Work, work, work. Oh and now some play too.

[Guest]

Manny gathered up the books, a bag of gold, a smaller bag of gold, and headed down the stairs. He had some things to take care of. He was in his usual jeans and T-shirt. And of course, his boots. He peeked in on Venis before heading to the stairs. "I have the books with me sweety, I'm headed down to the desk." He then turned around and headed for the stairs. He was in a very good mood, despite all the ribbing he had gotten from the guys that morning. So he had a smile for everyone he met along the way. There was a new spring to his step and he seemed to be as bubbly as when he played Santa. He was just in that good of a mood.

When he got down to the front desk, he set the ledger down on the counter. He had to come down for something of his own anyway, so he figured he would kill two birds with one stone and take care of some business for Venis at the same time. He was whistling to himself as he waited. He opened the book to April so he could see what he had marked down. There was a list on the side of the page, it was on a page that was closer to the edge of the books cover than the shortened pages that marked each month. He was going down the list to see what had been crossed off and what had been added while he waited.

[Epiphany]

There certain were things to see on the pages of the Inns ledger, things that - aside from the new patrons- that were very artful. Yes, let us all woo the day that Epiphany had taken over the front desk and had checked people in for, until the book was full and not in use anymore, anyone who looked through it would see small pictures. They looked more cartoon-ish in nature, something that would be seen in those cute little picture books, with characters doing all type of mundane activities. If there were notes in the corners, Epiphany had drawn a speech bubbles around it and had a character under it speaking the words.

Some of the characters might have had a feature or two of one of the Inn's patron, but if they were really Epiphany's interpretation of the person, she'd never tell. When she put a person in one of her stories, or paintings, they never looked exactly how they did in actuality.

Anyway, near the end of the page where there was more room, there was a tiny comic drawn out that depicted a jail experience. Something that involved a phoenix and a blond raccoon. In fact, everyone in the jail was an animal, but the two main animals - along with a silver studded porky pig - seemed to be more elaborate than the foxes and wolves that sat along the sides. It was an interesting story where, in the end, there was a luau and everyone was eating stone-fire pit roasted pig. Needless to say, after the wordless comic, there was no room for another entry on the page. If a new person came and wanted a room, they would be on a new page. Sadly, if the page was turned there was a small drawing on the top that said "First on the new page!" with the character striking a victory pose with one hand on their hip and the other hand extended in the air making a 'V'.

Good thing no one was looking at the ledger then...right?

There was a person at the front desk and, as it was when anyone came to the desk, someone would be there to greet them. May take time, but someone would be there. This someone was Epiphany. The girl was dressed in black and white, from black paint worn as a mask across her eyes, to a fitted white-ribbed tank with black splotches. Her arms had black bands around them that were spaced out from wrist to shoulder. She wore very loose and baggy black pants that had silver chains hooking around from the front to the back pockets. Shoes? Virtually hidden under those jeans but if any chanced to see them they would be black. That dusky hair of hers was pulled into a single braid.

With the chains about her waist it was a curious thing as to how she was remaining silent... She was in a kneeling position, left leg up with the right one down. Staying there behind the desk for a moment or two as the person at the desk did their thing. Then, she moved and the motion caused the chains to ching-ching against each other and sound off softly in the air. It wasn't loud or to much, but it was something anyone could hear. She was moving to her hands, leaning down and to the side so that she could get a good look at the one at the desk.

Interesting to note, the girl had black and white scrunched armbands around her wrist.

She saw Manny and she didn't see anyone with him. a look to the left, then behind her, she looked up to him again and whispered.

"Are you alone?"

[Guest]

Manny had seen a glimpse of the book for the Inn. It had made him chuckle. But he wasn't looking at it enough to see anything more than the fact that it had been doodled in. He was flipping through his ledger to check some things over when the, black and white garbed, blonde bombshell appeared before him. She gave him a bit of a start.

He smiled at his buddy and was about to say something when he heard her question. Alone? Of course he was alone. But he looked around anyway. Just to make sure of course. When it was confirmed that they were indeed alone he nodded and whispered back to her. "Yes, there's no one else about." Making note of her attire, and the selection of colors to it, he ventured a guess. "Are you on the lamb sweety? Do I need to hide you from the fuzz until the heat dies down?" He smiled at his memory of old cop shows.

He looked around again before he whispered more to her. "Should we conduct our business in private? You know, so no one catches you?" He had to wonder if she really was 'on the lamb' from the law. After all, she was dressed in black and white. Classic prison colors. And she seemed to be hiding something under those wrist bands. He reached out and lifted the edge of one to take a peek. He figured he would find the remnants of hand cuffs or at least the chaffing that they sometimes caused.

[Epiphany]

On the lamb? Hiding from fuzz in heat? The words that came from Manny's mouth sounded about as foreign to Epiphany as the Latin the Nuns at the church were forever trying to get her to learn. She knew phrases, sure, but that didn't amount to much. The only part that really made sense to her was the last thing he said about needing privacy.

The total lack of understanding earned Manny a very quizzical look from this raccoon impersonator as she made to stand up. "You said the coast was clear so, things should be okay," and she cleared her throat and tampered with the bands on her wrist twisting it one way and then another. "As long as we don't dally. Is it that obvious that I'm wearing wool?"

What else could he have meant by 'on the lamb' but fabric? Well, he could have meant that he thought she had been out riding lambs, but that was just silly.

Epiphany pressed both hands down upon the desk, raising herself to her toes, and leaned forward. The silver chains on the jeans clinked against each other and the desk. Now that she had good position she looked right, then looked left, and eased herself down before she turned and up she jumped on the desk. So much for proper desk etiquette. Besides, this way she was more at eye level to the guy.

"So!" marked with a big triumphant grin. "What can I do ya for?" There's an old term that she knew!

[Officer]

It was Jim's first day on the job. A really real police officer. Wow. And Momma'd said this day would never come. Well he showed her. It took two times through the Academy, a whole bunch a help and a recommendation from his Uncle Lou but he did it. He was wearing the uniform. Had the badge, the weapon, the hat. And he even had his first assignment.

He held the picture in his hand tightly as he walked up this street and knocked on the doors of all the places. When someone answered the door he'd ask them, "Have you seen the woman in this picture?" No one had at first. There was one woman who said she had. When he asked when and where like he was taught in the Academy she pointed to an inn a short way down the road. Jim turned and looked where she was pointing. "The Tel'ranannie - the Tel'ran - the Tel'ran-whatsit? That one?" The old woman nodded. He took down her name and the other information he needed to and thanked her.

He skipped right over the four other places that he passed. This was his first lead, he wanted to follow it now. He was already dreaming about how this was going to go. On his first day he'd find her, book her, and get a medal. His Uncle Lou would clap him on the back and say he loved him like a son and always had, and his Momma would tell him how sorry she was for not believing in him. It was going to be a great day, yessir.

He practically ran up the stairs to the place. Was going to bounce right out of his socks if he didn't calm down. So Jim took a deep breath and drew himself up big and tall. As big and tall as he could manage at any rate. Then he reached out.

Knock, knock, knock.

[Guest]

((Ok, maybe I need this, maybe I don't. But just in case, let's throw in a cussing warning here.))

Manny smiled at Epiphany. His quirky little bestest bud was giving him a look of complete and utter confusion. "It translates into, are you hiding from the cops?" He smiled at her more. "But yes, let's not dally." He figured he knew the answer to the question. And Manny lived by the credo that friends helped you move, real friends helped you move a body. So if she was on the lamb, he would help her stay that way.

That being said he watched as she climbed up onto the counter to conduct business. He couldn't help but smile again. "Well, whatcha can do me for is that it's monthly bill paying time and Venis is a bit ... Under the weather, er uh, not feeling good today. So here I am." He laid the book out flat and was ready to start comparing notes with her when ...

There was a knock at the door of the Inn? "What kind of blooming idiot knocks on the door of an Inn?" He looked up at Epiphany on the counter. "Sweety, you might want to hide. I'll go get the door. If it's the cops, I'll get rid of them for you." He turned and headed to the door. He looked over his shoulder to see if she was down off the counter and hiding yet.

As he walked over to the door he spoke to himself. "What the hell kind of blooming idiot knocks on the door to a public establishment instead of walking his happy ass right on in. Geeze, you would think that there was more common sense in the world. Some people ..." That was where his monologue ended because he had reached the door.

He opened the door and peeked around it to see who was there. And just his luck, there was a uniformed police officer standing right there. What to do now, what to do? "Hello officer. How can I help you today? I would let you in, but the owners aren't here and I'm not supposed to answer the door. Don't tell ok?" He stood there at the door and waited for the officer to tell him what he wanted. He had to think of a way to get the guy away from the Inn, and quick.

[Officer]

It had taken him twice through the Academy but he'd learned all those bits of protocol. How high to count at a door after you've knocked on it...what to do if they don't answer...what you can do in between knocking and waiting for the answer while you're counting. Look through any unobstructed windows was high on that list. Jim tried not to grin as he spotted just that, a window within leaning distance with an unobstructed view. Didn't want to look like a grinning fool when the door was opened.

He was ten away from the end of the count when he leaned over to look in the window. Barely got a glance inside before the door opened. Well kind of opened. Opened in that way that it made it hard to see inside. That was one of the warning signs in that one chapter. It made Jim frown as he straighted up tall as he could get. Looking hard at the man he could kind of see through the crack in the door.

He had to think of the right question now that someone was there. When a witness gave a possible lead to where a suspect was it was never good to show anyone at that place the photo and ask the "Have you seen this person" question. It would tip the hand just like in poker. And the Academy taught to ask questions like people were only going to stay still for one. So whatever he asked it had to be good. In the meantime he had to fill the silence. Stall.

"Hello sir. It's good to see an establishment that answers the door in a decent way." Don't be nervous that the guy is older, Jim, he told himself. He spoke deep and official. And did the tip the Academy gave of asking the good question as a statement so it wouldn't seem like there was a choice. Got to take control, that's important. The law has to always be in control. "You most certainly can help me. You can start by telling me how this inn runs properly if no one can enter when the owners aren't here while you let me inside. I don't mind waiting until the owner's get back. I'd like to speak with them but in the meantime I'd like to take a seat. I take it this inn has food service?." Ho-o-o-o-o-ly! Was that him who just said all that?! Seriously?! He wanted to jump out of his skin he was so damn proud of himself.

If only Mamma could see him now, boy. If only she could see him now!

[Epiphany]

Epiphany was ready. When Manny told her that he was there to pay the bill she knew exactly what she had to do - pull out a scrap sheet of paper and write down all the rooms that were being used by this entourage. While she had spent time doodling in the Inn's ledger, going through each of the pages to glance at what was written so she could put an appropriate drawing on the page, she hadn't really read it. It was true that she could go back, page by page, and look things up, but she had a thought that maybe Manny knew off the top of his head? It would save time and, if Epiphany started looking through the ledger again she may get caught up in the pictures.

So she was getting out that paper and subconsciously doodling on the top edge because he had mentioned that she was hiding from the cops. "Cops?" Now, she knew that word, though she had always referred to them as the City Guard she knew what he meant. "W-what ever makes you thi---" And there was the knock on the door.

She stopped in what she was doing and Manny headed to the door. Of course Epiphany was curious and so she leaned forward a tad and to the right, trying to see through that small crack and passed Manny to whoever was out there. Wait... officer? There was one of those Guards - Cops - here? Surely this was all coincidence.

Quickly ducking down behind the bar she managed to slip the ledger down too. She had to do this quick, that officer guy could barge on in or torch the Inn, or do the whole 'come out with your hands up' deal (she happened to see something like that on the TV in the lounge). Okay, rough estimate, she could just over charge and use the extra to take off of next months bill. Math. She should have paid more attention to her guardian when he was trying to teach her basic principles. But who had time for that when there were stories to be told of coppers revolting against silver?

A hundred gold, that should be enough. Two suits, a couple doubles, all the food for all the people - can't forget about the secret service rangers who had to eat every now and then so they wouldn't drain the land dry - stable fees, ect. Now, the math wasn't perfect, it was all just an estimate, but it should work! She scribbled "100 gold" on sheet of paper and placed it on top of the desk before she scampered to the back door!

Yes, she took the book.

[Guest]

Manny was trying his best to listen for Epiphany to hide while he stalled the cop at the door. He heard the book sliding off the counter as the officer took a breath. So he hoped that meant that she had ducked down. Then when the officer was done, he barely heard her scampering away. So light on her feet as she was. So he hoped he was right when he thought that the coast was clear.

That was when he chose to answer the officer. "Um, no sir, that is not exactly it. It's just that, well, we have some high profile clientèle at the Inn right now. So we uh, kinda beefed up the security if ya know what I mean." He hoped he was buying her enough time to make her escape. After all, it just wouldn't do for her to get caught. And Manny knew that if she did, he would be in trouble too. Harboring a fugitive and all.

He looked around the area outside where the officer was standing. Seeing no one else he spoke again. "So um, if you have some ID to prove that you are in fact an officer of the law? I mean, that is to say, I would know you're not someone in disguise trying to sneak past me to get in. You know, high profile clientèle and all." Yes, that should work. When he showed some ID, Epiphany should have had plenty of time to make her escape. Then he could let the guy in and get him something to eat.

[Officer]

The man's answer had plum done it. Officer Jim just looked plain confused now. "There's beefed up security because of high profile people but when an Officer of the Law knocks you don't let him in? What if they called the City Guard because there was a problem here? Where are they? Shouldn't they be answering the door, sir?" Well sure explained why the guy had said he wasn't supposed to answer the door, the security should sure as slop be doing that. Baffled, Jim shook his head while he reached into his pocket, pulled out his identification. He flipped it open long enough for Manny to read it and then put it back in his pocket. A gesture he'd practiced a thousand times in the mirror. And he'd learned never ever to hand his ID over to anyone else.

But on the other hand, strange as this situation was? Boy oh boy! A fugitive spotted at a place where there were high profile clients. This case was getting better and better by the minute! Officer Jim had dreams of getting a promotion from his superiors and a reward from these important people staying here for keeping them safe, all from his very first case. If that all happened, it would be good enough that he could actually give a little lip to his elders, a nice 'take that, Momma'. But in order to get that promotion he knew he'd need to follow protocol nice and careful. The Academy always said when a situation escalates there was only one thing to do.

Radio for backup. Officer Jim pressed a spot on his shoulder and said to no visible microphone. "Officer Glass Code 8, 10-66 at the - " He had to take a step backwards to look up and read the sign nice and slow, "Tel-Ranae-myn Inn New Haven." Then he waited. He was always scared that he was using the radio wrong and the dispatchers didn't hear him. When silence followed he was about to press the button again but then the answer came through - "Copy." Jim let out a relieved breath that sounded a whole lot like 'whew'.

"Sir, we'll need to speak with one of the security folk. According to a witness down the road the safety of your high profile guests has been compromised. And we'll need to see the guest records." We. It felt so damn good to say we! Help was on the way, they'd find the jackpot and he'd be the one to do it. Jim'd save that interview and questioning stuff for the Officers who'd been doing this longer, they'd be here in just a minute he expected. In the meantime he stepped down from the stoop, heading to one side of the building. To see if the perimeter was secure. And hell, to see if there were any other ways into this place that didn't have this old guy standing in front of them.

[Guest]

Manny was always quick on his feet. As he stood there talking to the officer at the door, his hand that was concealed by the door held his cell phone. He had managed to turn his ringer off. He knew that there were twenty men out side of the Inn, he figured they had set up camp in the forest, but he did see them around from time to time, especially meal time. Kahn's Ranger's, the best security the pair of God's could ever have. Yes, they were better than his men. After all, they were security, his men were just employees.

And the leader of this security force, was Draven. The best tracker Manny had ever met. And why did a pair of God's need a security force? Well, they had enemies of course. But more than that, they had children. And they had friends and family who were not God's. That would be the category in which one would find Epiphany. She was a friend who was not a God. And sometimes, friends needed protection that was less obvious than a God. Manny felt that this was one of those times.

So Manny hit send on a text message that read 'If u c Pip, help her escape.' As he read the ID that officer James 'Jim' Glass was showing he felt the vibration of his phone. He took a second to look at his phone while officer Jim radioed for back-up. It read 'Yes sir' to which Manny replied 'She can hide at house if needed'. Hit send and watch officer Jim. "Well, officer, I'm not exactly sure who the added security is. They are plain clothed, like secret service, um, back on Earth. American Presidents were guarded by them." Yea, good stall.

The second text message was answered. Another 'Yes sir." There were three people that the Rangers answered to. Kahn, Venis, and Manny. After all, any employee caught disobeying Manny faced the wrath of the God's, literally. So now that Manny felt better about Epiphany's safety, he could better deal with officer Jim. Who was now trying to sneak around the side of the building. Oh no, not going to happen. Manny couldn't let him sneak in, just in case she had not left the Inn completely.

What to do, what to do? Think fast old man. De'Ryanna! She had that women's intuition ESP sixth sense stuff. He knew she did, otherwise how would she always know when someone was at the front desk. So now how to ... Got it. Just before officer Jim could get around to where he could see down the side of the building, Manny called out to him. "Officer Glass? If you want to wait inside for your back-up, out of this heat. I think one of the owners will be back soon. And I shouldn't be in too much trouble for letting you in. You did show me some very real looking ID. You can radio for your back-up to meet you inside"

Good going old man. Get him in the door and over to the desk. Distract him with food and drink. And hope and prey that De'Ryanna's ESP was working. He worked on some type of code in his head to try and signal De'Ryanna to what was going on without also signaling this cop. Oh the things people do for friends. After all, the orders that he gave to Draven just added Aiding and Abetting to his list of charges. He got distracted totaling them up. Aiding and Abetting, Harboring a Fugitive, Obstruction of Justice. But then again, won't it be fun when one of the God's of Rhy'Din showed up at the New Haven City Guard precinct to bail him out?

[De'Ryanna Aybara]

Just as De’Ryanna was reaching out to open the hidden back door in the stable, it quickly swung out and nearly hit her, and would have had it not been for her quick response to move back. Her grip tightened on the strap of the bag she carried over her left shoulder and she huffed in response to the unexpected shock. Her own fault, really, for being lost in her own thoughts and not paying attention.

The matter wasn’t helped any when she saw Epiphany tumbling out of the door in a tizzy, the Inn’s ledger clutched to her chest. She came out the door and rounded it, kicking it closed with the back of her foot.

“I should have known it was you.” De’Ryanna was rather piqued, not because it was her foster sister, but because she saw that Epiphany had the ledger and that meant that, once again, it was probably over-flowing with pictures and comedic dialogue. “What did you do this time?” She had to have done something – or was about to because there was that feel about her.

Epiphany hastily tossed the book to De’Ryanna before she stripped the black bands off her wrist and then began to slip out of those baggy, chain belted pants. There was no time for modesty at a time like this and besides, not like the two females were strangers. “When have you known me not to have done anything?” It was a strange question for her to be asked.

“No time to explain much,” Epiphany said as she pulled a rolled scarf out of the pocket of the pants, flashing De’Ryanna a winsome smile before starting to stuff her items under the nearest hay pile. “You’re needed at the front desk.”

Intercepting her sister De’Ryanna took the pants and bands from Epiphany. “As usual.” Taking Epiphany’s clothes was not a big deal. They may not see eye-to-eye on many things, but they have been together long enough to have an understanding.

Rolling the pants up and putting them under her arm, De’Ryanna sighed and looked about the stable as Epiphany tied the scarf around her waist, it resembled something of a short skirt by the time she was done.

“There are people coming towards the Inn. Go a different way.” De’Ryanna offered this bit of advice.

“Of course.” Then Epiphany simply grinned and bounced into one of the stables stalls and was gone with a rustle of the hay.

De’Ryanna sighed. She wasn’t curious and therefore she didn’t look in the stall to see where, or how, Epiphany had vanished. She knew her sister and ‘vanishing’ was one of the things she did at times. As long as she happened to be in the right places that is.

Now, once again, she reached for the door and entered, heading to the front desk.

[Officer]

The older man didn't know who the guards were? Then how could...?...Eh, nevermind. Jim would let the backup sort it out with the old man, he was done with his questioning for now. The way he figured this, he'd done the work of rowing out in the boat, baiting the hook, catching the fish and reeling it in. It was up to the backup to scale the fish and fry it up and tie this case up in a pretty bow. Truth was he wasn't actually sure what the woman he was looking for had done anyway. He'd kind of tuned out in that part of the briefing when he was rubbing a smudge off his brand new belt buckle.

With Jim there was no sneaking involved. He'd kind of failed stealth, but his ties to Uncle Lou had gotten those marks overlooked. It was no secret that Jim was rounding the side of this building and that he was going to take a look around. He barely glanced over his shoulder at the older man. If it wasn't for the fact that he wanted to do this perfectly so he'd get the promotion he just knew he'd have coming to him, he'd have told the older guy to back off and let a man of the law do his work instead of trying to play at cop with those suggestions of his. "Got a radio, they'll lemme know just fine sir. It's under control." That was all that needed to be said. No need to encourage the guy to try and keep backseat police officering.

Obviously Jim didn't mind the heat. And wasn't too interested in talking to the owner anymore. He wanted to be able to give a report on the lay of the land when the backup got here. Show off all the recon he'd done. He'd start with the first building he spotted when he trudged around the side of the Inn. Looked to be stables. With any luck he'd find some of the security hanging around there, since the old man didn't seem to know much about them at all.

As Jim headed to the stables, a single squad car with a single surly officer inside was driving down the road. Kind of measly backup.

[Guest]

Manny saw the squad car coming down the road, he was a touch nervous. What if she hadn't escaped yet? Manny took a deep breath. "Officer Jim, I wouldn't go ..." But it was too late. Manny felt the soft quiver of the ground rumbling. She had heard him and was stirring. She was going to think someone was coming to play with her. After all, she had not had her exercise today.

She was a big pink, fire breathing dragon. Named Willow. She belonged to one of those 'high profile' clients Manny was using as an excuse with officer Jim. He did hear a rustling in the grass. She had been laying in her 'stall' waiting for someone to come play with her. Usually it was Venis, sometimes Tasha or Seleen. The employees helped out, and the kids loved her. So she thought it was play time.

She peeked her head around the doorway to see who was coming. She only weighed around a thousand pounds, she was still very young. So that was how she managed to still sleep in stables. As she got older, she would have to find a different roof to sleep under. But her head was about as big as officer Jim's torso. And she stretched her long neck out to see him better.

Then the ground shook a little more as she adjusted her weight to be able to move out of the 'stall'. With tiny footsteps she stepped free of the confines of the stables and out into the open. Then she stood up and stretched her legs and her wings as she leaned her head backwards. Then, still on all fours, she walked towards officer Jim. She brought her head down to his level and with a long forked tongue, she licked him.

[Officer]

Jim waved his hand over his shoulder at the old man when he heard the guy protest. Yeah yeah yeah. That's what the gesture said. He was a man of the law. He was just fine. Until the ground started shaking anyway. That made Jim stop for a second. Looking down at the ground with his hands out to either side. He started to say "What the heck is - " but he never finished it because he got the answer.

A dragon. A decent sized one, too. Jim was actually relieved as he watched the creature approach. If it was an earth quake he would have freaked the heck out. A dragon he felt like he could handle. It was all part of training at the Academy. They were put in contact with, lectured by and put through training scenarios and sparring with all kind of creatures. Had to when Rhy'din had some of everything. There a lot of those creatures he didn't know how he felt about. But the dragons he'd met had always seemed alright.

This one seemed alright too. Even if he had to wipe the slobber off of his cheek. "Hiya there little lady." Here Jim glanced over his shoulder. To see if the old man was watching. He saw something more than that though. The back up was here. He lifted his hand in a wave to the officer in the squad car parking even if it was too far away to see who'd come. He figured that would be a good enough distraction so the old man would stop paying attention to him.

So when he turned back to the dragon one hand reached up and pet down the dragon's snout or let her sniff him, whichever she preferred. The other hand pulled out the photo he'd been showing around town. He held it up to her so she could see it. "I'm looking for her have you seen her anywhere?" He gave the dragon a big smile. There was no reason the dragon needed to know why he was looking for the one who called herself Epiphany. Even if it turned out the dragon couldn't speak his language, he was hoping some visual recognition would happen and that she'd lead him somewhere.

[Guest]

Manny saw the lone officer that arrived for back up. He shook his head and almost chuckled. He looked around like he was looking to make sure it was safe. Then he exited the building to see how officer Jim was fairing with Willow. She came from a long line of dragons who had the ability to speak, but she had never found a reason to speak before. Would she now? He walked over to where he could see them and watched.

Willow let him pet her nose as she sniffed him. When he showed her the picture she tilted her head first to the right slowly, then to the left slowly. Now she was thinking that the girl was pretty. She had even seen her, just a short time ago in fact. But would Willow tell him that? Naaaa, she wasn't in the mood to talk to humans.

It wasn't that she never spoke. She did. It was just never in ear shot of humanoids. But there were some creatures out at the keep. They were animals, but they spoke and walked like humanoids. They were shy and they hid out at the keep for survival. They weren't fans of most humanoids. Willow talked to them all the time.

But what Willow was in the mood to do might catch this human off guard. She wanted to play. The problem was, her flying disk had landed on the roof of the stables the day before and no one had gotten it down for her yet. It was too far in for her to reach. Plus, once it was down, someone had to throw it.

So she leaned down as low as she could, and she stuck her nose between officer Jim's legs. She continued her forward momentum to lift him off the ground, provided he didn't move back too far or something. If she could just get him up on her nose, she could lift him to the roof, and he could get her toy for her.

She would of course help him back down. And then she had to figure out how to get him to throw it for her too. It was her favorite game. But Casie's twins were too little to put up there to get it. So it was officer Jim to the rescue if he just let her lift him up there. so she kept pushing until it was time to lift.

[Officer]

Jim thought she was picking him up to take him on a ride on the ground or in the skies. To him he couldn't think of any other reason but that since she walked on all fours like a horse and had wings and all. Even if he did see the disk on the roof he wouldn't think she wanted him to get it when she had those wings. So as she was starting to lift him up off the ground he was swinging his leg over and sliding right back off before she got him too high in the air. "Whoa whoa whoa there little lady. Unless you're taking me to her," he flashed the dragon the picture a second time when his two feet were back on the ground, "I can't go anywhere. Got a job to do today."

And that job was coming toward him. Because there was the old man walking over to be a busy body again. And right behind him Lieutenant Maxwell. One of his trainers in the Academy, Jim's heart sank. Maxwell didn't care for him very much and the lieutenant never bothered to hide it. As they approached Jim put away the photo. He didn't want the old man to see it. Because with the way the man was following him around that said to Jim the guy knew something was up.

But he'd never get the chance to see. At least, not today. Because Lieutenant Maxwell rounded the old guy by walking twice as fast with a brusque "Scuse me sir." Jim knew that walk. He was on the war path. And that was confirmed as soon as the lieutenant was in spitting distance. "What in the samhell, Jimmy? Dispatch sends me all the way out here to about the damn quietest place in this neighborhood just to see you playing with a damned dragon? Get in the car."

It was like being scolded by a father he never wanted. But Jim tried. He stood tall and square and did his best to sound official. "An elderly woman down the road, Lieutenant, she said - "

Lieutenant Maxwell wasn't going to hear any of it. Closing the distance he clapped a hand on the rookie's shoulder and steered him firmly back towards where the car was parked. "Damnation Jimmy did you learn nothing at all in the Academy? Witness memory is only sixty percent accurate at best, and you're believing some old coot?" As the lieutenant pushed Jimmy past Manny he gave the man a curt nod. "Go back to your business sir, sorry for the trouble."

Jimmy opened his mouth to say something to the old man, but the ferocity of the lieutenant's glare cured that. The rest of the walk to the car was silent, but as soon as each of their doors slammed shut it was obvious the argument started up real fast as Lieutenant Maxwell turned the car on and made the u-turn to head back to the station.

[Guest]

Manny nodded to the new officer as the man passed him. Hell yea he knew something was up. He watched as officer Jim got scolded by the other officer. He had to swallow hard to avoid laughing. When they walked back towards the cars the new officer spoke to him again. So he chose to reply. "Thank you, have a nice day, please come again." It was once they were behind him a bit that he headed to Willow.

When he reached the big pink baby he hugged her head and told her what a good girl she was. He did burst out laughing then. He told her that he would get her someone to get her frisbee later, kissed her on the side of her snout, and then took off to go back inside. After all, he had to make sure Epiphany was safe. For all he know, she could have been still ducked down behind the counter.

He made his way back as fast as he could walk. In the door he went headed back to the front counter. "Epiphany, Epiphany, are you still in here?" Whispered yell thought it wasn't exactly necessary to whisper. Not anymore. The cops were gone. And from the looks of it, so was Epiphany. Which was a good thing in a way. He just hoped that wherever she had run off to, she was safe. And when he saw her again, they would both have stories to tell.

[De'Ryanna Aybara]

"Knowing Epiphany, she could be half-way around the world by now."

Manny and De'Ryanna met in the same place at nearly the same time, he getting there before her obviously. She had missed the ordeal in the stables and it probably was for the better since she didn't do well with animals (aside from that one particular cat), even if she was one herself.

The bag she had with her was gone - probably put up in the kitchen since that is where that door lead - but she still had the ledger, carrying it in the cup of her left hand. Of course her demeanor was different from Epiphany's, De'Ryanna always seemed to be about business before pleasure and when she mixed them it was hard for some people to not the difference.

The ledger shifted positions in her hand as she approached the desk. She sat it down and opened it in what appeared to be a singular motion. A practiced type of grace. She had even opened it to the proper page that noted where Venis' entourage had arrived and the rooms they were occupying.

Whether De'Ryanna and Manny had met previously or no didn't matter. She knew who he was and she assumed he did as well. "You are here to pay your bill Mister Costas?" She spoke with her head tipped down towards the book, but once her words were done her head came back up and she greeted him with a small, yet polite, smile. A pen was poised at the ready in her hand.

[Guest]

Manny looked to the source of the sound and smiled. "Thank the God's. Pleasure to see you Miss Aybara." He opened his book as he noticed the note on the counter. Epiphany had written down one hundred gold. "I see she is no mathematician." He gave a slight chuckle. "You missed the excitement." He flipped to the page he needed in his book.

If she wanted details of the events that had just transpired, he would of course give them, but he knew that she was more business than small talk, so to business he went. "I have the three suites on the third floor as usual, then there is Miss Vesta's room still on the books. No one has signed it off yet so we are still paying it I guess." He had thought they were only going to pay for it for a time, but it looked as though it had been overlooked so he was going to pay.

He saw the notation from Seleen about the second floor room and it's rather large bar tab. He wondered if Venis had been just paying or if she had been going over the books each month. He would ask her later. "I still have the mystery room with the large bar tab that Seleen added the first day, second floor room." He figured it was in their books as to which room it was as there was nothing in his books to specify such.

"Then there is the bar tabs for the employees, Venis and Kahn, Seleen and Tasha. Stable fees and feed for the animals." Then he looked down the page. Upon closer inspection he saw that Tasha had made a note in the book. "I see we have added a room on the second floor. A Mr. Ha'Ruil Aleaneplith, room and bar tab." He thought for a moment. "I believe he is Tasha's beau." He looked over the books once more to make sure he didn't miss anything.

He smiled then. "I show no repairs needed this month, the girls have been behaving it seems. So unless you have something in your books that I am missing, I guess that is it." He liked dealing with this for Venis. She had a tendency to just pay whatever the books said without seeing what was what. At least, that was how it seemed. Manny on the other hand, had some questions for some girls regarding rooms on the books.

[De'Ryanna Aybara]

Manny was here to pay his bill and she was the one to deal with in this matter. If the paper that Epiphany had written the total on was in sight then De'Ryanna would glance over at it before she took out an extra sheet of paper. "She never did have a solid head for numbers. Preferred rounding things to the nearest number and taking care of the rest herself." If Epiphany had her way she wouldn't care if people paid their tab or not. But De'Ryanna wasn't Epiphany and she did care about their tab. Money did not grow on trees and the paper that was signed at their arrival required that the tabs were paid.

While Mister Costas rolled off the things that were being paid for De'Ryanna wrote it on the paper. "I will write this out for you so that you may take it to your employer to use as a record of the transaction." She turned the paper so that it faced him and wrote at the top: Monthly Monetary Transaction for Venis Jordianthan. De'Ryanna had a talent for writing quickly, and legibly, upside down. She was doing this now so that Manny could follow along.

When she spoke again it was in that business tone she easily fell into.

"Each suite is .. oh. hold on." Ready to start dealing out the numbers something of Epiphany's drawing's in the book caught her attention. It was a small picture of a girl standing, legs apart, one hand on her hip and the other up the air and her fingers making a 'V' for victory sign. Normally these things wouldn't get De'Ryanna's attention for more than a passing glance, but this was different.

Her head tipped to the side and she saw the dialogue spoken by the character. It said "Paid!" She took her hand off the paper and set down the pen and pulled over the ledger. Judging by the character and it's positioning on the page, she got the message and closed the book.

"Mister Costas, it seems like everything is taken care of concerning your bill and any other expenses your group might incur for a while. When this changes we will be sure to notify you."

[Guest]

Manny nodded in response to De'Ryanna's offer to write it out for him. He knew Venis loved it when all her numbers added up. So he waited for her to start adding up the bill. He had not had a chance to pay it before now because Venis had paid a hefty sum when they first got here and she had been taking care of it up til now. But he had snatched up the books to take care of it this time.

He had no idea how much Venis had paid up front, but he knew it was thousands in gold. But he figured that it would have ran out by now. So he was a bit taken aback by De'Ryanna's proclamation that they were still in the black. He closed the book when she said that. "Oh, well, very good then." That was all he could say in response. So he figured he would move on to his other business at hand.

He smiled at her before he spoke. "I would like to take care of something else then if you don't mind?" Such manners this one had. De'Ryanna probably appreciated that given how polite she always was. "I would like a room on the second floor, on a separate tab. And I would like Miss Emilia's mother Gwendolan's bar tab to go to that room please. This room is to be in my name and I will pay for it from my salary." He did not want Venis paying for this room.

[De'Ryanna Aybara]

With this new order of business to attend to De'Ryanna re-opened the book and turned it to the last page - the one after the cartoon animal creatures in jail - and took up the pen. On a clear line she wrote: Costas: 1/2/T1(G.Tyson). It was a simple system to figure out if you read over the other notations in the book or used logical sense.

"The rooms on that floor come with two Queen size beds, shall I have one removed for you?" She wasn't completely ignorant of the relationships between men and women. This man was getting a room, for himself, on another floor and was going to have a ladies tab added to it. Putting the two of those figures together - and judging by all the other room sharing that was going on - she assumed that they were going to share a room. If not all of the time, then at least on occasion.

As this was a new room under a new name (no others were under his) De'Ryanna took a couple of papers out from the shelf under the desk and laid them on top for him to see. "These are the standard constent and release forms for renting a room here at the Inn." She explained as she took the pen and wrote a room number down in the appropriate section at the bottom of the paper, dated it and then signed her name in one spot. "Signing it will make you responsible for the rooms payment and any damages to it and any Inn owned furnishings therein. Sign here please."

She made an 'X' next to another line before she offered him the pen.

[Guest]

Manny saw the notation in the book. It was a simple enough code. One room on the second floor with one bar tab for Gwendolan Tyson. He had no trouble figuring it out. Which kind of made him feel a little smarter than before. As for the two bed's. "Yes please, leave the one that is closest to a window if you can, that way she can be closer to nature." He hoped that was a simple enough request.

He looked over the papers and smiled as he signed his name to them. "Thank you Miss Aybara, and please, call me Manny." He took out thirty-five silver. He placed it on the counter with the signed paper and the pen. "To start my tab." He smiled as he picked up his things from the counter. "Have a nice day Miss Aybara, it was a pleasure seeing you again." Impeccable manners, his mother would have been sop proud of him.

[De'Ryanna Aybara]

As soon as the paper was signed De'Ryanna had placed the room key on the desk so that he would be able to collect it when he left. She gave him the key, he left the signed papers and even money to start off the tab. This she took and put in a locked box that was hidden behind the desk. "The extra bed will be gone by the time you open the door to the room." She replied as Manny was leaving.

"Since she likes nature perhaps a few fresh plants shall be added to the room to make her feel more at home." Plants would not be a problem. When the Centaur was here they had nearly made her room a forest for her comfort. They liked to make the customers comfortable in their rooms.

Now, with all said and down, she closed the ledger and left the front desk.

- fin

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