JP - The Keep - Main Hall - Hint of Jealousy

Looking at Lek, Miyuki smiled and walked over to him. “Want to get some food now?” She asked.

Bella’s tail wagged. She loved the idea of Yehudit being able to walk without a cane.

Lek usually ate with Wulfsen, but it looked like he was not in the Hall yet. He nodded and walked over to the food. He got a plate and some eggs and sausage.

Miyuki got some food as well and headed toward the table with Lek, glancing around at all the people with curiosity. It would take her forever to learn everyone’s names.

Lek sat down and started to eat. Then Difyr walked in. Lek nearly jumped over the table when he spotted the healer trying to get to her.

“How is Pinja?” He asked her, his knee slightly bruised from hitting the edge of the table.

“I haven’t seen her yet.” Difyr said. “I was going to eat something before making my rounds.”

“Oh.” Lek looked disappointed. “I hope she’s okay.” He said awkwardly, then returned to the table.

Miyuki just stared at Lek as she slowly ate her food, surprised at his reaction to the arrival of the healer. “You okay?” She asked him, glancing to the knee he had hit.

“Yeah.” Lek said, rubbing his knee as he sat down and resumed eating, though with noticeably less appetite.

Sneakily, Miyuki let her tail brush against Lek’s leg so her fox magic could take the pain away. “Are you not hungry anymore?” She asked.

Lek sighed, pushing his plate aside. “I’ll come back to it later.” He did not know why he bothered asking Difyr how Pinja was, besides the fact that he hoped she was doing well. There was nothing he could do for her.

“You seem like something is wrong,” She continued, ears twitching as she paid attention to his tone. It was always difficult for anyone to lie to her due to this.

Lek shrugged. What could he say about Pinja? It’s not like Miyuki knew her. His shoulders slumped as he leaned his elbows on the table.

Yehudit, of course, knew what Lek was upset about. But she was not about to talk about it, especially not while everyone was eating.

She was hesitant but Miyuki gently patted his shoulder and finished her food. The food was amazing to her - better than the scraps she ate on the road - but she knew it would all come back up later.

Bella looked out a window, watching everything.

Ila helpfully took Lek’s plate to wrap it up for him to finish later. Lek kept glancing towards Difyr, wishing she would hurry up and finish eating to go check on Pinja. Then his sister Millie came into the Hall and he rose from his seat again. He watched Millie go over to Difyr and talk to her for a little bit before going over to the food. Millie shared a room with Pinja, she would know how Pinja was this morning. Lek walked over to his twin.

“How is she?” Lek asked.

“Good morning to you too.” Millie said. Lek noticed that she was fixing up two plates on a tray. Both plates had a decent amount of food. A change from the toast Pinja practically lived on. “She just had two babies. She’s … tired.”

“Is she doing better?” Lek asked hopefully.

“I don’t know.” Millie frowned. “All she has wanted to do is sleep.”

“Oh.” Lek’s shoulders slumped again.

Miyuki didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but with heightened senses and fox ears, it was difficult. She looked at them and wondered why Lek kept asking about this woman - Pinja. Did he like her? Probably, but that would be no surprise. She was new and they had probably known each other all their lives.

Why did she feel a hint of jealousy, though?

Shaking the feelings away, she went to see if there was anything she could help out with. Miyuki was not one to sit around and do nothing all day.

“Let me know if there’s anything I can do for her.” Lek told Millie, his voice slightly pleading.

Millie sighed. “I know Lek. There just isn’t anything you can do.”

Ila was collecting dirty dishes to take to the kitchen to wash.

Miyuki decided to help wash the dishes, keeping herself as busy as possible and trying to distract herself. She really didn’t want to cause trouble here since she was the newcomer, after all. Plus, there was all the fur she had.

She did not look forward to when she started shedding.