"Good morning," he yawns.

"Hey," Loel says amicably. "I was gonna talk to you, actually. Kinda-sorta important thing. Is now a good time, or should I wait until you've had breakfast?"

"Mm?" He blinks. "No, go on. I am more awake than I may seem."

"Okay." Loel smiles crookedly. "So - the thing, from yesterday, with my bones? How they used to break a lot? Can you... not talk to anybody about that? It's kind of personal, for me, and I really don't like the thought of people in general knowing about it. I can handle it when it's just us primes, but even then, I sorta wish it hadn't ever come up."

"Yes, of course," he says. "I'm sorry. I begin to think I should never have said anything."

"Mm." He smiles again. "I'd rather know you know. I'd just... also rather you didn't know. You know?"

Ekador also smiles, briefly. "Yes, I believe I understand."

"Speaking of primes, what protocol do you prefer when Patience shows up?"

"Sure, that makes sense."

Om nom nom.

Aleko wanders in and helps himself.

A few minutes later, so does Sarelle.

"Fantastic. Non-soapy," pronounces Aleko around a mouthful.

"Great," giggles Loel. "Just what I wanted to hear."

It is well after breakfast, and in fact nearing time for lunch, when Patience arrives, alone and without a carriage, just on a horse with a big fluffy copper-furred dog following. She ties the horse to the nearest appropriate horse-tying object and heads up to the door, on which she knocks.

Loel's desire to meet Patience by himself first is generally known, so no one else is nearby when he opens the door.

Patience opens her mouth, pauses like that for a second, and then says, "What the heck?"

"Hi, Patience," he says. "It's complicated. Do you wanna come in?"

"Yeah, because what the heck?"

He steps back to let her in. "Your dog is really cute."

"His name's Mud, don't ask why, it's a long and stupid story. What the heck."

"I'm totally going to ask you why your dog's name is Mud," he says. "I go by Loel Lalindar now, but I'm pretty sure you know me as somebody else. Don't tell anybody, it's a secret, I ran away for a reason. As far as anybody who's not you, me, Kiri, or Aleko should know, I'm just a guy they found in Thiyec under a herd of lost rainclouds."

"Yeah, I recognize you, of course I recognize you, come on. Is there anybody besides us and Kiri and Aleko here right now?"