Flake analyzed the girl’s movement as she swayed to either side, but could only tell that she was tired as she nodded at him. He thought to tell her to be careful with the fire, but imagined that the assassin would only respond by taking it as an insult to her skill instead of as concern, and abandoned the thought. Flake imagined that the food could not possibly have been finished cooking by the time Raine pulled the food out from the fire, but was surprised to find that, once she placed a few of the meat cubes on a broken plate, that it was crunchy on the outside and not dry on the inside. He took a bite of one of the pieces of meat, then nodded at her and gently commented, “it’s the best food I’ve had in months…” then stoically continued to eat the other pieces of food on the plate, feeling as if his comment wasn’t actually saying anything. After a few more bites, he re-stated his comment by continuing, “better than tavern food, even.” He continued to watch her cook the last few pieces of meat, then stood up and walked over to the table in the kitchen and placed the empty broken dish on the table. He ensured to get out of Raine’s way when she walked around, and occasionally looked over at the door with nervousness. After the food was finally ready, he dropped the stoic expression and grinned. He quickly shoved a few pieces of meat into his face, but slowed down after this in an attempt to be courteous to the lady. Whilst he slowed down, he declared, “I’ll bring back a gutted carcass tomorrow…we’ll need the sinew and bone for scaling equipment if we’re going to break into the castle, and we can smoke and dry some of the meat so that we don’t have to cook more every day.”

As Raine finished cooking up the last few bits of meat for herself, she nodded slightly at Flake's statement. "Okay...I'll dry the meat tomorrow..." Her hands were slow as she began to pick the cooked meat from the rack and place them on another broken plate that she had found for herself. She then settled down by the fireplace, her back pressed up lightly against the surprisingly cool stone, and set the plate in her lap. Raine was oblivious to the small burns that covered a few spots on her fingers as she picked a piece of meat up and placed it into her mouth, savoring the flavor the flooded her taste buds then humming softly in bliss.

This food, although not well seasoned, reminded Raine of her father, of times where he would bring back deer to eat and she would help cook it with him. It was almost like Raine was there again, hearing her father's laughter and the scent of fresh herbs found in the surrounding woods. The atmosphere in the house was always so cheerful and loving... Raine felt her heart become heavy in her chest. No, why was she remembering these things? Why now? She didn't want to remember such painful things. As she pulled herself from her thoughts, Raine realized that she had been staring ahead at nothing in particular and her fingers were still to her lips, as if they were frozen there. Shaking her had lightly, she removed her fingers and resumed eating, a bit faster now since she did not want to fall into her thoughts again. Once done, she slowly stood to her feet and made her way over to the stairs, speaking briefly to Flake as she did so.

"I'm going to sleep now...good night."

Flake nodded over to the assassin as she responded, then continued eating. He noted that, after a few bites, his jaw was starting to get tired. It’s amazing what a few days can do to a man. Upon working his brain a little, he could visit the last memories he had before falling unconscious due to the poison. All he could see was Oruin’s worried expression. I guess it’s that poison which did all of this… He had already done enough exercise that day to know that his muscles were still numb. He was imprecise, weak, starved, and dehydrated.

But one thing he knew for sure was that he was awake. He had already dealt with the loose red robes, getting a fire started, and dealing with the urge to eat and to do something. He felt that the urge to do something was still unsatisfied, but that his hunger was satisfied.

When Raine walked over to the basement, he analyzed her for a second and nodded. He couldn’t quite describe the expression she was giving off… something between depression and lethargy, maybe. He was at least surprised to hear her say, “I’m going to sleep now…good night.” The pause was especially surprising, as if she didn’t know whether to say it or not.

Despite his surprise, Flake didn’t take long to respond. He calmly declared, “I still have some energy left, so I’m going to do a bit more training.” With this said, he smirked. Watching her descend the ladder made him wonder how trustworthy she was as an ally. Once she was out of sight, he continued, “rest well, miss Raine,” and headed over to the door. Her name didn’t quite feel right as he said it – it was almost too formal. They had already skirmished twice now, and even the first time, she didn’t seem particularly keen on killing him. The more he thought about it, the less he thought of her as an assassin. Perhaps she’s just that good, he thought, grinning widely as he closed the door behind him, then again, if she was, she never wouldn’t have gotten poisoned along with a guy like me.

As he walked over to the training area he had found previously, a small clearing with a bunch of bushes nearby, he paused and looked around. He wasn’t looking for something so much as a thought had caused him to doubt his sensory faculties for a moment. How did she get poisoned? She ate at the same time as me, but she wasn’t reacting when I did… He frowned and brought himself to a ready stance with his polearm out. She could’ve survived without food and water for three days if she knew it was poisoned,… Suddenly, a realization: …which means she intentionally let herself get poisoned…

He slammed the polearm of his weapon into the tree with a soft, angered grunt. He was furious. I managed to waste the only favor I had! He groaned. The more he swung the polearm around, the more he thought, and the more he hated his situation…up to a point. But, that also means that she has no alternative. She would have to be insane to lie at this point. He had seen Raine do one or two things that weren’t quite logical, but he could list of more than enough evidence at a moment’s notice to prove that she was sane. At least this thought gave him a bit of security that their situation wasn’t all bad.

But now we’re going to have to deal with all three of them…

……

Flake arrived back at the cottage at around 2000 hours and padlocked the door. He had made sure to check his surroundings to ensure that he wasn’t being tailed, and even got some tinder for the next morning. After drinking from the clean water in the basin, he mused that he’d have to get some more water from the river the next day. That makes four things I’ll have to do: Scout, Hunt, Train and Gather. He took a few moments to clean off the polearm with the fancy red robe, then headed downstairs with the polearm in hand.

He was sure to stay as quiet as possible without inconveniencing himself. If Raine was listening, she’d have already heard him enter, but he didn’t want to wake her up if she was already sleeping. He placed the polearm down next to the bedding that he had awoken on earlier that very day. There’s a lot to do, now that I have to deal with living in a new home for a few days… he thought to himself, gritting as he laid down on the bedding. The bedding and his robe worked together to make it very comfortable to lie there, despite the floor beneath being stone. He only managed to stay awake for a few minutes before drifting off to sleep.

-------

Flake awoke the next morning rather early, at around 6:20am, about a half hour before sunrise. He looked around after waking up and soon realized that the building he was in was not home. He gradually remembered the events of the previous day and stretched a little before quietly rising to his feet. He picked up his polearm and quietly went upstairs to start a small fire, feeling groggy and bruised. He was still recovering from his injuries and poison, but he at least didn’t feel as numb anymore.

Once he was up the ladder, he walked over to the fireplace, found a straight twig and a flat log, and took a few minutes to start another fire. He was already used to starting fires by using this technique, since he did it at his own house when he wasn’t bounty hunting. But that didn’t make it any less hard on his hands.

Once the fire was big enough to cook, smoke, or clean water with, he left it and wandered over to the remaining blocks of meat from the previous night. He ate a few, enough so that he wouldn’t feel hungry any more, but not enough to feel satisfied. As he was eating, he saw Raine rise from the basement and greeted her. “Morning.” It was a simple greeting. He didn’t feel like anything more was warranted. Once he licked his fingers clean and wiped off some of the grime with his robe, he walked over to the door and announced, “I’m going to go get some water from the river so that we can refill that basin. Do what you want with what’s left in there.” With that, he pulled off the robe, now dressed only in the loose-fitting pants and his belt, and walked out of the cottage with his polearm in tow.

He looked around the exterior of the cottage for buckets and eventually found a pole with two of the large-sized buckets on it. He also found a bathing trough big enough for the cottage’s owner to use. The image of the clumsy hunk of steel diving into the large wooden bowl brought a smile to the bounty hunter’s face. But he doubted that either he or his companion would get any use out of it, so he left the trough where it rested and brought both his polearm and the bucket-carrying-pole over his shoulders.

Flake then walked all the way over to the river. Once he got there, he dropped his gear, scouted around for a few minutes, dove into the river, and walked back out, feeling cleaner. He filled both of the large buckets with water and, with a grunt, managed to stand up with the pole on his back. It was hard to walk with both buckets, but he thought of it as a good strength and balance exercise. By the time he got back, he was already fairly exhausted, but there was enough water for a few days in each bucket, so he determined that the effort was worth it.

He announced his presence right as he walked back in, his hair still moderately damp. He placed the polearm right next to the door and walked over to the water basin. He pulled it off of the wooden cupboard it was resting on and brought it outside. He then cleaned it out with a small amount of water from one of the buckets, filled it up, and brought it over to the fire. Once the metal grill was in place, he put the metal basin over the fire to that it’d boil.

After this, he closed the door, put his robe back on, and took a few minutes to rest.

When Raine finally made it to the bottom of the stairs, she went straight to her bed and laid down, her body still too weak for her to do anything else that night. She commended Flake for being able to train after only their first day of being awake after taking the poison. Then again, she didn't expect anything less when it came to him. Although her mind was relatively active with various thoughts, it took Raine only a few minutes to drift off into a deep sleep.

______

The following morning, Raine didn't arise from her bed until a few minutes after sunrise. Her body still felt a little sluggish but her mind was a bit clearer than it had been the day before. Deciding that she would do something productive today, she wasted no time and headed up the stair where she was greeted by Flake. "Good morning." She said in response as she made her way over to where the left over meat from the night before was, silently listening as Flake spoke to her.

“I’m going to go get some water from the river so that we can refill that basin. Do what you want with what’s left in there.” She nodded, showing that she had heard him before silently watching him leave, chewing on a piece of meat as she did so. Her eyes eventually wandered over the remaining uncooked pieces, reminding herself that she needed to get started with drying the rest of the meat.

Thankfully, Flake had already started a fire so all she needed to do was find something to hang the meat on, but Raine knew that there wasn't anything she could work with in the kitchen since she had searched the area for utensils the night before. Which means I will have to make something myself... She thought before making a quick trip downstairs to retrieve her dagger then heading outside.

With the cottage being surrounded by trees, it didn't take Raine long to locate the type of sticks she needed, though she did have to climb a tree or two to get to them. Fifteen minutes and two trees later, Raine was seated on the ground in front of cottage, shaving off part of the outer layer of the bark from the sticks. This didn't require much time at all and once she was finished, she brought the sticks inside and sat them down near the fireplace before heading over to the where the remaining meat lay.

"I really wish that there was some spices in here..." Raine mumbled to herself as she began chopping the meat into medium sized cubes. As much as she wanted to go look for some now, she knew that the meat had to get cooked before it spoiled and she didn't want to take that chance. Though the bland taste wasn't much of a problem for her nor Flake.

At that same moment Flake entered the cottage, almost as if he had heard her thoughts. Speaking of the devil... Raine thought with a slight smirk before she observed him for a moment, noting that his hair was wet. Maybe he had decided to take a dip in the river after he was done? Deciding that that wasn't really important at the moment, she turned back to the table and worked in silence for a few minutes before speaking up.

"I know I asked you about this yesterday but I can't recall if you gave me an answer: Did you happen to find some sewing materials somewhere in here?" Sure, she could've also taken a look for herself but it would save her some time if Flake already knew where some was.

...By the time he got back, he was already fairly exhausted, but there was enough water for a few days in each bucket, so he determined that the effort was worth it.

He announced his presence right as he walked back in, his hair still moderately damp. He placed the polearm right next to the door and walked over to the water basin. He pulled it off of the wooden cupboard it was resting on and brought it outside. He then cleaned it out with a small amount of water from one of the buckets, filled it up, and brought it over to the fire. Once the metal grill was in place, he put the metal basin over the fire to that it’d boil.

After this, he closed the door, put his robe back on, and sat down in the chair in front of the fire. Immediately he was reminded of the other day, and frowned. I shouldn't overwork myself, but... He had a good amount of time to think over his conflicting thoughts about whether or not resting in the chair was good for his mental health before hearing the familiar, but jarring sound of Raine's voice.

He turned quickly to look at her, as if breaking himself out of a trance. She was still preparing meat from the other day. He listened intently to what she had to say, but gave a shrug in response as he looked back over to the fire. He remembered back to his search of the house for sewing materials: he looked through the wardrobe that he found the robes in quite thoroughly, then started looking through other containers and potential hiding spots. Even with his investigation skills as a bounty hunter, he couldn't find any bare thread or needles. Guess Drake wouldn't care for sewing anyway. His hands are probably too big and clumsy. While the thought entertained Flake, he decided not to smile, and instead replied to Raine.

"Couldn't find any." He paused, then smirked dumbly and continued, "Well, I didn't find any needles or thread. Can't say I know much about sewing, so that's all I knew to look for." He almost felt like cringing after the words left his mouth. Sure, he wanted to clarify, but it left a bad taste in his mouth to reveal a weakness to a person whom he knew almost entirely by means of combat and second-hand information. He eyed her to gauge her response after he spoke, but kept the dumb smirk. After all, if I was worried about people knowing that I can't sew, I would be dead by now.

He expected her to be disappointed by the news - that there weren't any sewing supplies. Turns out that that's exactly how she reacted. He sighed, feeling as if some of her emotion was radiating over to him. "What I do when I don't have the right tool for the job is I improvise." He gestured over to the polearm that he practiced with. "Try making what you need. It'll pass the time." With this said, he eyed what she was working so hard on and asked, "speaking of which, anything I can do to help?"

Raine sighed a bit as Flake informed her about the absence of sewing materials in the cottage. "Yeah I was trying to avoid having to do that. Crafting a good needle isn't easy without the proper tools...but I guess I'll have to just make it work." She said with a slight shrug. There had to be something she could use to craft the needle she needed; making thread was another task. Though Flake was right about one thing: it would help pass the time. Raine was pulled out of her thoughts as Flake asked her a question.

"speaking of which, anything I can do to help?"

She paused for a moment, trying to remember the last time someone offered to help her with something without necessarily looking for anything in return. Shaking the thought away, she nodded before motioning for him to come over. "Can you cut some of the meat into strips? I'll dry them out later so we can have some food that will last a bit longer." Raine asked as she passed her dagger over to Flake; she had an extra one on her.

While she restarted her previous task, something began to nag at Raine. Could Flake cook? It was an odd thought considering that she had never thought to ask him something so 'personal'. In fact, the last time she had wanted to know anything personal about anyone was before her father was murdered. The longer she kept quiet about it, the more anxious she became to ask it and after spending a few moments formulating a good way to ask the question, she finally spoke up.

"Are you good at cooking? Or did you go to your local tavern often to get your meals cooked for you?" Although she didn't look at him directly, she smirked slightly to show that she was joking about the last part. After hearing about his lack of sewing skills, Raine couldn't help but be a little curious about his cooking skills.