“Fascinating indeed!” Soren said, unfazed by Marianne’s words, but Nikolai noticed, to his relief, that Soren gripped the hand he had extended behind his back with the other, nonetheless. The outgoing twin straightened. “It’s kind of like the Tootsie Pop. How many feathers do you have to pluck to get to that point?” He tapped his chin, a look of profound contemplation settling over his face as he stared at the raven.
	Nikolai rolled his eyes as he sat his jacket-turned-pack on the floor and pulled out a pack of Neapolitan wafers. He opened it and started munching. [i]If you get us killed because you had to find out,[/i] he thought to Soren, [i]I'll bring both of us back to life just so I can kill you myself.[/i]
	"Don't be such a party pooper!" Soren whined, making a face at Nikolai.
	Nikolai glanced to Shawn with a raised eyebrow as the boy grabbed a can of beans, and gave a complaint. He reached over and brushed his fingers against the label. At his touch, the decorations on the label shifted to show an animated corn-on-the-cob with a farming background, though the contents of the can would still remain the same. The corn character began to do a tap dance over the paper as Nikolai pulled out another couple wafers.
	Soren absently grabbed a few of the wafers as he watched the raven fly to the table by the armchair. “I hear birds that smoke don’t live as long as those that don’t.” Soren glanced to Lusso, chewing on his stack of wafers and sending a rain of crumbs to the carpet. “You might want to tell your pet that. It’s bad for his health.”
	[i]What’s she talking about?[/i] Nikolai thought at Scarlet’s comment, trying to redirect Soren’s attention to something of greater importance than the bird. He looked up as he stepped toward Alexandra to get a better look at whatever the girl was fixated on, Soren following him.
	“Well, [i]that’s[/i] an odd place to put a picture,” Soren mused. “It’d look far better more that way,” he pointed to the ceiling a couple feet to the right. Despite his relaxed tone, his eyes did not move from the picture.

[hr]
	Faira had just closed her eyes, her tired body begging for the rest. However, the sound of Marianne’s voice made her tense, and she opened her eyes when she heard her name. Her brows furrowed for a moment at the woman's comment, then her eyes widened when she understood what Marianne meant. She jerked her head from the leather armchair with a gasp and scooted away from it, staring at it with a horrified expression, hating Marianne that much more.
	Noticing Rosaline standing unstably, Faira forced herself to her feet and stepped toward the living doll. She gave the missing pieces in Rosaline’s legs a worried look. “Are you going to be okay?” she asked as the woman’s legs began to glow.
	When Rosaline spoke, Faira let out a long breath and nodded. “Right. And we have a limited time to find it in.” She ran a hand through her mousy hair, her voice shaking slightly as she finished, paying Alexandra little more than a quick glance as she stared at the ceiling. Only when Scarlet pointed it out, did Faira actually bother to look up. She looked at the artwork as well as she could from where she stood, careful to avoid standing under it.
	She glanced to Lusso, momentarily wondering who the "we" she was referring to might be, and shuddering at the thought that someone undesirable might barge in at any moment. She returned her attention to the picture.
	“Any idea if that means anything?” she asked no one in particular, then cast a glance around the room, looking for anything that might lead to an answer on its own.