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BARRACKS - MORNING
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Louma slithers into the barracks, in her usual uniform coat, though along with a nibble of breakfast in her left hand, she's toting her spear against her right side. Since the dragon had appeared, in fact, she's been keeping the weapon ready at hand whenever on duty, and by the front door of their house when at home with May. She approaches the reception, about to give them a direction to send Nesseth in to her office the moment he arrives.
Nesseth enters the barracks just as the receptionist sends a runner to fetch him. His timing couldn't have been worse, as the moment he steps in, the runner is about to dash out, and the two collide and fall over in a tangle. "W-woah-- agh!"
Louma turns to head to her office, which is within view of the reception, her hand on the knob and key just as she hears the commotion. She catches the tail end of Nesseth falling tail over end, barely suppressing the urge to laugh, managing a strained sigh. "Are you two alright? Nesseth?"
Nesseth groans a bit as he and the runner work to untangle. The two seem a bit knocked for a loop from the unexpected impact, but otherwise unharmed... except for maybe their dignity. He waves his good arm vaguely into the air as he slowly stands back up. "Y-yeah... yeah, we're okay, Louma... ugh... Wasn't expecting that as a greeting this morning, though." He stands up and dusts himself off as the runner gives the receptionist and Louma a sheepish smile and goes back to their own duties.
Louma shakes her head, gesturing for Nesseth to follow along with her before turning back to enter. "Well, good, I do need you to remain uninjured for at least a week, at this point. We have something else to discuss, though, come along."
Nesseth tilts his head curiously once he's done dusting his outfit off, but shrugs to himself as he follows Louma to her office. "A week? What's going on during the week, aside from the festival?"
Louma chuckles, resting her spear in the corner once she's behind the desk, beginning to coil up and relax. "Nothing, I just mean keep in one piece in general."
Nesseth shuts the door of Louma's office and takes a seat across from her. He smiles and nods. "Well, I'd like to stay uninjured for a good while after all of this. Wouldn't want to make nearly dying a habit at all if I can help it."
Louma grins, nodding. "Well then I suppose you would like too take it easy for a little while, hm?"
Nesseth hums and nods. "That I would, yeah. It's actually why I decided to drop by today, in fact. I was hoping to get a chance to stop by your office."
Louma hums, tilting her head a bit. "Oh?" She leans back a bit on her coil, setting her wrapped breakfast down on the desk.
Nesseth smiles as he produced a folded piece of paper and hands it over to Louma across her desk. "Yeah, I figure if I'm going to be out of action for a little while anyway with this wounded arm, I might as well take a bit of vacation time."
Louma hums again, picking up the paper and unfolding it to read over the official request. "Ah no."
Nesseth tilts his head at the rather blunt response. He doesn't seem upset so much as just confused. "No? Why not?"
Louma finishes reading over the page, looking back up to Nesseth as she sets it down on her desk. "Hm? Oh ah... Your timing is terrible, honestly. I've just set time off for myself, starting the day after tomorrow." She looks at his request dates. "You were about to be assigned to my duties for the next while, until my return..." She sighs. "The fact that your form is filled out perfectly is one reason I was going to pick you."
Nesseth hums thoughtfully as he leans back in his seat and crosses his arms a bit loosely. Intentionally or not, the burned arm is the one on top, leaving the scarring rather prominent. "Hm... I see. Dare I ask about compensation in exchange?"
Louma shakes her head, tapping her taloned finger on the desk. "I don't think so. Your request isn't filed, but it's valid. Really, you're fine to start your time off when you want it once this form is put away, it just leaves me in a bind."
Nesseth frowns a little and sighs. "Well, you know I can't just up and go, now. That's not my style."
Louma shakes her head again, looking to Nesseth's arm. "You need the time off. Looks like you only want a week, someone else can take care of paperwork for that time. I'm not going to leave you waiting for time off for over a month while I'm off in Sarn." She hums, scratching her chin. "Of course, Brun is going to be busy, so the most obvious choice isn't available."
Nesseth taps his fingers against his arm, something he hasn't been able to really do until very recently while his burned arm was recovering. Tarbin and Melia were able to work some (almost literal) magic to help his arm recover more completely than it should have otherwise. He shakes his head in turn. "Then I'll take back the vacation request. Next time, though, I'll want two weeks or more if I'm to handle being a stand-in Captain again for a full month."
Louma puts her palm on the request so he can't physically take it, firmly shaking her head. "Absolutely not. You will take the week off, and when I return, you will apply for a second week off because you will need it."
Nesseth hums, his frown deepening. "What's the point of two one-week vacations, when I could just do one two-week vacation and maybe travel somewhere? One week vacations, I'd just be walking around town on patrol anyway." He shrugs, "If I'm taking that much time off, I might as well just clump it together."
Louma grunts. "Travel where? Two weeks will take you to Bairnell for a couple days and back. Besides, your request is for one week, how are you complaining about it now?"
Nesseth shrugs again. "Make it a month, then, so I can go back home to Orela or something with Plume and Vix." He gives Louma a look, "I'm only complaining because I can't leave you in a bind, and you know that."
Louma sighs, rubbing her forehead. "No, now I'm pretty sure this is all just a ploy to get two months off in a row." She opens one eye, grinning at Nesseth. "I appreciate your concern, and you're damn right I will worry, depending on who I have to pick, but you'll be here before I'm even at one of the ports in Sarn." Before he can rebut, she dips her quill, scrawling her initials to make his vacation request official. "You can have the other month off after I'm back. As a thank you. But I demand you take the first week to continue recovering, barred from any patrolling."
Nesseth takes the opportunity to snag the paper as soon as Louma's hand leaves it, which results in Louma's signature cutting short with an ink streak tracing to the bottom edge of the paper. He holds it up for a moment, dangling it between his thumb and index finger, looking at it with interest, before he deftly crumples it in his hand. "Sorry, I'll take two weeks after you come back. I made an error in writing."
Louma glares at Nesseth, glancing to the broken tip of her quill and the ink staining the top of her desk before returning the look to him. Her voice is even, but lacking in the playfulness it held up until now. "That didn't just happen, if you put it back down."
Nesseth smiles rather easily. "Or you're going to force me to take a vacation, Louma? Or are you going to demerit me for daring to want to give you an easier time on your vacation? You could charge me with insubordination, if you like, Captain." His smile vanishes as he lobs the crumpled ball of parchment out of Louma's window, then fixes her with a steady, even look, "Like hell I'm letting you worry after being a prisoner of war."
Louma tosses the quill to the desk, rising from her coil. "Your concern is noted, but worrying is fine. I'm happy to worry! About something as trivial as gods damned paperwork being in order, I'm happy to worry about that. I don't like worrying about you healing properly! The papers can burn for all I care, Nesseth, quit this nonsense!"
Nesseth irritably waves his injured arm, clearly showing he's gotten most of his dexterity back already, and a harsh laugh comes with it. "Come on, Louma, my arm is fine. The vacation isn't for healing, it's for me to unwind after all the crap we went through. I just spent a month and a half out away from town, and about two weeks half-dead on the way back. I can handle paperwork for a month. The only way I'm not going to heal is if I slice an arm off handling paperwork or something equally ludicrous!"
Louma: "Enough. Healing in mind and spirit is still healing. You already know sitting in the position of a Captain is not free of stress. Just because you're not acting as Captain in combat doesn't mean it's much easier."
Nesseth sighs and rolls his eyes. "Dealing with paperwork is going to be a walk in the park after all this. You know it, I know it, If I'm going to be an acting Captain again, I might as well do it straight after you leave rather than having to try and clean up someone else's mess after a week."
Louma grunts, settling back onto her coil. "You're lucky we're not in a proper military outfit. You're also lucky I need you." She sighs. "And that you're usually an agreeable friend. Fine, have it your way. But I'm going to worry every minute I'm gone." She manages a grin. "And that's a threat."
Nesseth chuckles and grins, though it's lacking in humor. "I'd still be acting like this even in a proper military outfit if you were my immediate superior officer, Louma. Threats of firing, or insubordination charges or whatever else you can think up is fine by me when I know damn well you need a break." He points across the desk at her, "And, as a close friend, I'd rather you take your break first. I can hold down the fort."
Louma gives him a look. "Well, for one it wouldn't be a threat of punishment, you'd already be being escorted to a cell. But that's not the point. We both need the break, but I am... over my experience. Knowing Nyzai and Xeilzrus are dead helped with that a great deal."
Nesseth shrugs. "Like I said, whatever else you could think up would be fine by me. But anyway..." He sighs, "My paperwork is literally out the window, so you take your vacation and I'll take mine when you get back. It's been a damned stressful two months for both of us, but being behind a desk will be relaxing compared to everything that went on."
Louma rests her elbows on the desk, weaving her fingers together and resting her chin on them. "If you say so. That's settled then, even if I don't care for your decision. I was briefly considering finding someone else to take the spot entirely, but you seem hellbent on sitting here in my place."
Nesseth shakes his head. "Honestly, aside from myself and Brunilda, who do you actually trust to keep things orderly while you're gone, if neither of us are available? At least with us, you know you'll come back to things in order."
Louma doesn't hesitate, raising three fingers. "Oikonny, Vandal and Nary. If Garwin weren't having... Issues, he'd be the fourth."
Nesseth blinks, then lets out a quiet laugh. "Heh... can't imagine Vandal would be too happy to get extra duties, but he'd probably like the desk work at least." He pauses, giving Louma a curious look, "...So... you were serious about the 'two one-week' thing?"
Louma nods, shrugging. "You're correct that a more solid block of time off would be better."
Nesseth shrugs in turn. "If you're certain about getting one of Oikonny, Vandal or Nary to do the work for the first week, then I'll run out and grab the paperwork I tossed out, and we can discuss a second week when you get back from Sarn."
Louma gives Nesseth a look. "Alright, enough playing. You've already taken back the request. You were the only one that assumed I would be stressed by not having you on paperwork for that week, the only inconvenience was having to assign someone else to the task."
Nesseth gives Louma a flat look. "You made it sound way worse when you said you'd be in a bind..."
Louma chuckles quietly. "How so? I told you it was fine for you to start your time off."
Nesseth gazes at Louma for a few seconds before he just sort of sighs and looks off to the side. "I guess I just worry too much."
Louma hums, rising from her coil again, slithering partway around her desk to rest a hand on his good shoulder. "That's fine, and I appreciate your concern, really. Even if it occasionally makes me think you have a little less faith in my planning than I'd hoped. Considering recent events, maybe that's justified, but it doesn't matter. I'll ask someone else to take up my duties. You just rewrite that time off request and bring it back."
Nesseth shrugs a little bit. "It's not even a lack of faith or anything. You know I worry about folks just like you do." He sighs a bit and makes to stand up, "Never mind. I'll just write up another vacation request and come back later today."
Louma nods, smiling at him despite the minor headache he'd given her as she returns to her side of the desk. "Good. I'm sure Oikonny wont go mad with power or anything. It will be fine."
Nesseth hums as he walks towards the door. "Hopefully not." He pauses as he opens the door and looks back towards Louma, his expression relatively neutral, "Sorry."
Nesseth turns and heads out before Louma can reply, shutting the door behind him perhaps just a little harder than he intended to.
Louma sighs after he pulls the door closed, rubbing her forehead. "Lizards..." She shakes her head, unwrapping the honey glazed pan cakes May had made for breakfast, sighing again, though with a smile as she picks away at the food for a while longer. At least Nesseth is one less thing she'll have to worry about while they're gone.
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RESPITE FALLS - NORTH GATE - LATE AFTERNOON
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Phoebe is... well, not quite lurking. More just a lazy loiter, leaning in the shadows of an alleyway close to the Wall. She's in light clothes she got from Rhask not to long ago, with a bit of a poncho and a wide hat at protect her from the sun. With more caravans arriving, she's been making it a habit to take notes of the new folks arriving to town, and watching the process of unpacking their luggage...
Erika is... well, not really lurking. In fact, she's standing almost in the middle of the road, waving cheerily at newcomers for seemingly no other reason than finding it fun to cheer people up after a long journey from Bairnell. The okapi is almost well-dressed compared to her usual, sporting a white skirt and shirt pair. She notices Phoebe from the corner of her eye and gives her a wave and a wink as well!
Ninell has arrived at Respite with the most recent caravan, sticking out like a bit of a sore thumb compared to most of the other travelers in his armor, with his spear resting against his shoulder. The only thing that indicates he's just not a hired hand or guard is that he's pretty unbothered by doing any actual guarding activities whatsoever as the wagons trundle to a stop. As soon as his wagon stops, he hops off and lands quite gracefully, considering his height and the weight of his gear.
Erika takes notices of Ninell and gives a wave as she gets closer: "Hi! You're tall. I mean, I'm tall. Boy, that was a weird way to start. Welcome to Respite Falls!"
Phoebe pretends not to notice Erika, taking a moment to lower the brim of her hat with a snort. She does turn her eye towards the newcomer as Erika's voice rises up. He uh... whoa... he is tall... causing her to straighten up a little taller in response, as well, watching the wolf-like traveller.
Ninell turns to look at the okapi that's approaching the wagons, and he nods in turn. "Hello there. Thank you for the welcome, miss." He looks around for a moment, noting that the town seems... pretty well intact for what he thought the place went through, "I, uh... suppose you might be the town greeter, then?"
Erika shrugs with a smile: "Greeter, welcomer, good-day-er, herbalist, crazy person... depends who you ask!" She gives Phoebe another wink before turning back to Ninell: "You're... I don't think I've seen your type before, though? What are you? I mean, who are you? No wait, now that sounds weird too. Sorry!"
Ninell chuckles quietly and shakes his head. "You likely have not. My kind has not gone beyond our homeland for a very, very long time, though we still occasionally trade with the world at large." He dips his head a bit, careful of his armor, "My name is Ninell."
Erika hums: "Ninell. Ninell Ninell Ninell. I like that name." She then blinks and tilts her head: "Oh, your homeland? Somewhere far away, or even further than that, then?"
Phoebe slips out of the alley. Walking slowly past Ninell, towards the crates behind him being unloaded from the caravan.
Ninell nods again, his attention mostly focused on Erika. "To the southeast a ways, yes. Eukune, if you are familiar with it. If not, it is quite a nice land of forests and greenery of all manner."
Erika nods sagely: "I like greenery. Plants and herbs and fruit and vegetables and root buggers are kind of my thing." She waves at Phoebe: "Hi Phoebe! Didn't get to say Hi before so I will say it now. So, well, Hi!"
Phoebe cringes, turning swiftly away from the crates and smiling towards the pair, "Oh! Hi, Erika! I uh... didn't see you there..." She glances up at Ninell, "Uh... Hi? Hi."
Erika tilts her head: "Didn't see me? Most people say I'm pretty hard to miss." She smiles brightly: "But no matter." She gestures between the two: Phoebe, Ninell, Ninell, Phoebe."
Ninell blinks as Erika waves past him at someone towards the wagon, and he turns to look as well. Upon seeing the wolf, he lifts his free hand in greeting. "Hello there, miss Phoebe."
Phoebe blinks back at Ninell, staring at his hand as if he were threatening her, then slowly raises her hand up to take his and return the greeting. She feels very small in front of him, despite the height difference not being quite that dramatic, "Oof, uh... I mean. Ninell. Hi!. I'm Phoebe... which is exactly what Erika said. Right. Yes."
Erika grins as she just barely refrains from hugging the prickly wolf: "Yup!" She turns to Ninell: "So what brings you to Respite, handsome? Or is that rude to say?" She turns to Phoebe: "Is it?"
Phoebe blinks at the unexpected question, flustered into a bit of a blush. "He's not. Err, it. It's not. Rude. Not handsome. I mean, not rude. Ugh, oof. What?" She lifts her face to cover her snout and rub her temples, feeling a sudden headache.
Ninell gives Phoebe's hand a firm shake, but tilts his head as he notes her strange demeanor. His arrival has certainly been a slightly confusing one so far. "Um... you seem a bit distracted, Phoebe. Is everything well?" He glances towards Erika with a bit of concern.
Erika gives Ninell a shrug and a smile: "Probably? I think so."
Phoebe continues shaking Ninell's hand. "Err... yeah. I'm fine. Fine. Fine..." She finally seems to gather her wits about her and pull back her hand and shift into an aloof-shrug, glancing away from the two. "I mean, uh, I'm fine. Yeah. Good to meet you and all that."
Erika grins brightly: "Good to meet you both! Although we've already met, Phoebe, but that's not the point."
Ninell hums and nods after a moment. "If you say so. Anyway, yes... as, uh... as your friend says, my name is Ninell." He looks over at Erika, "I do not believe I caught your name, miss. Sorry about that."
Erika blinks dumbly for a second: "Oh! How clumsy of me. I'm Erika, Erika Smithens. The uh..." She gives a vague handwave: "Town greeter herbalist cheeryokapi type. Or something, I don't really know these days."
Phoebe glances at Erika, trying to 'ignore' Ninell now. "She's... a bit of a nuisance. But she's a good friend. One of the only friends I've got. So, there's that. She knows the town pretty well, too."
Erika lifts a hand to her chest, mock-aghast for a second: "Nuisance? I thought you were better than that, Phoebe!" She the grins widely: "Although, it's accurate. I can be a bit annoying, and I DO know the town pretty well since I sorta kinda grew up here. And it's not a big town."
Ninell glances between the two. "Then, it is a pleasure to meet you both, Erika, Phoebe." He laughs a little, "There is nothing wrong with being a cheerful greeter. It makes for a good first impression."
Erika smiles brightly at Ninell: "Thank you!"
Phoebe shifts her brain back towards information gathering mode. Let's be clinical about this instead of... whatever the hell she was being beforehand. "What about you then, eh? What brings you here? Bounty Hunter, by the looks of you?"
Ninell shakes his head as he looks back at Phoebe with a steady gaze. "No. I am a knight from my homeland, one of several, sent out to find the source of some problems that have been plaguing us recently. My own search has led me in this direction."
Erika blinks: "Ooh, a knight? That's pretty nifty." She looks Ninell over and gives the tiniest of appreciative 'rawrs' under her breath before continuing: "What problems though? We don't have any problems here. Well, no longer. Sorta had a bit of an epic struggle-war type thing earlier and I don't wanna talk about it."
Phoebe raises an eyebrow. "Knight? That's a thing stlil? Sounds kinda pretensious..." She tilts her head towards Erika, ears perking up a bit, but she doesn't yet add anything of her own.
Ninell nods at Phoebe. "In Eukune, it is, yes." He looks over at Erika to answer her question after a moment, "Well, the problem is that our lands have been experiencing some terrible storms that are well outside of what we normally get for the current season. Widespread thunderstorms, extremely heavy rainfall... and there have been some... odd reports of glimpses of something flying about within the storms, but nothing definitive yet. Maritime reports say the storms arrived from the northwest, that is, from this direction."
Erika blinks a couple of times: "Well, we're usually pretty short on storms, although we had this big dragon-beastie fly over us some time ago that made a stormy mess of things. But that's probably not relevant."
Phoebe crosses her arms. "A big storm, caused by a mythical dragon, that then disappeared over the horizon, taking the storm with it, and you don't think it's relevant?" She glances back at Ninell at last, "Yeah, uh, this town's had issues lately. Folks were out west fighting some kinda battle? And I guess they woke that damn thing up, and it did a flyby. So... uh, mystery solved?"
Erika gives Phoebe a pouty look: "It could be some kind of different stormy thing. We don't know."
Ninell goes quiet for a few seconds, almost in disbelief. "A... dragon. That's the cause of our troubles?" He shoots Erika a curious look, "Tell me, what did this dragon look like, if either of you got a good look at it."
Erika pauses, turning back to Ninell: "Err... big and mean? Was kinda busy running away or tending to others who were running away. That sort of thing you do in blind panic, you know."
Phoebe nods, after finally building up the courage to look at Ninell, it fails her now as she stares down at the ground, "It uh... made a hell of a racket. All the lighting and shit hitting that sky barrier. Then it swooped down and I... didn't stick around to see if things were going to hold up."
Ninell hums quietly, correlating the vague details with what he knows of the storms around Eukune. "Sounds similar, but... I may have to investigate further if I want to get a definite answer for what we are dealing with..." He nods at Erika, "As Erika says, it may just be a coincidence, but... I'll have to make sure before I head back."
Erika nodnods with a wary smile: "Well, I may be able to point you to folks who saw it all better..." She lifts a hand to her chin: "...once I recall who might've seen it better."
Phoebe finds herself nodding along to Erika's statement, "And I'm pretty good at digging up info too, if you want to come see me. That uh, that is to say if you want to spend time with me. To learn what I know. Which isn't... I... I'll ask around."
Erika smiles brightly: "I'm happy to spend time! I'm mostly around town or in my garden or in the Minnow or at the Clinic or... around! Kinda everywhere, but not all at once."
Ninell hums and smiles a bit at both Erika and Phoebe. "Well, if I'm to find more information about all of this, I believe I will be seeing you both around town quite a bit, if you two have connections."
Erika grins: "I'm on first-name basis with most of the town!"
Phoebe glances at Erika. "And I'm... working on it. Connections, I mean."
Ninell chuckles. "Then yes, I will likely be seeing you quite often, I'm sure."
Erika gives Phoebe a bit of a prod: "Working on it as 'get out sometimes', yes?"
Phoebe oofs slightly, rubbing her arm a little self-conciously at the prod, "Err, something like that, yeah." She forces a smile at Ninell, one that seems a little toothy and too eager perhaps, "See you often, too, yeah! Err, yes. Yes, that.... that. Ugh."
Erika gives Phoebe a bit of a look, then just smiles just a wee bit knowingly.
Ninell can't help but be amused at how Erika and Phoebe interact with each other, but smiles at Phoebe in turn. "I will have to get myself settled somewhere around town, first. Once I do that, hopefully by the end of the day, I can set about my investigations, which means I will be seeking you both out relatively often to see if anything comes up."
Erika hums with a smile: "We can do that! Or you can do that. Or we all... actually I'm not sure where I was going. Point is that... I'm pretty sure you are handsome. And a knight. Let's go with that." She nods sagely as though having said some bright revelation.
Phoebe looks a just a little bit completely without a response to Erika's just straight out saying things. She swallows, gathering up her wits and words and nodding in respose. "Just come to my room when you need me." She instantly regrets opening her mouth. "Oh gods. Thirsty... Minnow. My room. It's at the Thirsty Minnow. It's a bar. Tavern. Thing... That way... Just... down the street here from the gate..." She's going to go crawl off and die after this.
Ninell is really not sure what to make of Erika's bluntness, but just nods along. He looks over at Phoebe with an amused smile at her fumbling words, as well as the... maybe accidental invite to her room. "The Thirsty Minnow, hm? A good a place as any to stay at while I am in town for this investigation, I suppose. And... if that is an invitation, we could work something out, perhaps."
Erika nodnods: "Yup, Minnow is sort of the place to start being in town for new people, since it's kinda affordable and in the middle. Also the food's good. Company's good too, if you like talking to people. I like talking to people."
Phoebe reaches up to try and help get rid of that damned migraine again. "An invite... just uh, meant... for sharing information. You know? If you need me. IT. INFORMATION. HA HA." She lets out a manic laugh, giving Erika a desperate look before lowering the brim of her hat back down to hide her face.
Erika gives Phoebe a look, then turns to Ninell with a smile: "I think she wants you to know that she's available if you need her for anything."
Ninell tilts his head back a little at the manic laughter, only to look over at Erika with a nod. "Right, I will be stopping by soon enough to see if there might be anything I should know about." He casts a short glance at Phoebe's hat-obscured head and lowers his voice a bit, "Uh... is Phoebe okay? Does she... normally act like this?"
Erika whispers in a way that's probably still audible to Phoebe: "She's fine, I think. Just a bit flustered and nervous. Though she's always a bit high-strung." She gives Phoebe a warm smile: "Nothing wrong with all that, of course."
Phoebe lets out a muffled whimper through her hat. "MM'FIME." She lifts the hat back up from her muzzle and lets out a breath. "I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be? Nothing wrong at all."
Erika gestures at Phoebe with a grin: "See! Everything's fine, she's just a bit jittery today."
Ninell chuckles and reaches over to gently pat Phoebe on the shoulder. "Then I should perhaps let you be on your way, Phoebe. I can find my way over to the Thirsty Minnow, and then maybe I will see about stopping by some time later in the week once I get settled in a room." He nods at Erika with a smile, "And I will do the same for you, Erika. A bit of guidance would go a long way, I think, in my investigation."
Erika nodnods happily: "We'll do that! Happy to help if I can."
Phoebe nods as well, removing her hat for a moment to wipe her brow. "Uh, yes. Yeah. The investigation. I'll do... whatever I can to help? Yeah."
Ninell nods at Erika and Phoebe. "Every bit of guidance will help, yes." He glances towards Phoebe after a moment and flashes the tiniest of smirks.
Erika hums: "As long as the guidance is on the right track, I hope. Wouldn't want to misdirect your investigation with distractions."
Phoebe blinks at the smirk, glancing away from Ninell again with the barest hint of a blush as she replaces her hat. "Yeah. That."
Ninell shrugs a little with a proper smile again. "I doubt any misdirection will be a problem, unless there are more towns further inland than this one. Anything that gets me closer to the source of the problem is on the right track."
Erika shakes her head: "Nope, pretty much just wilderness out there. Though I know a fair bit of it."
Phoebe shrugs, folding her arms to try and regain her composure. "Her maps are... questionable, though. Unless you're looking for ice cream."
Erika gives Phoebe a hurt look: "Hey! They're very useful!"
Ninell seems to perk up a little. "...There is an ice cream shop here?"
Phoebe raises an eyebrow at Ninell's sudden change in tone. "Uh... yes?"
Erika grins excitedly: "Ooh, I can show you!"
Ninell 's eyebrows rise up as he looks over his shoulder, as if he'd suddenly see a giant sign pointing at the shop. "I may need to take a detour on the way to the Minnow, it seems."
Erika nodnods: "Yes, you do!" She takes Ninell's free hand: "Let's go!"
Phoebe stays where she is... slightly confused by... well, a lot of things right now. She lifts a hand up to give a half-hearted wave, "Uh, have fun? I'll... see you around..."
Erika looks at Phoebe: "You don't want to come? Shame."
Ninell tilts his head at Phoebe. "A snack might be nice for both of us. I know what it's like to have thick fur in a very hot area, so ice cream is a great snack. Come along!"
Phoebe glances around, as if someone were going to call her out for some crime she committed or errand she needs to run, then at last shrugs, "Oh uh, okay, I guess? I guess I can come."
Erika smiles brightly: "Yay! Ice cream for all! Or us. Mostly us, right now. Don't wanna crowd the place."
Erika leads the two towards ice cream and destiny. Mostly ice cream.