[center][color=#b3ccff][h2]Esben Mathiassen[/h2][/color][/center]
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[color=#b3ccff]"I may take you up on that,"[/color] came Esben's louder, much [i]clearer[/i] reply to Miina's offer. He was sitting near one of the walls, confident that the others could handle any further discussion of their itinerary without his input. Hopefully there'd be more opportunities that would fit his [i]particular[/i] skillset than the one they'd just had, although a trek through the desert wasn't likely to have any such until they finally reached the staging area.

It was bound to be more uncomfortable than anything.

He lowered the plate of sweet snacks he'd been eating from—[i]wagashi,[/i] one of the locals had told him they were all called—sparing a glance at where on the map Hien had pointed for the group's possible goal, if they all saw fit to follow it. Deep in the desert, far away from any civilization. A far cry from the cold climate he was familiar with.

[color=#b3ccff]"Assuming [i]Dame Commander Laruelle[/i] doesn't try to overrule me, anyways."[/color]

He'd pay for it later, but it was impossible to resist poking and prodding at any of the Kirins for long. Éliane just made the quickest target by virtue of being from the same country.

He took a short sip of tea, before speaking up again: [color=#b3ccff]"What are your plans after we're on our way?"[/color] A fairly innocuous question from any of the others; he doubted that it would be taken as such from him, nor did he really want it to be. No doubt it had already been made clear, whether by Izayoi, Chisaki, Ciradyl, Renzo, or any of the others what his involvement in the planning had been and what his background was. He could only hope that Ciradyl had already passed along some of what he'd been saying to Hien.