A Formal Day's Entertainment, Areya & Xarria, with Ari just briefly

[Kimmy]

.: Arielli's inspiration :.

There was a note on Xarrie's bed. It was folded neatly and sealed with a drop of wax - a soft cream color with a hint of summer flowers coming from within. Inside, the note was beautiful - a red flower accompanying some very floral script that had been pain staking to get just perfect.

Dearest Xarrie,

Your presence is formally requested to accompany my dearest sister Areya, on a picnic out to the southern redfruit trees. It shall be held at noon today - all food and beverages shall be provided. Should you have any conflicting duties and/or classes at this time, please inform your superiors that the Weyr Mind Healer has requested you skip your duties for today and that other arrangements shall have to be made without your attendance. Any complaints can be referred to the Healer's quarters.

Please dress for formal daywear. Areya shall be dressing in a red - to offset your delightful dark brown hair & eyes.

On a personal note, everyday since the hatching I have heard my sister, Areya, talk of you in the fondest of lights. You bring her smiles when ever she is sad but you also inspire her to grow braver when she finds the world a frightening place. To none else have I ever seen my dearest little sister take on so fast nor talk so highly of! You have her delighted and charmed - a irrefutable fact.

I write this note not only to request your attendance for Areya's picnic - but to also announce that I, Arielli, Areya's loving guardian, do strongly encourage your pursuit of my darling sister.

Arielli


Arielli slipped away from Xarria's bed, smiling wickedly. Sneaking up on her sister whilst she was still brushing down her long golden locks, Arielli had a radiant smile. "O-Oh Areya! I've done you a favor!" Areya's eyes looked up, surprised and interested - never doubting Ari's intention. Areya's voice was a gentle whine as she turned and left her big green & gold eyes do their work "Ari! Do you have time to come play today? I know you don't have a weyrling lesson. I checked with Xarrie! Can you please come out and play today? I've been missing you Ari."

Ari smiled - though it was regretful in part. "I have have healer duties today until lunch. But - I know how you've been since the hatching and how difficult candidate lessons have become for you so I've decided to help. Since you've been talking about Xarrie so much I set you up on a playdate with Xarrie today. Your both to go on a picnic - theres a hamper already prepared with a blanket and your to meet her down by the redfruit trees. There won't be hardly any dragons there so you can relax and just enjoy yourself some time." Ari's eyes twinkled as she turned Areya to face her "Now why don't you put on your nice new dress - the dark red one?"

Areya's little eyes lit up with excitement - "A picnic? With Xarrie? Without any dragons about? Really really? Your the best Ari! But I'll miss you still... and what new dress? I don't have a dark red dress - do I?" Areya tried to think, as Ari went to her trunk and pulled out one of her dresses. It was a long red dress of deep red cotton that fell below the knees. It was rather simple in its design - except over the chest where its smoothness was broken up by a crisscrossed pattern of loose ruffled materials. Ari had a lot of pride in her voice as she handed it over to Areya. "This should fit you now. It was mother's from when she was rather young. And now, its yours."

Areya's eyes lit up at its sight, knowing just what it meant to Ari - what it meant to them both. She was eager to try it on - though she did so privately, in one of the bathing rooms. As Areya dressed, Ari smiled and adjusted Areya's hair slightly. "Oh, I may have also given Xarrie permission to date you. I wrote it all down on a note for her."

"D-d-DATE?! A-a-ari?" Areya's voice broke and then it broke again, into quiet hysterics - just as she broke into an animated panic. "B-but I've n-nev-er been on a d-d-date!"

"Arrri!"

The Dress

[Linnea]

Now that the Hatching was over, things were getting back to normal in the Queen's Wing and flamethrower practice had been called for the first time since Kyth rose on her flight. Leilanith back-winged onto her ledge, exhausted, and Xarria unhooked herself before sliding off and beginning to remove her green's straps. "You did great today, Leilanith," she cooed while petting the young female, "You kept up with Alaza, even!" Sure they'd had to take a break for the middle portion of it, but Alazandriath and Laerin had been forced to do the same. Greens were meant for speed, not longevity, after all. Leilanith merely sagged when her straps were finally removed, moving over to her stone couch and collapsing against its coolness. Xarria frowned, rubbing at her mount's headknobs. "That deserves a good bath and oiling," she finally decided aloud with a smile and a nod, "We'll go down to the lake after you rest." By that time, however, the green was already fast asleep so Xarria snuck away into her own quarters.

It was sitting there, innocently, on her bed and it drew Xarria's eyes immediately. It didn't help that all three of her pets were sitting around it, staring at it. "Eh?" the young rider asked herself as she picked the sealed note up. She could smell flowers the moment she brought it up to look at. Feeling that whatever this was, it wasn't quite flat, she broke the seal and opened the letter only to watch a red flower fall to her blankets. "Back off," she shooed the curious Akito and River away before picking it up and smelling it. She couldn't help but smile at it before she skipped, suddenly far more energized than she'd been before, over to her desk and laid it amongst the skins she'd been given to study her reading and writing before turning to the letter.

She immediately went cross-eyed.

There were so many words! And some of them were so long! She picked one of the longer words and counted. Twelve! Twelve letters! Putting the letter under her arm and using her fingers, she spelled out Leilanith's name in her mind. Even that only had nine letters! Giving a pout and a nonverbal whine, the girl stomped her feet before turning back to the letter. She should probably at least try to read it, after all.

"D-deer-est…dearest…" she began sounding the greeting out, her brows furrowing and her nose scrunching as she brought the paper up as close as she could to her face without the letters going blurry, "Xarria!" She was able to recognize her own name by now, after all. But…"Eh? It's spelled wrong," she pouted as she saw the 'e' instead of an 'a' at the end. For someone who wrote such big words, they sure did make a mistake early. She continued, though, sounding the letter out word by word and skipping over the ones that were just too long or confusing. It took her a while, but she finally managed to make it through the first paragraph…from which she managed to understand Areya, picnic, noon and -- what had been a hard one for her -- southern redfruit trees along with food and something about Healers and the Mind Healer -- which by now Xarria knew was Arielli. Well, she didn't quite get it but figured her best bet was to go to the trees at noon and look for Areya. If she didn't see the Candidate there, then she'd stop by the Infirmary and Weyrling Barracks and look for Arielli -- she'd looked down to the bottom of the letter at that point to confirm her suspicions that it was the new weyrling that had written her.

The second paragraph only confused her further. Formal she understood meant nice, but she'd never heard the term daywear before. If she broke it up -- Spiros told her to do that with words sometimes -- she got day and wear, so…clothes you wear during the day? Hopefully that was it, because the greenrider had no interest in thinking through it any further. The last two paragraphs went just as slowly and the end the girl had a headache and was near tears and was still no closer to fully decoding the letter. Well, at least she had an idea.

Suddenly realizing how long it had taken to read the note, Xarria flew into a flurry of washing off the yucky agenothree smell and picking out nice clothes to wear during the day that would be okay for a picnic. She settled on something yellow and nostalgic of home. It wasn't anywhere near cold enough for it to be too light nor too hot to make her sweat and the light fabric stick.

It was last minute that she grabbed the letter and flower, tucking the clipping behind her ear, bringing a bright pop of red to contrast with her dark hair and skin and the yellow dress. Akito chirped in approval and that was all Xarria needed to know. "We're going to have a picnic!" she announced, finally ready to go. Even River seemed interested at that announcement as picnics meant food for him to steal and eat.

Hoping she had read the letter correctly, Xarria snuck past her still snoozing green and made her way for the redfruit trees to the south, a gold dragonet, a brown dragonet and a large blue firelizard in tow.

Dress

[Kimmy]

Areya was waiting by the redfruit trees. She'd already laid out the blanket and set the wicker hamper off to one side. She'd picked a spot that had some shade on one side and sunlight on the other. She'd even nosed through the hamper - curious to see what kind of foods Ari had gotten. And then she'd laid out the plates of food - covering each of them will little squares of clothe. Then Areya had sat done and laid it all out... again.

Areya had arrived early and found herself nervous and self conscious. She'd checked her dress three times - and still couldn't but help herself from worrying that she'd gotten some creases somewhere. Ari had been helping. Setting all this up. B-but... a d-date? A r-real d-date? With X-Xarrie... Areya's thoughts twisted about in a panic as she tried to imagine it - a nice evening under the stars... giving each other gifts... holding h-hands... K-k-k-k-i-i-s-...

Areya couldn't think straight. Ari had gone too far - it was too much! Too soon! How could she... I mean.. with her being a... and just... another girl... Its... just too...

Complicated thoughts escaped Areya as she saw Xarrie coming. Instead, blind panic made her duck behind a tree. In the relative safety of the tree trunk's shadow, Areya started to hyperventilate! She panicked over her dress one more time. And then she took a deep breathe, and forced herself, with great effort, to step out and greet Xarrie. "X-Xarrie! I... thank you... my picnic... Its... ah... Welcome... to... It-its a lovely d-day to D- d- d- d-d-a-a-t..."

Areya's cheeks started to match her dress. She was breathing way to fast to talk now - but as her words failed her, Ari's voice came to mind. "Areya, tell her how lovely she's looking. Don't panic about these things. You just have to be honest with her and things will go allong nicely."

"X-Xarrie... Your b-breathe t-taking... I... y-your dress l-looks lovely." Areya was too petrified to move - but somehow she managed to actually speak. She really did think that Xarrie was a lovely girl in a pretty dress. Though she hadn't noticed the accompaniment of fire lizards and dragonets yet.

[Linnea]

Wearing this dress now reminded the girl of why she'd rarely worn the style back in Igen: it was not conducive to running. The light and breezy fabric was perfect for the weather, but clung to her legs and easily tangled if she took too big or too fast of steps. It took a bit longer than usual, therefore, to make it to the copse of trees bearing the bright red fruit and she had to continually call Akito and River back to her side when they flew too far ahead. She knew for sure she'd managed to get it right when she saw a blanket with a basket and covered plates laid in the shade the grove offered. All three beasts zeroed in on the blanket and the food it held. "Oh, don't you dare!" she scolded at the three, trying to reach them before they decimated the lunch. "You get what I give to you, don't even think about eating off a plate!" With enough anger and stern refusal sent down the bonds, they all did back off, though River with a hiss of annoyance.

It was only then that the greenrider noticed something was off. She paused, bringing a finger up to tap at confused lips as she searched for Areya. The letter said she would be in red, but Xarria didn't see any small Candidate in red 'formal daywear' anywhere…until she stepped out from behind a tree, as meek as Xarria had ever seen another person and stuttering to the point where she didn't even know what the girl was trying to tell her beyond what appeared to be a thank you for coming.

Really, Areya was adorable. Like one of those fancy dolls Xarria had seen wealthier girls play with in the Holds she'd visited. It was hard to believe the Candidate was older than her, as well, what with her small and delicate stature and how easily she frightened. Xarria could still remember how the little blonde had burrowed into her arms on the Hatching Ground sands. Unable to hold her adoration of the small girl in any longer, Xarria bounced up to the girl and hugged her close. "Areya, your dress is so pretty, too!" she called out, sending a big smile to the girl before releasing her and backing away a bit to show off her dress. "I wore okay clothes then? I didn't know what 'formal daywear' meant," she chuckled before showing her outfit off with a small twirl. "It's a fancy outfit from where I come from in Igen. I didn't bring it here with me from there when I was Searched, but I managed to get a hold of a few items recently. It's so much better now that I've graduated and have more freedom! I can go anywhere on Pern in the time it takes to cough three times."

[Kimmy]

Areya broke into silence as she was complimented and hugged. Somehow, she was embracing Xarrie tightly before she knew what was happening and her cheeks were still a soft scarlet colour. "Y-your d-dressed just f-fine for f-for a d-da-picnic!" Areya's voice rose a little as the paniced feeling rose within her once again.

Pausing to take a deep breathe, Areya reached down and placed her hand in Xarrie's. With a flushed little smile she led Xarrie over to the blanket whilst trying to talk. "Y-You've graduated? Con-congratulations! Y-you'll have t-to take me out s-sometime. O-on another d-a-day!" Areya's little voice rose again as she sat herself down and arranged her skirt appropriately.

"I... I w-wanted" Areya had to pause and take another deep breathe - and then with a little determined look she placed both her hands on Xarrie's - her heartbeat starting to drum in her ears. Her words got faster and faster as they almost blurred together. "I wanted to thank you for the hatching! I-was-so-scared-when-R-Reldath-came-out-and-Ari-was-taken-from-me-and-Ari-pushed-me-away-and-I-didn't-have-anyone-else-and-then-I-fell-and-it-was-so-hot-andyouwerethere-and-kiki-is-nice-but-I-just-really-wanted-to-say-thank-you and ... and..." Areya swallowed hard, closed her eyes and lent in to give Xarrie a blind kiss. Areya's little shoulders tensed as she almost expected a scream!

[Linnea]

The moment Areya had hugged Xarria back the greenrider had bounced happily. Here she was having a fun picnic with a friend and she got to wear pretty clothes, even if they were hard to run in. But now that she was at the picnic, she wouldn't be running for a while, she'd be sitting and eating -- another thing the growing girl thoroughly enjoyed doing -- and talking and maybe later they could pick some redfruit together. Today would definitely be fun, so when Areya slipped her hand into Xarria's, the greenrider squeezed back and skipped as well as she could over to the blanket and food -- promising as many dragon rides as Areya wanted as time spent outside the Weyr meant fewer lessons and less practice for her, even if she did get in trouble for ditching -- quite proud of herself that she'd managed to decode all the important parts of the long letter with the long words. She'd gotten the who, what, where, when and which clothes to wear, after all.

Sitting down at the food -- very carefully, as the skirt she was wearing was a bit tighter than her usual flowy pieces -- Xarria wanted to just reach out and whip the cover off the nearest plate. Wing practice had been exhausting after all, lugging around that big agenothree tank and the hose and spigot for it was no laughing matter, after all, but Areya grabbed both of her hands instead so after a longing glance at the food -- a desire which was echoed in the croons of her pets still sitting just out of reach of the blanket -- Xarria turned attentive eyes on the girl. While she normally didn't last very long, Areya's stutters actually manage to hold Xarria's attention for longer as the greenrider had to almost play a game trying to decipher the girl's words and meanings, after all.

The moment Areya closed her eyes and started to rush in, Xarria slammed her eyes shut and scrunched her face up against the quickly nearing face. The kiss landed somewhere in between her cheek, nose and mouth, with the girl's nose poking her in the eye. "Owie!" the greenrider called out as she pulled away to rub at the injured spot a slight pout on her face as she looked back to the Candidate. "You're welcome, and maybe next time you do that you shouldn't close your eyes. I don't think my eyeball smells that good," she couldn't help but tease as she removed her hand and blinked her minorly injured eye until everything seemed to be in working order again. Thank you kisses had been common occurrences in her small family before she'd been Searched -- along with You're welcome kisses and Love you kisses and Good morning kisses and Good night kisses -- so she didn't mind much that Areya did something similar. It was kind of nostalgic, even, though kisses with mom and dad had never put a nose in her eyeball.

[Kimmy]

Areya's head bumped back with a little shock! She tentatively peeked one eye open - only to be hit full in the face with a rather dismaying appraisal of her attempt at date-like behaviour. This drew a rather rare response from Areya. Her cheeks sweeled slightly and her eyes opened - though their lids creased just slightly. And then, she started to cry.

Tears started to flow as her stutter was forgotten by the crushing attentions of her supposed but bilssfully unaware date. "I... I.. I didn't mean to... I just wanted to... your fragrance is nice... its what you do... I haven't... It was... my first kiss! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to mess up our... our da...

...You're welcome?" The waterworks ground to a pause as Areya's eyes flew wide after the compliment sank in. And her stuttered joy returned "R-really?" as she leapt forward into a warm tackle of an embrace!

[Linnea]

Tears! Xarria didn't like tears! Tears were one of the few things that could stop the girl in her tracks and a very uncomfortable frown popped onto her face as her hands hovered in between reaching out to comfort the girl and, well, hiding.

"It's okay," she offered, unsure of herself and her actions, as she patted the air near the girl's shoulders, "Please don't cry." She turned to confusion the same time as Areya did, though for a slightly different reason…which she was forced to put off momentarily when the Candidate flung into her arms. Giggling a bit, the greenrider threw her arms fully around the no longer crying blonde and squeezed tight. Hugs were the best and the bigger the better.

But the girl's curiosity could never be staid for long and she pulled out of the hug with a slightly puckered face as she tilted her head to the side. "First kiss?" the greenrider asked in confusion. "That's not a first kiss," she explained, quite matter of factly and without pause, "It has to be on the lips." And, as she explained, she put a finger up against her own lips in demonstration before her large smile came shining back through with another giggle, "I haven't had my first kiss, either."

[Kimmy]

Areya's big eyes broke into wonder as she listened, nodding slowly. "You haven't? Really? B-but don't you kiss on d-dates? A-and you hold hands. A-and go on picnics. Arielli told me so. H-haven't you been on lots of d-dates be-before?" Areya settled into Xarrie's hugs, scooting around to rest on her little head on Xarrie's shoulder, all snuggled up beside her. "Arielli m-made me c-come today... B-but... I d-did want to come."

It was an odd feeling - Areya was used to leaning on Arielli. Not anyone else. But she trusted Xarrie. And so did Ari. That was enough, so she wrapped Xarrie in her little arms and leant against her shoulder, just enjoying the freedom of feeling b-brave. "I... haven't... e-ever liked anyone b-before. B-but Ari knows me... and s-set this up. I-I'm s-sorry I didn't ask y-you myself. She l-looks after me alot. T-this... its my f-f-first... date. I-is it... ok?" Areya turned and lifted her head up enough to look up into Xarrie's eye, her green and gold eyes holding a big wide eyed look of wonder.

[Linnea]

Upon Areya's first question, Xarria nodded her head in over-exaggerated movements to tell the Candidate that yes, she really had not had her first kiss. When would she have, anyway? To be honest, she hadn't even thought on the subject much ever. The only reason she knew about kisses having to be on lips was from what she'd heard others talk about and what she'd sometimes seen. People in the Weyr could be pretty open about physical contact, which Xarria adored, but she didn't always understand the point of all of it.

She was shaken out of her thoughts when the Candidate asked her if she hadn't been on many dates before. "No way," she interjected with a shake of her head -- she'd never even thought about it before -- before Areya snuggled up to her and continued speaking. Xarria smiled and cuddled right back. Maybe this was why people did some of the other stuff she'd seen them do…cuddles were fun, after all and she let out another small giggle…which subsequently froze as Areya wrapped her arms around the greenrider and spoke up again.

"Eh?" The entirety of the greenrider was frozen by the time Areya finished speaking, still in complete and utter shock. Chocolate eyes wide as they stared down at the blonde in confusion, eyebrows furrowed, nose scrunched, and jaw somewhere in between frozen shut and brushing the floor. "Eh-eh-eh? Date?!" She was on a date?!

[Kimmy]

Areya's big wide eyes froze in time to match Xarrie's! "I.. um... T-this is our date? I-isn't it? Isn't it? Xarrie?" Areya's heart started to drum in her ears, as Xarrie froze. Areya's lips twisted unhappily as her voice started to break "Xarrie? A-ari did tell you... D-didn't she? I... I mean... " Areya's eyes looked like they were about to tear up again...

[Linnea]

"A-a-ah! Don't cry!" Xarria shouted the moment it appeared Areya was about to start up again, grabbing hold of the girl's shoulders and looking her directly in the eyes and willing her not to cry. She really, really didn't like crying, after all. Instead, she chewed at her bottom lip, her eyes beginning to shift about as she tried to understand what was going on. This was a date? She was supposed to know? Arielli was supposed to tell her? But she hadn't met Arielli today…

The girl's frown of confusion got deeper and darker until she suddenly remembered. "Letter!" Her eyes opened wide in pride at herself as she realized that was how Arielli had talked to her today, to tell her about the picnic. And, oh, how clever could she be? She had actually brought the thing with her! Reaching into the folds of her sari, she pulled out the letter she had tucked into her skirt's waistband.

"This!" she cried, holding it out to Areya with a confused brow and proud smile, "Does it say in this?" Unfolding the paper to show off the intricate writing, Xarria's complaints began. "Your sister is so mean! She wrote with such big words and I could barely understand it at all and it gave me a really bad headache…and I didn't actually read the whole thing." The last of her complaints trailed off into a shamed admission before her lips pulled taught and her head bowed, eyes looking up through her lashes in a plea for forgiveness before a sudden fact came to her remembrance and she began to ramble.

"Oh! But smell the seal, it smells so pretty like flowers, don't you think so? And this red flower came inside it, too," she continued, pointing to the red bloom she'd stuck in her hair, "Isn't it pretty?" She tapered off again, falling back into a stance of remorse and shame, a full and thorough pout tugging at her lips. This wasn't fair at all.

[Kimmy]

Areya's eyes froze mid tear as Xarrie produced a letter. It had a familar complexity to it that said Arielli's handiword was upon its surface. And suddenly the world was all about Arielli. Being mean. Which, well Areya would never admit it, but she was sometimes. But she meant well.

"Um.. t-thats my sister's note? Y-you can't read it all? Really?" Areya nodded and melted - Xarrie was being absolutely adorable and Areya's urge to cry just vanished under those lashes. "I.. ah... Ari can be a bit... well... strong sometimes. She likes to do things... her way."

Areya glanced over the note, but then turned her eyes to the flower and smiled. "Our mother used to dry flowers and put them in her clothes box and sometimes in her letters. Ari told me about it. I... I'm glad she remembered." Areya's face broke into a happy little smile - but it too quickly vanished as Xarrie started to pout.

"B-but... I ... oh... I-I'm sorry! I didn't... I mean... Bringing you here and... being all... its... I um... the k-kiss... I didn't mean not to date you on our date... I mean... I... Oh... Ari said... Ari said I liked you. A-ari arranged it all and she said you knew and you didn't and I'm ruined everything and t-this was my first d-date and its over n-now and I j-just... I just.. I j-just w-wanted to meet you-ou. You were so nice to me a-and s-so much fun and you made m-me feel brave... Ari's the only person who ever makes me feel brave. And now I can't even ask you out on a date and you hate me a-and..." Areya wanted to lean into Xarrie's shoulder and cry and sob and be hugged - but she paused halfway into the act, not wanting to be too datelike with Xarrie... since she clearly wouldn't want anything to do with her again.

Her big round eyes were on the verge of tears, again.

[Linnea]

Xarria did try extremely hard to listen to all of what Areya had to say, but a very important part of it jumped out at her and Xarria couldn't help but latch onto it, her petulant pout still keeping a smile off her face despite the wariness in her gaze as the Candidate grew closer and closer to crying. "Areya should be the one to say who Areya likes and no one else," she muttered just loud enough to be heard before sending a scolding glance to the blonde. It didn't last long, what with the greenrider worrying more and more that her companion would start crying any moment. Instead, she reached out and patted the girl's head this time. "I'd rather go on a date with someone who asked me directly, anyway," she tried to calm the girl, "though I don't see why two friends can't go on a picnic and have fun." And that was the confusing part. Xarria had thought this was just a fun picnic between two new friends and hadn't seen anything wrong with the issue.

She didn't see why Areya was so worked-up about the thank you kiss, either. "Until Areya decides for herself, I wouldn't want a date anyways," she finally said decidedly and with a nod, "So this wasn't a date so it didn't get messed up and even if it was, it wasn't Areya's fault." The greenrider liked simple solutions and that one seemed the best to her, so she went with it and felt much better with everything, in her opinion, resolved quite nicely. Reaching out, she pulled the girl back into a giggle-filled hug before turning to the spread before the two, only to see River had helped himself to some of the meat, the little thief. She glared at the blue and leaned forward to shoo him away for the rest of the meal -- he squawked imperiously at her before taking a final mouthful and flying up into the trees. "Let's eat lunch now," she suggested, keeping hold of Areya's hand with one of hers while reaching over to whip the cover off the platter nearest her.

[Kimmy]

Areya sniffed loudly - but she stopped crying long enough to smile. "A-Ari always looks out for me. I..." Areya shook her little head, throwing all her hair to the winds. And then she lifted a defiantly little smile - one that Arielli sometimes adopted when she met a challenge and ... found it exciting.

"I-I'm g-glad! A-Ari knows me and she k-knows I m-must like you. S-so lets be friends. A-and m-maybe one day I w-will a-as-sk you o-on a d-d-Date!" Her voice rose a little as she trembled into that last word - but Areya managed a smile to follow it. "Y-yes... L-lets eat. A-and l-later... I'll... um... are they a-all yours?" Areya's little defiance was finally distracted by the appearance of an impatient little blue, stealing some food. And the several others hanging close by.

Breaking into a smile Areya reached out for the platter Xarrie uncovered, leaning into Xarrie as she pinched some meats and offered them out for the little blue. "Its ok little fellow. Theres lots to share. I'm Areya. And... And... and I'm Xarrie's friend." Areya flashed a curious little smile up to Xarrie and reached up to rub away her tears from earlier. "Um... xa... Xarrie... I think your my only f-friend here? Does that make us b-best friends?" Areya looked hesitant - but just a little hopeful.