Meanwhile, "Breda," Gwenn asked Kay in a low voice, "how came you by these marks? Did someone beat you?"
"Nay", came Kay's reply, "'twas not the hand of any person ... I was ... ummmm ... drunken ... on whatever it was that I had at that tavern ... burned like liquid fire, and tasted like honey and herbs ... haven't been able to put up any decent barriers since then ... no defense when some sort of sorcery hit me ... knocked me right off my feet ... I fell into the corner of a building ... knocked the breath right out of me ... probably looks much worse than it is ... ". This wasn't the entire truth. But it would do for now.
From her spot near the door, Dani raised an eyebrow as her ears picked up Kay's answer. It sounded like one midaventure after another. "By the sound of it, you were extremely lucky that nothing worse happenned", she commented. She wondered what it was that Kay had drank. A few possibilities came to mind.
Then a rumour floated up from the back of her mind. It was one that she'd overheard a couple of young Terran men talking about at the Spaceport when she'd arrived. Apparently, they had heard that certain Terranan taverns specialized in providing large selections of recreational pharmaceuticals (both legal and otherwise). What if some of these places expanded their selection to include local substances as well ? But why had Kay gone there ? She didn't sem to be the type who enjoyed _that_ kind of sleazy entertainment.
Gwenn sighed. He said softly, concern tinging his voice, "But ye shouldn't be out wi'out someone wi' ye. I wish I was more available than my training allows. Tell me ye'll be more careful, breda."
Kay frowned at him. "I've walked alone through cities ever since I was twelve. And I _WAS_ trying to be careful", she insisted, "that's why I was wearing all these androgynous clothes. It seemed safer to make strangers think I was an emmasca lad rather than a young woman. And I wanted to look poor and dirty so that I'd not attract any notice where I was going". What she didn't say, was that any companion would likely have at least tried to discourage her from going to any such place.
"Heh, 'twould nae seem sae safe if ye had been challenged or if ye'd gotten into a knife fight." Gwenn wondered just how he was going to keep his new sister safe if she insisted on wandering around the city alone.
This argument was all too familiar ground to Kay. As fond as she was of Gwenn, sometimes he frustrated her with his over-protective behaviour. She would have welcomed it when she'd been younger and desperately wishing for a sibling. But she'd been through too many years of having to fight her own battles. And she didn't know how to explain to him that sometimes she _needed_ to do things alone --- just to prove that she _COULD_ do it without needing anyone else's help.
She was about to continue to argue her point, even though such an action was almost certainly futile. Then she noticed that Louis wanted to add something too. Maybe this would be a distraction. But it was a case of 'out of the frying pan and into the fire' instead.
"And _where_ were you going, exactly, Kay?", Louis asked. "You never really got to tell me. I just assumed I could trust your good sense...Remind me about locking the door BEFORE you leave next time..." He seemed somewhat hurt saying that.
Kay's deathly-pale face suddenly went scarlet red with embarassment. There was a distinct pause as she searched for words. "I ... umm ... couldn't ... you're not the type who bends the rules ... I'm sorry, Louis ... more sorry than you know ... I thought that I could find .... ummm ... something ... to ... ummmm ... _fix_ ... things ... between us ... but it was a daft idea ... I'll not be trying it ever again", she tried to apologize. That didn't really answer his question, but perhaps he wouldn't notice.
"'Twas daft tae be certain," Gwenn said without looking up from Amadaine, "an' I hope ye'll nae be doin' it again." Gwenn noticed that Kay didn't say exactly what she was trying to do, but he'd burn in Sharra's fire before he asked her with all these people about.
Louis gulped down. Why had she to fix things? Had he forced her to this in any way? Weren't they fine like they were? No, they weren't, that was obvious, but...The girl - Melissa? - had said she could help. Couldn't Kay have waited? Why was this happening?
Louis had been happy before. He had met someone like him, when he knew there were so few. A sparkle of hope had crossed his way, making him believe there were people who could help him, teach him. And also...He felt like he was liking Kay much more than he should. But perhaps...Perhaps this was all wrong. Maybe he should just stay on his own, like he had always been. It wouldn't bring so much trouble...
The expression on Louis' face was so clearly unhappy that Kay would have been able to read it even if he hadn't been leaking it so obviously. "This was _NOT_ any fault of _YOURS_ !", she insisted firmly, making sure that she'd caught his attention. Then, in a softer tone, she added "It's _ME_ who is all messed-up on the inside. Every damned time that I use more than a small trickle of power, _SOMEONE_ gets hurt ... you're my friend, and I care about you ... I just didn't want to see anything unpleasant happen to you _AGAIN_ ... you _DESERVE_ much better ... someone whose Gift won't mess _YOU_ up ... or at least someone who's got a clue as to how to handle being ... ummm ... more than friends ... ".
Louis glance rested softly on her. "You're the only one I want to be more than a friend for..."
Kay blushed brightly red again. At first she didn't know what to say. Thn an idea came to her and she smiled warmly at him. Very softly, in her best French (as a compromise for the sake of privacy), she promised "we shall see what the future shall bring us, my dear friend ... but _THAT_ is better explored when we have not such a large audience".
He smiled back at her and replied in French: "I did not know you spoke French...And, though I don't mind them knowing, I agree we should talk about that later...".
Feeling rather uncomfortable with hearing all of this, Gwenn turned his attention to the little hawk. He still had many questions for Kay, but they could wait until later. He had noticed that Amadaine had by now found herself a more comfortable position. In a soft voice, Gwenn said, "What a puir wee bairn, 'tis alrigh' now." He turned and asked, "Does Mestru Merrick have any meat or meat entrails?".
A look of digust crossed Anwyn's face. "Entrails ?", she commented, "Ewwww ... that is _so_ gross ... what's wrong with birdseed ?". Eating raw meat was a nasty idea, especially when you had easy access to being able to cook it.
"Ah, lassie, but this is nae grain-eatin' bird. See the beak?" Gwenn lifted Amadaine's beak with his ring-finger, letting her bite him softly. "It curves, wi' a point for tearing into meat. Those that eat grains hae blunt beaks. The wee bairn wouldna' know what to do w' seed".
Gwenn gingerly stretched out the injured wing, holding Amadaine firmly with one hand and the wing with the other, so as to prevent further injury. "I think her wing might be broken," he commented.
The little bird fussed surprisingly little. After a few soft cries of distress, she had started to drift off again -- to escape the fact that her wing hurt. Mommy-human had told her she was safe here, so it was ok to sleep. Maybe everything would be better the next time she woke up.
At the first touch of fingers on feathers, Kay had bit her lip abruptly. Looking around, she realized that nobody could possibly have reached the far side of her ribs without her noticing. Then where in Zandru's Hells was this pain coming from ? Her confusion had increased when she noticed Gwenn examining Amadaine's wing. Maybe THIS somehow had some connection with the fact that both Louis and Gwenn had found her own ribs to be intact.
Katie followed the shaky movement of the little bird with her eyes, getting to the table where she rested a second after Gwenn looked at the damaged wing.
Completely confused as to just who was who, and what was going on, Katie focused on the task at hand, which was the injured creature. She had almost burst out laughing at Kay's outburst about demons and so on, but wisely held herself in check. Somehow, she didn't think that Melissa had brought her here just for the bird's sake...
Dani was confused as well. Unsure as to what she could do to be helpful, she just stood and watched patiently. Maybe it would all start to make some sense. Or perhaps someone would eventually fill in more of the details for her. She wished that she could ask Connor some of her questions. Personally, she thought Kay was being paranoid about trying to hide her Gift from strangers. But a promise was a promise, and Kay had asked her not to tell anyone.
Katie looked at Kay and Gwenn, not sure what the relationship was between them, or with the bird. "May I?" she asked them both, holding out a hand towards the fledgling.
Gwenn's face paled slightly and he said to Katie, "Of course, Domna. Are you trained in animal healing?". Katie grinned, shrugging. "Not as much as I'd like, but I may be the best thing this little creature has at the moment."