A bony hand slipped back and scooped one for himself and the melancholy faded. Standing straight with his missing backbone, he made for the door. It seemed to him that cooler weather made cooler heads. Something about heat sends the living wild. Somehow this dragon kid's personality made a great deal more sense to Liu, indulging a moment in fallacy. All this talk about courts and jesters threatened to make him laugh. Rather than activate any functionality on the orb, he would make a move to stow it in his small bag for safekeeping. They likely had no use for observing the trip out of town.

[color=662d91]"A jester? He does you credit. The jester tells the regent when they are wrong. Between his opalescent minder and you, he shall have no excuse for rashness,"[/color] Liu noted to Esther with a quiet, resonant tone. 


It was no wonder this newcomer mistook him for a decoration. With his back to the rest of them, he froze on the spot at the sight of this interloper (having assumed their party was complete before). He could presume no mischief; who could carry out ill intent while holding a bagel? He remained still for just long enough to affirm the misidentification before slowly turning toward the rest of the group to gauge their reactions, before turning back to ask, [color=662d91]"ah... are you lost?"[/color]