Nessa flops down next to Burg, "So tell me what you know about Valen?"

Burg shakes his head, "He's got quite the reputation, you know. Still, it isn't my place to say."

Nessa quietly casts a Charm Person and follows it with a Sense Thoughts. The only give away is that she's humming a bit under her breath. Deekin narrows his eyes at Nessa, but decides that Boss knows best.

Nessa smiles at Burg, "Do you think you might tell me something? Something small, something he wouldn't mind."

Burg thinks for a while, sorting through the stories that he knows and discarding them one by one. "It won't do to make him angry," he thinks. He's missed the pale shaky look on Nessa's face as she catches snippets of each tale as he considers and discards them.

Finally he decides to tell the elf about the tiefling in broad general and rather edited terms. "Still," he muses, "the elf seems nice. I should probably work in a bit of a warning." Nessa catches that as well and frowns into the fire.

Burg makes himself comfortable and settles in for a nice chat. "Well," starts hesitantly, "he's known for having his mood change pretty quickly. Which is saying something amongst the tanar'ri."

Burg turns to the bard, not sure how much lore she knows about infernals. "Tanar'ri are creatures of chaos, you know. Everything about them is chaotic, including their emotions." He pats the elf's arm consolingly, to Nessa's puzzlement. "He's also known for his murderous rages…" At Nessa's alarmed expression, Burg adds hastily, "although that seems to have been entirely overstated. After all, I'm still alive."

Burg tries to give Nessa a reassuring smile but it only serves to unsettle her more. Having a devil smile at you is never comforting. He shrugs and continues, "Our little friend is quite right about him being very handy for squishing things. He made quite a name for himself, doing exactly that."

Nessa starts trying to question Burg but Burg only shakes his head and pats her on the arm, "I think he's planning on telling you himself, in his own time. You really ought to ask him, if you want to know so badly. It's not my place to say. I've said too much already." Burg stands, pats Deekin on the head, and pops away.

Deekin shakes his head, "You makes Burg leave. Now we not finds out anything."

Nessa looks at Deekin and says softly, "No, I suppose not."

She pads around to the other side of the fire, where Valen sleeps. His face is clouded and his tail tip twitches restlessly. She crouches next to him, watching for a moment.

She reaches out and strokes his cheek gently, but it wakes him. She sucks in a sharp breath at the sight. His eyes flicker open for a moment, and they're glowing red. He takes her in and smiles. Before she can react, he throws open his bed roll and pulls her in with him.

Deekin rolls his eyes, "I goes and keeps watch." Deekin snatches up his crossbow and trots far enough away not to know what's going on in the tiefling's bed roll.

Valen shifts so that the elf is mostly supported by him. The feeling of her behind against his thigh is pleasant and that alone causes a few other things to shift of their own accord. "Once we get back to camp…" he thinks. He wraps his arms around Nessa as he buries his face in her hair, inhaling deeply. He smiles and whispers, "Nessa….," into her hair as he dozes off again.

She lays there, listening to his rhythmic breathing and it lulls her. She's still unsettled by the snippets of things that she caught from Burg. A lot of the things seem…suicidal to her. Facing an entire army of devils with only a handful of lower level tanar'ri at his back. Then there's the image in Burg's mind of Valen, battered and bloody, limping slowly through the carnage as he moves off the battlefield as the lone survivor of either side. She turns it over and over in her mind, and finally sighs as she too dozes off.

He wakes some time later, in much the same position that he was in when Nessa dozed off. A strand of her hair tickles his nose as he sighs in satisfaction at finding the elf in arms. He props himself up carefully on one elbow and looks at her sleeping face. "She's so innocent and peaceful," he chuckles to himself, "despite her snoring." Smiling tenderly, he takes a finger and delicately moves a stray strand of hair away from her eye.

He stays like that for a while, watching her sleep while he thinks. Finally, when he can't resist any more, he leans in and kisses her soundly. She can feel the rumble in his chest as he chuckles at feeling her wake and start kissing him back. He pulls back and her eyes flutter open as he smiles at her, "Every morning…"

At this Nessa's face darkens and Valen feels the first faint stirrings of alarm. "Nessa, what's wrong?" he asks with concern evident in his voice. Nessa swallows hard, "What did Burg mean when he called you mercurial?" Valen chews on his lip for a moment before laying back down. He tugs Nessa around to face him and takes both of her hands in his. "That's not what's really bothering you, is it? You're afraid I will loose interest in you, no? Tell me, if I'm wrong," he says quietly. Nessa, nearly choking on her own fear, nods helplessly.

He smiles at her, "Nessa, dear, there isn't anything to be afraid of. I don't go chasing after just anyone. I never have, even before I came to the Seer. I may have been mercurial once, but that was another lifetime. I am not what I once was. I don't know what Burg said, but you mustn't take it to heart."

Nessa sniffles a bit before she speaks, "Burg wouldn't say much about you." Valen sighs inwardly with relief at this, deciding that he owes the devil a favor. "But I cast a couple of spells and then tried to get him to talk about you. He's terrified of you and totally in awe of you. Valen…."

Valen shakes his head, "Nessa, I left all that behind when I came to the Seer. I don't want to talk about it." Nessa frowns at him, "Why don't you want to tell me? Is it that bad?" He sighs heavily and pulls her to him, "It's…painful. I don't like to think about it, much less talk about it. Nessa, I've not had anyone who was…important to me…in so very long. I don't want to be judged by my past. I've not judged you for yours. Or least by what your little friend has let slip. I…I will tell you, I promise. I'm just not ready to right now. Ok?"

Nessa still looks troubled, so he leans down and kisses her tenderly. When he's done, he nuzzles at her ear, "Nessa, my time with you has been…happy for me. Please, Nessa… I won't hurt you deliberately. Just trust me and everything will be fine. I promise." Nessa, soothed by his promises relents and nestles against him, soaking up the warmth, before she dozes off again.

He strokes her hair and kisses her forehead while she sleeps. When he looks up, Deekin is standing there with his crossbow on leaning against his shoulder. "Hello, Deekin…"

Deekin glares at him, "You hurts Boss, Deekin finds a way to get you. Deekin nots very big and nots very scary, but Deekin still finds way." With a last look at Nessa, Valen sits up and holds his hands out to Deekin in a placating gesture, "It's not like that, Deekin. I…I care for her. I don't want to hurt her. She's…," he fumbles for the words, "…really special. I think you know what I mean. You've been with her for a long time now."

Deekin nods, "Boss be really nice but not so smart. Still, Boss be really nice. Even when peoples not deserve it, Boss still be really nice. Like creepy drow lady." Deekin gives him a pointed look, "Like you. You be mean to Boss. Mean to little Deekin. Mean to everyone. Creepy drow lady deserves it. Not Boss and not Deekin and not everyone…"

Valen grimaces as he breaks in, "I…guess I've been pretty bad and you're pretty angry at me." Deekin nods so Valen continues, "Let me guess…you think I'm really bossy…" Deekin nods again and Valen sighs heavily, "I know that I come across that way, but I really am looking out for her safety." Valen looks down at her and strokes her hair for a moment. Even Deekin is surprised at the tenderness and concern on the tiefling's face as he strokes Nessa's hair.

Valen pats a spot on the ground next to him, "We should talk. Deekin, how do you think I would feel if…if something happened to her because I wasn't careful enough?" Deekin considers this and shrugs, "How much you think Boss likes you if you always be grumpy?" Valen sighs, "I'm not always grumpy."

Deekin glares at him so when he says this, that he starts laughing, "Well, maybe I am grumpy a lot, but I promise that I will be nicer to you from now on. I think that I've been better since yesterday." Deekin nods, grudgingly. Valen leans down and looks Deekin the eye, "Nessa's lucky to have a friend like you." Deekin shakes his head, "Maybe creepy drow lady should puts mushrooms in you breakfast more often. I'd say wes even. Deekin forgives you, if you forgives Deekin."

Before Valen can say anything, Deekin snatches up his crossbow and trots off into the darkness. Valen looks over where Nathrrya is still sleeping in Nessa's bed roll and frowns. "Mushrooms, eh?," he thinks, "Well, that certainly explains a few things. Like why the kobold gave me his breakfast."

He starts laughing and when Nessa wakes, she finds him sitting there, holding his sides, while laughs uncontrollably. Nessa looks at him strangely, so he stifles his laugher long enough to ask her a question. He looks down at her, the corners of his mouth still twitching, "What do you know about mushrooms?" Nessa gives him an odd look, "Umm…well, they grow in the dark," she says helpfully, "and they seem to like to grow in poo."

This statement sends Valen back into his gales of laughter while Nessa only looks on, puzzled as to the source of his humor. Finally, unable to stand it any longer, she blurts out, "What is so funny about mushrooms?" Valen grins at her, "I feel a bit like one at the moment."

Nessa stares at him slack-jawed, while he puts himself back in order. Suddenly becoming very serious, he ruffles Nessa's hair, "Why don't you go check on Deekin? I need to have a chat with Nathrrya." Nessa starts to say something, but he stands quickly and holds out a hand to her. She takes it, and he pulls her to her feet. He gives her a quick kiss, spins her to face the direction he last saw Deekin in, and gives her a friendly shove. She moves a step or two away from him, but turns back to look. Still smiling at her, he gives her a gentle swat on the behind, "Shoo! I'll come get you when I'm done talking to Nathrrya."

As soon as Nessa's out of sight, his expression changes. It's a look that Burg would recognize. "I won't have that damned drow endangering all of us with any more tricks," he swears to himself, "She's too precious to be treated so." He stomps over to where Nathrrya is snoring and nudges her with his toe. All Nathrrya does is mumble, "Nau, naut nin," and roll over. Valen's eyes narrow even more as he leans down and grabs the her by the front of her leather armor. Deciding that she needs to wake up right now, he hoists her up to his eye level and shakes her.

As he does, he gets a good full view of Deekin's decorative additions and it's all he can do to keep from grinning. Nathrrya's eyes flutter open and she finds herself nose to nose with the weapon master. It's not often a drow goes pale, but Valen's gratified to note the nice ashy color that Nathrrya turns as she takes in the expression on his face.

"So, tell me Nathrrya," he growls in abyssal, "what you know about mushrooms?" Nathrrya's eyes go wide and he knows that he has his culprit. She starts to stammer something but he shakes her again, "Don't lie to me. It was you, wasn't it?" Her eyes wide, she nods silently.

He frowns at her, "We're going to cover some ground rules. This won't take a moment. You don't do things to harm your party members. If I even think that you've done anything that might put Nessa in danger, I will deal with you myself…and I think you understand how I solve problems." She nods again slowly, secretly relieved that he hadn't killed her outright. "Good," he says coldly, "Just so that we understand each other, you're not going to take a bath or change clothes until after we get back to camp. That will be your penance." As soon as she nods in agreement, he drops her, letting her land in a heap as he turns, smiling to go find Nessa.