Intermission: Paloma and friends.

Paloma glanced between her two best friends as they fiddled with spells, "I'm positive now."

Glancing up, Alys shook her head, "No, Paloma."

She puffed up her cheeks slightly and crossed her arms, "I really think she's suicidal! You both heard it too! 'to think I never would have eaten something like this if I had...'. Had what?! Huh?!"

Reynaud grimaced and looked uncertain.

Meanwhile, Alys frowned and leaned forward, "I... I don't... know. It could be anything. What if she only just barely got passing grades? Not every noble is willing to pay their child into this school if they can't actually make it into the school on grades alone."

Blinking, Reynaud tilted his head, "If she's right though, about her parents basically... well... selling her for political power, then I would think they probably would buy her way into this school. This is where her fiancé is, right? If they meet, that raises their chance of actually going through with the arranged marriage."

Frowning, Alys facepalmed, "It's none of our business! Even if she is suicidal, Katarina could be on the way to healing! We could undo whatever work her therapist has done, and CAUSE her to commit suicide by opening old wounds. Heck, for all we know, she might not have considered suicide as an option before now and we'll end up introducing the idea to her!"

She squinted her eyes and jabbed a finger, "People ignoring signs of potential suicidal behavior is the second biggest cause of attempted and successful suicide. Suicide is like people getting sucked around and around into a whirlpool as they lose more and more energy; eventually giving up. It's better to be proactive and ask the swimmer if they're ok than to just look at them occasionally, then just suddenly notice they're nowhere in sight. There's no knowing if you'll make it to them in time."

With a shudder, Reynaud grimaced, "Why did you have to use a water analogy?"

Rolling her eyes, Alys patted his shoulder, "I swear you've got to be the lowest testosterone male I've ever met."

He glared at her for a moment, "I got myself tested, I don't have testosterone deficiency."

Alys stared at him for a moment, "You actually..."

Then sighed and turned back to Paloma, "Look... I'm not saying we don't watch out for her and try to gently... GENTLY... prod her and see if there's anything we can do for her. But it really is none of our business."

Paloma smirked, "She's in our group now. So I'd say that's a whole lot more 'our business' than it was yesterday."

Scrunching her nose, Alys tilted her head at Paloma with a faint glimmer of amusement dancing in her eyes, "And who's fault is that?"

Paloma blushed, "She gave me chocolates. It's her fault."

Snorting, she shook her head slightly, "I think I would classify that as 'Victim of Paloma Friend Hording Shaming'."

With a faint frown, Paloma squinted at her friend, "I don't horde friends."

Reynaud glanced up at her, "Aren't you friends with a fourth of Borgarhofn both young and old? That's like... a few dozen people at least. Maybe over a hundred. And they all know you very well. Honestly, I have no idea where you find time to talk to all of them. Much less spend time with each and every individual friend."

Crossing her arms, Paloma shrugged, "I have multiple groups of people that all enjoy spending time together and a few loners. Just because I consider them all friends, doesn't mean I'm... hording... friends. I just... have a lot of them. Like the kitchens and cats group. We only ever go together once a week. I've only ever even rolled like twelve mice. Speaking of which, did you ever give it a try Alys? I really think you'd like the cheese-o-mancers. And Reynaud's archer is really powerful. His favored terrains are kitchens, dining rooms, and living rooms."

Reynaud facepalmed, "Please don't tell anyone else about it."

Smirking, Alys ruffled his hair, "Don't worry, little nerd. I'm not going to suddenly disown you as my little-brother figure just because you're extra nerdy for a day every once in a while."

He gave her a dry grimace, "Gee... thanks. I'm so happy to hear that from someone three months younger than me."

Alys shrugged, "I didn't make you shorter than me."

Reynaud grumbled a bit, "There's nothing wrong with being a bit short. My family have been proud gnome and dwarf-kin for over ten generations."

She rolled her eyes, "When did I say there was anything wrong with it?!"

Both glanced over as Paloma glanced towards the fields, "Ah! Griogair is headed over to our first dungeon entrance!"

She paused and stared at his back, "Do you think Paloma's psychic? She knew he was talking about her. And apparently she finds money all the time. What if there was a reason she had a bad feeling about joining up with our group? What if she predicted her own death or something?"

Alys sighed and scrunched her nose, "I highly doubt she's psychic. There's no evidence that anyone has ever been proven psychic. She's probably just very observant and figured we were chatting about inviting her, then that we all looked at Griogair."

Nodding, Reynaud shrugged, "I think this needs more examination. More than likely, we'll find only evidence that she's observant."

Paloma hummed softly and popped a chocolate.

Glancing up at her, Alys snorted, "Didn't you say those give you a buff that lasts for an hour because of how much you like them? Shouldn't you save them?"

Paloma cringed softly, "I should..."