RP:Plague Tales - The Tenements

Synopsis: Zahrani crosses paths with Oline while the giantess is restoring her flat in Larket. As they converse, they hear screaming. A young Larketian girl was being chased by a swarm of plague rats. They rescue the child, only to discover that an unknown 'masked man' had lured her into the alleyway. The feline and the giantess venture into the alley, discovering a giant hole into the sewers. They chase the rats into the breach, then seal it as best they can before taking to a vantage point...in case this masked man returns.

Towering Tenements

Oline stood outside the crumbling, dilapidated structure of what had once been an... honestly not-much-better-looking tenement building before the earthquake laid waste to much of Larket. The structure was a dirty, grey blob of a building... mostly brickwork, though at the moment the giantess was stood at her full fourteen feet hammering boards into the empty front-facing window frame of her flat. Much as the night before, she wore only a ratty patchwork loincloth hung precariously upon her hips... her mortified, tattooed flesh born proudly for any and all to witness. A sheen of sweat clung to her towering frame, reflecting in the afternoon sun as she worked. Clearly she'd been at this a while. In fact, if one looked down the street at the various other tenement buildings, there were signs of her having been working on all of them in similar fashion. Mostly patching holes and trying to make the place a little more livable despite it's slummy appearance.

Zahrani could be seen wandering through the tenements, bearing her more familiar (at least to Oline) elf-like face so she wouldn't stick out amongst the Larketian humans that she brushes past. The cat wears a simple cloak over the garb she had worn yesterday, her dark face covered by a hood like many of the others in the tenements. The panther would occasionally stop for someone who was in need, providing discreet healing and whatever other services she could for the people stuck in the tenements. Many of them would recognize her face as the paladin from the Chapel up north. A small child runs up to her while she walks, jumping up to give her a big hug. Rani laughs, before setting the lad down and walking with him for a bit. Upon turning the corner, she sees the giantess at work, her cyan gaze resting on Oline without judgment or mirth. The cat smiles, raising a hand in greeting to the woman she had recently met. "Good afternoon."

Oline could scarcely hear the words over the sound of her hammering as it echoed down up and down the street. It was the wave, actually, which caught her attention. Upon glancing over to spy the familiar face from the night prior, the giantess stopped mid-swing and let out a loud, tired sigh. "Sorreh! Din'un heer whudyeh sed ovvuh th'poundin'. Wu'un aspectin' Ah'd see yeh aggen so soon! Inna neybuhhood wurkin 're summat?" Oline set the large hammer down in a patch of muddy grass in front of her tenement before turning to amble over in Zahrani's direction. "Aftuhnoon," she offered with a toothy grin, pausing a few feet away before dropping down to her knees. "Sorreh abowdt alluhv th'mess. Ah'm trahyin' t'elp kleen iddup, but theyuhs a bunchuvvit."

Zahrani smiles up at the giantess, the feline noticing that the two of them are pretty close to eye-level with each other when Oline is kneeling, "That's quite alright. I'm glad to see you again." The panther surveys the large woman's handiwork, taking note of the damage that still needs to be repaired, "I actually came here to make some rounds that I've started doing. I'm not a contractor, but I can heal, protect, and do heavy lifting when it's needed. Would you like some help, by the way?"

Oline glanced back over her shoulder at the mostly-finished patch job of her window and harrumphed softly. "Ah'm shoore iz good enuff. Yeh, iddull hold. D'yuh wanna c'min mebbe? Z'alraht iffin' yeh'd rathuh nawt..." her head pivoted back around to Zahrani and quirked inquisitively to the side. "... buh Ahddid sez iffin' yeh kemm 'rownd Ah'd avvite yeh in." There was a moment's hesitation, there at the end, before she hastily added, "Ah'm gledd t'see yeh aggen, too. S'kinna weeyuhd t'have frenz aggen. Mohss've mahn're dedd 're gawn. Sorreh iffin' Ah en't rill good addit, buh Ah'll trah'n gidt bedduh."

Zahrani looks up at the afternoon sky. Thunder rolls in the distance, and the panther shrugs, "I wouldn't mind coming in for a bit-" As soon as she says it, the panther hears screaming from a nearby alleyway. A young girl runs out into the street, being chased by what can only be described as a swarm of unusually aggressive rats. The paladin unsheathes her mace, the head of the weapon beginning to glow with amber light. Her face becomes serious as she speaks to Oline, "If you can grab that child and get her away from the rats, I can try driving them off."

Oline didn't quite have the panther's keen senses. She didn't realize anything was amiss until the young girl burst forth from the alley and into the street. Her large brows knitted together in deep concern at the large mass of rats, fists clenching and her rage building as the world began to turn red. And then Zahrani asked her to go for the little girl. Immediately her tunnel-vision eased, and the pulsing beat of her heart relaxed just a bit. The giantess wasted no time replying to the request. She immediately sprang into action, charging forward at a full sprint with speed no creature her size should possess. She was to the young girl and scooping her up before the echo of her first footfall had finished, securing her firmly to her chest as she planted both feet into the ground and leapt backwards in the direction of her tenement building. She pried off the boards she'd just spent the last hour hammering into place and, with a gentle hand deposited the girl into the lounging room of her flat.

Zahrani waits for Oline to get the little one out of the way. The paladin's eyes begin to glow with that same amber light, her holy aura building on itself. The cat sprints forward, the sound of her armored boots making a rhythmic clanking sound as her glowing mace is out in front of her like a torch. The vermin at the front of the swarm, upon exposure to the feline's light, begin to scramble away from her, sensing not just a large predator, but also an energy that seems to repulse them. The main bulk of the group tries to rush Zahrani. The woman is ready, swinging her mace like a baseball bat and connecting with the mass of angry rodents. A loud ~Zap!,~ following by a concussive ~BOOM~ permeates the air, knocking the paladin back towards Oline. Dust gets kicked up in the immediate area, accompanied by the smell of roasted rat and burnt fur. Dead rats in various states of "doneness," for lack of a better term, litter the area in a 10 foot radius.

Oline lurched forward awkwardly in an attempt to prevent Zahrani from being pushed back any further, holding her in place as the rain of cooked rats pelted down against the cobbled street. The giantess cringed at the sight, and smell, her nose scrunching up in obvious distaste. "Sodden 'zeezed thengs... Ah 'enno wuddiz ullabowdt, buh Ah'm geddin' rilla sigguvid."

Zahrani gets back on her feet, grateful to Oline for catching her, "Thanks. And I feel the exact same way." The panther breathes heavily, doing her best to ignore the smell of burning rat, before going to a nearby building and asking for a rake or shovel. The resident hands her their rake, and the paladin walks back to the area and says to Oline, "I don't now what's causing this plague, but I do know we can't just leave their corpses lying around. If you have any spare scrap wood to build a small bonfire, that would help." This is nasty work, and the panther is careful not to touch any of the dead creatures with her bare hands. Some residents offer assistance, and she provides instructions to do what she's doing, reminding the Larketians to be careful. They begin to maneuver the dead rats into a large pile, in preparation for reducing them to ashes.

Oline did in fact have some spare wood lying around. Most notably, the planks she'd torn off her broken window... which she gathered into a small pile in a gravel clearing where a collapsed tenament had stood and promptly set about attempting to ignite. It took her a few tries, what with her big fumbling hands, but eventually a small fire was started... well away enough from the streets that hopefully the fumes of the burning plague-bearers wouldn't be breathed in by the townsfolk. "Ah'm gledd weh've gawt yeh arownd teh 'elp wid thengz lahk thess. Ah'm nawdt shoore Ah'd 'ave thawdt nawt t'touch 'em mehself." The fire tending itself for the moment, the giantess moved to take up a shovel herself and joined in the clean-up. "Suh, thessiz whud yeh do fer a livin, huh?"

Zahrani helps find any one-off rat bodies, picking them up with her shovel and bringing them to the bonfire, keeping her cloak over her nose and mouth when she's close to it. Once the streets were cleaned, she places the half-dozen shovels and rakes against the fire, using the high heat to help clean the tools of any remaining filth from the plague. Turning back to Oline, the woman offers a weary smile to the giantess, "I do whatever needs to be done, to keep people safe and give them opportunities to live life on their own terms." She glances back at the giant's flat, before saying, "Speaking of which, let's check on the little one that they were chasing after. If she got bitten, we need to act quickly."

Oline had almost completely forgotten about the girl she'd left standing there, shaken, in her flat. "Ah! Yeh, z'prolleh a good uhdeeyuh." She turned and lumbered back in the direction of the run-down building, in the process activating the ring upon her finger which caused her to rather unceremonously shrink, mid-step, to a much more reasonable six-feet or so in height. "Ah've bin seeyun folk ded frum thess theng allovvuh. Yeh kin 'elp th'lass iffin' she's sick?" The now not-so-giant quickly pushed open the door to the building and gestured for Zahrani to head on in. "Ah'm en th'lasst room uhnna..." she had to check her hands for a moment before saying, "Leff."

Zahrani follows Oline into the building, quietly running upstairs and into the giantess's room. "If the disease is caught earlier, we have a better chance of stopping it. Not always, but it's better than waiting for it to get worse." Upon entering, the paladin sees the little girl curled up in a corner, shaken up and covering one hand with the other. Rani gingerly approaches, kneeling down next to her and comforting her. "Show me where it hurts, dear." The child reveals a fresh bite-wound on the side of her hand. The paladin checks for any other bites, then places her hand over the bite. Tiny zaps of yellow energy from her hand to the child's, illuminating the skin from beneath as they course through. It's not a comfortable process, but it didn't hurt any more than the bite itself. After Rani finishes cleaning the wound, she closes the wound with another small dose of power. To the giantess, the feline says, "She should be okay. We got lucky with the timing."

Oline had absolutely no competence for magic, so she was just going to have to take Zahrani's word for it. She didn't have any reason not to, after all. Paladins tended to be trustworthy folks... at least in most of her experiences with them. "Ah'm gledd t'heeridt," she said with a grin as she leaned in to look the young girl over. "Yer much too smahll 'n adorable t'be worryin' abowdt geddin' sick! Now, yeh meck shoore t'steh aweh frum plesses lahk tha' ally iffin' yeh kin 'voiddit. Y'heer?"

The young girl looks meekly up at Oline, nodding her head slowly before softly saying to the paladin, "I need to find Papa." As if right on cue, the voice of a man calling out could be heard outside, "Kira! Where are ya, lass?!" The young girl bolts out of the giantess' flat, reaching the adult man and leaping into his arms. The panther comes down to join them, overhearing the father sighing in relief, "Oh, thank Cyris you're alright. I thought I'd lost you, girl."

Oline lingered in the doorway, watching on from afar as the man scooped up his child and thanked his god for her safe return. She tried to think back to her own father... to his face the last time she'd seen it. The worry, the fear, the desperation in his voice as he begged her to run as fast and as hard as she could... pleaded for Valkr to watch over her. By the time she blinked back into the moment, several seconds had passed in which she'd just been staring awkwardly into space. The berserker stepped out into the street and reached into a pouch hung off the strap of her loincloth. From within, she procured a small glowing stone that radiated with warmth and extended it to Kira with a grin. "R'membuh... wadchowdt fuh plesses dem rats'z lahk t'be. Iddent seff t'go wuhndrin allown."

Zahrani watches as Kira accepts the glowing stone from Oline, her father holding her up and asking, "What were you doing down there? It's dark and not far from the sewers." Kira looked away for a moment, before saying, "I...wanted to find Mama." The color momentarily drains from the man's face, before he sighs again, "Dear, your mother is in the cemetery. Why do you think she'd be down there?" he gestures at the alleyway. Another long pause, the bonfire from earlier beginning to die down. Kira gives a confused look, "The masked man told me she was." Upon hearing those last words, Zahrani's eyes widen and her heart sinks. She hadn't wandered in a childish manner into a dangerous place; she had been lured.

Oline 's gut churned. The idea that someone would dare do such a heinous thing, to a child, in her city? It would have been enough to send the old Oline into a rage through the back alleys and sewers in search of the culprit. In truth, the screaming voices of the raging dead echoed loudly in her head as they promised her pleasure and satisfaction if only she would succumb to the rage. Instead, she remained calm. She listened. She idly dug her thumb into one of the withered patches of scarred flesh on her chest and bit down on her lip until it bled. She only let up once the voices had gone quiet once more, exhaling a tired sigh. "Mistuh... keep a rilla klowss ahyeh onnat girly'o yers. Tell evry'un yeh knows wid kids t'do th'semm."

Zahrani takes a moment to casually look around and survey the tenements, looking at each face she can find. These people have already been through so much; the curse that threatens to age their children, the earthquake, the plague, and now someone's trying to lure people into getting the plague for who-knows-why. Exhaling, the panther currently sees nothing out of the ordinary. If anyone suspicious had been watching, they seem to be long gone now. Kira's father nods emphatically at Oline's words, "I certainly will." Upon the father and daughter's departure from the area, the paladin approaches the giantess and says softly, "If you have a minute, let's take a look in that alleyway before the storm comes in." In all the excitement, the thunderhead that had previously been above the fields east of Larket had begun to close the distance from the city. Another soft thunderclap heralds the oncoming rain.

Oline silently bobbed her head in agreement and began striding off in the direction of the alley. She was rather familiar with this part of town. The alley had once been home to a rather lively street-brawling club, although since her return Oline had learned they'd moved to a neighboring ally to avoid luring the rats out of the sewerways. "Ah dun lahk th'sownd've thess bizniss..." she said aloud, casting a glance to make sure she hadn't left Zahrani behind. "... en't no good kin kummuv sum'n lurin' chillunz off t'tha sewuhs."

Zahrani has no trouble keeping up with Oline when the giantess is just an inch taller than her. The two of them reach the alleyway, the panther getting our her mace once again and holding it aloft. That amber light returns, illuminating the path in front of them as the clouds darken the sky. As they approach the sewer entrance, her keen ears pick up the sound of scurrying feet and agitated squeaks. To Oline, the paladin says, "Watch the ground and the walls. These little beasts will be quick at our toes if we're not careful." Fortunately, they seem less eager to get near Rani's light; something about the divine aura seems to frighten them off when they sense it coming.

Oline couldn't afford to go completely off-leash with a friend in tow, so raging was out. She'd have to rely on the enchantments on her great-club to do the real heavy lifting if things got... hairy down there. The giantess paused, closing her eyes and focusing on the image of her tree-length club in her mind. She outstretched her hand and, hissing the command word, summoned it to her with a mildly strained grunt. "Raht, raht... nassteh liddul bugguhs, thems. Ah'll smash'm rill good iffin' we gotta."

Zahrani looks back at Oline, saying quietly, "Hopefully it doesn't come to that. We still don't know much about this plague or how it spreads. The less we touch them, the better." The panther moves ahead, her weapon's power causing the rats in front of them to flee into the shadows. Soon, the two of them find a large opening where the sewer grate used to be. Rats come and go from the entrance in droves. The chittering and squeaking noises make it hard to hear. Rani speaks above the noise, "We should try to scare them down the hole, then plug it with debris." It's a short-term solution, but it's one less opening to worry about.

Oline glanced around for any sign of something to seal up the entrance with. There was still some rubble left over from the reconstruction efforts... not as much as there had been, but probably enough to do the job. "Ah kin drag summuv th'shett frum when we wuz r'billden an' mebbe clog iddup. D'yeh thenk yeh kin gedd'em t'go back down th'hole yerself, re'shud Ah mebbe gid rill big'n lowd 'n showdt add'em 're sumthin?"

Zahrani nods to Oline. "Scaring them into the hole sounds like a good plan. I think I can keep them busy while you gather something to plug it." With a shimmer or amber light, the paladin's form begins to shift. Black fur appears on her exposed flesh, and her face changes into that of a panther. Each fuzzy digit is tipped with a sharp claw. Tail swishing, the feline raises her glowing mace, letting loose a deep, predatory growl from her throat, followed by the roar that only comes from one of the big cats of Lithrydel. The rats nearest her weren't expecting it, and they make a fast beeline for the safety of the sewers.

Oline had already tweaked her ring, regardless of what the answer was. Her body stretched and skewed awkwardly as the spell distorting her size and displacing her mass was dropped, at some points comically (or terrifyingly to some) so, prior to normalizing at her full fourteen-and-a-half feet. She found herself glancing back at the sound of the feline's roar, a flat-out grin spreading across her lips as she turned back to skip heavily down the street towards the construction stockpile just behind her building. It took a couple minutes for her to return, but when she did she did so with all the lumber and various iron bars and bits that she could physically carry scooped up in her arms.

The sound of a stomping giant and feline roar seems to have done the trick, as far as scaring the rats away is concerned. Zahrani keeps her mace aloft like a divine torch, rounding up the frightened little beasts and driving them down into the opening that they had come out of. She had cleared out a space for the giantess to start working, and with her light, she would keep an eye out for any rats that attempt to get away.

Oline tromped over and began unceremoniously cramming large wooden boards and metal rods into the opening of the sewer entrance. Once that was satisfactorily clogged, she took the remaining boards and, twisting several iron rods into enormous nails, set about pounding them securely into the stonework to create a solid, sealed entrance using her greatclub like a titanic hammer. There were a few imperfect spots, but for the most part it was pretty solid work and the giantess took a step back to admire it with a toothy grin. "Teck tha', Rat Bastuhds. Wun be comin' up rownd 'ere ennytahm soon!"

Zahrani sighs, looking around for any stragglers after the hole gets sealed up. Walking up to Oline, the feline says, "Well done. That's one hole sealed. I get the feeling this plague is becoming more widespread, but we've done something to slow it down here." She pauses, peering into the darkness surrounding them before adding, "We're still not entirely certain who tried to lure that child down here. They may attempt to reopen this."

Oline thunnked a watermelon-sized fist against her tattooed chest and scoffed. "Ah'll meck shoore sum'n iz wotchin' th'pless evvreh now'naggen. S'a pruhspective membuh've th'guard, wunsupponna tahm, Ah'll teckit uppon m'self foh now." The giantess' eyes do narrow as she peers off into the dark, suspicions raised. Who here would stand to gain from such a thing? What was the point? Did this have anything to do with the previous troubles facing the city, because there were enough new troubles already and they could definitely do without old ones cropping up. "So... now whudt?"

Zahrani ponders what to do next. Personally, she'd like to take a break, but she isn't going to say that out loud, in case anyone with malevolent intentions hears. The feline motions for the giantess to follow her out of the alleyway, returning to her more elf like form as she emerges. There's no one to be seen or heard. She turns back to Oline, saying softly, "I actually have no idea who to trust here, except for those at the Chapel of Cyris. This new death cult in Larket complicates things, too. All we can do now is watch and see. Keep an eye out for any unusual men wearing masks."

Oline followed suit and returned to her more "diminutive" size... if six feet can really be considered such. Stepping out of the alleyway, she hoisted her club back up over her shoulder and gestured off in the direction of her run-down flat. "Wehl... Ah know we juss' met 'n all... but Ah'd hope yeh fell lahk y'kin truss me. Ah'm priddy shoore ent nobody gunna trah noffin more foh t'nite... but iffin yeh fill lahk keepin' an eye owdt, mah flat's got a priddy good view'o th'street 'n widdowdt th'window y'kin heer almost evrythin'. Liddul too much've evry'thin when th'neybuh's git frisky."

Zahrani does her best to suppress a laugh at Oline's last statement. She turns back to the giant, seeing that the woman is now only an inch taller than. With a grin, the feline says, "I appreciate the invitation. I wouldn't mind spending the evening there and keeping watch..." She brushes one of her dreads out of her face before adding, "I mean...if that's not too much trouble."

Oline crinkled her nose jovially and shook her head. "Nuh! Ah dun rilla nevvuh git 'n ascyoose t'avvite ennybuddy ovuh. S'kinna nahss, rilla. Y'mayuhv notissed, buh Ah'm nah zackly th'moss popyuhluh gall 'rownd ere." She set off back towards her dilapidated tenement, occasionally glancing over to make sure she wasn't going too fast... or drawing an angry mob. "Ah polluhjahzz foh th'mess inn'avvance."

Zahrani follows Oline without difficulty, the panther's tail swishing behind her. At the giantess' preemptive apology, the feline shakes her head, "You'll hear no judgments from me." The panther has learned to be grateful when she is offered something in good faith. Given the cataclysmic events that had happened awhile ago, the tenements had a good excuse for their current state. As they go up to the woman's flat, the paladin says, "Thanks again."

Oline clomped up the stairs to the second floor of the tenement and immediately hung a right, headed back towards the front of the building where an unmarked door stood. She shouldered the door open and lurched inside, immediately depositing her club beside the entryway and spinning about to welcome the feline woman in directly. "Ah know iddun look lahk much, buddit en't so bad! S'home, ennyhow. C'mawn in 'n meck yohself comfribble." The flat was rather small, a single room divided into three parts. A single, plain oak table for eating at... a small kitchen area demarked by a stone-brick stove and some cupboards strategically situated in the back-left corner, and a 'common area' comprised of a fur rug, a tattered old couch, and a rickety shelf that looked as if perhaps the giantess herself had constructed it out of scrapwood. Opposite the entrance, a single hall led to a trio of doors... all of which were closed at present. "Kin ah getchyah ennythin' t'drink? Ah'm shoore Ah've got sumthin' arownd... beer... 're ale... 're mebbe evvin sum wine…"

Zahrani looks around at the room, a calm smile on her face as she takes it all in. The panther leans against the wall next to the window, taking a peek outside to assess the vantage point that Oline had mentioned. At the offering of a drink, she looks back at the giantess and responds, "I wouldn't mind a bottle of ale." The panther places her satchel next to the window, prepared to settle in for the evening. Even if they didn't see this masked individual, she'd be content with just making sure the tenements were peaceful for one night.

Oline rummaged around through one of her cupboards for a few seconds, emerging triumphant with two pale green bottles which she brought with her as she came over to peer out the window beside Zahrani. One was passed off with a grin, the other's stopper pried free and brought up to her lips where it hung momentarily motionless as the giantess scanned the street below. "Idden't weeyuhd're nothin' t'goh avvitin' folks y'juss met up t'yer pless, issit? Ah'm nawdt rilla up on th'whole... soshullizin' stuff, sumtahms." She chuckled warmly at this admission of her own awkwardness and shot a look the panther's way. "S'kinna tricksy, sumtahms, geddin' t'know folks. Speshully wuhn yeh look lahk Ah do."

Zahrani accepts the bottle, popping it open and taking a swig of the ale. At the question, the woman turns to rest her back against the wall, scanning the giant up and down before her cyan eyes rest on the other woman's face. She shrugs at the question, "I guess that depends on who you ask. You took a risk inviting a stranger into your home, but I appreciate you doing that for me." With a smile, the paladin adds, "My people are no strangers to being judged by our appearance. Some of the worst will assume we're all thieves and bandits. It puts us in a difficult position, but we stick together and do what we need to." Her own colony is pretty good at taking care of itself, nestled in one of the more run-down neighborhoods in Cenril. She looks out the window as she ponders how her adopted family is doing, before looking back at Oline and saying, "We give just about everyone a chance, unless they give us an actual reason not to."

Oline plopped herself down on the couch and hummed thoughtfully, finally allowing herself to take a drink. "Ah en't rilla fiddinn ennypless 'rownd 'ere. Ah... kemm frum sumpless faraway. Some frennly folks helped meh t'geddaway by sneakin' me onna boat. Must be nahss... havin' a pless with folk lahk you. Whole naybuhhood fulla priddy cat-folk! Nu'un ta judge yeh foh whutcha wuz born lahk" An almost wistful look came over her at the thought of it. Her homeland was... well... she didn't even know if it was still there, much less how to get back to it. And she sure didn't fit in with the Frosties or the Swamp Giants around these parts. "Ahs'poze Ah'll nevvuh unnustayund wah ennybuddy du'un lahk cats. All graceful 'n regal 'n majestick 'n shett... s'nawt t'lahk…"

Zahrani takes another swig of her drink, glancing outside before walking over to Oline. Taking a seat next to the giantess, the feline grinning sheepishly at the woman's compliments before saying, "There are a lot of reasons people don't like us: we tend to thrive in poorer neighborhoods, and that means you'll see more felines getting recruited by crime syndicates. We're ambush hunters, so we have a knack for stealth and fighting. We're also more unpredictable, and the fact that many of us have witches as allies or familiars...well, people will believe whatever they want about us." The panther takes another swig of ale, looking out at the gentle downpour from the window while her tail swishes next to her.

Oline nodded thoughtfull and took another drink. She watched Zahrani approach out of the corner of her eye curiously. She listened as the other woman spoke, finding most of the reasons she gave simultaneously semi-understandable and stupid. Not particularly bright herself, it was rare that Oline felt smarter than anyone. "Wunduh wudt the's gawnnuh say abowdt wunnuv yeh pallin' arownd widda Jayuhnt. Tha's godda be sumthin' new!" She practically giggled at the thought of it, barely able to connect the lip of the bottle with the ones on her face. "Well, foh wuddevvuh z'wurth... Ah b'leeve-" her sentence was cut short by the sound of gently creaking springs from the unit overhead. "... s'gonna be annothuh noisy naht..." she finished with a sigh.