The Systems Challenge

Kim wasn't sure how long she'd expected Sonya to take in finding the others. When she'd approached them after having dropped Heather off to heal them, after having shifted back to being human, the sun had been still been a good distance in the sky overhead. Though, when she left, it had been at least an hour after they'd discussed how poorly the fight against the bear had gone. As well as how ineffective their attacks had been.

Though, now that Sonya had returned with the others, Kim felt like Sonya should have been back sooner with them, but she didn't really care to press the point. Especially since she really couldn't say for certain that Sonya had taken her time with the search.

Then there was the fact that even if Sonya had taken her time, it was theoretically possible that it would have taken longer if she had, since she knew herself that the faster you looked over something, the more you were likely to miss. As such, with how high Sonya would likely have been while searching, the slower her searched, the more she'd be able to likely notice.

Yet, despite all that, Kim found those thoughts flying out the window as she saw Elin. She couldn't say just how relieved she was just to see her face.

However, as she walked towards Elin to pull her into an embrace and enjoy just how real her presence was, Elin stepped aside from Kim's attempt, giving Kim a look that was like an arrow to her heart. While Elin didn't glare at her, her expression said that she was still mad at her.

Kim couldn't help but feel stunned at this. She knew that she and Elin hadn't worked through the confrontation they had about when Elin took that walk, but given the circumstances, she'd hoped that Elin would have been in a mood more accommodating towards her.

Yet, she knew her personal pride would probably get hurt even more if she made a big scene about it, which would likely just make the situation between her and Elin even worse. So, she merely did her best to act as if she hadn't noticed Elin avoiding her and merely talked with Patricia as Sonya went to change back.

Heather had refused to answer any questions about her child, assuring them that she'd let them know about all that when Sonya got back. Although, Kim knew that meant first Sonya needed to return, then she needed time to return to her human appearance and get dressed. Then she'd come back and Heather would join her in telling the rest of them what had happened to them that brought them here.

"Anything happen after we left?" Kim asked Patricia.

Patricia merely shrugged. "Nothing that really stood out, I guess. Just moving away from the bear, then changing the direction we were going in, so we wouldn't be walking directly away from the bear, just in case."

Kim nodded, understanding. It made sense, though she couldn't say what they should have done if the bear turned to follow their new direction when it reached that point.

"Did Elin say anything?" she asked, wondering if maybe Elin had confided anything to Patricia, though she doubted it.

Patricia gave Kim a smirk that annoyed her to no end. "I'm not going to get in the middle of your lovers' spat, so all I can say is, no, she didn't say anything about you and whatever drama is going on between you two."

Kim wanted to do or say something to get back at Patricia for that smirk, but nothing came to mind. So, in the end, she just turned away, wanting to vent her frustrations on something convenient, despite nothing being convenient to put it on. Or at least nothing that she knew would satisfy those feelings.

As it is, when she returned to the fire that was cooking some more stew, that even she had to admit was getting rather old, she saw Elin talking animatedly with Heather and felt her annoyance grow even more. She couldn't fault Heather for the situation, since she knew that Heather didn't know what was going on, but at the same time, it made it harder for her to let things go. If only for the night.

She wouldn't mind it if someone tried needling her, though she doubted that she'd be able to go off on them long enough to fully get it out of her system, but at least imagined doing that to Stanley. She doubted that he'd ever do anything to give her an excuse, but the fantasy of it at least helped. Even if she seriously doubted that it would ever become reality.

When Sonya returned, Kim didn't even notice at first. She had been so lost in her own thoughts that she didn't even realize the mood around the camp had changed. That others were showing more energy than they had while they'd waited for the others to have been found.

When she did notice, Sonya had already sat down and had Heather in her lap with her arms holding Heather, letting Kim know just how close the two had grown. Which in turn made her miss Elin even more, despite the face that Elin was mere feet away from her. Yet, the divide between them felt like it might as well be miles wide with how Elin was acting towards Kim. Like there wasn't anything at all for either of them to talk about, even if it involved a shared goal or something.

"So, what happened while you were at that village after we left," Jonas said, making Kim wonder just how eager he was to hear it or if it was from just wanting to get the topic out of the way. Unless it was a combination of the two.

"Can't we first get something to eat?" Sonya asked, as she looked around her. "Changing shapes really makes me hungry."

Kim thought that would have been a good idea, but she knew the stew wasn't yet finished. If they started serving it too soon, then it likely would have parts that weren't fully cooked, and when that happened, it usually made it less pleasant in Kim's opinion. Though, maybe the few times that had happened was part of why Kim was starting to really get tired of stew.

"We could, but then what would we talk about while we wait?" Elwin asked. "It's probably going to take a while longer before it's ready to eat." Elwin paused and glanced behind him to where Stanley, Frank, and Thomas lay. "Unless you'd like Heather to do what she did to the rest of us to them as well."

Sonya's expression turned rather cool and Kim could see right away that Heather wasn't the only one who carried a grudge against those three people. She glanced at them for a moment before shaking her head in disgust. She then turned her gaze on Elwin, and Kim could see that the way she looked at him seemed to make him rather uncomfortable.

"They'll be fine," she said. "Just give them something to eat and they'll recover eventually." Then she looked at everyone around the fire. "If Heather and I start telling all of you what happened while we were still at that village, then we would stop wherever we'd end up at when it was time to eat. If you're okay with that, then we can do that, but if you want the full story, then you'll let us get something to eat first."

Kim couldn't help but chuckle. It felt like Jonas and Elwin were kids begging for a story, only to be given an ultimatum that they wouldn't accept, because it wouldn't let them know everything they were wanting to know.

"Let them wait," Elmo said, surprising Kim. "Unless you think they're not really here or that they have the same ability as Blinky, then they'll still be here after we get the stew."

"Or is it that you can't think of anything else to talk about while we wait?" Elin asked, a smirk on her face that nearly had Kim laughing at. Not only did Elin look like she had said something clever, but also that they wouldn't be able to come up with something in response to that.

Whether or not that was true, Kim just found it rather amusing.

Elwin merely sighed, clearly not happy, but he didn't look like he was going to say anything further about it. Jonas, however, seemed to almost take it as a challenge.

"Well, we could always play 'bloody knuckles' to pass the time," he said, a smirk on his own face.

Elin couldn't help but allow some confusion to show, and Kim could see where this was going. "What's 'bloody knuckles?'"

"It'll be easier to show you," Jonas said. "Hold our your hands out with your palms facing down, okay?" Elin did so and Jonas moved over next to her.

"Elin, don't," Patrick advised. "You'll regret it."

Kim didn't disagree, but she also wanted to see how far this was going to go. Elin, however, didn't show any signs of backing down.

"Now, I'll go first. It'll be your turn when I go to hit your knuckles and you pull your hand away first, okay?" Jonas asked and Elin nodded, though Kim could see uncertainty starting to appear in her eyes.

Jonas immediately moved his right hand and smacked Elin's hand before she could even blink. It was clear on Elin's face that the strike hurt, but she didn't seem to be that worried. Instead, her expression hardened and she continued on. Though, Kim couldn't help but think that Elin looked like she was saying something under her breath, though it wasn't clear what that might have been.

Elin didn't move at all during the next four slaps Jonas gave her hands, though Kim wondered if he was using less force or if there was something else going on. Regardless, she couldn't be bothered to watch the entire time. She didn't see the point of the game, but if Elin wasn't going to complain about it, she didn't see the need to do anything about it herself.

Then as Jonas moved again, Elin's hand moved so fast away that Kim realized that she'd used her magic. First it was likely to reduce the amount of damage she'd take from Jonas' hits, then it was to increase her speed. Kim wasn't sure if she'd done anything beyond that, but she didn't see how it mattered at that moment.

Then, while Elin's slaps on Jonas' hands, or knuckles, didn't seem to be very strong, she at least seemed to be quick enough that Jonas didn't seem to have a chance to get another turn before the stew was done. Though, Kim also wondered if Elin even knew about some of the rules that involved trying to get the other person from moving their hand when you weren't going to strike.

Not that it mattered. For what it was worth, Elin seemed better at that game than she would have otherwise thought.