Orrin looks around. Purple flowers today. "I will warn you, Miss Yoru," he notes, grinning sheepishly..."the brtender is...hehm. Interesting."

"To me, everything is interesting." Especially interesting things. Yoru examines the place with a less than critical eye, amused at the various thises and thats sitting about. "May I ask why you say so?"

This said, as though from nowhere--she'd been wandering under the tables--a tiny, three-foot cat person springs straight towards Yoru's chest at steep angle. "It's Maaara! Hiya Biscuit!" Long story on the "biscuit" bit.

Yoru barely has time to eep before Hal's pounce lifts her off her feet and quite soon deposits her on her back. She blinks up at the strange kitty.

"H... hello," Yoru ventures. "Um... Mara is somewhere else. You are the bartender?" Her eyes twinkle, anyway. Hal's cuuuute.

"Hmmm...." Hal wiggles her nose, thinking hard. "Weeell...you smell like Biscuit, and you look like Biscuit." Licks Yoru's cheek with her rough little kitty tongue. "'An y taste like Mara-kuru! Butcha don't act like her? Umm...I get it! It's a game, right? I'm...an explorer!" And she strikes a dramatic 'onward!' pose on Yoru's chest, even the poof on the end of her long tail fluffed.

Orrin snickers, and pick Hal right off of Yoru's chest. "That you are! But, this really isn't Mara. Mara's with my wife. This is Miss Yoru."

"Awww...can I still be an explorer?"

Orrin grins. "Yoru, this is Shira'desariphen'uhalu, or just 'Hal.' She's the bartender and owner. Hal...Yoru."

"Hiya!"

Yoru sits up slowly, rubbing her cheek with a thoughtful look in her eyes. "Shira... desariphen... hm. Hal. Hello. It is a pleasure to meet you." 

"You too, lady!" The little goddess hangs down out of Orrin's hands at a ridiculous angle, trusting him to not drop her. She pokes curiously at Yoru. "Cool outfit! It's all buttkickish! But, why do you look like Mara? Come on, you've gotta tell this face." And she gives Yoru her very best "adorable kitty" face, complete with big, shiny eyes and a vacant, faintly smiling, expectant expression.

"This was her body," Yoru answers smartly, "and I should like a drink before my tongue loosens too much more." She reaches out to pet Hal, not really considering whether it might be unwelcome.

Hal...purrs, and leans right up into it. "Yay! Eep!" Leans too far, and tumbles right out of Orrin's hands until a quick move by the dumen catches her about a foot down. She snickers, jumps out of his hands, and scampers over to the bar, springing smartly over it. "Hey, pets and non-tumbling death mean drinks on the house! Yay! Um. What do red headed biscuit but not biscuit cat ladies drink, anyhow? Hopefully not like Fel, she's boring." She wrinkles her nose as she hunts around under the bar. "Ooo...cream! Want cream, kitty? Kitties are so weird..."

Yoru finally takes her hand from her cheek. She heads to the bar, smiling back at Orrin first. "I do not know what I drink... was Mara much of a drinker?"

"Quite a lot, yes." The dumen nods, heading along with her. "Mara's a social drinker. She doesn't often drink very much alone, but has always liked drinking with other people, especially friends."

"Friends..." Yoru's smile grows infectious. "Then we will drink! With... ah... cream." She grins at Hal. "Have you know this beautiful man long, Hal?"

"Heehee...I can do that!" And Hal bounces up onto a shelf--they're designed specifically for bouncing between, actually, with lips progressively wider the closer to the floor you are--after a cream liqueur. "And, yup! He's hot if ya like pretty boys. Facial tattoos are cooool." She grins, and snickers. Dumen all look like girls! Someone once told me that they're goth chicks. Are you a goth chick, Orrin?"

"Maybe after a few drinks, Hal dear."

"See! There you go." The bartender bursts into a giggle fit, then becomes absolutely serious as she mixes Yoru's drink. Then becomes a complete nit again as she bounces over with the glass clasped in both hands. "Hee. Yes! He's come in here for a long time. With his wifee-poo! And Mara. 'Cause she's cool! Except he didn't come in for awhile, why's that?" She sets Yoru's drink in front of her. "Here you go, hon!"

"Um...slept in?"

"For thirty years?!"

"Er...yes." the dumen smirks.

Hal blinks. "Oh yeah!" Giggles again, as though this is the funniest thing in the world, and hops up the liquor shelves agian. She knows what Orrin likes, he's normally predictable and she assumes his drink if he doesn't stop her.

"A goth chick?" Yoru surveys Orrin. Glances at Hal. "Yep." Blinks, and takes a sip of the drink. "Oh my...!" Another sip. "This is familiar!"

"Yes yes! Isn't it good? I love it! But not as much as apple juice. Apple juice is love." Hal jumps over from the shelf to the bar with Orrin's cup, and sets it in front of him. "Here you go!"

The dumen smiles at her, and rubs her head. "Thanks, Hal."

"Hey now! Let's not ruffle the 'do!"

Yoru's drink is empty in a moment. "What does apple juice taste like? I have never had it." She looks between the two of them, eyes wide at this new sensation.

"It is like fruitgasm in your mouth!" Hal stops right where she is, tail swishing interestedly. "Except maybe minus the nastiness that sounded like! Eew! Anyway, want some fruitgasm, lady?'

"By all means," Yoru chuckles, "dirty or not." She's wiggling a little bit, enjoying herself thoroughly. "This is such a fantastic place, Orrin."

"Yay for dirty apple juice!"

Orrin grins at Yoru. "Isn't it, though? You won't find many bars anywhere more fun than this one. Though...a certain bartender is to blame for tht."

"Aww...you're just angling for free cookies." The only part of Hal visible is the tuft of her tail, swishing from behind the bar.

Yoru smiles at that. She feels so warm, so happy right now, even happier than she had felt with the parasol. "And to think," she murmurs, grinning at Hal's tuft, "there is so much more to experience. So much to know and see, things I only read of in Felina's library." She turns to Orrin, a fierce sort of wonder in her eyes. "I want to learn everything, Orrin. I want to know what everything is, how it works! I want to feel everything!"

Orrin smiles warmly at her, and nods. "There's a lot to do and see, Miss Yoru...and most of it worth experiencing. Even here in the nether plane, on this one world...it'd take a really long time to see it all."

Hal jumps onto the counter and plops another glass down in front of Yoru. Leaning on it, she stares up at Yoru with wide, emphatic, absolutely serious eyes. "Experience the apple juice!"

Orrin gives her tail a little tug.

"Meep! Why, you..." And she pounces him. He catches her, a broad, sharp-toothed grin splitting his face, as a little kitty-elf-goddess-thing has claws and tail flailing. She's having a great time, though.

Yoru watches amusedly, and takes a sip of the juice. "Hmm..." she tilts her head. "That is very nice, too!" She sets the glass down. "But that looks like all sorts of fun." She knows she looks feline. Perhaps she can pounce like it too. And she does, aiming straight for Hal and Orrin.

Hal squeaks. "Abandon ship!" And before the dumen can say "two shakes of a," she's flying back towards the bar.

"Gah!" And the dumen goes straight out of his seat. The steep fall from the stool keeps him from the neat roll he'd employed with Ting either...but at least he manages to avoid injury to either he or Yoru. Knocks the wind out of him, though. He snickers after a moment, looking up at Yoru. "Um. You win?" He grins.

Yoru reaches up, pats his cheek with a gentle hand. "I think I do," she says with a thoughtful little smile. She lets him up quickly, grinning ear to long ear. "Are you alright?"

"Yoru, I'm married to a serinian, hang out with her nether double all the time, and have two half-feline kids. This, would be part of my daily existnce." He grins, and jumps to his feet, brushing the dust from his coat as he stands completely up. "That was pretty good, though."

"I thought so." She looks back at Hal. "You missed the fun, kitten."

"Hmmm..." Hal wiggles her nose, then disappears under the bar. Jumps back up with a spatula that's ridiculously large for her, and plops a piece of biscuit dough on the bar. "Well, it's just that..." winds up. Jumps up. Slams the spatula onto the dough with a delighted little sqeak. She snickers, and holds up the biscuit-pacake stuck to the back of the spatula, grinning broadly. "...You're bigger than me."

Yoru eeps when the slamming happens, and is about halfway hidden behind Orrin before it's over. "Oh..." she creeps back out. "Not that much bigger, though. Orrin is bigger than both of us." She doesn't notice, but when she's frightened Yoru seems to have a habit of pointing out the obvious.

"He is!" And Hal bounces right into Yoru's arms. "But! He's not as cool as us kitty cats!" She grins brightly at the sendiran. Yes, she is actually aware that she's a kitty cat. She'll just rarely admit it.

Yoru snickers a bit. "He seemed warm to me," she points out, making a point to pet Hal while she has her. Kitty. Gooooood. 

Hal purrs. Petting. Goooood. "So have you two got any plans later? Hm?"

"Well, I had a parasol." Yoru nods to this solemnly, as if speaking from scripture. "It was beautiful, a thing of absolute splendor. But I had to let Felina have it." Wistful sparkles light up her eyes. "And Orrin is going to aid me in choosing a new one."

"Ooo sounds purdy! Why'd she take it that's kinda mean and fel's not usually mean just kinda quiet except this time this guy patted her ass and she threw him across the bar. Remember that, Orrin?"

The dumen snerks. "Possibly."

Hal blinks, adn then her expression brightens alongside her being-petted purr. "Oh yeah! It was you!"

"No disrespect to your dear wife, but have the puncture wounds in your hand healed yet?" She and Mara apparently share a few fixations. "I suppose the parasol was haunted, or something like that, Hal dear."

Orrin examines his hand, thoroughly befuddled after a few moments' thought. "Puncture wounds, Miss Yoru?"

"Ooo...no one needs a haunted umbrella, nope! What colours are you gonna make it, hmmm?" Hal tips upside-down.

Yoru's face flushes. "Um..." It is difficult to describe the feeling of saying something clever that doesn't turn out to be that clever. "Nevermind..." she looks down, mortified. "I don't know colors yet, Hal. Nothing could ever be as wonderful as that first one."

"Oh? Why not?" And, picking up on Yoru's discomfiture at the filed gag, leans up, and cups a hand towards the sendiran's sizeable ears. "And don't worry," she mock-whispers. "He's just a little thick, that's all."

Orrin just smirks, and sips his drink while the ladies talk smack about him?"

Yoru's ear twitches a little bit. "Well..." she deigns to let Orrin have some peace, "... I really could not say. It drew me to it, it made me feel whole." She shrugs her narrow little shoulders.

"Awww...well, we'll try to find you another one just as cool, yes?" Hal wiggles her nose, just because it's cute and Yoru seems to need cheering up. "Heeey...Yoru, can you help me with something?"

Yoru's ears perk up at that. "Certainly, anything you like."

"I need to redo the ceiling..." the kitty glances up. Actually, she's still on her back in Yoru's arms, so she that's not hard. "...'Cause I'm bored! But I don't know to what? Can you help me think of something pretty to do?"

Yoru looks up at the ceiling. "You need chandeliers," she nods, "that look like parasols hanging upside down." She blinks. Looks at Orrin, and down at Hal. Her eyes well up. "Oh... bother." She blinks again to dry her eyes. "Orrin, let's go make a parasol," she firmly decides. "So I can get this stupid thing out of my head."

He smiles, and nods. "Absolutely. I think Mara has a number of drawing tools back at her house, where we can work out the design."

"Thank you, Orrin." Yoru thinks of how to say goodbye to Hal. She recalls how she was greeted, though, and decides that might work best. "Thank you for having me here, Hal. It was fun!" She reaches out and puts her hands on Hal's kitty shoulders, smiles, and gives her cheek a long, dutiful lick with her semi-rough semi-kitty tongue.

Hal blinks, surprised. Then grins broadly. "Hee. Yay!" She half-pounces Yoru, hugs her around the neck. "Bye bye! Come back, you're cool!" Then she bounces back behind the bar, humming happily.

"I will." Yoru looks to Orrin, smiles innocently at him. "Are you ready to leave, Orrin? You can hold the door for me, if you like." The picture of innocence.

He grins at her and stands up, leaving a few silver coins on the bar and a some liquor in the bottom of his glass. "Well, I don't know. How does tht work again? Like this?" And he opens it for her, standing aside.

Yoru favors him that impossibly deep smile of hers, and strides out ahead of him with a soft word of gratitude. She points herself more or less back home and begins to walk, waiting for him to catch up, grinning idly at anyone fortunate enough to look.

Orrin smiles, and heads out after her on the way back to Mara-Kuru's Estate.