"Yep! Pleased to meet you!"

"I hope we've made a good first impression. Our town can be kind of quiet sometimes, but we're generally friendly people."

"I've been thoroughly charmed so far."

"Where did you say you were from, again?" 

"Thule. The chilly place slightly east of Canada."

"Never heard of it."

"Yes you have, you were telling me about that Thulish emperor who married his favorite soldier, when we were supposed to be reading about General Grant."

"Grand Duke, not emperor. And he wasn't really a soldier, I mean, all of the aristocrats kind of were, but we really never had jarls so it's not the best comparison. Solvei, confirm or deny gay jarl as the duke's not-so-secret lover?"

"Is this Grand Duke Valdis back in the 1600s? Yeah, he was sleeping with like half his court."

"Okay, so I have heard of it. Did you like it there?"

"Yeah, more or less. I miss the glaciers."

"Southern California is kind of low on those. Why did you move here?"

"My house kind of burned down when I was a kid, I've been moving around with my aunt ever since. She took a liking to a place near here. Which she had to restore from having burned down. It's weird and morbid."

"An interesting story, right, Scott? I couldn't have come up with better myself."

"The Hale house? I can't imagine wanting to live there. At least you're with family."

"Yeah. I love my morbid neurotic aunt," laughs Solvei.

"I still kind of want to meet your aunt. Me and Scott should stop by. He can help with the truffles, I can psychoanalyze her."

"Ooh, good plan. I'll ask her if I can have friends over."

"Stiles won't do anything to scare your aunt. He's just excited." 

"I don't think I can scare this woman. So, truffles and a visit at the creepy murder house, sounds good to me. Enjoy your doctor-approved freedom from sports."

"Thank you, I will!"

"Hey. I see you met Scott and Stiles," she says when Solvei returns to their corner of the gym.

"I'm asking people for their chocolate truffle opinions. Did I look sufficiently tiny while doing it?"

"You look sufficient for most things you do, it's a talent."

She giggles. "Thank you, I try."