#also when at the rth he probably shows up to set down a tray of food next to izar quite regularly

[izar-tarazed]

Izar returned the smile, although something about Cotesia’s seemed just a little bit off to her. But that might just be her imagination—or Cotesia still feeling a little tense. A tension that thankfully seemed to have eased, for now. She glanced back at Ensha who was back to staring at Cotesia warily, but Izar could tell that the anger was gone. She blinked when Cotesia brought out a piece of dry meat and tore into it in a way that reminded Izar of… well, a feral animal, maybe? Not that she was going to judge anybody for their table manners. ‟Ah, don’t you worry. We have our own provisions. Speaking of which, I’ll put water on and make us some tea. Do you like tea? It’ll warm us all up.” With that—and a short glance at Ensha to make sure he was fine—she scurried over to the other room again to retrieve the pot she had found earlier. When she returned to the fireplace, Ensha had already brought out the waterskin and the collection of dried herba, so Izar could pour the water—from the Hold’s well, not Liurnia’s muddy lake—into the pot, toss the leaves in and place it on the fire. She felt a little guilty for that rushed and unceremonious way of preparing the hot beverage. When the nomadic merchants did it, it was calm and dignified, and usually included far more sophisticated blends then a handful of herba. But well, this would have to do. Truth to be told, Izar also was a little hungry, but she hesitated to bring out their provisions. She wouldn’t have minded sharing them with Cotesia, but knew that Ensha wasn’t likely to partake in that kind of meal, which—same as him not taking off his armor—would probably seem odd. So she was rather grateful when Cotesia brought up the topic of the map again. ‟The map, yes. I’ll get to it right away,” she said, her treacherous stomach rumbling softly, which earned her a serious look from Ensha who reached for the backpack once more—chest heaving with a silent sigh— and pulled out everything from the sachet they had brought along: a small loaf of bread, dried meat and mushrooms, a bit of cheese. Then he briefly gestured both at her and Cotesia, and added: You should eat first. You tend to forget that over your map-making. A brief pause, then, with emphasis and quite reproachfully, Always.

Cotesia’s face but briefly flashed a smirk where she was very pleased with herself. Very pleased indeed, not only for averting a fight, but she now an instrument in her arsenal as well. Someone had an overseer that they did not want to upset. And if her assumption was to be believed, it was likely because said overseer was not a particularly forgiving figure. She’d no intentions of blackmail, perse, but having new information to do with as she would was always a benefit. If nothing else, all the more reason to keep her skulking in the Hold to a minimum.

“I will make sure not to make myself known there then” she said, turning her head to smile in a way trying to be friendly but maybe just looked like a grimace.

Still, though, there was other things at hand. “Well, I cannot speak for you two, but I am hungry. I would share, but I’ve not enough, as it were” she explained as she reached around to rifle through her backpack again, finding a very sad looking piece of dried meat she couldn’t remember if it was deer, dog, or…

Eh, it didn’t really matter. Meat was meat. And her teeth cut through the tough dried flesh all the same, though admittedly with less finesse than her mandibles ever did.

“So, to lead us back to whence it all began,” she said, briefly stopping to make a face and tongue where a strip of sinewy-something got stuck between her teeth (horrible design flaw), “Perhaps rather a request. I can’t read your, er, words, so don’t worry about including them on the map—by the by, I am still very grateful. Yes, very grateful"—reminded that she was still technically in debt. Rats.

She clicked her teeth together on reflex, worrying the inside of her lip between them after in a bid to stop herself.