"My sister might be moving to Ambrosia City soon." Blanche chewed on her lip, her hands resting in her lap.

"Oh yeah?" Archie kept busy by slowly spinning his glass of water on the table.

"Yeah. Maybe sometime next year."

"Where is she now?"

"She's working with our friend, Chef Andy."

"Oh!" Archie perked up. "How'd she manage that?"

"More like how'd he manage that?" Blanche rolled her eyes. "She's very in-demand. That's what my parents told me in their last letter. And the one before that. And the one before that. She's been on a world tour. Spent the last few months island hopping in Uroko working at a different restaurant every week."

"She used to work at Cafe Julienne, right?"

"Until people started wondering if she was the best Chef in the kitchen, yeah."

"Hm. So she probably wouldn't come work at The Gift, would she?"

Blanche managed half of a smile. "No. Apparently she's looking to open her own restaurant."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

A Blue Jacket walked up with their food. Kuutsan chili with crackers for Archie, eggplant lasagna for Blanche.

Archie motioned to his food. "Want to try it?"

"No thanks." Blanche pushed her plate forward an inch. "You?"

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Archie shook his head. "So she's looking to move here and stay here."

"Yeah."

"Sorry. I know you don't like her." Archie blew cool air over a spoonful of chili, the chunk of red pepper exciting him more than their conversation. The conversation started with little energy and lost a bit more each time it bounced back and forth.

"It's not that I don't like her. I just don't like when she's around."

"Hm."

"It's her world, and we're all just living in it."

"Hm." Archie took a bite and tried to hide how delightful he found the flavor. He didn't want to change the subject before Blanche got it off her mind, and it didn't seem appropriate to crack a smile.

"We'll see. Maybe she won't come."

Blanche took a bite. Then Archie took a bite. Then Blanche took a bite. And so on and so on through minutes of silence.

"Even Quince likes her," Blanche said at last. "Chef Andy sent for one of Quince's recipes. Something spicy. When he found out that Raclette had asked for it, he started gushing to me. Apparently he looks up to her."

"He looks up to you. He said you could practically run the class."

"Yeah. Hopefully she doesn't take him away from me."

Archie scraped for the last bit of chili. He wasn't in the mood to change the subject, and he certainly wasn't in the mood to carry on the conversation. Best to just eat quickly and hope that Blanche didn't want dessert.

Blanche took a deep breath and set her silverware down on her half-eaten food. "I think I'm done."

Without his food to distract him, guilt crept on Archie. He was barely participating in their dinner date. He wanted to talk about his fight, but Blanche hadn't been there. Even if she were interested, he'd just end up getting angry. But he didn't want to see Blanche upset, so he finally found the will to change the subject to something she enjoyed.

"Your bonsai tree has been looking good."

Blanche still couldn't manage more than a half-smile. The damage of the previous conversation had already scarred the night. "It struggled for a bit. I think because everyone started planting more in the greenhouse once it got cold. Thinned out the air or something."

"But it's good now?"

"Yeah. How is your plot doing?"

"Good. I'm cleaning it up. Gonna make some room for mint."

Blanche managed a half-scowl. "Plant it in pots. I don't want it spreading into my stuff."

"Okay." Archie took a deep breath. "Ready to head back?"

"Yeah. I gotta wake up early. Let's go."

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