( emilia plucks one of the orange blossoms woven into her hair and drops it into the cauldron next. damon salvatore is onto something about the smells, and not just from her herbal mixture. on the table next to some (non-witchy) books is a basket half-full of fresh orange bread.

some of the pirates, it seems, refused to listen to wen qing about scurvy. she wasn't about to let the oranges go to waste, and she can use the peels besides.

she looks up as he makes his presence known, her head tipping in sharp evaluation. even before he acknowledges it, she discerns this is a new face. he must have been met with tension for it, what with the concord deciding to send its infiltrators forth. emilia herself keeps it in mind. )

Welcome to the madness. ( she pushes up the sleeves of the white shirt she was given, alongside some trousers that hold up with a belt. ) You've joined us at a time of... transition. Should it make you feel better, you were spared a village full of curses and an angry volcano.