"Just make yourself comfortable," said Rook. "You can change your room any way you like, but if you put too many holes in the wall, you won't get your deposit back."

Taash arched a brow at the other woman. "Wait, I'm supposed to pay a deposit?"

"It was a joke," Rook said with a deadpan expression.

The dragon hunter shifted her weight and crossed her arms. "You know, if you have to tell people it was a joke, it probably wasn't a very good one."

"Well, no one ever accused me of having a good sense of humor. Anyway, just let one of us know if you need anything."

Taash offered the hint of a smile. "Thanks." Rook turned to leave the room, but the dragon hunter stopped her before she reached the door. "Hey, Rook…"

"Yes?"

"I really do want to be here. And I'm sorry about being such a bitch when we met. I had just gotten into an argument with my mother and…"

"Hey," Rook interjected. "No worries. We all have our off days."

By the time she reached the center chamber, Rook was feeling better about adding Taash to the team. The woman obviously had a very large chip on her shoulder that seemed to be about her mother, but Rook wasn't about to pry. If Taash wanted to talk about it, she would do so when she was ready. Until then, Rook was content with dodging the dragon hunter's mood swings.

As she reached for the outer door, Rook withdrew her hand at the sound of clacking bones behind her.

"Hello, Manfred."

The necromancer's skeletal assistant gave a happy hiss, making Rook smile. She liked Manfred. He was always eager to help anyone who asked, and he was funny. He reminded Rook of a small child whose entire life depended on praise and inclusion.

Manfred gave a happy chirp as he held up a silver salver tray holding a folded piece of parchment. Rook chuckled to herself. As long as she lived, she didn't think she would ever understand people like Emmrich. He was always so proper and formal, and he had absolutely no sense of humor. Rook's jokes often earned a look of confusion from the necromancer. He was never mean or snobbish about it. As intelligent as he was, he just didn't understand humor.

"Please tell the professor that I will come see him in just a few minutes," Rook told Manfred after reading the note. "I have a few things I need to take care of first."

The skeleton nodded and hissed before turning to head toward his master's room. When he reached the stairs, Rook stuffed the note in her pocket and exited the building. Once outside, she looked at the false sky around her and shuddered. Being in Rivain again was wonderful. She missed the warmth and the beauty of a sunny day. Neither of those things were available at the Lighthouse. The "weather," for lack of a better word, was never really cold, but it wasn't exactly warm either. It all just felt like existing in a vacuum.

"Hey, Rook," Bellara greeted as Rook passed.

Rook stopped and turned. She had never met anyone like the elf before. All of the other veil jumpers were either too serious or too nervous. Bellara was nervous too, but in a cute puppy kind of way. Rook had only known her a few weeks and already couldn't help but see the woman as a little sister of sorts. In fact, she was like the entire team's little sister.

'We're all just a bunch of oddball misfits, aren't we? Even our pets– if you could call Manfred a pet– are a little weird.'

"Hey, yourself. Is there anything going on that I need to know about?"

The elf shook her head. "Not at the moment, but I'm sure I could come up with something if you want me to."

Rook waved the idea away. "No. I think I can go a few more hours without bad news."

"You probably won't," Bellara said with a casual shrug and a grin. "But it's a nice dream."

Rook began walking backward toward the dining hall. "It is at that, lass. It is at that."

When she opened the door, Rook's mood went dark. After what happened in Rivain, she felt she needed to apologize to Lucanis for mucking up their conversation so badly. The problem was that she had no idea what she was going to say. She still didn't want to talk about her possible parentage and the rumors surrounding it. The very thought of it was ridiculous.

As she started to turn the handle on the pantry door, Rook stopped and closed her eyes. She drew a deep breath and held it.

'Spirits, just don't let me fuck this up as badly as last time.'