"Hair."

"...you're trying to tell me you can make the walls grow hair?"

Fia has an instinct and Aten cuts in before Feradi can say something derisive.  "We can grow it and cut it off."

"Oh. ...so you can't dump it as fast as you can pick it up, you can't chop heat off, you're just saying you can keep warming up a room as well as you would the first moment you stepped in there for a while, or as well as somebody with an Endure up maybe."

"There are things a person can do to shed more heat.  And if you have the other person right by a fire..."

"I guess. Maybe they'll want you at that on your off-hours."

"Is there a single way here for them to make it worth our while to do more than the bare minimum."

"Depends what you charge. - and if you'll take paper."

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Some foreigners won't," shrugs Bartra, "they want coins even though they're heavy, they spend more places."

"How accessible are exchanges?"

"Abadaran comes 'round about once a year."

"Could be worse."  He's out of cards; he collects them and starts shuffling.  "I won."

"The years are more than twice as long here."

"Eugh.  - For the weather.  For the money, I more meant the availability in places which are not here, except insofar as this limits our shot of getting out of here."

"Depends where you go. There's Abadarans most places, I think."

"Hm."  He looks in Bartra's general direction with the obvious-to-Citrelians look of someone picking up information, but he doesn't let it distract him from passing out cards for another game.  With some to Bartra as well.

Ooh he gets to participate in the puzzle this time. The owl peers down at the cards too and he pets it absently with one hand.

Is the owl a person?

Yeah.

??????????

The owl swivels its head to look at him once it has viewed the cards.

"...Hello."

"Hoo," says the owl. It scoots a little farther up Bartra's shoulder to nestle against his ear more closely.