Before Kay could even begin to answer any of these questions, Anwyn continued on, insisting that "I don't care that it's dangerous for me to be here, I want to know what the hell's going on". She paused again, then her expression turned into a wry grin. "And anyways, if YOU get caught by a bunch of nasties and they do horrible things to you, then they'll be able to trace you to me. I don't want to be forever looking over my shoulder, waiting for someone to pounce on me. If we all stand together, we're likely to have more of a chance", Anwyn insisted stubbornly.
Once again, as at the door, Ceroill was reminded of some of the annoying traits common to many Terranan. This young Anwyn woman seemed to be quite a personification of them. Doctor Couvillon, however obviously had some discretion and manners; excellent traits in a healer of any type. However, Anwyn seemed to know Kay well enough. So he decided to let Kay deal with her, at least for now.
However, dealing with Anwyn's questions and worries might take more time than they had available. "It's a VERY, VERY long story lass ...", Kay began to explain patiently. "And I swear that I'll tell you all about when we have more time. But right now, there are a few things we need to do --- especially since I don't know whether it'll be friends or foes who next approach".
Anywyn gave her a defiant grin back. "I'm not afraid of any demons ... and I'm NOT leaving ...", she insisted, pretending to be braver than she felt. Then she frowned and added "And I'm NOT a child, but nobody is telling me ANYTHING ... I might as well be back with my parents".
"All this talk and worry can wait until Dr. Couvillon has had a look at Kay", Ceroill managed to interject.
Louis turned to him, frowning slightly. A look?
"You are welcome to use my bedroom upstairs if you need privacy", Ceroill added.
Louis blushed a bit before realizing what Ceroill meant. The doctor nodded. It wasn't his speciality, but he could give it a try. What he wondered was how he was going to examine Kay if he couldn't touch her.
Louis looked back at Kay. "Would you let me?"
A soft nervous giggle came in reply. "as long as you don't ... umm ... push or poke ... too vigourously ... in _any_ way ... it should be ok, I guess". She sighed, "Considering the way I'm feeling right about now, you'd need to put quite a bit of force in it just to get me to even notice. So be careful, ok ?".
Louis smiled a bit and nodded. He was about to say something else when she continued.
Another thought occurred to Kay, so she quickly added "Or if you're really worried, I've still got gloves in my pants pockets. My gran always told me that silk was useful for when you needed to be able to touch something, but didn't want to do so with bare hands".
Louis raised an eyebrown. "Really? I did not know that...I guess that'll do then.
But before he could reach in to grab the gloves, the kitten had jumped onto Kay's lap. Making small sounds of impatience, Mairead snagged the black silk with her claws and gently pulled until a glove popped out onto the floor. A few seconds later, a matching glove fell out of Kay's other pocket. Then there was a small thump as the kitten jumped back up to her favourite spot on the counter. From higher up, she had a better veiw of all these silly humans. How would they EVER get anything done without her ?
Louis chuckled, "A rather smart one, ain't you?", as he carefully picked the gloves from the floor.
Mairead purred at him in approval, and Kay chuckled softly at his comment. "Nay ...", she replied sadly in a very small voice, "If 'twere truly so, then I'd nae be in such a mess right now".
Kay's gloves looked to be rather small. Hum ... Louis hoped not to tear the well-worn fabric. Turning to Ceroill, he asked "Could you please carry Kay there? It would be better if she didn't walk..."
Ceroill's eyebrow raised slightly, and a wry smile came to him. "I barely managed it the first time, Doctor. I don't think I could do that again this week. Perhaps if we worked together?". Something confused him -- the doctor was almost reacting as a male Darkovan healer might with a woman. But were they not both Terranan?
"Och, laddies ... any more jiggling around and I'll likely puke -- AGAIN", Kay groaned. "And lately my poor stomach's been emptied more often than it's been filled. I'd rather not be making any more of a mess than I've already done. So what the Hell, here's likely as good a place as any".
Ceroill was silently glad he would not have to strain his back again, but saw this quickly developing into something he should not see.
"Hum...actually, I'd prefer if you laid down...", the doctor pointed out.
Giving a small yawn, Kay admitted "If I did, then I'd likely fall asleep again. And I don't dare do THAT; not until I'm sure that it's Melissa who's coming, and not a bunch of hostiles".
Anwyn frowned. If there were all going to be paying attention to whatever was wrong with Kay, who was going to guard them against an ambush ?. "Then I'll go up on the roof and watch out for anyone approaching", she volunteered, "NOBODY will be able to sneak up on us". Mairead meowed agreement, jumped off the counter and rubbed against Anwyn's ankles. The human-kitten might need help in watching, she thought. And anyways, Owl-brother could handle watching things down here.
Kay sighed, wishing there was time for her to explain more. "Thank you Anwyn. Please keep an eye out for either of the following people", she said, giving descriptions of Melissa and Danette. Then she added "What's most dangerous is anyone in solid right-red robes, or any group that doesn't look friendly. If you see THAT, give a loud yell downstairs. Then I want for you RUN as fast as you can out the back door here, and go to your nearest safe hiding spot. And DO NOT ARGUE with me on this point! If it's NOT my breda who's coming here, then we may need _someone_ to report that Louis and I didn't willingly go AWOL". She shrugged, "and even if it IS Melissa, it's still better to be safe than sorry".
"BUT ....", Anywyn began to protest indignantly. Then she shut up, realizing that it wasn't going to do her any good. So instead she muttered a few choice obscenities to herself as she left the room. Mairead followed along behind, like a small black shadow, silent in comparison with the angry thumping of Anwyn's feet on the stairs.