All in jest! He'd had himself a good laugh, and antagonized the first talking creature he'd ever come across. Yes, yes this was a fine beginning to an adventure! But the soft playfulness distilled into quiet focus within a moment. Something had crossed his mind, the weight of cat's words did strike him, no matter how silly:

[i]"Were you brought up alongside pigs and monkeys?"[/i] a strange thing to make a man's mood switch, but it had its own [i]poeia[/i] to it.

He began to feel like an outsider now. Purr-face's slander only amplified the sensation. More eyes fell on him, and he knew it. Kokotha's commoners had foreign flesh in their presence, and something told Mazone it wouldn't be long before somebody wanted a cold cut. No more laughter, his cocoa skin lost the wrinkles of smiles and his hazelnut eyes drained the mirth. It was all business now, he had to stay on his toes. Could he be sure he could trust Lucille? He couldn't trust the cat, he knew that much. He kept a steady hand's rest on the hilt of his rapier for the rest of the traipse to the Inn.

[@Yomojo] [@tex]