Arden Finch

She held up her hands. "Look, you don't have to take my word for it," she said. "Ask anyone on the island and I bet you get a functionally equivalent answer." She glanced at her menu really intently for someone who had called out what she'd wanted before even stepping into the restaurant. "It's a pretty rare quality in people," she pointed out, voice bitter with the pain of an old, unhealing wound. "Plenty of people out there happy to play hands off and mind their own business when acting might put them in danger. Which is why I need to learn. Because when the chips are down, the only person I can guarantee will be there and willing to help is me."

Another moment of staring at various sides and not seeing any of them, Arden set aside the menu and gave Cal a bright and determinedly cheerful smile. "But enough about all that. No point in feeling sorry for myself, right? We're getting dinner and nothing horrible has happened since Shenanigans cleanup! That's practically a record for us! So tell me something that's good with you."