House Vharzyym

[Anonymous]

Sculpters, wizards, mages, artists, miners, workers, forgers. They all bustled about like ants, hurrying to do the bidding of their employer, their master.

Such was the completion of house Vharzyym.

Soldiers carried two outsiders past the main gates. The wall of adamantine was impenetrable, and held more suprises to those who would try to cross its borders unknown than could be imagined. The gaurds, the only two  who were visable, let them in quickly, seeing that Venorik and Kerath Followed. To even question the supreme overlord or the warmaster wold spell death.

Such was the life of a Vharzyym soldier.

 They kept on, to the main doors, which were opened from the inside, more sentries than one could guees surrounding the area, looking from places one would think impossible. They came inot a small anteroom, three doors in it. They went straight, into the main hall, as excuisite as it was, would not be deprived of the visual. Drow paintings, tapastries, sculptures, adorned the grand hall and throne room. A giant painting covered the entire ceiling, an epic depiction of the great battle between the drow and the surface elves. Every artifact would undeniably worth as much as half the village itself.

 Thus was the lfe of Venorik Vharzyym S'liston Bor'vizzmyl.

 Into more hallways they went, through flights of stairs. One could not count how many doors they went past, Venorik and Kerath following the soldiers supporting the prisoners. When finally they got there, they were uncerimoniously thrown to ground in a cell. " Watch with Balkin's mage sight." he tells Kerath. "i have business." with that the cell door is shut, leaving them in the dimly lit room, only one other prisoner in with then, wearing a huge brown cloak that covered all but his face. He was a drow, and sat, looking in a way that showed how he despised Vharzyym, waiting for his new cellmates to awaken from their slumber.

He doubted their dreams were pleasant ones.

---------------------------------------

Balkin trudges to the interrogation area. Venorik had brought prisoners. With a smiple spell, he saw all that happened through the wall. It worked only one way, and he waved Kerath over to watch with him, in full sound, as the prisoner stared at the two new ones, waiting.

[Rhindeer]

[Because mister 1337 was bugging me to post XP]

Slowly, very slowly, feeling began to work its way back through his thin limbs, and Niaaki's hand gave a slight twitch as the effects of paralysis and unconsciousness began to wear off. There was something cold and hard and very solid beneath his cheek and hands, and even after he was able to crack an eye open, it took him a while to realize that it was the floor. He blinked very slowly, staring at the floor dully through silvery blue eyes. Floor? How did he wind up on the floor? Mrrr...he remembered something about an inn...they'd found an inn...gyah. Maybe he'd passed out. He'd been really tired, and it wouldn't be the first time he'd passed out from over-doing it. Lots of travel plus little food and rest equaled a very in-bad-shape Niaaki.

So, here he was, passed out on an inn floor. And...Yuuki had left him on the floor? He exhaled sharply, and a puff of dust was blown off the floor and into the air before his eyes.

Niaaki cringed a little. Eww...and he'd been sleeping on that?

Evil Yuuki...probably revenge for not letting him sleep in a tre--waitaminute.

Tree. Gates. Inn. Verizon. Ouch. Lights out.

Oh hells...

His eyes widened as remembrance finally set in, and with a start he made to sit up--except his back cried out with pain and the world spun in a horribly nauseous way. The poison's effects were still wearing off, and he had to bite his bottom lip so as not to make some involunary pained sound as the wound throbbed, aggitated by the sudden movement. He clapped a hand to the wound, and his shirt was slightly damp and sticky where the dagger had been. Luckily, though, the wound wasn't deep; those daggers had obviously not been meant to inflict any major damage, but to simply deliver a poison to the unfortunate victim's body. Didn't mean it still didn't hurt, though.

Still getting his bearings and waiting for his vision to clear, he began to gaze warily about the room, recognizing it instantly as a cell. Barren, dimly lit, bars, Yuuki...

Yuuki!

He was only vaguely aware of the other prisoner, either that or he had noticed him but didn't really care, but he did care about Yuuki, and so he quickly scooted over to his companion and guardian. There were bruises on his body from his rough landing in the cell and his back ached with every movement, but he ignored the sensations as much as he could, even as the world came in and out of focus in a way that made his stomach twist. He swallowed. It didn't help that he was hungry; that just made him feel even more nauseous and exhausted.

"Yuuki? Yuu? Wake up," he breathed, his words slurring slightly, giving his friend a nudge. Or two or three. Well, he was still breathing and both their heads were still attached. They also still had their clothes on. It could have been worse. He was just glad Yuuki was okay...or, relatively okay, considering they'd been stabbed and drugged and were now in a cell in a weird place after being set up and lied to. Yuuki was right...they should have slept in a tree and munched pine cones. He was probably never going to let Niaaki live this one down.

Well...he said he'd bail them out if they got in trouble, so now he had to wake up. Except...Niaaki, though he'd witnessed and experienced Yuuki's mad escape skills before, he was still unsure as to how far they extended... "Wake up...time for us to bail..." Well, things had certainly taken a bad turn. Spider people telling them the place was an inn when it was really some top secret place with stiff-necked back-stabbers...

And it was also as he tried to shake Yuuki awake that he noticed how...empty his hands were.

Yuuki's sword was gone.

And so was his doll.

A sudden surge of real panic shot through Niaaki at that realization, and he quickly stopped shaking Yuuki--who was alive and there--and started quickly scanning the small room for any traces of the doll, which was...inanimate and very much not there. Niaaki began to feel dizzy and he could feel his pulse start to quicken, but it wasn't due to the poison's after-effects.

It wasn't there...the doll wasn't there...

[Anonymous]

Since Yuuki was larger then Niaaki, his shoulder hurt from the contact of flesh, bone and hard floor. Now, not only did the poisons and all that nice stuff that was on the dagger help out in making him snooze, his own body cried out for rest, other wise, he would have been up sooner then Niaaki, and already out of there dragging his little friend along… not noticing the missing doll and weapon. Those sneaky bastards! Yuuki’s eyes fluttered slightly and he let out a gasp of air at the sharp pain in his back, ouch. This sucked. Who’s idea was it to come to this blasted village anyway?! If it was his, he’s going to let Niaaki set the destination… Just, not allowed to ask for directions to inns… The Inns around here weren’t very nice.

Wincing, Yuuki sat up and ran a hand through his hair, looking at a flustered Niaaki who seemed to be panting. Something was missing, but what was it? Niaaki never wore anything extra, just a bag that held their money and his extra pretty things that Yuuki didn’t care to know about or want too... The doll. Crap. His sword! Double-crap! Those… Sneaky bastards took off with their stuff! Yuuki grumbled and got onto his hands and knees before letting out a slight grunt and standing up, dusting off his butt and looking down at Niaaki and lightly rested his hand on his little friends shoulder.

�Niaaki… You should breath like a human and not a beached fish… You know me; I’ll get us out of here… With your doll and my sword.�

With a nod of agreement with himself, Yuuki gave a weary glace at the person wrapped up like a bug in a rug. It unnerved him. Probably some sneaky bastard (as Yuuki was calling all the members of the Verizon army.) who was spying on them. With a snort of disgust Yuuki looked around the room and sighed, they needed a new decorator. The one they currently had didn’t do much in the intimidating line.

�This place sucks… This village sucks… Hell, we’ll just say this… Varizon army sucks too…�

Yuuki looked pointedly at the door and crossed his arms, not knowing or caring if anyone could here them.

�Bunch of sneaky bastards who can only get their ‘enemy’ down when their back is turned. If I was a commander, I’d at least let my opponent a bit of a warning before I kick their asses. Weak power-corrupted drow…�

And then Yuuki began to mutter, ignoring the other occupants for a few moments while he ranted about what a bad race drow where. This was also a way of escaping, Yuukis mind might have to think for a moment to remember what an arachnid was, but he was a good strategist… And, for all the drow knew, he was here on purpose… An evil grin slip onto Yuukis face and he went and stood behind Niaaki, both hands on his friends shoulders before giving them a quick squeeze of reassurance.

�Don’t worry Niaaki, we’ll get out of here, and its not like those guys want to touch your dolly… You’ve had that thing forever… Does it have a name? If it doesn’t we can suggest names for it while we wait here for our crappy hosts.�

Eyes and ears were everywhere in a fortress, especially in a creepy dim one with metal in odd places. Yuuki knew this, because he had been in a prison once, a little while before he knew Niaaki, which was quite a while ago. Blinking his dark blue eyes a few times, Yuuki slumped down onto the floor and rested his head on his chin, sighing and putting his elbow on his knee. He had to be the big tough one, the one who never freaked out… But, between him and that little voice in his head he narrated too, Yuuki was a little afraid for is neck and Niaaki’s. Yuuki reached up, grabbed Niaaks sleeve and pulled down gently, ready to tuck the smaller male underneath his arm like a rag-doll.

[Rhindeer]

A beached...fish...?

Niaaki closed his mouth with a soft clicking of teeth. He hadn't even realized he was breathing heavily until then, and of course that would be the first thing Yuuki would say...even waking up in a prison. Niaaki had never been in a cell before. He'd seen what they looked like, but never been in one, and had he not been so worried about his doll, he would have been sweating about that. Closed spaces like this scared him. He was kind of claustrophobic, and from what he understood of his ancestry, claustrophobia was a trait most fae had. But now that he was certain he and Yuuki were alive and, mostly, well save for some bruises and wounded backs, he had time to worry about the doll. The fear of closed spaces was tucked off to the side, lurking around.

And Yuuki seemed so calm.

Which was good, because otherwise, Niaaki would have probably been a lot more freaked than he was.

Niaaki knew he'd get them out of here--or, at least, he trusted he would; they'd been in scrapes before this, though those scrapes had involved open spaces--and they'd come out fine. Though, his doll had never been taken before. Why did they even take the doll? It didn't look special at all! So why would they take it? Unless...unless they thought there was something inside it...and they decided to dissect it...which would destroy it...and then...then...

Unless they were even smarter--which he hoped they weren't--and learned what it really was.

Deep breaths.

Yuuki said he'd get it back. So he would. And...and the drow wouldn't...they'd have no reason to destroy the doll. Right? Right. Okay. They might toss it out--erk--but destroy? No. They wouldn't do that. He hoped they wouldn't. He'd made the mistake of drawing too much magic into him than he could safely handle, and the effects of that were...highly unpleasant. If all that magic was sent rushing his body...

He shivered and gulped down the lump in his throat.

As Yuuki paced and began his ranting tirade, Niaaki rose sorely and slowly to his feet, wincing. There were little barred windows, and he wanted to see if he could see anything outside them--like maybe certain weapons? If he could at least see it, it would be something of a comfort. He didn't like the idea of it being out of his sight, poked and prodded and experimented on. Of course, the experiment part was a bit far-fetched. It was a worthless-looking doll! But his mind was conjuring up horrid possibilities, and it didn't help that he couldn't see what was being done. Wincing tenderly with each step, sore and tired and dizzy and hungry--not a good combination--he made his way to one of the windows and tried to look out of it. Unfortunately, he wasn't tall enough, and he wasn't feeling energetic enough to try jumping up to get a peek. He probably wouldn't be able to jump high enough, anyway.

He glanced wearily over his shoulder at Yuuki, eyes big. "Do you think you should be saying those things right now?" he asked, voice hushed. Ack...he was ranting about how bad a race drow were...when they were in the custody of drow. And had been stabbed and poisoned by drow. Drow who didn't look like they would mind slicing them open with a sharp blade. That one drow had been able to pull short swords on them before the other one poisoned them!

He wouldn't have minded that rant another time, but...now that he had concluded these drow probably were planning on killing them, saying that stuff probably wasn't a good idea right about now. And seeing as there was another drow in the cell with them...who might be a spy...that might have a sword or something...

Gyah...it was so easy to be confident when he had that doll...funny...it was a sort of security blanket, but not for the doll itself. It was for what it possessed. Without it, it was like...like a piece of himself was gone, and he was left bare and vulnerable. He just...didn't like this situation at all. Argh...stupid Niaaki...he should have known better, but then again, well, he'd never exactly been streetsmart.

He felt hands on his shoulders, and glanced back again to see Yuuki. A little bit of the tension in his thin shoulders eased away with the squeeze. "Yes...you have a point," he admitted. They wouldn't be interested in it. He'd been telling himself that a million times, but it seemed more true when Yuuki said it. Because, well, Yuuki knew more about this sort of thing than he did. He'd been travelling with Yuuki a long time, and he'd learned a great deal and gained a good amount of confidence as well, but he was still, in the end, a complete amateur. And in times like this, it showed.

He managed to crack a small smile. "It does not have a name...I may have named it as a child, but I forgot its name if I did."

Crappy hosts...Yuuki made this seem like a tea party instead of a prison.

He allowed himself to be pulled down, and he didn't need any prompting to slip under Yuuki's arm and cuddle up close to his protective guardian and friend. He trusted Yuuki. He always knew what to do and, hell, he was like the brother Niaaki never had. And closer to him than any of his "real" family had ever been. He gave a quiet sigh and leaned his head against Yuuki's shoulder. He felt a bit calmer like this, but his heart was still racing like a spurred horse. Even so, he felt protected.

Yuuki was good at evoking that feeling.

"What...do you think they want with us?" he asked tiredly, already starting to feel a bit drowsy and warm like that. He was still throroughly exhausted; that bit with the poison hadn't really counted as a nap.

[Teehee! I drew and colored a piccy of Niaaki! http://www.deviantart.com/view/24611082/ ]

[Anonymous]

Kerath let his gaze drift up to the ceiling as he made his way with Venorik through the grand hall of the still-unfinished citadel.  The entire ceiling was part of the painting, a magnifiscant relic dating back thousands of years, taken directly from the first house of his Kerath's old city and transplanted here.  The massive painting was sheer genius.  He wondered how many young Drow had looked up at it over the years, filled with a desire for vengeance on the faeries.  Pure propaganda, it depicted the war between the Drow and their cousins, the surface elves, showing in graphic detail the noble last stand of the Drow warriors as they were relentlessly pushed underground into the Underdark.  Kerath, of course, knew the real story.  Once again marveling at the artist's political genius, he stepped through a door along the left side of the hall, about halfway to the large throne Venorik used for formal meetings.

After the two travelers had been subdued, they had been searched by Kerath's shadows.  They had found nothing of importance to confiscate except for the large one's claymore, which Kerath had had sent to be melted down into something useful, and had been about to discard the doll when Kerath had stopped them.  Now, walking through the Vharzyym citadel towards the holding cell the two would be put in, he looked down at the ragged thing in his hands.  Having been around extremely powerful magic and magical creatures his entire life, the warmaster prided himself on being able to sense the presence of magic more accurately than most human mages.  There was something about the pathetic looking thing that had sent his senses screaming.  Obviously, there was something very special about the little doll in his hands.
He intended to give it to Balkin for closer inspection, thinking that the darkweaver would be far more well equiped to discover its secrets than he, and since Balkin would be meeting them shortly, Kerath wouldn't have to take time out of his busy day to find him or some other cleric or mage.

Kerath smiled as he watched the prisoners look at the stone wall, knowing that they thought they were seeing out of their cell through crude iron bars.  Standing there with Balkin, looking through the enchanted wall, listening to their every word, he handed over the doll.  "I believe you will be interested in this,"  he told Vharzyym's official high priest to Lolth.  "I took it off of the small one there.  No doubt you have sensed its peculiarity."  Kerath looked over to Balkin, wondering if he would have any insight on what the doll truly was.

[Anonymous]

This really sucked, Yuuki wasn’t stuck here, he could leave with Niaaki if he wanted too. But he felt oddly watched, it was probably because he was in a cell and there was a person right there, Yuuki sneered and glared at the walls. Stupid sneaky drow. It was official, Yuuki didn’t like them very much and decided that if he could ever get his hands around a neck of one, hopefully not a child or a woman, he’d choke it and hang it somewhere with suns drawn on its face with yellow paint. Okay, maybe not that, but, something along that line. Yuuki let out a feral growl and pulled Niaaki closer, as if to shield him from view, as if he didn’t want eyes on his Niaaki. Okay, getting a little to overprotective for their own good, but, bah. Blinking a few times and running his thumb over Niacin shoulder, Yuuki began to think of a name for the doll while they waited. No use letting free secrets when it wasn’t in dire need.

�Well, lets think of a name or two… We should name it butch… It has the perfect lack of hair…�

Yuuki trailed off with the perfect little smirk, the smirk that held human instead of being just plain pissed off, which was usually what his smirks were for. He sighed and let his head drop slightly and he pressed Niaakis head to his shoulder, looking at the ceiling and closed his eyes. In a few hours, his foot would be numb, and that would suck, because then he wouldn’t be able to walk. Yuukis one leg was straight out and the other was bent under it, cutting off circulation and slowly turning it numb.

�Take a rest Niaaki, I’ll think of a way out.�

Lifting his hand, Yuuki covered his face and rested his cheek on Niaakis head, giving the smaller male no choice but to be comfy and take a snooze while they waited for their… hosts. And what bad hosts they were. Since Yuuki didn’t know about that drow who had sensed anything from the doll, whom he had named butch not more then a few seconds ago, he wasn’t too worried about it, and since Yuuki could do as much damage with his hands and feet as he could with his sword, minus a clean cut, he wasn’t to worried about that either. But, once he found out the drow-fellow had it melted down, there would be hell to pay. It wouldn’t be apparent at first, but they’d find out how pissed he could be. Sort of.


((OOC: Happy halloween! *is dressed like a mouse*))

[Rhindeer]

[Yay, Happy Hallowe'en! *was dressed in renaissance garb and a mask...went like that to the bookstore, too! Well, minus the mask...didn't want to be mistaken for a robber or something...* XD]

Whoa...did Yuuki just growl? Niaaki arched one eyebrow and tilted his head up a little to look at his friend's face, but then he was pulled in closer to him. Heh...he was just being his typical protective self, which Niaaki didn't mind at all and rather liked, actually. Probably still being a bit pissy, too, about the drow and stuff if he knew him better. Niaaki himself was far too nervous to be angry about the current situation--he'd just be happy if they could get out of here with all their limbs intact and their sword and doll, too--and now he was becoming far too comfortable and cozy to even be nervous.

He could feel his eyelids growing heavy, no matter how hard he blinked and tried to force himself to remain conscious. He really shouldn't sleep now; he wanted to know what was going on, and...and....He gave a soft yawn despite himself. His body demanded sleep, and he could only put up so much resistance before it got its wish. It didn't help that Yuuki was stroking his shoulder with his thumb, sending him deeper and deeper into relaxation. Never failed. He was just like one of those animals that could be sent off into a happy comatose state with a simple belly rub or scratch behind the ear, only minus the belly rubbing and ear scratching.

Then again, he'd never exactly had someone rub his belly or scratch behind his ear, so...

That might be kinda weird.

"'Butch', hmm?" he murmured drowsily as Yuuki gently pressed his head to his shoulder. By then his eyes were only half open, and not really looking at anything. "But...she is a girl...unless...well...she may like other girls...I do not know...I will have to ask...she...would be a butch...if so..." Wow. He didn't even really know what he was talking about at that point. Yay half-conscious ramblings!

With a soft sigh, Niaaki curled his body up closer to Yuuki and his warmth, knees drawn up slightly and body turned to face into him. He didn't need his prompting; he wouldn't have been able to stay awake even had he tried. Pillowing his cheek against Yuuki's shoulder, he allowed one slender arm to drape across his companion's stomach as he made himself good and cozy, snuggling up like a spoiled cat against a soft cushion. His Yuuki may have been built like a fortress, but he sure made a comfortable one, and not just in a physical sense. Niaaki trusted him; everything would be fine. Yuuki sure didn't seem worried.

And besides, it wasn't like he could do much else, especially when Yuuki rested his head against his. There was no getting up now. Well, there wouldn't have been anyway. He was fading.

"Okay..." he mumbled into Yuuki's shirt, and then he was out like a candle that had run out of wick, eyes closed and breath coming evenly as he slept from sheer exhaustion.

[Anonymous]

Balkin looked at the doll he had been handed. "thank you, warmaster." he says to Kerath with a slight nod. Things such as he suspected it was could only truly be identified by the holder of the power. He supposed Venorik wasn't around it long enough to think much of it. " interesting.." he mumbles, turning it around in his hands. He had watched the two flounder into conciousness, then their actions afterward. He saw the one rant, then calm down, and now the other one was falling asleep. He wasn't paying too much attention. " i think... it be an item that focuses magic. Weaklings use them, ones that can't handle internal energy. just a hunch, i'll have to wait and see." He finally replies after a few minutes.

  " It is time." He tells the warmaster, walking up to the door to the cell. Pressing his hand against it, the illusion dissipated, and would reveal to all that it was in fact a brick wall, not a barred cell. Balkin walked in first, tossing the doll to the floor in front of its owner. " Get up." he says forcefully to the two, giving the sleeping one a small, non-pain-causing kick to rouse him. The other cell member, the drow in the large cloak, stands up as they enter, shrugging off the large cloak to reveal his exquisite robes of gold, red, and black.The large Vharzyym emblem embroidered onto the back of the long, flowing gold cape.

 " Lord Venorik." Balkin says respecfully, giving a slight bow. " enjoy the show?"

 " quite." Venorik replies jokingly, walking next to the high priest, his voice not carrying an accent as the others' had. " stand up." he tells them. " For lolth sakes, look presentable. " he says, a smirk on his face, along with a look that dared them to strike out as they said they would. He would enjoy a little fun.

" Now may I inquire as to why you are here?"

[Anonymous]

Now, on a normal everyday type day, Yuuki would have yawned given the person a slight nod then stand up. Here though, this was an order, and he had a very sleepy Niaaki on his shoulder, who seemed to be taking a nap. So, all Yuuki did do, was lift up his hand, and give the all-mighty crawly-skull man-commander the symbol that told him to do something very naughty to himself. Yuuki smirked back, obviously not very intimidated. Either way, it was appearnt that telling Yuuki to do anyway was like talking to a wall, it didn’t listen, and you ended up getting little voices inside your head to go away but in much ruder terms.

The fact that Yuuki and Niaaki were in a cell, all squished up together didn’t really phase the taller human looking male. Maybe it was because he was clothed from chin to toe, or that the only skin that was actually seen was his face, because some of his hair covered his ears. It all had to do with the strength of the security blanket, Yuuki could do anything but live though getting melted right now. Then again almost no one would survive getting melted… If they did, they wouldn’t end up too pretty and might look like goo. Jar-o-humanoid… Yech.

Yuuki set his eyes up onto the drow over-lord type male thing and sighed, thinking it’d be at least a little bit nice to stand up for the guy seeing how he actually got something into his back… Even if he did it sneaky-bastard style. In Yuukis mind, everything but fetuses were sneaky bastards, if he knew drow, which he didn’t anyway… Women were supposed to be the head-honchos and males were ‘pleasure slaves’. A candle flickered on in Yuukis head and he lightly lifted off Niaakis head, and placed it on the ground, maneuvering his friend so his arm acted like a pillow.

�Look… Mr. Greatness Commander of the Creepy-Crawly-Skull Knights… You got me at the tavern thing only because I wasn’t facing you and your friend there was drawing some sort dagger thing on us…� He of course, so he didn't lose the drows attention, motioned 'us' by pointing to himself then Niaaki.

Tilting he head to the side slightly so he could see the Drow from a whole new angle of about two inches to the left. The same evil smirk was on his face and Yuuki crossed his arms over his chest.

�What the hell is a Lolith? And we… my friend and I, I mean… Are here because of you and your sneaky-bastard move along with poison daggers… Anymore questions, your greatness commander of all the creepy-crawly-skull knights?�

This was why it was bad to bother Yuuki, he got very sarcastic and answered bluntly… With dumb little nicknames added. Can’t forget the crappy nicknames, thought he quiet liked the one he gave Mr. Greatness Commander of all the Creepy-Crawly-Skull Knights. A bit long winded, but, if he had it his way, Niaaki and Yuuki would be calling Mr. GCCCSK that for the rest of their lives… And pass it down. The Varizon army will never be the same. Which was probably a good thing, they treated guests like crap here.

�By the way, your service here sucks.�

Yuuki commenced in running his tongue over his teeth, ‘don’t touch me’ vibes radiated off of him along with a �I’ll break your hand if you do.� Niaaki didn’t even know what Yuuki really was, so, unless he flat out told them, they wouldn’t think anymore of him then just being a normal human. What a bunch of dim candle lights. Psha.

[Rhindeer]

Niaaki was in a deep enough sleep that he didn't hear the cell door open, but he did rouse at being nudged, his eyes fluttering and a small, somewhat annoyed groan leaving his lips. That was about it. He blinked slowly, glancing wearily toward the new voice out of half-lided eyes as he fought to wake up. Well, he was technically awake, but not fully; he could have dropped off again right then and there and slept happily for the next few hours if it wasn't suddenly so loud in there. He wasn't quite awake enough yet to actually comprehend what was being said, though; he heard words, but they just weren't registering.

Then he was being jostled gently as Yuuki rose and set him down carefully on the ground with his arm pillowed beneath him. It was then that consciousness finally returned, and he blinked up dully and yawned. Yes. He always was a horribly deep sleeper, and sometimes, it could take little short of a tornado to bring him out of his somewhat narcoleptic state.

The sounds of a confrontation did, and orders for him to get up, and, blinking, he looked up and this time began to truly take in the figures that were speaking, and that Yuuki was standing and...

And his doll was laying right in front of him. Blinking rapidly, he lifted up onto one elbow and snatched the doll back with the other. His first impulse was to assume it was a dud, not the real thing. If they had figured out what it was, why would they give it back? They were basically handing him back his own weapon! And yet if they didn't know what it was, why would they give it back? He didn't think random acts of kindness were in these drows' blood. Yet, sure enough, he could feel the magic flowing beneath his fingers as he touched it, and that familiar sensation of wholeness returned upon being reunited with the thing. Well, not from being reunited with the doll, but with the magic.

It was as he was holding the doll, confusion written across his face, that the conversation began to finally reach his ears.

And Niaaki very quickly found himself caught in a precarious state between laughing and being very, very afraid. He agreed with Yuuki. He didn't like this place, nor the people, nor anything about it. He thought the spider symbol things they wore were ridiculous and creepy. He thought, quite frankly, that they were bastards, though he'd never say that word aloud--nooo, Niaaki didn't swear, not out loud at least, because rough language just sounded, and looked, ridiculous coming from him. All he'd wanted was a inn of some sort, food, and to take a bath, dammit! They'd tricked them. And they'd ended up here in a cell because they either couldn't give correct directions or wanted to see them killed.

He hoped they wouldn't be killed...

And that was why, though he found Yuuki's tirade all-too-correct and inwardly amusing, he blanched at Yuuki's words. Gyah! They...they were in these drow peoples' stronghold! There were lots of drow here! Talking like that to their leaders wasn't a good idea, not when they were in a cell, and especially since not even Niaaki truly knew what Yuuki was capable of! Hugging the doll to his chest, Niaaki scrambled to his knees, then to his feet, to come to stand beside Yuuki, a good few heads shorter and much thinner than his companion. His free left hand reached out to grip Yuuki's sleeve in his smaller fist, as though in an attempt to calm--or restrain--his friend.

"Ahaha, I am afraid my companion here believes this is your village's inn. You see, we have been travelling a good while now, and when we came here, we asked directions from your...your lovely guardsmen as to where the nearest inn was. They directed us here. Perhaps we did not interpret the directions correctly, for we came to be here. We...did not know this was an...off-limits location. We sincerely thought it was the inn. I believe my friend still does believe it is the inn. Whatever you gave us, well, it looks like it is still affecting him...it would be completely proper to critique the runnings of an inn to improve service. It is not appropriate here, of course, but...but...you see, he is still confused. Is that not correct, my friend?" Niaaki explained quickly, the words pouring from his mouth a bit more urgently than they should have. Yet he managed to keep his expression a lot calmer than he felt, and he made sure to keep his expression innocent and even clueless, hugging the doll in a pathetic way and making his round eyes big. His voice was soft, as well, and apologetic.

Niaaki made sure to top off the "apology" with a small bow from the waist, though he did not release his grip on Yuuki's sleeve. If anything, his fingers shifted a little from the sleeve to the arm itself, and his fingertips dug ever so lightly into the skin there.

Hopefully Yuuki would be able to see the game that he, too, was playing.

[Anonymous]

Venorik smiled once again. " It seems the crossdresser is the smarter one." he tells Balkin and Kerath in the drow hand code. " i guees melting down his weapon is payment enoguh for now." he added. He looked back to the prisoners. " Good boy. You just saved your friends life," He said to Niaaki." and, i assume, yours. Now, if you can keep your vocal cords in check before my blade does it for you, follow me. We have some things to discuss. I'm sure your hungry, as you stated, and my table is being readied." The supreme overlord started out of the cell, then turned his head back to them. " and not to bring the conversation down, but try anything, and i'll kill you both myself." He quickly resumed his walked out of the cell and down the hallway, where he and his higher officers would eat, this time with guests.

(short post, sorry. but, meh, i'm runescaping XP)

[Anonymous]

Feigning a yawn while Niaaki spoke, Yuuki looked stupidly at his feet, pretending to be a little ashamed for his rougish actions towards the great fine leader of the.... Vharzyym army. If Yuuki was feeling bastardly enough, he would have bowed too and rolled his eyes while making funny faces, but today he felt like being a plain prick, so he did nothing but glare. It was official, glaring could be most fun, especially when the person chose to pay no attention to you, because then you might even be able to sneak in a funny face. Who cared if anyone else saw you anyway? While the Drow fellow droned on and on about how great he was and something about a sharp edge meeting a voice box, Yuuki began to count the peices of hair in front of his eyes. Yuuki was at thirty five by the time Mr.Suprime Overlord of the Creepy-Crawly-Skull Knights... Or Mr.SOCCSK, read something like 'Socks' of course. A random giggle bubbled up Yuukis thoat and he had to cough to mask his grin and to regain his head before he just started laughing. Anyway, Yuuki was at thirty five by the time Mr. Varizon army man stopped talking to himself.

Conversation? What conversation? Yuuki heard no conversation, sarcastic come backs? Orders? Yes. Odd hand gestures that looked kinda kinky when one was in a certain state of mind, yes. But no conversation. Hmm, this fine sir must have voices in his head or something, because Yuuki heard no conversation. Poor Drowses, if only they knew how pissed Yuuki would be when he found out they'd melted his sword into pretty little droplets of... Well, melted metal. That was his sword and  no one would get away from him without bruises after he found out, unless the only person near by was Niaaki, then the walls would be missing some plaster or something of the sort. Lets just hope that nothing near-by is destructible when they tell him they melted his sword just because they could. Pah! what a bunch of bullys! What was once annoyance became near hate towards the Varizon army when Mr. Socks(or Mr.SOCCSK, or even Mr. GCCCSK) threated to kill them.

That was the last straw, when he got the chance, Yuuki was definitely going to punch the person in the nose, hopefully break it so he doesn't look like such a... A.. Drag Queen, an ugly one at that. They thought Niaaki had gender confusion, Yuuki was beginning to think all pointy eared things did. Enough of that topic though, Yuuki didn't really care if pointy eared things looked a little to girly, or if their noses broke. While Yuuki was musing in the back of his head, his face was blank and still staring at his feet, his blue eyes wide and stupid looking. Like the light was on and no one was home. Perfect.

The best thing about knowing someone for so long, you didn't need to talk to exchange words. Yuuki knew to play along with Niaaki and he moved behind his little friend a bit, hunching over to look a little scared and lost. Like a big evil looking puppy that you would want to pet but didn't because, though it looked pathetic and sad, you knew it'd bite you. Yuuki saw when Mr. Socks(or Mr.SOCCSK, or even Mr. GCCCSK) left the cell, and pushed Niaaki slightly, knowing that, though Niaaki was playing the guardian in this little game, he'd still need Yuuki. Just for show, Yuuki lowered his hand and put it into Niaakis, maybe they'd start assuming things and just throw them out, that way, no harm done and they could go onto a better village with more local locals who didn't originate from underground.

Though, for the entire time Yuuki would be playing a simpleton holding his friends hand, evil curses and rantings would go through his mind. Especially towards this commander fellow.  To them, he'd just look like a weirdo who was having a down moment and maybe even looking like he was about to cry. Anothing thing that one could do after knowing someone for so long. Yuuki was quiet the actor.

An upside to being able to act and having a little friend that looked like a pretty little girl... Yuuki and Niaaki have scamed at least one fellow of his inheritance... Though Yuuki had no idea where it currently was... Ah well, he was more worried about his current state, and how he had to act like such a damn fool... It was official.

All of Zantaric sucked, though it did have a cool name.

((Sorry about any bad spelling mistakes/grammer mistakes... >_>))

[Rhindeer]

Niaaki exhaled in one whistling breath and relaxed his grip on Yuuki's arm. His explanation worked...they'd bought it. His silver-blue eyes did cross a little at being called a "good boy" like a dog or something, but he was too proud of Yuuki, and too happy to have his head still in the right spot--oh, how he hated bowing to someone that bore sharp pointy objects--to do any more than that. Yuuki hadn't said anything...which he hoped meant he got the hint. So far, they'd been through enough scams and whatnot to be intuned to each other's body language, but sometimes, Yuuki could be like a walking time-bomb--he had quite a temper.

...Which was why Niaaki cringed slightly when Mr. SOCCSK (as Yuuki was calling him, though Niaaki of course didn't know about this...yet) threatened to kill them, not because Niaaki was afraid for himself (well, he was, but that was beside the point!) but because he was worried that Yuuki would go balistik; he was so protective of him. And then...things could get bad. If it had only been these three drow in a nice wide-open space, Niaaki wouldn't have been worried. Yuuki was all buff and stuff, and Niaaki could use magic. They could take three drow together.

In a stronghold, though, with lots and lots of drow all over, and while standing around in a cramped up cell...that was another story. That was where tact was important.

And acting, of course.

Giving Yuuki a side-long glance when Mr. SOCCSK wasn't looking, he was even more relieved to see his friend looking rather...stupid. Which was probably a very weird thing to be happy about, seeing your friend looking like a brick, since most tended to compliment each other on their intelligence rather than their stupidity. Good! So he had gotten the hint! Niaaki almost grinned, except he quickly remembered that this was kind of a life or death situation, and grinning would kind of give away the act. So instead he smoothed out his features...and replaced his own previous expression of innocent confusion with one of confidence and pride: back straight, head high, making himself as tall as he could--which wasn't all too tall. He actually didn't look as ridiculous as one might assume when he did that; he'd been raised a noble, and knew how to carry himself and put on airs when he needed to. But he still looked pretty odd when he did that, and he knew it; that was what he was going for. He'd taken a leaf from Yuuki's book after hanging around him for four years.

In this little game, he and Yuuki had just officially switched roles; he was now the guardian, and Yuuki was now the simpleto--wait, Niaaki wasn't a simpleton! He raised an eyebrow, glancing up at Yuuki. Erm, well, he'd just let that one slide...this time...

Niaaki wasn't too shabby of an actor himself. Hell, from the world he came from, acting was practically an everyday part of life. When you were born a noble, you had certain expectations, certain ways you had to behave under certain situations. He'd hated all that, but in times like this, it came in handy. Like...now, hopefully if Yuuki said anything naughty because he just had this habit of being unable to hold his tongue, it could just be laughed off and blamed on...retardation or something. He could just say Yuuki was a war veteran or something...got out on disability. One too many blows to the head. Post-traumatic stress disorder. Hmm...yes, that actually sounded feasible...might save their lives, too. He hoped. Erk. Hopefully Yuuki would just behave until they figured out what was going on...

Sticking "Butch" under his arm, he held Yuuki's hand and even, for show, gave it a reassuring pat with the other, and randomly wondered if drow were homophobic. If they were, they might be able to concoct something to get them kicked out. Then again, they just might not kick them out and might just kill them instead--they seemed more likely to solve their "problems" that way. Hm, probably not a good idea. Better to just see what they wanted.

Besides, they mentioned food...

Niaaki's stomach, traitor that it was, gave an involuntary growl at the mention of food, and he winced. He was no longer really tired--that small nap had done wonders--but sleep did nothing for hunger, and he was starving. Which was bad, because he tended to get the shakes when he didn't eat. Which was bad because he didn't want to eat from their table. They'd probably have it all poisoned. There was probably a trick behind all this...he didn't trust this situation one bit...he just...wanted to get out of here...

His "tough" facade broke for a second as he hesitated, but then Yuuki pushed him along and he got moving. Actor though he was, it was true that acting only got him so far; he was still Niaaki, and Yuuki was still Yuuki. Even though he was pretending to be the guardian, Yuuki was still his protector. If anything, holding onto Yuuki helped calm his own nerves because, beneath it all, he was still nervous. What was there to discuss? He just...didn't like the sounds of all that.

"Yes, sir. Point taken," Niaaki told Mr. SOCCSK as he and Yuuki followed along after him. Then he gave Yuuki another little pat on the hand.

[Anonymous]

If Kerath hadn't known the purpose for keeping the two travelers alive, the tall one would have been in several pieces before he had finished his sentence.  Kerath was not one to take insult lightly, and the thought that someone could show such insolence in the present circumstances just made him want to kill something... like a family sitting down to dinner.  But, knowing that the two were needed, he stayed his hand.  He doubted the two would perform up to satisfaction, and took a small amount of comfort in the fact that neither of them would probably survive much longer.  Although, Kerath had to admit, watching the small one try to save the two from the big one's even bigger mouth was almost comical.  As was the feeble attempt to fool the drow into believing their seemingly switched roles.  One did not survive for over two centuries in drow society without becoming an expert in commiting and detecting treachery, and if there was a single word to describe Kerath, it would be that he was a survivor.  It was not difficult to sense the small one's fear and uncertainty as he stepped out of the cell behind the group, as was the large one's anger and overconfidence.  Even the little hand-holding thing the two did seemed only mildly laughable to the warmaster.  He was not terribly homophobic, usually just slicing the throats of any homosexuals that got in his way.  Of course, Kerath usually cut the throat of any person that got in his way.

[Anonymous]

Venorik led the group through the hallways and into the main dining hall. It was rather large and ornate, in a dark yet elegant and classical style, such as the rest of the house was. He sat down in front of a meal of marinated rothe of the highest quality, and some side dishes of surface and underdark derivation. The Vharzzym members' meals were cooked to specifications, but the prisoners would have to settle for a default meal, which was none less spectacular.

 After sitting and motioning the others filling the table to do otherwise, and sampling the meal, He looked toward the others.

  " I have an offer for the both of you." He says to Yuuki and Niaaki. "which you can decide to accept or decline." He pauses for a second. " work for me. As you can see, we provide well. You will be well protected, not to mention that being a member of Vharzyym has its perks in society.Plus..." he says with a smirk, looking at Yuuki. " You'd get your weapon back....well, sort of...you'll get you better weapon back."

[Anonymous]

Yuuki mentally shook his head and smiled when Niaaki gave his hand a pet, he wasn't expecting it, but a small smile still pulled at his lips when he walked with his head ducked down. The taller of the duo had to peek over at the drow that had pulled out the knife things on them and his brows drew together slightly, appearntly Niaaki and Yuuki weren't fooling him into believe they'd 'Switch roles' luckly for the pale duo, even though Yuuki was very tanned, 'Switching roles' wasn't exactically what was on Yuukis mind. All he wanted to do was confuse them to their true personalitys, that way, they wouldn't have any trump cards by doing whatever to whomever. Not like they'd have any good trump cards against Yuuki, he was a rather... slippery fellow. the black haired non-drow gave an stage sigh, which would be very loud and very fake, and trudged on after Niaaki, stepping on his heal the odd time because they were so close together. Yuuki gave Niaakis hand a quick squeeze and then let go and took the closet seat to the commander person as he could and he did it very proporly too, he also sat facing him. Like hell Yuuki would eat here! pah!

Giving the the food in front of Venorik the nastyest look he could, Yuuki turned his nose away from it and listened to his words. Of course, all he wanted to hear was 'blah blah blah' and that was until the 'work for me'. This made Yuuki want to hit his knee laughing and spit out whatever he was drinking, unfortunetly, Yuuki wasn't really the type to slap his knee when something was funny, and he had nothing to do a spit-take with. Though with the "Vharzyym has its perks in society" Yuuki did roll his eyes openly.  What kinda person said being not very known and having not so local locals was a perk? If the Vharzyym had done anything extrodinary, Niaaki and Yuuki travvelled enough to have at least heard several versions of it, but they didn't even know what the Vhazyym army was until they told them. And even thought it slipped their mind, which it was probably do again.

It was appearnt that Yuuki and Niaaki liked normal names... Why couldn't they just be 'Drow army of doom' or something? At least that can be said, and shorted to 'dad'. Yuuki snorted in amusment then cleared his mind, he should take lessons from Niaaki on how to stay focused and not making up stupid named for everyone and everything.

Then, the biggest mistake the Varizon army leader-Mr.Socks-whatever-his-name-is could make. They mentioned his sword and something about a better one. His eyebrow twitched and his fists squeezed, giving a look at Niaaki that asked him to ask about the sword, because Yuuki would yell and tables would fly and eyes would blaken if Yuuki asked and didn't like the answer. Hell, he'd just let Niaaki answer everything for him. Knowing the fellow, to stay out of harms way, he'd say 'yes! please! take us in! Don't kill us! I want a bath!'

Yuuki hoped he wouldn't say the last bit, because then he'd have to hit his head, and that didn't seem very appealing at the moment. Uncurling his fists, Yuuki cleared his throat and stood up and went to stand behind Niaaki, ready to catch him if he passed out from any poison that was in the food. Because, even if Yuuki was a little paranoid about being poisoned, he didn't want his friend to be tortured to death by creepy drow and the not so local-locals.  Because Yuuki was starting to freak out, he put a hand on Niaakis shoulder, to make sure his little friend was still there.

((OOC: once again, sorry for any spelling mistakes... >_> ))

[Rhindeer]

Alright, so trying to pretend to be confident and tough was a bit more difficult than it usually was, but then again...when someone kept stepping on your heel, causing you to nearly eat it a few times, it was a bit more difficult to keep a stately composure. If anything, Niaaki came out looking like a big clutz. If a dignified big clutz. Or, little clutz in his case. Not exactly what he'd been going for, but it still suited their purposes. Besides, Niaaki could play the role of a diplomat, and that wasn't acting. That was a bloody survival skill! Of course, when he'd been taught about diplomacy, his tutors had never mentioned it being a "survival skill", but he'd figured that bit out on his own. He'd figured out a lot of things diplomacy could be used for...it could also be used for manipulation if you pulled the right strings. He'd also learned that as child, but then he'd been a spoiled brat. Came in handy.

Before long, they had come to a dining room of some sort, and Niaaki grimaced at the sight and scent. Food. Everywhere. Argh. He really didn't want to eat at their table. Already his hands were starting to get a little shaky from not eating, but he'd persevere! He wasn't touching it. He wasn't touching it. He so wasn't touching it...

...Maybe the fruit...

Agh! No! Bad! No thinking about food! This was a bad situation. Very bad. The food would be bad, too. Just listen to the guy. And no food. None.

He took a seat to the left of Yuuki, leaving Yuuki closest to Mr. SOCCSK, and when he realized that in place of Yuuki's hand he was squeezing the life out of "Butch", he quickly released the doll and stuck it in the vacant chair to the left of him. A grin suddenly tugged at the corners of his mouth, and he suddenly felt oddly tempted to act like he believed the doll to be alive. Maybe he could ask it for its opinion and feed it scraps of food. Nooo, they'd probably get axed for being looney. Best to just play sane. And calm. Yes. Calm--

The bastards wanted them to do what?!

Niaaki wasn't so much interested in analyzing the silliness of the statement that "Vharzyym had perks in society", even though that assumed Vharzyym was well known, which it didn't seem to be. No, Niaaki was more interested in the fact that they'd asked them to join. Asked. And said they could take or decline the offer. To join their army.

Take or decline? That...that had to be a joke. Sure, they could decline it all right...but what would the consequences for declining the offer be? Would they just be allowed to go off on their merry way again? Ahem...he sort of doubted that. These guys would lop off their heads as soon as their mouths even started to shape the word "no". Or, at least, Niaaki didn't trust them not to...not when they had stabbed them in the back just for getting their directions wrong. And they still had knives and sharp things on them now...

And to top it all off...

They mentioned Yuuki's sword.

Niaaki about died, and he whipped around in his seat a little so he could peer up at Yuuki and attempt to mentally will him to keep calm! Gyah! Don't flip out, don't flip out...Yuuki only turned his head and gave Niaaki "The Look". Oh good. Thank Gods. No flipping out. He was going to let him take this.

Swallowing down some grapes he hadn't known he'd been munching--ugh, hunger plus nervousness was not a swell combination, because if food was around, Niaaki would eat it and be too out of it to realize he was eating it until he already had; hopefully it <I>wasn’t</I> poisoned, not that he could really do anything about it now--he looked over at the head honcho guy. Well…he figured as long as he avoided the meatâ€"he did NOT want to know what animal that had been...what if drow ate humanoids?--then he should be fine...he hoped...

If not, he was pretty much screwed right about now.

Might as well just live it up.

He reached for a glass of wine and took a sip before answering. A sip as in something pretty close to a gulp. "What kinds of things will we be doing for you?" he asked, watching Venorik over the rim of the glass through thick eyelashes. It was very tempting to just say, "YES! We'll work for you! Just please don't kill us!" but...that just wouldn't do; he wanted to keep his head, not lose it, figuratively and literally speaking. Wine helped, anyway. Good thing these guys had wine. Even if it was probably poisoned wine. On that note, he took another sip that was a bit too deep to be a sip.

Then, because he remembered "The Look", and because Yuuki was standing right behind him with a hand on his shoulder, Niaaki cleared his throat and added, "By the way...what did you do with my companion's sword? Sir?" He reached up a little to put his hand on Yuuki's as they waited the answer. And hopefully it wouldn't be an answer that would make his companion go balistik. Or, at least, hopefully he would wait to go balistik.

[Anonymous]

Kerath almost smiled at the look on the large one's face as Venorik hinted that his sword no longer existed.  He was standing near the door at the entrance to the formal dining room, not bothering to sit.  He would have to be leaving soon, as entertaining as this little meeting had been.  At the little one's question about what happened to the sword, Kerath decided to open his mouth for the first time since the two had been taken into custody.  Even though the question was adressed to Venorik, Kerath just couldn't pass up the opportunity to make a surface dweller angry.  if it got enough out of hand, he might even get a chance to kill one or both of the travellers before he had to go.

"That hunk of iron you so affectionately call a sword no longer exists.  When you two were searched, I had the thing melted down to make something useful... like nails for the barrack lavoratories currently being built."  He paused and took a step toward the table, coming out of the gloom near the wall.  "It's not as if it would have been any use to you anyway.  Even in the highly unlikely scenario that you would actually be able to strike a blow on one of my men, it would merely chip and glance off the soldier's adamantine armor."  Kerath then just stood there, waiting for the being's reply, and hoping his impending execution didn't take too terribly long.  He had work to do.

[Anonymous]

The sudden urge to bash his forehead into the table that was in front of Niaaki and Yuuki was overwhelming. If he didn't know any better, he'd suspect the drow leaders to have a very low IQ. Yuuki wasn't too pissed off about having the sword melted, because that's what it was. An old dinged up sword that, thought it might have looked like junk, was rather powerful due to otherworldly causes. Otherworldly causes they left the sword when Yuuki wasn't in a fifteen foot radius. But they didn't know that, and there was no way the drow fellows could know that... Maybe it was a good thing they're turning his sword into nails. Poor drow fellows, they won't ever be able to take a crap again without hyperventalating. Yuuki's family wasn't very nice, and they were even worse to those who weren't related to them. Though, so the drowses didn't get suspisious, Yuuki's hand tightened almost painfully on Niaakis frail shoulder and closes his eyes. Needless to say, Yuuki pulled off the 'looking pissed' look, because his dark blue eyes caught and held the face of the sword melter. He had bad english.

"You, are an asshole."

Probably not a good idea, but the sword melter could go screw himself for all Yuuki cared which wasn't much... Because Yuuki still needed to show how pissed off he was, he lifted his hand off Niaakis shoulder and balled his fists then walked around it and headed for the main door, not really careing that he was walking down an aisle that held at least a few hundred drow on either side of him. He just wanted out. When he was going passed the sword melter, Yuuki looked at him with a tight smile and said, very poilitly for Yuuki, which, of course, still held a heavy amount of metephorical poison in it and sarcasm.

"Excuse me good sir, I wish to leave your lovely home because I don't think it suits me very well and you haven't been very nice to begin with. That isn't the best way to attract people into your main of opperations. You should try harder."

Since Yuuki wasn indeed, all Yuuki, he stepped around the fellow and continued on his marry little way down the hall towards the doors. Finding an exit would oh, so much fun!

If they let him out, which they probably wouldn't...

(excuse the shortness and the crappyness of this post! Still no internet on my laptop *grumbles* and this one has no spell check)

[Rhindeer]

Oh no...

Niaaki's silver-blue eyes widened dramatically as the other drow, the one that had tried pulling sharp pointy things on them before they'd literally been backstabbed, answered his question concerning Yuuki's sword. Melted down. Not good. So not good. Not good on many, many levels at this point.

He winced a little as Yuuki's strong  hand tightened on his thin shoulder, and winced again as the drow droned on about his friend's sword becoming nails for a lavoratory. Oh man...

In some strange, macabre way it was amusing, because Yuuki had ranted to him about that sword before and, well...if those drow had really done what they said they'd done, they'd basically just given themself a haunted bathroom, which...definitely was not an orthodox sort of haunting. A strange image of some Yuuki-looking poltergeist goosing an unfortunate, innocently pottying drow popped into his mind unbidden, and Niaaki foolishly hoped that they wouldn't have to stay here long, because he didn't want one of Yuuki's dead relatives staring at his ass. But then he suddenly realized that kinda wasn't important right now, because Yuuki was a ticking time-bomb when provoked, and if this little tidbit of information didn't set him off, Niaaki would be worried that maybe the food had been poisoned and he was hallucinating.

What was worse, that drow fellow had a look on his face that Niaaki just didn't like. Something about it screamed "danger". Perhaps it was the way he choose to ignore Niaaki's first question and draw out the part about the sword, laying it on thick. He was trying to provoke Yuuki.

Not good.

For a second, Niaaki felt frozen, holding his breath as he ran through all possible ways to save the situation. But then Yuuki spoke...and called the drow an asshole.

Gyah!

That snapped Niaaki out of his momentary stupor, and he twisted quickly in his seat as he felt Yuuki lift his hand from his shoulder. The look he saw on Yuuki's face was a familiar one--the look he tended to wear when he was ready to bash someone's skull in. Ack!

Without even thinking, he grabbed his doll and leaped out of his seat as Yuuki started walking off, but he didn't make it in time to stop Yuuki from telling the drow that he was leaving. Well...that certainly was different from what he had been expecting him to say to the drow fellow, but the tone...and Yuuki was heading toward the door, where there were hundreds of drow, and...good Gods, had Yuuki gone insane?! One word from any of those drow and the whole place could be on them! Not to mention he'd called the guy an asshole! Those drow had already warned them of Very Bad Things happening if they didn't "hold their tongues".

He caught up to Yuuki and latched onto his arm with both of his, then planted his feet firmly on the ground in an attempt to get him to stop. Not that it would do any good, because if Yuuki wanted to he could just tuck him right under one of his arms and carry him away with no effort whatsoever. Looking over his shoulder, he laughed nervously. "I apologize for my friend, you see, he is just a bit emotional when it comes to certain items of sentimental value. Just words spoken in the heat of the moment, but I assure you, he did not mean them. He is not exactly all there as it is, so please take no offense; he suffered a great deal in a past war, one too many hits on the head, and everyone is an asshole to him, even me! I do think it is best we go, if you please it, sirs. You would not be interested in a war veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder, anyway."

Yuuki had more imaginary mental disorders than anyone Niaaki knew of...

Niaaki resisted the urge to gnaw his lip or channel magic, just in case. Instead, he forced himself to remain visibly calm, though Yuuki could probably feel his heart beating rapidly against his arm as he tried to hold his friend in place.

Gyah...Yuuki was supposed to be the one that saved their skins!