* 39 * 7/16/12

Lily was irritable the entire trip back, but to spare her teammates from being too affected by this, she kept her mouth shut. Most of the others noticed and stayed quiet themselves.

When they stepped over the threshold to the Keep, Lily immediately branched off to have supper in the dining room. Casavir and Khelgar joined her, but Qara headed off to the library, likely to pick a fight with Sand. Bishop stopped in the dining room to have a quick bite. He finished quickly and caught a glimpse of Lily's face before he went out, frowning. He then left, probably to have some ale at the inn before turning in for the night.

Lily placed her elbows on the table improperly and held her head up with her hands, staring off into the distance. Casavir eyed her, but kept eating. He wanted to ask her what was wrong, but not only did he already think he knew, but he didn't want to set her off. So he left her alone.

Maybe I should have a drink too, Lily thought. She didn't remember what she was like when drunk; the other night didn't count because she wasn't certain how many of her actions had actually been due to alcohol instead of the empathogen.

She sighed and stood up, having lost her appetite. Just as Khelgar was about to ask what was wrong, she walked - well, moreso stomped - out of the room. Casavir did not follow.

She headed to her quarters, planning on trying to get to bed early. As soon as she flopped on her bed, however, she knew it wasn't going to happen.

Her ferret had died attacking an orc mage that had been raining down splash damage on her. Normally the little thing only cast spells, but seeing its owner in such dire straits, and having run out of magic, it lunged at the opponent's throat and was quickly killed and thrown aside. Lily had grown angry and cast a spell that finished the orc off, but sadly could not revive her pet. She had buried it under a tree and left it behind, but still thought about her little companion from time to time.

One hour. Two hours. Two-and-a-half hours passed until Lily flat out gave up on sleeping and, figuring everyone else had gone to bed, marched her way to the tavern. She had calmed down, but seemed to have a lot of energy left to spend all of the sudden, and the only person who'd be up at this time would be Bishop.

She went over to Bishop's room and knocked several times, but received no answer. After a minute of waiting, she went in, only to find that the ranger wasn't there.

"Huh. He must've gone outside."

Lily sat down in one of the two chairs at the small table in the center of Bishop's room. She peeked over inside the tankard left on the table. It still had a few drops of ale at the bottom. He had had a drink before leaving.

She looked around his room curiously. There was a bookshelf, but not much on it; most of the Keep's book supply was in the main library. On it, she saw a few small weapons and bracers. The other pieces of armor were to be found in a pile in the corner. For housing a male, the room was remarkably organized, or at least as much as it could be being a relatively small space.

Set against the wall opposite the bookshelf was Bishop's bed, long enough to accommodate him, but not very wide. There were two small pillows laid on top of it, one behind the other, probably for proper neck support.

The door suddenly opened, startling Lily. Sure enough, it was the ranger, who was glaring at her with one hand still on the door handle.

"Hello," she greeted him, aware that she was in his territory. She got to her feet and made to leave, but Bishop didn't move from the doorway.

"Um?" she said, staring into his face in confusion.

He stepped into his room and closed the door behind him, still saying nothing. At that moment, Lily realized that he had his other arm held behind his back.

When he caught her searching, Bishop brought his arm around to his front. Dangling from the scruff of its neck was the baby Maine Coon with light paws that had mewed at Lily earlier. It now did so again in confused greeting.

"Oh my goodness!" Lily cried, tears forming in her eyes. She cupped her hands beneath Bishop's and he dropped the kitten lightly into her grasp. She held it like it was a precious jewel, and a genuine smile quickly found its way to her lips.

Bishop said nothing and went to sit in the seat Lily had occupied until not too long ago. After a few seconds of being absolutely fascinated with the little critter, Lily turned to face Bishop.

"How did you get him?"

Bishop chuckled. "Don't you know better than that by now? I snuck in and took i-him," he finished. "If they're gonna kill them all anyway, I figured why not?" He turned his face away to hide his expression, in case she misinterpreted his act as kindness or something.

Lily held the kitty close to her chest and closed her eyes, thinking the situation was pretty amusing. She didn't know that Bishop even tolerated cats, let alone liked them.

"Keep him away from Karnwyr, though; I don't know how he'll take to the little furball."

Lily nodded ecstatically. Without being invited, she sat down in the seat opposite the ranger and set the kitten down on the floor so he could run around. "Do you mind?"

Bishop waved it off. "Nah, his teeth won't be able to gnaw through that armor anytime soon." As if challenged, the kitten made his way over to the armor, but after taking one trial bite, quickly lost interest.

"Leather doesn't taste too good," Bishop agreed.

Lily was laughing. She liked how spunky the new recruit was. When he got older he'd fit right in with Khelgar.

"Did I tell you how I lost my old familiar?" Lily suddenly asked. Bishop was taken aback. He had never really had a conversation with Lily about her history; most of the chattering they'd done was about him for the purpose of finding out whether or not he could be trusted. The bits and pieces he knew of her past came from Duncan, and from being from a similar place to West Harbor himself.

Bishop simply shook his head, and Lily told him of how her ferret had sacrificed itself to try to save her. She apologized at the end of her short story, thinking it was silly to vest that much care in such a small animal.

"Nonsense. Beasts are often more reliable than men," Bishop commented. He and Karnwyr had traveled a long road together, and he definitely trusted the creature more with his life than he did most of the human companions he was forced to tolerate.

After a bout of silence, Bishop cleared his throat and changed the subject.

"What about the other animals we found today? You know, the ones that call each other pet names but are actually related."

"I don't see much wrong with that, actually," Lily admitted indifferently, shrugging.

Bishop looked surprised at this. "Really? Then you don't mind that they might be spending the night together at this very moment?" he continued with a lascivious smirk, seeing how far he could take it.

"Not really." Lily didn't continue, but Bishop was interested.

More silence.

"Why not?" he ventured.

Lily was quiet for awhile, her eyes averted.

"Who are we to judge? Does it really matter what other people do in their own homes?" she said simply after awhile, shaking her head lightly and looking up at him. She looked...sad, and contemplative. They held each other's gaze for several seconds.

"Yeah," was all he said, not in agreement, but in acknowledgment, breaking her gaze and leaning back in his chair. He stared up at the ceiling, putting his arms behind his head.

Lily looked back over at the kitten. It had chosen to curl up on the leather that it couldn't eat, its puffy tail gently thumping against the ground.

"So many have gotten hurt because of what others think of what they do when no one else is involved." She seemed to be talking to no one in particular. "People being massacred for trying new ideas, being burned at the stake for being homosexual. Who cares?"

Bishop was listening, looking at her with his head still tilted up toward the ceiling. His eyes flickered back to the ceiling before he spoke: "I think they don't want to admit that deep down, they don't mind at all, but are too absorbed in 'religious and traditional values' made up centuries ago to realize they're doing a great deal of harm by being intolerant; that they're the real problem."

All was quiet.

"Is that why you don't like Casavir?" Lily asked in a low tone, only half-expecting him to answer.

"Part of it." Bishop allowed his chair to set itself back on all fours before continuing, "He lives his life in complete denial. Denial of all the instincts and urges that make us what we are," he explained with a hint of bitterness, seeming to be mostly talking to himself now. "At least demons and beasts accept how they are and live without ever wondering what some imaginary lord will think of them."

"I see." Lily considered that for a few minutes. She now understood Bishop's thoughts a bit better, and why he was so diametrically opposed to the paladin at every turn. She knew that Casavir and Bishop lived their life in very different fashions, but she hadn't known that Bishop also despised anyone who was too caught up in their own beliefs to see a different point of view. That explained why he wasn't too kind to Elanee the Druid and her nature-worshiping, either.

Lily got out of her seat and approached the small cat. He looked up at her with wide eyes, hugging his paws closer to his chest.

"Come on, Ounce, let's go," she said, extending her hand to him. He sniffed it.

"Ounce?" Bishop questioned.

"Because he's so small," Lily explained with a grin. "At least for now." Ounce jumped on her arm, and as soon as he did so, Lily stood up, making him latch onto her, eyes bugging out. She pulled him around to her torso and supported him with both arms. From this height, he looked around the room curiously.

"I like him," Lily said of Ounce with a grin aimed at Bishop. The ranger nodded solemnly and got to his feet, following her out into the main part of the tavern to get a refill on his tankard.

For some reason, Lily followed him while he was getting his refill. He took a gulp, then set it down and eyed her.

"Good night, Bishop," is all she said.

"Yeah. Don't let him claw through your silken sheets, ladyship." He watched her leave, then returned to his room. There, he shook his head bemusedly and took another gulp of his ale.