Morning Surprises

Jonas slowly opened his eyes. He was a little surprised to see the room lightening up some. He wasn't sure what had happened, but could see that he wasn't by the hallway where they'd made their stand. Which meant that whatever that blue orb as knocked him out. Although, he wasn't sure what to make of the two new people he could see by him.

"Good to see you're awake," Kim said, sounding a little bored, which made Jonas give her a smirk.

"Good to see your social skills are improving," Jonas remarked.

"Them? Oh, they were here when we woke up," Kim said, then in an indifferent manner, she introduced the new people present, though didn't indicate directly who was who. "This is Patricia and Patrick. I'm sure you can figure out which one is which."

"So, the kid's on watch then," Jonas asked.

"Actually, he's right next to you," Kim said.

Jonas snapped his head down enough for him to make out Elmo, bare chested, laying on top of him without his shirt on. Jonas looked back at Kim, not sure what to make of this development. Jonas could also see that Elmo was also in a deep sleep.

"What happened?" he asked, more curious than confused.

Kim described what she saw then what Elin learned about with her magic. There wasn't much to explain, so it didn't take long, but Jonas wasn't really happy with hearing what was said.

"So, you're saying that pretty much no one was on watch after that fight?" Jonas asked. "And that two others kept watch, even though they have no incentive to helping us stay alive?"

"Look, I don't really have an incentive to keeping you alive myself," Kim retorted. "The explanation they gave checked out and there's the part that none of us are used to wearing ourselves out and staying awake in pitch black darkness. Maybe you're used to that, but I'm certainly not, and I really doubt Elmo or Elin are."

"Doesn't matter," Jonas replied, getting a little annoyed. "When it comes to survival, you either learn fast or you die. It's as simple as that."

"Or you could get lucky," Elmo mumbled, as he started to stir.

"I like this kid," Patrick commented, laughing.

Jonas glanced at Patrick before shaking his head as he returned his attention to those of his own team.

"Thanks for keeping me warm," Jonas said to Elmo, which caused Elmo to wake up full and pull away from Jonas, his face bright red.

Jonas couldn't help but laugh and Kim joined in. Elmo's reaction was just to comical. Which of course didn't help Elmo out any, it just made his face get redder in embarrassment.

As they were calming down from laughing, Jonas heard Elin groan.

"So, I take it she didn't kill herself last night?" Jonas remarked.

"Actually, we haven't heard from her what she did to collapse or if maybe it was similar to what happed to you, but when she checked your status and Elmo's, then healed both of you of the status condition you had, she fell asleep," Kim explained. "Didn't think she'd wake up this quickly though."

"Worried about the health of your piece?" Patricia asked, more amusement than concern in her voice.

"Screw you," Kim retorted, as she helped prop Elin up as she started to wake up.

"Love to, but I already told you what interests me most, red," Patricia replied.

Kim shook her head, looking rather annoyed. "Anyway, we should probably get something to eat before continuing to explore this place," Kim said.

Jonas sighed. "Just wish we had something a little more substantial than what they had available where we started," Jonas remarked as he slowly sat up.

"You could always try cooking some of the creatures you fight around here," Patrick commented.

Jonas couldn't help but humor that statement. "So, what would you suggest we cook and how? I mean, it's not like there's much wood here to make a real fire whenever we wanted to," Jonas said, a smirk taking shape on his face as he expressed his skepticism about the idea.

"I understand what you mean, but in that case you just have to use magic or my system," Patrick replied. "My system lets me control my body heat. I can turn it up and cook a kobold rather quickly, although a kobold isn't very tender."

Jonas shook his head. "Yeah, I guess you're saying you're going to be going with us?" Jonas asked, not sure about the idea of these two joining them, especially since they didn't really know that much about them and the fact that they were fully rested while it was clear his team weren't anywhere near full strength.

Patricia laughed. "Nope, we felt like watching over your group and now that all of you are going to be okay, we were going to continue on," she said, but then looked at Kim quizzically. "Although, I still think I've seen you before, I just can't place it."

"Hard to say," Kim replied. "I don't know you, so I can't say whether or not how I look familiar to you."

"Guess it doesn't really matter," Patricia said, although didn't look like she was getting ready to leave. "Though maybe we'll see each other again."

"Are they okay?" Elin asked, as she groggily looked around.

"We're fine," Jonas said. "Thanks."

Elin blushed a little, but definitely looked happy. "Good to know," she murmured quietly.

"So, what happened?" Jonas asked. "I mean last night when you collapsed."

"Oh, that," Elin said, looking away. "I overused my magic."

"What do you mean?" Kim asked.

Elin looked at Kim, looking incredibly uncomfortable. "I used up all of my MP and then tried casting another spell," Elin replied simply. "I didn't even realize that I'd run out."

Jonas sighed. "So, if you try to use your MP when you don't have enough," Jonas remarked, mostly to himself. Then to Elin he added, "So, did Kim get hit a lot? For you to use so much magic, I mean."

Elin shook her head, looking like she'd like to not answer, but with the way Kim was looking at her, it was clear she feared not saying more.

"I used my magic to take out skeletons," Elin admitted. "I don't know how many I took down, but when I tried after I didn't have enough MP, I asked the tutorial what happened. It told me that it was because my body was reacting to me going past what MP I had. That the farther I try going past it, the worse it'll be."

Jonas nodded. It sounded plausible. Though, he would have assumed that if she went over her MP, she'd have just had no effect with her spell. He wouldn't have expected it to have had such a severe reaction.

"Well, at least you survived it," Jonas said, not wanting to get into her having disregarded what he'd told her about saving her magic to heal them. Especially since she'd apparently taken out most of the skeletons, so in effect she save them from getting hurt worse than they had. "Just try to keep in mind what your MP is, even if you have to check it in battle." Jonas was about to let the mater go, when he realized something else. "By the way, if you aren't sure how much MP you have and you've been using it a bit and don't have time to check it, just stop. I'm sure you'll be able to think of something else you can do that won't cost you MP. That way you won't have that happen again."

"I'll try," Elin promised, her gaze full of determination.

"Okay, lets see what we have," Jonas said, starting to stand up himself.

+++

"What can you tell me about Kim?" Patricia asked Elmo as he was collecting scrap pieces of wood from the table he'd destroyed.

"What's there to tell?" Elmo asked, confused at the sudden question. "I think you should know as much about her as I have since I haven't travelled with her for very long."

"Do you remember anything about what the announcer said about her?" Patricia pressed. "I was one of the alst to be introduced, so I didn't really pay attention to the others."

Elmo sighed. "Well, she had the skills of a thief and would test security systems for flaws," Elmo said. "Though, in that regards, I would have expected her to get the rogue system rather than the fighter system."

Patricia looked like she'd gotten what she needed. "I thought she looked familiar," she commented and Elmo had no idea what to expect from that, but also didn't care enough to ask.

He merely continued collecting the wood, in case they could use it later, as Patricia marched right over to Kim.

"Now I know where I've seen you before, Kim O'Hare," Patricia said. "You're the one who saved my dad's job."

Kim regarded Patricia coolly. "Look, I have no idea what you're talking about. Nor do I care," Kim replied, as she was checking her weapons for any damage from the night before. "If I you're talking about my job with testing security systems, then any jobs I save aren't my concern. I was paid to do what I did and I couldn't care less about what it affects." Kim paused for a moment before hastily adding, "Aside from myself or future job prospects."

"You may not care, but it means a lot to me," Patricia said, her face taking on a look that said she wasn't happy with what she was saying. "Look, because you save my dad's job, I owe you. Big time. If you want anything from me, even if it's a tumble in the hay, I'll do it. It'd be one time, but I'll still let you have your way with me if you want. Or anything else. Tell me and I'll do it. Whenever you want."

Kim stopped what she was doing and looked at Patricia. "So, you're saying I can ask for whatever I want, anytime I want? And you'll let me do you one time as well?" Kim asked, sounding like she was more amused than anything at the offer.

Patricia blushed at Kim's question "I mean I'll do whatever you want, anytime you want, to return the favor I owe you. I'm just saying that if you wanted to fuck me, then I'd let you in order to pay what I owe you, but that it would occur only one time," she elaborated, looking incredibly uncomfortable.

"So, even though I don't have any 'meat' where you would want it, you'd still let me have a taste of you," Kim asked, looking like she was enjoying Patricia's discomfort.

"Well, if you're not interested, then let me know what favor you'd like. I still owe you, even if you didn't intend to save my dad's job, I still owe you for that," Patricia insisted, looking like she was getting past her discomfort. "Even if you decide later that's what you want, I'll do that. Although, I'll still accept whatever favor you want."

Kim shook her head, looking rather annoyed. Elmo couldn't help but grin at her reaction. Then he noticed Elin and his grin grew bigger. Elin was looking back and forth between Kim and Patricia, looking like she was confused at the exchange between them. Almost like she somehow felt like she was being affected by their exchange. Or maybe that Kim might leave her or something.

Though, at the same time, he felt a little bad for her. It was almost like in some ways she was still a child and hadn't grown up fully, at least emotionally, mentally, or some way. Most of the time it wasn't apparent, but other times, like now, it was clear as day.

As Elmo picked up the last pieces of wood, he stood up. He was ready for them to head out now. He partly wondered what they'd encounter next as they continued exploring this place. Part of him hoped that they'd find something they could use to make a map with or even something they could use to replace their food and water supply.

Regardless, he was ready and happy to get going. He'd checked his stats and was confident that his MP was recovered enough that he should be fine, though he couldn't help but be a little worried about Elin with how her MP was faring at the moment. Aside from the fact that she was their primary healer.