"...what. What did you just think."

"Nope, changing the subject. We were talking about how you came here just to see my pretty face."

"You were doubting my word, is what you were doing. What other reason could I have had?"

"Looking for party members?"

"Eventually! But not while we are still rank 1, I think."

"Fair, fair. And we need other roles to round us out, a mage and a rogue doth not a party make."

"A tank and a healer and we're a party, right?"

"Yep. Know of any? —what am I saying, of course you do. Any you'd want to actually party with?"

"Yeah, I think I've got a lead or two."

"Can't wait to meet them."

"Maybe you already have."

"—really? Who do I know that'd fit? There's... Annika, Du Lian, Georgina hates my guts so probably not her, maybe Natsumi? That's for tanks. I don't think I got to know any healers. Mark, maybe."

"I think Mark, Du Lian, and Tamarin are partying, actually."

"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that Mark and Du Lian would go together, they seemed pretty tight. Don't suppose the three of them'd join us? A party of four is doable but ideally we'd want a fifth. ...actually I just realised that I've been assuming you meant it when you said you wanted to party but it could've been a joke or not serious, feel free to disclaim anything right now I promise I won't be hurt."

"I mean it."

"Cool, why do you?"

"...so part of it is purely practical self-interest. Out of our general cohort you are in fact insanely talented: you are smart, driven, have a good head on your shoulders, tactically-minded, and you have an amount of innate talent that would be kind of insane to pass up especially this early in our careers."

He doesn't know what to say to that. Vallynn always plays it up, talks big game about himself, comes off as kind of arrogant and self-important, but having someone else just say that to his face is. Something.

"And then there's the fact that I like you—"

"You like everyone," he interrupts, mostly so as to have said something, to break the loop his thoughts were starting to fall into.

"—yes, but there's liking and there's liking. We work well together, we are comfortable with each other, we were roommates for months and we did not try to kill each other much and that kind of personal compatibility is really important for a party."

"Granted, but we've only known each other a little while."

"I'm good with people. Do you not want to party?"

"I do!"

"So all of that applies to me, too."