Luz meekly walked into the owl house. Her soft footsteps barely causing the floor to creak under her. King was laying on the sofa, taking a nap when Luz walked in. He roused slightly when she sat down next to him, then stirred fully when she began to pet him like a dog. He sprung up and turned around to face her.

"What are you doing?" He demanded. Pointing a short finger at her.

"Oh, sorry King…" She muttered, not looking at him. Luz was chewing on her lip, she seemed preoccupied. "Have you seen Eda?"

"Probably in her room, 'working' on a new 'product' to swindle people out of their money with." He huffs, walking in a circle, before laying back down like a cat.

"Thanks." With that, Luz gets up from the couch and heads for the stairs. She stops at the bottom and looks up them, apprehensive about actually going up. She swallows the lump in her throat and puts her foot on the first step, then the next. Soon she is standing outside of Eda's closed bedroom door. She raised her hand to knock but again was frozen with second thoughts. Fighting back self-doubt she put her fist to the wood. The door creaked open just from her knocking, so Luz pushed a little more into the room.

"Eda?" Luz called out as she took a step into the room.

As the door fully opened Luz was greeted with Eda's room, a large circular window was direct across from the door in the center of the far wall. To Luz's left, against the wall was Eda's nest, easily big enough for two people. Next to the nest was a bedside table with a yellow-orange elixir on it. Above the nest was a cut out of the wall, that led to a small balcony which looked out over the land, in the 'window' sill sat several potted plants. and hung a wind chime. Drapery hung down from the ceiling in the corner of the room, apparently to act as blinds for the window but they were currently not drawn. To Luz's right, she saw several portraits and next to that what looked like scrawlings of notes and the equivalent of newspaper clippings stuck to a corkboard. There was a throw rug at the base of the nest that covered most of the hardwood floor of the room, a nice mix of light and dark greys in a strange pattern. Several books lay strewn about the floor, tossed into a corner of the room. Near the ceiling were shelves holding even more candles. The room is only illuminated by three floating globes of light that Eda had summoned when the sun had set.

"What is it?" Eda asks. Her head was buried in a chest she kept in a corner of the room. She looked up at Luz. Several alchemist bottles were lying on the floor at her feet, clearly pulled out of the chest, but not what Eda had been looking for.

"Oh, nevermind. You are busy…" Luz said before starting to turn away.

"No, no, you already interrupted me," Eda says. .Eda stands up and stretches, her back popping more than it should.

"It was probably time for me to take a break anyway. So, what did you want, anyway?" Eda says as she strides up to the doorway to her bedroom and to Luz, who didn't move after her mentor told her not to.

"Oh, nothing, it wasn't important." Luz gives a disingenuous smile. Eda gives her a flat look and arches an eyebrow at her.

"You knocked on my door for the first time since you've been here for something not important?" Eda asks.

"Haha, yeah…" Luz continues to try to squirm out of what she started losing her nerve after all.

"Come on, sit," Eda commands. Knowing the girl isn't telling the whole truth. Luz sits down on the edge of the nest, it's soft and she sinks into it a bit. She begins to chew her lip again, knowing this will be hard. Eda sits next to her on the edge of the nest.

"Well?" Eda asks after waiting for a moment of Luz not saying anything.

"Well, I um... It's… I kind of… I wanted to ask you…" Luz keeps false starting, the words get stuck in her throat. It's really easy to say, but it's just as hard at the same time, it's just embarrassing to admit. And even more embarrassing to go ask for help like this. She can feel her cheeks blush hot and pink from embarrassment and frustration as she stumbles on her words. Eda just gives her a motion to get to the point already.

"I like a boy!" Luz finally shouts. The air in the room is filled with silence after her proclamation. Eda is a little taken aback

"That's it?" Eda cracks a smile. Then she begins to laugh, loud and boisterous. It fills the room and wakes King up, who grumbles and finds a new spot on the couch to take his nap. Eda throws her head back as she laughs, and Luz is left to endure it, shrinking into her shirt.

"Oh, Luz, that's nothing to get so worked up over." Eda finally says through teary eyes as she finally quiets down. "I thought you were going to tell me you knocked over my supply of dragon's blood or something."

"Well, it's embarrassing…. " Luz says, coming out of her shirt a little.

"Why is it embarrassing? Every girl your age starts to notice boys it's normal."

"Yeah, I guess so…" Luz says.

"So… why exactly did you feel compelled to tell me all of this, though?" Eda asks, interested.

"Well, I wanted to, ya know, get some advice." Luz rubs the back of her head, looking away from Eda.

"You want 'my' advice on men? Ha! " Eda laughs.

"Why not?" Luz asks.

"Heh, I haven't had the best luck when it comes to men. Sure I've been in my fair share of relationships, but they always end up bad, believe me." Eda says.

"So you're saying boys are more trouble than they are worth?" Luz asks.

"Eh, I could take them or leave them at this point. But don't let me stop you from trying your luck."

"Well, I was kind of hoping you would like, I don't know, give me tips on how to talk to a boy, or how to get them to notice you? That sort of thing?" Luz prods more.

"Oh, geez Luz I have been out of the dating scene for quite a while. And the things I would do to get 'attention' wouldn't exactly be appropriate for you…" she quiets her voice nearly to a whisper and trails off with her thought as she finishes her sentence so Luz can't hear what she is saying.

"As for talking, I don't know what boys your age are like these days, just use the old standby: smile and laugh a lot and if you can figure out what they like then talk about that."

"That makes sense, thanks, Eda," Luz says, smiling.

"Sure thing, kid." Eda stands from the chair and starts to head back to the Chest, signaling the end of the conversation.

"Eda, there was one more thing." Luz stops her.

"What's that?" Eda turns back around.

"I was hoping there would be some way I could get some 'practical' experience," Luz says.