"Alice! That's what it was."
Alice looked up at the sound of her name to see a red-head approaching with a small dog on her heels. It was the girl from earlier that morning, Riley Ruth. "Hey Alice, glad I caught you."
"Hi," Alice greeted with an amused smile and made room for Riley joined her in the line. The person behind Alice made some small noise of protest before she threw them a glare, and the two girls continued to move along the food counter unchallenged. Alice ordered her coffee black and, thinking of the bland aeroplane breakfast she'd had several hours ago, grabbed a sandwich and a large chocolate cookie. Keeping food in her stomach would keep her from getting exhausted as fast when pushing her powers.
"So..." Riley continued. "Please tell me you don't know anybody either. Every person I saw had at least one other people with them."
Alice chuckled, "So it seems. Yeah, I'm in the same boat. Don't know a soul." She set her tray down at an empty table, took a seat, pushed her jacket sleeves up to her elbows, and proceeded to empty sugar sachets into her coffee. She continued to do this as she glanced up at Riley and nodded towards one of the other seats at the table, "Sit?"
Once she was satisfied that her drink was sweet enough to make a diabetic shudder Alice took a bite of her sandwich, mostly ignoring the furious tail-wagging and beseeching eyes of the dog staring at her. She also ignored the small flare of light in her minds eye.
The lights were a mental metaphor for her awareness of others' pain; surrounded by other people as she was now there was the usual haze of dull lights that symbolised anything from a twisted ankle to a coffee burn. And someone had just started the beginnings of a migraine. Other than glancing almost unconsciously at some of the canteen occupants this awareness didn't show on her face. Choosing not to concentrate on any of the lights the mental image faded from the forefront of her mind.
Alice leant back in her chair, hung an arm over the back, and rested her crossed ankles on another spare seat at the table. "So, Riley, what brings you to Eltz? This place is quite something, ain't it?"