Elijah opened it and looked at him sleepily. He wasn't dressed yet, perhaps it was from being in a strange place and getting little sleep. His hair needed to be brushed down as well. The man yawned and smiled weakly. 'Morning.. I hope you slept well. I need to get dressed."

Gabriel stared awkwardly. "Yes.... yes of course. I'll have some water brought to you and breakfast will be in the dining room when you're ready."

The constable gave a small nod before he turned to gather his clothing to go change. "Hope my presence helped you feel safe so you could sleep."

He hadn't slept a lot, but he smiled anyway. "It did. Thank you." Then he rushed over to the dining room to give Elijah privacy and not think about him changing.

"Wonderful!" Elijah said before the man disappeared. He shrugged and changed quickly so he could join him for breakfast. Eating with the man felt like such a familiar thing, it made him unable to wipe the smile from his face. "It smells wonderful."

"Thank you!" said the housekeeper, who was just walking in with two plates of cooked breakfast which she set down in front of the men. "T was a kind thing of ye ser, to stay over night and make sure father felt safe. Oh I hope you manage to catch the person who did this!"

Elijah looked over and smiled delightfully. "Oh, it was my pleasure. I wanted to help Father Richards. And I will do all my best to find this scoundrel. I do not like anyone to be taken advantage of, and he did not rob just him. He robbed every person who needed that donation to help them."

The woman nodded eagerly. "Right you are, ser. Tis a terrible thing. Well, yer gonna need strength to catch him. Eat up, or it'll get cold!" And she left the kitchen.

"Thank you." said Gabriel when he was gone. He reached out for a second to touch Elijah's gloved hand.

Elijah smiled at her and thanked her. "I would never want to let such wonderful food get cold. Thank you for your hard work in preparing such great food." When she was gone he was starting to eat but immediately felt the hand upon his. He froze with fork in mouth and stared up at Gabriel. He wanted to ask so he tried to get the food down in his mouth but he was in surprise and found it hard to swallow. Part of him wanted to touch the hand on his, to hold it. Another part of him wanted to pull away in shyness or surprise. He managed to just keep his hand there while he tried to force down the food that was delicious but his throat wouldn't budge without water.

When Gabriel saw Elijah's reaction, he instantly pulled back. "Sorry," he said, embarrassed. "I didn't mean to..." To what? "I'm just thankful for all your help."