Welcome to Gaia! ::

More than a little pet on the head did seem to be in order as the ferret let out a small, sad sort of sound and sank her normally arched and active body into a depressed looking puddle in their young guide's arms. Merro frowned slightly as she considered the rather awkward kink in Nova's tail, fairly certain that it had not been there before. The noblewoman quickly cut her eyes around the common room, but the few occupants that had glanced over curiously at the brief commotion already seemed to be regaining interest in their breakfasts or business.

Feeling a faint and unfamiliar discomfort in her breast which a more pious and proper young lady would have recognized as a stab of guilt, Merro shifted her bundle to her left arm and offered the ferret a place upon her right arm.

"Forgive me," she murmured. "I didn't see you upon the floor. Do let me tend to you."

"Perhaps you might find us something upon which to break our fast while I see to Nova at that table over there," she then suggested quietly to Leana while nodding toward the table most removed from all the other early risers. Nova needed attention, for a certainty, but if Merro didn't get something to eat and drink soon she'd be in a worse state for traveling than the ferret. She had no experience to base the expectation off of, but it didn't take a seasoned adventurer to come to the conclusion that beginning a journey with hardly anything but borrowed life energy keeping you on your feet after an unintentional two-day fast was a very, very bad idea.

Letalus' methodical, heavy footsteps down the stairs could likely be heard outside the inn they were so loud. At the foot of the stairs, he paused, staring back at the various patrons who looked at him in surprise. At his unnerving gaze, they quickly looked away.

He scanned the room, doing a quick tally of how many people would more than likely attach themselves to Merro and insist on coming along. Ah, and there was the scarred b*****d who'd taken his gold. Would he try to con his way into their party, perhaps eyeing something of more value than a pouch of coins? An imperceptible frown was on his face by the time he took notice of Merro's dark head.

"My lady," Letalus said flatly as he approached her, barely giving the dramatic and pained creature in her hands a second notice. "I need to buy some supplies." He leaned down slightly, voice quieter. "You may be pleased to know that my gold was returned to me. You won't need to pawn anything of value to you now."

She was pleased to find the ferret possessed of such a generous and forgiving nature. She wouldn't have been far surprised to have been nipped if not outright bitten, though that mindset was due more to Merro's own nature and nurturing - or lack thereof - rather than any assessment she'd made of Nova's character.

Before she could turn toward the table she'd marked out for their use, the heavy tread of someone coming down the stairs made her first step aside from directly before the steps and turn to confirm who was now descending. Ease was out of the question and familiarity equally impossible, though for different reasons, but Merro at least managed to keep her composure and complexion fairly well as Letalus gained the ground floor and then took a quick look about the common room before coming toward her.

Nova, however, might have noticed being squeezed slightly and a sudden rapidity in the heartbeats thumping away next to her ear.

Merro nodded her assent as Letalus spoke, though his intentions were hardly likely to be to ask for her permission to leave her side in order to run errands. His information about the gold was most certainly welcome news, but surprising as well, and she fleetingly wondered when he'd had the time to pummel the gold out of the erstwhile thief last night in between slaughtering werewolves and running back and forth between her room and Sentelle's. Or rather Sentelle's room and his.

"I am pleased indeed," she replied. "I will await you here." She did not bother to explain about breakfast or the ferret's tail but simply turned and walked to the table she'd had her eye on earlier.

Letting her bundle slide from her arm into an empty chair and settling the poultry and rabbits under the table, she set to settling herself in another seat, facing a wall and with her back to most of the occupants of the room. It took a bit of fussing with cloak and sword, but she finally managed to sit down with Nova still nestled in the semi-dark shelter of cloak and arm and bodice.

"Stay still while I weave the spell, if you please," she said in a half-whisper, a bit anxious about casting her first spell upon an animal. Hopefully the ill-will the Saints harbored against her would not extend to cover the ferret as well, else the spell might turn out to be intended only for humans and cause the poor creature's tail to fall entirely off. It seemed to her better to try than to do nothing, however, and so she closed her eyes and began to recite the proper words in the same quiet voice.

ooc: Konami, if you wish to have Letalus intercept her before she gets very far from him please do feel free. I wasn't sure if he would have any concerns about her trying to run off as soon as he was out the door. XD I will edit my post so that it ends soon after "I will await you here" if you wish.

If Letalus hesitated at Merro's casual promise to wait for him, it was brief enough that it wasn't noticeable. Not that Merro would notice, her focus on the little creature as it was. He turned, casting a sidelong, cautious glance at Tomlin's back before opening the door and heading out into the morning air.

The streets were already busy with merchants and townspeople, a sign of the throng to come when the sun was higher. As he wove his way through people, looking for the nearest clothier, his impatience steadily grew. Crowds of people were annoying in the best of times and this was certainly not the best. It didn't help his mood that he felt he was being watched -- centuries of honed instincts made the back of his neck prickle and his shoulders involuntarily tense.

He finally found a modest shop down the road from the inn. Free from the lace and froth and frippery of the more popular boutiques, this was an establishment that obviously catered to the more masculine clientele. As Letalus opened the door and a bell chimed his entrance, the heavy scent of tobacco and leather wafted towards him. Yes, this would be acceptable...if they had anything pre-tailored to his size.

An elderly gentleman rounded a corner in the back and stopped, smiling at Letalus. The shopkeeper was stooped and frail, a good two feet shorter. "Mornin', ser. Would you be needing some boot repair perhaps?" He glanced at Letalus' tattered cloak, seemingly undisturbed by the rusty stains. "...or a new cloak?"

Letalus inclined his head towards a shelf of folded cloth. "I'm in need of a full set of clothes."

"O' course, ser. If you'd step over to the mirror here, I'll take your measurements and --"

"I need them now."

The old man had been in the process of trying to gently push Letalus towards the mirrors (with no success), but stopped short, staring up at him with raised, bushy eyebrows. "W-well, we have some clothes all ready, but I don't think they'll..." He paused suddenly, stepping back to give Letalus an appraising look. Suddenly he reached out and placed his palm sideways on Letalus' chest. Letalus was about to grab the shopkeeper by his neck and toss him out the window before he realized he was being measured, albeit in a less than professional way.

"You won't believe this, ser," the shopkeeper murmured, stepping back. "But I believe you're almost the exact size of my son." He turned and shuffled around the corner from whence he came, talking all the while. "When he left to be a knight in the king's service, he left behind all his old clothes." A grunt and a curse sounded among the clatter of trunks and gods only knew what else.

Letalus remained at the shop front, one hand hovering briefly over his chest where the old man had touched him. There were far too many people touching him lately. It was very uncomfortable.

The shopkeeper returned, shakily carrying a large wooden chest. Letalus reached out and retrieved it from him, not out of charity but impatience. Without waiting for permission, he placed the chest on the nearest table, opened it and rummaged through the cloth. "Never knew what to do with 'em," the old man was saying, the weary and sad note in his voice unnoticed.

Despite the similar sizes Letalus had with the unknown son, they clearly had different ideas of what constituted as fashion. Billowy soft shirts, silk jerkins, embroidered breeches...ridiculous that this boy wanted to be a soldier. His fingers brushed crushed velvet a deep blue color that reminded him of Merro's eyes when she'd gazed up at him with wonder...

He frowned and shoved the offending shirt under already sorted garments.

Finally, he found an undecorated white linen shirt and a surcoat that was longer and more formal than he'd like, but now was not the time to be captious. And, Letalus had to consider as he lifted the surcoat up, the length would cover the majority of the blood stains on his breeches.

"Not really a full set, is it?" the shopkeeper asked, putting to order the clothing Letalus had rumpled.

"It'll do."

Leana waited for a moment, and then the barman came back with three plates. He gave a half-hearted smile.

"Did you still want that other plate you ordered?" he asked.

"Oh..." Leana said, blushing. "It's really useless now...I forgot I'd ordered food already. It's alright, I'll just take these over and get the other one. We have a big group so maybe someone can eat one."

She'd noticed Letalus leave, and assumed that he'd be back. She wondered about Sentelle, but figured she was on top of everything usually that she'd get her own.

That or she'd have Leana do it...just to get her out of the conversation again. It seemed like whenever Leana had a moment alone with Merro it was interrupted somehow.

She took the plates and headed over to the table, hoping her clumsiness would not get the best of her now.

Little did Letalus know that his sensations of someone's gaze being upon him was indeed correct.

From off in the shadows of an alleyway, a cloaked individual strolls out among the street, filing their way towards the particular inn's entrance.

Tomlin's shoulder brushed against the man as they passed each other, my my this person had a hard arm...

OOC: Hey guys, tis Bri :3! This is going to be a mule for various baddies I intend to play unless one or more of you wanna help with the "mage army" XD lol

There was indeed no sound of armor or metal from where Tomlin's shoulder connected with the individual's, but he was indeed protected by something. The man stopped momentarily, tilted his head slightly in Tomin's direction, and then returned to his original path towards the stairs of the inn entrance.

In that brief moment, Tomlin could feel a sense of energy on this individual, as if the connection they encountered gently stirred a dormant presence within his soul, something that Tomlin would have never felt before.

As he reached his hand for the railing of the entrance stairs to the inn, a slight glimpse of elven writing could be seen on a small bracer on the person's arm.