Now in Room C-4, Aya sat perched on a nearby stool, her hands resting on her lap as she quietly hummed a little Eastwyn tune.

Just across from her, the old gas oven had been pulled out from its tidy row of brethren—its backside now exposed, casing removed, and one Raveena Vesper halfway stuffed inside.

Like—literally inside.

Back flat against the floor, legs bent outward, sleeves rolled up, and half her upper body wedged in beneath the oven’s curved metal frame.

Beside her was the cardboard box of tools and parts that she brought with her. There were wrenches, flathead screwdrivers, and a few instruments that were far too unfamiliar for Aya to tell.

Every so often, something clinked or scraped, and Aya’s head would subconsciously tilt just slightly as she observed.

Then, after a bit, Raveena slid halfway out—shoulders dusted in soot, one gloved hand reaching toward her box without even looking.

“You don’t have somewhere else to be? Like, dinner?” she asked flatly, then scooted back in before Aya could even answer. “I might be a while. Need to make sure this thing doesn’t explode.”

Aya giggled, swinging her feet gently under the stool. “Oh, it’s alright—I can eat a bit later.”

Then Raveena slid herself back out again, this time looking at her directly.

“…That’s not the point.”

“Huh?”

“You don’t need to stay here with me,” Raveena answered, adjusting the strap on her skirt. “It’s a bit of a quick fix, just some old bolts and a replacement relay, but who knows if it may take longer? I’ll close the room myself once I’m done.”

“Oh, um… but I want to stay.” Aya smiled warmly. “If that’s alright with you, that is.”

Raveena stared for a moment.

Then—she shrugged.

“Suit yourself, rabbit.”

And with that, she disappeared back under the oven. The clinking continued as Aya kept watching from her stool in silence, and this lasted for a few more minutes until Aya finally said something again.

“…It’s a bit surprising, though. That they had a student from Arcane Tech come fix this. Usually they just send a letter to someone who can do the maintenance for these.”

There was a brief silence, followed by a muffled scoff from inside the oven. “Don’t ask me,” Raveena muttered. “I’m new here. Haven’t figured out how the system works yet.”

“I… guess that’s true,” Aya nodded slowly.

“But yeah, couldn’t believe it either. First week and they’re already making me crawl inside old equipment like some grease-goblin.”

“…Grease-goblin…?”

“Mm. And now everyone in my strand thinks I’m sucking up to Professor Vask.”

Aya’s ears twitched down a little, her expression softening after Raveena said that. “Eh…? Why would they think that?”

Raveena slid out halfway, resting an arm along the side of the oven to look at her. “Think about it… New student. Has weird rumors. Suddenly gets asked to do a job usually meant for faculty,” then she leaned her head back with a quiet sigh. “To them, it probably looks like I’m trying to win favor to clean up my record. You know. Strategic groveling.”

“Oh…”

Aya frowned a little deeper. “That’s not fair… that’s mean,” she thought.

“…But what if Professor Vask just asked you because she knew you were capable?” Aya asked with a hopeful tone.

Raveena rolled her eyes. “Doesn’t matter if I am,” she then answered before ducking back under. “To others, it’ll just look like I’m desperate. Joke’s on them—I’m not.”

Then came more of the tinkering Raveena’s clink! And clank!

Aya leaned forward a little, resting her hands on the edge of her seat. “Well… you don’t seem like that kind of person to me. As a matter of fact… I think you’re a good person.”

At that, another silence came from within the oven, a long one.

Then, Raveena slid halfway back out again, then she looked at Aya and smiled just a little. “…Thanks for the vouch.”

Aya giggled softly. “It’s no problem at all. That’s what friends are for, right?”

“…Friends?”

Aya nodded. “Mhm!” then she tilted her head, ears giving their usual curious flutter. “Aren’t we not?”

“Beats me,” Raveena responded. “You’re the one saying it. I don’t exactly do friends that quick. So that’s more like a question for yourself.”

Aya further leaned slightly over, still smiling. “Well… it can be as quick as that.”

“What? Are you saying that scone you gave me was some kind of… I dunno… friendship initiation?”

Aya laughed lightly. “Oh goodness no! That one was just purely food sampling. You know… quality control,” she added with a wink in her tone. “I wouldn’t force you to be friends with me if you didn’t want to. It’s okay, really, because that’d be rude of me.”

“I didn’t say that,” Raveena said as she wriggled back out before tapping the side of the oven to check its stability. “I just said I’m… not used to it.”

Aya blinked, “Not used to what?”

Raveena stood up at last, taking off her gloves before brushing her hands together, then wiping them with a small cloth she had tucked into her pocket.

“Making friends that way,” she said. “Just… someone showing up. Being nice for no reason. That kind of thing.”

“Oh… Well, didn’t you have friends in your last school?”

At that, Raveena’s hands rested over the now-closed panel. She looked at Aya for a moment, before she then turned away, reaching for her box to start packing her tools. “I did,” she said after a long breath. “But… they were different.”

The slight change in Raveena’s voice made Aya’s eyes linger on her for a moment. Though ut wasn’t the words that struck her—it was the look on Raveena’s face just before she turned away.

It wasn’t cold, or anything, but it was almost like…

“She looks… sad.”

Aya's ears lowered slightly, but she caught herself, thinking about how she didn’t want the air to turn heavy. So instead, she stood up from her stool, brushing off her skirt and giving a little hop in place, like trying to shake off the now slightly tense quiet.

“Well!” she chirped, “since you said you don’t mind…”

Raveena looked over warily before Aya continued, stepping closer to the panther-folk. “How about we do become good friends from here on out?”

“We could do lots of fun things together,” she added cheerily with a bit of bashfulness. “Y-you know! Like what friends usually do! Sharing treats, chatting after class, maybe a tea picnic in one of the greenhouse domes—oh, or even—”

“Aya—” Raveena started, clearly taken aback by Aya’s sudden burst of bubbliness. But it was too late. Aya had already reached for her hands and clasped them with her own fingers.

“And if you want,” she beamed, “you’ll be one of the first people I give pastries to during break time whenever I do make something!”

Raveena could only stare back at Aya, completely still. Then, after a bit… a weak, awkward chuckle escaped her. “I don’t know,” she replied, her ears twitching. “I don’t even think I’ll make a good friend.”

Aya shook her head gently. “Oh don’t be like that!” then she looked up at her with that smile again—so sweet it could dust over sadness like powdered sugar. “You don’t know that yet, right? We won’t know unless we try.”

Her thumbs gave a tiny pat to Raveena’s hands, who could only say: “Uhh… really?”

“Yup! And I’ll do my best to help make your time here at Saint Maribelle’s really nice and fun!”

Raveena stared again, a bit longer, though she didn’t mean to keep on staring.

But something about the way Aya said it—like it actually mattered to her—had her caught.

That gleeful little smile, those sweet eyes, the way her ears perked with hope.

“It’s a bit too much…,” she thought.

She tried looking away quickly, eyes darting between Aya’s face and the far wall of Room C-4 like it might offer her a distraction, but it didn’t make her feel any less weird.

“…If you’re going to insist that hard,” she mumbled, “then I guess it’d be rude to push you away,” then her tail flicked once behind her. “Especially when you’re being… cute like this.”

Aya’s cheeks turned bright pink at that unexpected, unforeseen compliment again. “C-c-cute—!? Oh, winds… I wasn’t—” she stammered, flustered beyond saving, before taking a breath and holding up her hand.

Then her pinky extended.

“Well—ahem!—then… let’s pinky promise!”

Raveena looked at the finger. Then at her. “…Promise for what, exactly?”

“That we’ll become good friends. Get through things together. And, well, have fun enjoying each other’s company too!”

“…That’s a lot to pack into a pinky. What kind of a promise is that?”

Aya playfully pouted a little. “A promise is a promise! No laughing matter!”

Raveena gave a small chuckle, one that showed a bit more of Raveena’s self. “Alright. Fine.”

Then the panther-folk hooked her pinky around Aya’s.

“I’ll do my best,” she said. “To be… a good friend. Or something close to it.”

“That’s a promise!” Aya happily nodded.

And Raveena nodded in return. “That’s a promise.”