Though it didn't happen too frequently, on occasion, Elise would come in one evening and (in her own gentle way) request for James to go eat dinner with the others while she took over in James's stead. She offered to care for Evaline while James was gone so that James could get out of the "stuffy room" and "socialize," and though James knew he was an adult and could just say no, he hardly saw the point in arguing with Elise. Arguing over something so petty felt childish, and even though he didn't like to admit to himself, it was nice to have a little break.
Not from Evaline, but it was nice to be around other people. Sometimes. Maybe it was because it helped him get out of his head, or maybe it was just because he enjoyed the others' company. Maybe it was both.
He'd ended up walking into the kitchen a little later, though, and it seemed that most everyone in there was done eating and just hanging out. Mal and Rudy were sitting beside the mountain window, where the vibrant sunshine shone in with vivid oranges and yellows that tinted the room. They were talking at a soft, normal volume, and because of that, James had no idea what they were talking about based on auditory information. He was able to read their lips for a split-second, though, and he caught Rudy saying something about travel, and local medicinal herbs. James stopped paying attention, though, to avoid any form of eavesdropping.
On the floor beside the kitchen table there was Elijah and Samiya sitting on a long woven carpet, and it looked like they were dealing out different playing cards. He couldn't tell what game it was they were playing, since he didn't really recognize the pairings, but at least it wasn't poker. Samiya, though, seemed to be more of the competitive type, since she was attempting trash-talk with Elijah, who only seemed confused by it.
By the kitchen counter, Mel and and Alistair were standing sorting through some of their rations, and it looked like they were meal planning and food-prepping for the next week or so, as they had a few things already set out and they were sorting them into different containers.
That left the remaining food on the kitchen table, where Elias and Hendrik were sitting and finishing their meal. Someone - presumably Elise, but it could've been anyone at that point - had already set out James's meal for him, and it was set between Hendrik and Elias's seats. Though James was never very fond of being sidled by people, he begrudgingly accepted their eager invitations to sit with them and started eating.
In his bowl, it looked like there was a brown rice topped with a root and vegetable-based stew.
"You're just the man I wanted to see, Jamie," Hendrik said after a slurp of his broth. "Mal, Rudy, and I are going to make a supply run tomorrow. Don't miss me or the massages too much while I'm gone."
"I think I'll survive without the massages," James said with a small roll of his eyes as he picked up his spoon. "But you will be missed, Hendrik. I hope you all travel safely."
At that, he took a big scoop of stew, eager to fill his stomach. The moment he tasted the food, he felt his stomach gurgle. He always seemed to be forgetting how hungry he was.
"I don't know why you call him Jamie," Elias said before Hendrik could even say anything. He gestured at Hendrik with his spoon. "James is already one syllable. Why double it?"
"To two syllables?" Hendrik said with a raised brow.
"Yeah," Elias said with a nod. "Doesn't make sense."
"What do you suggest, then?"
Elias grinned and glanced at James, swiveling the spoon to him then back at Hendrik. "J. Like the letter. It's more efficient."
"Eh. I don't like it," Hendrik grumbled, taking another bite.
"You know, I was thinking..." Elias continued, turning to James this time. "Hendrik would make a good name for a chicken. 'Cause when shortened, it's just Hen."
"Maybe some day you'll get a chicken for yourself, then you can name it Hen in Hendrik's honor," James said before stuffing his face full of food again.
"Would it be unoriginal to name a hen Hen, though?" Elias thought out loud.
"Yes," Hendrik said too quickly.
"Mmm... then maybe I should just call the chicken Hendrik then," Elias finished.
James swallowed his food quickly just so he could say: "Henny," and then he took another bite.
"You are not--" Hendrik said sharply, but was interrupted by Elias's thoughts again.
"Hey, isn't it funny that we have a Mel and a Mal? Doesn't that get confusing?" Elias said, pursing his lips and balancing the spoon on top.
"Elias, Elise, Elijah," James said after pausing again between bites. "There's a lot of similar sounds. Not just them."
Elias shrugged. "That's just the military convention for the healing babies. Not very original, huh?"
"You are not naming me a chicken," Hendrik finally spat out.
"No one said we're going to call you chicken," James said plainly, pointing his spoon at him.
"Hey Hendrik," Elias said with a grin. "James just called you a chicken. What are you going to do about that?"
Hendrik glared daggers at James, but before he could say anything, Elias spoke again.
"Can you show us your best chicken impersonation? Maybe we could bring Sleepy in here to teach you."
"Elias," James said in a scolding tone. "That's just mean."
Elias shrugged innocently. "Hey Henny, what was your first nickname to James again?"
"We don't have to bring that b--" James started.
"BABY MAN," Hendrik yelled way too loudly, causing the room to go quiet for a second as they gave him some odd stares.
James looked at Hendrik with a dead-eyed stare.
"I rest my case," Elias said triumphantly before taking a big bite.
James just shook his head and sighed, taking another bite of food as well. Thankfully, Hendrik was only sipping on broth in a mostly-empty bowl, so while James and Elias continued eating, Hendrik (thankfully) changed the direction of the conversation towards the plans for his supply run with Malkiel and Rudy. He mentioned a few practical things, but eventually it turned into him and Elias making jokes and telling stories about Rudy and Malkiel. James kept his focus on his food for the most part, trying to intentionally eat at a steady pace instead of inhaling his food like usual.
"Hey!" Samiya's voice behind him said. "Why aren't you turning around? I'm trying to talk to you."
James tilted his head to the side a little in confusion, and he hesitantly looked over his shoulder. Was she talking to him?
"...What?" he asked.
"What do you want, kid?" Hendrik said gruffly.
"Elijah threw a card by his feet, so I was trying to get his attention, but now..." Samiya trailed off and started to poke his back over and over. "Now I'm more interested in poking this man."
James twisted his head and shoulders around, leaning away from Samiya's touch. Even though he couldn't feel a thing, he could see Samiya trying to poke his back now that he'd looked over his shoulder.
"Well, you can stop, now," James muttered. "You have my attention."
"Do you even feel that?" she said with a teasing grin, not stopping, so Elias slapped her hand away. "Hey!" she said with a pout.
"Be nice," Elias said with the beginnings of his own teasing grin.
James narrowed his eyes at Samiya, but as he drifted his gaze to Elias, he tried to meet his eyes. If Elias remembered, he would know well enough that James couldn't feel it. Hendrik should've known as well.
"The answer is no, by the way," Hendrik said, and Samiya giggled.
James turned to look at Hendrik to shoot him a glare, but then saw that Hendrik had reached his arm around and started poking him too.
He narrowed his eyes at Hendrik.
"Henny," he said quietly, through his teeth. "Is that really necessary?"
"Aww, Henny is a cute nickname," Samiya said.
James caught movement in the corner of his eye and he saw Samiya reaching out to poke him again too. It was strange and surreal to watch them poke him while he felt nothing, but it still disturbed him to know they were just poking him for the fun of it.
He twisted around in his chair so his back faced away from Samiya in particular, and he pushed Hendrik's arm away from him.
Samiya impatiently sighed. "Can you get me the card already?" she asked.
"Wait, so, you really feel nothing on your back?" Elias asked. "This doesn't even tickle?"
James sat still for a moment as the realization sunk in, and he whirled his head around, looking over his shoulder. Elias was poking him now too.
James let out a long, groan-filled sigh as he swiped Elias's arm away and he pushed out the chair, reaching under the table to pick up the missing card.
"It's too bad Evaline isn't here to save the poking damsel in distress," Hendrik joked.
"Hah," Elias said, then paused. "Wait. I don't get it..."
"Maybe if some people could just take a hint," James muttered under his breath, his head still under the table for a moment before he slid out, turning around to Samiya to offer her the card.
Samiya swiped the card away from him but continued to stay there for a few seconds, staring at him.
"You're kind of weird," she said, then walked away to sit back with Elijah.
"Brutal," Hendrik said with a snicker.
"Yes," James said dryly, spinning back around in his chair to face the table. "I feel absolutely decimated. My life is in shambles."
"She doesn't mean it," Elias said distractedly between bites. "At least not all the time. Sometimes she does."
"I don't really care about her opinion of me either way," James said as he loaded up his next spoonful of food. "But, noted."
"Hey military boy, does she ever talk about my muscles?" Hendrik asked Elias.
Elias shot him an odd look. "Why would she talk about your muscles?" he asked with narrowed eyes.
"Do you ask everyone about your muscles?" James countered.
"Fair enough," Hendrik said as he quickly peeled away from his jacket and then flex his arm. "Hey Jamie, what do you think about my muscles?"
James walked into that one, and he knew it. Still, he blinked slowly, looking up at Hendrik, unimpressed.
"You're fit," James said flatly. "Is that what you want to hear?"
"I'd be fitter if Elias didn't flake on being my lifting pal," Hendrik said instead.
This time, it was Elias who looked at him with an unimpressed look.
"That's because you only wanted to use me as a weight," Elias said dryly.
"You can use me as a weight if you want."
"No thanks."
"James," Hendrik said as he turned to him. "Other military boy. Do you want to be my lifting pal?"
Hendrik caught James in the middle of a mouthful of food. James quickly chewed and swallowed, looking at Hendrik in the corner of his eyes.
"Are you going to use me as a human weight?" James asked.
"Depends," Hendrik said as he leaned back. "How much do you weigh?"
James slow-blinked again.
"Really?" he asked flatly.
"Yeah, we don't need chickens to gain muscle," Elias said. "James and I could be each other's lifting pals instead. No human weights needed."
"Hendrik, I'm sure you could find rocks somewhere in this mine that weigh just as much as a person. You could quite literally use those," James said.
Hendrik was in the middle of a big bite, and he glanced around the room until his gaze landed on Rudy, who was looking at maps with Malkiel.
"I'm going to ask Rudy instead. He seems like a decent guy," he half-mumbled.
James watched as Hendrik grabbed his bowl and got up out of his seat, walking over to Mal and Rudy. There was a small pause of silence between the three of them as Hendrik parted, and then James turned to look back at Elias, who was also watching the potential chaos unfold in amusement.
"Did you actually want a..."
But James trailed off as they watched Hendrik comedically stop a few feet in front of Mal and Rudy, who were looking up from the maps with looks of expectancy at first, and then confusion. Malkiel in particular looked almost annoyed at the words that must've left Hendrik's mouth, but Rudy didn't look as fazed.
"A chicken?" Elias idly finished for him, hardly paying attention since he was still watching Hendrik.
"A lifting buddy," James said distractedly.
Rudy glanced at Malkiel, who was facepalming, and then looked over to Hendrik with a shrug that said: "sure," even though James couldn't quite overhear.
At that, Hendrik glanced back at the two of them with a triumphant smile, as if he was saying: "I told you so," even though there had never been any bets placed in this mild interaction.
"Hm? Oh yeah, sure, sure, let's do it," Elias said to James, then cupped his hands around his mouth even though it wasn't needed to yell across the room. "Lift him up!"
Rudy and Hendrik both looked at each other, and for a second it looked like Rudy was trying to figure out who Elias was talking to. Hendrik seemed to catch on to Elias's words and was already giving Rudy instructions to stand up. Rudy seemed to think Hendrik was joking at first, but then Hendrik scooped Rudy up under his back and legs, and Rudy's eyes went wide. Malkiel, meanwhile, expressed shock at first, but then rolled his eyes with a smirk that read: "really?"
Hendrik's display also caught the attention of everyone else in the room. Mel started laughing, and Alistair was watching dumbfounded and accidentally spilled sauce on his shirt. Samiya cheered for a fight, so naturally Elijah did too. Elias instead cheered for Hendrik, supporting him with claps.
Hendrik was holding Rudy up in the air and grinned, lifting him up even higher while grunting. He did a few reps of this.
"Okay, okay, can you put me down now?" Rudy said with a nervous laugh as he started to flail his arms, like he was trying to get down on his own.
"Whoa, whoa, steady," Hendrik said, talking to him like he was one of his domesticated animals. He slowly started to drop Rudy to the floor. "There ya go. Safe and sound."
When Rudy was back on his feet, he brushed his shirt down a little, straightening it out.
"You don't plan on doing that every time we work out, do you?" Rudy asked.
"Maybe," Hendrik said with a wink.
Rudy laughed a little, but it was hard to tell if it was genuine or nervous. Rudy patted Hendrik's arm before he sat back down next to Malkiel, looking happy to be on solid ground again.
"What a crazy guy," Elias said with a laugh, shaking his head and turning back around. He spun the spoon he was holding with his around his fingers, then stopped it to take another bite of his food.
"He's definitely... something else," James muttered before returning to his food as well.
"So, what were you saying before all that?" Elias asked with a mouthful of food.
"Oh," James said, waiting to clear his throat a little before speaking more. "You mentioned being workout buddies. I was asking if you were serious."
Elias's eyes brightened, and he grinned after taking a moment to chew through the big spoonful of food and swallowing.
"Of course I was being serious," he said. "I'm always serious."
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