“Tea sounds nice. Thank you Ma—Vivi. It means a lot.” Stone did indeed follow up the stairs, trying hard again, but this time to maintain some kind of balance between formal and informal, because surely it was inappropriate to respond in any other way? Or maybe she’s thinking this too hard.
Nonetheless, the girl wanted to stave off silence, so she spoke: “Have you been alright these past couple days? No, wait, how was your Founders Festival? No, I mean… I mean it’d probably be best if I stop talking. Sorry.”
And so she did, putting a hand to her temple. Stone, of course, normally wasn’t this awkward, but she also didn’t want to make an irreparable social mistake. Apparently, being respectful was harder than it sounded, when you didn’t have much of the stuff to give in the first place.