A comfortable, if somewhat haunted castle-like, guest floor in Korliss's Keep. It used to be dedicated to seances and scrying, but Amilei Lei has less use for it than her late father did, and so she's set up a pair of comfortable bedrooms and facilities there.

---

Yue smiles his best smile at Kaies and Minna, though inside he is frozen solid. So afraid... but of what, he cannot be sure.

Minna knows, but...she's almost afraid to try to comfort him, soley because she doesn't want to hurt him more, considering what happened last time. She looks out the window into a courtyard.


"I wonder what's happening?" she finally braves softly. Everyone's thinking it. She just had to say it.

Yue shakes his head. "I am so far away now that I can't feel any energy from there. But if I know Felina she is dragging home Overseer to put out for the trash pickup."

Kaies is characteristically quiet, just helping Minna walk around and trying not to worry too much.

Minna smiles just a little, and nods. "Well...I guess she proved earlier that she's indestructible." What was that?



She thinks she heard something. She didn't. She felt Felina returning to this plane.

Yue, of course, snaps to attention. "Felina...!" He closes his eyes, searching her energy... searching... "she's okay," he breathes out, as if he's been holding it for some time.

A broad, relieved grin threads across Minna's characteristically restrained features. "That's wonderful!"

Yue nods, smiling a pretty smile. "Um," he covers his mouth, looking at Kaies. "Helloooo?  Muscles? Awake?"

Kaies is just staring. She's okay. And he badly needs a place to pass out.

"Um..." and the gimp of the bunch hops over to support the strongest among them and nudge him gently back towards a bed to sit down. "I think you need to sit."

Yue helps as well, amused to no end by this. "He just needs some attention, is all." He is cute, after all.

Minna grins a moment at Yue, nods, and sits beside Kaies when they get him situated, just because it's easier than standing. "Everything back to chaos as usual," she observes. "You can breathe."

And he does. Yue pulls a stool over (convenient for wings!) and plops onto it, crossing and kicking his legs. "For such a big, strong, attractive man, you certainly are damaged goods, Kaies." 

The medium glares at her. "Funny, funny. You certainly seem to be well-adjusted since earlier."

Yue beams at them both. "It is a girl's divine right to change her mind at any time, for any reason." And his, by proxy.

"Seconded," Felina notes as she walks in. "Are you all okay?"

Minna's face brightens a good deal when she sees Felina. "Yes, but I think we're all just tremendously glad to know that you are!"

"Oh yes!" Yue smiles at her, stays seated though for her comfort. "We were worried. This one nearly had a heart attack." She points at Kaies, who looks finally relieved.

"Kaies, remember: cardiac arrest bad. Breathing good." Felina's smile is gentle, though. "I just wanted to let the three of you know that I'm okay. Also for your information, though...Helantri Deru is just...hm. Gone. Also, I wouldn't recommend checking it out until I've double-checked that all the infernal rifts are well-sealed, but something tells me they are."

Yue cringes, even showing his teeth. "Oh my stars..." Covers his mouth with both hands. "I'm so sorry to hear that, Felina..."

Kaies doesn't understand the gravity of it, of course, but offers his own condolances in the forn of a gentle touch of her shoulder.

Felina smiles a little, sadly, at Yue, eyes grateful for understanding and reassuring at once. She looks to Kaies, too, and nods. "Thanks. I did save a few things...my research, at least what was in the study, a couple of small heirlooms, some dear things of Orrin's and the kids', and my dad's staff. Plus, the people are all out, and that's tantamount."

Yue shakes his head, not for any literal reason, so much as because he cannot believe how awful things turned out. 

"I don't know about everyone else, Felina, but when the time is right, I promise you can count on me to help you rebuild."

Felina smiles, and nods. "Thanks, Yue. I imagine once things are safer on the ether plane and the current assorted impending dooms are wiped away, I'll just remove the stasis from my father's estate in the meantime, so we're not refugees or any such nastiness. Anyway..." she looks back to the company in general. "I just wanted to update you three and apologize for scaring you. I need to get Mara and tie up some things on the ether plane."

"Be careful, now," Yue says, looking to Kaies and kicking him when he hesitates to say whatever he's going to say. "Speak, puppy."

He glares at her, but looks back to Felina anyway. "Thank you for going through what you did. I will keep an eye on these two. Promise."

Felina smiles, and nods. "Thanks, Kaies. And anything for the people I care most about. See you folks later, then." And she fades away to Istan Aiga.

"I don't know about you two, but this incubus could definitely go for a drink." Yue hops up and goes about exploring the room, going first for what looks rather like a minibar with high hopes. "Ah! My alcohol sense never fails." He looks over his shoulder. "Want to share with me?"

"What do you have?" Minna inquires.

"Well. Looks like... mostly brandy and bourbon. This is a vampiress's keep, she must have some red wine hidden somewhere. But this is what we have for now." He pauses. "Actually, before that, I was wondering... do you mind if I borrow him?" She points to Kaies, whose eyes go a little wide. "He's yours, right?"

"Hm?" Minna blinks. Smiles, amused, at Kaies a moment and then back to Yue. "Well...Kaies is my bodyguard and very dear friend, if that's what you mean."

Yue hands them each a small bottle of bourbon. "I know the feeling," he nods, sitting again on the stool. "No personal closeness then...?"

Kaies shakes his head, at a total loss. "Not as such, save for our friendship." He likes Minna, but she can do better than him anyway. Yue takes a drink, smiles saucily at them both.

"Do tell," she smirks.

Minna smiles at Kaies a moment, warm understanding in her eyes. "Well, I think a lot of his heart still belongs to Felina anyway." She looks back to Yue. "And, a friend is what I really need right now. After all we've been through...honestly, it would seem almost strange for Kaies and I to ever be romantically involved. That would be depriving the other ladies unfairly, anyway."

Yue looks between them, gives his legs a little kick. "Would it be so strange to love someone like that, I wonder?" She nudged Kaies's knee with her foot. Takes another drink. "You know, I used to be a bodyguard. Twice, actually."

"Oh?" Minna smiles, and tilts her head a little. "When was that? If you don't mind me asking, of course," she's quick to add, ever conscious of not hurting people. Overly so, when she's stressed herself.

Kaies, for his part, is beginning to become very uncomfortable. Yue is practically eating him alive with that look.



"Oh, the first was ages ago. A young woman named Momo... very brash, profane, and brilliant." His rich green eyes cloud a little bit. "The kind of woman who you know will never make it to old age, for one reason or another." Takes another drink, a deep one. "The second was someone you know."

Minna blinks. "Really?" Considers quietly a few moments. "It would explain why you seem so familiar, like I should remember you...it was from my last life, wasn't it?"

Yue smiles at her, though its an ambiguous expression. Much like Yue himself. "Oh yes," he answers fondly, finishing off his bottle. Damned minis. "She lost her life, too, though. As it turns out I was an awful guardian."

Minna's eyes sadden a good deal at that. "I'm so sorry...but I'm sure it wasn't because you were a bad guardian. I mean, you can't be everywhere."

"Oh, no." Gets up, reaches for another bottle. Two more. Sits back down, kicks his feet up and sets them on Kaies's knee. The medium takes a deep drink, but doesn't move. Something important is going on here, and he doesn't want to impede its presence.

"I was right there. I saw it. I couldn't do anything." Downs a whole bottle.  "It was my fault."

"But you just said that you couldn't do anything," Minna protests gently, eyes beginning to brim with worry over the bottles and mood. "Yue, I know that if you could have, you would have. It's not hard to see that in you."

"See, that is just the sort of thing she would have said about it," Yue sniffles, hands shaking over the last bottle. "She would have said that. 'You tried, it's okay'. I can't get this open."

Kaies, looking somber, takes the bottle from her and snaps the top open, handing it back. She smiles at him for it, and looks back to Minna.

"And I," she continues after downing the bottle, "I would have said 'I failed you, Minna. I wasn't strong enough for you.' And then... oops..."

Minna blinks once, slowly. "So that's what this has been about..." she ventures softely. Eyes travel doen. Squeeze shut a few moments. Why...can't she remember? Kaies remembers Felina, doesn't he? Just...suddenly, she opens her eyes. Remembers...what? Touches her left ring finger absently. Is surprised to find it empty...even though it always has been. She looks back up to Yue. "We...you were more than my bodyguard, weren't you?"

She's trying so hard to understand.

Yue wants to answer that honestly. But really, he never knew how Minna felt towards the end. The closest estimation is something he had later heard from Felina when she had said '... and Minna was definitely working on loving you.'

"I wanted to be," his whispering voice flutters, "I think we could have been, if I had been stronger."

Kaies looks between them, wondering, but instinctively lays a hand on Minna's arm to comfort her. He has nothing to say in this, for now.

Minna glances over to Kaies, though she isn't quite up to smiling. Looks down. "I remember..." she finally observes, quietly..."I remember you reading to me. By a fire. Like we were camping out, or...something." And her eyes almost sparkle at teh tenderness she can recall with it, even with so many details blurred.

Yue nods, smiles nostalgically. "We were..."in hiding? phrase it differently, Yue, you bitch. "... spending time outdoors... you wouldn't let me keep you cooped up."

Kaies smirks a little. "Tell me about it."

Yue ignores him. "The Divine Namesake was the book. It was about a... a queen among gods, who rose from human blood." He can remember that, too. It was right before they were set upon, the last good memory they shared. "You were wearing blue. A hooded shirt, and... and snow pants. It was cold, so we stayed close to each other for warmth. You..." she closes her eyes tight. Her words break, lost in racking sobs. "You held my hand when I said it was cold."

Minna's lip quivers. Her eyes widen suddenly, slightly. She had been sitting there...had leaned up against him. And then something got his attention, he looked up so suddenly. Blurs, but...somehow, they're slightly separated...someone more intent on attacking Yue than securing her shoves her aside, but by the head and with superhuman strenth....

And a terrible crack, she heard it more than felt it, really....

Sometime in the seconds following, although she couldn't have pegged exactly when, Minna is cling to Kaies's arm, and crying softly. Not only for herself.

Kaies doesn't quite know what to do. He wraps Minna in his practically eclipsing arms, looking rather helpless in the matter.  He looks at Yue, who looks as though he wished for all the world that he had never mentioned any of this.

"I only just found out that you were alive again..." the now-inebriated incubus continues. "I didn't have the nerve to go to you. I didn't want to saddle you with these memories... especially now that you have a bodyguard who... who can actually watch out for you."

Minna gathers herself, a bit...her quiet sobs only last a couple of seconds, a moment of ruffled feathers she doesn't usually display or feel, before giving way to silent tears. She wipes her eyes as best she can before looking up, hesitantly. "Yue...it's...startling to suddenly remember...dying. But it wasn't your fault. You can tell that was planned well. You couldn't get to me...just, couldn't. I don't remember who they were, and I'm not sure I ever knew, but...they did a good job separating us."

Yue stands up, shaking his head. He'll always blame himself, that much is clear, and the combination of bourbon and pent up emotions is sending his conscious mind into a tailspin. But, when he reaches for the minibar again, he jerks back, tugged by a very large hand attached to a very large man.

"No," Kaies warns, "you've had enough. Sit."

"Please, Kaies, let go-" Yue tugs hard, but there's no moving a determined Kaies. "Let go!" Tugs again, tears streaming down his face. "Bastard! Asshole! Let me go, I hate you! I hate you I hate you...!"

"Yue..." it's just tearing Minna apart to see him like this, as everything floods back to her. She limp-hops a few paces, trying to get ahold of his other arm, herself. Catch it in that gentle insistance she's always somehow managed to balance.

She struggles, but only for a moment more, her head hanging so that her hair hides how wet her cheeks already are. "I missed you so much, Minna, I never forgave myself for letting you go. And then so much happened in just the last few weeks. I'm a... I'm a demon now, an incubus. And I found out you were back, and I just... I lost it. I'm sorry, so sorry, to show this side to you, Minna, I wanted... I don't know what I wanted." He looks at her finally, ashamed of his weakness. "It is not fair for me to come asking for you back. But I hoped... I hoped that you would let me have a chance to get to know you, in this life."

Minna smiles, just a little. "I...still don't remember a lot. Yet, but...I think that would be lovely, Yue."

Her hair falls over her face again. "Thank you, Minna." She tugs, but Kaies still isn't letting go. Hugging her now is probably a bad idea, though, so it's probaably for the best. The alcohol coursng through his veins is really starting to hit home, anyway.  "I'll... compose myself. Kaies, let go... I s'ill wan nuh borrow you. Le'go. Minna, call 'em off." 

Minna smiles just a little. "Well...we should probably help Yue off to bed, anyway, Kaies," she observes softly, smiling just a little through her slightly dirtied face.

"Good idea," Yue nods. "That's where I was takin' 'im anyway."

Kaies coughs. "Right then. We'll just... put her to bed." He stands, and guides the incubus towards the door. "Coming, Minna? I think you'll be safe here for a minute if not."

"I think I'll wait here, Kaies...thank you." She smiles gratfully at him. "Feel better, Yue!"

"Minute...?" Yue blinks. But smiles. "Mkay." And he lets Kaies lead him out, firmly intending to jump his bones when they get there.

Which of course means that he's passed out before Kaies gets him to his room.

Minna, for her part, even as she feels guilty for taking pleasure in anything right after that difficult confession just now, can't help but revel in being alone for a couple of minutes, just closing her eyes and breathing a few seconds. She loves Kaies like a dear brother, she does, but...never being alone can get hard.

He feels the same, in a way. The only thing keeping him from getting away more is that only-ever-say-die-when-speaking-to-someone-else attitude. He's seen the pain in Yue's eyes, and doubts seriously that he can go through that himself. Still, he takes his time on the way back, going out of his way to make sure Yue is comfortable before leaving her room.

The almost-goddess, for her part, opens up the window for some air.

Kaies returns not too long after, having spent two minutes standing outside for her sake. He re enters, all smiles, though he does glare at the window a bit. Shakes it off. "She's a lightweight," he announces, grinning.

Minna smiles a bit. "Well, that was a fair amount of alcohol, awfully fast, too..." she laughs sheepishly. "And...hm. A lot of information dropped, too." She looks back out the window. "Poor Yue...just carrying that around all this time."

"She'll hate herself when she wakes up. She'll be hard to deal with unless something happens between now and then." He sounds like he's brushing her off, but in reality, he's more concerned with Minna feeling sorry for someone who could be an enemy.

"How do you mean?" Minna inquires, looking back to Kaies, face inquiring.

Kaies sits on the stool, facing her. "Imagine that you met someone you've loved implicitly, whom you thought was gone forever. If the first thing you did when you saw that person was fall to pieces, how would you feel in the morning?" It's slightly terse, but then, he knows where he's coming from here.

"Oh..." Minna nods slightly. "Right..." her voice is quietly sheepish she looks back out the window. "I suppose I just thought coming out and saying it would be the beginning of it getting easier."

"It is," Kaies is quick to assure her, "but... it's going to get worse for her before that. How..." he pauses. This might be dangerous territory. "How much do you remember of her?"

"Not...very much. Flashbacks, spurts...a few moments in time." Minna shakes her head slowly, and looks back up to Kaies. "I guess it would explain why I've had trouble thinking of Yue as female, even with the preference explained to us and how he...she...carries herself." She thinks quietly. "A lot of moments in time...some very sweet." She quiets, and then looks up to Kaies, eyes sparkling. "I remember that I loved him. But I wouldnt' tell him that, because I knew there was just too little chance of my living. I guess...I thought it would hurt less that way."

Kaies listens intently, as he always does, to what she has to say on the matter. Minna has a way of seeing further into situations than he does. "Do you suppose telling him now would be fair to either of you? Or..." he closes his eyes, thinking of Felina. "Do you still feel that way?"

"I...don't know, Kaies. I'm still in quite a bit of shock, I think." Her eyes trail down, then back up. "At least...I half understand where you're coming from, with Felina, now." She smiles a little.

He smiles right back. "Well. There's time, now. You'll be safe here, if my memories mean anything. And with Amilei right outside, and Felina, her husband... it would take an army of gods to break into this place." Smile broadens. "You can spend some girl time together."

She smiles a bit at him, close-eyed. "I think so...maybe. That could work. For now...I kind of feel a little dizzy. Felina said that's normal, right...?"

"Yes, but still, I think I'd like to have a second opinion." He closes his eyes, considers. Who to ask, with Felina out? Yue's passed out. Ting and Dewei are probably still asleep, Orrin wouldn't know... "Just tell me if you start to feel uneasy, or pained. Do you need anything?"

"To lay down, I think...could you help me to the bed? Klutz and all."

"Of course." Kaies stands up and reaches for her hand, setting his own on her other shoulder to steady her. "I think I'm going to miss this part when it is gone, you know."

The albino smiles a bit as she walks with him. "You'll just have to stop making the excuse when you want a hug, that's all." She grins at him.

"You have me pegged, my dear." Kaies eases Minna down to her borrowed bed, carful that she doesn't lie badly on her leg. "Do you want the blanket?" He cannot explain how wonderful it feels to take care of someone like this.

"That would be wonderful, Kaies." Minna smiles a bit, and nods. "I think it's fall here, or somesuch." Actually, it's early spring, something Kaies will probably be able to infer.

He reaches down and pulls the blanket up over her, smiling that paternal smile he sometimes wears. "Chilly, anyway." He pats her hair gently. "Is this good?"

Minna smiles at him. He's so sweet, really, the way he dotes on her. "Yeah...much better, Kaies, thank you so much." She covers her eyes with her arm. Ugh...dizzy....

"Just relax, close your eyes. Breathe evenly." He's worried, now, more than enough to seek help. "I will return shortly, Minna. Relax, until then." Amilei shouldn't be hard to find, anyway.

Minna nods. "I'll be okay...I don't think you have to worry." She does settle into the blanket a bit, though.

"I always worry. How can I not?" He smiles at her again. "You are the most wonderful thing that has happened to me in this particular life." And he turns, heading out the door before this gets any sappier.

Minna smiles little, her cheeks coloring. She sighs quietly, though a any bad mood due to increasing nausea is lost to how wonderful her bodyguard and best friend is.

Kaies closes the door and heads off to find Amilei. He ends up wandering around the front foyer of the keep, looking around.

Dewei is actually there, arguing quietly with his father. Probably has something to do with the bruise on his right shoulder.

Kaies, deciding that 'quiet type' isn't going to be of much use here, walks right up to the two of them, glancing between them.

"Shall I ring the fight bell now, or scare up a ring girl first?" he inquires, smirking a bit. Actually, if Mara-kuru is around, that might not be so difficult.

Dewei looks to Kaies a moment, then back to his father. "I'm going to go see Ai," he states after a moment, voice quietly, tightly controlled. And he turns and stalks off.

Orrin scritches his hair after a moment. "So...hi, Kaies. Is everything okay?"

"Well enough, I suppose. Minna is having a dizzy spell, though, so I thought it might be prudent to find someone who would know more about her transformation than me." He looks off after Dewei. "I suppose Dewei is out, though."


"Ahh...yeah. He's still sore about my knocking him out...literally and otherwise. I don't think he knows much about it, anyway." He ponders. "Actually, I think Ting does, if you can find some way to get the information out of her."

"Wasn't she sleeping?" He scratches his hair, thinking hard. "I would have asked Yue, but she had a tub of bourbon and passed out."

"She is, last I checked, and...damn. There went my idea to get it out of her." He smiles wryly. "Sorry, Kaies...I really don't know. I'm not sure where Amilei went, either..." considers. "Have you asked Solomon? He can be a bit of a prick, but he knows...hm. Everything related to anyone's health issues, magical or otherwise."

"Who now?" The medium tilts his head over a bit. "I must have missed someone."

"Right. Sorry. How dare you not know everyone and everything here implicitly." The dumen smiles, a little wryly. "Solomon is Radivishe Moorn's nether double. My wife's leaned on his help for...well, a lot longer than I've known her, anyway, and he's the town's go-to guy for severe health questions or injuries, when he's around. He usually stays at the Shiny Thumb when he's in town because he secretly likes the innkeeper."

"Ah..." Kaies looks up the stairs, biting his lip. "I cannot leave Minna's side long enough to go into town, though. I can summon some help, though. Thank you, Orrin. And, ah, congratulations again on your wife."

Orrin's eyes soften a bit, and he nods. "Yeah...right now, I'm just glad she's okay. Is there anything I can get you and Minna?"

"I don't think so, but thank you. If Ting happens to awaken, and feels up to it, would you send her up? Or if you see Amilei?" Kaies smiles, but his eyes give away his exhaustion for a second. Just how stressful this has all been for him, too, is something he's managed to conceal with good cheer fairly well.

"Absolutely." The dumen nods. He notices the tiredness, of course, but doesn't directly comment on it. "If you need to leave Minna for a couple of minutes or take some rest, yourself, feel free to coerce me into babysitting. I'll be around the keep...likely here, in the courtyard, or in my room."

"Well... it isn't babysitting, so much as bodyguarding, but sure. She wants to meet you and the kids, anyway." Kaies heads back up the stairs, waving over his shoulder.

The dumen, for his part, rubs his temples once Kaies is gone. Ugh...wife almost dies. Hit son. Son now pissed. Son's girlfriend hurt. Son's girlfriend's father dead. Daughter vulnerable. Life...irksome.

For her part, Minna is feeling a bit better just to be laying down, and is settled quietly into her blankets. She opens her eyes a little when Kaies walks in, long enough to confirm who he is although she knows his step, and then settles back in again. "Hi," she greets him softly. "Did you find what you needed?"

"Sort of," he nods, sitting on the floor not far from her bed. "Someone will be in to look at you before too long. How are you feeling...?" 

"I'm okay. It's going away, slowly. Laying down helps." She smiles. "Mostly I just feel spoiled," she laughs softly.

"Spoiled? Never." Kaies laughs quietly for her benefit. "Do not worry. When you have gotten through this I will see to it that you do all sorts of chores to make up for it."

Minna grins at him, breathes a slow breath, and then settles back into the blankets.

Felina's feeling better. Not overconfident, but better. Slowly but surely, everything's being ironed out. Wrinkles can still happen, but...one at a time, and eventually this will be done. Before bothering her husband for more information on the dumen lady, she raps quietly on Kaies and Minna's door.

Minna looks up from half-dozing.

Kaies is tired, but sill vigilant. He smiles at Felina, but wearily, as if he is on the brink of just passing out on the floor. It's beem a long couple of weeks in particular, averaging two hours of sleep a night.

The serinian smiles as she steps in. "Hi...I have a funny feeling that you wanted to talk to me?"

"How do you do that...?" the medium, whose voice is slightly raspy with weariness at this point, inquires gamely. "Minna was dizzy. I wanted to ask advice, is all."

Felina just winks at the first part, then heads over to Minna, sitting on the edge of the bed. "Tell me about it, dear?"

"Oh, it's no big deal, really...I was standing by the window, and..." Minna proceeds to explain the dizzy-feel faint-feel better progression.

Felina nods slowly. "Okay...this is normal, even expected. My best bet is to suggest that whenever you feel dizzy, or think you feel it impending, sit down so that you won't injure yourself if you faint."

Kaies listens intently, but that much he could figure out. So long as she wasn't being harmed. He sits back down on the stool, wavering a little bit. "What if she feels ill to go with it...?"

"Real illness, coughing or vomitted, would be abnormal. Call someone in that case. The symptoms of this transition aren't unlike those of moderate blood loss, for comparable reasons."

"Alright... thank you, Felina." Kaies smiles, eyelids drooping. "I hate not knowing how to help... Minna." Yawns, covering his mouth.

Felina smirks a little, though her eyes are soft. "In the meantime...you need some sleep in the worst way. Let Orrin stay with Minna awhile...he was an assassin in his younger days, quite capable of protecting her."

Kaies nods, but it's quite clear that he's seriously considering telling her no. Minna is his charge, and he would feel horrible leaving her to anyone else like that. Still...

"I can last," he nods, eyes dull.

"I know you mean well, Kaies," Felina chides gently... "but with you this tired, your abilities and especially your awareness of danger are hindered. There are two beds in here...Orrin can hang around and watch out for both of you. If there's trouble, he can wake you up, and you can help disarm it yourself."

The medium nods again. He really hasn't the strength to continue protesting, and so he meanders to the other bed. He hasn't used one of these in quite a while, but he lies down anyway. 

Felina, meanwhile, makes an inquiry of her husband telepathically, and after a couple of minutes, greets him quietly at the door. "Hi, Orrin. Minna's awake...drowsy half the time, and bored the rest." She smiles sidelong at Kaies's charge, then back to her husband. "And Kaies badly needs rest. Would you mind...?"

The dumen smiles, and shakes his head. "Of course not. On one condition...."

Felina smiles...wraps her arms around her neck, and kisses him. "Will that work...?"

A pair of raised white eyebrows accompany a slight smile. "I was going to say that you be careful. But that works too." Grins, kisses her forehead. "See you later, Fel, be safe."

Kaies wants to wish her well, but he is asleep literally within seconds of lying down. Kaies sleeps like the absolute dead, so much so that he's not even aware of Orrin's presence.

Dreams pass over him, little by little. He thrashes more than once in his sleep, deeply troubled by what's going on in the mind of Kaies.

Elsewhere, a high-pitched, strangled shriek erupts from yue's chambers.

Orrin had been keeping a worried eye on Kaies. Jerks, though, at the shriek and, glancing one more over the room to make sure no danger threatens, takes off for Yue's room at a sprint.

Yue is still lying on her bed, gulping harsh gasps of air. Her dress is split sidelong at her stomach, the obvious claw marks there giving way to a mangled, shredded abdomen. She looks wide-eyed at Orrin when he arrives, gasping, unable to speak.

The dumen's eyes widen, but he only hesitates a moment before rushing to Yue's side, quickly leaning on a pressure point. "Yue, whatever happened, you're going to be okay...Ting! Get up!"

The sheer and utter urgency in his psyche finally finishes what Yue's screech had started, and Ting's eyes flutter half open. "What..." blinks sleepily. "Who smells like blood...?"

Yue opens her mouth, but can't speak at all. She grasps at Orrin's arms with feeble fingers, looking at him as though she has something really important to tell him.

"Hey, take it easy," Orrin instructs gently. "I know it's probably important, but you're not getting anywhere this way...Ting!"

She finally blinks a few times, yawns, and drags herself up out of bed. Her eyes snap open when she sees what's going on, though. "Eep...!" Her hands are set quickly to Yue's sides, brimming with a high level of the restorative magic she uses on Makyon.

Yue lays back to be healed, still gripping Orrin's shirt for dear life. She gazes up at the ceiling, wondering why so many awful things have to happen to him.

"Ka..." he breathes slowly, coughing a little after a breath. "Kaies. I went, I went in his dreams."

The dumen blinks. "Kaies did this to you? How?"

She looks meaningfully to Ting, but away just as quickly. "I was trying to seduce him. He needs physical company, he-he's so lonely, in his heart. I thought I could provide it. B-but I was, I played to his fantasy too soon. I changed my appearance and he slashed me ac-c-cross my belly... in his dreams."

Ting cringes a little, but just keeps casting, still only half-lucid.

Orrin's eyes are narrow, even as his brow's furrowed with concern. "I didn't know...that what happens there, can hurt you here."

Yue smiles some, painfully, and looks at Orrin with sorrowful eyes. "Why do you think I..." she coughs, drawing up a little at the same time. He was going to mention what he'd said about Orrin being with Felina when he visited her. "I am so much more powerful in dreams, it normally wouldn't happen this way. But he surprised me. Kaies, in his dreams, he was wearing a mask. A horrible, scary mask. And he was so strong, stronger than anyone I've ever met. Something horrible is sleeping inside him, Orrin."

"There's a demonic aura there," Ting yawns. She's slowly becoming more alert, though, and Yue's wounds begin to knit with more strength.

"Ting... thank you, thank you both. I keep getting myself into trouble... I would be lost without you." She squeezes Orrin's arm, but can't really reach Ting. "I don't think Kaies would hurt me in reality. But it might be prudent to watch him."

Orrin nods slowly. "Speaking of which...I really should go back to watching Minna...if you're okay, of course, Yue." He turns concerned inwell eyes back to the incubus.

"I will be. Thank you." His smile is still distant, but certainly stronger at this point. His head rests on the pillow behind it. "Sorry to wake you early, Ting..."

"I'm okay," she nods.

Orrin nods... "Would you help Yue change out of those soiled clothes, ting? Regardless of technical gender, it seems more appropriate...if you're both comfortable with it, of course."

"Doesn't bother me," Ting observes. "Unless Yue's shyyy..." She grins, and pinches the incubus's cheek just a little.

Yue smiles at the touch, blushes just a hint. "Oh, I think Yue will be fine with it." His eyes just scream of 'I know something you don't know' for an instant.

"Hmph. He's hiding something, too. Anyway...off with the father-person!"

Orrin smiles a little, and nods. "Right. Are you sure you're going to be okay, Yue...?"

She smiles at him. Wants to shake her head no, and beg to be hugged. 

"I will. I promise, Orrin. I'll run screaming into your arms if I feel the need." And there's nothing sarcastic about that, either.

The dumen smiles, and nods. "I'll plan on it, Yue, but hopefully we'll avoid the possibility. I'll be next door if you need me." And he steps out.

Ting, meanwhile, pokes his ruined garments. "Eew. You sure have a way of making a mess," she observes as she helps him sit up, feeling carefully for pain and relieved when she senses none. "Can you stand up okay, so we can get you out of this bed?"

"Probably..." He does, though his middle feels so stiff and wobbly at the same time that it's tough to stand still. "Sorry about this, Ting... I am trouble, no matter where I go."

"So am I, in case you haven't gathered," Ting purrs, helping him over to her own bed to sit down again while she tosses his sheets aside. "You should get out of those clothes, I'll manifest some new ones for you. You want a nightgown? Need any help?"

"I can do it," he assures her. His shaking fingers find the clasps of his dress, struggling with them long enough to frustrate him before setting them open at last. "Are you sure you are comfortable...?"

"I'm okeedokey! Blood's a turnoff, you understand." Ting grins, and shakes one of the sheets, the blood somehow vaporizing as she does so. "I've dressed the wounds of plenty of boys, and they all have ding-dongs too, you know. You're awfully modest for an incubus! You need more practice at the naptime happy making attitude, I think." She laughs prettily.

It actually stings a bit. Yue cleans the blood off himself the same way Ting had cleaned the sheets, wonders why he hadn't bothered to wear panties today, and decides that Ting's notions of modesty are strange. "Right," he notes. Right. "Ding-dongs, though?"

"Nothin'!" Ting whistles, and smiles at him as she finishes making up his bed, trying to keep her eyes up for his sake. "So what do you want to wear?"

"Just something nice and functional. I really... I don't feel like being pretty right now." He smiles at her, facing her, with an almost hopeless expression.

"Hmm..." Ting ponders, and a deep red, plain, matte silk nightgown is wrapped around Yue by the time she finishes what she's doing. She sits on the bed across from him, is quiet for a moment. "You need a hug...?"

The incubus's eyes close. So much for being a fearsome demon. "Yes, please..."

Ting stands up just long enough to sit beside him, resting her head on his arm and just hugging him tight. Poor Yue.

Yue revels in her embrace as long as his conscience will allow before speaking up. "How was your rest, dear...?" A silly question, but something. "Do you feel better after being all courageous?"

Ting grins a bit. "Hee...it was actually a funny kind of 'courageous.' It involved a lot of running like hell."

"I heard something," Yue snickers, "about detonating an ice spell in its private space?"

Ting purrs proudly. "Hey. You might be talking to the only person in history to butt-rape one of hell's overseers with a piece of ice."

"And proud of it," Yue smiles. He really likes Ting. "Nevermind saving your brother's life and his girlfriend's in the process. After saving mine." He looks at her, eyes a smokey sort of thoughtful. "I want to repay you for your kindness, Ting."

"Aww...you don't hafta! I mean, you kinda do. You're nice to have around." She grins up at him. "It feels like you've been around longer than you have." Yue's quickly becoming a staple of her daily existance.

"I wish I had been," he admits with a soft sigh. "I would have loved to see you and your brother grow up." Without thinking about it, he tightens his hold upon Ting. Not enough to hurt, of course.

Ting feels comfy and happy and protected...she loves to be held, she really does, and is quite content at the squeeze, settling in. "Pfff..." she giggles. "You really think I'm all grown up?" She grins at him.

Yue's expression turns somber at that. "Stars... I hope so. If you became prudish and stodgy, I think I would cry." Yue loves to touch, too, even beyond his flirty nature. There's nothing quite like physical contact to make him feel better.

"Hmm...me too! If I ever use the phrase 'nudity is inappropriate and alcohol is the devil's work', promise to hit me?" She looks up at him with shiny kitty eyes.

Pretty....

"I promise, I'll hit you all you like." He smiles. Getting warm. Needs to back up.

Ting grins, and settles in against him. The eyes travel elsewhere, though. "Well...you get to see the next one go from little to big!"

"And believe me when I say I will be fighting Mara off with a stick to get Auntie time." He clasps his arms around her shoulders, glad that she is so sensitive, and understanding to how he feels. She is really brilliant for her age. Idiocy aside.

Ingeniuous, wreckless, brilliant idiot. Also, a very sleepy one. Yue's fixed, the bed's made, and all hell has un-broken loose...and now she dozes off on his shoulder.

Yue smiles down upon her, can't stop himself from kissing her hair once. "You deserve it," he assures her, "let's get you back to sleep." Carefully he lifts, hoping not to disturb her much, and eases her towards her own bed.

Ting opens her eyes a bit, smiles...cuddles under the blankets, curls up, and is completely out again. Likely in a more natural sleep now.

Yue lets his breath out, and stumbles back to his own bed. Being eviscerated took the energy out of him, after all. In seconds he's asleep, with the final thought that going into someone else's mind without knowing them well is a bad idea.