Heirot

Caleb took her words as a sign to back off from his instincts to see to her words, so he did so. He felt a very strong protective instinct over her. He told himself it was just because he'd seen her hurt the night before.

It was still nagging at him...that figure he'd seen earlier outside her room. "Well...I'll be here, at least until morning," he said, wondering if he'd need to explain it to her or if she'd immediately figured it out. "I'm going to go find something to eat and have a look around."

Celeste looked at Caleb and nodded "okay, Oh could you see if you can find something non-meat for me? I'm going to argue with my feathers for a bit" She pleaded that he wouldn't be gone long, so she could maybe sleep well, knowing she had someone to watch her back.

"I'll look," Caleb said, remembering now how she hadn't been interested in the eggs at the other town. "Just rest. I'll be back," he said, walking to the door. As a second thought, he looked back at her. "Don't open the door unless it's me," he added. With that, he left the room and closed the door behind him. He made his way into the hall and looked around for any signs of he person he'd seen earlier. Unsatisfied, he walked down to the inn desk and walked up to the inkeep.

"Shore!" the man greeted him somewhat blankly. "There was a young lady here earlier who said she knew you. I gave her a room."

"I appreciate it," Caleb said. "Consider us even."

"I will," the bartender said seriously.

Caleb didn't act surprised by the man's businesslike tone. After all, this person was a business client, not a friend. "Listen, did you catch sight of anyone suspicious here tonight?"

The innkeep shrugged. "Take your pick. We've got one looks like one of 'em Wraiths they talk about, the ones that live over the Border. Either it's one hell of a job, or he's the real deal. Told him out by morning. Disturbing little freak."

Caleb blinked skeptically, thinking someone must be playing a prank to dress up like such a creature. He highly doubted a Wraith would see fit to pay for a night's stay at an inn, so he didn't give the story much weight. "Anyone else?" he pressed.

The innkeep crossed his arms. "Nosy, aren't you? Guests are guests, you know. I've got my tenants' privacy to consider."

"And I'm sure you wouldn't be protecting the privacy of a Drow," Caleb said testily.

"What Drow," the inkeep said, twitching.

Caleb rolled his eyes. That was all the answer he needed. He'd haggled many a time over a blacksmithing task for this man. The inkeep only twitched when he was bluffing. "What room is he in?"

"A customer's a customer."

"Four?" Caleb smirked when the innkeep twitched in response. The blacksmith had installed most of the locks here personally, and he had an excellent memory. He knew which rooms were the best and which ones were left for...less savory customers. Nice chatting with you, Trevor," he scoffed as he turned away from the reddening man.

"People'd like ya a lot more if you didn't think you were so damn smart, Shore," the inkeep growled after him.

"They probably would. But I'd have to fake it," Caleb smirked as he turned his back on the inkeep and strode back to the stairs. He made his way up to the hall where Celeste's room was and walked past hers to the end, where a door was marked with the number 4. He paused outside the door for a moment, listening for any sign of activity inside. When he didn't hear anything, he gave it a firm knock.

Argent groaned when a knock on the door seemingly shattered his skull. Was it impossible to get any peace?! The Dark Elf got off of the bed, nearly fuming with his irritation at the sudden disturbance.

"Whoever it is," He growled to himself, "You best have good reasoning to coming to my door like that." Argent headed for the door, but paused mid-stride to take up his cloak and put it on, just as a precaution. Many people this side of the Border would use the fact that he was a Drow against him, even though he hadn't touched a single soul since crossing.

Finally, the Dark Elf walked up to the door, unlocking it. On the other side stood a tall, broad shoulder human. Wonderful, Argent thought to himself. He didn't feel like fighting, but of course, this human...

"Yes?" Argent asked, trying to appear polite and probably failing miserably.

Caleb took a careful look at the man who had opened the door. It really was a Drow. "Hey," he greeted, his stance casual but his eyes watching the stranger closely. "I hate to bug you, but I stayed in this room last night, and I think I left something behind. Would you mind if I checked the dresser drawer? I'll be in and out," he said.

Celeste got up and walked around the room, she felt antsy. She wanted to leave the room to find Caleb but didn't want to disobey him either.

Argent observed the man skeptically. He highly doubted what he said was true, but the Drow was going to give him the benifit of doubt. It didn't really matter that much, did it?

"Alright. But make it quick, alright?" Argent grumbled, moving aside.

Caleb gave the elf a grateful nod and stepped past him into the room, wondering what exactly he was supposed to learn about this guy from just invading his hotel room. He went to the dresser and opened the top drawer, looking inside with a grim expression. It was empty. When he went to push it back in, he found it stuck. He rattled it slightly and then gave it a decent shove to slide it back, accidentally slamming it closed.

"Oh, for the love of-" Argent cut himself short, trying to refrain from saying anything stupid. He nearly glared at the human man, but just pressed a hand to his forehead in an irratated way.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" He asked techily, sure that his skull would explode at any moment from the loud sound.

Caleb looked over his shoulder at the Drow, wondering if the guy was unstable or something. Maybe it was a bad plan to come here unarmed. Although the elf almost looked like he was in pain. "It's not here," he said with a frown. "I suppose I may have lost it. Sorry for the trouble."

"Y-yeah; don't worry about it..." Argent said, sounding somewhere between forgiving and severly irritated. He just waved his hand in a motion for the man to leave; Argent was really wanting to sleep to get rid of his migrane. That was the only sure-fire way it would leave... The sooner this man left, the better.

Caleb was confused; this elf was acting unexpectedly cordial, but also seemed urgent about something. He was beginning to wonder if he's misread this person's intentions when he was standing outside Celeste's door. Of course, he was a Drow, but the guy had obviously paid for his room and seemed willing enough to accommodate an annoying stranger... He couldn't help wondering what in the world the elf was doing here.

He walked to the door and was about to leave, but he paused. "Is everything alright?" he asked the man tensely, glancing back over his shoulder. Caleb was not a social person, to put it mildly, so small talk would have been awkward from him even on a good day, but in this situation, it felt even more out of place.

"H-headache," Argent rumbled. Isn't that the understatement of the year? He thought to himself.

"I just need to get some rest, is all," He attempted to explain.

Caleb blinked, a little surprised by the honest answer. He was also starting to grasp why the Drow seemed so intent on getting him out of there, not that it was strange to want a stranger out of your room. And he'd even slammed the drawer and everything...

"I'll get out of your way," he said apologetically, stepping out of the room. He didn't try to shut the door behind him, suspecting the elf would prefer for that noise to be on his own terms. Whatever was going on with the Drow, he couldn't find any good reason to think he meant ill toward Celeste, except that he'd been standing outside her door earlier....

He decided not to think about it for the time being. Instead, he made his way outside to find some food. A half hour later, he returned with some bread and jerky he'd gotten in exchange for identifying a man's rash at a local pub. The ridiculous amount of book knowledge he'd picked up over the years did occasionally come in handy. He'd also gotten his hands on a large bag of ice for Celeste's wing.

He returned to Celeste's room and knocked very lightly on the door. It's not like it's that guy's room, he reminded himself, knocking again a little more audibly.

Celeste's sharp ears heard the faint noise and she ruffled out of her doze, momentarily wondering when she had fallen asleep. She walked to the door and paused.

"Caleb?" She asked softly, she was now tense just in case it wasn't Caleb.