"And they think of me as the ruffian."
—
Ray looks up at Fang's palace from the boat. He sighs deeply, worried about you. Not confident, but he tries to trust that you have it under control, you seem to believe in Namar on a level he has yet to understand.
"There's too much spice." He hears Tong say, and he turns around to the others.
"Uh, no. There's too much bamboo." Boun says.
"What do you know? You have the taste buds of a tall baby." Tong tells him.
"Well, you dress like a tall baby." Boun throws back at him.
"Give me the spoon! I'm taking over!" Tong demands.
"Back off, tidal wave. I'm the professional here."
"May I?" Ray asks coming up to them.
He pours something into the soup and Boun takes a slurp.
"Whoa! That's good."
"It's just a little something my Ba showed me." Ray shrugs.
"Aw. Did he also show Y/N how to make that delicious jerky?" Sisu jokes and Ray laughs.
"No, that was all her. She's really proud of it, it's great for how much we travel though." Ray tells them.
"When we lost Ba, i had to keep us safe and make money to survive. We hadn't taught her how to fight yet, she felt like she didn't contribute to anything. So, i let her make the food." He then smiles sheepishly at them.
"She thinks she's really good at it, but it was usually me throwing in spices and stuff while she didn't look, that made it edible." He reveals and they laugh.
"Don't worry, i will teach her." Boun says excitedly.
"She would love that Boun." Ray smiles at the kid.
He looks down at the soup of bowl.
"It'll be nice to share a meal with Ba again." Ray says.
"I know what you mean." Bouns says. "I have this really obnoxious sister, who always tousles my hair." He chuckles. "I can't wait to see her the most."
"After we win the day, i look forward to filling my eyeball with the joytastic image of my village full again." Tong says and the baby mumbles something to him, touching his cheek from her spot on his shoulder.
"And you will be reunited with your family, Noi." Tong tells her.
"Uh, what did you just call her?" Ray asks.
"Noi. It's her name." Tong says and the baby, Noi, burps. "It's written on her collar. Have none of you ever checked? And they think of me as the ruffian."
A flare whistles in the distance.
"What's that mean?" Sisu asks.
"It means we're on." Ray tells her.
"Sisu," He then turns to her with a serious expression. "until we get that gem and confirm Namar's actually on our side, promise me you'll stay hidden." He asks of her and she nods.
—