Kid? Inwardly, Rook bristled. She was no kid, not with the shit she had dealt with. But she held her tongue and bit back the annoyance, because now was neither the time nor the place and...well, she supposed they weren't wrong. She was scrawny as hell from lack of food and too little sleep, and her voice was too high to be a man's voice, but passable as a younger boy who's voice hadn't cracked. Better a kid than a girl.
She couldn't refute that she looked a mess, though. She smelled it, too.
And she also smelled the food.
It was just bland-ass porridge, but she could see the steam rising off it and shivered. Fuck. Like a starving stray dog, she could totally be bribed with food despite her better judgment.
Slowly lowering her hands as their disinterest in her sank in, she rolled her shoulders back to ease the tension. Alright. Okay. These guys really didn't give a rat's ass about her. The rider was busy with his meal after that quick acknowledgment, and the cook seemed wholly apathetic after his quick assessment. Rather than be put off by that, Rook felt like she could finally breathe. She could deal with that. She preferred that, if anything. The less scrutiny, the less she had to talk, the better for her.
She folded her arms across her chest, fingers tucked in her armpits to keep them warm as she stood there awkwardly, not quite sure where to go from there. While she wanted to ask after that porridge, she also felt weird butting in. After all, these men seemed content to ignore her, and she didn't want to draw unnecessary attention. She could wait for Michael--and wow, how the tables had turned there. Just hours before, she had been terrified of the guy, and now she was anxious for him to show up. He was a familiar face, after all.
The cook's assistant jerked her from her thoughts, and she blinked in surprise as he held out his plate to her.
"Oh." Thank God! "Uh. Thanks?" Rook winced at her own words. Goddamn, she was acting like she'd never talked to another human being in her life. She accepted the platter, warmth seeping into her cold hands, and cleared her throat to try again. "I mean, uh, thank you. For the food."
She blew on the porridge to try to cool it, and gave the assistant a curious look. "Is the Colonel...Michael?"
Because she wasn't all educated on what ranks and shit meant, but that sounded...important. Official. Like he wasn't just a grunt here.