Ivy sighs.

"You're right that specifically seeking out kids and teenagers to fill a role like city representative is a bad idea, even if the people who direct and mentor them are perfectly lovely and aren't looking to hurt or take advantage of them. The magister of the city right now, Fidelia Lapointe… well, if she likes you she can be perfectly lovely. But there's teeth to it - she cares a lot about having influence, even if she doesn't know what she wants to do with it yet. To her, the representative being a kid who thinks she's cool and looks up to her is basically a birthday present wrapped up in a big shiny bow."

"...I know the type."

Well, that fucking sucks.

A cautious smile!

"Yeah. It's probably a good idea to stay away from her, at least for now. I'm sure she'd be very interested in what your magic could potentially do for her."

"I am most definitively quite done with being someone's tool."

This gets a laugh from Piper!

"We're glad for you."

Lucy, who's been idly thinking for the past few minutes of magic nerdery, comes to notice what time it is.

"How's about we take a lunch break?" they suggest. "I dunno if I've got enough to cook for all of us, since I was gonna go shopping today or tomorrow, but I could make a snack, or we could…"

They bite their lip thoughtfully.

"… well, I was going to suggest eating out, but uh. I dunno if Master Rothart wants to be. Seen in public. On account of the faked-death thing. Plus I'm pretty sure you literally haven't been outside in five years and even if you aren't actually an old man I'm not sure it won't give you a heart attack if we don't take it slow."

(That last part is said with a jokey grin.)

"I could probably produce a second disguise; there's certainly magic to spare for powering it."

Thierry chuckles.

"I can do that myself, not to worry."

He re-adopts the old man illusion, but Lucien-the-peacock and Ivy laugh at him until he shakes his head and changes the disguise to make himself a freckled brunet of the correct age. And then: outside!

Outside!  Hali remembers to put her disguise up at the last second, and then sneezes at the sunlight.

A good idea!

There's a market relatively close to where Thierry lives, but out of habit Lucy leads them back down to the San Carlucco neighborhood.

"What're you guys in the mood for?" they ask cheerfully. It feels… surprisingly good to be out and about, more than if today was a normal Friday and they were doing some leisurely shopping with Ivy. "I know a place that has really good grilled chicken."

"I'd like the chicken place, if you're recommending it."

"Sounds good to me!"

Ker-lunch! The owner and her deer wave at Lucy.

"Hey there! I see you've brought some friends."

Oh, that's why they feel so nice.

"Yeah."

Once they've ordered:

"I can't wait until Tobi gets home! He's gonna be really happy to hear about you, Lucy."

Friends!  Hali likes having friends too!

Lucy gets an encouraging nod if they look to double-check.

:)

"Can you tell me more about him? It's still pretty weird to think that we used to be so close and I don't remember any of it."

"Haha, I dunno where to start! Hmm… there's some kids around here that we look after, and he's really good with 'em. There's Pea, of course, but there's some others - Billy and Martha, Rascal, Hanzi…"

Lucy perks up a little.

"Wait, I think I know the ones you mean! I usually, uh… 'help' them get food when I go shopping here."

Chuckle.

"That's sweet of you."

Hali is just going to eat her food and, much like a cat, be present in the company of friends as a perfectly reasonable way to express friendship.

That's very chadlike of Hali, objectively speaking.

Lucy ends up dominating the conversation somewhat - one question from Su-Yeong about sewing leads to a somewhat rambly explanation, which leads to more questions, which leads to ramblier explanations…

Cute.

As they pay and get ready to leave:

"Should we head back to Lucy and Thierry's place next? Or somewhere else?"