Truthfully, Edwin was thankful for the time to himself, as it meant that he could actually dig in and work on using the translation key -or re-working it if necessary- with the partial circle he had the pictures of without interruption. Of course, it meant he had to get his own books, but he only needed one swap while the other two were gone, which did surprise him.

He wasn't much closer to a solution by the time they returned, but he was definitely closer, and if inching along was what it took, he was fine with that, and partly because he'd realized that much of his earlier catastrophizing was simply due to being hungry, because that wasn't a sensation he'd felt for over a century and hadn't been sure how to process it.

Likewise he was thankful that Crystal had, apparently, decided that they needed new clothes as well, because he'd been working out how to pull her aside and ask -and working up the courage to do so, fully bracing himself to be laughed at at least a little- and more than that: they'd picked up dinner on the way back. He once again tidied his notes, carefully setting everything aside to make room for purchases and food, smile tilting a little as he did, "Seems like it was a successful trip."