Chapter 57: Architects of the Square Table
…
~~Day 23. Finally.
~~I let it pass as a given that strange things have happened to me since I came to the surface, but I think this whole day has been a large exercise in the world's general absurdity. Last night, Cale, Sello, and I were captured by the Gelto, a desert-dwelling race which I believe Cale had mentioned before. Our capture was carried out through the belief that contact with the Forest Realm (which, of particular importance to the Gelto, contains eligible men) had been cut off. Roland, the leader of the mining settlement that the Gelto attacked, assured them that everything that was being done to restore train travel to the Sand and Fire Realms was being done. How much they believe is open to speculation, but I suppose we'll find out when the rest of the miners go missing.
~~Following our escape (which involved explosives purely on accident), we tried to travel the desert until about midday. Or maybe it was after midday; it was very hard to tell. We saw the Seventeen crossing the desert, but we saw the giant Malgyorg at the same time, so I told Cale to take Sello to the train while I tried to distract the Malgyorg. And, as odd as this may sound, I accidentally killed it. According to the scouts who picked me up, the smaller Malgyorgs ate it when I bled it to distract them.
~~The scouts took me back to the Gelto camp. They decided to let us go out of gratuity for killing the large Malgyorg. We also picked up someone else to help with building another airship. I hesitate to call her an "Architect" because its meaning seems to be becoming a little muddy lately. Irleen has reminded me a number of times that, while the people we've found before are descendents of the Architects, they aren't exactly Architects themselves. Leynne is an inventor, Lidago is a potter, and Sello is—I don't know what Sello is. At best, he seems to be an engineer. At worst, a piece of furniture. To our fortune, though, Dubbl's position as a sail crafter seems more appropriate to the kind of help Irleen and I need.
~~As I'm writing this, we're returning to the Forest Realm from the Gelto camp. We're carrying about fifty men from the mining settlements in the Fire Realm, including men who were injured during the Gelto raid. In addition to Dubbl, we've picked up ten Gelto, most of which are looking for husbands in the Forest Realm. The one who isn't, well—stop looking over my shoulder!
…
Platform Three in the Eastern Platforms was a bustle of madness. Over fifty men were trying to help their less-injured comrades onto a platform which was unusually narrow compared to the platforms on the west side. Those that had infected cuts or broken arms had to help out those who could not walk without causing themselves pain, and this quickly narrowed the space in which others could walk. This especially annoyed the Gelto passengers who had to ride in the freight car with men who had not bathed for over a week. They remained in the car while the men tried to organize themselves. To help make the process go faster, Cale was sent with one of the miners to find a clinic that would help them out. Afterwards, he was sent to the office which oversaw the workers in the Fire Realm to let them know that the wounded had returned. By the time the miners were seen to and the Gelto had departed, the crew in the cab guessed that there had been a number of injuries inflicted due to people getting pushed off the end of the platform.
"Well," the Gelto servant commented, sitting on the edge of the cab near the tender, "that was a delightful disasteh. Hahd to believe that those men weh spawned from the same Divine as my man."
"Yar man?" Luggard asked her as he opened the cab door.
She nodded. "Link, of couhse."
"Wahuxwnwak," Dubbl told her with an uncomfortable look on her face.
"Nadda 'inhuxwnwak," the servant answered. "'Inu yabbid."
"Well," Irleen said, "I can't imagine the setting sun has been much help."
Link glanced back at the sun peering over the edge of Library Town's central wall. "I thought it'd be much later than this."
Luggard, after jumping down to the platform, stretched. "If we 'ad a normal train, yeah, maybe," he said. "Bu' with tha' sword, we ge' 'roun' much be'er."
"So, what happens now?" the servant asked.
"Well," Link said as he picked up the pack which contained the items he had left at the mining settlement, "I figured relaxing and winding down for the evening and getting a good start in the morning. With Sello, Dubbl, and Lidago here, they can meet up with Leynne tomorrow and probably start putting a plan together."
"Righ'," Luggard said, clapping his hands. He almost smacked an approaching Cale in the head as he pointed toward the cliff face. "T' the Rusted Boiler!"
"Ah, if you don't mind, Luggahd," Cale said, ducking under his outstretched arm, "I think I'll avoid the Boileh tonight. I need to find something else to use as my assignment jouhnal; the last one was eaten by the giant Malgyohg."
"Goron?" Lidago asked as he stepped next to Link.
"Something wrong?" Link asked him.
"Doooh," Lidago droned, one hand rubbing his stomach.
"Mus' be 'ungry," Luggard said.
Cale gave a thoughtful hum, one hand clipped to his chin. "This may be a problem. Gorons only eat rock, and I feah we've traveled too fah from the Fiah Realm to find a sufficient souhce available."
"Miners migh' 'ave some ol' stock they don' mind 'im eatin'," Luggard suggested.
"I could take him to the minehs' ovehseeh," Cale offered. "The office is still open."
"I'll go along with them," Irleen said as she flew out of her space above the locomotive's instrument panel. She settled into the air above Cale. "Link? My gem?"
"Yeah," Link said, already reaching into his pocket. He pulled the gem out and tossed it to Cale. "Irleen, are you okay?"
"Yeah, why?"
Link gave a shrug. "I don't know. You seem a little… down."
She rocked from side to side. "I'm just tiahd, Link. It's been a very long day, and I'd ratheh get some sleep soon."
"I don' think I can 'til I ge' somethin' t' ea'," Luggard said. "Who's with me!?"
The servant Gelto leaned backwards to avoid Dubbl legs as she leapt over the side of the cab. "Me!" Dubbl declared. "We eat!" Luggard gave Link a shrug and followed Dubbl down the platform.
Lidago stepped out of the cab. "Goron!" he said to Link and the other Gelto, waving a hand as he walked over to Cale.
The Gelto giggled as they watched Cale and Lidago walk away. "Quite the delightful bunch, ahn't they?" she asked.
"Yeah," Link said with a frown. "But one's missing." He turned around and looked under the bench. "Where's Sello?"
"Who?"
"The drunk man we've been carrying around for almost a week," he replied as glanced across the platforms on the left side of the train. "Wears orange. Never seems to be conscious at a convenient moment."
"Oh," she replied, sliding off the side and joining Link on the other side of the cab. "I think I saw him fall oveh afteh we arrived. I don't think he wanted to wait foh the crowd to cleah."
Link glanced around the edge of the train. "Well… I don't see his body. He's probably okay. Just looking for more alcohol."
She raised an eyebrow as she glanced at him. "A man disappeahs, and you assume he's looking foh alcohol?"
Link shrugged. "Or spare parts. It's very difficult to tell with Sello."
She gave a laugh. "Wheah did you find him? He's so… strange."
Link took in a breath and stretched. "We found him in a volcano on the northern border of the Snow Realm."
"A volcano?" she asked, following him across the cab. "What was he doing theah?"
Link jumped down to the platform and stumbled when the pack on his back caused his weight to shift. "Whoops." He steadied himself and turned as she carefully climbed down. "We know he's a descendent of the Architect Neektam. They built some kind of… large generator in the top of the volcano. But, from what Sello told us, it sounds like the rest of the people in the volcano died from accidents over the years. If the way he acts now is any indication, he's been drinking for quite a while, probably since his father died."
"Deah Sello," she said after turning to him again. "I've heahd that some Hylians tuhn to alcohol in times of tragedy, but I had always assumed they would give it up afteh some time."
"Whoa, wait, don't let Sello be a example or anything. It's not like Hylians look for excuses to get drunk."
She gave him a half-smile. "I know that much, Captain. Still, I would have expected someone indulgent to have eventually died on his own."
Link pursed his lips as he considered the idea. "Yeah, I suppose he should've at this point. Who knows, maybe it'll happen soon. All the more reason to ask for his help while he's still around." He glanced around the platform. "Are you hungry? I could use something to eat."
She smiled. "Oh? Is this the staht of a date?"
…
~~Day 24.
~~I had dinner with the—I just realized that I don't know Dubbl's escort's name. I had dinner with her last night and convinced her to stay at a tavern not far from Cale's apartment. Because you creep me out. Cale, Irleen, and Lidago returned not long after. They're sleeping in as I write. I was waiting for them to wake up before I go get Dubbl and take them to meet Leynne, but I just might go get them first.
…
Link was less than enthusiastic about picking up the Gelto servant. His attitude did not improve when she answered the door to her tavern room with the bedsheets wrapped around her. Her explanation was that the Gelto were used to sleeping without clothes on, although the subsequent teasing about Link's bashful nature indicated it was only another means of driving him crazy. After she got dressed, Link took her to the residential area on the south side of town, thinking that Luggard would have spent the night there.
He was a little disappointed to find out he was wrong. After having to argue with one of Luggard's little brothers about being one of Luggard's friends, Elle answered the door and told Link that he had not appeared at all last night. She went on to say that she was not even aware that the Seventeen had returned, worried that something might have happened to them in reaching the Fire Realm. So they bade each other farewell, and Link decided to check the Seventeen.
"Do you always go looking for friends before eating breakfast?" the Gelto asked him as Link glanced around the locomotive's cab.
"I guess I'm just used to it," Link said, jumping down. "I always had to know where my friend Line was before I could go to breakfast. It was the worst when we were on shore duty; when he doesn't sleep in, he's the world's worst insomniac."
"How so?" she asked as she followed him to the passenger car directly behind the locomotive.
The passenger car had been painted sky-blue all over, which Link took as an indication that it would be painted over by whatever company used it. He slid the brand new door aside, a little surprised at the lack of sound it made. As he climbed in and looked around the front of the car, he answered, "I once found him on the other side of the port, making rude gestures at our coworkers on the Dawn's Ascent. He hated those guys."
The interior of the car had a strong smell, reminding him of the time a new bell nearly landed on top of him. Due to the lack of wood from Whittleton (Link assumed), most of the materials used to make the car was metal. The Goron builders had elected to make a simple design; almost everything was steel-blue. Copper trimming had been handily applied to many of the edges and formed a series of crisscross designs on the ceiling. The upholstery on the benches was tanned leather. Link discovered that the upholstery had not been properly secured to the benches by lifting one up. When he considered that it looked considerably low-grade compared to the car he had ridden in on the Number Twenty-Seven train, he concluded that these were stand-ins until someone else put in permanent seats.
"Ratheh basic, isn't it?" the Gelto asked him. "This cah?"
"Brand new," Link said as he searched the benches. "The Gorons gave us both cars so we could transport supplies to the mines and the men back here."
"Quite generous," she remarked.
"Yeah, they were." Link knocked on the door to the small water closet at the back of the car. "Luggard? You in there?" He paused to wait for a response, and then he opened the door. "No, I… guess you aren't."
"Would they have found a room foh the evening?" she asked. "Does Luggahd have money?"
"He might've gotten Dubbl a room, but he could've stayed with his mother." He indicated the door on the far side of the car. "Let's check the last car before we go wandering around." She shrugged and preceded him out of the car.
On the outside, the freight car was still sporting bare metal marred black in between pieces. The door was mounted on the outside of the car on a pair of rails. The thick chain which held the door shut had been left hanging, and the door itself was open a sliver. Link fit his fingers inside and pushed the door open.
Upon first seeing the contents, the Gelto tilted her head to one side. "D'aaaaw…" Link was not nearly as endeared.
When the miners had used the freight car, they had left behind the blankets they used to protect themselves from the cold of the Fire Realm. Both Dubbl and Luggard had wrapped themselves together in a large one and rolled up two more to use as pillows. Neither one of them had reacted to the door, but Luggard, closer to the door than Dubbl, stirred when sunlight hit his face.
Link saw their clothes discarded just on the inside of the door. He placed a hand over his face. "I… do I want to know what happened in here?" he groaned.
"Who's tha'?" Luggard asked, his normal speech slurred. "Link?"
"Yeah…" Link groaned in response.
"Wha's go'n on?"
"Looking for Dubbl."
Luggard pulled one arm loose of the blanket and used it to shield his eyes. "Wha' makes ya think I know where she's a'?"
"Certain circumstances."
"Like wha?"
Link removed his hand. "Like the fact she's sleeping right next to you."
"Huh?" Luggard rolled over. "Oh. Oy, I know where she's a'." He rolled back and pointed over his shoulder. "She's 'ere."
"Thank you."
Luggard put on a confused look. "Where we a'?"
"Back of the Seventeen."
Luggard nodded. Then he glanced down at himself. "I's naked."
"Yeah. Yeah, I thought so."
He rolled onto his back and prodded Dubbl's shoulder. "Oy. Ya naked?"
"Hmm?" Dubbl responded.
"Is ya naked?" Luggard repeated.
"Joydhosan zacniyl 'inoy…" Dubbl groaned.
Luggard glanced back at the door. "She naked?"
The Gelto picked up a thin, black, silky item of clothing which Link could not immediately identify. "Undeniably," she replied with a wide smile on her face.
"Oh." Luggard appeared dumbfounded for a moment. Then he must have recalled the previous evening because his face slowly changed into one of shock. "Oooh."
Link turned to the servant. "Bring them out to the Library when they're done. I'm going ahead to get Lidago."
"Oh, you don't want to join them?" she asked.
"No."
…
Link, Irleen, and Lidago spent a few minutes waiting for Luggard and the Gelto. When Link informed them that Cale had gone to the Library, Luggard volunteered to help with research. Link was beyond thinking about his and Dubbl's circumstances and led them to the Western Platforms without another word.
Leynne's apartment building was actually a small branch of tunnels in the cliff face close to the center of Library Town. Both of Leynne's rented apartments were labeled, so Link walked up to the door marked "Leynne's Studio" and knocked lightly on the door.
"Who is it?" Leynne's voice called through the door.
"It's me, Link. I brought some help."
"Come on in!"
Link, Irleen, and the Gelto entered. They saw that all of the furniture had been removed from the room save a single, large, rectangular table set in the center. Metal scrap, balled paper, and empty bags and bottles littered the floor against the bare walls while a clean path formed a ring around the table. About a dozen rolls of paper had been stashed under the table. Leynne stood at the farthest corner from them. He wore a pair of baggy, brown slacks and a short-sleeve, button-down, blue shirt. His black hair was a mess, and the fact that he was scratching it with a pencil indicated why.
He glanced up at them. "Well, this is different. I was expecting a Goron oh two."
"We have one," Irleen said as she fluttered over to the table. "He's outside."
"He's a little big for the door," Link explained.
Leynne put on an understanding look. "Okay. Who ah these two?"
Link stepped aside. "Leynne, this is Dubbl and…" His face formed an irritated look. He asked the servant, "Hey, what is your name?"
"Dholit," she answered.
"Dolit?"
"No, no. Dholit. Dolit's a boy's name."
"They're pronounced the same way!" Irleen shouted. "And how do you have boys' names when you're all girls!?"
Dholit shrugged. "Just in case."
Link let out a sigh. "Anyway," he continued. "Ladies, this is Leynne. He's been helping me with this whole airship situation."
"Ladies," Leynne said, saluting with his pencil. Then he looked at Link. "I'm confused. I though you weh going to the Fih Realm to find a Goron."
"We did," Link said as Dholit and Dubbl explored the room. "But Dubbl's a rigger for the Gelto. She puts sails on the skiffs they use to travel the Sand Realm."
"And I do good," Dubbl told him, glancing at the table.
"I'll remembeh you said that," Leynne told her.
"So how far have you gotten?" Irleen asked as she traveled across the paper on the table.
"Not as fah as I'd hoped by the time you'd retuhned," Leynne admitted. "I put togetheh a sketch of a hull based on books I found at the Library. The problem is I don't know how well they would do in the aih. I want to compensate foh the fohces a ship would experience having to lift most of its weight, but I can't be suh of the structuh."
"I thought you were going to Hovela to look at some ships," Link said.
"I was. Tomorrow."
"Oh."
"Between selling a few inventions and doing reseahch, I only managed to put this sketch togetheh last night."
Link stepped up to the table and turned his head to look at the outline of a ship. Or at least a hull. Leynne had a rough, boat-like shape on the paper with separations in the cross-section to indicate different decks. Link put a finger on what he assumed was the front end. "No forecastle?" he asked.
Leynne let out a sigh. "I'd fohgotten. Kind of stupid, really; I'd intended to put the pilot's station theh."
"You mean the helm?" Link asked. "Why there? The helm's traditionally on the aftcastle."
"Why?"
Link shrugged. "Usually because it's easier for a captain to watch the crew from there."
"Oh, while piloting the craft, right?" Link nodded. "Oh. I always assumed it was someone otheh than the captain who piloted."
"Yeah, sometimes, when the captain isn't on the deck. The aftcastle is elevated. If it had a poop deck, that would be an even better location."
Leynne leaned his forearms on the edge of the table and clasped his head between his hands. He gave a sigh and said, "Okay, this might not be as easy as I planned."
"Well…" Link said as he considered the idea further. "It's not without its merits. With the helm at the front, it would be easy to see the air in front of the ship. That's just as important. The problem is you couldn't look directly ahead because the bowsprit would be in the way."
Leynne looked up. "Given time, I suppose I could wohk my way around that. I suppose my biggest concehn is the size of the engine and what kind of strain it would put against the hull."
Link put on an irritated face. "Yeah, we don't have Sello with us. We haven't seen him since we pulled in last night."
"Sello? He's already heh."
Irleen exchanged looks with Link. "He is?" she asked.
Leynne stood up and indicated the door with his hand. "He showed up outside my apahtment dooh late last night. He smelled like he'd been drinking. Again. He's sleeping in one of my chaihs in the otheh apahtment right now."
"I guess he found a place to call home," Irleen said with a smile in her voice.
"At least somewhere he can remember," Link agreed. Then he asked Leynne, "Do you mind if he stays here? There isn't enough room in Cale's apartment for all of us."
"I'll have to speak with my landlohd, but as long as he doesn't lose complete control, it's okay." Then he snapped his fingers. "Oh, since you'h heh, I wanted to ask you something. What kind of ship was youh old vessel? What kind of sail plan?"
"The Island Sonata? It was a schooner. It had three masts with gaff-rigged sails."
"Gaff-rigged. That's… foh-to-aft, right?"
"Yeah."
Leynne put on an intrigued look and nodded to himself. "That makes this easieh then," he said.
"How?" Irleen asked.
"I've had a few thoughts about the sail plan myself," he explained. "Now that you've brought a riggeh, I can discuss it with heh."
Dubbl, standing next to Leynne, turned and glanced down at the plans on the table. "This appea's ha'd," she said. "I not made sails fo' big ships."
"It's a fihst foh me, too," Leynne told her with a grin.
"Maybe you can bring the plans to the Library so Lidago can look at them," Irleen suggested.
"Lidago?" Leynne asked.
"The Goron," Dubbl said.
"Oh." Leynne nodded. "That sounds like an idea." He looked at Dubbl. "I can show you some of the literatuh I've been looking at. That might help."
…
Link did not recall the Library being so crowded, especially in the back room that they were always using. When he asked Cale about it, Cale explained that a number of scholars had become interested in airship history lately because of Link's presence. He added that Valley's babbling might have contributed to the activity. The front area was crowded enough that the group had to set up on a pair of tables recently added to the dais at the back. No one seemed interested in using this area, so Leynne laid out his sketch on one table and started a discussion group with Sello (when he wasn't drinking), Dubbl (often needing translation through Dholit), and Lidago (who would ask of someone would buy a pot every few minutes). Irleen hovered around Link's table as he, Cale, and Luggard looked through a pile of books for more potential Architects.
Luggard, when Link had arrived, had the same bored look on his face as he idly flipped through the same book. At first, Link thought he was remembering his night with Dubbl.
Then he said, "Why we doin' this? We know where we's goin' nex'."
"You know something we don't?" Irleen asked.
"C'mon, don' ya ge' it?" he asked, looking up from the book. He held up fingers as he named, "Fores', snow, fire, sand. I the only one seein' the trend."
"You assume we will be traveling to the Ocean Realm next?" Cale asked.
Luggard shrugged. "It's the only one lef'. And it's a realm with Hylians. Person'ly, if I retire, I'd find an island ou' there 'n live on it."
Cale nodded. "It would be an ideal place to retiah. The trouble is most of the islands and the Spirit Tracks ah currently undehwateh. Even if we found an Ahchi—"
Luggard lofted his book in front of Cale, startling him. "Well, we found one," he said. "Two, actually."
Cale shoved the book he was reading to one side and straightened out the book Luggard had thrown. "Lorie and Ben. Married… 'Wohked with Royal Engineehs Agoro and Ryain on a few projects befoah moving to an outlying island neah Kakucha Island in the southeast.' How-how long ago did you find this?"
"Jus' after Link showed up," Luggard replied.
Link slid the book towards him to read the page. "Neither of them were Royal Engineers, though," he pointed out. "Ben was a metalworker, and it looks like Lorie was a… a home decorator?"
"Yes," Cale said. "Having a strangeh decorate one's home was a trend up until a few yeahs ago. Fell out of fashion, though. I can't be suah why." Luggard, Link, and Irleen glanced at him at the same time. "I-I—my fatheh used to hiah a home decoratoh until I was seven."
Luggard nodded at the book. "Check the page 'gain," he told them. "They wasn' Royal Engineers, but they was the only two who worked person'ly with Agoro."
"They would have had access to Agoro's wohk," Cale reasoned, exchanging a look with Link. "Maybe even helped put togetheh the fihst aihships. A metalwohkeh to build the engine and most metal components, and a home decoratoh to design the interioh structuah."
"Okay," Irleen said. "So how do we get there? Aren't the rails in the Ocean Realm underwater?"
"We 'ad the same prob'm goin' t' the Fire Realm," Luggard said. "Remember how we solved tha' one?"
"Maybe," Link said, "but I don't think the Lokomo have any more tricks for us."
"Ah… w-well, ahn't we ovehlooking an obvious fact?" Cale asked.
"What's that?" Irleen asked.
"Well, the Ocean Realm may be inaccessible by train," Cale said. "But most of the realm is ocean. Taking a sea-faring vessel would be a viable solution."
Link snapped his fingers. "The harbor in Hovela," he said. "Leynne said he would be going there tomorrow to look at sailing ships."
"So by that logic, we should all go," Dholit said.
"Woohoo!" Sello hollered.
Link, Luggard, Cale, and Irleen jumped in surprise when they realized that they were surrounded not only by their craftsmen, but a bunch of the scholars had also gathered around their table. All nine looked around at the crowd. "Is everyone getting this?" Leynne asked, causing two scholars behind him to shrink away.
"What are you guys doing here?" Irleen asked as the scholars slowly walked away. "I thought you were working on a ship."
Dholit gave a playful hum. "Youh convehsation was moah interesting."
"We found a problem," Leynne said. "Namely, afteh we put this vessel togetheh… how do we get it off the ground?"
Link groaned and rested his jaw in one hand. "Oh, great," he said. "The ballast system. I don't even know how to put one together."
"Ballast?" Leynne asked.
"It's how most ships in the sky kingdom stay in the air," Link explained. "It's a large tank filled with Loft Steam. It circulates throughout an airship, keeps it from falling to the ground."
"I remember you mentioning that before," Irleen said. "That was the reason the Island Sonata fell, right? Because the ballast had been hit?"
Link nodded. "It may be a long shot," he told Leynne, "but if these two who assisted Agoro did work on the first airships, they might have left something behind. Maybe some notes about the ship's structure we can use to figure out a ballast system."
"Uh…" Cale said, raising a timid hand. "D-do we have the money to pay foh passage? Oh to even reach Hovela?"
"One-fifty, 'n I'll take everyone," Luggard said.
"I've had some contact with sailohs out of Hovela," Leynne said. "I might be able to arrange passage to the Ocean Realm."
"I'd betteh speak to Madame Seilon," Cale said as he stood.
"Will we be going tomorrow?" Dholit asked.
Leynne shrugged. "The mohning would be the best."
"I'd betteh speak with heh now, then," Cale said as he stepped around Lidago.
"Meet at the Seventeen tomorrow mohning," Leynne called after him.
"I need wliting stuff," Dubbl told Leynne.
Leynne nodded. "Writing stuff? Anyone else? Lidago? Sello?"
"Juzd a box of bottles an' a smooooooth hat," Sello replied.
Leynne pointed a finger at him. "You need to sobeh up."
Luggard stood. "I'll see wha' I can do for tha'," he said. He rounded the table and took Sello by the arm. "'Ave Cale bring the money t' the Boiler."
Something nearby grumbled, and Lidago rubbed his stomach. "Goron?" he asked Link.
Link pointed a finger over his shoulder and shrugged. "Goron." Lidago smiled and walked away.
Dholit glanced after him. "What did you tell him?" she asked.
"To go get something to eat," Link answered. Then he shrugged. "I hope."
"I'd betteh get some correspondence posted," Leynne said. But before he walked away, he turned to the Gelto. "Do you two need a place to stay?"
Dholit gave an exaggerated sigh, eying Link for a moment. "I suppose we do," she told Leynne. "Afteh all, the captain seems to become very uncomfohtable when I am neah."
"Come with me," Leynne said. "I'll see if we can find you an apahtment oh something in town."
Dholit ran a finger over one of Link's shoulders as she walked past. "I'll see you lateh, Captain."
Irleen and Link lingered at the table in silence. "Are… we the only ones who don't have anything to do?" Irleen asked.
"Kinda feels like that, doesn't it?" Link said.
"Sooo… what should we do?"
Link tilted his head. "I could use some lunch; I haven't eaten anything yet."
Irleen let out an indifferent sound. "Okay, I'll go along."