Dannisus shuddered at the thought of actually [i]touching[/i] the gem. At a first glance, it looked a little different from what his mother had showed him. It had a distinct presence to it like it was [i]possessed[/i]. He looked at her again. "[i]With time, I might be able to figure something out. But I would need to take an even closer look at it,"[/i] he slapped his book shut and tossed it back into his pack. "Certainly not on this hill, though." Dannisus' overwhelming desire to learn more about Lui's artifact had long since disappeared by now. He took a look around, only to notice a plethora of prying eyes all around them; A few of the guards near the jammed gate, several civilians passing by, and even a couple people that recently popped out of the tavern. He looked at Lui assuredly and nodded, offering the most sincere smile he could muster, despite how dishonest his next statement might have been. That smile quickly contorted into a disjointed look of pain and surprise.

	"ץﻉٱค!" Dannisus screeched, suppressing his voice only slightly while he yanked his tail away from Aelih. "Please don't do that, [i]ever."[/i] He looked at Aelih with a hint of anger in his voice for the first time since they'd met. It vanished quickly, and he offered a curt nod. [sub]"It's not funny."[/sub] His attention returned to Lui, reaffirming an air of contentment rather quickly.

	"I'm certain I'll figure something out. I have to look around town for some supplies, but once I've built a ɭٱคกร, I should be able to tell you a lot more." Dannisus picked up his pack and quickly rose to his feet, suddenly overcome with a case of [i]scholar's passion.[/i] "You're both welcome to come with me, but it'll be a while. You're better off meeting me..." He thought on that for a moment. There was no way in [i]hell[/i] he'd be going back to that tavern, even if he'd already gotten a room. There had to be other buildings in town were they could get away from the gawking public. "Ah!" He pointed across town, "South gate, where I came in. There was a fairly nice looking inn near the side of the road. They have a sycamore tree growing in the field next door, and a big wooden sign out front that reads 'rest your weary soul' or something. We can meet there at sundown. For now, you'll likely pose no threat," he reassured, comforting Lui with a light pat of her head. By now, he'd recognized her as nothing more than an innocent child, and children didn't deserve to feel [i]any[/i] kind of torment. torturing kids... That was the worst, the absolute [i]worst[/i] thing anyone could do. Even if she wasn't a [i]real[/i] person. "Don't worry yourself! There are a bunch of tough people around here..." He paused and smiled through the biggest lie he'd told anyone in years. "I'm sure that they'll protect you, [i]and themselves[/i] if anything happens." Even if he preferred to think better of strangers, part of him knew that humans were far less selfless than the other races.

	"They're nice people!"

	He felt like scum. But he wasn't [i]entirely[/i] wrong.

	"Aelih," Dannisus chirped, "I don't mean to impose, but you seem keen enough on our company. Do you think you could keep an eye on Lui while I take a bit of a walk around the market stalls?" He wasn't sure if he could really trust Aelih, but he couldn't lie to himself. The fact that she wasn't human made him [i]infinitely[/i] more at ease with the idea. The underlying issue was clear though. The markets weren't fully set up yet, [i]probably wouldn't be until tomorrow,[/i] but he didn't know that. His eyes drifted towards Jack, Fauv and Gabriel again. He might've cringed at Fauve's display if he didn't originate from the [i]forest.[/i] Still, at least his kin had the decency to [i]cover themselves up.[/i] He spun back towards Aelih with a light smile.