Late in the evening, Everest, Marcus and Stephen returned with blood, dirt and smiles on their faces.
Stephen bragged to Pearl about all he had done, wisely omitting any details that could make her reluctant to go out next time while she listened, silently with nods and hums when needed.
Everest noticed how distracted and jittery she was acting but by the time Stephen was done talking and he was ready to interrogate her, the redhead had already zoomed off to seek out Marcus who had retired to his room.
She knocked three times -for the sake of politeness- on his bedroom door and entered before he could respond, then shut it behind her with one last look into the hallway.
"Come in," the half-naked man deadpanned with his trousers hanging by his knees and his shirt flung carelessly on th
