"Come in, it's open!" The muffled voice of the Sniper called to them through the front door. Rylai smiled and stepped inside at once. Lanaya followed a little more carefully, leaving the door open behind them and trying to take their surroundings in as fast as possible.
The Maiden might have said that the Sniper was friendly but the Assassin didn't trust that easily.
When she saw the man, she relaxed a great deal. It wasn't just the way he was draped on his couch, with a simple shirt and pants that could only have one benefit, that they were comfortable. It was also that his weapon, his rifle, was leaning against the wall on the opposite side of the room.
His beard had grown since Lanaya had seem him last and his hair was a mess. He appeared not to care much about his appearance, but since it didn't smell in the house, he had to at least be clean.
The Assassin had to correct herself: it smelled, but it was something completely different. It was the smell of cats. Lots of cats. They sat on the couch, on the floor, on the cupboards and window ledges. There were minimum six of them, one lying on the Snipers stomach while he petted it.
"Happy Halloween!" The Sniper was faster than Rylai, who had crouched down and made funny noises towards one of the cats. "I am prepared, sweets are in the kitchen." The man made no attempt to get up.
"I knew you would. Do you have the ones I liked so much last year?"
"Of course." He watched Rylai for a few moments as his cat sniffed her hand and then let the Maiden touch it. "Do you want to stay a little? I can make room on the couch."
Lanaya was almost amused by now, because the Sniper didn't look as if he would make room. He didn't look as if he'd move anytime soon. He was a cat-man and he obviously enjoyed lying there surrounded by his pets. He probably couldn't care less if they stayed or not.
With a final stroke through the cats fur, Rylai shook her head and stood up. "Thanks for the offer, but I want to visit a few more places before we go to Kunkka's party. We'll see you there." She scurried into the kitchen and came back, both hands filled with sweets. "Oh, and Happy Birthday by the way." She waved with a full hand and left.
"Later!" The Sniper called after them, still without moving anything, except the hand petting his cat. "And thanks for the present!"
"You gave him a present?" Lanaya asked on their way back to the griffin. "When?"
"Of course. I sent it, on his birthday two days ago. It was nothing special, just a little something." She popped one of the things from her hand into her mouth. "The Sniper loves crazy costumes on Halloween, I'm curious what he'll be wearing this year. Last year, he was a giraffe. But, not a normal one, a sexy one. It was so funny!"
That sounded not very funny. When the Assassin tried to picture the man from the couch in anything that might be called sexy, it was rather gross.