Merenwen
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I was rather grateful that Anj-er, Rekli had agreed to room with me. The only other one that I knew from beyond this world was Adalia being Ryan, and though I meant no offense to him, I just felt that it would be better if I wasn't with him. Her. Whichever.

We made our way upstairs, and saw one of the others sitting at the end of the hall. It was the archer whom I hadn't noticed at first when we got into the room. "Hey, um," I started, tried to think of his name, and failed, "Thala-something, right?" It must have been enough for him because he looked up.

"Yeah, I don't even know how to pronounce my name," He said. "Just call me Tala."

"What are you doing out on the floor?" Rekli asked.

"There are four rooms with two people each," he replied. "There are nine of us. Do the math." It seemed right, but something was off in my head. I remembered that there were nine of us, but for some reason I couldn't remember there being nine when we got to the inn.

I stopped listening to Rekli and Tala and went over to the door that was second from the stairs. Yes...in fact I couldn't even remember there being nine of us in the throne room, only in the first room we got to. And now that I thought of it, there were only eight names that the innkeeper listed.

I would have thought further, but at that moment Rekli and Tala finished talking, and I went in the door, Rekli following. I closed the door behind us, noticing the simple but sturdy bar lock.

"So, Merenwen," Rekli started, and I turned away from the door to find him sitting down. "May I ask why you wanted to room with me? Is it because of our…situations?" If he hadn't paused I probably wouldn't have noticed it, but I saw him try to cross his legs and not have a comfortable time with it. Surprisingly, it was this (on top of everything else) that confirmed Rekli wasn't originally a guy.

"Um, well, it's partly that," I said sitting down on the other bed. Tentatively I lifted one leg over the other, then let it drop smoothly. Shockingly, but not surprisingly (after everything else that had happened), it didn't hurt or feel uncomfortable, though it did feel weird having bare legs touching so far up. "It's also 'cause…well…" I looked down at my knees before continuing, "…I know you a little more than the others 'cause we've been in more RPGs together, and for a longer time." I glanced up at Rekli, whose normally-hardened face seemed…softer, maybe.

Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to think on it. Without warning my stomach decided to join the conversation. The growl that was lower-pitched than I could speak at the moment seemed to go on for almost a minute. I didn't break eye contact with Rekli, but I could tell my cheeks were starting to flush. Rekli looked like he was trying not to laugh, and finally resorted to saying, "Maybe we should fix that little problem first…"

"Yeah, that would be good," I said, straightening my legs out and standing up. I nearly overcompensated for my different body shape, but it was a mark of how long I'd been in this world that I didn't come close to falling over anymore. I walked over to the door, Rekli following behind me, and went out and down the stairs.

"Oi!" the innkeeper called out as we walked past him. "Yer friends went downstairs to the pub a few minutes ago. Thought yeh might want t'know. Free food fer yeh there, too."

"Thanks," Rekli said, and we immediately turned our direction towards the stairs, enticed by the sound of free food. No sooner had we gotten to the bottom than Aeris and Ankha came out of the pub.

"Oh," Aeris said, "Have you seen R-Adalia? We were just about to go look for her." I shook my head, but there was no need. Footsteps behind us made us turn to see Adalia coming down the stairs, Saria right behind her. "So, are you hungry yet?" Aeris said to her, in a slightly teasing way.

"Yeah, I guess so," Adalia responded, and the six of us ended up in the pub at a single table, some food already there (which I guessed to be Adalia's as she sat in front of it and started poking it). Some food was brought to Rekli, Saria and me, some kind of slab of meat which was edible, despite its appearance, and some very bitter drink which I couldn't have more than a couple sips of.

"So where'd you go?" Aeris was asking Adalia, and with nothing else to do I listened in.

"Oh, we just went for a walk," Adalia responded, taking what seemed like her first bite, "found a store and looked around. Crazy owner tried to get us to work for her, help her clean up."

I could literally see Aeris' eyes perk up. "Work, as in for money?" he asked, looking harder at Adalia, who just nodded, still staring at her food. "Can you take me back there?" he added, making Adalia look up. "W-when you're done, of course," Aeris added hastily.

"We…we can go now if you want…" Adalia said, standing up, and soon they were up and out of the pub.

"Did I miss something?" I asked Ankha, who was sitting next to me.

He suddenly turned to face me, like he was shaking off a dream. "Huh? Sorry, must have been daydreaming…hey, where'd Aeris and Adalia go?" Deciding he was a wasted effort at this point, I turned back to my meat, which I was almost done with.
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