Jay and Aries both started slightly when Luci walked in and started speaking. True, the door had been open all along but the rest of the group had kept a polite distance, letting Jay come ‘round on her own terms. After the initial shock however, it was Aries who remained frowning slightly while the girl’s face smoothed out into a friendly smile. Yes, despite the bloodied corpses in the man’s hand. Her eyes couldn’t help but be drawn to the hares’ eyes – half of them glinting in the light and the other half –not. Were they all missing an eye? And what the fuck did he just do to that bottle?

“Oh, that would be wonderful.” She beamed in response to his offer to take her to the river himself. It was a shame that in this state her smile probably looked more like a pitiful grimace. The other man, Aries, didn’t speak up or react in any other way which was interesting in itself. Where the heck had she ended up? “I am dying for a bath, quite literally hahaha!”

Only when she heard a female voice behind her did she realise that beyond the door there was what sounded like a whole group of people chatting amongst each other. [i]Well then, …this should be interesting.[/i] Then what she was being told – and handed – registered. In her hands there was now [i]soap[/i] and [i]shampoo[/i] and a [i]towel[/i]. Jay’s heart skipped a beat and instantly geared up with excitement, her fingers twitching slightly as they closed around the items. She had been given emeralds and diamonds before (quite frequently), and yet somehow, right now, they didn’t compare. This actually left her speechless for a moment. Even the dragon who handed her the things was less impressive. 

Wait, [i]dragon[/i]? 

Jay eyed the bird – no, definitely a dragon – and blinked in confusion. Was anyone else seeing this? Was this normal? How was she supposed to react to this? She glanced around, trying to make it not-too-obvious. Nobody else seemed impressed so maybe she should just ignore it?

“Thank you.” She said at last, having to clear her throat before she continued. “For this. And for taking care of me.” She smiled at Pup and at anyone else who might care about her and turned so she could face the first three people who had spoken to her directly. “I don’t honestly care who takes me to the river as long as somebody does so in the next five minutes.” She joked, pretending to be more amused than she actually was. Something about this group didn’t quite feel right. But until she found out what, she would have to play nice and stay out of trouble. Especially until they reached the damned river.  

Aries, who had kept quiet during their exchange, finally spoke up, looking at Luci “Why don’t you go with them? Those rabbits will need skinning and gutting before we eat them and the river is a good way to make sure we don’t attract predators to the cabin.” He suggested, assuming that the task wasn’t beyond the man who had mortified the animals to begin with. “You can take the knife from the kitchen, I don’t think we’ll need it while you’re gone. Do you know how to gut? You could take someone with you if you think you’ll take too long.”

It didn’t take long for them to settle on a guide and leave with the few items for Jay’s “shower” and a bucket that needed refilling. Horus, who was standing in front of the bedroom and attempted to strike up a conversation with Jay was blatantly ignored, for reasons beyond Aries’ comprehension. He was sure Dusk would have said something nice to the boy but one look at his face was enough to dissuade Aries from any such attempts. Leaving him to his own thoughts, the young man sighed and joined the rest of the group in the living room. Looking around he tried not to appear as overwhelmed as he felt with so many people around. They needed to be a coherent whole, Dusk had said, to trust each other and work together. Easy for him to say, when he [i]wished[/i] it to happen and left Aries to deal with the practical execution. These people had been together for three days now, and they didn’t seem anything like a team yet. More like a bunch of lost children. Who could kill each other if tempers flared.

Aries cleared his throat, wrecking his brain for a way to engage them in a productive way. He hated playing leader, and it was probably written all over his face too. 

“So…” He started hesitantly. He could hear Horys rummaging across the hall though so if he raised his voice slightly he would probably be heard by everyone…? “As you’ve probably noticed, our new friend is up and healthy. She confirmed she would like us to call her Jay.” He looked around the room. “So… I think we have some tasks that need doing. We still have some supplies but we’re running low so we may need to go to town once Dusk comes back.” [i]As I don’t trust he’ll remember to bring some with him[/i] he added mentally. 

A sudden flash of pain hit his temple at the thought, his eye closing and his hand reaching for the ache instinctively. He kept talking. “We still have some flour and some yeast, rice, salt, pepper and oil. We should probably save them for after we finish with the rabbits Luci brought. I’m not sure if we’ll get through all the meat and I’m also not sure if drying it is a good idea with so many animals around. So I suggest we eat those first and then perhaps attempt to make some bread tomorrow. If anyone needs other types of …. nutrition, please try not to use trees that are close to each other.” Not everyone in the group could get their hands on wild animals and sadly taking the energy of living beings was essential for their own survival. “I know Dusk said not to leave the cabin much, so try to do that as little as possible, but I don’t think creating bald patches in the forest is a good idea either.” He was getting off-track, probably just repeating Dusk’s initial instructions at this point. 

“So,” he said for the third time and cursed himself for it. “The rabbits take priority, right? Why don’t some of you go find some dried wood for the stove? And if anyone knows anything about foraging, you could try to find us something edible in the forest.” The pain in his head was getting stronger. The voice, berating him again, for his social awkwardness, lack of leadership and general stupidity. [color=Sienna][b][i]Why would you heal somebody if you knew it would affect your body like this? And you keep doing it! What a moron. There is no salvation for you.[/i][/b][/color] “Well… that’s it.” Aries finished with a strained voice and felt the compulsion to hurry out of the cabin as soon as possible. He needed some fresh air and some solitude. 

But he resisted. It was probably the Perpetual again. The pain in his head was getting stronger by the second but he wouldn't follow its desires. He had a free will of his own and besides, with Dusk gone it would be irresponsible to leave everyone on their own. [i]Screw you.[/i] he held his ground, preparing himself for the migrene the parasite would trigger. "I'll be outside if anyone needs me." he said out loud and went to fetch his book. There was already a patch of dirt by the southern wall of the cabin where the sun occasionally shone through the trees and made reading quite pleasant despite the chill. Life was quite miserable when you had a nasty bastard in your head, a few cracked ribs and a best friend with a hero complex who expected you to be their side-kick... but at least Elizabeth Bennet was likeable enough for now.