She laughed. It was high and clear, but not too loud. She had a nice laugh. "One might think you have a prison sentence or something with diligent counting like that."
"True..." He chuckled. He paused for a moment. "Say... Where's Rhys?" He asked. "I didn't see him in the mess hall. Does he not like my cooking?" He chuckled once again.
"I'm not sure, actually," Ellia said. "I think he was staying in his quarters to analyze the route or something. We could bring something to him, if you'd like."
"Eh, sure. He's helping us so we might as well help him." He took the ladle and poured some of the leftover soup into a clean bowl. "Shall I take it to him, or do you want to?"
She bit her lip, considering. "Should either one of us be walking alone right now? I mean..." She hesitated, not wanting to sound cowardly, but not much fancying dying either. She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I don't know. I heard something moving earlier, and I think it's just making me skittish."
Jared began to walk towards the door and grabbed Ellia's arm. "Best to be together than be by ourselves." He said, continuing to walk.
She was pulled forward, and walked quickly to keep up. "I think he's in room 16," she said, keeping a watchful eye.
Jared let go of Ellia's arm as to not hurt her. "Room 16. Right." He said, trying not to spill the soup. He looked at each numbered door and eventually found room 16. He gave it a quick knock.
There came a sound of a muffled clatter, and the door swung open. Rhys glared out, squinting into the gloom. He held a knife in his hand. He had lost weight, and his beard was scraggly, and he had deep circles under his eyes. He saw Ellia and Jared, and relaxed. "Oh, it's only you," he said, lowering the blade. His brow furrowed. "Is everything alright?"
Jared held up his free hand in mock surrender. "Y-yeah... Just delivering supper..." He said, lifting up the bowl. "What's, er... What's going on in there?"
He squinted at them, and then sighed. "Just working on this translation nonsense," he said. "The legend has been told in many different languages, and in order to find the facts that overlap, I have to translate as many as possible."
He stared at the bowl for a moment, and then nodded. " I actually am, thank you," he said, taking the bowl. "I'm trying to remember the last time I went to the mess hall, and I can't really recall, which is probably a bad sign."
"Yeah, I guess," he said. He trailed off, lost in thought for a moment, his brow furrowed. "Anyway, thanks for the soup. It looks good," he said, starting to close the door, dismissing them.
Jared let him take the soup and took a step back. After te door closed, he spoke up. "Well that settles that."
"I was thinking about how abruptly he left," Ellia said, shrugging smoothly. "He seemed like he was in a rush." *** "Will do," Jack said, heading to the front. He placed the dishes on the table, and glanced across the room at Natalia. She had sat down, but wasn't eating, and she was writing in her notebook. Frowning, he returned to Avice. "I'm a little worried about the Cap'n," he said to Avice as he sat down.
