Elijah and Kate walked mostly in silence as they weaved their way between wagons and tents towards the weapons range. Kate's mind was heavy as she trudged along, her eyes aimed at her feet while she silently cursed and had arguments with herself. Why was is that she was the one being punished here? She hadn't done anything wrong, other than profess her suppressed feelings for her best friend. Ugh, if she had just suppressed them further maybe they would have disappeared altogether and they wouldn't be in this mess right now. 

Of course it was her fault, she couldn't just be 'normal' like all the other people in the world. No, that would be too easy. Instead she had to have the most difficult rendering of reality possible for her. Then again, she didn't deserve the disappointing look that Claire threw at her either. After all, if she hadn't done what she had they would probably still be trapped in that crazy nightmare, forever doomed. She continued to mumble to herself and throw her hands around like a mad person while she walked. 

Eli raised an eyebrow at her but let her be while they walked, nodding to passing coworkers while they walked through a commons area and shrugging when they pointed at Kate with a confused expression. They arrived at the place where they kept their weapons and practiced their acts all too often. But something was off. There was some type of gelatinous goop covering the chests that the weapons were kept in, and the wooden targets standing several yards away appeared to be bloodstained. Kate approached cautiously, blinking several times and rubbing her eyes before turning to Elijah. 

"You... see this too, right?" She asked. 

"Unfortunately, yes..." He approached the chest and opened it up. The contents were liquefied, the slimy substance coating the entire thing and filing it nearly to the brim. Eli grimaced, but kicked the chest over to empty it out. It nearly appeared as if the weapons had been dissolved by whatever the stuff was. It spilled out in a giant plop, coating the ground. 

"We should get out of here before whatever did this comes back... I've got more blades at my wagon, we can stop by there before heading back to Claire." Kate said as she had to keep herself from gagging at the sight of the gelatin goo that spread from the crate. Elijah nodded and wiped his hands with a kerchief from his pocket, tossing it to the ground after his hands were cleaned. 

They made it to her wagon and both entered, cautiously at first after what had been witnessed earlier near the wagons. Once Kate saw it was safe, she closed the door behind them and opened her closet. She retrieved her own throwing blades and holster before handing a larger knife to Eli, which he placed at his side. 

"You know, Katie, you shouldn't be so hard on yourself." Eli said after a few moments of silence. To which, she raised her eyebrow in speculation. "With Claire, I mean. Give her some time, you just dropped something big on her. 'Bout damn time you did too."

"Wait, you knew?" Her mouth fell slightly agape. 

Eli chuckled and nodded, "Well, it wasn't that hard to figure it out. Not after the multitude of times you ignored my attempts at flirting that is." He smiled softly, "I wondered why you blew me off, but then I started to pay attention to the way you looked at her, every time she was around." 

Kate's face turned red and she let her jaw drop. It had never occurred to her that Eli had tried to make advances on her, though now that he mentioned it... she swallowed the lump in her throat and had to sit down. "Why didn't you tell me?"

He shrugged, "What was there to tell? I love you Katie, but I've moved past those feelings for you. You love her, you just need to let her realize that." 

Kate was still a bit embarrassed, but she was able to gather her thoughts and talk to Elijah about it. Strange as it may be, it made her feel better about the situation. She realized she needed to back off and give herself and Claire a break. They finished their chat after a while and decided it was time to head back to the big cat enclosures to make sure nothing strange happened there like back at the practice range.