Washed, carefully-shaved, hair neatly combed and dressed in neatly-pressed clothes, Eli finished buttoning his vest as he walked down the corridor toward the main room. He could hear the rise and fall of feminine voices: Miss Cardiff and Aurora.
He stepped over the high threshold and into the common room itself. Both women sat at the long table where he and Miss Cardiff had sat the night before, flipping through bookkeeping programs on his sheetpad and going over the basics. He'd been right; Miss Cardiff was sharper by far than she wished to appear. They'd worked for a couple of hours, and then had separated to go to their own quarters. He'd given her that particular sheetpad to study.
The two were chatting, and so Eli made his way to the little galley. Someone had put on water for tea or coffee, and he rummaged around in the steel cupboards until he found a tin of tea. It wasn't marked, so he assumed it was for general use. A common blend, nothing noteworthy, but it was tea, and that was all that really mattered. He found a cup and saucer, filled a tea ball, and then poured the cup full of nearly-boiling water. Carrying everything to the table, he sat down opposite the two women and smiled.
"Good morning, ladies," he said politely. "I hope that the morning finds you both well." He glanced up at Aurora, grease-smudged, rumpled, and with a slight air of annoyance. "Though perhaps it isn't so for all of us, unfortunately."