I have no desire to convince her to be more aggressive about it, but I doubt most people were using the auction that way.

[ Well, there was He Xuan's passionate sonnet to Childe's eyes. But he's not sure they needed the auction for that. ]

Was there anything you wanted to split?

I'll take your recommendation, then.

[ Flynn will order the flatbread, as well as some fried mushrooms because he frankly can't understand why you'd fry a mushroom and needs to find out. ]

So are you enjoying the ship? I admit, this wasn't what I was expecting for the destination for these dates.

[ Flynn tosses in an order for a nice and safe non-alcoholic cocktail. Definitely living in luxury here. ]

It's certainly a change from the island, or anything I'm used to. Do you have any more dates after this?

[ Flynn blinks, then muffles a slightly startled laugh. That would be moving fast, wouldn't it? ]

None taken. I'm considering this a nice opportunity to meet a few more people, that's all. It's sort of a coincidence that we ended up here together in the first place, isn't it?

[ Where "coincidence" was "Mishka's arcane planning that he doesn't understand," but. ]

Yes, I arrived a few weeks ago, around the same time as a few friends. I'm still trying to get to know everyone. There are quite a few familiar faces from that meeting Lord Van Zieks called, but...

[ Well, maybe the less said about that meeting, the better. That was certainly one way to get to know your neighbors. ]

Everyone else seems to have been settled in for some time already. [ And making complicated romance situations, ]

Is it really that fast? I thought I might just have arrived at the very tail end of summer. How strange... I wonder if the years are shorter here, or if they just have more seasons.

[ Good thing he's not the scientist, so he doesn't have to think about what this means for the planet's rotation. ]

I wonder if that's why everything seems to grow so quickly as well. I'm a little familiar with gardening, and it seems much faster than usual.

[ Oh, food! At least that's one normal constant in this world. Flynn will try the flatbread while they're at it.

...It's a little plain, but that can be nice too. ]

It does make it seem like the farming isn't particularly a priority of hers. Or she could have distributed it much more readily to everyone...

[ Well, he isn't going to sweat it, much. ]

How are the mushrooms?

[ Trahearne seemed to like his cake, so surely they have similar tastes... ]

[ Hm... Flynn takes the other appetizer fork to stab a mushroom for itself. ]

That does make the texture interesting. It's too bad frying things is so difficult on the road.

[ 'It can't be that hard': famous last words uttered before freak mushroom cooking disaster destroys many locals. ]

You're right. This season should be good for them as well, I think. ...It's strange to have so little to do here besides cook and clean.

[ Oh, that's relatable. Flynn nods wry agreement and smiles at Syrlya. ]

I admit, I was first intending to sign up for the auction because I thought it would give me something concrete to look into. I wasn't anticipating the location to be a ship, though. [ And then Yuri signed him up first, and, well. ] You said you'd retired, hadn't you? Although it didn't sound as though you had any shortage of things left to do.

Ah... not exactly. I was planning on it, but Yuri -- my friend beat me to it. [ Flynn gives a wry little sigh and takes a sip of his mocktail. ] So I wrote his for him. It sounds like we weren't the only ones. What about yours?

I see...

[ Flynn thinks of the application he submitted for Judith. He fidgets, a little guiltily. ]

Some of the applications were a little rude. I hope it wasn't one of those? [ But good intentions would surely count for something, and that frown is ominous? ]