Silver Rose

Chapter XXI - As the Sun Sets

Lilly opened her eyes to bright sunlight shining in from the window. She stretched and yawned, staring at the ceiling for a few moments before looking to her right. Leon was still asleep, but Yuan's bunk was empty. She reached over to pick up a notebook and pencil and began sketching. She usually wasn't much of an artist, at least not as good of an artist as Echo, but she wasn't bad. Today was an exception, though. The portrait she drew was of a quality that she had never been capable of. When she was satisfied with the drawing, she smiled at the face on the page, trying to figure out whose it was. It had come to her in a dream last night, though she had no idea who it belonged to. All she knew was that just staring at it right now brought elation to her heart.

She shut her notebook, clutching it to her chest for a moment before returning it to its place. She yawned again, rolling over and falling off her bed all the way to the ground.

"I really need to stop doing that," she said, still lying on the carpet. She blew her hair out of her face, but it fell right back down. She rolled over, rubbing her forehead to try and relieve the soreness from her fall. Ingrid was peeking over her bed at her.

"We need to switch places," Ingrid said. "That's, what, eleven times you've fallen now?"

"I never had this problem back home!" Lilly whined.

Leon yawned as he swung his legs over his bed and let them dangle over the edge. He raised an eyebrow. "Is the floor more comfortable than your bunk?"

"Not funny," Lilly said, stealing one of Ingrid's pillows and smothering herself with it.

"Hey!" Ingrid said. "Get your own pillow!" She reached up to Lilly's bunk and took one of hers, switching them out.

"Good morning," Yuan said as he walked into the room. "I hope you're all hungry."

"Pancakes!" Lilly said, springing up from the floor and stealing a piece of bacon from the platter.

"Man, the bacon's perfect," Leon said, also swiping one. "Yuan Ren, master chef of Bacon Academy."

Lilly gave him a high-five and Ingrid rolled her eyes.

"Oh, is that sushi?" their resident cat Faunus said, eyeing the other platter Yuan was setting down on a table.

"It is," he said. "I know your favorite is yellowtail, so I picked out the best I could find."

She smiled to herself as she joined the rest of the team at the small table. Unlike in the dining hall, where they could easily spread out, this tiny surface forced them to sit much more closely together and she found herself shoulder to shoulder with Lilly and Yuan. She noticed Lilly out of the corner of her eye, reaching for one of her sushi rolls. She was quick to smack her hand and the latter retracted it, squealing. Leon's hand was next to receive a smack.

"Why you so stingy?" he complained.

"Because Yuan made them for me okay?" she said. "Go get your own master chef to make you sushi!"

Lilly giggled, watching as Ingrid constantly stole glances at Yuan. She elbowed Leon every time she noticed it happen and he shared in her glee.

"What are you two snickering about?" Ingrid snarled, her face red.

"Muffin!" Lilly and Leon yelled at the same time. "Jinx!"

"Jinx!" Lilly said. "Hah! I won that time!"

"Psh," Leon scoffed. "Whatever."

"You owe me a coffee!"

Ingrid helped Yuan with the plates and platters when they finished up with breakfast. Leon nudged Lilly as the two walked out of the room and she giggled.