Inside a two-story house in Cherwood Borough.
It was nearly evening when Fors Wall finally woke from her nap. Looking at the sunlight outside, which had already turned a dusky yellow, she struggled in bed for a moment before hauling herself up with difficulty.
After a quick wash, the author and Astrologer, whose days and nights had recently been reversed, rubbed her somewhat empty stomach and wondered whether to make something simple at home or splurge on dinner at a nearby restaurant.
"Xio must still be busy with her missions anyway... Sigh, it feels like we've barely eaten together lately..."
Muttering to herself, she pushed open her bedroom door. A rich aroma of meat fat mingled with the sweetness of fruit suddenly greeted her, making her stomach churn insistently.
It was the smell of the neighborhood's most famous Xin's Dixie Pie!
"Xio? You're back?"
She sniffed, trying to locate the source of the aroma, while looking around the dim living room for her friend.
"No, I'm about to head out."
A muffled answer came from behind the large sofa with its back toward Fors.
By the time she reached the cramped space formed by two sofas and a coffee table, Xio Derecha, who had been sitting directly on the carpet with her entire body hidden from view, had finished her share of Dixie Pie. She drained the sweet iced tea accompanying it in one gulp, wiped her mouth, and stood up, pointing at another pie wrapped in a paper bag.
"That one's for you. I'm going out, and I probably won't be back until after midnight."
Fors picked up her dinner. Ignoring how hot it was against her hands and mouth, she peeled back the wrapper and bit into the pie, packed with fatty and lean minced meat and little