The Dramatic Rodent Inn

[Yukai WindeRiver]

Torr was going to add, that sometimes new lovers asked for blessings, and poets inspiration. But honestly, it seemed that Demyx had something much better. With the first hummed note, his ears quivered upright, angling to catch the music best.
--

"Wow big boy, you don't start small. Next yer gonna ask me the meaning of my life." Actually as far as she could tell, that was really simple to answer, for her at least.

Turning completely away from the shelves of bottles as a lost cause, she leaned forward and placed a knuckle under her chin.

"Well, um... I'm not sure. It depends on what you mean by artificial, and uh... I don't think so... I mean... maybe?" Whoa, the meaning of life one really would have been easier.

"As for clothing, I was just gonna ask yer sleepy headed friend over there." A thumb was pointed towards the couch filled with cat people. The action earned another twitch from Rikky.

"Oh! But I do bleed! And I'm pretty sure..." She petered off for a moment to place a hand over her heart."Um yeah, still have a heart beat."
-----

"Oh yeah, she's pretty energetic. It's sorta a mix I guess, you get a title and she works up some story." He closed his eyes briefly, not really recalling Fran, but a different girl entirely.

He looked rather startled actually and coughed.

"Actually, I just assume that she does, seeing how much like my friend she is... I never got to hear out loud what she worked up for us...." Feeling a bit awkward, the teen walked a few more steps silently.

"She's kinda notorious with the guards though. Apparently goes in pretty frequently with crazy stories."

[Kaname and Ramza]

Given Demyx's nature as musically inclined, Ramza really should have expected him to hum or sing for Kaname the tree. Instead, he found a spot beside Torr and stood there in silence, sweetly smiling. The tree just rustled in a manner that could be interpreted as approval, maybe? At the very least, it didn't have any more leaves that could be dislodged; they were all spent on Ramza.

---------

"Yukai...? Fair enough..."

Nial glanced over to Yukai for a moment, and thought about what all the Jerboa would know of the Inn. At least, it could be expected that Yukai was ID'd as a thief, after he's said Phantom Thief about 10~20 times a day. His eyes didn't linger long, however, and he watched the ex-rodent with a wary gaze.

"But you're not the most reassuring about this whole thing still. You did come with Chris though, and he has full marks when it comes to innocence and trust-worthiness. Now how to prove you just didn't hitch a ride for some nefarious reason..."

He put his only had to his chin, thoughtfully.

[Demyx Ghatori]

This song really didn't seem to have room for words in it, as it turned out - which was okay; some songs just didn't. Demyx just kept singing, wordlessly, letting the melody itself carry the meaning. It wasn't something he would have cared to explain to anyone whose opinion of his sanity he valued, but he felt sure the tree would understand. He felt sure that, if only he could understand the tree's responses, they could have a conversation...or maybe he was just being stupid, and on that discordant thought, he lost the thread, and the song faltered and died away.

"Well, she certainly sounds like fun," Mariner said, figuring that given how the rest of town just might react to him, having one crazy lady decide he was a prince or an angel or something equally ridiculous and start writing the fan fiction to suit was totally fine. "Um...anything or anyone else interesting in town that you know of? Or just her?"

[Yukai WindeRiver]

The time while Demyx was singing his own communication at the great tree, seemed almost timeless to Torr. A moment filled with warmth, sunlight and peace. However when the dragon came to a halt, the moment seemed all too brief.

One absurdly long ear twitched slightly before he started to shake off the calm, if only for the fact that there was a small group of watchers. Just a few townsfolk passing by who were charmed by the song.

Oh dear, but did he dare ruing the mood by saying anything?
-------------

"Well, there's the System guy still in jail there, I think... There's a pretty varied group of like... knight guards?"

Chris tried to think back to the times he had spent in town. The first few days were honestly a little too intense to remember even now. So it was the more recent, and admittedly more dangerous visit he had to think of people in.

"Not really sure, since I have no proof, but I think Yukai probably has a few people in town as contacts." Who else? Compared to at home, he really hadn't gone out of his way to notice and include people in his life.

"Oh... I guess we might see one of those healers... I think they headed this way after... the Island... Thing..."
-----

"Of course Chris is trustworthy! And innocent!" A little puff of pride was added to the jerboa's stance. It was probably good that Nial liked the kid enough to give her a little leeway, but gosh she was messing up this whole thing pretty bad.

"Jeez, how am I supposed to go and do a thing like that? It's not like I planned to get stuck over here with Chris. I just woke up in a backpack."

[Kaname and Ramza]

Given that Ramza couldn't clap with one arm in a sling, he just beamed a bright smile. Looking between Torr, Demyx, the tree, and briefly the small group that had accumulated.

"That was lovely. I'm sure she loved it."

He tried to pay the crowd no mind and casually walked over to Demyx. A stray thought of Demyx in a large concert hall wandered into his mind, bowed, then left the stage. He'd smile at the thought if he wasn't already grinning.

------

"Well duh Chris is innocent! He saved my life that one time I got stabbed my Mariner's dad."

Nial looked affronted when the Jerboa suggested that he doubted Chris. Still, she said 'woke-up' in the backpack, so how did she get there? System? Accident? Or was it a last minute highschool prank by some weird kid at Chris' school?

He mentally noted that he wanted to hide a mouse in someone's backpack sometime.

"Well whatever. We can always tie you up and cross examine you if you act too suspicious."

Besides, she hadn't stabbed him when she'd had numerous chances as a Jerboa. Didn't she wield a cocktail sword once as a rodent?

[Demyx Ghatori]

Demyx blinked and looked around, surprised that he'd accumulated any sort of audience during his brief song. It wasn't even something he'd actually worked on, just something he'd come up with on the spur of the moment...apparently he would have to remember it for later, though. "...Right," he said, trying to get back on his feet (well, foot and a stump) with as little help as was absolutely necessary. "I, um, guesh we should move on...?"

"Right, the healers..." Mariner remembered the island very clearly - too clearly for his comfort, to be honest - but the healers? They must have shown up in the time between when Demyx, Ramza, and Yukai got back and when he had. "Healers from where? Did they just move into town?"

[Yukai WindeRiver]

Well it looked like the scene was over. Torr stood up stiffly and then, to get a bit more comfortable, stretched his arms upwards. The number of popping noises worried the king briefly.

"Mmm... Well yes I suppose we shouldn't dally till night fall." He said with a small smile, offering a wink to his companions.

At least with all the being a king businesses, he had a rather high tolerance of crowds in general.
----------

"I'm pretty sure that they came from Sukair." Now how to describe the blonde busy bodies to Mariner? The teen pondered silently, looking at the pebbles on the road like they might hold the answers to all of life's questions.

Actually he didn't need to explain them. Mariner hadn't really asked.

"I think... That the few that wandered to this world, have just been... Well doing Healer stuff... Finding injured animals and such. They don't really live any where as far as I can tell."

----

"Well good, we agree then."

The jerboa blinked and then gave Nial a small smile. Gosh they'd certainly done a bit of talking hadn't they? Well that was the point technically of being human at all.

"I guess you could do that. But I hope you aren't gonna try and get Ramza to help. That'd be a sight wouldn't it?"

She giggled and turned back to the kitchen, in search of maybe a crumb she might have missed. Doubtful though.

[Kaname and Ramza]

Ramza checked the sky to see what time it was, and smiled up at the yellow ribbons that swayed gently in the breeze. He then made a nod to Torr, and to Demyx.

"Yes, don't want to make anyone at the Inn worry about us by staying too late."

Although Ramza figured they were all fine and dandy without them for a few hours. Although Demyx seemed to have himself handled getting up, he still offered his arm so they could walk together.

---

"I'm sure me and Ramza could make a mean bad-cop good-cop game if he wasn't too good."

Nial shook his head and rolled his eyes. Yet, he watched her as she left for the kitchen. He wondered exactly how many knives there could be in the kitchen, and pondered how well she had learned to use her human limbs already. Could he beat her in a knife fight, if he had to?

As for the food... how much would she have to eat to maintain that form? The same as a human, or more?

[Demyx Ghatori]

Demyx took Ramza's arm gladly, testing his weight and balance on his wooden leg all over again before trying to walk on it. It was better than nothing, but still not as good, or as instinctive to use, as the original. "Remind me...what elshe did we want to get done here?" he asked, in what he hoped was a soft enough voice that it wouldn't be generally overheard. "Zhe jeweler, right? Or am I zhinking of shomezhing elshe?"

"So they're sort of...wandering good Samaritan types?" Mariner said, trying to picture one and not really getting the concept. The closest he would come up with was the type of person who would go around looking for injured strays to take in and find homes for. "...I suppose that's never a bad thing to have around, really."

[Yukai WindeRiver]

What had been the plans for this outing? Well none really, not the scheduled out sort anyways. Torr crossed his arms and brought a paw to his cheek. With eyes closed in thought only briefly before he smiled.

"Well certainly we could go visit the artisans if you wanted to make a stop. I was hoping to get someone commissioned from the mountains for you. But one of the locals might very well catch your eyes." He rested his gaze on the couple for a moment, pondering on how late they really should stay. Personally he would love for them to never leave, but that was a bit selfish.

"But if you are worried about being late back, you can return tomorrow and continue to peruse the fruits of the city."

The crowd had been small enough, and when it became apparent they'd been generally noticed and the singing was going to stop, it began to disperse.
----------------------------

A quick glance at the kitchen revealed that the jerboa had been thorough. Not even a speck. No crumbs. Maaaybe..... no well the counters would be kinda hard to work through really. Could human teeth even chip it?

"Heeeh. Ramza would probably really be on my side, rather than pretending though. Lalus too."

The woman turned abruptly back into the main room and offered a wide grin at Nial.

"But if you really want me to, I can try and be more of an open book."
----------

"Right that's a good enough comparison." The teen put a hand over his eyes with a force of will that had him stopping for a moment, blocking out the road, the pebbles, the small disturbances.

"They're magical Good Samaritans though." He added once the world felt a bit less overwhelming and he could continue walking.

[Nial Idola]

"As far as I remember..."

Ramza started, thoughtfully looking straight ahead, as if the street in front of his gaze had the answer.

"We did want to see about a jeweler, and then ask Yukai if he or some of his posse could sew some fabric flowers or decorations like that, among any other tasks we could give him before he decides to on his own."

He beamed at the thoughts of flowers hanging from the trees outside the Inn, who knows, maybe after the wedding they could keep some here and there? If they draped over the tables, or were part of the curtains, maybe it would create a more homely, friendly atmosphere. Eventually, Ramza had to shake his head and repeat what he said.

"Find a jeweler, talk to Yukai when we get back. The mountains might be a lot difficult to traverse, um, we could either find a local place, or... Torr, do you think you could secretively commission one of the experts in the mountains?"

A stray thought popped in his head, a paper trail might be bad, but a hermit isn't about to talk much.
-----

Nial snorted as a response, but paused long enough to think about that. Sure, Ramza would defend this new person with his life but...

"Hey, you're not human right? Does that mean after your feast just now will you eat as much as a human?"

He briefly thought that if he asked that of any other girl in the world, he would get slapped immediately. He slunk into his seat and mused on that, scratching his head while doubting what exactly he was going to tell Ramza and Demyx about this.

[Demyx Ghatori]

"I can get ush all into zhe mountainsh pretty quickly and eashily," Demyx said with a wry half-smile, "but not ecshactly shecretly and maybe not shafely eizher. I would be kind of obvioush, and no doubt people would wonder." He waggled his currently-useless wings to emphasize the point, wishing vaguely that they were useful at something less than more-than-half-dragon. It was a pity; a trip into the mountains would certainly have been a novelty, if nothing else.

"I see," Mariner said, picturing a flock of Florence Nightingale types who were magically compelled to seek out those in need of help, whenever and wherever. "...How much further is it into town?" he asked, since the healer line seemed to have been used up. He could, of course, take flight and see for himself, but that wouldn't be entirely fair to Chris.

[Yukai WindeRiver]

It would be no use to panic at Demyx for what was clearly not a serious offer, but for a moment he had vivid flashes of terrified battle mages and knights rising to swift action. The ensuing chaos would be talked about for years.

"While I would enjoy the prospect of being taking off to the mountains by a dragon, it's probably best to save that for another day."

The king paused and wondered how well you could prepare the people of Sukair for a kindly dragon.

"Perhaps after the... event, we could arrange for a trip. Maybe go for a bit of a tour of the kingdom." He'd love to show it all off.

"As for a commission, if I can't get one, who could?
-----
Chris wondered what conclusion Mariner had really come to regarding the strange Healers, but... well he could work up the courage for making better conversation later. Maybe when... he wasn't really sure actually.

"How far?" Chris repeated while turning his attention to the distance in front of them. "Thr-" He cut himself off before even finishing the first number of rocks they had left.

"Um have we passed that bush with the blue flowers yet? Cause that's when we should be getting close."
----

"Now is that any question to ask a lady?" The jerboa chuckled and turned her attention to a new area once more. Really taking in the difference in perspective.

"But, I guess it really depends. I could do it again and again probably every meal time just to speed things up." She smiled at Nial, teasing with the threat of making them feed that impossible of an appetite.

"However! I like you guys too much for that. So for now I can keep it to... er average I guess..."

[Kaname and Ramza]

"That would cause the sort of attention you wouldn't want, yeah. Maybe some people would recognize your wings a little but..."

Ramza made a worried face, and laughed nervously. He gripped the front of his shirt tightly enough to form thick creases in the fabric. While Demyx was quite pretty soaring through the sky in his imagination, his scales underneath reflecting fragments of light just like the calm waves of a sea, the image was marred by Guards chasing the dragon form.

"You have a point there, Torr. I guess all that remains is talking to Yukai and trying to prevent him from going overboard."

He pulled himself out of his imagination to agree on that.

-----------

"Hey I don't know for sure if you're a lady or some kind of space monster."

Nial was probably digging his grave, but he just shrugged his shoulders. The empty sleeve at his side flopping loosely. If anything, Rikky seemed to act like she was some kind of space monster but... well, Nial thought back to the time he was asleep. That weird lady who was incredibly suspicious did turn out to be helpful and... Demyx could pull his weight, although he was more likely to leave people out of spite.
Nial was pretty sure Demyx didn't give much of a rat's a** about him, so he was surprised he went through the effort.

"No matter. Half the things I think are trying to kill me are fine, and half turn out to be not that bad. If anything, my interpersonal judgement is shot. I'll just figure out if I'm danger when I'm missing another limb."

Which was business as usual.

[Demyx Ghatori]

"Prevent Yukai from going overboard. Let'sh shee....how do we manage zhat?" Demyx said, folding his wings in tightly again. Granted, he was aware that dragons weren't exactly beloved creatures in this country, but watching both Torr and Ramza get nervous over what he thought had been an obvious joke was a little unsettling. He'd be watching the guards a little more closely now, just in case. "How, by having Nara tie him up and lock him in a chesht? Zhat would only work for sho long..." All right, think about jewelry. Think about the wedding. Think about possible designs for their mangalsutras. Don't think about armed guards with giant crossbows specially designed to take down dragons, even small humanoid ones. "I'm afraid zhe mosht we could do ish direct him to go overboard in a harmlesh direction."

"What, that bush with the blue flowers?" Mariner said, pointing at the bush in question. It wasn't that hard to distinguish, given as it was the only bush with blue flowers he'd ever seen in this area. "If that's our landmark, we must be pretty close, yeah?"