[h3]Henry[/h3]

The glee that filled Henry when Denys didn't immediately deny his request for assistance was positively childlike, though not in the sense of childish purity.  Instead, the short burst of laughter that issued from him carried the connotation of someone having found a new toy—or perhaps that was simply Denys' imagination, building on his suspicions.  [color=d8bfd8]”Excellent!  It's really quite simple.  I want to make sure that nothing's been messed up by whatever brought me here, so I was thinking that I'd smack ya with a spell, and then have you try and cast that healing spell on me again for me to deflect back atcha.  There's really no downside.  If I've lost my mojo, you probably won't get hurt anyway, but if it's good, you'll be right as rain in just a sec.  Sound alright?  Too late to back down, now!”[/color]  From his robe he suddenly produced a grimoire bound in dark red leather.  It fell open, and at his touch, arcane symbols flared to life across the pages.  

At that moment, however, a strangely-dressed woman about his age appeared in his peripheral vision.  Candy Cane's yelling while running struck Henry as exactly how a ruffian or marauder might attack, and in his distraction he turned from Denys toward her.  From his outstretched, empty left hand a fireball materialized along with a wave of heat, though its creator didn't seem affected by the sudden increase in temperature.  In the split second before the spell fired, Henry got a better look at the woman, determining that she didn't appear to be armed or really threatening...just crazy.  Expertly he diverted the fireball, and it exploded on the ground a couple meters away instead of raging toward her.  Considering that her arrival changed the situation somewhat, Henry snapped the Elfire tome shut and held it by his side.  [color=d8bfd8]”Hey there!  It's not very smart to interrupt a Plegian dark mage while he's working, you know.  Almost toastied ya!”[/color]  He ignored her question, since he didn't have an answer.  For that matter, after his little greeting, he ignored her completely.  Turning back to Denys, he retained his warm smile.  [color=d8bfd8]”Well, that coulda been nasty.  Wanna try again?”[/color]  Evidently the thought of severely burning either Candy Cane or the Kaiser didn't bother him unduly.

[h3]Birdie[/h3]

As he approached the little group, Birdie saw with satisfaction that he appeared to be at least a foot taller than the next tallest person, the Scout.  [i]Looks like a buncha shorties,[/i] he thought smugly.  Given the baffling and alarming situation in which the huge man found himself, he would not have hesitated one instant to floor someone else if he thought they might try and hurt him.  Being substantially taller and way, way heavier than anyone else present would only make it that much easier.  At least, Birdie thought this until the less-weird looking girl turned his way with a hard look and produced a shotgun from thin air to wave in his direction.  Birdie froze, even the word “Wuh-!” cutting off in his throat.  No matter how big the man, all it took was a single bullet to a choice spot to take him down.  Having been on the receiving end of several barrels before, he knew the correct course of action, and slowly started to raise his hands.

Then, very abruptly, the girl stopped pointing the gun at him.  Birdie's brow furrowed and his mouth hung open slightly.  [i]What?![/i]  First she threatens his life with a firearm -a potentially lethal act even someone like Birdie would take deadly serious- and then she just stopped?  First off, where did this little stain get off thinking she could wave a shotgun at him?  Anger welled up inside him.  With as much discretion as he could muster, he allowed the chain around his right forearm to unwind while the girl asked the others a question.  Then, with obvious skill from experience he lobbed the chain straight at her.  While a chaingrab like this could be dodged or blocked, he felt sure that since her attention was elsewhere he would be able to ensnare her.  Following that, he planned to reel her in and give him a piece of his mind.  [i]”Oi!  Wotcha doin' pointin' a gun at me, ya little git?  Ya don't threaten someone like that unless ya think yer gonna die!  Ya think I'm some kinda 'oodlum?  Is that it?”[/i] he rehearsed in his head as his chain snaked through the air, ready to coil.  No way she would be able to come up with a good response to that.  This thought made him grin goofily, though the expression could easily be seen as a leer.