After his attempt at an apology to the woman who issued the orders, Kaeciel lowered his head back to his work with a well practiced expression of indifference. He'd rather not even hint to what problems he had with the call in fear of Olivia coming down on him harder for even so much as a hint of a frown. Order felt hollow without understanding, just a sweeping declaration that those involved have their food in the field, all dangers considered, be cut. Doing the math in his head, Kaeci reasoned out that this would include essentially everyone in the camp save for a small handful.
The young madam Eris worried him slightly, seeming more akin to the heirs that would frequent the estate through attempts at politically/diplomatically-charged arranged marriage rather than a mercenary. Her presence was truly strange, though it helped Kaeci feel less out of place, at least in the age department. A growing master would need all the food they could get, and she was wise to pick her battles.
Lady Ariel had actually surprised the demi for having not gotten involved as the way she carried herself hinted to a pent-up tension of sorts...or perhaps a shadow of it. She was difficult to read and often distant in a somewhat forlorn manner. Kaeci was hardly one to pry, however, and understood how actions could speak louder than words.

A faint cynicism danced in Kaeciel's mind, tangling with confusion about how Olivia's words applied to herself. Was she not also involved? The situation seemed just about solved through Alm's heroics, but the young bunny would fan himself over the gesture later, as he assumed Olivia had spoken with herself as an exception in spite of her assertion and interjection. [color=gray][i]'So...power lets one tell others what to do...without following the context of their own rules?'[/i][/color] he darkly thought before shaking his head of the meek simmering of confused contempt. The woman was this group's keeper and the rules were, in all reality, [i]very[/i] simple.
He was just thinking of freedom wrong. It was hardly the first time he'd be wrong, and he felt thankful that there was at least [i]something[/i] to eat.

Resolved to bear the burden of error, Kaeci frowned once she was no longer looking, an opportunity his associate apparently took advantage of  to continue work in spite of the quota being met. Frozen with indecision, he swallowed hard, eyes darting between the woman and Alm while his own hands hovered, unsure if he was expected to continue working now that the task should have been complete.
[color=bc8dbf]"S-Sehr Alm?"[/color] Kaeci whispered, doing his best to look busy in the hopes of masking Alm's efforts, [color=bc8dbf]"I szink zeht vee haf enough."[/color] Alm had looked up from his work only long enough to comment for the demihuman to not worry about it, a statement that made their ears fold back as they insisted, [color=bc8dbf]"I [i]do[/i] vorry, iz vhy-"[/color] being cut off as the man repeated himself, this time more sternly and with a sideglance to imply Kaeci's concern was not enough to stop him.
With that, Kaeci relented and went about quietly cleaning cooking utensils until Alm was satisfied with his work and absconded with one of the defiantly reproportioned bowls. Finishing the cleaning, Kaeci swiftly took to knocking a bit of the contents of one of the bowls into a few that were to remain untouched until being left with roughly a half ration which he took. He simply wanted to avoid conflict, especially from Olivia being spooky and intimidating. At the very least, he did not want to be a part of it.
______________________________________

The food was...there. It was hardly a culinary feat, but Kaeciel would have preferred there had been more of it, regardless. Trudging through the desert and making camp was tiring work, and he'd taken advantage of the first opportunity he could get to collapse in his tent after getting cozy for the cold desert night. The climate was a wonder, having not expected somewhere so hot to turn around and become so cold, though it was all the more reason to make use to the blankets and his coat. His tent was packed like a nest as he got in perhaps five oddly restful hours of sleep before an ear perked out of the mess. Groggily, he was still only vaguely sure what an orc even was, but if it was something worth yelling about, than it was something worth getting kitted over, even before the order to get ready for work only hastening his pace.

Maybe a minute later and Kaeci stormed out of his tent, sliding a box of bolts into the top of his crossbow before tucking his scarf into the nearly tattered coat. Rubbing the weight of sleep from his eyes, he bounded over to Alm. His hair was a bit of a mess, but it was hardly a detail to consider as the distant shapes moving through the shadows of the dunes spelled out the situation. [color=bc8dbf]"Zeht iz...verk?"[/color] he asked before racking the lever and priming the string of his armament mere moments before the flare burst. The orcs, quickly realizing the jig was up, charged, giving Kaeci his answer. He took a deep breath, sighing out a few muffled words behind his scarf before proceeding to angle his weapon up and unload the first box into an arch loosely aimed in an area in front of the congregation.
Of the seven bolts that came cascading down on the group, many missed, though an effective handful somehow found their mark. Hearing the sound, one orc looked up just in time to have their head snapped back by a bolt piercing their skull through the eye-socket, causing them to limply tumble to the ground and briefly stumble their comrade behind them. Two others flinched, somewhat losing a few steps of pace as a bolt struck downwards into their hip and the third briefly paused to yank the spent ammunition out of their shoulder.

Kaeciel, however, hadn't been paying attention, already going through the motions of ejecting the now empty box and reaching into his coat to draw a fresh one and slide it into place. It took a few seconds longer than it probably should have as it was clear he did not have much practice reloading under pressure.