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[the_lioness]

We ride at the hour past dawn tomorrow.

Duke Roger's closing words continue to echo through Alanna's mind long after she should have been asleep. Tossing and turning begins to lose any appeal around midnight, so she checks her binding, pulls on her clothes and scoops up a sleepy Faithful. After buckling Lightning to her hips, Alanna pads out of her room, past Jonathan's, and only lets herself breathe once she's alone in the hallway.

The decisions made in the meeting of Duke Roger's commanders are making her extremely uneasy and a little ill. She knows Jonathan is angry at his new command, far from Fort Drell, but Alanna is upset for other reasons that have everything to do with a deep suspicion of the man who decided to place him there.

"Maybe a few hours at Milliways will allow me to rest," she murmurs to the heavy cat wrapped around her neck. "I doubt we'll be able to go there again for a long while, after all."

Faithful fails to respond.

She moves quietly through the halls and is careful to look around before slipping through the door to the bar. It's loud and bright after the quiet corridors of the sleeping palace, but she's glad of the noise, the life. If she can't get to the Dove, this is the next best thing.

Rubbing one of her eyes, Alanna settles into a chair by the fire and hopes a wait rat will happen by soon. She's awake, yet curiously far too tired and preoccupied to see about getting some tea herself.

[OOC: I wanted to go ahead and get this up. I will be around for a bit, but I'll need to beg slowtimes almost immediately this AM. It is open forever, however, and I will be around to tag as much as my super annoying body lets me! :) ]

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[creator_raven]

Something small and black, with ragged feathers, drops down onto the back of her chair with a loud thump.

Is it also tugging on her hair with its beak?

The answer might very well be yes.

Red is tasty!

[the_lioness]

"ACK! Stop eating my hair!"

Before she registers that the small, black thing with a sudden taste for red is not Faithful, she swats her cat. Faithful pays her back with a swift bite to her shoulder, causing her to yelp again. Don't be disrespectful, he says, resuming his nap. After all, Raven isn't disturbing him.

"Blasted cat," Alanna grumbles, still trying to pull her hair from the bird's beak. "Do you belong to someone? Let go. Will they MISS YOU?"

[creator_raven]

"Coyote will mostly be for missing me," Raven allows.

How does he talk through Alanna's hair?

Who can say!

"Eventually, yes?"

Then he does let go of her hair, hopping down onto the arm of the chair and looking up at her out of first one, then the other, brilliant black eye.

"Possibly you will be, too. I am tricky that way."

[the_lioness]

The surprised noise Alanna makes is in no way dignified.

"What...!?"



Wide purple eyes follow his progress and the way his head cocks from side to side. Tricky, says the bird. Alanna feels a memory surfacing like an itch on the back of her neck.

Sometimes there are feathers, Faithful adds, helpfully, opening one eye.

"Raven," Alanna decides. Her head tilts, questioning.

[basic_powers]

Well, in all the hustle and bustle of the bar, it's not surprising that occaissionally the wait rats find themselves some none-rodent help for taking care of customers. It is technically a weekend, and so a familiar young is making his rounds nearby, dressed similarly to the waitstaff.

Beauford hasn't noticed Squire Alan yet, there's the table of four he's taking care of right now. It shouldn't take much to flag him down once he finishes up with their orders.

[the_lioness]

Squire Alan notices him.

It's more than her desire for tea, of course. He's familiar. That's nothing to sneeze at here. She watches him finish up with his nearby table and holds up a hand when he moves away.

"Hello."

[basic_powers]

Familiar faces are good, when in a place where millions upon multitudes from the multiverses come and go. Even more so when you've been working waiting tables, so Beauford's expression does brighten when he recognizes who is hailing him.

"Hello, it's been some time, Squire Alan." And goodness if this event isn't quite the reverse of the last time they met.

[balancingminds]

Charles is yawning as he comes down the stairs and orders tea and breakfast, when he's heading to a table he spots Alan,

"Hello, care to join me for breakfast?"

[the_lioness]

Alanna smiles. It stretches her cheeks and reminds her she hasn't done much of that lately.

"Of course."

Beat.

"I'm glad to see you."

She glances at the fire, then the table he'd been headed towards.

[balancingminds]

"And I you, it has been far too long. Would you prefer to stay here?"

There's a low table near the fire that could be eaten off of.

[battle_butler]

Alfred has a pot!

And he is coming over towards Alan. He thought she looked like she could do with some, when he was looking for somewhere to sit, so he quickly got bar to double the size of his pot.

"Afternoon," he says as he sets the tray down on a small coffee table.

[the_lioness]

Alfred is her new favorite person.

"Is it?" A faint smile. "It's close to the middle of the night where I'm from. I couldn't sleep."

Alanna eyes the tray, chewing on her lower lip.

"Do you work here?"

[battle_butler]

Alfred's mouth quirks into a slight smile.

"No. But I was getting a pot for myself anyway and tea is good for sharing."

[herald_to_be]

Ingress walks from the House of Arch painting to the portal she uses to access Haven. She's almost powerful enough to open there all by herself, but not quite yet.

She doesn't have to be back right away, though, and she can't help but notice the boy in the chair.

"Hello. Are you all right?"

He looks terribly tired.

[the_lioness]

Lazily, Alanna looks up and eyes the girl who just asked her a question she should probably answer.

Her hair, though. It's a wonderful shade of blue. And is she a girl or young woman? What was it her dancing master suggested for sorting out proper forms of address?

Alanna can't remember.

Oh, right. The question.

"I'm well enough." Then, somewhat awkwardly, "Are you?"

[herald_to_be]

"Oh, yes, I'm fine. I'm called Ingress. I was on my way back to school, only you looked weary, so I thought I'd ask."

[mighty_avenger]

Carol spots a familiar redhead from across the room.

"Hey, Alan! I haven't soon you around here for awhile. What's shakin?

She plops herself down in a chair next to Alanna. It's been a long day, so relaxing by the fire seems like just the thing.

[the_lioness]

For someone who had a busy day and should really be asleep but isn't, this all seems to happen very fast. One minute: no Avenger. The next: surprise Carol! A very wide awake Carol.

Alanna suspects coffee.

"Hullo, Carol."

She looks around, slightly confused.

"Nothing at all appears to be shaking."

[mighty_avenger]

Carol laughs at the unexpected response.

"Sorry, I know there's not actually anything shaking. It's an expression."

A better way to put it? Best stick with what's simplest...

"How're you doing?"

[auraofmystery]

Walk-walk-walk, fffffflmmmp

That is the sound of Machiavelli throwing himself down into another chair, with all the boneless enthusiasm that comes from having picked the biggest, most comfortable chair to be his throne. He grins lazily at Alan, then raises a hand and almost immediately has a waitrat at his side.

"Ah, good fellow," (this is to the rat) "I'll have a glass of wine, a plate of your finest cakes, and - I think I'm in the mood for nectarines today. What about you, Alan?"

Back to grinning.

[the_lioness]

Alanna would never admit it aloud, but she is really rather ridiculously glad to see him. It even drives her to alliteration. If nothing else, he is sure to distract her from her more morose thoughts of war and death and wrapping her hands around Roger's neck...

Ahem.

"I like nectarines," she says agreeably. "But not wine. Water."

[auraofmystery]

"And water for my friend," Mac tells the rat, tickling it at the back of its head before it runs away.

"So how's life in Tortall, Signor Alan?"

[12goingon113]

The fire continues to crackle warm and orange.

Except for that brief second when it goes blue.

But not to worry, the orange returns...though it might be important to point out that it returns in the form of a twelve year old boy in Air Nomad robes.

His eyes go wide as he comes flying out of the fire uncontrollably on a collision course with Alan. His arms attempt to slow him down, but to no avail.

[the_lioness]

The blue does not got unnoticed. Blue firelight can mean any number of things, but first and foremost it could be a signal that Jonathan is attempting to contact her. Or worse, he is behind her and playing tricks to get back at her for keeping Milliways a secret.

Alanna steals a glance behind her armchair, her suspicious gaze sweeping the room.

No Jonathan. Is that disappointment? Of course not. She just...

ACK.

There is a boy flying at her out of the fire.

Alanna lets out a noise that is part growl, part yell and throws up a shield of violet light before consciously deciding to do so. It doesn't look very substantial, but it is comprised of a steely strength born of shock.

Sorry, Aang.

[12goingon113]

Half way through his fall out of the fire the boy seems to solidify, which...is really poor timing when you think about it.

There's a dull thud as Aang makes contact with the shield.
His face smooshes against the light, and continues to do so as he slides down the barrier until finally collapsing on the floor.