*/*/*


A Veritable Crowd

The Caretaker had been very pleased to accept the mysterious artifacts, though had scowled at the mention of the Siren. The expression made Vesli uneasy. Jingle. Jingle. His ears perked up. Now this sound was soothing to hear. It meant Bird was nearby. The pitch was too high and soft to be a Jester's bell. Vesli could finally have the correct scent in his nose and Rir would stop being such a nuisance about 'Not-Bird' as the creature had dubbed Tirel. Vesli pointed out to his mental tenant that such a thing was very rude. Rir didn't care. Then a familiar mask showed itself. "Veci," Vesli greeted, tension he didn't know he had in his muscles relaxing. This new team had been kind. But he still preferred his 'pack'.

"Greeting me by my name. Subtle relaxation. Must've missed myself. Likely the others as well," Bird was as blunt as ever, getting a huff of amusement from the man.

"It will be nice to be back to a team I work so well with," Vesli responded. Then he felt eyes on them. He looked over to see Dismas, Tirel, and Courci looking at them. "Something wrong?"

"You are a cute couple," Tirel's bluntness echoed Veci's own.

"I see why you were so eager to get back now," Dismas gave a smirk.

"Brix will be heartbroken," Courci sighed.

"Wait. What?" Vesli blinked. Bird showed her own confusion by tilting her head counter-clockwise at the trio.

"Are you not a couple?" Tirel questioned, seeming confused herself.

"No," Vesli and Bird answered simultaneously. The trio looked at each other. They came to a sort of silent agreement, shrugging to themselves before walking their separate ways into the Hamlet, leaving Vesli and Bird there looking very confused.

"Why would they think that?" Bird questioned.

"I have no idea," the man answered, Rir echoing his confusion with a questioning noise. "People are strange." They started their own course back into the Hamlet, and Vesli decided to change the subject. "Did I miss anything while I was out?"

"A few new recruits. The Bounty Hunter, Gael, is strange." Bird kept pace beside him, so Vesli knew she'd see his eyebrow go up at that. Calling someone in the Hamlet 'strange' was almost redundant.

"How so?" Vesli really had to work on his curiosity before it got as bad as Bird's.

"He reminds me of Aela."

"Thought you'd be used to Aela by now," Vesli teased the Doctor.

"But he fixates. Aela does not," Bird replied.

"Fixates?" Now it was his turn to give the confused head tilt. "What do you mean?"

"Ah, my dear. It's a pleasure to see you again," the voice was a new one and Vesli's eyes met the mask of a Bounty Hunter he could only assume was Gael. Gael for his part didn't seem overly interested in Vesli, giving him only a nod in greeting before going up to Bird and kissing her knuckles. Vesli could feel that the Hunter had a roguish grin under that mask. It made him bristle. "May I trouble you for that tour you promised me earlier? Perhaps, letting me pick your brain as we walk?"

Vesli wanted to hit Gael. He promptly blamed the aggressive urge on Rir.

Bird observed the Bounty Hunter. "Pick my brain? You want to know something?"

"I noticed you mixing quite the poison when we met earlier. Perhaps you'd be willing to teach me a few tricks?"

Bird considered. "Very well. Suppose knowledge is best when shared." Vesli found himself coughing to get their attention. "Apologies Vesli. I did promise earlier. He asked very nicely. Will return to you once tour and poison lesson is completed."

"Vesli is it? Nice to meet you. Hope you don't mind me stealing the Doctor away for a little while."

Vesli had no excuse to stop them. Calmly he simply responded, "Be cautious around the Hamlet. Many here can be quite aggressive against someone they don't like and it's dangerous when someone goes poking around a territory that isn't their own." With that he went to find Aela and Caillot.

*/*/*

"Something the matter, Vesli?" Caillot's voice disturbed his thoughts. Vesli looked up from the glass of some unknown alcoholic substance he'd been glaring at after joining Aela and Caillot in the tavern. Darcy, the Houndmaster, had been chatting with them before Vesli's arrival. The still unfamiliar face had Vesli more reserved than normal, but the dog and her owner seemed to be decent enough.

"Merely regretting my decision to avoid this particular vice. It happens on occasion," Vesli's glare at his untouched cup intensified.

"Certainly, look like you could use a drink," Darcy commented. Vesli had yet to place where the dancing accent of his words came from, his ear for such things not the best at identification.

"The Spirits are unsettled around you," Aela concurred.

"I still fail to understand why you insist on paying for a glass if you are not going to drink it," the Occultist admitted, though mostly to himself.

"I am fine. I merely met someone tiresome today. I will recover," Vesi was not sure about the mess of emotions in his head. Until he understood it himself he wasn't keen on discussing it with the others. Especially with the unknown new element in Darcy around. "As for the answer to your question, Caillot, I like to pretend that I'm not that person at the drinking table. Besides, I'm not sure I trust the water here. The water in the Abbey is much cleaner." Caillot had the decency to look embarrassed at getting caught, coughing awkwardly.

*/*/*

Vesli had barely made it out of the tavern when a voice stopped him in his tracks. "Runt. Been awhile, hasn't it?"

"Somneri" he achieved a neutral tone. Vesli had wanted friendly, but with Rir snarling in the back of his mind, neutral was about the best he could do.

"Ha! Don't sound so eager, Runt or I'll think you missed me!" The other abomination grinned at him. His teeth were just a little sharper than most other people's. Vesli supposed that was part of Somneri's mutations.

"Something you wanted?" With the Bounty Hunter and Bird still MIA, Vesli wasn't sure he was in the mood to try to decide if he liked Somneri or not.

"Come spar with me, Runt. I want to see what you can do." Rir bristled in Vesli mind. How dare this other challenge them! Vesli was a more reasonable sort. He considered the challenge before him, sizing up Somneri. Perhaps a spar would help with this pent-up energy he had ever since Bird wandered off. It might even help Rir actually stop being so hostile, if he was lucky. Vesli could almost feel the tentacled creatures of the abyss laughing at the thought.

"Very well," he found himself agreeing nonetheless. Somneri grunted his approval with a smirk and the two headed for the training grounds.

Getting to an empty sparring ring, Vesli cracked his neck, and readied himself for the bout, his muscles tense and ready as he adopted the stance developed through lessons with Face. Somneri, on the other hand, crouched and leaned forward, one hand, claws extended, on the ground with an almost feral smirk on his face. All was silent for a moment as Vesli wondered what it would be to signal the beginning of the spar when his opponent shot forward.

Somneri's battle cry was akin to a bestial roar as the other abomination lunged at him like a wolf, jaws wide and clawed hand reared back. Reacting quickly, Vesli dropped to the ground to avoid the strike, kicking away on the ground to get some distance between them.

Somneri snarled upon landing, spinning around to face him before charging again. Silently thanking Face's brutal reaction training, Vesli leapt into the air, using Rir's strength to vault over his opponent, who was surprised at the sudden action. Not wanting to lose that advantage, Vesli spun upon landing, using his momentum as he swung around and kicked at Somneri who barely managed to bring an arm up to block the blow. The force of the impact sent Somneri skidding back a pace and when he looked up, the other abomination's eyes were alight with anger.

After that, the blows rained down faster, harder, and fiercer as Vesli found himself on the defensive, caught off guard by the intensity of the match. Leaning back to avoid a glob of toxic abomination bile, Vesli's eyes widened as a clawed hand swung at his face. He could see the angle it was coming at, he knew he wouldn't be able to correct himself in time and it had a chance of ruining one of his eyes. Before the impact could happen, a new voice let out a furious battle cry and Somneri was sent flying back by a powerful punch as Aela stood between the two abominations, her breath ragged, likely from rushing over, and her posture dripping with anger.

"You!" The Hellion turned to Somneri and yanked him up by the scruff of his neck. "You'd better have a damn good explanation for that!"

Somneri held his hands up in surrender, looking contrite. Something about that expression on Somneri's face was off. "You hit an old scar there, Runt. Had a flash back. Forgot what I was doing."

Vesli, unhurt thanks to Aela, felt that that made sense, especially since it had happened to himself. His gut churned uneasily and Rir bristled in his mind. Still he found himself answering "Happens to the best of us."

Aela grumbled but released Somneri who landed with a very ungraceful thump. The hellion then grabbed Vesli's shoulder. "Come on, I wanted to talk to you." Vesli found himself being quite literally dragged off and away from the sparring grounds.

"Aela, is this demeaning method of transportation truly necessary?" Vesli questioned. She released him, allowing the man to straighten. "Now what in the name of the Light was so important?"

"Nothing. The Spirits are agitated around him. It is best to keep a distance." The Hellion looked back towards the sparring grounds. Vesli could swear he heard her growling low in her throat. "I can see why you were unsure of him."

*/*/*

This Bounty Hunter was perhaps forgetting why they were here. In fact, she wasn't entirely sure he'd been paying attention through her carefully guided tour. How rude.

"Well it's quite clear that the most dangerous flowers can also be the most beautiful." Gael's voice came from her left, with a look she couldn't identify. Yes. Most certainly not paying attention, she hadn't mentioned any poisonous flowers yet. She had yet to see him make a single note about poisons and she knew that she'd lectured on the properties of the plants around the Hamlet throughout the tour.

"Seem familiar enough with the Hamlet. Sure that you will be able to find your way around without further guidance," Veci came to a stop in front of the Blacksmith. "Was pleasant discussing poisons with you." Even if she did do most of the talking.

"My lady, if our conversation was as pleasant as I'm hoping then why not continue it? I would be happy to continue our discussion, say, over dinner?" She got the sense that Gael was smirking under his helmet.

"Hope to see you around sometime. Bid you farewell." With that Veci headed back towards where she hoped her team would be, mulling over how strange the people of the Hamlet could be.