I arrived early, because I wanted to make a good first impression, and because Julien said that if I paced across his bar one more time he was going to make me sweep the floors while I was at it, and when I offered to do just that he kicked me out and told me to have a safe trip.

I shifted from side to side before the doors of the Exploration Guild building, hands running over my armour to make sure everything was in its place and that I was as neat and tidy as I could be. I needed a haircut, and maybe a nice bath. But I was clean. Very clean.

It was just nerves that had my tummy twisting up inside me with tension.

There had been a few opportunities to make friends already since I had arrived in this world, opportunities that I felt like I had missed or messed up. Heck, I could have just stopped people on the streets and asked them to be friends, but that would have felt forced. This--being given a partner--felt like it was my big chance. I would be spending some time with them, which meant plenty of opportunities to buddy up! We were even supposed to be of roughly the same age!

I took a deep breath and opened the door.

The lobby was nearly empty except for Mister Rainnewt, the secretary behind her desk, and an unfamiliar grenoil man. The two men were talking, the grenoil while leaning against the counter and Mister Rainnewt with his hands folded at the small of his back.

I didn’t want to interrupt them, especially after they both looked my way then dismissed me to continue talking, so I took a circuitous route around all the displays, making sure not to bump any with my bulging backpack or the haft of my spear. The vases were quite... vase-y, and the big display with the dungeon inside of it certainly looked neat, and the monsters in the tiny rooms looked fearsome, but in the end I found myself itching to get it over with.

“Hello!” I said as I walked across the carpeted room towards Mister Rainnewt and his friend. There was a faint but persistent smell of alcohol in the air that had me recoiling a little.

One look at the grenoil man had me pinning all my suspicions on him.

He looked like an adventurer, with a bandoleer across one shoulder and a coil of rope over the other. He wore simple but tough looking clothes with plenty of pockets, and a cloak over his shoulders, the hood rolled up around his neck to let him see better. The cloak did a good job of hiding the knife and the two flasks around his waist. “Who’s zis munchkin?” the grenoil asked.

“This,” Mister Rainnewt said. “Is Broccoli Bunch. She will be Amaryllis' partner for the expedition. I expect you to take care of her as well, though she does have some experience under her belt.”

I swelled up with pride at that. I also took note of the name. Amaryllis. Was that my partner?

“Experience wiz what? Walking in a straight line? She doesn’t look like she knows how to handle zat spear,” the grenoil said

“I don’t,” I said. “Know how to handle the spear, I mean. I got it from a dryad in the Darkwoods and just... kind of kept it. It’s a good walking stick.”

The grenoil blinked, then guffawed and pulled one of his flasks from his belt until Rainnewt cleared his throat and he stuffed it back. “Well, at least zere’s zat. I’m not saddled wiz ze usual batch of no-good nobley sorts. If you can’t use ze spear zen what do you use?”

He was eying the knife in my bandoleer and the one by my hip. “I have a makeshift weapon’s skill,” I said.

“Huh. Dangerous one, zat. Hard to predict. I’m Gabriel.”

“Broccoli, Broccoli Bunch,” I said before extending a hand to shake. Gabriel shook with a grin.

“So, you ready for a week of babysitting, hardships, long nights, and more babysitting Broccoli?” he asked.

“Babysitting?” I repeated.

He gave me a froggy grin. “Oh yeah, just you wait.” He turned towards Rainnext. “What kind of brats do we have zis time?”

“They are hardly brats. They are respectable new members of our esteemed guild. The Brack twins are actually quite capable,” Rainnewt said.

“From ze Bracklands?” Gabriel asked.

I felt like a third wheel in the conversation, but stepping back would have been awkwards, so I just stood and listened as they spoke over my head.

“Exactly. Cousins of the duke,” Rainnewt said.

“Snobby little shits, you mean,” Gabriel grumbled.

I didn’t call him out on using bad words because this wasn’t the place for it, and we weren’t friends (yet), but I made a note to be sure not to copy his vocabulary. Also, he was judging people before even meeting them, which was never a nice thing to do.

“You didn’t read any of the files we gave you, did you?” Rainnewt asked. He rolled his eyes back as if looking to the heavens for help.

I gave mister Gabriel a very disapproving look of my own. He should have done his homework, especially if his job, as I understood it, was to take care of us.

He noticed my pout and huffed. “Don’t give me zat look. You’ve no idea what zeir files look like. Right nightmare to read. Besides, I’ve got Inspect, it’ll tell me everything I have to know. Like you’re a... level six Cinnamon Bun? What in ze world is zat?”

“It’s my class,” I said as I crossed my arms. “It’s a support class.” Which was far better than admitting that it was a class that had skills like Cute.

“Right,” he said.

Since he had used something on me, I didn’t feel that bad using Insight on him. It was only fair, after all.

A mostly-sober Grenoil Pathfinder of the Midnight Marshes, level ???

He wasn’t even sober! This man was a bad influence!

My thoughts were interrupted by the doors near the entrance opening and two people stepping in with the sort of confidence I wish I had. They were both grenoils, and even though they were a boy and a girl, there was something about them that made them look similar. Probably the patchy pattern across their skin.

The boy had robes on, with expensive looking boots and a fine cloak. The girl had form-fitting armour that looked like leather over padded cloth, a pretty sword hung by her hip that bounced with every step. They both had backpacks on, sleeping bags rolled up atop them and a staff sticking out of the boy’s.

“Ah, France and Florence,” Mister Rainnewt said. “You’re right on time. Let me introduce you to the man that will be leading your expedition. This is Gabriel, a senior member of the guild. Don’t let his demeanor fool you, he’s quite talented. And this is Miss Bunch, one of the others going through her first expedition.”

“Hrm,” Gabriel said as he nodded to the twins.

“Hello!” I said.

The boy, Florence, grinned at me. “I didn’t know we would be in ze presence of such cute company,” he said.

His sister was kind enough to elbow him in the side for his comment.

I was not cute; I was attractive.

The door opened again and a final person entered the room.

“And here we have our last participant,” Mister Rainnewt said. “Hello, miss Albatross.”

“Hello,” the girl said as she moved deeper into the room. I stared at her with a strange feeling in my chest. It was the same harpy girl that I had run into the day before, the one that had insulted my outfit and who had been rude to me.

That exchange had been fast, with barely a few seconds to see what she looked like. Now I had a moment to really take her in. She was tall, especially with her messy white hair-feathers and her head turned up so that she was looking at everyone else along the length of her sharp nose. She was pretty though, in the more classical sense. Sharp cheeks and a thin figure under well-fit clothes.

All she had on her was a blouse covered by a sleeveless leather jacket that had a feathery ruff and a pair of shorts that left her long taloned feet exposed so that her every step dug into the carpet. No weapons that I could see, and no gear.

“Are we ready to get this over with?” she asked.

“Do you want me to make introductions?” Mister Rainnewt asked.

“We can do that on the way. Which one is my partner?” she eyed France and Florian appraisingly.

“Miss Bunch here,” Rainnewt said as he placed a hand on my shoulder.

“Hello!” I said, snapping to attention. “My name is Broccoli Bunch! I hope we become the best of friends!”

Amaryllis stared at me for a long moment, one eyebrow rising. “Is this the best the Exploration Guild has?” she asked.

“Hey!” I said before Mister Rainnewt could say anything. “I’m more than capable of handling myself, I’ll have you know.”

Gabriel snort-croaked. “C’mon, featherbrain, we’re wasting time. You join up with Broccoli here or you stay here. Your choice.”

Amaryllis huffed and crossed her arms. “Very well. Let’s get going then?”

“Fine by me,” Gabriel said as he pushed off the counter and started towards the door. “Stick close kiddies, we’re heading to ze docks. Doubt anyone is fool enough to mess with us, but you never know.”

The twins followed, and soon I was walking next to my partner as we made our way onto the streets. It was just about noon, which meant that the streets were pretty quiet. The sun was beaming down from above and cutting through the slight steamy fog around the city. It warmed up otherwise-chilly roads.

It was good weather for setting off on an adventure.

“So, you’re Amaryllis, right? That’s a very pretty name,” I said.

Amaryllis ignored me.

“What made you join the guild?” I asked, and when I didn’t receive any answer other than a dry look, I went on. “I joined because I like exploring. I met a party from the guild next to a ruined town and thought it would be neat to try and join myself. Now here I am!”

“Do you have to talk so much?” Amaryllis asked. “I don’t know who sent you, but I doubt they paid you to become my friend.”

“Paid me? Nobody needs to pay me to be their friend, that’s a free service!”

The harpy next to me crossed her arms. “This is going to be a long week. Isn’t it?”

“It’s only going to be long if you’re not enjoying yourself,” I said. “Maybe... maybe you’re not ready to be friends yet, that’s okay. But if we’re going to work together then maybe we should make an effort to get to know each other? And if we do become friends, then that’s just for the best.”

“Ze human’s not wrong,” Gabriel said. “If you’re gonna share a tent wiz someone, best to be on good terms. Ze ozer options aren’t always pretty.”

I saw the twins glancing at each other, then back to me and Amaryllis.

“Fine. I’m Amaryllis Albatross, of the Albatross family. I’m the third daughter, which means I have two older sisters. I’m a Thunder Mage. My specialty is mid ranged area of effect magic. Is there anything else you need to know?”

“All sorts of things,” I said. “Like what your favourite colours are, and your favourite food, and your favourite books, but those things can wait,” I said. “I’m Broccoli Bunch, of the Bunch family on Earth. I’m an only daughter, and I’m a Cinnamon Bun. My class is about support, though I don’t have that many useful skills yet. I’m really bad at combat, and I’m pretty good at talking. This is Orange Bunch.” I pulled the flap on a pouch of my bandoleer open and accidentally woke up Orange who stuck her head out and glared. “She’s a spirit kitten companion. She’s not that good at combat yet, but she gives great snuggles.”

I looked at Amaryllis and found her staring at me as if she was a snake she found in her boot.

“I hope we become good friends!”