Xavin set up the coffee cart as usual, and if she was a little more subdued than usual, well... it wasn't likely anyone would be able to tell from her expression itself. Fortunately or unfortunately, her whole body was a much more obvious sign of distress: she was using Karolina's shape for the first time in months.

Peter had been a friend. Not a close one, admittedly - Xavin had found, in fits and starts, that she wasn't good at close. She'd gotten a firm grasp of 'calm' and 'pleasant', and there were many at the Inn he would agree were friendly with her. But 'close'... no. Peter's disappearance was sad, certainly, but it was also a sort of shock: it reminded her that this was temporary.

Sooner or later, everyone would go 'back', including Xavin herself, and the place she would return to required her to be Karolina. Therefore, practice was required.