Welcome to Gaia! ::

Rhea chuckled. "And I know Alena would have had us stay for lunch if I hadn't been insistent on coming back to check on Haldia," she grinned. "Still, Haldia's been doing a lot better since she finally fell asleep. I think Whisper's done her a lot of good. I admit I'm a bit jealous, but I'm also glad."

She wasn't used to her cat spending so much time with someone else, she was used to Whisper being hers, and hers alone ... but she could not begrudge Haldia when the woman was in so much need.

Rhea nodded. She tilted her head thoughtfully. "Do you think we should check on Haldia for a second, see if she and Celeb want to come with us?" she asked. "They may have already eaten, but it's worth a try."

She was of course assuming that Celeb would still be with Haldia, but it was a safe assumption, as the boy hadn't left her side since her initial return to the ship.

Haldia was indeed awake, and she and Celeb were sitting across from each other on the bed, both of them cross-legged, playing a game with a deck of cards that Celeb had bribed off one of the crewmen. Whisper was lounging against the wall, watching them contentedly.

The two looked up as Rhea and Lin entered, and Haldia set her cards down. "Welcome back," she smiled at them. "Did everything go all right?"

Haldia pursed her lips thoughtfully, seriously considering it, but in the end, she shook her head. "Arwen brought me a sandwich this morning, I'll be fine for a while," she smiled. "But thank you."

Celeb frowned at his friend. "You hardly ate yesterday, either," he told her, reaching forward and poking her on the foot. "You have to eat more, Haldia, or you're going to starve!"

"You go," Haldia laughed at him. "I'll be here when you get back."

Rhea looked at Haldia thoughtfully. Now that Celeb brought it up, the woman was looking a bit thinner these days ...

"Maybe you should come with us," she murmured slowly.

Haldia shook her head. "I'll eat if you bring something back," she replied, "but ..."

She turned her head away as if she were blushing, but of course no colour was visible on her black skin. "It's too cold to leave the room ..."

Of course, Rhea realized. That explained it.

"Thanks," Haldia said warmly, gratefully. "It's not like it's far to the galley or anything, but ... by the time I get there, I'm so cold it's impossible to enjoy the meal, so it's pointless even trying."

Rhea smiled and reached out, setting one hand on the woman's shoulder gently. "Don't worry about it," she murmured encouragingly. "We'll bring you something warm, and then we're going to start making clothes for you that will keep you warm when you go out."

"Bring some for me, too!" Celeb piped up. "That way I can stay with Haldia and we can keep playing our game!"

Rhea laughed. "All right, for you too then." She glanced at Lin and smiled. "We should go before we get any more orders."

Rhea waved as well, and she and Lin left the room, closing the door behind them.

"Maybe we should make sure to bring a lot of food," she suggested to Lin, her expression slightly worried. "Haldia's looking a lot thinner than she used to ... and she was always quite thin."

Sure for the first part of the voyage, she had been a little seasick, but she had eaten well enough once she got over that. Still, with the stress of the past week, and how cold it was here, she hadn't left her quarters, and if she was relying on others to bring her food, and they didn't realize how little she was actually getting ...

"Well, Leyenda's been making him clothes for a few days already," Rhea shrugged, "so I'm sure he has at least one shirt now. Besides, he's more adventurous than Haldia, and I suspect Haldia might also just not want to even look at the castle quite yet."

It was sad, but sadly that was what happened when one was locked up with strange creatures.