to speed with everything. “So, I just wanted to get this out there. There might be some tension once everyone’s up. No one is upset necessarily, we’re all just working through some things.” Andromeda said.

“I understand, If you want, I could head out and pick something up for breakfast?” Chi offered.

It was like Chi reached into her brain and pulled out exactly what Andromeda wanted “Would you? I have a few clicks on hand if you need it.” Andromeda reached into her pocket and grabbed the small bag she kept on her. It was just a small amount of iron coins, only enough that if she was in town she could pick something up. She handed it to Chi and saw her off.

Like clockwork, as soon as Andromeda planted herself back down on the couch a door opened up stairs. A loud yawn echoed through the open air alongside a pained grown. Likely Garret.

Andromeda looked up to see the still ragged, but less sloppy looking man she carried the other day leaning over the banister confused. “Hey, how’d I get here, and where am I?” He asked.

“You’re in my guild hall, and I had to carry you from the jail in town.” Andromeda said, Garret laughed for a moment, then when he rubbed the tears out of his eyes and looked back down, he saw Andromeda wasn’t laughing. “Oh, you’re being serious. I’ll be down in a minute.” He said, and clattered down the stairs, only to park himself right where Chi sat a minute ago.

“So, before we get into what I’m about to say. It’s only right that I introduce myself. Especially if we’re going to be working together.” Andromeda said. “I’m Andromeda Noelle, and the one who owns this building now.”

“My name’s Garret Esther, and before we start, I’m s-” He started, but Andromeda put her hand up to stop him.

“Don’t, I don’t want to hear it. I’m going to hope that the complete ass you made of yourself is enough.” Andromeda said, she wasn’t interested in hearing excuses, reasonable or not.

“If that’s what you wish, then I’ll concede.” Garret said, which put Andromeda somewhat at ease. It proved to her that he was at least capable of pretending to be genuine. Whether or not he proved to be honest remained to be seen.

“Thank you, so, there is one thing I will be making a house rule. You are not to touch a drop of alcohol unless I give you express permission. If I even think you are doing so behind my back, I will personally make your life hell, and you’ll sleep outside until I feel you’ve learned your lesson. Am I understood?” Andromeda said.

“On my honor, not a drop.” Garret promised. It didn’t look like he was being insincere, and not wanting to invade his privacy with Whisper, she made the tentative decision to trust him for now.

His eyes widened suddenly and he looked around frantically. “Where’s Chichi? She was with me at the bar before I…” He said, panicking, but stopping short.

“Don’t worry, she’s just out in town getting us all some things for breakfast. She’ll be back in a bit.” Andromeda said.

Garret genuinely looked relieved to hear that, “What have I brought upon that poor girl.” Garret said, he shook his head and gripped the bridge of his nose in frustration.

Over the next hour, Eli and Alice woke up as well. Doing their best to avoid each other, but when Chi came back with the food. Everyone was called down into the lounge. On the one couch was Andromeda and Alice, and on the other was Garret and Chi, Eli straddled a backwards chair to the side. They all shared a loaf of bread and jam that Chi swore up and down she only got because it was on sale.

The room was as tense as Andromeda anticipated, Eli and Alice seemed to both be looking in opposite directions, but staring daggers through each other at the same time. Garret looked like a child being talked to by the principle, and Chi seemed to sense that everyone was uncomfortable as well. No one felt comfortable speaking, and every moment they sat there made it worse. Against her own gut instinct, she broke the silence.

“Everyone, I want to cut to the heart of this. All of us have strong feelings about each other, some good, some bad. But letting it all fester under the surface will ruin us. So I want to get everything out, right now. All I ask is that to the best of your abilities, keep it civil.“ Andromeda asked.

Everyone digested her words for a moment, and the first to find the will to speak was Eli.

“Alright, I’ll start, You single highhandedly managed to ruin any prospects I had of living something resembling a normal life, entrapped me into a one sided job where I have basically no say in what I can do, and now every person who even remotely knows who I am treats my like scum. All because I had my back to the wall on a boat while a mentally deranged mage was having a conniption fit on the bow of a ship in the middle of the sea. A ship, by the way, that I was standing on.” Eli said.

If the room was tense before, it was now smothering.

“For the love of- Eli, I asked that we remain civil.” Andromeda said, She institutionally put her hand down on Alice’s lap because she didn’t even have to look to know Alice was steaming.

“You said get everything out, and I did. Don’t blame me for it not being what you wanted to hear.” He said, and then after a pause added more. “Its not like you need more of that.” Alice gripped Andromeda’s arm hard enough that she almost lost feeling in her hand.

Garret put a hand up to get everyone’s attention. “I know that I’m an outsider in this conversation. But, Eli was it? No matter how angry or upset you are at someone, lack of tact will do nothing but inflame the situation.” He said.

“Don’t talk to me about tact, I barely managed to get to the front door before being hounded by people I don’t even know.” Eli hissed.

“Eli, you’re problem is with me, don’t turn on him.” Andromeda said sternly, and to everyone’s surprise, his face expression softened.

“That… is a good point…” He said, “I didn’t catch your name, but that was uncalled for. I’m sorry.”

“It’s Garret, and that is quite alright. I just ask that we maintain level heads.” Garret said.

Andromeda felt a weight come off her shoulders, and it seemed like Alice felt the same thing because her iron grip loosened. A little hope came back that this might not turn into a fight.

“After last night, I’m surprised you’re so diplomatic. Speaking of, is there anything you want to get off your chest?” Andromeda implied. Garret’s face twisted in pain, obviously having been trying to avoid thinking about it until now.

“Yes… I let the stress of the situation get to me, said and did multiple unbelievably foolish things, and risked the entire operation here. I know you said that you didn’t want to hear an apology, but I do honestly wish to say that I am sorry.” Garret said.

“Good, so, with that out of the way, do we have anything else we want to get out of the way before we have out first serious meeting?”

Eli put his hand up, “Actually, nature calls. I might need to come back.” He said. Followed by everyone else making a similar suggestion.