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Krista: In a small bar just outside of Durem, a dark hair elven woman pushes the door open slowly as she steps out of the thunderstorm. The white long sleeve shirt she wore was pretty much seethrough, in fact the only thing that couldn't be seen was her chest and stomach thanks to the dark green corset she was wearing. Her eyes scan the room, looking at everyone who was looking at her.

Shaking her head, she moves towards the corner booth. Slipping into it, she leans back closing her eyes, She didn't speak, not that she really could remember. This was the first time in what seemed a year that she transformed by to her human form.

Lenore: It had been years since he had been back here. He had been out looking for his old friend, and came up with nothing. Which was infuriating, to say the least. How could he, borne from a long line of trackers, not have found her? Lenore had never been that hard for him to track her down before, he wondered what had made it so easy for her to make the slip this time.

He sighed, ran long fingers through his dark green, messy mop of hair, and rubbed his gray eyes. This was ridiculous, it really was. But, he didn't see how sitting around this bar was going to help anything.

Then, the door opened, and a slightly familiar form slipped in. He could swear he knew her ... but he was not about to go up to her just yet. Instead, intense eyes followed her, watched her sit and shake her head. He watched her close her eyes, ignoring the waitress that had come her way to ask what she wanted to drink. He'd just wait a few moments, he wanted to be sure that he was right about who this was....

Krista: Looking down at her wedding ring, she felt tears well up but soon fought them back. She been searching for a year, trying to track a woman carrying her children. Only to come up empty handed, and it was killing her worse then anything. Taking in a slow steady breath, she push the sleeves of her shirt up, revealing a fire heart tattooed on her upper on. Under it, no longer hidden by magic was the name Lenore. It however seen to be faded some, as if it was disappearing on her.

Looking away she slams her fist into the table, then turns her body to sit sideways. Pulling her legs up to her chest, she rest her head against her knees for a moment. She took in a long deep breath, before letting it out again.

Lenore: Laermeluion's angled brow quirked when he heard the punch, and he watched as she turned. Keen eyes had glanced at the tattoo, and it was familiar as well. Alright, he was pretty sure, now, that he knew this elven woman. But, should he approach her? She seemed ... angry, hurt, sad, frustrated ... she was a whirlwind of emotions that he was really not all that used to dealing with.

But, she was Lenore's wife. She might know where she was; or, judging by her psoture now, he was looking for her too. Two sets of eyes were better than one.... So, he did something he was still wondering was a good idea or not. He got up and made his way to her booth. In that siren's voice of his, he asked, "Mel?"

Krista: Hearing her name, it seem so odd to her at that very moment. Lifting her eyes slowly, she gazed at the man in front of her, the green hair. The voice, that voice that captured everyones attention. frowning, she stretch her legs back out before she looks back to him. Her voice was barely above a whisper and seem almost harsh sounding "Laer? By the goddess, if your...." she didn't finish her sentense, instead she started coughing for a moment.

Taking in a slow breath, she looks back up at him. Her tongue darting out to brush across her lips "Where is Lenore...?"

Lenore: Well, that answered that. She obviously didn't know where she was, either. He sighed again, and sat in the booth. He didn't care if he as invited or not, he wasn't about to stand there and look down at her.

"I honestly don't know, Mel," he said, folding his hands in his lap. "I was hoping that you would have had better luck than I did." He hated that, that he had come up empty-handed. Especially now that he was faced with Mel's grieving eyes. Hell, he didn't even know if Lenore was alive or not. In the beginning, when he had been tracking Lenore, he could tell that he was not the only one. But, he had ruled out Mel as the other person, these footsteps had been lighter ... one of a hunter.

Had the hunter caught up to Lenore? He would like to think not, Lenore had usually come up with some magical way to get them out of trouble. He hoped that she had been able to do the same for herself. "I was hoping that you might've had a clue ... and I wanted to see how you were doing," he finally admitted.

Krista: Looking down, Mel shook her head. Her long dark locks hiding her face for a moment as she coughs again "I...I can't feel her anymore. Somehow my heart feels empty Laer." looking up slowly, her eyes glisten as she shakes her head again "What if...what if..." she couldn't speak the word, or she was refusing to. It was honestly hard to tell at the moment.

Looking down at her ring again, she runs a single finger across it. She was shaking badly, from the lack of food and sleep. How she was even awake shocked her at the moment. She kept thinking it was the will power she had to find her wife.

Lenore: Laer had never been one to lie to someone, not even one that clearly needed to be lied to. With a frown, and resisting the urge to reach out and touch her, to offer Mel some sort of comfort despite what he was about to say, he said, "When I was tracking Lenore in the first weeks ... I noticed someone else with her. It wasn't you, but it was someone following closely behind her. Their tracks were very familiar to me. Not because I knew the person, but because I knew the type." Here, he paused, his gray eyes turning away from Mel before his face did. He didn't think he could look at her while he told her this, even if he felt that she needed to know. She had to be prepared, just in case the worst -had- happened. "They looked like tracks that those hunting something - or someone - would make."

There, he had said it. And, his own nagging fear had begun to flare once more. He didn't like this, not knowing, he hated it more than having failed. He wanted, more than anything, to be sure about the state of Lenore, he wanted to know if she was really alive or dead. He thought that they both needed that.

Krista: Mel didn't move, nor did she make any sound for what seem like forever. Finally, she crawls towards Laer and does the one thing she needed the most. She crawls into his lap and hugs him close as she buries her face against his neck. She was frozen to the touch, and up close she was actually pale and rather sick looking. Her tremble was from that of feeling cold, and now that she was hiding silent tears.

She didn't want to believe Laer, but deep down she knew he was speaking the truth. That alone, made her feel dead inside.

Lenore: "Mel," Laer said, even his arms started to wind around her. There it was, and he knew that she needed the contact. He would allow it, of course, to hell with what anyone in the bar thought. He continued, his voice soft - barely above a whisper, "We don't know for sure what has happened. We can still have hope...."

Could they? He didn't know. All he knew was that he, personally, was definitely not going back to the Haven to face Damien ... and, later, Nyoka, until he knew for -damn- sure whether or not Lenore was alive. He wasn't going to break false news to her children, he wasn't going to watch their reactions only to have Lenore saunter back into the Haven weeks later. They'd already lost another mother, even if she probably was alive somewhere.

It just wasn't like Lenore to leave without so much as a word to anyone, it wasn't like her to leave her children behind to fend for herself. Family had always been of the utmost importance to her....

Krista: Shaking her head, she looks up at Laer "What about...our children she is carrying? Laer....what if..." she closes her eyes taking in a slow steady breath. She was still calm, which surprised her. Inside she was an emotional wreck, and it was only getting worse.

Finally pulling back, she remains in his laps as she lift her hand to brush away her hair "I didn't think by leaving the note, she was honestly this serious." she thought of the note, how Lenore said she would returned, only to be a month later with nothing. It was at that moment, she left to chase after her wife, leaving everyone behind.

Lenore: Yes, he was worried about that, too. But ... "She left a note?" he asked, puzzled now as he his gray eyes looked back at Mel. He couldn't - wouldn't - allow himself to think about the twins. It just wasn't something that he was willing to do. If Laer thought about it too much, he wouldn't be able to do anything about finding her. But, if Lenore was dead, which was what he was begining to think happened, their unborn children surely were, too.

"What did the note say?" he asked, clinging to that one bit of information. He hoped Mel didn't think he was being heartless, that she understood that he was incapable of thinking of the twins right now.

He nodded ... and then sighed. "Mel, you know as well as I that when she thinks that those that she cares about are in trouble ... Lenore doesn't think. She just acts."

Laermeluion put his hand on her shoulder. "All we can do is have faith that she is alright. She is smart, and has survived this long when she has faced so many dangers in her past. This, too, Lenore will over come...." He tried to smile, but he could only cause a twitch at the corner of his lips. "But, I don't think we should be here. If I promised to go with you first thing tomorrow to continue our search, will you come back to Emerald Haven with me?"

Laer shook his head. "Mel, I understand what you're saying, but we need to rest, we need to regroup ... A bar is not the best place to do that, don't you agree?" he said, trying to be rational about the whole thing ... and turning up the charm in his voice for added affect. "Besides, what if there is another note there?" It stood to reason that, if Lenore felt she was going to be away longer than she had planned on, she would send another note at the very least.... Right?

Laer nodded, knowing damn well that he was not going to go to whatever room she was talking about. As soon as they left the bar, he was going to steer her on the course back to Emerald Haven. "Alright," he said, finally. "We'll go back to the Haven, and the first thing we will do is check the mail. And then the kitchen table, just in case there is mail there." There, he had made his intentions known, he just hoped that Mel was going to go along with them. Because, he honestly did miss the Haven. As much of a nomad as he was, he liked the idea of having his own little place on the grounds to call his own. He liked knowing that he had someplace to go back to whenever he felt like it. And, now, he certainly felt like it....

He frowned when he heard her words, but stood to follow her. Once he was outside in the rain and the wind, her turned frustrated gray eyes to Mel. "No, Mel, I don't think you understand," he said, softly, masking his frustration from his voice, at least. "I want to go home. I won't spend another night in some strange bed. You can do whatever you wish, I won't stop you. But. I am going back to the Haven to my little house and getting the first night of restful sleep I have had in over two years...."

He reached out and gave Mel's shoulder a squeeze. "I hope you'll join me," he added, giving her a half-hearted smile before he stuck his hands in his pocket and slowly turned to walk away.

The great thing about being an elf ... well, one of them, was your keen sense of hearing. So, when he heard Mel finally give in, he fought hard to keep his smile in check. When she nudged him, he had to fight even harder. He simply nudged her back, then flipped the collar of his jacket up against the rain, ducking his head a little so that he could keep it out of his eyes.

"I'm glad you decided to come with me...." he admitted, finally, once they had made some progress.

He looked over at Mel, quirking a brow. "Sure, you can have the little guest room," he said, digging his hands further into his pockets. "You'll have to let yourself in, though. I'm going to stop at the manor proper to check on things. And, truth be told, I am hoping I come across Damien or Nyoka. They might have more news for us...."

Meanwhile, one of the very people Melantha was worried about stumbling across was flipping through channels in the living room. His bare feet were propped up on coffee table - a sure sign that his mother was not home - and he was leaning back, lazily, in the plush couch. He was expecting visitors, and if he was right, the four of them should be coming along soon.

After he made up two rooms for the more permanent guests, he realized that there was only one more room in the manor to use as a guest room. He certainly hoped that Laerwen didn't mind sharing the room with Arandur....