Taj and Aero: Advent of the Feather King

The next morning found most of the group in in a terrible way. Rose for her part had finally passed out after the drug had worn out of her system and was sleeping heavily in her bed. The sun shining through the windows woke her first, but she was also cold and so clutched the sheets tightly to herself. Her mouth was dry and he head a little fuzzy, from what she assumed was the aftereffects of drinking the night before. Golden eyes met the morning sun and she scanned the room, surprised to see Demetri huddled in a corner of the room. A dark blush stained her cheeks when she realized that he had no shirt on and she tried to avert her eyes but couldn't help but to stare a bit. "Demetri? What's the matter? Did something ha-" She had sat up to get a better look at the boy hunkered down looking quite scared, but when she did she realized something that was far more embarrassing than him being shirtless. For a second Rose could only gape at her own bare body, then quickly snatched up the covers and laid back down, burying herself under the sheets. "Why am I naked?!" She screeched, her face completely crimson now.

*~*

Alex was off to a better start that morning, but not much of one. One of his arms was a little numb, and he was surprised to learn the reason why. Oriana, still half naked, had spent the night using his arm as a pillow. A soft smile stole over his face and without even consciously thinking about it he dropped a light kiss on her forehead, his other hand resting in the dip of her waist. For a long moment he simply stayed like that, his mind racing to comprehend just what exactly was going on. Here Oriana was, half naked and totally vulnerable, and he had no desire to try and take advantage of her. Very strange. Of course, he could always rationalize that it wasn't a challenge to take advantage of girls when they were incredibly inebriated as Oriana had been, but that wasn't all together the truth either. With a frown Alex simply groped one of Oriana's breasts just to make himself feel better, quite frustrated when it wasn't nearly as exciting as he thought it would be, and turned over, laying his free arm over his eyes. He was going to die today, he just knew it.

*~*

The twin overall had the better night of the group, though Ilario had a rather impressive bruise developing on the left side of his face. Nothing that Rose couldn't fix, but painful to talk all the same. Not like he had needed to talk much the night before anyway, Isthena had seen to that. Instead he woke that morning with his face cushioned on the soft pillows of the elf whore's cleavage and was instantly a happy man that morning.

Demetri kept himself in the very corner of the room. He had done his part in putting the woman in the bed, covering her and ensuring she was all right before sitting in his little corner to blush for the rest of the night. He had only thought to put his pants on and right before sulking. Even though he was sure Rose was possessed or her drink had been mixed with something he felt a little bad that he couldn’t stop some of the acts that happened the night before. When she woke he wouldn’t dare make eye contact with her. “Something…happened last night…” He didn’t want to explain, but he thought she deserved to know. “You…uh…something was in your drink that made you….somewhat aggressive…” He let his explanation hang in the air, hoping she would get the hint with both of them not fully dressed.

~*~*~*~

Oriana woke to something grabbing at her chest and then felt movement on the bed she was in. Someone was sleeping with her? This confused her immensely. She opened her eyes only to be met with the sun and she groaned. A sharp pain ran through her head as she rolled over. Her head met with the side of someone’s chest. She looked up to see a familiar lock of orange and black hair. “….Alex…?” All of a sudden it clicked and she sprung up in the bed, covering her chest and a dark stain on her face. As she was about to raise a hand to smack the hell out of him another sharp pain hit her head and she folded herself over. “Alex…What the hell is going on?” She growled.


~*~*~*~

Ryleon woke in pain. Lots and lots of pain. His hands hurt the worse and he sat up and discovered them swollen, bruised and covered in blood. He was pretty sure they both were broken. “What the…?” Reaching up with his wrist he gently touched his forehead and winced. Another bruise? Did he get the crap beat out of him last night?

~*~*~*~

Tristan woke with a smile on his handsome features as he rolled over and wrapped an arm around Solaria’s waist. “What a good night..” He commented happy that they had found the girls.

"…Aggressive…?" Rose repeated in a tiny voice, peaking her head out from under the covers. Her eyes scanned the room and she was horrified to find that her clothes were scattered all around the room. A deeper blush stained her cheeks briefly and she looked to Demetri, who was determinedly not looking back. Horror washed over her and she clenched the blankets tighter around herself. "I- you- we… did we…?" She pointed at herself and him in turns, daring to expose her bare arm to the daylight. She was equally parts embarrassed and astonished that drinking whatever foul liquid Kaionar had to offer had made her behave so terribly like… like… Like if I were Ilario or Tristan…

*~*

He wasn't too afraid that Oriana was going to hit him, in fact he probably would have appreciated the strike. Maybe it would have knocked some sense into him, but instead she simply groaned and turned over, giving him the time he needed to get his numb arm out from under her head. He flexed his fingers, the feeling returning to his fingers feeling like thousands of needles stabbing him. "Well, we were sleeping, obviously." He said in the most neutral voice he could muster. Alex stood and stretched, continuing to flex his numb hand. "You see, last night I'm afraid that you got a little bit more than tipsy. After throwing yourself at some other patrons in the bar and removing your own shirt, I decided that it was high time to save you from yourself and so took you up here."

*~*

A sleepy groan came from Solaria when she woke, snuggling into Tristan's embrace and making sure to slot her firm rear in the crook of his hips. She kept her eyes closed however, enjoying the body warmth that he provided. "Indeed sirs. You make it quite easy to pay you back for the good that you've done us." Smiling slightly, she lifted her arm and curled her fingers in his hair, rubbing his scalp slightly.

Ilario sighed, rolling slightly to stare at the ceiling. "It's too bad we need to leave again. Oriana is probably already stomping around wondering where we've gotten off to."

Demetri’s gaze finally looked up at her. “No. We didn’t, just….” He looked back down. “Close.” His shoulders slumped in guilt and the fear he had held the night before. She had never acted like that before and he could easily guessed it was the first time in her life that she acted as such. “Should I…leave?” He had stayed to ensure that she would be alright through the night but seeing him now might be worse for her.

~*~*~*~

Oriana looked at him in disbelief. She did all that? She didn’t want to believe his words but what choice did she really have? She doubted there was anyone else to tell her otherwise than the people in the bar and if what Alex said really was true she had no want to see them. “Ugh…” She rubbed her head and look up to him, keeping herself covered. “Where is my shirt? And why on Earth didn’t you help put it back on in my drunken state?” Asking questions made her head pound more. “Whatever…Can you just get me some water?” She tried to sound nicer, though she had a defeated under tone. She figured he had done /something/ last night and he wasn’t going to get away with it.

~*~*~*~

Ryleon stood and tried to open the door with his foot, but soon found it locked. “Really…” With his hands how they were he wasn’t going to be able to unlock the door. Pushing open the window and holding back a grunt of pain from the massive headache he had, Ryleon jumped out the window and flew down in front of the door. He walked inside and back up the stairs. Looking hesitantly at the door he thought Rose was in he knocked on it with his elbow. “Rose? I need your help…”

~*~*~*~

Tristan sighed. “We always have to leave when its good.” He rubbed a hand over Solaria’s breast to take another feel for himself before standing.

Isthena nuzzled Ilario’s neck before licking it and few times and nibbled on his ear. “You really have to go so soon?” She purred, putting a bit of a whine to her normally dominate voice.

Rose didn't know if she should sigh with relief or crawl under a rock and never come out ever again. On one hand she was still a virgin, but on the other… it sounded like she had nearly raped Demetri, and he was currently looking terrified. The ordeal from the night had probably undone all of the trust building she had been doing up until this point. With a heavy sigh she buried her head back under the covers, hiding from Demetri. She was pretty sure that her whole body was flushing from embarrassment, certainly her face was on fire. "Y-yeah just… go find the others… I… I need to find my clothes and… get dressed…" She wanted to cry, and after waiting a few moments she said in a weak voice; "I'm really sorry Demetri."

*~*

"That is actually a very good question. I'm not entirely sure where you threw your shirt…" He mumbled, tapping his chin as he pondered the query. "I think that you threw it- Ah! There." With a swipe of his hand he picked up the shirt and placed it on the bed for Oriana to grab if she could muster the strength to do so. "Although fair lady, I can't imagine why you would want to cover up. Your body is quite devine to look at." With a playful grin he got himself to the door and waved, opening it up. "I shall be back forthwith with your water, dear one. Please, do reconsider staying in a state of half-dress. It suits you quite nicely." And with that he was gone before she could throw anything at him.

He didn't get very far however when he noticed Ryleon standing in the hallway looking like he'd been in a fight with the biggest toughest guy in all of Kaionar and had lost the match. "Dear god man, what's happened to you?" He asked, stopping to look at all of the wounds on Ryleon's face. "No offense, but you look terrible."

*~*

Solaria pushed her breast into Tristan's palm when he went to cop a feel, looking very disappointed when he didn't continue with the interaction. "You really do have to leave at the worst times." She said with a pout, stretching herself out on the bed, totally unconcerned with the fact that she was stark naked.

"It's true." Ilario replied with a groan, getting himself up out of bed despite the fact that he dearly would have like to stay in it. Or just in the room, really. Beds weren't exactly a necessity for having fun with the two elves. The twins were dressed and ready to go shortly, despite their wish to not have to leave the two women in favor of sleeping on hard cold ground.

Oriana glared at Alex, but nothing more as he threw her shirt on the bed. She waited for him to leave before putting the material back on and sighed with relief. I was nice not to feel exposed. Leaning her back up against the bed she waited for Alex to come back with water. For a second she thought he might bring her back booze but shook the thought from her head. He wasn’t the stupid, or cruel, right?

~*~*~*~

Ryleon felt so pathetic and looked up with he saw Alex he shook his head to mean to took no offense. “I feel terrible.” He held up his hands to show how bloody and broken they were and sighed. “I don’t know what happened to me…or if there was someone else involved…but I think I lost...” He tried to give the man a small smile but winces at the action and frowned again. “Do you know where Rose is?”

~*~*~*~

Demetri found his shirt quickly and put it on, grabbing his pack and the key as he did so. Before he left he walked over to the bed and placed a hand on the covers where he was sure her head would be. “It’s alright.” He patted her a few times before leaving the room with a soft click of the door behind him.

He was about to head down stairs when he saw Alex and Ryleon standing in the hall way. At least he found two of them. He over heard Ryleon asking for Rose and walked over. “She is in the second room down the hall over there…” He looked down as a dark blush came back to his face. “Give her a few minutes though.” He refused to let there be any silence for questions and looked up to Alex. “I assume you know where Oriana is?”

~*~*~*~

Tristan wanted to reach out and touch the woman but couldn’t. They really had to leave. “I’m sure this won’t be our lasting meeting.” It would be the last for a while though and that made him sad indeed. Giving his slight bow, he exited the room.

Isthena put a hand along her curves and looked at her partner in crime. She liked these two, enjoyed their company in bed than most of their clients. They had saved them after all. With a grin set on her face she waved the boys out of the room.

Rose winced at the contact when Demetri patted her head through the sheets but said nothing. When she was sure he was gone, she sniffled and let a couple of silent tears fall into the mattress before she got herself together and started dressing, looking all around for wherever her clothes had gotten off to. Upon examining herself she realized that the lacy panties she normally wore were indeed still on, which either meant that Demetri was telling the truth about what had gone on last night or else he had redressed her… she was going to assume the former, however, and with a sense of gloom growing in her soul she managed to struggle into her pants undershirt and coat, finding her boots kicked under the bed and put those on as well. She heaved a heavy sigh and sat on the bed, staring out the window for a few seconds. At least it couldn't get any worse.

*~*

Although Alex had known that Demetri and Rose had shared a room that night, he hadn't at all expected the man to blush so deeply as he had upon coming out of the room. He wanted to ask what had gone on in there last night that had turned his face such an amazing shade of crimson, but was given no time to indulge in the query. "Of course I know where she is." He replied to Demetri's obvious ploy to keep questions from being directed at himself. Alex patted Ryleon on the shoulder gingerly and pointed downstairs with his thumb in a casual manner. "I'm heading to the bar to grab some water. Care to come with, Demetri?" He knew very well that Ryleon was going to head over to Rose's room ASAP, which left the nervous man quite alone with Alex, who really wanted to pry into the events of the night before.

*~*

Once they were outside in the morning light of Kaionar, Ilario stretched mightily, flaring his wings, flapping them a couple of times to work out the kinks that sleeping on them had made. "Well, at least we know where to find them when we get back from saving everyone." He said with cheerful grin, rotating his shoulder. "Although, we should probably keep them from Ma. She'll throw a fit."

Ryleon nodded, and took a quick pace to get to Rose. He was hurting dearly and wanted his cousin to fix him ASAP. He softly knocked on the door with his elbow. “Rose, It’s Ryleon, I’m coming in.” He announced as he opened the door handle with his foot. He walked in the room to see tears on his face and quickly went to her side. “Rose, what’s wrong? Did he do something to you?” His voice held a fair bit of concern for her as he crouched down next to her.

~*~*~*~

Demetri watched as Ryleon went off and looked at Alex. He knew the man was going to ask question but decided to just go with it. After last night he almost wanted to talk about it with someone. Perhaps he could tell him what happened to Rose last night to make her like that. It couldn’t have been the half of a drink she had, right?

He walked down the stairs with Alex. “I suppose.” He gave the curt answer and kept his eyes down on the ground. “Is Oriana alright?” For some reason it seemed odd for Alex to be doing her any favors at all, mainly because she would just do them herself.

~*~*~*

Tristan grinned. “I think ma would have some questions at our choice of women, brother, and then our old man might be in trouble.” He put his hands behind his head, enjoying the warm morning light coming down on them.

Alex nodded as the two headed down the stairs and he took a seat at the bar, more than content to wait while the kitchen staff got their act in gear and came to ask what he wanted. "Oh yes, she'll be fine once she's over her hang over. Blood like spring water, these girls have. But I doubt that interests you much." He leveled a knowing look at Demetri, rubbing his chin in a knowledgeable manner. "So? What went wrong last night? I assume that you're not blushing just because you saw her unconscious." And by her he obviously meant Rose, but that went without saying. The two had been locked up together all night. And yes, he had heard some overly happy couple moaning and groaning in the middle of the night and had done his best to ignore them.

*~*

Rose looked startled when Ryleon suddenly appeared in her range of vision, and quickly dried her tears, half chuckling half sniffling at his question. "Him? No, I think it was all me." Rose got one good look at Ryleon's face and stifled a gasp, her red tinged eyes going wide. "Ryleon! You're hurt! What happened? Oh no, your hands! Did someone break them? Hold still, I'll sing them better for you." Rose cleared her throat and touched his forearms gently, reciting the short little melody that she had used on Ilario and Tristan so many times when they were boys and had beaten each other black and blue. When she was done she sat back and admired her handy work, glad to see that he was back in one piece.

Demetri looked at Alex as he sat down with a frown on his face. “I think she was drugged…” He confessed, keeping his gaze down on the table. “She wasn’t acting like herself at all…” He placed a hand on his chest where he knew the hickey would be and turned another shade of red. It was just way too much for him to experience all at once and he knew it bothered Rose even more that she didn’t have control over herself.

~*~*~*~

Ryleon kept his kneeling position as Rose sang a short melody he smiled, flexing his fingers to ensure all of the bones and muscles were back to where they were supposed to be. “Thank you Rose. I’m not sure what happened last night…I was drinking with Ilario and Tristan and next thing I knew I was in my room with two broken hands and a bruise on my head.” He smiled nervously as he looked her over. “Are you sure you are alright?” He sat on the bed next to her and waited to see if she wanted to talk about it or not.

Alex read Demetri like he would a book, following his every hand motion and tracking the expressions on his face. So, something incredibly awkward had happened? He of course had an inkling as to what was going on last night if Demetri suspected her of being drugged, but that didn't mean that he couldn't continue to pry. "How was she acting, then? Did she hit you?" He gestured to the place that Demetri had touched on his chest. "You should probably let me have a look at that…"

*~*

Of course Ilario and Tristan were at fault. They were always getting everyone else into trouble, and she was always picking up their messes. And now they had gotten Ryleon hurt! She would have to talk to those two about this… they were never getting her drunk ever again! When Ryleon sat next to her she drew up her feet and put them on the bed, settling her chin on her knees and wrapping her arms around her legs. "I don't know what happened last night." She said, as honestly as she could. "I remember getting into the room and taking my gloves off, but after that… nothing. It's all a big dark blur. But when I woke up this morning I- I-" She sniffed, her eyes filled with tears and she tried hard to blink them back. "Demetri was huddled in the corner looking terrified, and was well… naked… except for my underwear."

Demetri moved back from Alex like he was about to burn him, a flinch that went all the way to his toes. “N-No, it’s alright, She didn’t hit me.” He tried to relax himself as he thought of how to phrase what had happened the night before. “She…came on to me…rather aggressively…” He tried to explain it sounding awkward and embarrassed. He looked around for the kitchen staff as he tapped his hand on the table. Where was the staff?

~*~*~*~

Ryleon frowned at his cousins explanation, or rather lack there of for the events of the night before. “Oh Rose…I don’t know how you could have blacked out…I don’t remember you drinking so much…Perhaps it goes right through you..” He knew his choice of words probably wasn’t helping her but sometimes an explanation helped to ease the pain some. “Did you talk to Demetri about it? Ask what happened? I know he didn’t drink at all so I am sure he remembers.” He felt his heart go out to the girl. He too had no idea what had happened the night before.

It took all of his willpower not to laugh at the way that Demetri recoiled from Alex's attempt to check up on a possible wound, further leading to his suspicion that not only had things gotten out of hand last night, but they had gotten wildly out of hand. Was it possible that the enthusiastic couple he had heard last night was… them? It was hard to imagine Demetri doing anything more than sitting grumpily in the corner, but if a hot and bothered Rose was coming for him… Well, that certainly made a most interesting idea. "So? How did it go? I mean, was she any good?" He couldn't help the barest of a grin touching his face, though he kept it down to a single twitch. The bartender came over and with a slightly exasperated sigh, Alex ordered the largest mug of water that the man had on hand. He disappeared back into the back, leaving the two men alone.

*~*

Rose sniffled again, leaning against Ryleon for support. "I didn't ask much. He… he said that I got agressive, whatever that means… A-a-and I think that I… gave him a hickey…" She shuddered at the thought, remembering the dark stain of color on his collarbone and blushed at the same time. There was still that puddle of whatever it was near the far wall. She didn't even want to know what the white stuff was.

Demetri grew so dark a shade of red he almost looked purple. This was just too much for the man to talk about. He shrugged his shoulders hoping that it would be enough for the man to be content about the information. “S-Shouldn’t you head back to Oriana soon?” He said fidgeting in his seat hoping for the kitchen staff to come back out again.

~*~*~*~

Ryleon wrapped an arm around his cousin to comfort her further and patted her shoulder gently. He caught her stare over the side of the room and instantly was able to recognize the foreign liquid on the floor. Oh my…He thought to himself. “A hickey isn’t so bad.” He said softly. “I’m sure if it was so bad that he would have ran from the room as fast as his gloomy legs could carry him.” He tried to tease with her. “I’m sure if you talk to him it won’t be so bad…He seemed alright in the hallway.” He didn’t want to mention the man’s dark blush but honestly otherwise he seemed all right.

With a grin Alex patted Demetri on the shoulder, shaking his head slightly. "Oh boy Demetri. Look, no need to get so flustered. She probably doesn't even remember what happened last night, right?" He waited a fraction of a second, knowing he was right. There were only a handful of drugs that could get honest straight up girls like Rose into a tizzy of massive proportions, and most of them also caused memory blanks. "Look, you could tell her anything you want, and she'd have to believe you. If nothing happened, nothing happened. But if you liked it…" He let his words trail off, the kitchen staffer coming back with the pitcher of water. "Well, best to comfort her while she's down." Patting the poor distraught man on the shoulder, Alex took his water and headed up the stairs. Things were certainly turning out interesting. This little trip to Kaionar was perhaps a little bit of a money waster, but it was definitely not wasted when it came to group relations.

When he got up to Oriana's room he pushed the door open quietly as it could and closed it behind him with his foot. "One order of lots of water, my fair lady." He said, walking to her side and setting the pitcher on the night stand.

*~*

"No, it's not…" She agreed, though a little hesitantly. "But what else did I do?" Rose suddenly asked, as if Ryleon would somehow know what dubious things she might have taken part in during the night. "I could have done anything that Demetri would have let me get away with and, and, and I don't remember anything." She rated her forehead on her knees, sniffling hard to keep the tears from flowing again. "I don't know if I want to talk to him…" She mumbled, her shoulders bunching up. "I don't know if I want to know what I did last night…"

Demetri was left sitting down stairs and he sighed. Alex was right, but did it make it right not to tell her? Perhaps in this case it would make her feel better if he didn’t tell her the entire truth. It wasn’t as if he was above lying…He sighed, resting his head on the table and waiting for the rest of the group to be ready to leave this terrible city.

~*~*~*~

Oriana was sitting up against the wall still with her eyes closed as the warm sun light was playing on her face. She opened her eyes to see Alex coming in and didn’t say anything. Taking the jug of water and knocking back a few gulps before setting it back down. She looked at Alex for a long moment. “What did I say last night?” She asked bluntly, wanting to know the full truth, and in honesty Alex could say anything. She didn’t remember a single thing from the night before.

~*~*~*~

Ryleon frowned further. “I really think you should talk to him Rose, maybe not now but when you get feel comfortable to. Sometime soon though. I’m sure if its you he wouldn’t mind talking.” He smiled softly. “It really seems like he has opened up to you some.”

Alex raised an eyebrow at her question, sitting on the side of the bed and making himself comfortable. "Before or after you took off your shirt?" He asked at length, grinning slightly. "I see that you've decided to put it back on. Pitty. Well, you did propose to a rather ugly fellow that was sitting behind us. I don't know if you remember him or not. I'm also fairly certain that you invited the man up to your room for some pre-wedding play time and shortly thereafter ripped off your shirt and began dancing on one of the tables. Our table, actually. You knocked over my beer, not that I much minded, it was horrible stuff." He paused for a moment, smiling in his absently charming way and watched for Oriana's reaction. Okay, so he had embellished the truth a little bit, but it made for a better story. What he wasn't going to do was bring up the fact that she had admitted to liking him, despite his jerkish ways. For some reason he felt that little bit of information was better left forgotten on her part, unless she remembered it on her own. "Also, you mentioned something about you seeing yourself as a horse in there."

*~*

Rose heaved a heavy sigh, lifting her face from her knees only to bury them in her hands. "That's just the thing Ryleon… I don't know if he'll trust me anymore. I've spent all this time trying to convince him that I'm a friend and then… well, I attack him with my clothes off." She gestured to the odd puddle of stuff in the corner of the room, still wondering what it was and at the same time not wanting to know at all. "And I need a bath. And my clothes need to be washed." She admitted with a small voice.

Oriana looked absolutely terrified by his story and while it wasn’t something that she would normally do, she was so drunk she couldn’t remember; so it was possible. She put her hands over her face and sighed. She a brash person, yes, but when it came to the public she usually kept herself in check. And if Alex’s story was a true as it sounded, and it did with the mention of her calling herself a horse, then it was terrible indeed. She brought her knees up to her chest and buried her head in them. “And I assume it was just the greatest of shows for you.” She growled from her hiding spot.

~*~*~*~

Ryleon nodded, “Give me fifteen minutes and I will draw a bath in my room for you. It might be a good idea to get you out of this room.” He offered gently and stood from the bed. He had noticed she kept looking at the bodily fluids in the middle of the room and knew it would only get worse if she stayed here.

Alex smiled a bit when Oriana buried her face, though not with a cocky expression that would probably be normally expected of him. A little bit of guilt clouded what would normally be a sarcastic moment. He reached out with his hand and placed it on the back of her head. "A great show indeed fair lady. But worry not, I carted you off before the place could get too crowded. Seems that they shared my opinion. You are truly very beautiful, Oriana." What was with this sincere confession? He would have slapped himself silly for the honest tone ringing in his voice, and silently he hoped that Oriana missed it. What was wrong with him…? Ever since Rose had given him that talking to, he had been acting strangely out of character for his normal playboy self.

*~*

"Thanks Ryleon…" Rose muttered, sniffling and wiping at her eyes again. "Can I just… follow you out now? I feel really dirty in here…" She mumbled, standing as well and following Ryleon out. She was in a mental delima now… she wanted to know what all had gone on the the night before but at the same time was horrified to find out what she had done. It must have been something really terrible to put such a terrified face on Demetri. The poor boy… and after all of that hard work she had done!!

Oriana looked up from her hiding hole, sincerely surprised by how honest he sounded when complimenting her beauty. Normally he would have a stupid grin on his face or his normal playboy sounding voice but truly she found none. Setting her head on top of her knees this time and looking out the window, She had a light and annoyed blush on her face but she said nothing. She took a moment of silence before looking back at Alex. “Anything else I should know?” She sounded slightly defeated, hoping to any and all deity that it couldn’t possibly get worse.

~*~*~*~

“Of course.” Ryleon led Rose out of the room and into his. He stopped for a moment before looking at the blood on the sheets from his hands. “Please excuse the sheets…” He gave her an apologetic smile and went to drawing a bath for her. He made sure the water was pretty warm but not overly hot and seemed pleased. “Alright, it’s ready, I’ll be sitting across the hall in case you need me alright?” He looked at her sad face and put both of his hands on her shoulder’s. “It will be alright, Rose, I promise.” He smiled and then walked out of the room closing the door softly behind him and sitting on the floor.

Alex's face fell and he shook his head slowly. "Well, I wasn't going to tell you, but since you asked." He paused briefly for dramatic effect before beginning his tale, in all honesty just trying to compose it as he went along. "When I was trying to get you up to the room and away from those heathens downstairs, your future husband's wife appeared and was quite angry that a younger more attractive woman than herself was plotting to take away her husband. Naturally, she wanted to exact revenge, but I told her to leave you be, seeing as you were clearly inebriated. However, the woman grew absolutely furious! I had to throw you over your shoulder," he mimed tossing Oriana on his shoulder and from thereon out continued to make gestures while he narrated, "and tried to get up the stairs with you, but alas, I am not strong enough for such a task yet. So I had to fend off the woman and carry you up at the same time. Now, the angry wife, even angrier now that she couldn't rip you apart, called on either a friend or her daughter. Either way, the lady was rather ravishing to look upon but was possessed of a most nasty temper. So, with two women now trying to pull me down the stairs I had no choice but to set you down and convince the dames in an most unpleasant fashion that taking you wasn't going to be a good idea on their end.

"After a hard won battle, I finally got you back to the room, where you insisted that the two of us 'play' since your future husband was tragically already married. I of course being the gentleman that I am said that you would have to put your shirt on before I would even consider such a thing, and after much struggling, I did finally manage to get the shirt back on, but you would have no part of it and tossed it right back off. Then you dragged me onto the bed with that uncanny strength of yours where you promptly passed out on my arm and wouldn't allow me to move for the rest of the night." With his tale done, Alex waited and watch to see how much of the fable that Oriana would swallow.

*~*

"Thanks Ryleon…" Rose said, offering her cousin a small smile until he turned his back. Heaving a sad little sigh, she stripped back out of her clothing and piled it neatly by the tub before sinking into the warm water and closing her eyes. She felt dirty and disgusting and just… well, all of that plus embarrassed. How could she ever look Demetri in the eye again? Try as hard as she could, Rose could only remember snippets of the time after she had lost her memory. Mostly just flashes of emotion, all of it incredibly irrational, but by the time that she was finished bathing there was a blush on her face. What had happened…?

Oriana listened to him most of his story with a straight face and then when the bit of him being gentlemen came up she gave him a dry look. “Stop lying to me, Alex.” She growled. “There is no way you would be gentlemen enough to insist I put my shirt on before doing anything so don’t give me that crap.” She stood from the bed, rubbing her temples as she did so and took another drink of the water Alex had brought her. Sadly the first part of his tale might have been true but she wasn’t sure she believed it. When he told her the first bit she was pretty sure he was telling the truth or at least part of it.

~*~*~*~

Tristan walked down the street and into the inn to be greeted by a rather gloomy looking Demetri, and he was looking more gloomy than usual! “My my, Demetri my friend what might be the problem? Not have a good night?” He asked leaning in on the table. He was only greeted by a dark stare and the man turning his back to him. Tristan looked to his brother and shrugged helplessly.

"Lie, dear lady?" Alex asked with a raised brow, standing as well. "Embellish the truth perhaps, but I would certainly never endeavor to lie to you." He shot her a grin and went to the door, placing his hand on the handle. Well, at least she was back into her normal mood rut, that was always a good thing. Though, he did have to hand it to himself. That was a greet yarn that he had pulled from literally thin air. "Oh, and Oriana, you may want to council your cousin. Rose, not the twins. I believe… that she could use a female companion." Not that Oriana was the best place to go to womanly advice, but it was better than the blond girl trying to express herself to her brothers. With a nod Alex exited the room, heading downstairs to find that the twins had found their way back and that Ilario was staring at the side of Demetri's head rather determinedly.

"Ah, so the two of you have finally decided to return then, hm?" He asked, settling himself at the bar on the other side of Demetri, attempting to figure out just what Ilario was trying to get the quiet man to do.

"Yeah, we figured that if we didn't come back Oriana would kick our asses." The elder twin replied with a shrug of his shoulders. His eyes flicked up to Alex briefly while he explained, then he was back to staring down Demetri. "I just can't figure it out. What's wrong with him? Well, aside from the normal glumness, I mean."

Alex did his best to keep a straight face, flagging down one of the kitchen staff so that he could grab something to drink before they headed out again.

*~*

The bath had felt really nice. Being clean was good. She was a little miffed that she had to put her dirty clothes back on, but that would have to wait. She could simply wash them tonight when they set down for camp if they made it by a river or something. Rose missed her wardrobe back home and not having to clean her own clothes, but it really couldn't be helped. With a little sigh, she exited the bathroom and tied up her hair, looking around for Ryleon.

Oriana just looked pissed at Alex but didn’t feel much like yelling at him for…well doing whatever he was doing and sighed slightly when he left the room. Why would she need to talk to Rose? Did she get herself into trouble as well? Gathering her own things from the room she shrugged on her pack and exited the room, rubbing at her temples once more. This day was going to suck.

~*~*~*~

Tristan was with his brother, wanting to know why Demetri was so out of it but let his brother do the prodding, seeing as how Demetri wouldn’t even look at him. “Did everyone here just have a bad night?” He asked, rather happy his night went well with Solaria.

~*~*~*~

Ryleon stood when Oriana came out of the bathroom and offered her a small smile. “Feel better?” He asked, hoping she would. He honestly felt like he could relate to her the most so he could only hope that his kindness would help her her out of the rut she was currently in. He was about to say something more when he saw Oriana exit her room with a pained expression on her face. “Oriana?”

She held up a hand to stop him and looked to Rose. “Wanna talk?” She asked bluntly, kinda interested to know what Alex was talking about and how he knew everything before she did. She could swear there was a part of Alex that might be a gossiping girl and he was good at it.

"Well…" Alex looked around quickly to see if Oriana was in the immediate listening range and when he didn't see her he continued without pause. "My night wasn't so terrible. Your cousin is actually rather… lively… when she's tipsy. And I mean Oriana, not Ryleon." He added, just incase the twins got confused. "Speaking of which, are those bruises on your face?" He asked, pointing at the purple splotches that had developed on their cheeks.

"Oh, these…" Ilario touched the bruise on his left cheek gingerly, wincing slightly. "It turns out that our cousin is a lively drunk too. Ryleon, not Oriana." He replied darkly, wondering if Ryleon had enough sense this morning to actually be able to get out of his room. They had locked it, worried that he might stumble out in the middle of the night and beat some poor helpless fool into his grave while the twins were off having fun.

*~*

Rose nodded to Ryleon, about to thank him for his kindness when Oriana stomped over as was her customary way. When the older girl opened her mouth however, Rose's face turned a dark scarlet color, her expression blanking. "Does everyone but me know…?" She asked in a small timid voice of no one in particular. Apparently having had enough of the situation, she quickly disappeared into her room, gathered her gear, and was back out in the hallway in a flash, not meeting anyone's gaze as she stalked out of the inn. When she got to the bar part of the inn her gaze flicked to where everyone was gathered briefly, saw the back of Demetri's head, and continued to flee until she was out the door and in the middle of the street, impatiently waiting for everyone else to get their act in gear.