[i]Well…[/i] the assassin thought, listening to I’on as he listened to the penin’s response. [i]At least he bought that half-truth.[/i] The last thing that Ixion wanted right now was another fight. While his mind was ready to face that possibility, his body and equipment was. Broken ribs and a lack of the breastplate that he had used to protect himself made him vulnerable to physical attacks, so any attacks from the vampire behind him would prove fatal. The good thing that both the penin and the vampire, judging from the slow change of stance, had decided to stave away from fighting each other. 

He turned his head towards the vampire to listen to what he had to say. They were reluctant to call him a friend. The assassin thought back to the past events and still concluded that he is someone to look out for, though that idea is going down on the list of priorities as they have made themselves into a sort of ‘group’ in Zerul, fighting with each other to overcome a common enemy: The Fixer. Who was to be the leader of this group? Ixion didn’t know and didn’t mind whatever the outcome. Ixion thought about the words for a moment before responding. “I’ll give you that much,” he responded, his voice hoarse as ever and hinting pain. “Perhaps in a quieter setting, and when everyone is recovered, we need to know each other better.” Once he had finished speaking his part, he thought about how he is going to speak in the future. His voice is very raw and without the tonic to stop it from hurting much, then he is going to lose the ability to speak altogether.

Ixion listened to the penin speak again, saying how lucky both him and the vampire were lucky that a sniffer didn’t find them first. While that was, indeed, fortunate that a sniffer didn’t reach them first, Ixion thought he would probably be able to escape easily, despite the sniffer’s abilities, due to teleporting. However, he decided against it for the reasons that it would make him the culprit for Blue’s murder and everything that the Fixer had done would be for nothing. Besides, he still needs to collect his payment for the previous contract, so he had a reason to stay in the city for a while longer. Then, when the penin had suggested sticking around and staying in the inn that didn’t cost much, that was something that would be beneficial to him, especially to give him time to heal from his injuries and to collect the payment. There is an increased risk of getting captured for the merchant’s death, but that’s a risk definitely worth taking. A simple word escaped Ixion’s cowl: “Agreed.” He had decided to speak short sentences, most often one word sentences. It conveyed his thoughts and enables him to communicate.

While he waited to hear the vampire for his decision to the idea of staying in the inn, Ixion was still on alert. His eyes still looked about the area that they were in, finally focusing on several of the shadows. While he saw nothing in any of them, the assassin had a gut feeling that someone, something, was still watching them. He then looked back at the Dirge again. While he did know that the Fixer wanted the sword, he didn’t know why. There were black stones that were in the intertwined blades and sensed, in the back of his mind, something sinister about them. He had a few theories on what the stones are, with some of those only coming from the word of mouth, but he would need to spend some time researching them. As the penin is a mage, from deduction, he might have a few books for him to look through for him to read on. He then unbuckled his belt and placed the sword’s sheath, close to where the quick-release loop where the kusarigama’s chain resided. As he finished placing his ‘new’ weapon, looked again at the shadows he was staring at before, but the presence he had felt before was gone. He stood there and wondered what it could be, but he finally dismissed the thought as the presence was no longer there, therefore no longer a threat. The only thing that he wants now is to rest and the penin is offering it, so for now, that is his next course of action.