"Hello? H-hello? Gods be damned, does this thing even work?"

The sudden yet familiar voice jolted Anna awake. With her tall frame, however, this resulted in a dull thud as she bolted upright and her head collided with the bunk above.

Following a series of insults and curses only a Helbrund could hurl, she looked about for the source of what had awakened her. Before long, though, the voice started again, startling Anna as she looked down over the side of her bed to her bag, which jostled as its contents shifted within.

"Hello, eh, well, I hope someone's listening," a voice rang out with a muffled echo. Anna raced to pick up her bag and followed the sound as she dug through it and retrieved the mouth-shaped stone the doctor gave her the day prior. The carved lips shone red and mimicked the movement of the doctor’s own as he continued.

"This message is for Anna Brunsvold, and if you are not the intended recipient, I request that you kindly relay it to her. Aurelio – the patient you brought to me yesterday – has woken up and is doing well. He's, eh, quite talkative, and he won't stop asking for peach brandy and some woman named Vel–Oh, now he's rummaging through my alchemy–Excuse me! None of those will make you inebriated, sir!"

A sudden crash ended the message, and the stone faded to jade and silence. She stared at the trinket for a while, eyes widened with awe, disgust, and latent amusement. Blue morning light from the window hinted at sunrise, and she tossed the covers away.

As Anna made herself ready, beams of light found their way to the face of a sleeping Jessa. To avoid being disturbed, she rolled over and shut her eyes, pulling her blanket up over her face as well as she could. Anna yanked off the covers, thinking it best to instill in her a familiarity with early mornings.

"Good morning, Jessa," the motherly cleric chirped with a cheery disposition as she tied up her hair in a bun. "Our patient is awake, and we have work to do today. The sooner we start, the sooner we can come back and enjoy ourselves."

"Five more minutes," Jessa grumbled as she turned over and buried her face in a pillow. Anna sighed and tossed the blankets onto the floor, preparing herself to drag the young woman out of bed. Just as she planted her feet in a stable stance, a striped orange tail waved in her face from the top bunk.

"Ah-CHOO!" Anna sneezed as Tatsidi's tail tickled her nose. The Apo'na woke from his sleep with a start and leapt from his bunk. He landed feet first on the floor in a crouched stance. "Where is the enemy?! Tatsidi will slit their throats when they turn their backs!" Swishing his head side-to-side, he realized that there was no threat present and cleared his throat, brushing himself off.

Jessa groaned, relinquishing herself to wakefulness. She sat herself upright and scratched her head through a tangled nest of hair, figuring it best to jump straight into the day without dragging herself out of bed. Anna gave her an approving nod as she stood up soon after, and an almost simultaneous yawn overcame the three of them.

"Where's Deventh?" Jessa asked groggily, expelling the film from her eyes with a tight blink. Tatsidi slipped past the two and let out a chortle in response to Jessa's first question upon waking up, a grin spreading across his maw.

“Perhaps he found the bed of the pretty woman he was bantering with. The two seemed quite interested in each other.” he smirked as he proceeded to the door leading to the stairs. “I will be at the gate. We should find a private place to discuss amongst ourselves – there is something I wish to show you all.”

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Anna nodded as Tatsidi disappeared through the doorway. She began making her bed as well as the one he’d left unmade. Jessa did the same, and by the time they were finished and ready for breakfast, a door creaked open at the end of the hallway. Two figures exited the room, obscured in shadow until they entered the light.

“Morning,” Deventh said as he approached. Behind him was Velaiah, who stepped out to the side as the room opened wider from the hallway.

"Good morning," she said. Curious stares acknowledged her, followed by a singular greeting in response from Anna.

"This is Velaiah," Deventh said while gesturing to her, then moved on to his two companions. "Velaiah, this is Anna. And you met Jessa briefly last night."

"Pleasure to meet you," Velaiah said, and Anna delved into her series of inquiries that typically accompanied the presence of a newcomer.

"Likewise," she said with a pleasant smile, "So, looking to join the guild? Had a fun night, perhaps?"

"Guild?" Velaiah asked, genuine puzzlement spreading across her face. She took Anna's latter question in good humor, giving a slight chuckle. "I don't believe Deventh mentioned any such thing, but I hear the man you rescued yesterday is someone who is—was? Quite close to me. Here I thought he stood me up; I didn't imagine something bad would actually happen to him. Lucky for me, Deventh is very sweet and thoughtful. We only talked for a bit last night, but he still came back to check on me this morning.”

Jessa puffed out her cheeks as she let a stifled exhale trickle from her lips. Beside her, an abrupt guffaw burst from Anna’s stomach.

"Sweet and thoughtful? Are you sure you're talking about the same dumrak that runs this guild alongside me?" She asked, using the Dwarven word for "rock golem" to describe him. "Hoh! What a morning this is already! Well, the doctor checked in. You'll be happy to know your lover boy – Aurelio, I believe – is just fine. Sounds like he's trying his damnedest to get drunk already."

"Is he," Velaiah asked with a slightly nervous smile. "I'm glad to hear he's doing better."

"Would you like to visit him with us?" Anna invited her, "He'll be our first stop today."

"Not particularly," Velaiah said. Realizing she'd blurted out her words without thought, she slowed down as she continued. "I mean, I work here, so I can't just leave."

"Ah, so it's like that," A smirk, which glimmered with all of the Helbrund’s motherly wisdom, left Velaiah stricken with doubt. "Well, you have until after breakfast to change your mind." Turning her attention to Deventh once more, Anna took note of his remoteness and furrowed her brow while shaking her head at him.

"You didn't sleep, did you?”

"Not a fucking wink."

"Of course," Anna groaned. "When are you going to listen to me and get some decent rest? This is probably why you forget everything. Like rent." She pressed her lips tightly together, frustrated with his self-inflicted insomnia.

"Suddenly it makes sense why people would think we're married," Deventh joked, "I'll be fine once we're out on the road."

“You’d better hope so. At the very least you’re going to eat breakfast when we get downstairs, or we’re going to have a problem,” Anna concluded. Velaiah stifled a giggle as the two bickered.

"I'm sorry," she said with her hand in front of her mouth. "It's just a rare occurrence that I get to see such lively conversation up close here.”

"Yes, well, I apologize that you had to bear witness to one of our squabbles. This is why we're a team, otherwise Deventh might not remember he's a person rather than an animated construct. Are you sure you don't want to visit Aurelio, though?" A nudging gravity weighed on her voice. "Surely it's better not to deal with these things alone."

Velaiah sighed. "Truly, I would, but you've caught me at the worst possible time. There's no one to fill my spot here at the moment since my dear Cylla is away. Until she comes back tomorrow, I'm taking care of the books on my own. I can join you for breakfast, though, if you’ll have me."

"Very well," Anna conceded. "Work is work. You’re more than welcome to eat with us.”

“Thank you.” A genuine smile spread across Velaiah’s face. She glanced up at Deventh, who nodded his approval as well. “Let’s go eat, then.”

“Breakfast,” groaned a voice from across the room. A rather zombie-like Lydie arose from her bed, a tangle of red hair burying half of her face. Rubbing her eyes, she hobbled and stumbled to catch up with the others.