While she had wanted to see what was down the path, Elin was with Kim on this matter that they shouldn't need to wait until morning. Though, after they'd gotten everything ready to camp for the night, Elmo had shown signs of falling asleep on his feet, which made Elin wonder just how tired Jonas was.
She couldn't tell if traveling underground was much more tiring than aboveground, but with how worn out they seemed, she wasn't sure. Especially since they hadn't seemed this way before. Although, she had to admit that they pace Kim had been taking with her from when they'd been separated from Jonas and Elmo was rather tiring for her as well and even a full day of travelling at their old pace wasn't enough to really get her to have recovered from that grueling pace.
Which helped her soothe her desire to head down that path anyway. At least for the night. She still had a little trouble tempering her excitement to see what's down the path. Especially since it seemed to lead away from the river. She wasn't sure what to expect about that, but it still tugged at her imagination.
When she woke up in the morning, her mind was filled with countless ideas about what the path might lead to. Such as something that would allow them to traverse between worlds so not only would she and Kim be able to stay together, but also so that she'd be able to see what Kim's world is like and have Kim visit hers. While she couldn't say how her father would take her being with Kim, she still wanted him to meet Kim. She was certain that her father would like her, even if he didn't approve of them being together.
"So, any suggestions on who we send down that path to see where it leads?" Kim asked over breakfast. "I'm certainly not going to go down there myself.
"I can go!" Elin blurted, eager to see for herself what might actually be down there, even if it's not anywhere near what she'd imagined it to be.
"What if Elmo would like to go instead?" Jonas asked casually.
"He can go with me!" Elin replied immediately.
She wasn't going to let anyone keep her from seeing it with her own eyes if she could help it. They'd have to either tie her up or give her an incredibly good reason not to go. Which she was confident they wouldn't be able to do, since she couldn't think of one that would have her think otherwise.
"Uh, do you want me to go?" Elmo asked, sounding rather uncertain.
Elin had mixed feelings about Elmo's reaction. On one hand, his lack of enthusiasm meant that she might have a better chance at going herself. While on the other hand, she couldn't believe that he wouldn't be as psyched as she was to see what was down there.
Yet, as she looked at Elmo, she let go of the hard feelings that she felt growing in her towards him, as she could see that he was just too tired to care much about anything other than resting. Which made her look at Jonas and saw that he wasn't anywhere near as tired as Elmo.
"Uh, Elin? What're you doing?" Kim asked curiously, as Elin moved closer to Elmo, looking at him closely.
Elin didn't respond and put the back of her hand to his forehead, unsure of what she was seeing. It felt like Elmo might have actually come down with something, but she couldn't really say what that was right away.
"Assess," Elin said, partly wondering if she was merely wasting her MP on whatever it was that she felt like she saw in Elmo's face. His skin looked a little clammy, his eyes looked like he might be having trouble focusing them, he was sweating a little even though the morning was rather cool, in addition to how tired he looked.
The window that popped open for her Merely indicated that Elmo had a minor viral infection that would merely cause him discomfort for a bout a week. Elin wasn't sure if she should just let this go, but she didn't like the idea of merely leaving Elmo to deal with that discomfort on his own, so she decided to at least do something about it.
She wasn't sure how Elmo had caught the viral infection, but she wasn't going to waste time speculating. What mattered was that he had it and she had the means to fix the problem before it really caused Elmo some serious discomfort.
"Treat," Elin said, wondering how long it might take her to recover her MP she was using right then. She was confident that it wouldn't be too long, but it was a thought that wouldn't leave her. She doubted anything would happen that would require her to need her MP, but she couldn't be sure when any time would occur that would necessitate her to need her MP to start out maxed. Especially with how gross those MP potions seemed to be getting.
"If you're done, would you mind telling us what you did and why?" Kim asked, sounding a little annoyed and Elin was pretty sure it was because she had ignored Kim's earlier question.
"Sorry," she said as she could see Elmo's appearance looking better already. "I just thought I'd seen something wrong with Elmo, so I checked and saw he'd gotten a viral infection."
Elin turned to look at Kim, trying her best to apologize with her expression. Especially since she wasn't sure what else she could do. Kim however, merely sighed, sounding a little helpless.
"If that's what it was, then you should check the rest of us, and yourself if possible," she told Elin.
Elin blinked. "Why?"
"Because if Elmo caught something, then it's possible that the rest of us have it as well, that Elmo was just the first to show symptoms of it and if we leave the rest of us untreated, then we'll likely pass it back to Elmo before we're all done with it."
Elin nodded slowly, understanding what Kim was getting at. She hadn't thought about what a viral infection was, so she didn't think that it was possible for it to have been passed around, like Kim suggested. She merely had thought that Elmo had started to get sick.
"Okay," Elin said, checking Kim next before moving on to Jonas and then herself. When she was done, she'd found that Jonas had it as well, but Kim and she were clear of it.
"I didn't think it might be able to have been passed around," Elin explained after she finished. "I just thought that Elmo might have gotten sick. That's all."
When Kim started giggling, with Jonas and Elmo quickly following suit, Elin felt like she was missing something. Something that apparently she should have already either been aware of or have figured out on her own. Their laughter didn't sound malicious, but it was hard to not get hurt by it. Especially with how none of them seemed very inclined to stop anytime soon.
When Elin looked away, not sure how she really should react, Kim stopped laughing. Then before Elin knew it, Kim had used her fingertips to direct Elin to look at her before pressing her forehead against Elin's. Elin wasn't sure if this was supposed to mean anything, but she felt not only shocked but also embarrassed that it was happening right in front of Elmo and Jonas. Kim, however, didn't seem to be aware of Elin's entire face heating up.
"I'm sorry I laughed," Kim whispered to her, making Elin want to throw caution to the wind and even forget Elmo and Jonas were present and do whatever felt right with how relieved Kim's words made her feel. "I guess your innocence is still too pure."
"My innocence?" Elin asked, feeling a little indignant. She wasn't a child!
"Yes, you're so naïve about so many things that it makes you very cute," Kim answered, somehow making it sound not as bad as Elin would have thought. "This time it showed with how you didn't know that when a person gets sick, a viral infection is sometimes the cause."
Elin blinked, feeling like she might understand a little of why they found it so funny. Though, it still didn't feel very good to Elin. Especially with how none of them seemed inclined to explain it right away to her, either.
Yet, she wasn't caring so much about that right now, not with Kim being so tender towards her. Elin could see that Kim didn't mean to be hurtful, it just worked out that way. So, she felt like she could forgive her, at least this time. Though, she couldn't say if the next time would be so simple.
"Is there anything else you'd like?" Elin whispered, suddenly feeling her heart pounding in her chest. Part of her wanted to enjoy Kim's body right then and there as to let Kim enjoy her own, regardless of what Elmo and Jonas might or might not see. Though, she wasn't sure what Kim wanted right then.
"For you to not take too long," Kim whispered back.
"What?" Elin asked, feeling confused. Was Kim asking her to make their enjoyment of each other quick?
"Well, you're going to go take a look at what's down that path, right?" Kim asked, starting to pull away from Elin.
"Huh?" Elin asked, feeling confused. "Path?"
"Yeah, the one that we were discussing on who would take a look at," Jonas answered, pulling Elin's attention away from Kim.
Elin's confusion lasted a few minutes longer, before she suddenly remembered what they had been talking about before Elin had noticed Elmo being sick. Then what had gotten her even more off track was when they were laughing at the fact she didn't know about the connection between a person being sick and a viral infection.
Elin sighed and reluctantly pulled away from Kim. "Yeah, I won't take long," she promised.