Embris felt a little conflicted. Part of her was saying that it was a bad idea to show this woman to one of the Blue Rose's advisors, but at the same time, she had a feeling that Maelia would like to know her husband's family. Especially since Embris was pretty sure that Maelia didn't know that much about Rick herself. As Rick always seemed to keep things to himself.
At least when it came to his past.
However, she didn't see the harm in showing Shirley to Maelia otherwise. After all, she usually is finishing up some work at this time anyway. Which meant that she shouldn't have started going to bed just yet. Especially since Rick isn't around.
Besides, she would at least have the benefit of being in close proximity to the Blue Rose's guards and Embris was confident that if Shirley tried anything towards Maelia, she'd been here too short of a time to have any designs on harming the Blue Rose.
"I guess I could show you to her," Embris finally said. "She should still be working right now, so we could catch her before she goes to bed if we're quick enough."
Shirley's smile broadened, making Embris feel a little uneasy. She wasn't sure she liked the look of that smile, but since she'd already said that she'd accommodate Shirley's request, she couldn't back out now. At least not without a reason and not liking a smile wasn't a real reason.
Though, one thing she was confident about was that she wasn't going to leave Shirley alone with Maelia. That would just be a way to not only lose her position as one of the Blue Rose's guards, but also to potentially be exiled from the settlement for allowing harm to come to one of the people running the settlement.
So, Embris heads back towards the building she'd just left, glancing at Shirley occasionally, trying to puzzle out what her motivations were and what it was that she was really after from this visit. She supposed she could have been serious about what she'd said, but at the same time, Embris wasn't going to leave her alone in that meeting and risk that she had some other motivation for wanting to see Maelia.
Yet, when they approached the door to where Maelia typically did her work, Embris saw a light burning through the door and when she opened it, she heard a groan from Shirley. As she turned to see what the groan was about, only to see Shirley looking disgusted, her smile completely gone.
Shirley began talking in a language that Embris couldn't understand, though she did pick out a few words here and there, such as known, just, and him, which told her that it was the same language as Ralph and his friends spoke when she'd been around them before that bandit attack. Though, she wasn't sure why she associated Ralph as the center of that group when she was more friends with Beth, but she didn't want to think about that right now. She was more interested in figuring out what Shirley was saying right then.
Not that she could think of what to do to get that to happen. As she certainly didn't know anyone around her that knew what the language she was talking in was.
Although, Shirley's rant, as that's the best way Embris could describe it, seemed to draw attention, not just from the guards who were on duty guarding the Blue Rose's stand-ins, and possibly the Blue Rose herself, who put their hands on their weapons, but also Maelia.
"What's going on?" she asked Embris, as she was suddenly by the door that Embris had barely opened a minute ago.
Embris shrugged. "I'm not really sure. She said that she was Rick's older sister, but when I opened the door, she just started going off like this. I'm not sure what she's saying and I really don't know anyone who knows the language that she's saying.
While Shirley's rant was distracting, Embris was at least glad that it wasn't loud. She wasn't sure what she'd do if Shirley was loud enough to disturb the Blue Rose's stand-ins. Even if Shirley was Rick's sister, Embris couldn't say what would happen if she disturbed their rest. Especially if she woke them up from being asleep.
Embris wasn't sure how long Shirley was going to go on in the other language, but she worried that someone might get tired of her going on like this and decide to take matters into their own hands. Especially since she couldn't say that she was really turning hostile or if she was just dealing with something that Embris didn't understand.
"Um, are you okay?" Embris asked Shirley hesitantly, hoping that she'd be able to get the young woman to calm down. "I can't really understand what you're saying so I can't tell if there's a problem."
Shirley didn't show any signs of hearing Embris, or if she did, understanding her. Embris felt at a loss for what to do. She glanced at Maelia helplessly and was surprised when Maelia told one of the guards to get Tchisa.
Why she asked one of the guards on duty rather than Embris herself, she couldn't be sure, but hearing Tchisa's name made Embris feel a little better. She was confident that Tchisa would be able to handle this problem. She wasn't quite sure how, but she knew that Tchisa always seemed to know what to do. Almost like she knew what everyone was thinking and so could defuse situations that were otherwise getting out of hand.
Whether Tchisa could actually read people's minds, Embris didn't know, but was at least hoping that she'd be able to help figure out what was going on. Especially when she didn't know what was happening herself and worried that it was going to end badly for Shirley.
Especially since while Shirley didn't seem hostile right then, she clearly was agitated and wasn't listening to anyone. Or at least as far as Embris could tell.
When Tchisa showed up, Embris couldn't say how long Shirley had been rambling, occasionally saying a word that Embris recognized, but otherwise completely unintelligible to Embris, since Embris hadn't taken the time to really try and learn that language. Which made her wonder if maybe she should try and correct that at some point if she ever got the opportunity to do so.
Tchisa didn't ask what was going on, and maybe the guard had already explained the situation, but Tchisa walked over to Shirley and asked directly, "What's a 'cougar'?"
Embris blinked. She wasn't sure what Tchisa was talking about, nor what Shirley was apparently saying, but she was at least happy when Shirley stopped her rant and stared at Tchisa. It was clear that she was shocked that anyone understood what she was saying, but somehow that seemed to calm her down. To the point where she started talking quickly in that language, almost sounding like she was making a complaint, but Embris had a feeling she was expressing her feelings in a way that she might not understand how to do in the language that Embris knew.
She wasn't sure why she was thinking that, just that that's what came to mind as she listened to the sounds Shirley made right then.
Though, Embris herself felt shocked that Tchisa understood what Shirley was saying. She didn't know how or why, just that it was clear that Tchisa could understand that language. She couldn't say if it was related to how Tchisa seemed to be able to read minds, but she couldn't help but feel grateful that someone was able to understand Shirley and get her to calm down.
Although, Embris couldn't help but feel startled to notice the tears in Shirley's eyes. She wasn't sure if there was anything she could say or do to make those tears go away, but she had a feeling that Tchisa would know what to do.
"Alright, I think I get the picture," Tchisa said, holding up a hand to Shirley, looking like she was ready to head to bed right then herself. Which made Embris wonder if she'd maybe even been settling down to go to sleep when she'd been called here. "However, Rick isn't here, so I don't think that you'll be able to solve anything about… whatever it was that you had a problem with. So, if you'd calm down, we can work with you on this."
Shirley said something else that Embris didn't understand, and Tchisa also didn't understand, for whatever reason, which was evident by her next question, "And a MILF is?"
Embris wondered if maybe there was more to a language than just the words used. Especially since the term 'MILF' didn't mean anything to her. In fact, if she didn't know any better, she'd have assumed it was a nonsensical phrase or something completely made up. Yet, hearing Tchisa say the word somehow made it feel like it was a real phrase or term that Shirley knew.
Which merely made Embris feel even more tired at that moment than she had up to this point.
Even though she had wanted to head to bed so she could get some sleep, helping Shirley hadn't felt like it was an especially tiring task. At least until this moment, that is.
Nor was she sure how long she was really willing to wait until all of this was resolved. It might have been easier to bear if she could understand what Shirley was saying, but since she couldn't, it hardly felt like anything that could truly keep her attention. Especially with how she was starting to wonder if maybe she should leave Shirley to Tchisa entirely and go to bed now while she had a chance to avoid being selected to help Shirley out.
While she wouldn't refuse to follow a directive like that, she had to consider the fact that she really didn't feel like it anymore. Not with how tired she was starting to feel. Plus, she couldn't be sure that Shirley wouldn't start going off in this language that Embris couldn't understand.
So, she slowly started to move towards the exit, hoping that she wouldn't draw anyone's attention. She had nearly made it to the exit when she heard Tchisa speak again.
"So, you just wanted to see your brother and you aren't happy with who he got married to, is that it?"
Embris would have liked to know the answer to that question, but she wasn't surprised when Shirley continued talking in her language, meaning that Embris couldn't follow. Meaning, she couldn't bring herself to care to listen to this half conversation anymore.
So, she carefully opened the door without making a sound, eager for the night to swallow her up so she wouldn't need to deal with this any more this night.
_
Ralph sighed as he stretched out on the ground. He wished that they could have arrived at the gate already, but with three days delay they had to get supplies for the three week trip, he'd have been shocked if they'd moved any faster to make up for lost time.
Not that it mattered, considering how it's not like Charlie would be going anywhere if she was there in the first place. Especially with how she'd be unaware of them heading towards the gate where they were quite certain she was.
Ralph smiled gently as he felt Lily sleepily snuggle up against him, her head resting on him, as if he was her personal pillow. He couldn't say that he was opposed to her having accompanied them, but he was a little surprised. As she'd chosen to not join them in the past, but she seemed almost eager to leave with them when they were heading out of the Marquis' castle. Ralph wasn't sure what to make of it, but no one objected to her last minute addition.
Though, he did wonder about some of the others who had accompanied them. Feon made sense, since she was going to meet with her older sister and Ralph could understand the desire for a family reunion. Which made Cinder and Lyshean acceptable additioms as well. At least as long as Ralph himself didn't have to take care of Lyshean himself.
The additions that he did question was Hesha, who seemed to be almost forming a friendship with Feon and Cinder, even though she'd been hostile to them while they were in their village before the bandit attack occurred. Ralph wasn't sure if Hesha was wanting to accompany them because of her blossoming friendship with Feon or if it was to get out of the castle. Either way, Ralph felt unsure if she really should have joined them, but it was out of his hands anyway.
Then there was Aerbris and Raeys. While Beth had been sleeping with them and later stopped, Ralph wasn't sure having them along with this trip was a good idea. While they were able to help carry more supplies, he wondered if maybe they had hopes of getting Beth to allow them back into her bed. He suspected that was the real reason they wanted to join them, but as usual, his attempts at voicing those concerns were either ignored or shut down almost immediately. He supposed it didn't really matter since it wasn't his bed that they were trying to get into. Though, he did wonder what would happen if Beth got pregnant while they were on this expedition.
He wasn't sure how long they'd been gone from Earth, nor how long it'd take them to return if by some miracle they found Charlie and her focus tomorrow. All he could be certain of was that if Beth wanted to engage in something that would make explanations difficult when they returned to Earth, he wasn't going to stop her. Especially when it wasn't any of his business in the first place.
While Beth wasn't with them on this trip, he couldn't be sure that they weren't thinking about that. Especially since they didn't seem that interested in talking with him about anything. They sometimes would talk to Lily but would stop when she'd hide behind Ralph. As if she shared Ralph's skeptical outlook on both of them. Which Ralph seriously doubted that was the reason. If anything, he suspected that Lily was just that shy.
Ralph wished that thinking about all of this would make him more tired rather than more alert. It wasn't his watch, which made it all the more aggravating that he wasn't falling asleep as he'd have liked. Nor did it help matters that he could hear Lily's breathing deepening to the point where it was clear that she'd fallen asleep much more easily than Ralph was right then.
Plus, it kept him from being able to get up and move away since that would only wake Lily up. Something he'd rather not do right then.
Sighing, he looked over to where he could see Tim standing watch by the dying fire. Tim didn't seem to be having trouble staying awake yet, but it was still the first shift and at the beginning of it. Any trouble staying awake would happen later, even though they'd pretty much become accustomed to this. As for whatever reason, no matter how used to doing this they got, they'd always seem to have trouble staying awake at certain parts of the night. Sometimes it'd be towards the end of their watch, but other times it wasn't anywhere near that point.
On occasion, Ralph knew that his hardest part of his watch was getting woken up at the start of it. When he'd get woken up out of a deep sleep that was so comfortable that standing watch merely was more tiring than anything else he'd be able to think of right then. Even homework wasn't nearly as tiring as staying awake at that time.
Though, he couldn't say that the others had any different experiences standing watch, just that he knew how his body felt when it was his turn to take a watch.
Which made the night when he wasn't assigned a watch all the more aggravating when he couldn't fall asleep.
He wasn't sure what the reasons behind the problem was. That maybe he'd gotten too used to staying up later than this and it was coming back to bite him now. Though, he doubted that was the real cause of his being awake at this moment. Especially when he got the urge to move around.
"Can't sleep, huh?" Tim asked, startling Ralph out of his thoughts.
While Ralph wanted to pretend like he was asleep, he could see Tim looking directly at him, the knowing smirk on his face telling Ralph that he was well aware of Ralph being awake.
"Not really. Though, it would be nice since I don't have to stand a watch tonight."
"Yeah, those nights are nice. Even though they go by quickly because we're usually asleep during those nights."
Ralph couldn't help but chuckle. Tim had a point with his remark. One that Ralph couldn't help but see the humor in. "Wish we could get this all over already. That way we could head back home already."
"What about Lily? Wouldn't you be taking her with you? I bet she'd want to accompany you when we return."
Ralph glanced at Lily. He wasn't sure if he was avoiding thinking about this subject or if it really hadn't crossed his mind. He supposed that this was a complication close to the level of Beth being pregnant on their return trip, but he couldn't say that it would be on the same level as that. After all, Lily wouldn't have to go back with them through time when they returned to Earth. Which would give Ralph a while to come up with an excuse as to why Lily seemed to like him so much.
"I guess if she wants to come with us to Earth I wouldn't stop her," Ralph admitted. "Though, I'm not sure if that's what she wants herself."
"Yeah, it's kind of hard to tell what she's thinking when she doesn't say anything at all.
Ralph nodded absently. He wasn't sure why Lily had called him 'papa' those two times, but he certainly hadn't said anything about it to his friends. He wasn't even sure what to make of it himself.
"Well, who knows what else will happen between now and the time it's time for us to return," Ralph answered, hoping Tim wouldn't pursue the subject. He wasn't sure he even wanted to know the reasons behind Lily calling him 'papa' or why she'd clung on to him.
As if he learned those reasons, would she still be wanting to be around him then?