Come to Collect

[Nanami]

60th Day of Fall
Year 514
15th Bell

"If you're going to sleep, you can pay for a room."
 
Nanami opened one bright eye and lifted her whiskered snout towards the offending noise. Her back was warm against the low stone break of the fire pit in the middle of the Wolf Cave tavern, and her belly was dry against the swept stone floor. There was no reason for her to move anywhere.
 
Micah stands over top of the prone Zypherian, hands on her hips and her usually bright face creased into a disapproving frown. "You pay, and you sleep. If not, order something."
 
Nanami's ears pin back, and she opened her other eye to unleash the full impact of canine eye contact.  She pointed with her muzzle to the table right next to the pair of them. On top was an empty plate with a large, well-picked bone that was quickly attracting flies in the unseasonal heat. A simple dress was folded over one of the stools. Evidently, she had bought something, and that entitled her to do as she god damned pleased.
 
Micah was not impressed.
 
"You're here every day. You've been here every day for weeks. What the void are you doing. Get a room, or get a table."
 
A kind of silent battle of wills takes place between the two woman as they stare, unblinking, into the others eyes. The tension as either tries to dominate the other bellows and breaths like a physical thing. But the other woman must see the answer hidden in the dogs eyes. Or at least part of it. She smiles.
 
"'Hope he's worth it."
 
Cowed, Nanami suddenly broke the stare by looking down; and just like that the order of things was established. The dog clambered laboriously to her feet. The wolf Kelvic sniffed importantly and pranced away, looking much too pleased with herself.
 
Nanami shifted and dressed silently, her pale eyes like chips of ice as she tightened the laces with much more force than was called for. Micah was right, she was waiting. Every day. But not for some sort of rendezvous with a flighty lover. She was waiting for a Nuit who promised his help.
 
A human male was playing a lute in the far corner of the room, and the dulcet tones washed pleasantly over the patrons. But there were quite few patrons this time of day. It was too late for the mid-day meal crowd, and too early for the nightly rush. A Zith with large, leathery wings sat closest nursing a foul smelling dark drink. Several Kelvic's were grouped around another table, talking low and fast; their darting eyes gave away their rodent or small mammal origins. Several of the taverns wolf pack loitered near the door.
 
Of course, the worst case scenario was that the Nuit was dead, Nanami mused. Her and Kuvarakh had already discovered that shared a common enemy; a foul creature called Victor. The man responsible for poisoning her son, and one of Kirby's slave-trading partners. But there were more criminals besides him looking to collect on a debt held by the Nuit's current body, apparently.
 
Kuvarakh had suggested the two of them part company for a while before they collaborate to hunt down, or bait, Victor. A dubious proposition, the Kelvic thought. But she didn't argue. And now the man who promised to help her has hung her out to dry.
 
The worst case scenario, she amended, was that he's dead. Skewered on the end of somebody's blade because he saw no need to arm himself with two hundred pounds of angry dog. Best case scenario is that he's alive, and late. In which case she will kill him with two-hundred pounds of angry dog. Her anxiety cant take much more of this. If he doesn't show up today she'll leave for good, she promises herself. She'll hunt down Victor herself, and look for the Nuit to see if he is ok, or if his enemies left enough of him to bury.

[Kuvarakh]

Kuvarakh was a mix of emotions. There was profound relief that he'd finally been released by the Mansion; grudging understanding of its purpose in holding him; empathy over the Mansion's lack of better ways to develop trust; curiosity over how long he'd truly been locked in; anxiety over those who would have been worried sick abut his unexplained absence; desperation to inform everyone that he was back, before anyone took any precipitous action, either on his behalf or in spite of it; and of course, apprehension that there may still be thugs out looking for him. He was still wearing Kirby's body.

The Nuit shook his head as he hurried to reach the edge of the massive Architectrix estate's property line. For all he knew, this would be another test, and the Mansion was going to close him in again. But he left without incident. There were so many people he needed to inform of his release. Wanda would have to be the first. If he was lucky, Phobius would be at the shop and he could check him off the list as well. There would be Rey and Maya, and...who was it? It was suddenly difficult to think of other people besides Maya.

It still amazed him that she had fooled him for so long. Her Illusionist skill was quite good. He didn't really have any hard feelings over the fact she'd hidden her ability, other than perhaps a sort of hurt over why she should feel like she needed to. Why would he care if she could make illusions? This is Alvadas, for Miz' sake. The City of Illusions, the home of the Patron Deity of Trickery. If he was going to be bothered by people doing illusions, he would have fled Alvadas long ago.

This line of thought brought on the notion of the Temple of this deity, Ionu. Which was possibly a way of making contact with the Womiyu. It had been his belief that they had been intending to us him as bait to trap the thugs that had believed him to BE the person whose body he was occupying. That had been as much a reason to duck out of sight as avoiding the thugs themselves had been. Wanda had been fine with letting herself be in their hands for protection. But Kuvarakh was not so certain the Womiyu really wanted to protect him.

In truth, he wouldn't have blamed them. His reckless habitation of a notorious criminal from the Underground had brought a slew of other criminals to the surface. He had not thought it through as well as he should have. He had run-ins with a few of them. Some thought he was going to turn them in; some had grudges from past schemes gone bad; some had current schemes that his host was supposed to have played a part in, and they thought he'd skipped on them; some, he guessed, just never liked the little rat-faced petch to begin with, and joined the bandwagon to silence him.

Kuvarakh wanted to know how extensive and successful the Womiyu's efforts had been in eliminating this scourge of thieves and brutes. He didn't know if the Womiyu appreciated his inadvertent "flushing out", into the open, of this criminal element, or if they only saw him as being liable for a rash of crime that would otherwise have stayed below the streets.

An unexpected bit of good fortune, and triggered memory, came upon him in the form of the Wolf's Cave Inn, spotted right before his eyes by another random shifts of the city's street plan. THAT was who he'd been trying to recall! Nanami! The massive Wolf Kelvic that had shared in one of his run-ins. He sagged in gloomy certainty that the woman would be furious at him. She had wanted to team up for protection from the first moment after they'd driven off the first of the slime to rise from the muck and come after him.

He had decided to be clever and go for the misdirection, in hopes of tricking the thugs into underestimating the assets at his disposal. But instead the five or six days he expected to spend at the Mansion had become what he thought was a year. Illusionism had pressed this delusion upon him, as part of the Mansion's test. It had only been about forty days, give or take. But that was still enough to make him guilty of breaking every promise he had standing at the time. Including the one he'd made to accompany Nanami on her search for the killer of her child.

Well, there nothing for it but to go in, see if she was there, and face the music.

[Nanami]

Nanami sat down heavily on her fur covered stool. The soft thrumming of the lute and the buzzing of the blackfly crawling lazily across the table were all conspiring to pull her back to sleep. She planted her elbow on the table and her cheek in her fist, focusing on the needlessly loud slurping coming from the nearby Zith creature in an effort to keep her eyes open. But it was no use. The wood smoke and the heady scent of warm fur and stone dust smelt like home. She could see the Frostfawn common room behind her eyes. With it’s cavernous fireplace, with a happy bundle of children and dogs lying in front of it. The cats she wasn't allowed to chase sat vigil of the high beams of the ceiling. She could almost feel rough hands of her favourite people in the world, finding the perfect place to scratch just under her chin. Hands thick with the smell of leather polish, horse hide and... decay.
 
The illusion was jared by the foreign smell in the middle of her happy dream, and the Kelvic shocked herself awake. Her elbow slipped off the table and her knuckles hit the edge with a crack. She winced and bit back the stream of profanities as the Zith looked up and laughed under its breath.
 
But she could still smell it- the sweet smell of dried fluids and antiseptic that she had come to associate with death. She rubbed her knuckles and looked up to the round doorway, unwilling to voice to herself the hope she had.
 
Kuvarakh stood in the stone entrance, she had caught sight of him before he found her. The first emotion to play across her face was a deep, profound relief. She had no idea that she was this worried about him- total stranger that he was. But as the relief had time to be played out, other emotions began to rise. And slowly her relaxed expression began to morph. Her jaw tightened, her eyes flashed, and a mingled expression of indignation and frustration began to manifest itself. Within seconds her face transformed from ease to a burgeoning anger.
 
Making an effort to be delicate, the Kelvic got up from the table and walked stiffly to the door. If the Nuit said anything in greeting, she didn't hear. Wordlessly she grabbed him from the front of his shirt and towed him outside. Behind her she heard the Kelvic wolf girl mutter something along the lines of “To each her own, I guess” before they turned into the alley beside the tavern.
 
Nanami dropped his shirt the second they were out of sight.
 
"Well, I'm glad to see you. alive." she accused, her nostrils flaring. An ironic statement, really. But if the man made a single crack about his dubiously dead status she would smack him right across his face. 

[Kuvarakh]

Kuvarakh started to say an apologetic hello, but it was cut off when Nanami grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him outside. 'Well, it appears the music will be harsh...' he thought, wincing at the chuckles and mutters the other tenants were offering behind them as they stepped into the alley 'They are most assuredly NOT helping...'

In her human form, Nanami was not impossible for Kuvarakh to have resisted, had he been of a mind to do so. But not only would that have probably brought on additional hoots from the gallery behind them, it might have resulted in his having to explain his delay in front of others. Then there would DEFINITELY be laughter. That sort of laughter would be detrimental, but he thought perhaps a disarming joke might help.

She snarled something about about being "glad to see him alive." The tone on the last word was sneered with a hefty measure of sarcasm. He took that as his opening. He began the first syllable with a hint of a chuckle "W-hell, only until you KILL me..." he had just enough warning from the flare of her eyes to block the incoming slap with his arm.

"Okay, stop! I know you're pissed. I'm not stupid! This is the first place I came after I got out! I haven't even gone to see Wanda yet!" Laughter from inside centered around someone's suggestion of a 'Wanda threesome'. Now anger surged in him as well. Raising his voice, he turned halfway toward the doorway, directing his comment at both Nanami and the offending customers inside. "Why Don't we go talk about this where people have the wits of actual ADULTS, and know how to MIND THEIR OWN PETCHING BUSINESS!"

He now, pulled Nanami away from the inn. "Look, the explanation I have to give you is absolutely insane, unless you know anything about the lost magical discipline of Architectrix." Kuvarakh was not going to say that he himself had been introduced to it. As always, he was hesitant for fear of people wanting him to share it with them. And even though he genuinely could not, without the accommodation of the building itself, he did not like the pressure.

She did not seem to know anything about it. "I can only hope this is something that will strike you as so absurd that it would have to be true, because no one would make up such a story, hoping it would be believed. Architectrix is a way of bringing...self-awareness...sentience...to a building. It then can make alterations to itself; grow bigger or smaller, add rooms to itself, or eliminate them...change the wooden walls of a room to stone...turn the doorway of that room into a wall...that is now stone!"

The last few examples of an Architectrix building's capabilities were said with increasing intensity as he used them to explain what had happened to himself. "It held me prisoner there for the whole time." he insisted, ready to make it out to be villainous.

But he had mixed feelings about placing all this blame on the house. He did not want people to dislike the Mansion. "But it had its reasons. It has been alive for hundreds of years, and has suffered terribly. It is lonely, but it also suspicious, and distrustful, And one has to build that trust. And my willingness to be held there went far to establish that. I had brought strangers there before, and apparently one of them had something that set off its anger."

Her eyes narrowed at the word "willingness", and Kuvarakh realized he'd indicated that he could have left, that he hadn't needed to keep her waiting. "Understand, please, I was responsible for the people I brought there. And if I had left, they'd have been held. I'm sorry I didn't think about our arrangement at the time. But I had vouched for them, and had to be responsible."

He muttered offhand, not really to her, but loud enough to be heard. "I don't think Phobius could have handled it, anyway."

[Nanami]

"Okay, stop! I know you're pissed. I'm not stupid! This is the first place I came after I got out! I haven't even gone to see Wanda yet!"

The Kelvic levelled him with a stare. The sentiment didn't seem to have any affect on her. Possibly because she didn't have a clue who Wanda was, and why she should matter. It mattered to the patrons though, who promptly thew up some very lewd jokes. She's glad Kuvarakh couldn't hear half of them, if the threesome joke bothered him so much. Who is Wanda to him?

The Nuit then launched into his fantastical story of what he's been doing this whole time. He threw in magic and a sentient houses and an almost tireless affection for his mansion/captor. What is that called... Stalk-home? Stockholm? How fitting. He makes an effort to absolve the house of blame, as if he were still trying to protect it's reputation.

One eyebrow makes the journey up Nanami's forehead in disbelief for each word he said. But its true, she could never make up such a story herself. Her disbelief somehow makes him more credible. But come on, a moving, moody house? And he chose to be there! He sacrificed himself like the gallant hero so his bloody mansion would spare his dinner guests. How nobel, and how complete bullshit.

But as far as excuses go, thats a good one to have: 'I sacrificed myself to weeks in my room so my friends would be spared'. Instead of: 'I was hiding out in my room from the various villains trying to kill me'.

She wanted to believe him. She really, really wanted to trust that he's that kind of good man. But if it turned out he was pulling her tail for giggles she would never forgive herself. You can almost see the wheels turning behind her eyes as she mulled it over, before deciding that it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter why he was gone, more than it matters that he was gone, and they have a lot of time to make up for.

Nanami took a deep breath. "I'm four years old. Did you know that?" she asked, taking the conversation is a sudden jolting shift. "I'm starting to see a very small shift in the perception of time between myself and the rest of the population. It must be even worse for you! Your days are cheep, they're not worth much. While mine-" suddenly she stopped and pinched the bridge of her nose as if to hold back the tirade bubbling away in her head. She tried a different track. "My son died this last Winter. I have been without him for a quarter of my life now. What's that worth to you; fifteen, maybe twenty years? I don't care why some crazy house ate you, you're back now and I need your help to avenge my son. Can you promise to stay away from supernatural bullshit until I have finally killed his murderer, who has been walking free of this for twenty goddamned years? Can you do that?" she pleaded genuinely.

A second, then two ticked by. Suddenly Nanami's head tipped to the side in an expression just like an inquisitive dog. Her exasperated expression softened perceptively, and in a much different voice she asked:

"Wait, did you say Phobius?"

[Kuvarakh]

Kuvarakh sputtered to a stop. "I'm four years old. Did you know that?" the woman suddenly cast into the debate. he flapped his jaw for a moment unsure of what hr point was.

Kuvarakh actually didn't know what was the average age span of a Kelvic. 'Did it depend on their animal type? Or is it the same for all of them? Well...as much the "same" as it is for any race.' But he didn't have time to ponder this as Nanami went on angrily with the comparative priorities of a short-lived race against a long-lived one.

Defensive anger surged into his mood at Nanami's accusing tone. He was about to shout back with a sarcastic "apology" for his family to have "not died recently enough" to "satisfy" her. He would extend a bitter-toned offer to let her become a Nuit so she could know what it was to have only TWO years before having to find a new body, or rot to death, parts of his body sloughing away as the flesh became too weak to support its own weight.

But he knew this had been his own choice. And that was the worst part of it. The thought of trying to work through her anger to explain the impulse to have become one of "them", the very race that had killed his beloved daughter, just to have the time frame necessary to discover something to give her death meaning, to make the pain bearable. He'd clung to the hope that if he could make Nuit bodies as permanent as living bodies, they would no longer need to prey on the living, and deaths like his daughter's might end.

And what was worse, he had not succeeded in his quest. Nothing had ever come up that had given him reason to think that Nuit bodies could EVER be treated, mage-crafted, animated, or alchemized to last longer than the two or three years they did. He knew of some embalmers that claimed to prolong that to perhaps upwards of five. It was a few of these tricks that had allowed him occasionally enjoy three full years.

But every transfer he'd gone through in the last several go-rounds had been under some sort of pressure that did not enable the full focus and attention to detail required to gain this full measure. He'd once had a wax body-cavity filler made and treated so he could take all but the lungs out completely, without suffering the strange, hollow feeling, and the risk of collapsing the entire torso from one severe blow.

But that had been lost at sea during a hasty departure from Syliras ten or twelve years prior. He would have chuckled at the thought of that Dhani, "Mr. Swanson", trying to digest THAT lump. But he was not in a laughing mood right now, and Nanami would have surely figured he was laughing at her pain.

So he stood, enduring the chastisement at Nanami's hands. Wondering if he could EVER make her realize that this was one of main reasons why the Mansion was so important to him. The possibility of a library, possibly with old, even ancient texts. Maybe a secret was hidden in some dusty old volume there that would shine a light on this pursuit.

He realized suddenly that he had his eyes screwed shut in anguish, his hands in trembling fists, when Nanami suddenly broke off her tirade. he opened his eyes to find her looking strangely at him. "Wait, did you say Phobius?"

Had he? He hadn't really meant to. But apparently he let that slip. he ventured carefully, "Yes...He sort of works for me. Well...for the shop. He's my courier. He runs errands and sends messages and stuff for me. I'm sorry if he's not important enough to you for me to have done what I did. But I'll say again, I was responsible for him being there, so I HAD to do it!"

He knew he shouldn't have put it the way he did, and he figured he'd better jump on the pause in her anger to go on. "I AM sorry. I know I made you a promise. And I intend to keep it as best I may. But if you're thinking I was hiding, you're wrong. I was trying to secure Phobius and..." He didn't feel that it was his right to spill Maya's name as well, "...other peoples'...safety at the Mansion, so they wouldn't be in danger. THEY were seen by my enemies also, so they could be threatened too. I didn't expect to be stuck there for half the petching season!"

[Nanami]

Phobius the courier. Nanami flinched when Kuvarakh threw his name at her with venom, insinuating she though he wasn't important enough to protect. The Kelvic gnashed her teeth together but said nothing. Truth was, it was much easier to to see the people he (supposedly) replaced as subject to the Mansion's ire as nameless, faceless humans. Humans he deemed more important than her goals. But to learn that it was Phobius... that happy, sensitive boy. It skewed everything. It was hard to stay subjective when it involved the only person in Alvadas she truly cared about.  
 
And to learn there were other people caught in this Kirby fiasco was a revelation she was not expecting. Bad fortune seemed to follow the Nuit's body like a bad smell, besides his basic bad smell. His misfortune was so condensed it was pulling other people in like a force of gravity. And poor Phobius was in his line of fire. How the void could he let that happen?
 
But she was in it's pull too. And that happened by a chance so mind-boglingly slim it was hard to even comprehend. The Nuit would not have intentionally done this, not to anyone. Nanami blew out her cheeks with a huff. 
 
"Thank you", she said in a small voice, glaring at a patch of air over Kuvarakh's left shoulder. He looked confused, like he might ask her what she just said. The Kelvic interjected before he had the chance.
 
"I said thank you, you insufferable ponce." she fumed, feeling childish. "Phobius is a sweet boy. I would have done the same."
 
That was likely the only apology the Nuit would ever get out of the argument.
 
"If this Wanda also thinks you're dead, we'd better go pay her a visit", she reminded him grudgingly. Not that he would be likely to forget what must be an important person to him. The plural in the statement wasn't an accident either. Now that she's found Victor's walking target, it's unlikely she'll ever let him go again.   

[Kuvarakh]

Kuvarakh wasn't sure he'd heard Nanami right. He started to lean in to ask her to repeat herself, when she beat him to it, with more volume this time. "I said thank you, you insufferable ponce. Phobius is a sweet boy. I would have done the same."

He was surprisingly relieved to hear that. He'd been anticipating a massive quarrel, probably ending in a parting of ways and the certainty that she blamed him entirely for it. "Well...Thank you, in return, then. That actually means quite a lot to me." He nodded by way of a bow, then graced her with a genuine smile, or as genuine as the innately scarred and crafty face of Kirby allowed. He grew serious again, straightened up and looked around. Catching sight of a mist in the distance, he looked around its perimeter and saw a hazy part of the sky.

"Judging by the signs the factory district, and that mist, which I figure to be rising from a waterfall, I expect my shop to be in that direction." He pointed to the side of the mist opposite the haze. "That would fit the city layout dynamics I find our Patron, Ionu, likes to use most often." He took a fairly heavy sigh, "Let's hope Wanda feels equally inclined to forgive me, eh?"

They made their way back to Alchemmia Alchae, dodging fruit that a small orchard kept popping up and throwing at them. Nanami took the opportunity to fill him in on some of the fun Ionu had been having with the city in his absence. She seemed particularly animated over an episode where peoples' shadows came to life on their own and ran around the city, frequently acting out behavior that got their owners into trouble.

There were also accounts of tropical fish swimming in the air; turtles by the hundreds, dressed in petticoats, marching around; Talking pumpkkins, urging people to carve faces to match their moods or comments; and most recently, the whole city had been flooded, rendering into a a virtual archipelago of individual buildings.

"Did the port offer the use of their longboats to paddle citizens around the city?" he asked, recalling days spent in Ravok long ago. As much as loathed the spirit of that town, he had never denied its bizarre attraction, nor the pleasure of an unhurried ravosala ride through the canals. He did not really expect that the Alvad port workers or sailors would really even think to offer such a service, though there would surely have been money to be made by doing so. No doubt everyone simply shrugged and hunkered down in their buildings for the day, or days.

Wanda came running from the shop the moment she saw them. Hugs, sincere questions about his physical health, and equally sincere demands that he account for his mental health all interspersed equally. Kuvarakh introduced Nanami during those briefs pauses while Wanda took breath to lambaste him again. Eventually, both he and Wanda were chuckling at the fiasco that had resulted from his most recent choice of body. But all he could ultimately do is shrug, calling it a "learning experience".

Wanda then turned to Nanami, apologizing if it had seemed like she was ignoring her. The subject turned to the Womiyu, and their recent message to her that the influx of thugs had been dealt with, and that there should be no further problems on that front. Kuvarakh sent a glance Nanami's way, then turned back to Wanda, asking if there had been any specific names listed among these thugs that had been dealt with. Wanda got just a bit tense and looked between Kuvarakh and Nanami before answering.

"No. They didn't give me any names. I really have no idea if they were picking them up according to names on a list. Why? Have you seen one of them still lurking around? You should go to the Temple if you have, and let someone there know. They seem to be able to pass news along to the Womiyu very well from there."

"Well, really it was not so much a name, as any mention of one of them looking like he'd been mauled somewhat by a wolf. I already know that petcher's name..."

Wanda looked shrewdly between them again, a hint of understanding betrayed by a single raised eyebrow. "Well don't go bringing THAT body back here now. I think we've finally gotten all the "strings" cut from THIS one."

[Nanami]

Nanami was ready to defer to the Nuit when it came to directions to his shop. She still hadn’t figured out the pattern or the trick to finding your way in the always-shifting city. The fact that he could even hazard a guess at all buoyed her respect for him.

"You've missed a lot since you went hermit on all of us. But maybe you’re used to Ionu's tricks now", she amended as they walked. She began to explain all the strange things she had seen the past season with a very sensory view. There were turtles in frilly dresses, but how she reacted to such a sight or her thoughts on it are not important. Instead she explained the strange, powdery saltiness of their skin, and the patterns on their shells. And how the fish swimming in the streets were colourful and solid, but had no smell. And she explained the sound the talking pumpkin made when she put her foot through it in annoyance. 
 
Kuvarakh must have passed the orchard before. But it took an overripe pear to the cheek for Nanami to learn about the fruit tree's grievances. She was scrapping pear flesh out of her hair when she brought up the lightning storm. "We don’t have anything like it in the north. Suddenly the sky was stabbing down blinding strings of light, and the boom afterward got into my bones and felt like it was shaking me apart." she didn't mention how much it terrified her. And how she hid under Ruzekiel’s bed howling for the whole episode. When he asked about the boats she just said; "I was inside the whole time." and left it at that.  
 
They had turned down a narrow alley when a plain black door opened on the far end. Nanami tensed reflexively in response, but out of the door flew an old woman who looked so delighted to see them that the Kelvic dropped her guard immediately. Flyaway curls bounced behind her as she blew by Nanami and straight into Kuvarakh's arms. Where she immediately sprang into a volley of questions and condemnations in the same breath.
 
So this was Wanda. The Kelvic had no doubt about that now. She had lived in human homes long enough to recognize a wife when she saw one, and her mind settled nicely over the kind of marital row they seem to be having.
 
The Nuit introduced the two women distractedly, and then whipped into an explanation of his absence and reassurances of his health. Which quickly had them laughing at the fiasco he found himself in. Nanami, having heard his story before, was free to study Wanda while they did. The woman was not pretty, with her fading hair, lined face and stooped posture. But there was a kind of natural leadership in her that the dog in Nanami will gravitate towards. A flinty intelligence was alight in her green eyes, which remained vibrant despite her years. The Kelvic liked her instantaneously, feeling a kind of understanding in her she hadn't felt with Kuvarakh. Possibly because Kuvarakh was still such a mystery to her, but more likely it was because Nanami could see herself in Wanda's eyes. In a couple of years she could end up just like this creature.   
 
The subject changed to the Wyoming and the criminals who had been harassing the shop. Nanami tuned back into the conversation for this, her pale eyes sliding from Wanda to the Nuit. One insignificant thing she caught while listening gravely was that the Nuit thought she was a wolf, which made her rolls her eyes. If thats what he thought a wolf looked like, she wouldn't correct him. 
 
"Well don’t go bringing that body back here now. We’ve finally gotten all the strings cut from this one.” Wanda cautioned.
 
"Actually", Nanami cut in for the first time, causing Wanda to raise her eyebrow further in reaction to her heavy foreign accent. "Kuvarakh seems to be a walking disaster magnet. The- ah, "strings" arn’t gone, they've just shifted. And the man we're looking isn't dead. Yet", she amended. "Kuvarakh has promised to help me find a man called 'Victor', a poision crafted from Ravok. Victor is after Kirby for a debt, and I'm after Victor for a vendetta" she said, slipping into Vani over the complicated last word. "I'm your husbands body guard until this all evens out."
 
She was staring evenly at Wanda during the whole explanation. If there was something the Nuit was hoping to keep from this woman he wouldn't have had the chance. It's not in Nanami's nature to filter things for people, certainly not people as world-weary and tough as Wanda seemed to be. 

[Kuvarakh]

Wanda seemed momentarily staggered, "My...husband??" Her mouth reflected her speechlessness as it flapped wordlessly for a few ticks. Then she turned newly narrowed eyes on the obviously amused Kuvarakh. "What the Hai have you been telling this girl?"

She shook her head and laughed abruptly, "No...I'm afraid Kuvarakh and I are NOT married. We just act like it." Nanami might have thought there was an echo in the alley, as Kuvarakh made the same follow-up remark in unison with the shop owner.

"Only the arguments." Kuvarakh added. Then added, "Aaand the spousal abuse..." as Wanda punched his shoulder.

Seriousness reasserted itself as Wanda stepped back into a stern pose. "Now what is this about another thug? There's still one lurking around, eh? Someone named Victor? Have you spoken to the Womiyu? You ought to let them deal with him." she counseled.

"Now, wait just a tick, boss lady." Kuvarakh countered, with equally an determined demeanor. "You yourself are the one that told me the Womiyu wanted to use me as bait. To go hide at the Mansion. I'm not saying this to make you feel bad over the Mansion's hang-ups. It thought I was hiding the fact that I knew hypnosis from it. And, as a matter of fact, it was right...I was. But that has all been dealt with and is out in the open now, as are several other things that don't involve me anymore."

Wanda put her hand up, as he spoke, as if to ward off his argument, "Look, I don't want to hear about the Mansion's "hang-ups". I already told you that something that lonely for that long gets affected by it." her expression held just a hint of personal sorrow suggested in the remark. But it passed quickly. "I only told you that I thought the Womiyu might be wanting you for bait. And that was only when there were still a dozen or more of them sneaking around the city."

Kuvarakh was already nodding his head impatiently, "Yes, yes, I know. They wanted something to lure them all to one spot so they could make a clean sweep. And I have no doubt it would have worked, But I DO have my doubts that I would have survived...OR that they'd have greatly regretted it."

Wanda seemed genuinely supportive of the city security force now. "But now, if it's just one guy, they can simply put out their..."feelers"...and track him down. There's no real need for the bait tactic. Please Ku, don't defy them any more than you have. They're really none too happy with you already. If they didn't regret you...dying..." For a moment, her face looked shocked at the comment she'd begun, but she had to finish it now. "...it's surely only because of all the trouble this body caused." she back-handed his chest lightly. "I mean you have to admit..."

Kuvarakh was torn between sympathy for the difficulty of making that last observation, and anger for seeming to take their side by making it. "Admitting it means nothing! They took care of all these guys just fine without me. Using me as bait would have only made it easier for them. And all it would have cost ME is a good maiming, or death...No big deal!" his voice was turning ugly now with bitter sarcasm.

There was a dreadfully uncomfortable silence. Then Kuvarakh and Wanda fell into a tight hug. He held and spoke softly into her hair. "I'm sorry, but I have given my word, and I will not break it." Wanda looked up as they separated to forearm's length, still half embracing. "You knew it was the right thing to kill Kirby." he said gesturing to indicate the body he was wearing. "This guy Victor is every bit as bad. I will not suffer to see him only run from town or jailed. I will see him dead!"

Wanda lowered her head and nodded sadly, silently. Then she took a deep breath and nodded again, looking back and forth between Nanami and Kuvarakh. "Then I can only wish you both good luck, and be careful."