Pieter had turned to prepare the rest of the meal, small potatoes boiled in water that would be chopped in half and served with butter, a treat for anyone on board long enough, as he spoke to Rohaan. Whenever he wanted to have a serious conversation, he preferred to have something to do with his hands. When the boy cried out he stopped and focused on him. “Lad, what’re you talking about? Berlin’s many things, but traitor he ain’t.” His understanding of Rohaans language was poor, but he could pick out a few words and knew Berlin’s name. He paused, removed the potatoes from the boiling water, and spoke plainly to the boy curled up on the barrel. “I could use your help mashing the potatoes for dinner.” It wasn’t the original plan, but there’d be satisfaction in turning potatoes into mush. He made a wry face to himself as he took out the butter- oh well, these slavers ought to have enough goodies they could help themselves to. 

——-

Hana felt lightheaded as she looked at Uban. Since she’d gotten on board the [i]Borealis[/i] it felt like she’d been thrown into the air and hadn’t had a chance to touch the ground. Maybe it was time to learn to fly. “Uban… Thank you.” His kindness towards her had helped her adjust to this new reality, and she felt comfortable being herself around him. Impishly, she concentrated and traced the same grounding rune that she used on the bullets with her finger in the air, and with a [i]zwoosh[/i], the little arc of lightning diverted and leapt to Hana’s forefinger. Gasping slightly she looked into his eyes, lit up by the crackle of lightning connecting them. Carried along by her newfound freedom she coyly asked, “So, how often do you do this with other girls?” Her smile faltered when she realized what she’d said and [i] Oh seven virtues she just fucking said that [/i]