RP:Night At The Barrel

Synopsis: Tiber runs errands and decides to stop in The Broken Barrel before he heads back to Sage for the evening. Due to the loathe, he decides to pour himself drinks. Lita comes, and starts bumming cigarettes. Then, Leoxander comes… It’s not as bad as he expected, as the pirate is actually not butting heads with the Catalian tonight. Eventually, Tiber leaves, and Lita and Leoxander are left to continue their friend antics.

Broken Barrel Inn

Tiber :: Once heading home from Enchantment after an emotional toll of a day of being questioned for killing the Queen, and Lanara’s shaking alibi about a ‘miracle baby’, it was no question that he needed a moment to process... and work on the next daunting tasks. The next day, he spends time running errands. One thing he does is speak with Greyson about their trip to Darkiln--talk about Sylvie Rouseaux, but also he expresses he needs a drink and decides that instead of Cenril, he can go to the bank in Rynvale for the cost of transporting animals from the sanctuary. So he takes a ride across the seas, although risky due to Franz Libedow, the man involved in all Lanara and Tiber’s turmoil, lately. Tiber knows Franz has men in Rynvale, but he knows Franz is mostly based out of Cenril, so there is a lack of getting jumped again. The Catalian finds a quiet end of the bar–perhaps he was stupid to be out in public. The blue bruising still lingers around one of Tiber’s eyes, a healing gash lingers above his brow, and his ribs are still aching due to the damage, but he is hoping he can numb it for the time being. Broken ribs. Hopefully a few more days and they would be completely mended on their own. Despite the craziness that swarmed the Lowell’s these days, he still does his best to dress himself appropriately. A pair of navy slacks, loafers, and a light blue button-up. Today without the tie as he wanted to keep his shirt a little looser, but he is not totally unequipped as he keeps a few hidden blades on his body. Just in case there were any surprise attacks. He idly sits there with a glass of whiskey and a bottle next to the glass already. There is a mild sense of guilt that lingers, as he left the Kelvarian behind, but he also left the Beta to watch over the home while he was away.

Lita is barefoot as usual as she strolls into the bar, brushing the remnants of dirt or sand, maybe it was paint, from the hem of her dress. None of that was so unusual for the woman. Tucking raven curls behind her ears, she takes a quick stock of the room, making a face at not seeing Cal or Leo about just yet- her two favorite rogues to steal smokes from. She makes a beeline for the bar but stops after a step, holding the door open behind her a bit. Right, still getting used to having a little critter following her around again. The little jade green fox ambles in after her, making a little growled complaint as it nips at her ankle. "Oh, I'm sorry." Lita complains at it. It seems almost instantly distracted at the new scents of people and food, its dark pink ears perking up as beady eyes glance about the room. "Come on, we'll see what Simon's got on board." The barkeep gives her a look when she slides into a vacant seat and the fox creature hops into her lap, its paws on the edge of the bartop. "Usual?" She asks, though Simon is already pouring her a glass of that honeyed whiskey as he gives the critter a side-eye. Lita is more interested in eyeing Tiber. She doesn't recognize him but he's got a look of a usual crowd about him. She leans towards him some, though he's still a few seats away. "Any chance you got a smoke?"

Leoxander was headed back in the Broken Barrel that evening, since his business with Simon had been postponed the day prior by the happenchance visit of a woman on the rogue’s radar, for unsettling reasons. Loravelle wasn’t at his side but safe enough; Leo kept tabs on whose feet touched ground on that island and a good portion of the population were over protective of the resident Mouse. He’d probably even come across knowledge of Franz’s gang if they were loitering the port or southside town, but would be unaware of any rivalries or issues between strangers and Tiber, at that point. Having spotted Lita in the distance making her way inside, a note of confusion touched his fingers and squinted his eyes as sharp vision almost made out the verdant creature at her bare heels. He had something for the woman, anyhow. But when he opened that door and Tiber’s lycan presence and scent hit him like a board to the face, Leo hesitated in the doorway, a bit confused and not quite pleasantly surprised to find Tiberius on the island - not his usual locale. Still, he tolerated the man, considering he was among the ranks, and had his moments of relative peace on occasion, so he continued inside with an abrupt question spoken rather than a greeting, directed toward Lita as Leo got a good look at her oddly colored companion. “The hell is that?”

Tiber tips his glass back idly. His gaze remains straight forward, and when the darker haired woman leans towards him, his eyes shift. He is a little on edge, normally he would ignore her, but he has to size her up for a minute which causes his amber gaze to trail down to her bare feet. Great, another hippie. “Shouldn’t you be off saving the trees rather than bumming for cigarettes.” Not the happy-go-luckiest guy of the bunch. He does have smokes, as he was itching for one, himself, but the last thing he wants Lanara to know is that he is still shaken up from the day prior. Not that he did not smoke and drink on an average day, but to go off and escape to a bar during these trying times? He eyes the honeyed whiskey that is being poured for her and then he catches the odd looking fox. Yeah, this one was weird. When the door opens behind them, he catches the pirate’s scent before he gets to the bar. “Really…?” He mutters under his breath, but he keeps himself from getting agitated. Not tonight. He is too tired to get into a drunken brawl that was long overdue. What the lycan does do, is side-eye him with that battered eye and gives him an eyebrow wiggle in greeting before returning to silence again.

Lita is more offended by the assumption that she saves trees than anything else. She narrows dark eyes at the stranger and is about to say something else when Simon settles the bottle of whiskey on the bar in front of her with a clang and gives her a warning look. She sets her jaw at the barkeep. But the last time she'd started a bar brawl at the Barrel, she'd left him with a hefty clean-up job, so. "I guess now we know why round one went to the other guy." She says as she sips at her drink. She isn't surprised by the pirate's appearance or his question. It had all but been her own reaction when Xiem had brought the thing back from Frostmaw. All the same, she lifts her hands to cover the fox's ears as the creature leans towards the lycan to sniff him curiously. "Her name is Zazen. At least, she doesn't seem to hate it." Lita scratches gently between the critter's ears and it shakes its head, cooing at her. "Please tell me you have a smoke?" She asks, looking up at Leo with a playful pout. "Simon gets mad when I spill blood on his floor."

Leoxander had the ears to catch that remark under Tiber’s breath, but he still casually leaned forward against the bar with his arms braced against it near his ribs. He didn’t need to make the request from Simon - the grayed tavernkeep retrieved a fresh bottle of bourbon whiskey from under shelf rather than top shelf, specific to the Captain’s tastes. “You know where yer at, don’tchu mate?” Not a question he expected an answer to, as it was said more as a reminder that that island was his territory. A lingering look on the other lycan, noticing the fatigue and stress in his eyes as easily as the bruising, despite the bounce of a brow. A motion for another tumbler, and he had the courtesy to pour a few fingers deep into one to slide it down the bar toward Tiber. Lita was one that wouldn’t have her hand snapped at if she decided to share from his blend, but she typically liked that sweeter brand. “Piss the wife off for that shiner?” A casual question directed the male’s way while he answered Lita by removing his wood case of handrolled herb-laced smoke and a box of matches running low. He spared a glance at the vulpine risking a sniff, and Zazen might even catch a trace of the twin maned wolf pups sometimes seen in the pirate’s company, but helped himself to a first drink draining the cut glass entirely with a swallow before his attention shifted back to Lita and Tiberius.

Tiber figured Leoxander would have been lingering in the depths of the Jolly Roger rather than at the Barrel. “I suppose this is your territory,” he shrugs. He does not explain further… yet. The tumbler that is slid his way makes him finish off the glass in his hand. He grimaces slightly due to the downing of liquor. When Leoxander asks about his shiner, “Uh… no.” Should he tell him what happened? Lanara and Leoxander were close, right? But who was this strange woman between them? Maybe if he was vague. “I was jumped… Four men against one. Lucky me,” his voice is very low. In case any of Franz’ men are listening. “If anything, I think I put her in more danger,” he scratches the side of his neck uncomfortably. “She’s okay, for now.” The sight of cigarettes makes his teeth grind before he reaches into his own pocket to slide a rolled cigarette out. A box of his own matches. So he did have a smoke on-hand. He strikes a match before lifting the flame to the end of the bud before snapping his wrist to wave away the flame. He takes a few puffs and… it hurts his ribs. Makes his chest tighter. This was not really his ideal way of smoking.

Lita glances from Leo to the stranger and back again. Okay, so those two knew each other. Somehow that doesn't surprise her. But Leo's comment about pissing a wife off seems a particular brand of jab with his own pending nuptials. Thankfully, there's the distraction of an offered cigarette, which she takes with a thankful smile, a match taken, the head pinched between thumb and forefinger to strike it to light with a snap. She takes a long drag as the two squabble over what she will assume is some unrequited love betwixt the pair. Life in her head is far more amusing this way. Did he just say Lana? As in, Lanara? Did this make this stranger the husband from previous conversation about marking territories? Lita nearly chokes on her cigarette with the realization as she laughs. She's handing Leo the lit cigarette and admittedly, her timing is horrible, as she appears to be laughing at the story of Tiber getting jumped. She waves a hand at him, as if she might try and explain, but really what did she care what he might think of her. "If he starts peein' on the bar, I'm out." Lita says in jest to Leo. And then to Tiber, "If you were jumped by four men, I doubt luck has much to do with it."

Leoxander noticed the caution in his tone when he vaguely explained the cause of obvious injuries, and although he wasn’t the most sympathetic individual, particularly when it came to anything Tiber got himself into, there was a slight knot between his brows and no taunting smirk or amusement evident on his sun spotted features. It wasn’t his place to stick their nose into their relationship, but he had once let Lanara down after an agreement to protect her, strictly business but some friendship lost for the folly. “Surprised you didn’t bring her with.” That island was, could be a safe haven of sorts. More a hideout, considering the type that typically took refuge there. Not to mention Leo had a handful of loyal ‘neighbors’ that would defend it, including the dark haired vampire between the two wolves. He took the smoke from Lita to take a drag from it, ashing it in a glass tray, and hand it back, exhaling with a huff for the woman’s untimely laughter. Leo wasn’t going to press Tiber for more information but maybe in some subtle way he would extend the olive branch - at least until it snapped between them again. “Swan’s can be nasty bastards…” He suddenly murmured thoughtfully as if a random opinion of birds just randomly came to mind to change the subject, but the two would probably read between the lines to understand his offer. “But they’re too obvious. Territorial in their waters.” Even Simon was giving the pirate a bit of a confused look as he seemed to be sharing some random knowledge from an encyclopedia. “Now shrikes. Those little blaggards’ chase their kill right into a thorn an’ leave ‘em squirmin’ a while.” He refilled his glass from the bottle with a glance from Tiber, to Lita, then to Simon. “Interestin’ s**t, ain’t it?”

Tiberius shifts his gaze to Lita, who is cackling like a little maniac. Is she a -crazy hippie-, now? She talks of him marking his territory on the bar, and his face looks a little grim. Thin-lined. Tonight was not the night. “Hey, Leo, who’s your friend?” His question is tight, and he ignores the next comment she makes. Does he want to risk starting another situation? Does he want to blow that inhaled smoke in her face? He wants to, but he does not blow the smoke, as he and Lanara are in enough trouble. Nothing like hiding an unconscious Queen in one of your Pack homes. Who could make this up? Tiber is quite the charm–not. The smoke, instead, is blown to the side, but he is still curious about the smaller frame sitting between them. Then, the other blonde lycan is pulling Tiber out of his spite for a moment. “She’s resting. We’ve had a long week. She’s safe, though…” Greyson Briars had it under control, he had hoped, but he knew they were being watched, and Franz was planning something more. He could feel it. When? Well, it would be too soon for his ex-boss to do something now. He lifts that drink again, and then he shifts amber eyes over to the talk of birds. Swans. Shrikes. The linguist is intrigued by the talk of vocabulary in birds, actually, as Tiberius was a man of language. Definitions. Knowledge, and a part of him thinks over briefly… Should he drag Leoxander completely into this situation? Was Leoxander also a man who striked? No, they… had a tidal wave of… well, was it even friendship? What if Leoxander thinks he is more of a scumbag than Franz? Perhaps their ‘connection’ was mutual understanding of the ones they adored? It would not matter either way, because Tiber does not say anything. He then shifts his gaze to Lita, and because he feels oddly melancholy today, he reaches for his pocket again to slip her a cig for the future. He does not know why, but… maybe it was because the man was of -some- common courtesy, and he mildly feels bad she is caught in between the two blonde lycans talking. For today. “Don’t smoke it towards a tree. You might upset a leaf or something.” It would still crawl, he was sure.

Lita shrugs a bit at Leo as she takes the cigarette back from him. "Swans're a tad flashy, you ask me. I'm learnin' to like shrikes a bit more." One in particular, at least. "What do you call a shrike-lite?" She asks, of no one in particular, mulling through her own thoughts, seeming to have picked up this interest in ornithology. She wasn't going around with some vengeance to off anyone, yet. But she'd definitely enjoyed her recent time in the arena and was looking forward to the upcoming duels. The conversation the two men seem to be having around her goes unmentioned on her part. Not her business. She's wriggling her fingers at the little fox kit to keep it entertained in her lap for now. It's still young enough to find such things interesting. Lita straightens in her seat a little and does her best impression of Leo's (presumably patented) scowl. "She goes by Jackal." She answers Tiber's question. And when he offers the cigarette case, her smile broadens some and she takes one with a playful wink offered as she tucks it behind her right ear. She takes another draw of the first one. Maybe he wasn't as bad as his first impression would lend belief too. "No trees? Guess somebody else'll have to save 'em." She lifts her glass to down the whiskey therein and drops the butt of the cigarette into the empty glass on the bartop. "You're the witch's better half then?" It's not quite a question. "Shame, that makes you a slight less punchable. I like that one." Mostly because the woman had a way of pissing Leo off. But all was fair in things and such. "You have a name? Or do you prefer the anonymity?" Not that it might matter, she was horrible with names anyway.

Leoxander couldn’t deny a bit of amusement at Lita’s introduction in her not-quite-deep enough surly tone. He let Lita take the wheel of the conversation and straightened his posture up a bit at his standing position at the bar, arching his back just enough to get a few cracks out of his spine. During the exchange, he managed to get a few murmured words into the barkeep and slid a small wrapped package his way, who took it and disappeared into the back for the time being since the trio and their strange green rabbit were taken care of, for now. Giving ample time for the man to answer Lita’s questions or not, he only mentioned once more on the matter that Tiber, no matter how much he was a thorn in the paw to the other alpha, wasn’t alone if he chose not to be. “Nothin’ wrong with searchin’ out a bit of assistance if you’ve got a pest problem, mate. Personal matters aside. But if you got it handled…” He lifted his glass in a bit of a salute as if to say, ‘Good luck’ and finished off his second glass. Though there was a bit of a knee jerk reaction in his body language as he remembered something, swallowing that smooth blend, and he reached into the pocket of his pants. “Found somethin’ of yers.” Leo spoke to Lita regarding that, but let her continue her conversation with Tiber as she saw fit.

Tiber was more a swan than a shrike. Times he would -have- to be a shrike. Go in for the aggression, though he preferred an easy crow if they were talking birds. The man rubs his stubble before answering the woman’s question staley, “Almost a synonym to a shrike, but only a smaller, fiercer type of bird.” An automatic assumption of thought due to… roots. He hopes he got that one right, but the whiskey is beginning to fog him which causes him to crinkle his gaze into a squint of recollection. The feisty one goes by… Jackal? Does she have an animalistic name as well? Though he tries to connect the dots, as she knew Leoxander. Was she a part of his crew? He remains stoic with her wink before he turns back to his drink. “I’ll leave it to Lana’s bestie then,” Penelope. His voice is monotone, as if not entertained, but… he gave that raven-haired woman with the dark eyes a cigarette. That was something. For now. To Leo, however, he takes a pause to avoid Lita’s questioning for a moment to get his head straight. “Maybe… we can talk in private eventually, or… maybe… I can send you something a little more detailed on the situation…” Beat. ‘You’re the witch’s better half then?’ echoes in the back of his mind. She knows Lanara Banks… now Lowell. Was this good or bad? He decides to dab out his smoke at that one on an ashtray on the bartop. “I would beg to differ. She chose me–doesn’t make me better for it,” nowadays he thought that. Her toxic half. Her… risky half. The one that drove her insanely and compassionately mad. He was learning to communicate. Bare emotions. Be the best that he could be for her, but the past week, he was questioning it entirely due to his past employment. ‘You have a name?’ Beat. He is not sure that this is a fellow rogue, so he goes with his name. It is low, however, as, again, he does not want many eavesdroppers, “Tiberius.” He does not give the last name. “Tiber, for short.” He skips the last name, as he does not figure that is of much importance, unless she wanted to try to connect dots of his past ploys of bar brawls and petty, sleazy crimes. Perhaps she might have heard him as a past escort in these parts depending how long she lived there, but that way had changed.

Lita is glancing up at Leo again when he mentions having something of hers. The pirate rarely brought presents and when he did they were usually things she could sink teeth into. But she'll wait patiently all the same as Tiberius- the name he offers- picks up their conversation. "You lot are never the better halves." She muses in a good natured spirit, waving a hand to extend her meaning to both Tiberius and Leo. Whether she meant lycans or rogues or men in general, well, jury's still out on that one. "But all things considered, perhaps you're right and 'chosen half' would be a more applicable respite." Lita glances down to the fox in her lap, who has rested its head on the bar top betwixt its front paws, watching Simon, its tail snaking lazily back and forth. Lita loops an arm around the fox's little body, as if expecting some attempt to pounce at the barkeep and the fox sighs heavily beneath the new restraint. "Tiber..." she muses aloud, "Tibber..." she mispronounces it. "Like some backwards frog?" She furrows a brow and glances sideways at Tiberius, wondering why anyone would chose to go by such a name. "Well, almost. Doesn't matter." She glances at Leo again. This would feel like less of a tennis match if she could focus. "Do we like this one?" And then before the pirate can answer, back to Tiber, "Actually, any chance the little witch is visiting in your wake?" She brightens a bit at the possibility.

Tiber hates that he cracked a smile at her fumble of his own name. Something the Kelvarian would have done to him at the beginning, as she got most names wrong. And it makes him wonder why he is even here without her. He knows she is safe, however, in the comfort of the Pack. He shifts his gaze away, however, back to another thing of whiskey he is finishing. Should he pour another? He was smart, but he was also timid due to the possibility of being watched. Lanara would hate it if he never showed up at the house in Sage. She would be worried sick–if she was awake. The woman did have a very bad burnt arm–she was trying to endure the pain, but milk of the poppy was now cut off. Eventually he cackles, “T-ie-b-ee-er-ee-uh-s. T-ie-b-er,” the linguist could not help himself at chunking out his own phonics, and he cannot help but smirk crookedly at the name she is playing with. The linguist was amused. ‘Do we like this one?’, and he remains stone for this phase, as the other lycan and him had a lot to hash out. If anything, they almost wanted to bash each other's skulls in. Tiberius due to jealousy. Leo’s maybe due to hard-headedness in general. It was a very up and down relationship. ‘Like’s a stong word, Ace’, this was true… and with Leoxander’s metaphoric words, the Catalian, brown eyed man might drown, but he would take it, and he squints at the mention of ‘Ace’. Different names. He finds it amusing that he is talking of Lita being a ‘hippie’--playing into the game Tiber had set. He then watches the bone anklet move her way, and he is back to letting the two interact.

Lita doesn't argue with the tangled trees bit. Leo had ensured a few trees from her past got a bit more tangled as of late, after Frostmaw, but that wouldn't be for present discussion. This was still a metaphor, wasn't it? She doesn't even make a point to argue when he mentions that they'd help the witch and this chosen other. She liked the witch as much as others, sure, but she trusted Leo regardless. She narrows dark eyes as the man draws out the phonetics of his name. Leo was trying to extend some sort of an olive branch. Age and love had made the pirate a bit soft. Lita bites at the inside of her lower lip, muttering something incoherent in Elvish. Probably not appropriate a thing for women and children to hear, definitely snarky. She's distracted by Leo handing over the pieces of that anklet in her palm and she runs her thumb over a few of the bone tiles, her smile slow, that annoyance at Tiber's antics quick to melt away. "I figured they'd've been lost. Thanks." She closes her fingers around the pieces as the fox bends her head to try and inspect them further. That's all she'd need is for somebody's escaped plant-animal hybrid expirement to eat a magical bone charm. "Drowning is much more fun when intentional." She says to no one in particular. "If you're on the lucky side- or is it unlucky?- you get to watch all the bubbles stop."

Tiber does not even bother with the pull of Lita’s feature in his phonetic verse. He is still smiling at the thought either way before dropping his face back to that stale line. He stares at the anklet, but quickly turns away to the drink. Then Lita makes the comment of ‘drowning and unluckiness’, and he takes it personally to himself. He does not overreact, however, as he remains as stoic as he can. He might be shaking. In pain due to his ribs. A scowl in that ‘blank’ stare. Leo talks about his wife, and he glances over. “Short fuse, indeed. But she rests in me… But that doesn’t mean I won’t keep her waiting.” He tries not to look at Lita at this moment. In the future, they would meet up, he was not sure (reluctant to feel ‘sure’), but the narrator was sure. He glances back at Leo as he stands, “I’m sure I’ll see you soon. Take care.” The Catalian then exits the inn without a parting glance.

Lita shrugs at Leo's assessment of her being grim. Truth hurts. She nods at Leo's mention of having other news to share and lifts a hand in a wave. She was usually around the tattoo parlor most days, of course. Wasn't hard to find her. Island seemed to be gettin' smaller the more time she spent on it. She turns to watch Tiber's exit over her shoulder and then makes a face up at Leo. Something familiar about being the last rogue at the bar with a drink in hand. "How did I turn into you?" She teases him with a grin, probably as he's heading for the exit himself.

Leoxander hadn’t beat Tiber to the door, so he lingered a moment longer at Lita’s side to watch him leave, answering her question without missing a beat. “Jus’ lucky, I guess.” Even he knew that statement was far from the truth, as he’d had a lot of obstacles and disasters in his time alive, but that was the dark humor of it. “C’mon, I’ll walk you an’ yer critter home.” It was on the way, of course, and while it was her choice whether to stay and nurse her honeyed whiskey at the bar, it was much more efficient to drink it on the path and kill two birds with one stone. She could take care of herself, of course, but if some unknown threat had followed Tiber there in a gang of many, he’d rather not risk finding Lita with similar bruising the next day. “Last time I saw anythin’ at yer heels… well, it wasn’t that.” He murmured her way as he made his way to the door to hold it open and hesitated a moment while she made her choice. From chaos hound to… whatever that little thing was. Not that strange colored companions were a rare specimen throughout those lands, but it was a far cry from her demon type. Clearly the Frostmaw incident had been placed properly into the past now that Loravelle was recovered, his attentive stare patient and calm upon the vampire.

Lita wasn't sure she'd consider luck to have been on his side a whole lot back then. Depending how you looked at it. He was alive, after all. For whatever luck that was worth. "Sure." She says, slipping from her seat with the fox still bundled over her arm. It wriggles some in protest, turning its head to lick at her jaw as she follows the pirate towards the door. She winces a bit when he mentions the hound, even if not by name, but she doesn't say anything for it. Once outside the tavern, she bends to put the fox safely on the ground. It sniffs at her feet and then scurries over to sniff at Leo's boots before pouncing off a few feet to explore, looking back to make sure Lita is still not too far away. Lita hadn't told but a couple of people about what had happened with the hound but there wasn't a whole lot of people she told a whole lot to. Leo knew more than most these days, she'd guess. "Xiem found 'er gettin' chased by wolves up in Frostmaw. No idea where she came from. Or maybe she followed that primal out of whatever hell it came from." The possibility had crossed her mind. After a beat of silence she adds as a sort of long-belated apology, "I'm glad Mouse is feelin' better."

Leoxander could relate to that jab of sensation in the gut anytime Jack was mentioned, but as he lived on, so did Lita. Despite what vampire’s went through in their change, she was still just as alive as ever to him. He went along with the change of subject with a glance and before he put away the cigarette case he’d stolen from Lora’ long ago, he picked one out to place between his lips and paused to cup a hand over a struck match to light it before he shook the stick out, tossed it, and slice the engraved case and his last match into back pocket. “Yeah’ she’s doin’ jus’ fine.” Reassurance short lived, he moved on with the topic that might provide a segway to his bit of news. “So the dragon saw the destruction up there, huh?” Another drag taken as they walked down Rynvale’s southmost road. “He ain’t from there, is he?” Leo had no clue if Xiembantointh was black, white, red, blue… silver. He only knew what Hildegarde was and that she’d once ruled that area. Perhaps still did, hibernating or some such. “An’ you remember the guy at the bar. But… more importantly, the other one?” He already had some suspicion she knew them fairly well.

Leoxander remembered the name given to him by the Silver Enigma at his and Talyara's cottage home. Lita nods at the question about Xiem. "From there, as far back as I know." If there'd been anything before Xiem's time in the military, some many years ago, she wasn't privy to it. "Thankfully he wasn't there when most of the chaos broke out. His kids are grown and moved on. His business is stationed out of there but he said wasn't much in way of structural damage." Thankfully. She'd much rather pretend to know anything of use about construction or the primal or demon foxes, than talk about the Verta brothers. But she'd figured it would only be a matter of time before Leo came 'round with questions. She had hoped to have more liquor in her when it happened. Or company, maybe reinforcements. "We've a history. Less friendly a thing these days, but we tolerate each other I guess." She couldn't very well ask Leo not to invite him into their fold. Even if it felt like she'd any right to, it would be ridiculous. He was of decent skills as a warrior and Taly a kind heart and skilled healer. Which they clearly needed more of. She's quiet, keeping her eyes on the path ahead as they stroll, letting her brain spiral a bit before she reigns it back in. "You fishin' for something specific?”

Leoxander shook his head as he took another pull from his cigarette, slightly hissing in the exhale that pooled it into his lungs before it vapored in an exhale in the warm, seaside air. “That remains to be seen as far as the pale haired one goes. He an’ his witch saved Lora’s life, so I got dues to pay if those two ever need a favor. It’s the dark haired one that stayed with you.” His eyes caught street lamps to shine in a look her way, expression solemn. A drink from the bottle in his hand, in turn, as the waves on shore sounded in the distance and they reached the turn in that road toward it. “That brother of his tracked down Lora’ here. Pro’lly waited until I wasn’t in range for it, cause he gave her some fancy scarf an’ made his way right along. Now tell me if I’m fug’n crazy, but that raise any suspicion fer you?” The tension in Leo’s jaw and the cut of his tone clearly revealed that he was not entirely happy about it.

Lita takes a moment to follow where Leo's headin' in all this. He's worried about Lav? The scarf. "It was one I found in your pack. I assumed it was Lora's. Lav burned his arm pretty bad and I don't know much about healing supernatural wounds but we used the scarf to hold snow on the wound 'til we made it down the mountain." A lot had happened since then. She hadn't expected Sokolav to return the thing in person. Funny he hadn't showed her the same courtesy. But that was neither here nor there now. "Lav's not really the one you should be careful of. He's," she wasn't sure the words for it. "He's led a fairly sheltered life." From what she knew of him. She stops then, turning to regard him finally, reaching her free hand out to his forearm. "I know Krice and Taly saved her life and you feel some type of way in owing them a debt, just," her brow furrows. She'd spent too many years living in the cycle of that debt and guilt. "Just be careful, okay?"

Leoxander stopped short at Lita’s first sentence, just a little shy of Villa, not far from the side of the Soulskin building or the Jolly Roger. “...I’m not sayin’ anything about the green one she’d lost. I mean this man made his way to the other side of the bloody map just to hand Lora’ that gift to replace it when I wasn’t around. I don’t know much about the silver haired warrior but I know less about this twin popping up in the middle of a damn crisis.” Maybe he was overacting, he thought, as he finished his smoke and flicked it a distance where sand started to scatter across the worn road that would turn into a dirt path, the further west they went. “I’ll be careful, either way. Always am.” He exhaled the last of that burnt herb in his lungs before he leaned in to scratch Lita’s cheek with a simple kiss framed by grown stubble. “I’ve got a job I’ma need some help with up north of the port, soon. Maybe pass that along to Mahri if you see her again before I do.” He didn’t have any details to what had occurred between the two, but the rogue wasn’t entirely oblivious to their behavior since their bout. “I’ll catch up with you soon, eh?”

Lita doesn't have anything more to say about Lav and the scarf. The behavior made sense, but only because she knew him more. He was blunt and methodical and didn't often understand the nuance and sarcasm of the shaded world the rogues lived in. His debts owed and paid were literal things. Lav returning a gifted scarf for the one he'd ruined likely meant little more than not wanting to owe anyone anything. The fact that Leo wasn't around seemed poor timing but probably wasn't more than that. Regardless though, she could understand the pirate's hesitation for it. She tilts her head up to accept that familiar kiss and offers a smile when he mentions Mahri. "A party I'm not invited to?" She was kidding. "I'll tell 'er if I see 'er." She knew the two were close but Leo hadn't mentioned anything and Lita wasn't spilling secrets. "Tell Mouse I say hi." And with that she turns to head down towards the villa, a low whistle drawing the fox to her heel, a little yellow weed clutched proudly in its jaws.

Leoxander obviously was inviting her, just asking her to relay it to their fellow partner in crime. But he didn’t bother to explain that because he was used to Lita’s quips and humor. He waited with one more drink taken from the bottle to see the vampire safely around the corner of the villa and inside before he continued on toward his ship.