Setting
Nadiah stood up and looked at Kayla. "Well, I assume your business here is finished. I'm heading to bed, so we'll see you tomorrow morning." She said. Kayla fidgeted visibly at the assumption. "Uh, well no..." She mumbled, glancing towards the door anxiously. "I told you that you'd be hard-pressed to send me back out there." There was another rumble of thunder after she finished her sentence, and she stiffened again. "Sorry, but, ah, I am not going back outside." She insisted sheepishly. "I...I'll sit right here, if sleeping anywhere else is too much trouble, but I refuse to go back out there." Nadiah brushed her ears back and pointed her thumb towards the staircase. "Just take the room upstairs." She replied nonchalantly. "I figured you wouldn't go back out." Kayla sighed and her shoulders slumped in relief. She got up to go up the stairs. "Thanks..." She murmured.
She headed upstairs and into the extra room, and she was beyond happy to be able to sleep in a bed instead of a dripping tree. Though she was dead on her feet by now, she made sure to fold up the bedsheets and place them on the ground. After removing her boots, she crawled into the bed and curled up into a comfortable position. It wasn't long before she drifted off to sleep.
Nadiah inhaled deeply smelling the petrichor on the cobblestone street as only to upset herself at the scent of Rosemary glaze that the food vendor smell sorely lacked. Ciarra will be back soon enough Nadiah thought This Zhailov case will bring in some good money to relax. I've been working ceaselessly since June Nadiah shed her clothes laying them on the bed, being sure to lay svikali and vinur underneath the wrap of which's cleanliness she had managed to maintain. She walked briskly over to the back bathroom and after a pensive shower dried her skin and wrung out her tail before she redressed and donned her pistols for the later work of the day.
Nadiah moved silently through the upstairs hallway to the spare room that Kayla lie in. Nadiah jarred the door only to the sight of Kayla replacing the sheets that she had taken off the bed. She was fully dressed in her sheepskin overcoat and boots. The brass gardenia on her lapel shone with refined care as the matching ones on her bootstraps. "As calming as the rain was, I couldn't sleep," Kayla muttered at the faintest whisper that the door made, "it was the thunder that was so frightening. Made it impossible to even rest my eyes with a new crack sounding every minute." Nadiah listened downstairs hearing Fenrir on his normal walk about as he fetched some jerky from the pantry. After a moment of waiting, Nadiah and Kayla both sauntered down the dim steps and into the kitchen where Fenrir still barely had woken up.
"Oh, eh, no, you don't have to do that." Nadiah replied immediately, walking over. "I can cook the eggs. You just stick to the tea." Kayla tipped her head in confusion before remembering the last time she cooked eggs. She frowned slightly and opened the bag of tea leaves. "It's not like I would have burned the house down doing so." She mumbled as she grabbed a kettle to fill with water. "You have reached the border of that possibility, though." The other girl countered casually. Kayla set her lips into a firm line as she rolled her eyes in exasperation.
While Nadiah cooked the food, Kayla set up the tea for them. It was the only form of "cooking" she could properly accomplish, and she took great care in maintaining that skill. As she pulled out a portion of the bunch, she observed the leaves once more before placing them in the hot water inside the kettle. They only required a few minutes to infuse into the water, so it didn't take long for the tea to be ready, along with the eggs Nadiah had cooked. Kayla carefully took off the lid of the kettle and picked up the rich scent of the tea easily. "Well, look at that." She noted sarcastically, pointing to the kettle. "All done and no fire. Want some?"
"Never understood your interest in conduits" Kayla conjectured pouring tea from kettle to cup. "Not everyone is as meticulous in the everyday, Kay. Cyla's a wonderful time saver in the realm of practical magic. The guns are for my own benefit. Far less wasteful, and much more fun." Nadiah scooped up the eggs off the pan and onto two plates leaving a congealed mass of scraps on the pan. "Fenrir," Nadiah called, "have it." Nadiah jerked the pan and chucked forth the eggs. Fenrir leapt up and engulfed the mass of that which was seared and seasoned, taking no time to chew. he smiled at the meal and went to wait by the door patiently. Nadiah and Kayla quickly went on to eat quickly before setting out the door and into the noisy street of Colivaard.
After eating breakfast, she followed Nadiah out into Colivaard. The noise of their surroundings filled Kayla's ears immediately and she looked around curiously and warily at the other people as they walked. "Every time I come here, it's like waking up to the magpies that nest in the oaks I sleep in." She mused, her bright green eyes searching the area. "Though, they have the decency to fly off when I approach..." Her shoulder bumped against another person's body and she stumbled forward. She let out a small, frustrated growl under her breath and looked back at the person in irritation. As she did so, her gaze drifted across the street to a man stepping out of a carriage. She saw his profile for a brief second as he turned to look down the street, and then more people brushed by her. Once they were out of her line of vision, she saw that he had already left. Blinking in confusion, she moved to catch up with Nadiah. "Uh, so where exactly do we need to go to find Dante?" She asked. She continued to looked around, the sight of the man still putting her off.
Fenrir looked around and hummed jocularly. "We may be closer than you think," he smirked, "Kayla you may want to check your bag. Make doubly sure you've everything you care to keep." Kayla frantically grabbed her satchel and snapped open the flap, counting every book and every scrap of an article that she carried with her. My field guide! Where's my field guide!? She searched around the little untrodden ground that there was to see where she might have dropped it. She paused at the moment she locked eyes back to Nadiah. Fenrir sneered as he had noticed as well. Nadiah was clutching a hand that had seemingly attempted to reach inside her overcoat.
"Hello Dante," Nadiah smiled.
"Oh Nadiah, when will you learn?" Dante grinned, "I have the fastest hands in all of Colivaard." Dante then took a moment to examine Kayla. Clearly liking what he saw, Dante continued. "Who's this? What's her name? And Nadiah!"
"...Why do you have her field guide?"
This left Kayla feeling rather confused, and Nadiah smirking jovially. She had of course noticed Dante's ploy, but appeared to be going along with it. After a moment of reflection, Dante took the time to introduce himself to Kayla. "Hello miss! My name is Monty. I make an honest living. Would you like a biscuit?" Dante asked, offering her a biscuit.
"Oh! And what was your name again?"
She bristled at the knowledge that her satchel still lacked her mother's field guide, and Dante's chatter was not helping her relax. Her eyes brightened with annoyance as the biscuit was placed into her hand and Dante's hand lightly touched her head. The contact made her face flush with embarrassment and anger. She let the biscuit drop from her hand and she grasped the thief's wrist. "I don't think you understand, Monty." She muttered, a growl in her throat as she drew out his name. "Feel free to return my field guide before I begin with the formalities...without the biscuits. If I'm not focused, you won't get enough details about this meeting."
Nadiah cleared her throat slightly and tapped Kayla's shoulder. "I think Dante needs to know the main idea of why we are here to see him before we provide the full details of the information, though." She explained. Kayla glanced back at her with a faint glare before she sighed and let go of Dante's wrist. "We're here to ask for assistance on a bounty." She muttered flatly, looking at the thief once more.
Noting the discontent in Kayla's eyes, he signaled to Nadiah. Nadiah handed Dante Kayla's field guide, and Dante handed it back to Kayla in turn.
"Seriously though- if you three need the money, I can help you find someone. Not saying that if it comes down to MY bounty that I won't be at your throat, but I'm always willing to offer up my services. Whether it's tracking down a bounty or getting folks to offer up one, I- Dante Monty Rockwell, solemnly swear that I will do whatever it takes to save my ass as legitimately as possible. I'm sure Nadiah can attest to that."
Dante looked around and offered a slight smile as he continued to stare relentlessly at Kayla, "I suppose your friend will be joining us then?" Kayla clenched her fists in anxiety so that it drove her knuckles pale. "It's Kayla", She breathed begrudgingly stowing her book back in her satchel, "and if it wouldn't be too much to ask Mr. Rockwell, I'd prefer you'd cease that nosy glare of yours." As she spoke there were blue hazes that poured around her hands as if the air around them had become electric with Cyla. Dante noticed this nearly immediately. "Alright, easy sweetheart, I think you looked to much into that," Dante purred, "still, even this early I could use a drink. Crimson Moon it is."
Eventually the group made their way to the Crimson Moon, and were seated by one of the waitresses in the back of the Cafe. It was a bit early for lunch, so the obvious choice would be to start off with some coffee. While he would've preferred something alcoholic, coffee felt like the better life choice, and so he stood by it for now.
Dante pointed at his menu (so Nadiah knew what he wanted her to buy him) before offering it up to Fenrir for his reading pleasure.
With that settled, business could be attended to.
As Dante read the menu and pointed out things to Nadiah, Kayla observed the tavern curiously. She felt more at ease in the dimly lit establishment, and she contentedly took in the inviting scents of food and spirits. As she glanced back to see Dante handing Fenrir the menu, though, she remembered that she needed talk business before they got distracted. "Alright, so Nadiah said you could assist us in obtaining information on this bounty." She said, looking Dante in the eye. "The bounty is hanging over two men who planned out multiple murders and racketeering crimes. They also hold potentially important information about other crime lords. Their names are Levi and Damien Zhailov. Do you have any information on them?"
"After all, Dante's never been one to pass up a shiny," He murmured.
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