"That sounds like a good idea. On account of the hour and all." Quick save, but also not a lie. She'd probably be yawning if that was a thing that beetles could do. "And don't worry about it. We know you were close, and this can't be easy. And the team wants to see Sword safe again, too."
Araun frowned for a moment, scrunched his nose, shook his head. "Hm... yeah. Yeah, and we'll keep looking out as well! Nothing's gonna get past this nose!" He thumped his chest proudly, then frowned again, then brought back his tongue-lolling grin.
The others went their separate ways, the slaking returned to his watch, and the way was finally clear for them to head back to their little room. "C'mon, Araun," Skara said, sounding weary and finally not self-conscious about it. "You've held us up enough. Let's go to sleep; there's plenty of work to do tomorrow."
The growlithe had pressed his nose back to the ground in one particular spot. "I'm pretty sure there's something here, though! Right around here, I know it fuckin' is..."
"I'm sure it'll still be there in the morning."
"Not if a bunch of people tramp all across it first!" he whined, pawing first at his nose and then, for some reason, at the ruff over his chest. "That's how perfectly good smells get fucked up! Or, well, I dunno if it's a
smell, really, but—"
Skara sighed. "Is it something we need to do something about right now?"
"Yes— well, I dunno, it's faint, but I swear it's— I thought..."
"Then it's something we can figure out in the morning," the charjabug grumbled. "Or at least let
me worry about it in the morning. If you want to stay up all night looking for charmander-or-whatever that aren't there, then you do you. Me, I'd rather not be falling asleep over these books, if you don't mind?"
Araun whined a little, but at last he rolled his eyes, smiled, and carried Skara and her research back to the dorms.
<><><><><>