It seemed it all came down to her. Chickadee smiled, trying to ease the anxiety that seemed to be permanently etched into her brain. She had never enjoyed being the center of attention -- she much preferred watching and listening. It was a strange disease, her anxiety. On the one hand, she longed to be a part of them, so easy and carefree. And on the other hand, it seemed whenever she was presented with the chance to make an impression, she instinctively shied away.

Though her greatest wish in life was to fill her life with friendship and love, she had mastered the art of shifting the focus entirely away from herself. It was an easy task -- she merely gave them some little bit of agreement, and generally that was the end of things. "Oh, that sounds lovely!" Chickadee answered honestly, silently applauding herself for having delivered such a graceful little set of words.

And just like that, it seemed she was forgotten once again. As the delight she felt at having spoken so charmingly began to fade, she began to regret having not said anything more. She glanced from Tesseract to Jagger, trying to keep her smile from fading like a plucked flower.

It wasn't as if she had been telling a lie, of course. Chickadee had seen very little of Glorall, and the idea of being invited to explore it further gave her a feeling not only of intense gratitude toward the kindly Tesseract, but also of keen excitement and anticipation. She longed to see what the rest of the seaside territory had to offer, what more wonderous and generous creatures made their home here.

And yet, she could not say these things aloud. The conversation shifted, as Jagger began asking what she could do to repay Tess' kindness. Chickadee, keen on recovering her previous blunder, quickly added, "The same goes for me, of course, Tesseract." Her tail, still dropping low against her haunches, wagged happily. "If there's anything I can do to repay your kindness, please..." Her gaze, pink and bright against the dull blue-grey of the oncoming storm, clung fervently to Tesseract.

---

CHICKADEE
^{you're not alone}