Heirot

"A fancy word for a loan," Soran said idly as he knocked on the door. A moment later, a very grouchy-looking middle-aged man with a cane opened the door. "Whaddeye want?" he snipped.

"Put on your glasses, old man," Soran criticized.

The man blinked and went to his pocket, pulling out a pair of small rectangular spectacles which he put on and looked at Soran again. "Bwah!" he jumped back as his clear vision discovered the cold-faced rogue inches in front of him. "I didn't do it!"

"What? No, I want to speak with you," Soran frowned.

"What is it?" he grouched less confidently, clueless as to why Soran Nightblade was standing at his door.

"Business. I want to end the lease on that apartment," Soran said flatly, dropping a key into the man's hand.

"Break yer lease!" The man seemed torn between indignance and discretion. "Without that money, I'll be in a bad place. A bad place!" he rambled to himself, seeming to have forgotten they were still there.

"Hang on, I have a question," Soran interrupted. "You had a house up for lease by the river once."

"Yes, and it's gone unlived in for five years, drat it all. Oh, it's a bad place, a bad place, this is, a-"

"Hey," Soran interrupted in annoyance, snapping the man out of his reverie again. "Rent me that place. Half a gold per month."

The old man eyed him incredulously. "It needs cleanin," he said at length, as if this would inevitably cause Soran to cancel the deal.

"I'll clean it. You just give me the key," Soran said.

"I...but you....alright," the man said quickly, his spirits apparently rising, and he hobbled into the house. A minute later he returned with a cotton pouch holding the key. "Ye're sure?"

"Yes. Here's one month down," Soran said, handing him some silver coins. "I'll have the rest in a few days."

"Th-...thank you!" the man said, overwhelmed.

Soran turned and walked away, waving his hand once as he and Rai left.

The man looked gleefully at his coins and returned into his house.

Rai grinned happily and skipped around Soran with a happy face, beaming. "Do we move in now?" she asked with a smile. "I want to paint things! Can I paint? I like painting!" She looked so excited.

"Ask Mizuki," Soran responded boringly to Rai's excited behavior as they walked back toward the inn. They reached it quickly and walked inside.

Rai ran inside, bumping into Soran as she ran past him and through the crowed and up the stares. She opened the door quickly to her room and froze, blinking several times. She walked slowly into the room, tip toeing.

Red leaned against the wall the bed leaned against. He held the two sleeping forms with care, but with a lazy expression on his face. 'How do I get myself into these messes?' he thought. Because he knew, the moment Soran returned... it was gonna look bad.

Inside the bar, Soran saw his client sitting at the table already waiting for him. It was just about one o'clock. "I'll be back in a minute," he told Jhaptal, heading in the direction Rai had run.

Soran couldn't resist feeling a little bit excited as he followed more slowly behind Rai up the stairs. He was inwardly looking forward to telling MIzuki about Thornock and the house, and fighting gangsters with Rai---no, he thought, he'd better leave that part out.

He reached the second floor and walked down the hall, entering into Mizuki's room. There he froze in place and narrowed his eyes warily. Mizuki and Red were on the bed together, she sleeping against him. His expression became cold.

Red looked up, instantly his pupils shrank. "No." he said warily, "This is soooo not what you think!" He pointed a comical, accusing finger at Soran. "She fell asleep against me! I'm still trying to get her off of me!!"

Soran made no comment and walked to Rai, reaching into his coat and taking out the key and potions. He upturned her hand and placed them in her palm. "You know what to do with those," he said in a low voice, pointing to the potions, "The address to the house is in here," he indicated the cotton pouch. "Look after Mizuki and Siren. I'll be back tomorrow evening."

Rai looked at him and blinked, then took the objects in her hand. She nodded and looked at Mizuki then Soran. "Whats wrong?" she asked, but then closed her mouth. "Nevermind." Maybe it was none of her business...

"Okay," Rai said, hugging Soran's leg. "Can I come with you? I guess not..." She sighed... then nodded.

"I need you to stay and help get our new house ready. I'm doing something boring anyway. See you tomorrow," Soran told her quietly, setting his hand on her shoulder before turning and leaving the room quickly. He didn't speak a word to the man Mizuki was sleeping on.

The rogue descended the stairs and strode sternly across the bar, his eyes unreadable. "Let's go," he said to Jhaptal, not slowing to wait for him.

Jhaptal rose from his chair, ready to leave, and followed the rogue out the door, analyzing his tense behavior as they walked briskly to the city gates.

Red's eyes feell into gloom. 'I think I just messed things up.' he thought sadly. Slightly annoyed, he jerked Mizuki and her eyes flew open. Mizuki sat up groggily, blade still asleep in her arms.

"What was that for?" she asked him, groggy and annoyed.

"Your boyfriend left in a huff because you were sleeping on me." Red pointed out. No expression on his face. Mizuki thought for a minute, her eyes flickered in a panic then it died. Red couldn't read her expression now, he had no idea what she was thinking, but out of worry, he slide Blade out of her arms and into his lap. She didn't notice. In fact, now her eyes were dull. "Mizu?" Red cautiously tried to pry her back into reality.

Her eyes flickered back to life. "Sorry." she said emotionlessly and turned around to face Rai, realizing for the first time that she was there. "Rai..." she breathed in surprise. "Soran...left...?"

Rai looked at her with a confused expression. "He'll be back," she told Mizuki, smiling softly and holding out one of the viles. "Here... This makes the bad things go away."

She sat the rest of everything down in the chair, putting the key in her pocket along with the address.

"He got us a home!" Rai said happily. "We can go look at it in a few minutes!"

"He'll be back,"Rai told Mizuki, smiling softly and holding out one of the viles. "Here... This makes the bad things go away. He got us a home!" she continued happily. "We can go look at it in a few minutes!" Mizuki smiled and took the vile. It looked odd, she didn't even understand most of what Rai was saying. It made the bad things go away? Did she mean the dreams? No... they were just dreams...

Ok so, the whole Blade thing was odd. But, maybe she was just sick? Either way, Mizuki didn't exactly trust the vile so she set it aside. Red watched her carefully. "Yes Rai," Mizuki managed a smile, "We'll go look at what Soran had bought."

"I think you're supposed to drink that." Red whispered into her ear. Mizuki waved him off.

Rai frowned and watched her set the vile aside. "I'm not going," she said and folded her arms. "Not until you drink it." She told Mizuki in a child like defiant tone. "Because it makes the bad things you see go away. And you might see bad things. So drink it or I'm not going anywhere..."

Rai sat on the floor with her arms folded and a smug look on her face that resembled a child intent on getting her way.

Jhaptal walked alongside the rogue, not really saying anything. He looked him up and down, and despite being pretty sure of it, he decided to ask. "So... you look like you're unarmed," he said. "Do you use your fists as your weapons?"