[center][color=lightgray][h1]PIPER[/h1][/color][color=mediumseagreen][b]& CHERYL LUSBY[/b][/color][/center]

[color=lightgray][i]Crunch.[/i] Satisfaction rose in Piper at the sound of grinding bone between his teeth. He spared a glance at the watch, before snapping off another piece of rib.

'[i][b]You can keep it now[/b][/i],' he sent, '[i][b]You've already fed me so your part of the deal is done.[/b][/i]'

He listened to Jack's problem, ears perked up in full attention. A missing human case. That was going to be hard - there were a [i]lot[/i] of humans in Nihilo. When Jack took out some sort of pouch and held up a small scroll, Piper didn't think much of it until he actually looked up.

[i]Interesting.[/i] Very, very interesting. Jack was indeed an alien human. Piper swallowed the last bits of bone in his mouth, licking his chops, then stepped forward to the...scroll? No. It was some version of the scroll, but it wasn't one. He closed in on it, snout almost touching the not-scroll as he sniffed it. Hm. It didn't smell like another human, despite the small one displayed on it. Instead, mixed scents of strange chemicals and what wasn't quite ink emanated from it, though Jack drowned out those scents.

'[i][b]No. You are the first strange human I have seen. You...cannot find her with this?[/b][/i]' He ducked his head underneath, peering at the back of the thin object. It was blank, pure white staring back at him. He retracted his head, sitting down in front of it. '[i][b]It is a very...realistic portrayal of a human. This is not magic that can help you?[/b][/i]'

Just then, a faint whistle caught his attention and his ears perked up again. It was faint enough that he knew only his dragon ears could have picked it up. He glanced towards the door. His mind sought out a particular signal and found it moving at an idle pace, not that far off from the smelly food home. Switching his destination signal from Jack to Cheryl, he went back to staring at Jack, waiting for his answer. In the meantime, he sent a message to Cheryl.

'[i][b]I'm in the smelly food home.[/b][/i]'[/color]

[hr]
[color=mediumseagreen]When she saw was Sancho outside her house, the first thought she had was, '[i]I flaming knew it.[/i]'

When she realised how shitty he looked, her second thought was, '[i]Wait a second.[/i]'

And when he hurried off into the night, his guards following behind, her final thought, as most of her thoughts had been for the day, was, '[i]The flame just happened?[/i]'

'[b]Wait! What affiliate are you-and he's gone[/b],' sighed Cheryl, dropping her hand from when she'd stretched it out to stop him. She glanced up at the beast stalking Sancho from above. A dragon. It was rare to see one that big so close to civilisation. Despite herself, Cheryl tensed. Then she shook her head, turning away to tie the pouch of coins to her belt.

She could only guess that Sancho had meant the cloaked figure. That, or he thought she was in allegiance with some dragon clan who cared enough to extend her execution date. As if. The only dragon clan she knew was one who'd dearly love to see her ripped to shreds.

The cloaked figure was meddling with her affairs - something she didn't appreciate. She was more than capable of handling herself and she wasn't about to take on a job she hadn't wanted to. Stranger was probably long gone by now and if she didn't bump into him again, who could blame her?

Too bad for the cloaked figure. She whistled as she walked, a tune she knew Piper was familiar with. The way she saw it, they could hardly blame her for being unable to find Stranger - she didn't know who he was or what the hell it was about him that warranted so much money to find him or even his name. She'd just say it was "due to unfortunate circumstances" if the cloaked figure hassled her again. Surely they couldn't fault her for their own oversight. Giving her a job with barely any details. What a joke.

Piper's message rang in her head and she hummed - a habitual response, even if he wasn't there to hear her. No matter how many times she'd told him the names of different establishments, he'd stuck fast to calling all human buildings "homes". '[/color][color=lightgray][i][b]Too many names for the same thing[/b][/i][/color][color=mediumseagreen],' was all the explanation she'd ever gotten from him. Not to mention, what was he doing at a tavern? And why didn't he just come to her? Cheryl figured it had to be Blackgale Inn. They'd been there earlier so it would make sense. If he wasn't there, she'd just keep whistling.

The tavern came into view. The weight of the coin pouch pressed against her waist and she didn't look at it. This would all be over soon. Then she pushed open the tavern door.

What was it she'd said? "Unfortunate circumstances"?

'[b]You've gotta be flaming kidding me.[/b]'[/color]