After their rather solemn chat, Kian was beginning to feel quite selfish.
During their meal, he and Luna inundated Landon with tons of questions regarding trivial matters, which he believed was somewhat inconsiderate.
Instead of conversing about calm, fun topics on their free day they tied him down and questioned him on things for their personal gain.
He felt especially bad because he was bringing up these subjects to Landon of all people.
He already devoted all of his free time to studying vigorously so a moment of peace from these subjects was exceptional to him.
But now he had spent his meal not in relaxation, but instead, he disbursed his energy into lecturing them on matters that he spent years studying previously.
Kian believed it was best to steer the conversation away from their prior discussions and speak on subjects that may help them learn more about each other… Well, mainly Landon, Kian, and Luna essentially had no secrets between them.
So as they sat around the table finishing up the last bits of their meal, Kian broke the silence.
"Hey Landon, we're sorry for bombarding you with all these trivial questions, we are just both naturally curious people, though if you don't mind us asking more, I think we'd both like to get to know more about you and vice versa."
He spoke in a calming tone, almost apologetic-like while gesturing his hand towards Luna.
Setting her silverware down Luna spoke up as well.
"Ah I'm sorry Landon, we were acting quite selfish, I apologize!"
She exclaimed in an expressive tone while setting her hands down on the table rather fierce-fully.
They got a few stares because of this but nothing crazy.
This startled Landon. So with a smile on his face, he waved it off.
"Haha no trust me it's fine, I don't get the chance to talk with anyone about all my studies, I've put in a lot of work so it's nice to be around people who have a thirst for knowledge like myself."
'Ah so that's how he saw it'
This extinguished some of his worries.
"I'm glad to hear that, so if you don't mind me asking, how old are you?"
This wasn't very important but it was nice to know
"Eh you guys didn't know, such friends you are, am I right, well since I'm a nice guy I'll tell ya, I'm 17 and my birthday is August 27th"
Upon hearing this the table grew quiet for a moment.
At first, Landon thought he had said something to spoil the mood, but as he looked at Luna, she had a mischievous grin on her face, it was fairly scary.
On the other side, Kian was looking rather grim, like he had swallowed his pride.
"W-What's going on?"
Breaking through the eerie atmosphere was none other than Landon. Given the situation, he was rather concerned for them.
"Pfft well would you look at that."
Luna's grin turned into a light chuckle.
This caused Kian to scoff for a moment and then let out a heavy sigh
"We are both 17 as well, my birthday is October 4th and hers is July 9th."
Landon was still lost for a moment, he didn't know why they acted as they did.
Luna however was still holding onto her laugh, on top of that she had a sense of empowerment in her eyes.
At times like this Landon wondered if Kian was dating her out of his free will, or if she had forced him to. The faces she could make at times were extremely frightening.
Seeing his face tattered with confusion Kian decided to clear it up.
"Landon let me tell you something about our past, ever since I met Luna… she always retains the fact that she's older than me over my head, even though it's only by a few months."
After explaining it Landon was still at a loss for words, but that quickly changed.
He began to grow a grin on his face.
"Wow Kian, so you're the youngest one here."
When he spoke he crossed his arms and shook his head in disappointment.
"W-what? Not you too!"
Kian was the youngest of the bunch, and growing up with Luna she often flexed her superior age when she turned a year older than him.
It wasn't a big deal but that was just how Luna was, she had a joyful and outgoing personality, so she had kept this gig running for many years.
"Looks like we'll have to make Kian our errand boy when we get into Silverwind Academy."
So she made sure to edge it on.
Kian did nothing but sit there on the wooden chair while he looked at the two, they appeared like they had risen above him like they were both sitting on a giant throne looking down on him.
However, after this lasted for a sec, she realized something…
Luna's gaze shifted slowly from Kian to Landon.
"Hey, you're younger than me as well, looks like I'll have two people under my control."
Just like that, she had turned on him.
Kian could only watch as he was thrown off of his theoretical throne and fell back into reality.
After a moment they all broke out into small laughter.
The atmosphere was calm and relaxed.
Their friendship had gravely strengthened over the time they'd been here.
"Landon, you've only had to deal with this for a little while, she's been nagging me on this since we were kids. The two months when she was older than me she'd abuse her status, saying things like "respect your elders." To get me to do tasks for her, they were good times."
Landon chuckled along with them before his face shifted to a warm smile.
He was glad for this moment, he looked at Luna, who was wiping a tear away from her eye due to her excessive laughing.
Then he turned his eyes to Kian.
Kian had an expressionless face when he said what he had said, but as he appeared to have thought about the past a small smile began to form.
Landon noticed this about him, he knew Kian cherished the moments he had.
To Landon, He often looked like he wanted to travel back in time.
From the surface every person has moments like this, people made memories to look back upon in the future.
However, when Landon observed Kian he got a different feeling from this, he was such a suspicious and mysterious guy to Landon, and he knew he harbored big secrets that he wished to not reveal.
But to Landon, he could honestly care less, he was happy with the relationship he had built with them, and he needed something like this.
His parents knew that the most, it was part of the reason why they allowed them to stay there, they didn't tell Landon this but he knew they were looking out for him.
He was in the slumps, since he studied relentlessly he had acquaintances but no one he could truly call a friend.
That had finally changed though.
He hoped that later down the line their friendship lasted, or rather flourished.
They were indeed set on going to Silverwind Academy so Landon knew they would get to spend more time together.
When looking at the two, they had such a strong conviction that Landon had never seen before, even in moments of happiness.
He knew they had grown over time, they had suffered wounds together, but that had only intensified their bond.
"Sir"
And it was because of this bond that Landon knew the two would falter or shake, he was almost certain they'd all make it into Silverwind Academy.
And maybe one day, although it was nothing but a distant hope, he could have a bond with them as they had with each other.
This was what Kian hoped for the most.
"Sir"
Landon was dragged out of his trance of thoughts by the waitress that had served them.
"Uh sorry, yes?"
"Here is the bill"
"Ah ok sorry about that"
"No problem"
And with that, she took their empty dishes and walked off.
"You seemed to be zoning out there Landon, are you ok?"
"Yeah sorry, I was just thinking."
He opened the check, their meal had cost around 90 BP, and the place wasn't too fancy.
Looking at the bill he got a nice idea.
"So you guys are gonna pay for the stuff you ordered right?"
Their brightness was zapped out of them when he said this.
"U-uh um hey buddy ol pal, you know we're broke."
Kian said in a concerned tone while rubbing the back of his head.
"Tch tch tch sorry but that isn't going to cut it, looks like you'll both have to work in the kitchen to work off your debt."
The image of them running around getting scolded by the head chef was rather amusing.
Letting this go for another short moment he eventually slapped an SM on the table, the silver glare shining brightly.
"Just kidding."
He had a large smile on his face, it was clear he was enjoying this.
With that, their smiles returned and they enjoyed a nice laugh once again.
They all got up from their seats, and prepared to leave, but while they did Landon stopped.
"Hey, so far this day has been very joyous, I hope we can have more moments like this in the future."
His warm smile paired with his sparkling eyes showed he truly appreciated these moments.
Kian saw Landon get rather sentimental for the first time.
But he was happy at what he had said, so he threw his hand forward.
"To the three of us, let's hope our friendship can stay afloat even in rough waters, let's all be in each other's care."
Landon was the first friend they had made in this world, plus he had helped them out an astronomical amount already.
He truly was a great guy and Kian hoped they could stay friends for a long while.
Following suit Luna set her hand on top of Kians, then they both turned to Landon.
"Let's become great friends!"
Luna said energetically.
This moment almost brought tears to his eyes. It was a milestone in his life, so he threw his hand on top of there's.
They all hoped this friendship would lead them to new heights, no, rather than simply hoping it would prosper, they all would pour everything they had into this companionship until it blossomed into something special.