Jas sighed, holding the lute firmly. He listened to Erik rant with a straight face. He had absolutely no intention of returning the lute to its rightful owner. Experimentally, he gave the strings a pluck or two, and then the strings made their respective sounds. The thing didn't seem out of tune, so Jas couldn't really understand what the problem was. He rattled it a little bit and didn't hear any loose bits either. It was your regular, every day fancy and expensive instrument.<br/><br/>Jas was ripped back into reality when he heard Erik being racist again. He bit his lip. "Now, now," Jas said, trying to pacify the Teryn he was supposedly escorting. He watched Brom surface from the water, which sent Erik screaming. The roar that Brom released made Jas cringe a little bit. He may have covered his ears if he wasn't carrying the lute. "You know, the lute is such a common instrument. Surely such a skilled musician like yourself would want an instrument that no one has ever seen. Everyone has heard the lute, Dalgaard, you need a new image," he reasoned. He waggled the lute in front of Brom and removed one hand from it in order to pet the big cat. The cat's cold wet fur felt nice on his palm. He offered the lute to the huge feline, and while Erik was busy taking his time realizing there was no reason to be alarmed, Jas whispered, "Here you go, boy, nice and fibrous."<br/><br/>When that ordeal was taken care of, Jas went to join the other members of the group. He looked at Vasma and Tarkus apologetically. "Apologies. I know I was meant to be finding some things, he is just a handful sometimes. Would you mind telling me what you have all purchased? I would be willing to go get anything we have not yet acquired," he said, his head bowed. He knew he had not been exactly pulling his weight, and he knew the group's general feelings towards Erik. However, Jas had no desire to be grouped in with him. Jas knew, though, that mostly everything had been done, so asking was just a formality. He hoped they wouldn't linger here long enough for Erik to find a new instrument.