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Everyone has a secret or two.
Mirania likes to think of herself as a people-watcher, slowly taking in everything around her without a word. It's how she knows Lowell only acts up when Syrenne's watching, how she knows Syrenne occasionally sneaks a glance back at him, how Zael and Dagran look like they're in their own little world sometimes, and...
"Yurick," she begins, then-
"You don't know anything about me," he says, scowling, then slams the door.
You never give us a chance, she thinks, then calls out, "I'll save you some food," because she knows that eventually he'll understand.
"I'm not interested in participating in this... tomfoolery," Yurick says, looking more and more uncomfortable by the second. "I should go get some rest; I'm worn out from all my magic use today."
"That's the excuse you use every time," Mirania says, taking a sip of tea.
"W-what? No it's not." She gives him a look, which he tries to ignore. "I just don't want to get too..."
"Attached?"
"Okay, nope, that's it." Yurick gets up. "I'm retiring to my room."
"I'll save you some food?" She calls out after him.
He doesn't even bother to look back.
"Don't bother."
Next time they return from a mission, he just goes directly to the room.
"Don't you want food? I'll save you some."
"I'll pass."
"C'mon, Yurick!" Oh great, now the others are joining in. "That's an act of generosity; she'd usually take any excuse to eat more. Remember the muffin incident?"
"We don't talk about the muffin incident."
He ignores the loud, obnoxious laughter that follows him. When he opens the door later, he only barely manages to avoid stepping on the plate left for him. He takes it back into his room to eat later. No one mentions it.
"Here." Mirania holds out a plate. "I got some food. Got hungry after seeing that feast on the ship."
He looks at her with a weird expression for a moment, then rolls his eyes while taking the plate. "You just been thinking about food all this time?"
"Not all this time." She pauses. "Was thinking about you."
"Why?"
"Worried." She says between bites. "Wasn't sure if you'd be okay after that."
There's a moment of silence there while he thinks.
"I don't know if I'm okay," he admits. "But I think I'm doing better, now that I know the truth."
"Yurick?"
He jumps, startled by the sudden voice.
"Mirania? Is something amiss?"
"Um..." She sits down at the table next to him. "Wow, there's a lot of books here."
"Been doing research; there's a lot of information in this library that could take years to sort through." He pauses. "Wait. Did you need something?"
Mirania just laughs a little. "Yurick, you didn't show up for supper."
A beat drops.
"Oh," and his stomach growls. "I lost track of time."
"I saved you some food." She places a paper bag on the table. "Figured you'd need it."
Yurick smiles.
"Thanks, Mirania."