Zeais and Eris were sprawled out on their respective beds inside their room, waiting for Yale to finish cooking food in the kitchen. The thought of such a large man cooking was odd to Zeais, not because he was cooking, but because his large body huddled over a small pot with cooking utensils almost half the size of his hand, looked downright strange. It wasn’t uncommon though, everyone should at least be able to cook something in his opinion. Being stuck out in the middle of forests and bountiful fields with no knowledge of how to bring out the potential of your produce spelled doom for inept people. As far as his teacher taught him.

[Zeais: Hey Eris, do you know how to cook?]

Zeais couldn’t see her but he heard the rustle of sheets as she moved.

[Eris: No.]

Well, there goes one, he thought.

[Eris: But I do know how to do spices and seasonings. Handling food is a bit different though.]

How can she season but not know how to cook? He questioned.

Three light raps on the door thrust him from his thoughts. He turned his head to see Eris get up and turn into a blurry blob of gray. He could tell she opened the door, but not all the way. Zeais squinted his eyes to try and make out what was going across the room, but to no avail, he couldn’t make out any refining details.

[???: Evening Eris. Can I, come in?]

The familiar voice of a girl softly asked from behind the door. Eris pulled the door open to reveal a gray silhouette. Zeais couldn’t mistake her bright yellow pupils, Anya, it had to be her.

[Eris: Of course, it’s not like we own the place.]

[Anya: Thank you.]

Anya’s figure slowly drifted into the room, her footsteps were light and she didn’t seem to be wearing her Inn uniform, the color darkness of the colors didn’t match. In fact, the hue of her clothing seemed a bit lighter, as she walked closer to Eris’s bed he could make out the slight outlines of some type of dress. He sat up and scooted to the edge of his bed so he could address her,

[Zeais: Evening, Anya.]

He felt a bit odd responding to her, family matters were rare for Zeais to hear about. Do I just avoid talks about what went on this morning? He mulled.

[Anya: I can see the awkwardness on your face Zeais.]

He felt his face flush a bit. And here I thought I was hiding it… He cursed silently.

[Anya: Hehe.]

He could hear the wryness in her laugh, she didn’t sound nearly as energetic as she did in the morning.

[Anya: You don’t need to be all reserved with me, and don’t worry about this morning either. It was just… I was a little upset.]

A “little” upset? I beg to differ. He mused.

[Anya: You too Eris, please don’t look at me with those eyes.]

[Eris: Hmm, I don’t know what you mean.]

He could hear the sarcasm in her voice, she obviously meant well.

It felt a bit rude to him to sit so far away while conversing, Zeais stood up and walked around the beds to get closer to them. As he approached the two, he noticed Anya definitely looked different. She was standing next to Eris, clutching her hands together. He hair was no longer in a ponytail, it instead let its long streaks and light curls rest along her back. Along with her hair change, she no longer wore her Inn uniform, the dress she wore flowed down to her knees and seemed to sleep ware. The dress was very light in contrast and had to be of bright color, a slight gray would equal something akin to white or yellow if he had to put a finger to it.

He leaned against the nightstand as the two girls sat down on Eris’s bed. A short bit of silence went by, he couldn’t help but stare at Anya, who was fiddling with her fingers silently. He could tell she wanted to speak but something inside prevented her from doing so. He looked at Eris who was occupied looking at her feet swing link a pendulum. Anya stopped her playing with her fingers suddenly and cleared her throat.

[Anya: Did he… tell you two?]

Mmm, of course, this is what she came for.

[Zeais: No, he didn’t tell us anything at all.]

Anya’s face held an expression of surprise that slowly twisted into one of a grimace.

[Anya: I really do wish I could take back my outburst and act like things never happened. But that would never happen and I don’t want things to be awkward.]

She took a deep breath and let it out quickly.

[Anya: Which is why! I wanted to tell you guys about this before we went anywhere.]

Her wry smile burned off the happiness she tried to give off.

[Anya: My father has been sick since the day my mother died. I don’t remember her since I was so young, but he told me after I was old enough to work in the Inn that she mauled to death. Right underneath this Inn no less.]

Zeais couldn’t see any change in her face from such statements. He could tell this would be a ride, he would rather not hear.