“Hey, Joe?”
The boy hums, drumming his fingers on his lap in response. Had it not been for what she’d heard last night, it’d be impossible for Sara to tell if anything was wrong at all.
Or, well—not really. There were a few tell-tale signs; for instance, he said he didn’t want to go foraging today, but only after Reko, Kai, and Professor Mishima gave him a look this morning when they were delegating the day’s jobs. Beyond that, however, even just here, while they were simply tending to the shelter, he’s been refraining from moving excessively. Sara also noticed how often he was leaning against anything sturdy, or shifting his weight to left leg.
There was definitely something wrong, but he didn’t bother mentioning it to her. Instead, his energy makes her almost doubt what she recalled from last night. Had she imagined it this whole time?
“Yeees?” Joe asks, a second prompt for her to continue talking.
In that moment, she’s unsure of asking straightforwardly. Maybe she could build up to it later, and ask then…
So, she opts for something else on her mind. “You speak Tagalog fluently, right?”