Including the visitor.

"Augh!"

There's a thump from inside the wagon. Then the sound of something small falling and a child's voice also going 'ahh!'

"- who's there," she says, wobbling unsteadily toward the cart.

Sudden silence. After a moment he rethinks it and says, "Don't go outside!"

"- why?"

"The thing that ate Jervis is probably still close. I'm trying to open his gun box."

"- can I see?"

He pushes the fabric covering of the wagon aside. He hefts the case upright with a grunt of effort- It's thick, solid iron with a very sturdy looking set of latches and locks, about three feet long.

"D'you have the key?"

"No. I know how to use a key. I'm not stupid. He had it on his belt."

He frowns and looks between Pelape and the pile of glowy rocks a few times.

"Anything that'd work as a lockpick, bit of wire or anything?"

She doesn't recognize them?? Or is choosing to ignore them for some reason??

He digs around for what he dropped- An iron nail. "This."

"Might work." Is it bent at all.

It's a little bent. He sets it down on a crate and shuffles backwards rather than allow a close approach.

"I can't know your language for very long by the way."

Pick pick pick. She has no practical experience with this but she watched a video after seeing a lockpick hobbyist on Oddball Blogs. "How long? How do you know it at all?"

"Maybe an hour a day?"

And, blue crystals. Obviously. He used a blue shard, once, a little piece of treasure worth almost as much as hid parents's house, on languages in order to understand a German textbook. Except she doesn't know. What kind of adult doesn't know about the crystals?? Maybe he can keep them all after all... But no, that just leaves him still stranded and unable to eat all of them in time.

He's not even at the limit for absorbing magic right now. He wisely saved some of his tolerance for later.

"Okay. What was it that ate your friend?"

"I think it used to be a mountain lion."

Also: Not his friend. Also also: The nail isn't really cutting it.

It's not like the secret will keep for that long. Better to avoid looking too shifty in front of adults.

"We might have to use a red crystal to open it. I've been trying to think about magic that helps in multiple ways."

"The crystals are - magic?"

"Yeah. I dunno where you're from... You hold them and think about what magic you want and you get an idea if it's possible. And then if you want, no more crystal and you have magic. You can only do so much at once or it makes you sick and kills you. You gotta be smart about it. Also they're worth a fortune."

"There are piles and piles of them here - why a red one, what's different about them -"

"Red is like. Physical things? Sudden things? Green is more... Slow. And blue is like thinking things. I only used a little green one to make myself need less water so far. Until I could think of a plan."

"How many can someone absorb over how much time?"

"I dunno. I read about it in a book once. It said it takes a year to fully reset but didn't say how much is too much. You're not going to turn on me once we escape, right?"

Of course she'll say 'no' but people's faces and manners can tell him how sincere they are. Sometimes.

"No? I have no idea what planet I'm on, why would I antagonize literally anyone here."