Cedar's ears flicked apprehensively. This was.. very unusual conversation. He thought hard, but could not remember ever hearing it's like.

He stepped back from the table with the manservant in kitchen's livery, as if to better observe the full selection, and cocked his head to one side as if he ere undecided about his selection, leaving the servants to frown apprehensively at his 'pondering' while they stood at attention with their ewers of chilled fruit punch, and flavored teas.

He had backed away from the table for a different reason of course; it afforded him a chance to get closer to the .. .. 'carousing?'.. that was happening behind him without raising 'excessive' attention. (He was well aware that his mere presence and proximity was cause for alarm for them, but he wanted to avoid 'outright panic' by pretending to be completely absorbed in making a selection. The tilt of his head was much less about pondering the table, and much more about having an ear 'up', and 'cocked to the side' so he could better hear what was being said behind him.

What exactly [i]was[/i] going on back there? 

He snuffed in through his nose slowly, trying to get more clues.

The room was a rowdy reek of food, drink, pipesmoke, and sweaty humans of every candor and type. Stritzel was so grossly pungent, she took a topnote even from here, where the table should by all rights, have won out. It was always a source of confusion for him, how incredibly awful human noses were, to NOT smell these things! For a moment, he wished he couldn't either.

With purpose and concentration, he studiously ignored the 'rowdy, clamoring stank' of everything except what was directly behind him.

One of the men (he could not tell who, only that it was a man, and clearly an adult one) had keenly taken interest in some lady. A young girl reeked of terror. Another older man found something riotously funny, an older woman smelled.. he didn't have words for it-- but people got that smell when under stress, and when they were losing the battle for the will to live.. and finally, a very youthful man reeking of frustration and anger, with hints of the same 'beaten resignation' of the older woman.

He filled in some blanks, and came to the conclusion that:

One of the men was lusting for one of the women.
The younger woman was terrified of what was happening.
The other man found it hilarious.
The older woman believed she could do nothing.
The boy hated what was happening, but felt he could do nothing.

He stifled a growl, and fought to keep his posture calm, and his ears erect.

It was too soon to make conclusions. It could still just be a misunderstanding.

He hoped it was a misunderstanding.