[This was just a thing Leo and I wrote up one night or two to establish how Amelia and Ewan have met up in canon before the events of the Guildaversary, presumably between the Job Fair shenanigans and the Guildaversary's events. Unless we ask you to join in, we probably don't want you posting here! And we might or might not continue this later.]

Noon. Time for lunch. Too bad Amelia had left her purse at the Manor. The General grumbled under her breath and pushed her hair away from her face, walking down the cobbled path. If she hurried, she'd have just enough time to return to the Manor, fetch her money, drop by the Hostess Cafe to get a sandwich to go, and take it back to the castle to return to work on her paperwork while she ate it. She couldn't help but be frustrated, though, as she rounded the corner and sped up just a little. She was hungry, after all. "First I oversleep and miss breakfast, Tibarn's already left for work so I can't even try to get something as he's cleaning up, and now I forget my wallet... what now, someone falls off a rooftop and knocks me off my feet?" She sighed and rubbed a hand over her face, as if trying to stretch out the bags under her eyes and get rid of them before speeding up again to a brisk jog.

There was absolutely no chance that something could screw up this simple plan of hers. Absolutely none! What were the odds?

And that's when fate decided that she probably should tempt it.

"LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOK OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUT!"

From above, descending a body falling at what might as well have been terminal velocity [Seriously, what are the chances?] with no signs of slowly down significantly any time soon. ...Only to crash into the very large haystack resting in place next to her, firey red truffs of hair protruding outwards. In an almost alarming and suddenly fashion, the mischief maker in question burst out from his itchy prision, ready to go at it again.

"Ahaha! That was bloody brilliant!"

"Holy sh--" Amelia leaped out of the way instinctively, tucking into a roll that knocked her elbow painfully against the street until she came to a stop a few yards away, only to look up and find that whoever had leaped down hadn't even intended on hitting her to begin with. Amelia let out a frustrated sputtering breath and pushed her hair off of her face again. "H-Hey!" Amelia hurried towards him and began to reach for his collar to pull him out of the hay entirely. Low blood sugar and sudden, alarming noises were not a good combination, it seemed. "Hey! You could have hurt someone! Or yourself, for that matter! What do you think you're doing, jumping off of r--"

She froze and stared, eyes going wide. As her hand went lax on the offender's collar, her lips moved soundlessly before she managed out a single breathless word. "Ewan?" She sounded bewildered, but her eyes had brightened, and she couldn't help but let a shaky smile spread across her face. "Ewan??"

"Of course it's me! Honestly Amelia, if you know someone else who'd be willing to jump off of a building and into a haystack just for funsies...Well you must introduce me!" The lad brushed himself off sheepishly as he was suspended in mid-air by Amelia's rather surprisingly strong grip. "And you look like you just saw your mother's home cooking and a ghost all wrapped up nice in a baked package! ...Added note, I could go for some bread." Give it up to Ewan to just transition smoothly into a conversation with someone he hadn't seen in years, let alone someone he thought had vanished!

"So what can I do for you while I'm having a nice afternoon fly?"

Amelia stared at him for a few more seconds, face turning pale pink. Finally, she lowered him to the ground before pulling him into a tight hug, letting out a weak laugh. "N-No, it's... she's-- you don't know how happy I am to see you, Ewan!" She squeezed a little tighter, resisting the urge to hold on longer before loosening her grip. "It's-- gods, things have been hectic around here. Really hectic. How'd you get here? What of everyone else back on Magvel? What was going on last when you vanished? Is the Demon King dead?" Amelia smiled wide and rubbed rapidly at her eyes, smoothing his collar out. "I'm sorry, I'm-- I was on my way to get my food to buy some money-- I mean, money to buy food. I haven't eaten yet today."

"Woah now! Calm down, I know it might be amazing to see me again but you got to think...Oh that poor Ewan, seperated from such a nice girl for so long! How will I ever make it up to him? I know! A nice, calm, and fun conversation just like we shared along our little trip during our little spats alongside the roads." [Or so he called the War of the Sacred Stones.] He barely had a moment to tuck his hands at his sides before being pulled into another tight embrace, this one a more acceptable hug. Sure, he certainly didn't mind, considering who it was, and it was a rather nice surprise...Though he could do with a calm conversation, just like he used to enjoy with her. "Everyone's gone their seperate ways, though we still keep in touch from time to time. I mean, I try to write to almost everyone! ...But some people like you just stop writing back. I always thought you just didn't want to talk to me. Nobody could tell me where you had ran off to, so I thought you just didn't want to...I mean- Yes yes! The Demon King is dead and buried in the crypt he belongs in, thanks to a good ol' well placed spells from me!" The way he talked about it, you would be under the impression he soloed the entire encounter himself. "Nobody could touch me you know!"

And that's when he remembered her little side comment about snackage, or lack there of. His own stomach growling absolutely decided on the next course of action. "Well in that case, let me treat you to a meal! Joshua set me up in this nice little group that gave me a pretty nice sign-up bonus since I'm new around these parts. You know me, I'm just comfortable around a mercenary group so I decided...Why the Elfire not?"

"I'm so sorry, I... I didn't exactly ask to have this happen, you know!" Amelia frowned and swatted Ewan gently on the shoulder. "I didn't want to go and abandon anyone! But there was no way to get back and it was better to just try to acclimate and make a new life here! I'm sorry, it's... yeah, hectic here. I'm tired. I'm hungry! I haven't eaten since last night!" She paused. "I'm repeating myself. I really need to eat something." She pressed a hand over her face and let out a short breath. "Jeez. And no, I didn't-- I never wanted to stop talking to you! Just... all of this business makes it a bit hard to keep up communications. I'm sorry. Really sorry." Amelia sighed, rubbing her face gently. "And yeah, by what I remember, you really couldn't. Everyone thought you were going to die when Lyon set his sights on you with Naglfar and you just leaped out of the way like it was nothing--Huh??"

Amelia paused, trying to process what he'd just said as her stomach rumbled again. "It-- food. Yeah, let's go eat. Food. We'll eat over food." Amelia paused, hugging him again -- giving him enough reaction time to hug back this time, she wasn't that inconsiderate -- and then letting go, smoothing the wrinkles out of her shirt. "There's a cafe just a couple of blocks from here. They know me over there, it shouldn't be a problem to get a table real quick." She started to walk, arms folded loosely under her bust. "So... I'm guessing it's Cloak you're in now?"

"Yeah! How'd you know? Does it have a huge reputation around these parts? Is it pretty awesome to be apart of them? I mean, there was a whole bunch of people on the roster for a mercenary group! It was pretty much a royal shinding with how many princes were gathered there! From our side too...Funny! There was a girl that was a boy but really a girl, and a girl with a huge ol' weapon! It kind reminded me of you when you were carrying around that oversized spear and couldn't carry it for the life of you!" He snickered, satisfied with dropping his tangent there now that he had gotten a good load of snark put out into the open. "So what are you up to these days? You have to tell me everything about your time here! It's been...Gosh...It's been years!"

Amelia nodded. "Yeah. They've been really swelling in numbers lately for whatever reason. I guess Lance has been whipping them into shape." Amelia shrugged her shoulders and kept walking, quickening her pace slightly to match Ewan's. It didn't take much effort to fall back into step with him, even after the years they'd been apart. Probably about three now. He still looked young, even if it was at least evident that he was older in how much taller he'd grown. Amelia tried to gauge what exactly their height difference was now as they moved. "I guess it would, at least a little bit." She smirked back at him, though, casually rolling her long-sleeved tunic midway up her biceps. "I don't really have a problem with that anymore, though. I'm busy with the guild around here, it's basically a collection of all the fighters around this area and the people that got dumped here from elsewhere - like us - working together and helping to protect the country and the city. This is Eyris, by the way. Country is Learania. I'm on the crew now, so... paperwork. A lot of it. I don't think I actually fell asleep last night until sunrise, and... that's probably why I slept through breakfast. ...Oops." Amelia rubbed the back of her neck and laughed. "It's definitely been a long time. You better update me about what you've been up to, too, got it?" She looked over at Ewan and nudged him in the side, smiling. "Been traveling with your master, or what?"

"Well that certainly does sound like a cause worthy of my skills! I mean, how would you guys ever survive without the Star Pupil himself?" Ewan laughed, enjoying being rather full of himself even in a joking matter. In reality, his ego was no where this massive. But as Saleh said, 'Advancement comes from accepting where you are now.' and Ewan had taken it to heart. ...He just took it the wrong way. "I could definitely juggle both Cloak and this, with Cloak being casual and all that! But uh...What is this thing exactly? What is "crew?" He blinked, staring at her rather obliviously beofre adressing her question. "Ever since Sis and the rest headed off for merc work after the war, I've been hard at work studying...So...I could join them someday." His smile suddenly stopped dead in its track, the realization that he would probably never see his sister or the rest of the group again. "...Guess that plan fell through, huh? A-Anyway, you should really take care of yourself! Didn't your mother ever tell you that? Yeesh, how did you ever survive out here with an attitude like that?" He chuckled, playfully papping her shoulder.

"Well... maybe when I was really young, before she was kidnapped," Amelia shrugged one shoulder uncertainly and rubbed her bicep before rolling her sleeves down again. "I'm sorry, Ewan. I'll try to get you up to speed over lunch. I've got a lot to explain, after all." She rolled her shoulders gently, easing the kinks out, before turning to face him as they approached the cafe. She came to a stop to rest a hand on his shoulder, tilting her head back to look up at his face. "...How old are you now, again? Or how tall? Last time I saw you, we were near the same height." She stared at him, eyebrows furrowing. "I never said you could end up this tall."

His fist awkwardly curled up as that nasty feeling settled in to his mouth, that good ol' beacon that you never really wanted. It roosted up pretty nicely as the sentence began to dawn on him. You know the taste, where you absolutely regret what you just said and that sour, bitter, and overall horrible taste stays to make sure you never forget it, at least not for long. "...Amelia, I'm sorry...I didn't know. I didn't know my parents either so...I understand." He took notice of her features as he let the question of his growth rest for the moment, patting her cheeks. "We have all the time in the world to talk, so I don't mind waiting. Oh, and I just turned 18 last month, don't you know! Master Saleh told me that I was 5'8" last time he checked." With that, he straightened himself out to further stress the point. Ewan was the type to slouch, not exactly helped by the fact he felt uncomfortable unless he was speaking to people smaller than him at eye level.

"See what I mean?"

Amelia smiled sheepishly and shook her head. "No, you didn't know, so I'm not angry. I don't go and tell people sad stories just so I can make them sad and feel sorry for me. I've moved on. Mostly. I've got a sort of... a new family here. It's hard to explain. I'll try to do so over lunch." She laughed sheepishly and folded her arms across her chest again. "So, if you wouldn't mind not showing off how tall you are, we can go and eat." Amelia stuck her tongue out at him and pouted, staring up at him. "Stupid... tall boy." She gestured for Ewan to follow as she approached the restaurant, folding her arms now behind her back. "And in case I didn't make it clear earlier, I'm really glad to see you. It's... been a long time since I saw anyone I remember from Magvel."

"It's not my fault that you're smaller than me! I mean, you probably didn't eat your vegetables! Don't you know? If you don't eat them, they come into your bedroom at night and make you smaller with their veggie magic!" He looked rather shellshocked for a moment, staring into open space. "Sis told me when I was little...But I never really believed her. But after all that monster business, I started to believe!" With that being the saddest thing Amelia had ever heard, Ewan followed after her like a confused puppy, not sure of what to do now.

"I'm glad to see you again too...I mean, heck I had no idea what happened to you! You were one of my best friends during...All of that." He paused for a moment, dimissing the elephant in the room with a series of complicated and overelaborate gestures. "You never did let me show you around Magvel you know!"

Amelia frowned again, looking more wounded now than she ever had before. "I know. I... yeah. I'm not very happy about that, you know. I would've really liked that." She rubbed her hands over her arms gently, looking away from Ewan for a moment. My, things had gotten rather heavy rather quickly, hadn't they? She continued to avert her gaze for a moment in awkward silence. Thinking about everything she had left behind in Magvel - however unintentionally - made her feel somewhat uncomfortable. She had stopped letting the unanswered questions keep her up at night, but she still wondered about it sometimes, and Ewan was making it easier and easier for her to consider what-ifs.

"...You know, I really am hungry. Let's go in and eat. I can bring you up to speed now and we can talk about all this stuff later when I'm not on a time limit." Amelia chuckled sheepishly and patted Ewan gently on the arm. "Come on. The food's good here, I promise. Especially the chicken."

He stopped in place, puffing out his cheeks as he poked the top of her forehead. "Hey hey! I didn't mean it like that, you know. I was trying to word it like this: You still owe me a trip. If it can't be there, then it will certainly have to be here. Didn't I teach you a thing? Make the most of what you have here and now, make everything fun and worthwhile! And we can start off with a nice warm plate of chicken. Sounds pretty good to me, doesn't it?"

A grin spread across his features, rather infectous with how over-joyed he seemed at just the simple idea of a nice warm meal. "Finally something that isn't Master's cooking! I'm no good with the whole thing...But Master always makes sure everything is so cold and...bleh. Nutrious, a word that shall forever go down in infamy." His eyes narrowed as walked beside her, rubbing his nose sheepishly at his reaction.

"All right. When things calm down around here, we'll have that trip, you and me." Amelia smiled wide and prodded Ewan in the side. "So relax. The food's good here. Real good. Nutrition does not go hand in hand with bad-tasting at this place. Tibarn helped run it himself, he'd probably restaff the entire place if they weren't good cooks." She laughed and grinned, holding the door open for him. "After you, sir?"