Noah nodded to Elann as she left, fingers of his left hand playing on his lips where she had kissed him. He watched her as she left from the wagon, stepping down and moving slowly from there on out. In her absence he tested his mobility. He could stand, he knew that because his legs weren’t aching or afflicted like his upper body. It was just that standing and walking would jostle everything on top. Bending was difficult and he was almost forced to sit up straight at the cost of a constant ache in his back. Using his upper arms was nearly impossible without pain in the middle of his shoulder blades. His right arm had been slashed on the outward facing side and so any muscle movement there was annoying to deal with as it effected his ribcage on the right. He found that using his arms below the elbow was fine and could be done with minor annoyance.

Elann came back with food and Noah could smell it before she arrived. He could see her discomfort in movements clearer now. He didn’t consider that he was transferring all his pain to her, the thought slipping from his mind in his own consideration for himself. Not liking the whimper, she made, he dulled the transmission to spare her, thinking this instance was an exception to their established rule. Afterwards, he hummed in agreement to Elann’s words on Aimee.

 “I saw her,” he admitted since Elann had seen the wolf as well. “She’ll be back in a little bit.” Noah spoke confidently, believing he understood his sister’s behavior and could predict it.

When it came to his feeding, Noah let Elann bring the first few pieces of steak to his mouth. Though he got easily annoyed with himself for not being able to do it. He didn’t like feeling useless and voiced it, asking if she could just put the pieces into his left hand so he feed himself. There was some strain in his first movements as he tested his maneuverability with it. Even if she directly hesitated in letting him feed himself, he would insist with a silent look that said as much. Regardless of how much love and gentleness she put into her willful feeding of him, it would annoy him because of the handicap he had. He had been in the care of people all day, strangers to him at that, and so he wanted to feed himself to some degree. Aside from the bear steak that took effort to chew, Noah didn’t much want the soup being spooned into his mouth either.

“I don’t want anymore,” he finally said when he felt his stomach approaching fullness. “Am I supposed to stay here tonight?” he asked afterwards, wiping the bottom of his chin with his left hand.