Deekin is pretty excited about his new friend. He is even more excited when Oikkaburgett (call me 'Burg') explains that Nathyrra mispronounced the devil's name, so he doesn't have to do what she says.

The kobold can appreciate a great joke when he sees it, and he definitely sees one here. To make things even better, Burg sits down with Deekin and starts to share great stories with him.

The devil presents Deekin with a ring so that the bard could call him to come visit once a day. The two of them were having a grand time watching Nathyrra try to control her rage and frustration at Burg's insubordination.

&&&&&&&

Nessa is lying with Valen on the floor of the cave, gently stroking his chest as the tiefling holds her close. Judging by his breathing, he has fallen fast asleep. The elf feels awful about what happened and is frantically trying to figure out what she can do to help. "Nathyrra said he could be having a reaction to something…but what?" she thinks to herself. She mentally goes through the inventory in her many bags and comes up with an idea.

Very carefully, and with great regret, she extricates herself from Valen's arms. He makes a small sound of protest in his sleep but does not awaken. Nessa scampers quickly to the passage and reaches into her bag.

She pulls out some clothes and throws them on, then thrusts her hand into her bag of scrolls, quickly locating the ones she needs. She grabs a couple of potions for good measure and walks quietly back to the sleeping tiefling and begins casting.

When she is done, his color seems to be more normal, if corpse-pale can be considered normal. He shivers a little and she reaches over to draw his cloak over him.

As she covers him, he calls out. "Lairani!" and he quickly sits upright, knocking her backward onto her rear end. Quickly realizing that sitting up is a mistake, he crosses his legs, leans forward and rests his elbows on his knees as he rests his face in his hands.

"Oh gods, my head," he groans. "What the hells happened?"

Nessa struggles for an explanation. "Um…you…ah…had a reaction to something. We think." She winces to herself, "THAT was smooth. Some bard you are, oh silver-tongued one."

He groans again and Nessa offers him a vial. "Here, this should help your head." Without looking, he reaches out and the vial disappears into his massive hand. He pops the top and, wincing, quickly downs the contents before returning his head to his hands.

The silence is too awkward, so Nessa decides he needs a little more of an explanation. "We were having breakfast and you…um…suddenly jumped up and ran out."

Valen takes a long, slow breath and lets it out equally slowly before raising his face to look at the elf. She is immediately struck by how sad his eyes are.

"Nessa," he says quietly as a blush creeps up his neck and over his cheeks, "where are my clothes?"

&&&&&&&

Nathyrra stomps back to their gear at the other end of the passage. Her sensitive ears pick up the sound of a quiet conversation in the cave, so she peeks her head around to see what sort of fun the bard is having with Valen now.

She frowns when she sees the expressions on their faces, especially his. It would seem that stupid bard has gone and done something really idiotic this time. "I cannot believe she cleared his mind. Sure, now that SHE has had HER fun. Selfish little wench." The drow mentally inventories her scrolls again, wondering if she has one that will actually turn the other woman into a hamster.

&&&&&&&

Burg and Deekin are laughing it up as the devil tells Deekin about a particularly nasty demon who got his comeuppance during a battle to which they were both summoned on Toril. "Hmmmmm…" thinks Deekin to himself.

"Hey, Burg," the kobold says. "Yes, my scaly companion. What is it?" The kobold smirks at his own good fortune. "Devils and demons hates each other, rights?" Burg nods cheerfully to his newfound friend. "We are supposed to, yes. Why?"

&&&&&&&

Nessa feels an answering blush overtaking her features and turns away. "Um…when...ah…we finally caught up with you, you were in this cave, swimming. Your…um…clothes are under you."

He frowns. "I was swimming? Was there…um….anyone else here?" He looks so hopeful Nessa feels herself on the verge of tears. She just can't look at him. "No," she answers quietly. "There wasn't."

"Oh," he replies, his voice barely above a whisper. He returns his face to his hands and speaks so quietly, he is clearly talking to himself. "It must have been a dream."

They sit in awkward silence for a few minutes until Valen speaks to her again. "Go away." Nessa gasps in surprise, "E-excuse me?" she replies. He sighs deeply. "I'm sorry. Can you give me a minute? I need to…um…get dressed." Valen looks at her critically. "Your hair is wet."

"Oh hell," Nessa thinks to herself. "We were…ah…worried you were going to drown, so I got…um…elected to go pull you out of the water," she answers as she moves to stand. Her legs are still weak from her earlier strenuous activity, so she moves slowly.

His eyebrows shoot up in surprise and his blush deepens. "Oh," he responds. "Your movements are stiff…did I…um…hurt you?"

She blushes so much she imagines she is glowing in the dark. "No, you didn't hurt me, Valen," she responds with a hoarse whisper.

With that, she walks back to passage, not sure how she is going to stop herself from telling him the truth.

&&&&&&&&

When Valen is relatively sure he is alone, he stands and starts to gather his clothes. Scattered among them are items that are very clearly not his. He blushes again as he realizes that the bard must have stripped to get into the water to retrieve him. Nathyrra's isn't the only sensitive nose in the group and as he begins donning his clothes, Valen wrinkles his. "Certainly, not," he thinks to himself.

He picks up Nessa's shirt and gives it a sniff. There is no mistaking what he finds. He turns his violet gaze to the passage, wondering what REALLY happened.

&&&&&&&&

Nathrrya decides that it will be more fun to torture the elf, and while she's at it, the tiefling too. Grinning to herself, she goes off the find the elf. She corners Nessa in the dark hallway sitting on a rock, trying to decide what to do. Just as Nessa decides that she should tell the Seer and let her sort it out, Nathrrya taps her foot to make herself known.

Nessa looks up to see the evilly grinning drow and sighs heavily, "What do you want?"

Nathrrya arches a brow at her, "I want someone to carry my pack."

Nessa, already struggling under the weight of her own gear and some of Valens, shakes her head.

Nessa grimaces, "I don't think I can. Are you hurt?"

Nathrrya laughs quietly, "Not as hurt as you'll be when I tell him what you did."

Nessa's eyes go wide as she contemplates what her next move ought to be.

&&&&&&&