“Well it’s not sneaking out if you use the front door.” Han snorts. She’s still perched on a messy nest of disturbed sheets and blankets. Legs crossed. Arms crossed. Delivering a fierce scowl to an empty corner of the room. “I’m not having [i]Sagacious Crane[/i] babysit us all the way to the end of our damn patience, and I [i]know[/i] she’d get up at the crack of dawn just to catch us trying to bail on her. By the time she thinks to check the window, we’ll be long gone.”

(Lotus must not be used to rising so early. She performed a truly spectacular yawn when she finally woke. With her bodyguard’s hand still hugged tight against her face. Han’s palm replays the sensation, over and over again, no matter how hard she tightens her fist. Wicked. Greedy. [i]Creep.[/i])

“Get yourself ready to hike. No time for breakfast. Eat on the road if you’re hungry; we got plenty from the barge. Gods willing, we get a sister-free inn tonight.”

She is a statue. A fearsome, carved guardian, shield for a fumbling priestess. No matter the squeaks, the pat-pat-pat of soft footsteps, the grunts of tying bags shut, she is unmoved. No spirit of mischief or misfortune will pass her brooding gaze without challenge. Without coming to terrible harm.

“...bud, tap me on the shoulder or something when you’re decent. Veiled. Decently veiled. Wh-whatever.”

*****************************************

Then, they were ready.

Lotus stood in her priestess’ silks, save for the band of jagged Dominion red hiding her face. (Didn’t she have another veil?) No pack weighed upon her shoulders for the march ahead; Han was handling it. Their food, spare clothes, the dozens of odds and ends that make a journey a little more bearable, all slung alongside her wrapped patta. If it weighed her down, she wouldn’t say.

The window stood open, curtains thrown back and double shutters flung wide. Through the light drizzle, off in the distance, the clouds were just beginning to warm with the colors of sunrise. No rope hung from the sill for the drop below; Han would handle it.

“You ready?”

Lotus nodded. Prim, proper, and clueless.

“Alright.”

Quick as a snake, she dipped low, and scooped Lotus up into a princess carry as if she weighed less than her silks. One arm hooked under her legs, the other cradling the small of her back. Both squeezing her tight against her chest, for the second time this morning. 

One step back. Three steps running. Then sail through the air. That’s how it went, right? That sounded right. She must’ve done that before, once. Or twice. It was. So hard. To concentrate. When her whole head was suddenly stuffed with flowers…

[Defy Disaster: Risking her own safety to get Lotus and their things down in one piece: 4 + 2 + 1 = [b]7[/b]]