I feel pretty, oh so pretty! [Shannon! ^.^]

"I feel pretty, oh so pretty. I feel pretty and witty and gay!" Yolande sang as she and Merris skipped through the tall valley grasses.

'You know, the word gay could be taken either way nowadays.' Merris mused over the two's mind link.

"I don't care. I feel like the happy meaning today. And I have the song stuck in my head." Yolande replied, going back to softly singing, not paying any attention to where she was going.

Not too far away from where he was in Froom Valley, Rowan heard someone singing. He decided he was in the mood for some social interaction, so he decided to go see who it was. He saw a girl he didn't know, singing to herself and skipping through the valley with her daemon.

"Er...hello?" he called, unsure of whether or not it was rude to interrupt her. It shouldn't be, it wasn't like she was doing anything really important. Just skipping and singing.

Lumi needed something, but she didn't know what. A change in scenery? A vacation? A bottle of sleeping pills? She didn't know. All she knew was that she needed something to get her out of this deep depression she was in.

Finally deciding to get out of the house for a bit, she went to Froom Valley. She walked through the valley with one hand resting on her round belly, trying to take in and enjoy the beauty of the place, but she just wasn't feeling it. She just felt lost and sad.

Suddenly up ahead she spotted a familiar face along with an unfamiliar one. Rowan and some girl. Maybe talking to Rowan would help. Rowan was always miserable, and misery loves company.

"Hey!" she called, waving.

"...O.O..." Yolande stared the unfamiliar clio with a deer-in-the-headlights look, having forgotten that there were other clio even in the valley.

"O-oh... dear...u-u-uh, h-hi." She stammered, cheeks blushing tomato red.

"You can be so dumb sometimes." Merris commented, having noticed the clio earlier.

"I a-apologize if I was b-bothering you." Yolande said to the auburn haired boy. Then she caught sight of the second clio, a girl. She timidly waved back. 'I have no idea who these two are. Do you?'

'Nope.' The fox daemon responded, lying down and soaking up some sun.

"Oh no, not at all," Rowan replied, holding his hands up. "You weren't bothering me at all, I just wanted to say hello. My name is Rowan by the way." He held out his hand for the girl to shake.

He heard a familiar voice and looked up and saw Lumi. She...didn't look to good. Weird, Rowan would have thought that she would have been happy, what with the marriage and the baby and all.

"Oh, hi," he greeted. He turned to the girl he didn't know. "This is my friend Lumi."

Lumi waved unenthusiastically to the girl as Rowan introduced her. Actually, the girl looked a teeny bit familiar, like Lumi had seen her somewhere before but didn't know her name. "I think I've seen you around before," she told her, studying her face. "You're in Ughdarras, right? What's your name?"

Yolande shook hands with Rowan, rather tentatively, but still determined to overcome her shyness. She was happy to know someone else. 'I hope he's nice. His friend too!'

"I'm Y-yolande. And yes, I'm in Ughdarras. It's nice to meet you both." Yolande fought the urge to bow or curtsy. Many people now adays weren't that formal! She didn't want to stand out!

"Likewise," Rowan replied with a polite smile. He looked at Lumi out of the corner of his eye. She really wasn't looking very well, but he didn't want to say anything in front of a stranger.

He looked back and forth between the two. "So, er, do you two know each other, or...?" he asked with uncertainty. At the very least, Lumi seemed to recognize Yolande.

Lumi shook her head. "Not really, I've just seen her around Ughdarras, is all," she replied. She smiled politely at Yolande, but it was a weak smile. "We've never spoken before though."

"She's right. W-we've never actually met. I think I've seen you around too."

'Sheesh. She doesn't look good.' Merris remarked, sitting up and staring.

"A-are you okay?" Yolande knew it was horribly impolite, but she couldn't help herself.

Rowan looked over at Lumi and waited for her answer. If something really was wrong he knew she would lie, because Lumi never shared her problems. And he was right.

Lumi brushed off the question. "Oh, I'm fine," she replied with a wave of her hand. "I just got over a weird hormonal moment a little while ago. Happens all the time." She indicated towards her preggie bump. It was really easy to use her pregnancy as an excuse for looking sad.

"I'm glad you're okay then. I bet you're happy to be having a child." Yolande smiled. She's love to have a family. A large one. Where everyone was happy and loving! Still though, something didn't quite seem right, but it was probably best to drop it.

"I come here when I'm sad. It makes me happy." Yolande gave the two clio a shy smile as she bent and picked up Merris, hugging him for no reason what so ever. She just felt so HAPPY today! She wasn't even hardly stammering!

Rowan goes to the Tavern when he's sad. But he wasn't about to share that with some girl he just met.

"Yeah? I come here to relax," he told her. "And to escape the pressures of Overloridianship. With my job, kids and girlfriend (for lack of a better word) I hardly have time for myself anymore. Not that I mind," he added with a shrug.

Lumi looked sideways at Rowan. So he was dating Ria? She thought about that thing she'd learned from Lior and her eyes got big, but then she pushed that thought away.

She wanted to ask Rowan about all that stuff, but it would be rude to do in front of Yolande, so she decided to wait.

Yolande stared back and forth between her new acquaintances. There was such an awkward feeling... like they wanted to talk to each otehr but diddn't want to with her around.

"Uhm... I can go. I mean, if you came here to talk, I can uhm... go elsewhere?" She asked cautiously, not wanting to offend anyone or anything like that.

"What? Oh no," Rowan said quickly, while Lumi stared at him. "No, we can talk to each other anytime. It's not every day you make a new acquaintance. Or something." He smiled what he hoped was a welcoming smile.

"Oh yeah, we don't want you to go," Lumi agreed, looking back at Yolande. She wanted to change the subject so that Yolande might feel less awkward. "Er--want to touch my tummy?"

"Yeah. I don't go out a lot... I only know a few clio."

"Er--want to touch my tummy?"

"Really?" Yolande's eyes were wide with pleased surprise.

Rowan looked between the two. Nice save, Lumi, he thought. He knew that she knew that every clio on Amelia loved babies.

"Oh yes, go right ahead," Lumi replied with a smile. "I mean, you won't really be able to feel anything, it's not kicking yet...but still." She looked at Rowan. "You can too if you want."

"Wow. You're so nice." Yolande complemented, laying a hand on Lumi's stomach. Yolande giggled, just because she wanted to.

"I can't wait to get married and have my own kids!" Yolande was glad the awkward feeling was gone now. She didn't like awkward feelings. Not at all.

"No thanks," Rowan politely declined Lumi's offer.

Lumi smiled a little bit at Yolande's reaction. "Yeah well, you still have plenty of time do to those things," she told her. "Don't rush into anything."

Yolande merely gave a beaming smile. "Is it fun being an overloridian?" SHe asked Rowan, remembering what he had said.

'Perhaps I should have curtseyed?' She wondered. Merris just batted at potato bugs.