Erelvayas raised one eyebrow archly as the male Drow and the elf returned to the table, the elf wearing a sullen expression on her face. "So your lover's tiff is now dealt with?" Her tone of distaste was evident.

Tomoko treated Kyran to a foul glare as he nodded assent to the Priestess.

"That is good." Erelvayas clapped her hands together briskly, looking from Kyran to Tomoko with a small smile that didn't reflect the emotion in her eyes. "So now we shall talk business. Which I shall not do if you insist on remaining standing. It is off-putting." She gestured to seats opposite herself, in front of the male and female.

Without a word, both sat. Tomoko folded her arms and stared defiantly at the Priestess, whilst Kyran simply rested both elbows on the table and proceeded to look bored with practised ease.

Erelvayas's expression turned sour as she noted both reactions. Especially Kyran's - such insolence from one so inferior! With rather less sweetness in her voice, the Priestess spoke quietly, "over the other side of this continent is a certain temple. It is not-"

Before she could continue, Kyran interjected, "not religion. I'm sick of religion, it doesn't accomplish anything..." His voice trailed off as Erelvayas reached for the snake headed whip at her waist. In the Underdark, religion accomplished quite a lot. Mostly bloodshed and death but it was also the driving force of clerical magic - for as long as Lloth favoured you, or, at least, didn't despise you, women could perform wondrous magic. Which was mostly put to the use of assassinating friends and family in desperate attempts to climb higher and higher up the hierarchy of Menzoberranzan - almost the capital city of the Underdark - and to gain more favour with the spider queen herself. And as a Priestess, Erelvayas wielded quite a lot of that goddess-given magic. All Kyran could do as she fixed him with a penetrating stare was be thankful that Lloth's magic never worked above-ground.

Erelvayas herself appeared to remember this fact too and her slim hand slid from the head of the whip. She narrowed her eyes at the male Drow as he audibly sighed with relief. "As I was saying. This temple that is over the other side of this continent, it is not perhaps what you might consider the usual kind of temple. The god is erected in honour of is not, as you might put it, the most average of the pantheon." She clasped her hands together in front of herself and looked at the two in front of her. "It was built for the great god of all mice Ekiqu."

Kyran clenched his jaw a little, trying to ensure that his expression would not crack from its current state of impassivity.

Tomoko also made an effort to keep her expression normal but, unlike her Drow companion, failed miserably. "You're insane!" She got to her feet and slammed both hands down on the table with a loud bang. "All that playing with spiders has sent you completely insane!"

Erelvayas fought back the urge to stand and teach this disgusting elf some manners that she would never forget. "I am being serious. Your ignorance to the world around you clouds your mind, and if you think that the truth is preposterous, then your own petty idiocy is to blame for that." This was spoken in such a loud, forceful tone, so unlike the way the Drow Priestess usually spoke, that the red haired fire mage took a step back in surprise. Then she realised that this Drow had just insulted her, ad her face flushed red. She opened her mouth to speak, but froze when Kyran lay one hand upon her arm. His expression was blank, as usual, but something in his eyes indicated that right now he was not in the mood to be trifled with and if Tomoko did not sit down this instant, he would make sure that she was well punished for it afterwards. She realised slowly that she had only ever seen Kyran angry one or two times in the time she had spent travelling with him, and had no idea just how far that deep well of fury could go. She had no idea how Drow like he was, and suddenly this scared her more than she would have imagined. That peaceful, miserable Kyran would get angry at all seemed so unusual... If he was hiding some emotion, it would be explosive.

She sat down abruptly and shut her mouth.

Erelvayas's expression morphed into that confused one she wore when she could not decide which side she was rooting for - the Drow superiority over the elf, or the female superiority over the male. Then realising that her mask of flawless peace had slipped, she coughed and spread her fingers on the table, her expression switching back to the usual serene coolness.

Kyran leaned forwards, if not actually interested then at least very slightly curious. "Tell me more."

Again having to bite down the urge to slap this male, and wishing angrily that the elf had done something similar a moment ago, she continued in a voice somewhat thick with annoyance. "This temple was obviously built by humans and not rodents, and inside there are many beautiful statues all dedicated to the mouse god himself and his followers."

This time it was Tomoko's turn to interrupt, her own curiosity getting the better of her. "Is this a god who is a mouse, or a human shaped god of mice?"

"Both," came the flat, simple answer from the Priestess in front of her. When Tomoko's brow furrowed and she opened her mouth to speak, Erelvayas added smoothly, "it is entirely possible. Lady Lloth manages it with ease." She smoothed her hair down gently, before continuing, "it is the statues I am most fascinated with. They are carved of the smoothest marble known in this region, and rare gems are inset for eyes. Some are so rare that they are not found at all outside of the temple any more." A brief pause, then the Drow finished with, "and it is these stones that I want you to retrieve for me."

Kyran and Tomoko both stared at Erelvayas, and then at one another. Then they both stood and walked towards one of the four dark corners of the tavern.

Erelvayas watched them go. They would not leave. And if they tried, she could stop them most effectively. She caressed the snake headed whip and smiled calmly.

---

"She is insane!" Tomoko hissed once she felt that they were out of the Drow's hearing range.

Kyran looked around nervously, considering whether she could actually hear them still. He knew that he could hear her now, after all, and every movement she made. "Hush."

"Don't 'hush' me," the elf growled. "I could lay you out under the table if I wanted to."

"And do what?" Kyran muttered absently, still glancing at Erelvayas. "Jump me? Or do you mean just get me drunk? Because you've done that before already."

Tomoko frowned at Kyran. "Why would I want to jump you?"

Kyran paid no attention to the elf's comment, glancing back at Erelvayas again with a mixture of fear and curiosity in his eyes. "Perhaps doing what she says would be the best course of action..."

"You're only saying that to save your own skin," Tomoko spat at him angrily - almost her usual emotion when it came to Kyran. It was usually tied with a faint sense of disgust. "You are such a coward."

"So I'm not suggesting it because I'm genuinely interested then?"

Tomoko shook her head and glared at him. "You're never interested in anything." Her bright green eyes flashed with defiance.

"Actually, I'm just not interested in the same things you are." Kyran's voice sounded bored as he glanced back yet again at the Priestess, still trying to fathom whether she could hear any hints of their conversation at this distance.

"What?"

"Sex is boring. You must have discovered it pretty late if you're still obsessed with and amused by it now. There's no fun in drinking if you're only going to throw it all back up later, even more so if you throw up on someone. Most food is simply dull and fire spells tend to hurt my eyes. Is that about it?" Before the flame haired elf could open her mouth to retort, Kyran continued, "but treasure is always fun. You can do anything you want with wealth, and the more you have, the more you can do what you wish without hindrance. I would have expected you of all people to understand that."

"But she isn't offering us wealth." Tomoko stated shortly.

"No, she's blackmailing me," the male Drow murmured levelly, "but that doesn't mean she won't lead us to wealth."

As much as the sorceress hated to admit it, Kyran had a point. "But it still means doing 'her ladyship' over there's dirty work."

"There's always a down side to everything." Kyran shrugged.

---

"I really feel like I should have taken more persuading about this," the elf complained as they walked back to the table slowly, holding one another's hands as if they were spiders and cringing at the unfamiliar feeling of one another's skin.

"You're motivated by greed." The Drow ignored the foul look she cast in his direction. "Everyone is, in one way or another."

"You're so deep," she muttered, trying and failing to hold back the sarcasm from her voice.

"About as deep as a tankard of ale roughly thirty seconds after you've held it," he agreed, the words and tone not lost on him. "The difference is, I will freely admit that I am shallow. Unlike some I could mention." The sidelong glance he treated her to held no emotion whatsoever and suddenly the elf felt a chill run down her spine.

"You're weird, darling." She smiled politely and coldly at Erelvayas as she took her seat again, dropping Kyran's slender hand like a cold snake the minute she did so.

Kyran said nothing, simply stood and stared thoughtfully at the Priestess before him for a minute or two. As her hand began to slide towards the whip handle again, the male Drow spoke: "we'll do it."

Erelvayas looked with extreme distaste at Tomoko. The thought of travelling with the elf displeased her greatly, but the way Kyran stared fixedly at the Priestess indicated to her that he would not budge on the matter. She sighed. He was the easiest person to force to do her bidding - he had been incredibly afraid of her ever since he was a young Drow, and he has the least fear of the above world of any of the Dark Elves she had ever personally known, having been living Above for a fairly large part of his life now. It would appear that he even managed the impressive feat of remaining in his matron mother's mind also, although she only referred to him in rather less than glowing terms. All in all, the slender male fascinated the Priestess. She looked directly at him calmly, a small smile curving the corners of her lips. "We shall travel by night, of course, and shall set out tomorrow at dusk."

To her utter surprise, however, Kyran shook his head. "No."

The Priestess stared at him in abject shock, her mouth falling open slightly as she tried to digest this single small word. Insolence was one thing; outright disobedience was quite another. She rose from her seat like an angry sea goddess, drawing her whip and pointing it directly at him. "This time, male, you -"

"It would be far better to travel by light," he cut in, his eyes locked on hers and his expression remaining entirely impassive. "If you have been planning this prior to now then it is not unreasonable to expect that others, other Drow, may be after either what you seek or in pursuit of you yourself."

Erelvayas was stunned to find that her rage filled action had not affected the other Drow in the slightest. He was truly focused on the task and at that point she could see that nothing would sway him from his opinion. Her curiosity was suddenly piqued at what thought it might be that could make Kyran stay so firm when faced with the kind of beating only a Drow Priestess with a lot of practice could administer. "Continue." She resumed her seat but placed the cruel looking whip on the table between herself and the travelling companions, lest they forget what may happen should either step out of line again.

For a moment a look of annoyance flickered across Kyran's face, but his usual blank look swiftly replaced it. "If other Drow are indeed following you or your trail, they are most likely to travel by night. Even you, who sits so boldly in here wearing no hood, you could only do so because the barkeeper knows he can attract our kind and keeps the lighting dim. And I can tell that it still hurts you, even at this level," he added bluntly.

Erelvayas grunted noncommittally.

"I'm a bit more used to daylight than you - no thanks to some," he turned and shot a glare at his 'beloved wife' before remembering the part he was supposed to be playing, and added hurriedly "she still likes to keep me in bed..." The words rang hollow even in his own ears and, from the look of utter detestation Tomoko shot him, they didn't sound exactly sparkling to her either. Fortunately, Erelvayas was too engrossed with this line of thought concerning hated daylight to pay his comment much heed.

Seeing this, Kyran decided that the best course of action would be to pretend that the awkward words had never passed his lips, although he knew that there would be hell to pay once Tomoko managed to get him alone later. "If we travel by day, we could hopefully make enough progress that they would have lost track of us half an hour after nightfall."

"How do you get that?" Tomoko frowned at him, turning her own attention to the problem now after filing a mental note to use Kyran for a refresher course in Flame Level Three later.

"More people travel by day, it can be possible to beg rides from them. After all," he smiled humourlessly, "who could resist two such beautiful ladies?"

Tomoko scowled, recognising this for the slight that it was. Erelvayas, on the other hand, visibly preened herself. "Any other benefits?"

"Any giving chase will not want to be out during the day, naturally, if they are Drow. We can try to lay low in taverns and hope they don't pick up any sort of a trail there." Before Tomoko could interject her opinion on the fatal flaws of this, Kyran turned to her and added, "and do you really want to be stumbling around in a forest in the dark, daylight dweller?"

Tomoko could have slapped him right there and then, she realised. He had always been insufferably smug about the night vision Drow had by birthright. Although she had very good vision in low light, she had nowhere near the skill Kyran had in the pitch black. On the other hand, she could easily light her own way, but from the shouts of pain and annoyance Kyran let out when she tried it in dark caves when he was beside her... She knew it would be a bad idea to mention she could light up the room to this Drow Priestess who was already shrinking back from any candle light that came too close to her. She gave the male Drow a dark look. "No. I wouldn't like that."

"Thought not." Kyran dismissed her with two simple words, much to the elf's fury.

"So, what shall we do now?" Erelvayas was leaning forwards, both elbows on the table and her chin in both hands, staring intently at Kyran.

"Getting a few hours sleep would be a start, and leaving at first light. And... you might want to get a thick, heavy cloak. Something you can pull low over your face and block out most of the sun until you get a bit more used to it." He paused and looked at her thoughtfully. "And something that will hide the fact you're a Drow. Gloves, stockings, that kinda thing." Seeing that Erelvayas's expression was quickly turning to one of outrage, he added hurriedly, "surface dwellers tend to be a little... wary of Drow, and some will react very badly if they know you are one." He was relieved to see her annoyance die down again.

"Since you are so kind as to help me," Erelvayas began, ignoring the snort of derision from Tomoko's direction, "I shall pay tonight's accommodation."

Kyran frowned. "No thanks." He ignored the swift and sudden punch in the arm from Tomoko. "We're going because you're forcing us to and nothing else, so I don't trust you not to do something in the night that we," at this, he gestured to both himself and the elf beside him, "would find... inconvenient."

Erelvayas's expression darkened, but at the same time she could hardly blame him. He had no reason at all to trust her. "Very well," she growled.

"And more to the point, we'll be sleeping in a different tavern tonight. For our own protection."

The Priestess hissed at him angrily. "How dare you!"

"How dare I what?" Kyran eyed her coolly. "How dare I take precautions for my own health? How dare I ensure that you have not already passed a message to my matron concerning my whereabouts? How dare I avoid any passing Drow that may have a grudge against you?" He turned away from her. "Grow up and be sensible. I have no reason to trust you. You made sure I had no reason to trust you the minute you threatened me." He sighed deeply, then stalked towards the stairs.

The elf and the Priestess both watched him go with twin expressions of consternation. Erelvayas because this was another example of direct male disobedience, yet she was at a loss how to deal with it - if this had been the Underdark all would have been simple, but Kyran appeared to be playing by the rules of humans. Tomoko's shock was more to do with the fact she was seeing more expression from Kyran over these last few days than she had in any of the time she had travelled with him before. Both women looked at one another and for the first time since they had met, shared one single companionable emotion.

Men were insane.