The Castle [03] (Remba, but don't let it stop you)

[Boog]

"Depends, the bag cost extra?" Jeremiah laughed, gathering up his purchaces in the proffered bag and waving a polite goodbye as he left. Now where to? I could go back to where we were supposed to meet up, but I really haven't checked out the town much yet. Besides, it's barely been any time at all. Probably none of them are done yet. And so the frog wandered on.

[Aisha deCabre]

Aisha was rather engrossed in the tavern's atmosphere, listening to the different people muttering and the music playing while munching on a sandwich she ordered.  Oftentimes she didn't like places like these if they were too crowded.  But then again, there was the old adventurer's rule of thumb: trouble usually starts when you hear of it in a tavern.  The people thankfully weren't all too attentive to a stranger in their midst, and she could enjoy a bit of peace.

So much for peace.  Her ale had been halfway finished by the time Bambi had come in dragging Gina along, the both of them sitting on her side of the bar.  The panther made a small point not to really pay much attention to either of them, but she couldn't help but overhear the suddenly fearful and somber tones that the pair conveyed.  But that was when she noticed that her mug had been snatched without a word to her.

She turned to them with a somewhat annoyed glare, but just released a loud and patient sigh when it was given to comfort Gina somewhat.  But when ordered to go find Mel, Aisha held up a hand.  "Will you slow down?  Just what in the world are you talking about...?"

But she didn't get an answer...just another pint of ale in apology for hers having been swiped earlier, which she accepted.  As she saw the felid dashing out in a hurry, leaving Gina and supposedly Ketefe behind, Aisha wore an expression of confusion.  Glancing down at her tail ring, which had stopped glowing to grow dark again, she wondered and could only guess as to whom was being referred to.

"What in el nombre de Cielo happened?" she wondered out loud and looked with her question at the ferret, while hoping that some of the bar's patrons weren't also too curious of the strangers, speaking of a foul act in earshots of some.

*     *     *

For the time being, Rynkura had been pretty much alone in the dark library but for the presence of the storm's ever-persistent seige on the skies above the castle and the lingering presence of the past stored in the harrowing quiet.  Every now and then she glanced at the little creature that Aisha had returned, a placid-seeming raven perched on the back of a chair and looking like it had its own thoughts on the stormy world into which it was hastily brought.

The tigress had scoured the shelves and respectfully cleaned some of the remnants of mess that had been left behind in their previous exploits...if trusted to be left in the castle without its guardian she was still at least careful with it.  Then she proceeded to lose herself in some of the books that caught her eye, from some of the Caerule annals to a few volumes of other topics of interest.  One of which was a book studying methods of enchantment, covering everything that she had studied and theories that just seemed far-fetched.  She happened to have known the author once, in fact, far too long ago.  Silly fool, perhaps you should have let ME help you write this, Rynkura chuckled to herself.

That was when her ear craned to the doorway, suddenly hearing a few footsteps pass.  Oh, they're back already...? but the healer's thoughts halted.  There were only a few sets, not the trampling made by the small herd that had left.  Taking the book with her, she walked over to confront the one heading into the library, and her eyebrows quirked.  "Oh, Keaton...welcome back."  She regarded the succubus curiously and sat at a table.  "I suppose the others aren't too far behind you?"

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Mel thanked the stag for his time and trouble and handed him one of her business cards from her own store, not that she got there very often these days. She was just putting the toy butterfly carefully away when Bam crashed through the door declaring she had a problem. The disguised dragon checked her lapel watch once again, "Amazing. Fifteen minutes. I'm surprised we went so long." She allowed the excited fae to drag her out into the storm, putting her umbrella spell back into effect before she got more than slightly wet. Down the block then into a darkened alley the fae dashed. Mel followed at a more sedate pace until she caught up to where Bambi had stopped, in a slash of light coming from the open back door of a shop. The fae was pointing at a dead cubi, female and canine but not Keaton. Since the woman was obviously far beyond healing she didn't really understand what Bambi expected her to do. "How is this your problem? Did you know the woman?"

[Stygian]

The body was beginning to attract a commotion now. A woman shakily held her daughter to her, a man in a bloodstained white apron stood frowning, another man in a vest and a woman with a beret next to him. A few more people stood around.
   'Six years I've known her, and now I find out she's a succubus,' the one in the vest said, shaking his head. 'What a way.'
   'Did anyone see what happened?' the woman asked.
   'Yeah. Carsten. He's in there with his shotgun,' the man in the apron said, and nodded at a door. 'He won't open. The cops will be over soon.' Then he cast a glance over against Mel and the winged and remarkably (un)dressed Bam, and his frown deepened with incredulous disapproval. He didn't say anything, but the look that he gave both the girls nearly shouted Having fun watching, you little twits? And he was not the only one to cast an evil glare.

[Cogidubnus]

 Cog nodded to Keaton, grunting his assertion and moving into the darkness. He could conjure some kind of light with the charms he kept about him, but chose to simply use his eyesight to make his way through. His hand reflexively moved to adjust his shades, and he sighed when he remembered what he had done with them. That had been foolish. He didn't even know if he could find anything like them in a small town like this.
He spent a long time wandering in the castle, trying to avoid what he probably needed to do, going over things in his mind. It wasn't like he hadn't expected this, after all. He knew Sebastian wasn't lying when he had spoken to him. And, at the time, Cog had been fine with it...Cog shook his head. He knew his words to not be empty. This was what Stygian was. Despite his initial horror, Cog knew it not to be simply a matter of preference to the bat. And if he had to choose a target, as much as he hated to admit it, the tailor would have been the best choice - objectively, the bat was right. Any Cubi living this far from civilization, in such a backwater town, was likely there to grow in power, in the way Cubi did... Cog halted in the middle of the hall, staring out the rainslicked windows. He himself dripped water profusely, leaving a trail of water on the carpets.
He couldn't simply write her off as evil. But she was, perhaps, the lesser of evils. What a thing to say about people, even Cubi - and yet, what could have been done differently? Cog sighed, and turned, continuing to walk down the dark hallways. Lightning occasionally lit through the windows, splashing the corridor in a strange, bleak contrast.
Cog realized, somewhat, why Sebastian said the things about himself he did. Why he was always so...distant, so morose. Cog was fairly certain this wasn't the kind of thing one could fix  - well, that was the thing. Nothing was wrong.
Cog made his way up to Sebastian's room, and knocked. The door creaked open to a darkened room, empty save the furniture left inside it. Cog's eyes lit with remembrance, and he turned, walking towards the stairs to the next level.
The North Tower, right. Fitting, Cog mused.
He found the entrance to the northernmost tower in the castle unlocked, and as he opened the door he was surprised to find a spiral staircase, leading up and up to a room contained at the top of the tower itself, completely isolated from the rest of the castle. Cog looked at the stone roof, holding the room above him up, and sighed. He fidgeted for a moment, the cold air in the stairway not helping his already drenched state. Cog looked down from the ceiling, finally, but instead of climbing the stairs simply sat on the steps, staring at the windows framing the storm.

[Sunblink]

Shortly after she had left Cogidubnus's company, Keaton trudged through the hallways of the castle, using memory alone as her guide. While hardly gifted with an Eidetic memory, she had spent enough time traversing her way in and out of the library to recall its location. Fingers finally closed around the marble as she drew her glasses off of the bridge of her nose with her free hand, gingerly holding it out as far as the length of chain anchoring it to her ear would permit. Glistening globs of water still clung to the thin glass of either lense, dabbled gently over the multihued shards composing the right-hand, oval-shaped lense.

Sighing, Keaton pocketed her marble again after turning it compulsively in her palm a few times, then detached the earring possessing the glasses' chain altogether from her lobe.

She overheard Rynkura from near one of the shelves, apparently after the tigress had realized her presence. Still a little jumpy, Keaton nearly leapt out of her skin when she spoke, but thorough restraint only allowed a slight, tremulous ripple to pass over the surface. Nearly dropped her glasses, but she prevented that disaster. Without her glasses, Keaton needed to squint slightly through the colorblind haze crippling her false eye in order to see the alabaster feline.

"Oh!" Keaton said, forcing a smile which wasn't nearly as convincing as it normally would've been. "They're not too far behind, yeah... some of them are still at the town. They'll probably come back soon though."

Probably not a good idea to remain there. The mutilated body of the tailor ("Andrea," Cogidubnus had called her) would've been discovered by then, she guessed. Unknown to her, this assumption was closer to reality than she at first surmised.

And further unknown to her, eight, scabrous legs assailed the ground soundlessly as they swiftly and silently carried a silhouette away in the atramentous darkness of the background.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Prof B Hunnydew]

"Gina said that Stygain did this.  I wanted to see If he murdered her or act in self-defense... I needed a witness more than me. " whispers Bambi to Mel  "Mel, I'm sorry, I hope to get some answers.  This is too much.  Can we get back to the others at the tavern?" asks the Fae, watching the crowd and escape route. 

The fae looks shock at the body as there, now is more light to the body.

PBH

[Stygian]

Cog had to wait for a good while, with no indication that anything was about to happen. Long enough that he started to really pay attention to the wind howling against the slanted roof outside and the rain smattering against the windows. No sounds came from above. It was just when the wolf was about ready to leave that he heard a loud, scraping sound and then a crash, traveling down the stairs.

- -

Wary of the other tavern patrons and leaning to half-whisper, something that really didn't do too much considering her height, Gina moved her tense face in closer to Aisha. Her eyes were on the feline, but she seemed very concerned that the other patrons should not hear her words.
   'Stygian was down here and killed a woman, a succubus,' she said.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

"Come along, Bambi. They will take care of their own,"  Mel hinted as she turned and retraced her steps back to the street. As they reached the darkest part of the alley Mel cast an illusion spell on the fae to make her less noticeable. When they reached the lit street any onlookers would perceive Bambi as an ordinary feline dressed in a long brown trench coat. Looking down the street she turned towards the well-lit building with the tavern sign out front. Softly she spoke as strolled down the street, "Bambi, you shouldn't take Gina's word as strictly literal. She's been possessed by a lot of spirits who may not have a strong grasp on the here and now. Seeing that body might have brought up past memories. And even if she is right, what do you plan to do about it?"

[Prof B Hunnydew]

"I am unsure what to do, If she was a evil spy or attracked him first, it would be different... But I am not sure I like the fact that he needs anthro blood to live..  Sigh, I wished, he would just told us about his condition." whispers Bambi as she come up close to the dragon.  "And I was really looking to get more clothes. When we find the shopowner dead in the alley."

Then they get to the Tavern's door, the Fae stops outside the tavern door and concentrates on her dress.  The leaves of her dress multiply adding another inch to her hemline and neckline.  Her Leaf dress was still a short skirt, but her bust didn't look like it would break out at any moment.  Nothing could made to help her look less chesty, without cutting off breathing.

"That should a little better   Wait, thanks Mel for the illusion."remakes Bambi as she go into the door.

PBH

[Cogidubnus]

 Cog stood up with a start at hearing the crash, his face concerned. He didn't think the bat was hurt, but this castle had shown itself to have nasty surprises hidden in several places. He could imagine some kind of horror lurking at the top of the towers. Turning and moving his drying hair out of his eyes, he trudged up the spiraling, stone stairs to the door at the top. He opened it, expecting to find the bat inside.
It wasn't the room itself, but some kind of intermediary. Another staircase climbed up across from him and through the floor above him, into actual room. Feet squelching wetly on the stone floors, he crossed to the stairs across from him and climbed up, stepping up and through the floor as he rose.
A dresser and a chest lay smashed into the wall, the wood shattered and splintered into uselessness. They appeared to have been thrown across the room and into the wall. Cog rounded more of the stairs and stepped into the room proper, and saw Stygian sitting on a bed, facing away from him and out towards one of the large windows that dominated the room. The room proper was square, and three large panes of glass covered the walls that looked out past the castle and towards the town.
Here I am. Cog thought. What, exactly, was I going to say?, he continued to muse, and took another tiny step into the room. He was glad the bat was unhurt...but, now...
This is coming, sooner or later.
Cog cleared his throat, the small sound deafening in the silence of the room. He began to speak, stumbling over the words once and then continuing on in a clear, strong voice.
"I...I had something to say to you, Sebastian." Cog paused. The bat said nothing in response, unmoving. Cog continued. "I've given it some thought. And I don't know if...well, it doesn't matter. I've made my decision."
"You may not have been lying, but neither was I."Cog said, and oddly enough, dropped a little shard of glass he'd been carrying with him. The low lamplight reflected off the surface of the little broken shard, and it tinkled as it fell to the floor.
"I'd do it again." Cog spoke, waiting.

[Stygian]

The bat sat still, ears drooping, hands across his legs and his strong shoulders slumped and neck arched in tired hopelessness.
   'Do what? You'd have to be quicker next time if you'd want to stop me,' he said, after an agonizing pause. 'Not that it would make it so much better. I guess I'd have to go take a bite out of you instead then...' His voice was low, tired, not tense but shaky. 'I mean, that's all I can do.' He turned.
   Silent, cold tears were trickling slowly down the bat's cheeks. His face was twisted and angered, his teeth bit together hard and showing. There was still some blood at the side of his mouth. His eyes had returned to the polished black that was normal for him.
   'I am this way. It's the price I've had to pay. It's my fault,' he said, the words like knives for the pain in them. 'My fault.'

[Cogidubnus]

 Cog paused a moment. "I didn't mean I would stop you, Sebastian. You are the way you are. There is nothing you can do about that." Cog said, stepping further into the room. He whipped his hat off his head, shaking the thing out and setting it on the back of a chair to dry. He sat down in the same, carefully keeping himself upright.
"I've...I do not know what you really are. You're no demon I've ever heard of, and you're not a Cubi." He paused. " And I don't think you are an angel either." he said finally, looking Sebastian in the eye. "And I don't know if you were born or made the way you are. Or by who, for that matter. But whatever the circumstance, and whatever the way, you are what you have become. It's...done."
Cog sighed, and looked out the window to his left. He took a shaky breath, and then looked back at the bat.
"You are, what you are. I wouldn't be surprised if it had something to do with what you said in the library. But..." he sighed, and his eyes suddenly soft. "If you are as remorseful as you seem to be, there are things you could do to make it not so bad." he said, his words loaded with meaning. "Ways you could go about it. You are a predator, that much is obvious. Though, It's not always the weak that should be culled, I think." he finally said, not willing to speak much further on it.
"And you wouldn't take a bite out of me. You didn't, anyway."

[Stygian]

Stygian looked away and visibly shirked when Cog's last words hit.
   'No, but I could. I am always tempted,' he said, and looked at Cog. 'I'm always driven, always aware. That's part of it too. Every pang of pain, every heartbeat, every whiff of scent or caress of warmth... I am aware, and reminded.' He grimaced. 'And there's nothing else that I can do or that I am made for doing. Even I don't understand it all, but...'
   Sighing deeply and sniffing, Stygian slowly stood up, and paced across the floor over to one of the pieces of furniture stored in the room, a tall oval stand-mirror in a simple frame. He stood in front of it, and slowly reached out, touching the surface, the reflection of his hand.
   'I don't know precisely. Demon, I think. But not the usual kind. No,' he said, his voice turning into a hiss between his teeth. 'A Devil. That's what I am. I made myself a monster so I could destroy my whole life and be done with all the things I hated. And now I can't destroy myself because I'm such a coward.' His eyes took on a bit of that glow for a moment. 'Because I know what would happen to me.'
   Again, he turned, weeping and steadying himself with his hands on the foot of the bed.
   'I've tried. I've done what I could, but so many have come in the way and so many want to kill me that I couldn't possibly stop! And I was too much of an asshole to even save...' he said, voice going coarse, and then closed his eyes.
   'I can't restrain myself, I can't go away and I can't kill myself. And all I want is to die without having to suffer.'

[Aisha deCabre]

Listening to Gina, Aisha had to choke back a noise of surprise.  Visibly tensed, the panthress spared a quick glance around the room to see if anyone had heard, then regarded the ferret with a serious gaze.  "You've got to be kidding!" she hissed.

But the look on the girl's face confirmed it.  "...You're not kidding..." Aisha said after a pause and sat back up on the stool, still trying to register the news in her still-relaxed brain while turning back to the bar.  Somehow it wasn't too hard to believe, considering the darkness that she had felt around the bat...but her mind offered many arguments against any kind of rash action.

It was a succubus...so maybe there was a good reason.  At least it wasn't one of us, I don't think.  Maybe it's the nature...he drank blood.  And anyway, he has no reason to kill one of us...and we were all let out of the castle.

Common sense won out over the instinctual reaction of fear.  It's not like any of the rest of us can cast stones over killing, the huntress reminded herself.  She wanted to give their host the benefit of the doubt, for the time being.  But that still left everyone else...

Finally after what seemed like minutes, the feline having been frozen like a statue while her thoughts converged, she took a gulp from her ale mug and sighed.  "If it's nearby, the place is going to be swarmed with attention soon.  And they may be looking for strangers," she whispered, adding in a bit of a growl to her voice to give the illusion of just another bar patron gruffly muttering indistinctly.  "We may need to gather the others up and hasten back."

On cue, the panther's eyes shot up as the door opened.

[Boog]

Eventually, even Jeremiah would notice the crowd that the dead succubus gathered. At first, all he saw was the crowd. It's probably nothing, keep walking. Then he heard some of the people's comments, their reactions. And what was lose in town just a little while ago? He made his way toward the group that had gathered. Please let me be wrong please let me be wrong please- Dead woman. He halted, shocked that things were about what he expected. He barely noticed the others there as he groaned. "And today had been going so well..."

[Prof B Hunnydew]

Bambi walks quickly to Gina, Ketefe, and Aisha.  And Hugs the ferret.

"We can go now.  Once we find Jeremiah, we will need to return to the castle.  The wolf would go back to the Castle, if he see trouble.  Keaton is the one I am worried about, but the wolf would get her back to the castle if he has seen her" said Bam softly to the group.  "The police will looking for anyone, unusual.  I'll have to return for Keaton if she is not at the castle"

PBH

[Cogidubnus]

 With sadness in his eyes, Cog stood, not quite sure what to do. He'd...never, ever seen the bat like this. Laughter, bitter comments, silence...he'd expected those. But never tears. There was something infinitely unsettling about that.
"Sebastian..." Cog said, not really knowing what to do. "I don't know what, may have been involved in becoming what you are. Or why. But what's done is done." Cog looked down at the ground. "Death will come to us all, Sebastian, whether or not you ever kill yourself, though I would be very sad if you did. But there is no true immortal. Where there is life, however, even such as yours, there is hope. Hell is not the only power in existence."
Cog walked over to the bat, and sat on the bed. "But what you have done, you have done. And what you are, you are. And I could care less why you did what you did." Cog risked a smile. "I've no glue to put that mirror back together again." He sighed. "You can't restrain yourself, Sebastian, because nothing is really wrong with you. But...you don't have to be what you've been made. Eat the bastards who deserve it. That's the whole idea behind adventuring, anyway."
"Besides." Cog said. "Being alone and miserable isn't going to change any of those things."

[Stygian]

The bat looked at Cog, his eyes radiating pain. He exhaled slowly, sitting down, looking at his hand. The skin on it had cracked and darkened, and changed, and it had taken on the familiar, claw-like form of his monstrous appearance.
   'What am I if not alone and miserable? I have nothing. I am nothing. It doesn't matter who I pretend to be or where I go. I'm going to outlive everyone I know, until either I kill myself or someone else does, and then I'll be torn apart into truly nothing,' he said, almost whispering. 'I've nothing to leave behind. I have nothing to live for, no pleasure in this life. Considering what might happen soon, maybe it would be a better choice to go straight away.'
   A few agonizing seconds, there was silence. Then, Stygian turned around. Somewhere deep down he knew he was not thinking clearly, but all he could think was that if he was ever going to dare, then this was the time. A stabbing pain sprang up in his heart, but he only shivered.
   'Would you do that?' he asked, eyes fixed dead steady on Cogidubnus. 'End me?'

[Cogidubnus]

 Eyes wide with shock, Cog gaped at the bat before slowly shaking his head. "No. I couldn't do that." he said, standing. "I could no more kill you than...no. No, I will not." Cog took a breath, and stared back into the bat's eyes. The bat's radiated pain, but Cog's own radiated a deeper sadness.
"How...could you ask something like that? Have you never listened to me?" Cog said. He brushed some of the bangs out of his hair. "Miserable, maybe you are. But...it's not for lack of something to live for."
Cog took a step closer to him, looking down at the bat. There was just a bit of ire in his eyes. "You'd be an idiot to kill yourself now. You have everything to live for, and nothing awaits you in the grave. No one here wants you dead, Sebastian, despite what you may think about us. We are here for you. We may not be much, but..."
Cog swallowed. "At the very least, I am always here for you."

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Mel stepped into the tavern behind the fae and spotted Aisha, Ketefe, and Gina sitting at the bar. Bambi ran to Gina and began hugging her. Mel followed more slowly to where the trio were sitting. She leaned between Aisha and Ketefe and softly said, "I don't know what is going on but Bambi seems to want to play girl detective over a cubi killed not too far from here. The local authorities are on the case and I doubt they want help, particularly not from strangers. I'm going to try out a restaurant that was recommended to me. I will be at a restaurant on the left just past the jeweler's shop if I am truly needed for anything. I'll make my own way back to the castle when I'm done."

Not waiting for a reply the disguised dragon slipped back out of the tavern and up the road to where the stag had directed her. A small family place that she might not have even noticed on her own as it was a tiny sliver of a place hiding in the shadows of two larger buildings. A polite little mouse waitress who looked a lot like all the other mice staffing the place stuck her in a back corner near the kitchen door. This really wasn't a stranger friendly town.

[Prof B Hunnydew]

Mel's lack of concern over the cubi death, makes Bambi step back from her Nancy Drew mode...

"Okay Okay,  I'll stop playing Velma, unless ask to." sighs defeated Fae.  "We are suppose to be taking a break... And here comes Dinner, and the wine"

Pouring the wine into goblets, and gives them to the other Girls, "For Love, and Adventure, for all better Future." Toasts Bam and throwing back her wine in one breath.  And refills her goblet, "Hey more wine Here, please.. Come on, girls lets eat, drink, and make merry for the morrow may not be so sweet." shouts the Fae.

[Stygian]

Not the right one. Stygian sighed and looked down.
   'You don't know and you don't care,' he said, movements in his fur showing as his skin started crawling. Up that close, Cog could hear the sound of it, as if someone had poured a beaker of acid on the bat. When he looked up, the wolf instead saw the female from before, dark eyes glaring. 'You're just sticking around for the pretty face,' she growled, her face a false grin over depths of wounded sadness. Whether it was a bitter joke or serious indignation, even Stygian wasn't sure of. Most probably, it was both. She only maintained her gaze for a few seconds though, before looking away.
   'No. I... I'm sorry,' she said shamefully and sniffed. 'I don't have the right. But you can't help me.'

- -

The fae's merry outburst drew not a few eyes, but the attention was on her for only a minute or so, before the front door was opened again and a man in a dark, dark blue uniform, a large bear with close-cropped hair and precisely trimmed beard, stepped in slowly and heavily. He cast a look that swept over the entire locale, and when his eyes reached Bam and the girls at the table, his eyes froze for a second. Then he walked on in and up to the bar counter, and started talking to the tender.

[Prof B Hunnydew]

Bam Slowly sunks into her seat and starts to eat her dinner, "Okay Okay" and sips her wine sparingly.  She watch the bear with one eye, but tries to eat her food before he come over.

PBH

[Boog]

Jeremiah stood where he was, listening to the crowd for a while. "Now I find out she was..." "Just goes to show..." "What could do this..." Finally he considered the dead woman again. Deaths of strangers made him think. It was someone he would never know, never enjoy the company of, whose flaws or virtues he would never witness. An individual never sullied with his scrutiny or glorified by his admiration. Just a succubus woman who died on a certain night in a certain way that she didn't see coming.
And it was all such a waste. This one person dead on some random rainy night was just such a damn waste of a perfectly good furrae life that the one who stole it had no right to.
The one who stole it. He couldn't pretend he didn't somewhat anticipate this. Sebastion, Stygian was in town and that funny smile never meant anything good. But would could the frog have done? He was an artist, a dabbler in magic and a pacifist. Wait, back up... The laughing curse, what it made him do and become. He chuckled to himself, I WANT to be a pacifist. Can't even get that right half the time, it seems. Either way, attempting to stop Stygian would have gotten him KILLED.
And would that be so bad, anyway?
Bal, was that you?
Actually, that was you. I wasn't payin' attention.
Would it be so great a loss to the world? A washed up artist who's only a few patches in his clothes away from a dangerous vagrant... Which does the world need more, that or a pretty girl who did nothing wrong?
Jeremiah shook his head. He was starting to scare himself, an occurrence that was becoming far too common, Jeremiah ol' boy, you stop that right now. That's lemming talk.
Indeed, you must maintain yourself.
Butt out. You don't know what will happen to you if I die, you're biased in all this.
Is housing us not a purposeful calling, sir?
The frog sighed. What was done was done. Best get off this topic before he started to believe himself. He could do nothing for her now.
Well, not much, anyway.
Finding a useful place to shade from the rain in the form of a nearby wall to lean against, Jeremiah pulled up his coat to use as an umbrella over his new sketchbook and pulled out a pencil, thinking hard about the cubi woman. Nothing to do for her now but remember her, this woman who he never met.
So lets see, what was she wearing? Go with something not too severe, but businesslike. A woman's suit with a few modifications. I noticed some laugh lines and such, mebbe have her smiling. With her hair not all messed up by the rain and... trouble, it would probably look just so. The face...
The frog stayed there sketching in the rain, trying to mourn this poor woman he'd never met.

[Cogidubnus]

 Cog looked down a moment, chastened, looking away from her and out over the expanse of the castle. He put his hand on the window, feeling the rain chilled glass, and closed his eyes for a moment before turning back to the bat.
"I told you. Don't ever say I don't know again." he said, his voice soft, walking back to the bat. "And I care very much. I'm just sorry to be a source of pain for you." Cog sighed, looking out at the storm. He turned back, looking into her eyes.
He gazed at her a long time, before reaching forward and brushing a few stray bangs out of her eyes. He offered her a tired smile. "I wish, I wish, that I could help you, my dear. What can I say, but that I see something in you, that you seem to ignore." he said, his hand framing her face. "And I have said many times I don't care about your masks."
"But I would be lying to say I did not find you beautiful." he finally said, removing his hand and standing, and reaching for his hat.

[Aisha deCabre]

Relaxing upon seeing that it was only Bambi having returned with Mel, Aisha sighed and turned back to the table, setting her focus back on the remnants of food and drink in front of herself already.  Her mind a little tired of the whole tirade but still livid, the panthress couldn't help but keep the news of a death nearby lingering in the back of her head.  Her eyes narrowed.  I wonder what it could all mean.

She listened to Mel speak, and she couldn't help but give a little snicker to her remark at Bambi's expense.  It was true...if too many strangers were to start putting an interest into that single event, it would rouse too much suspicion.  She knew how single-minded and paranoid that people were at times...the last thing she wanted to do was to help cause chaos.

"Alright, Mel," she nodded to the disguised dragon.  "We may soon be right behind you."  Her crimson gaze then watched as she left, and could only hope that the others were as far away from the spectacle as possible.  She rolled her eyes at Bambi's sudden outburst, but took the small bit of wine that she offered anyway.  Here's to careful planning, she added softly, an homage to hopeful luck.

That was when the door opened again behind them, a little more forcefully that time around it sounded, and Aisha tried not to seem so jumpy.  But her gaze wandered slowly back, eyeing the bear clad in dark azure, then back again, having seen for the brief time that they've been noticed.  Oookay...crap, she silently gulped, settling back within her finely-practice illusion of ignorance and took the last bite of her sandwich.  She tried meanwhile to pick up the conversation with her range of hearing.  For the love of all, let everyone keep their wits about them.

*     *     *

Rynkura, acting satisfied with the jackal's response, had chuckled quietly and gone back to reading the book she had chosen.  Eyes poured over the words and sentences, but thoughts didn't process them well enough to remember the concepts.  The old felid knew tinges of nervousness when she saw them, even when often they were well-hidden.  Emerald eyes narrowed, seemingly in concentration, the silence waiting to be broken.

It was, with a low rumble of thunder, adding to the chorus of rain.  "That storm persists, stubborness of the heavens," Rynkura said, looking up to the windows, and back again to the succubus, a musing gaze.  "I do hope nothing has happened in town."  She smiled.  "By the way, I apologize for startling you."

Perhaps Keaton would tell what was wrong on her own time.  The tigress didn't wish to rouse any unneeded ire by just asking.

[Stygian]

A couple of minutes passed, before the bear finished talking to the bartender, and then unhurriedly but determinedly made his way over to the girls' table. Stern-faced and hard, he looked statue-like in his immaculate clothing and frightening size, looming over them at nearly seven feet tall. He passed his gaze over them once, then changed his face into something slightly more gentle than a bitter stare, and spoke.
   'Good evening, ladies,' he said, matter-of-factly. 'I'm officer Hector Greene.' He watched their reaction for a moment, and then went on. 'Are you having a nice time?'

- -

Another stab came at the mention of Cog being a pain, and Stygian flinched. Idiot! she scolded herself in her thoughts. You complete and utter fool! Why did you say that?!
   'No!' the bat said, and grabbed Cog's sleeve before she could catch herself. Realizing it, she let go immediately, and looked down. 'Please. You're not a source of pain. But seeing... seeing you loathe me, seeing you go away...' She clenched her hand, and her claws dug into the sheets. 'I'm... an idiot. You don't have to do anything for me. But please... just... I know how much it hurts to be a pain, and...'
   Still red around the eyes, she looked up at the wolf and swallowed.
   'I don't want you to go away. If that's why, then don't.'

[Prof B Hunnydew]

"Why yes some good food good drink and good friends out on a dreadful evening, is just what the doctor ordered?  Can we help you,  good sir?", asks a cheerful illusion wearing Fae, but her bubbly spirits deflates under the bear's stare.  She quickly smiles again and looking hopeful that he will ask for help.

PBH

[Cogidubnus]

 Cog halted at the bat's touch, and looked Sebastian over his shoulder for a moment, surprised. He stood there for half a second before turning around, sitting back down beside the her again, leaving the hat where it lay resting on the chair. He adjusted himself to sit more comfortably, and his fingers brushed the wet sheets were he'd been sitting. He realized his soaked clothes were probably leaving a spot on Sebastian's bed. As he looked over, however, the bat didn't seem to care incredibly much.
"Alright." he said. "I won't."
He stared at the bat as he tried to think of something to say, the patter of the rain droning softly in the background...