"I am boring and predictable," says Darren dryly.

"Well. I'll call it in, then." He goes and gets the phone, to order food.

Savannah arrives from upstairs! "... Oh my god you two have noses out of books. Are you dying?"

"Of starvation."

"Knew it. Look at you, you're skin and bones."

"Skin and bones and feathers, don't forget," says Bella, producing feathers. Darren's standing sufficiently adjacent to her that one wing winds up settling incidentally on his back.

Darren.... Notices and inspects his shoes, giggling a little. He is embarrassed and vaguely pleased.

Savannah notices and looks amused. "Of course not. Feathers, too."

Vernon notices Darren's reaction. He does not comment.

Bella figures Darren just thinks, entirely reasonably, that she is hilarious. She puts her wings away. "Is nighttime a good time to try flying practice? It's getting dark, we could go after dinner, we'd be hard to see?"

"It's the best time. Do you want to go flying? Because... Darren can take you flying."

"Yeah, I wanna go flying. I also want to learn a dozen more runes, but if I try to cram too much into my head all in a row it's not gonna stick that well, and I do also want to fly."

"I'd be happy to take you," says Darren.

"Awesome."

He smiles at her! "Are you coming too, Vana?"

"Nah," says Savannah, looking incredibly amused. "Thanks though. Don't feel like it."

"It must really be something to occasionally not feel like flying without something to distract you that is as cool as magic. What do you even do with your time?"

"Stuff? Just came back from karate lessons, so I am tired. I might go nap. It'll drive you workaholics up the wall, I bet."

"Behold, as I am driven up the wall. Insanity. Naps."

Bella chuckles. "I'm not philosophically opposed to naps! Karate is cool, I might have tried it at some point if I would not instantly die."

"I don't think it would be instant! But you would still definitely die, so don't try it," teases Savannah.

Darren gives her a look.

"... Joking! That was a joke, Dare."

"...What?" Bella asks Darren. "I would completely die, I can only just about walk, I expect to be better at flying only because there is not much to crash into once you clear the treeline."

"Sorry. Didn't find it funny," he shrugs.