"It is fine and dandy you riding my shoulders about, but I don't particularly enjoy your crotch chafing my neck." Jimmy says
"Okay, I get down." Abomentolor sighs and slides down Jimmy's arm.
"However, tactically this was pretty useful... If you get a proper 'saddle' made we can talk again."
"We are doing our barbeque now?" Tauriell asks sheathing her blade.
"I suppose we are, what are we cooking?" Jimmy asks curious
"What do you want to make? Hot dogs?" Abomentolor asks. "Or are you going to grill your elven cereals? I haven't seen a single cow here."
"That boxes of the Gray Maidens had food in them. Let's check if they have something besides trail rations." Tauriell suggests and walks back to the room with the table and the boxes.
She does a thorough search fro something edible.
The boxes contain indeed only trail rations but there is some smoked fish hanging in one of the bedrooms.
"I think I prefer my trail ration." Niamh says and wrinkles her nose.
"You want it grilled or smoked?" Tauriell asks.
"Trailrations have to be grilled or smoked?" Niamh asks perplexed and takes her trailration out of her backpack and looks into it.
Tauriell facepalms herself. "No. For naive babies like you they have to be puréed and cooked with milk and then fed by spoon."
"Well then." Niamh says huffy and passes her trailration to Tauriell. "Start to purée and cook it for me then." she adds with a sarcastic smile.
"Sorry, I'm not lactating and we still found no cows." Tauriell replies.
"I'm sure you'll find a solution even for that." Niamh turns around so nobody can see her blushing and sits down on a chair.
Tauriell takes two empty crates and smashes them to pieces with her mace. With the wood she builds a campfire at the beach. "Abomentolor, would you please light it?"
"Sure." Abomentolor replies igniting it with a spark.
Tauriell sits down at the campfire and gazes into the flames gnawing at her elven trail ration.
Abomentolor sits down opposite to Tauriell and plays with the campfire. He adds some wood or rearranges the burning pieces with his bare hands. He whistles a jolly melody.
Niamh walks around the table to the beach and sits down next to Tauriell staring with her into the flames.
"Want to try an elven trail ration for a change?" Tauriell asks Niamh offering her the half eaten one.
"Sure. You still have my vegetarian halfling trail ration. I searched vegetarian food together for it." Niamh replies and takes Tauriell's elven trail ration.
"Vegetarian is fine. Many elves don't eat meat. You'll never find elven trail rations containing it." Tauriell replies trying the food contained in Niamh's ration.
"Maybe I should take an elven trailration. That would be easier." Niamh says after she tasted the food. "That's so sweet. How are they doing it?"
"It's sweetened with honey."
"I see." Niamh says and continues staring into the flames.
Gwenhwyfar sits down at the fire too. Staring into the flames she states "This is stupid."
Niamh looks at Gwenhwyfar. "We are stupid."
"Exactly!" Gwenhwyfar replies.
Niamh shrugs and focuses her glare again on the fire.
"I'm not stupid." Tauriell replies.
"You and Gwenhwyfar are the only normal ones in this group." Niamh responds.
"I'm not normal. I am special!" Tauriell protests.
"What am I then?" Abomentolor asks Niamh.
"You? You are absolutely thoroughly crazy. she answers Abomentolr and to Tauriell she adds "Anything else?"
"He is hot!" Tauriell adds and licking her finger she touches the gnome making "Zssshhh."
Abomentolor starts laughing so hard he falls over backwards holding his belly. "Hahahahahahaha!"
"I haven't seen a single sane person since we left the ship." Gwenhwyfar comments.
"I hate to say it, but I think you are right."
Niamh grins and then tries to look surprised. "You see Jimmy every day, doesn't she coun't as sane?"
"No. Not by any standard I know."
"I could sit with Jimmy in Sandpoint with enough money to buy a house and making wedding plans and knitting baby socks. Instead I sit here with you running from one monster to the next praying that I make it alive and in my own body through the day. No one doing that without being forced is even close to sane." Gwenhwyfar replies.
"I'm going to bed now. It feels like it's pretty late already." Niamh says her farewell and walks back to the tableroom where she takes the bedroom that is the farthest away from the entrance where she comes from.
"I would agree with you Gwen, but with other people searching for these shards, someone has to do it."
"Yes. Crazy people. like us." Gwenhwyfar replies.
"Indeed." Jimmy says sitting down next to her
Gwenhwyfar looks longingly at Gemeena while she looks elsewhere. How would she love to have Jimmy's shoulders back to lean on. His arms to hold her.
She looks down at her feet as a tear rolls down her cheek hiding it behind a curtain of hairs.
"I cant wait to be home again."
"Me too. I want to go home to my mum." Gwenhwyfar replies.
"We just need to finish here and then I am sure we can do that." Jimmy suggests
"Just survive a few more days of this crazy." Gwenhwyfar also takes out a trail ration and gnaws on it. "Your trail rations look and smell much better." she comments as she chews on her cardboard like food.