Zatana had been dozing, one ankle resting on her other knee. Her cowled face leaned back against the wall, before her eyes opened at the noise of feet moving across the stone. Wary about why someone might be coming to the war room, Zatana pulled herself towards wakefulness. It was not easy, the dark elf needed her rest after the battle and her little stunt. So upon seeing that it was Merik, Zatana wanted to sigh in relief. The lizard did not seem to have sought her out with news as he seemed rather more interested in where Balthazar had gone. [color=SlateBlue]"He went to his rooms."[/color] Which she would need to find and search at some point, but not now. For all she wanted to excel, Zatana was all too mortal. Her needs were just like any other, despite what the citizens of Bergkoff might think. They most likely had all sorts of fanciful tales about her kind. Rolling her shoulders to keep them from stiffening up, Zatana was about to uncross her legs when she saw the loaf of sweet bread Merik had placed there.

The offering shocked the dark elf, though she thought herself a fool. Merik was a simple creature and did not seem to possess the innate distrust that certain others had towards her. An unwise thing, but she could not find it in herself to dismiss the bread and thus spurn the lizard. Her fingers moved and picked apart the loaf, eating it greedily. She had eaten here and there, but a full proper meal was not something she wanted at the moment. In battle, a full stomach could lead to complications. On watch, she had seen soldiers content and lazy. Hunger was a fine sharping stone to the attentiveness of those who needed it and Zatana was officially not on watch.

Her surprise was soon turned to stunned disbelief as Merik nuzzled her head. Mussing the locks of pale hair, her hand fluttering up to fix the slight vanity she had after the lizard was done making a fool of them both. Watching him circle the chair, she frowned in disapproval. [color=SlateBlue]"You do realize I may have to get up in a hurry? You are altogether entirely too friendly for your own good, lizard."[/color] Her voice was stern, an attempt at being disapproving. Yet there was a softness to the clipped delivery and gratitude in the words. [color=SlateBlue]"I do appreciate the food."[/color] Absently, she wondered if he had drugged it. She looked over a piece of bread in her hand and then ate it. Merik, Zatana thought, had no reason to drug her or try to poison her. Plus, the lizard was in an incredibly odd mood. One she would ride out and [i]use[/i]. The dark elf considered the lizard man. Her training would have had her use this time to attempt to pull Merik closer to her in his loyalties. Zatana was sorely tempted to heed her natural state as a spy and do her duty. Yet, where would that duty be if she was too tired to act in a situation where she was needed tomorrow? Merik was a simple being and a useful one. If she moved too quickly it was likely that Balthazar would notice and the old wizard would take issue with it.

That wizard was nothing short of trouble and as much as Zatana wanted to, getting rid of the man would be next to impossible. Worse? She had the suspicion that if she did get rid of Balthazar she would get a reaming about her grandfather losing a potentially interesting opponent when- if she returned to the Dread Coast. That was the problem when old men liked to play games where their kind was rare.