Thankful for the coat, Ruli followed Daryll, Gavin in tow, out into the cursed snow and down the slope. In the back of his mind, Ruli would have appreciated the view if it weren't for the blistering cold that burrowed down into his bones. He shivered immediately, recalling that the last time, he'd barely stepped out of the house before deciding the snow wasn't something he'd enjoyed. The horrible morning after that night with Kire. 
[i]Are you sure you weren't too hasty?[/i] He wondered as they marched down the stairs. He picked his way carefully, fearful of slipping. [i]If you're thinking about it... Or, maybe you're just thinking about it because you're here again.[/i]

He pushed the thought of her and all she reminded him of out of his head as they stepped inside Daryll's house. Keeping his jacket on, Ruli followed into the alchemy room, where his expression matched Gavin's. 
"Holy Gods is right." Ruli said in awe. "This is larger than what we had in Ziad. Look, you have ... and these? I've never seen more than one before. They're so rare in my world I never hoped to see another one. Are they common here? I ..." Ruli went quiet, eyes wide while his mind tried to accept the room and all that it held. 
He instantly wanted to tell Gavin not to bring food in here. It was always a rule with Envy's alchemy chamber, as the scents could cover critical clues about recipes, but he felt no need to step on Daryll's hospitality. 

"I'll pass." Ruli said, honestly having no idea what a hot chocolate was. Coffee would be helpful later, though. He clapped his hand together. "Okay. So."

They dove into work. Bent over the tables, each writing notes the other couldn't read, asking for Gavin's input on certain magics in case it aligned with what he recalled while under Ikegai's control. They went to work making the alchemical recipe for a flash bomb, Ruli working on the colour while Gavin and Daryll went to work on the bottles. A two part compartment that, when shattered, will allow to two pieces of the puzzle to mix. A few times, they went outside to test, recreating the flash accurately enough, but they couldn't get rid of the hiss that accompanied it. It wouldn't matter, they decided, battle was loud. 

After a break for coffee, Ruli wandered back down to pour over the map again, going into detail about the wards, the pieces to that, the decision made to make it difficult to break and what would happen if they tried. The difficult parts were, of course, keeping Kire out of the warded zones, or, as he opened discussion, a way to hide her from the Gemini beyond the decoy 'portals. 

~

Up in the main manor, Ysaryn paced for a while, figuring Kire needed time alone with family. She bundled herself up, with the coat Ed had lent to her, as well as a few more borrowed items and she went out into the snow to run through her exercises, practicing with her new blades to get used to their weight.