Chapter 105: Sharing a Room Together
Dinner was simple, but warm—potatoes roasted with herbs, stew with carrots and turnips, and fresh bread baked that morning. I craved rice, but when I asked, the parents exchanged confused glances.
Claude pinned his gaze on me, silently telling me not to be picky with the food served, but I just knew, inside him, he was screaming because the food was so bland.
Emil’s parents insisted on second helpings, despite Claude’s insistence that they didn’t need to go to the trouble. I marveled when the mother insisted and witnessed the captain force-feed himself.
Emil sat beside me the whole time, his eyes still wide from everything that had happened, but calmer now, occasionally glancing at Claude with a kind of nervous awe.
Claude didn’t speak much. Just listened to the parents and me talk. Watched us with blank eyes, especially me, while eating in silence.
I tried not to, but I kept sneaking glances at him.
When dinner was over, Emil’s mother smiled and led us to the back of the house. It was a small, single-room extension that must’ve once been used for storage, cleaned and prepared in a rush.
A modest bed was tucked against the far wall, next to a small cabinet. There was a lone table and chair under the window, and a brass lamp on top flickering with warm light.
The air inside was a little dusty, quiet, and still.
The kind of space that felt familiar. I was reminded of my old studio apartment during college. It was mostly dusty because I rarely cleaned, being busy from part-time gigs and studying. But look at the world now, all those hardships mean nothing.
I sighed. Another place that this space reminded me of was the captain’s room. Almost empty, and only the bare necessities exist.