01-16-06 1

Characters involved: Keita, Zeraph, Jarril, & Lily.

Halyard Tavern: Sleeping Chamber

Weeeeell, that was an interesting conversation. And drink-worthy, apparently, as Keita turns the knob and steps into the darker room with a bottle and glass in paw. She stares thoughtfully at them for a moment, then murmurs to herself, "Watch it, Keita..." She closes the door behind her, and looks towards the bed.

Seeming as it is not so dark in the room, even if it is nighttime, the bed is easily seen. As well as the occupants of said bed. Zeraph is curled on his side, seeming to have maybe drifted off again into a state of unconsciousness. The weird thing to Keita would probably be the fact that Rothal is now on the bed as well, and not on his cot.

In the flickering lantern light, turned low, Keita does indeed see two forms in the bed. Her initial thought is to be puzzled, and then to grin, because... well, she's Keita, isn't she? And aw, isn't that so cute. She limps towards the bed, and it's only when she goes to sit on its edge that her brow wrinkles. Noticing something wrong?

Zeraph flinches into wakefulness when Keita sits at the edge of the bed. Maybe he hadn't been out, and just more drifting on the edge of unconsciousness, just to make sure he could keep track of Roth. Make sure he didn't die suddenly. The buck looks towards where the doe has seated herself and winces. "K. Roth hurt himself.."

Keita opens her mouth and -- sighs. She closes it again, setting the bottle and glass on the bedside table. She then proceeds to climb over Zeraph's legs, to get at Rothal. She half-kneels beside him. "An' you? You 'hurt yerself', too?"

There is a moment of silence, and then he shifts a little, maybe to see if he can feel anything wrong. Raph gasps in pain when he does this, but shakes his head. "No.. I didn't...He re-opened his wound though..And he was coughing up blood.."

Keita glances back over her shoulder, her gaze calm but not exactly pleasant. "Y'know what that means, m'boy? Coughin' up blood? It means bleedin' from the inside. He's been impaled through /th'stomach/, Raph. What th'ell were ya doin', lettin' him get up 'n' move around? Bloody 'ell...." Okay, so maybe she's being a little harsh. A little? A lot. She begins unraveling the blood-soaked bandages at Rothal's waist.

Zeraph flinches as Keita grumbles harshly at him, looking suddenly like a dibbun who has been yelled at for maybe causing someone more harm. His ears pin and he stares hard at the sheets, not looking up at the other hare anymore. The buck wishes he wasn't there. "..I didn't...tell him to get up."

When she sees the unpleasantness of the wound, Keita grimaces and looks away. "His wound was barely closed up, y'know. I couldn't get but a coupla stitches stretched acrost it, just t' help the healin' some. Not like a knife or a sword wound..." When the final layer of bandage is removed, she snorts disgustedly. "And those're ripped out, 'course. I don't know what it is about you patrol folks that ya like make us do the same work ovah 'n' ovah again. I ought t'impose a limit. 'I will only stitch this wound up twice.' Aftah that, I let ya bleed t'death." She glances back again, then points to the bedside table, where beside the bottle and glass a small bag sits. "Gimme that."

As Keita's harassment gets worse and worse, Zeraph's expression becomes even more hurt, like he wishes he would just die right then. He goes to roll to get the bag, ignoring the pain. The buck drops the bag beside her on the bed, and doesn't say anything else.

Keita takes the bag, opening it and pulling out what she needs. Her ears have long-since drooped, and while gathering herself to get back into this when she'd thought she was finally done for the day, she shakes her head ever so slightly. Her words are still tight, still gruff, but the meaning's there, hidden. "... He's goin' t'be fine." And then, awkwardly and murmured as she ducks her head and dives into her work, "... Bad day. Sorry." And she says no more.

Zeraph looks up to Keita, then nods. "I know..." He mumbles in response. And that is all there is. He just lays curled on his side as he watches her work, in silence, so he won't break her concentration, or make her grumpy again. Or both.

The work is quick. After all, there's only so much she can do on the surface. Most of the damage is inside. Her fingers work nimbly, and in the space of a couple of minutes, she's done what she can. Now there's just the bandaging.

Keita's work is watched intently by the fighter, as if he is learning something from this. Though, don't allow him to go try stitching up people when he doesn't know how. Zeraph sighs and lets his eyes half close, tail giving a light flick and curling up a little more.

Keita finishes the bandaging, closes up her bag, and scoots back on her rear towards the head board. She leans against it, and now there's three hares on the bed. All Keita needs now is for Lily to walk in, and the awful day would be complete. Her head flops to the side, and she looks down at Zeraph. "... Are ya really all righ'?"

Zeraph nods. "I'm alright... I actually could walk today.." He mumbles in response, glancing towards Rothal for a moment, before he looks up to Keita, in between them. Well. They're all friends here.. :P

Well, that's a relief disguised in something nettlesome. Rather than rebuke him for having tried to walk, she bites the inside of her cheek. Self-restraint is good, however much of it she's got. "... Good, m'glad."

Somehow, Raph knows the expression on her face that she has just restrained herself, and he grunts, shaking his head. "Uh.. I didn't go far. Got Roth when he collapsed." Which is true..at least partially.

And also probably not making it any better.

That cheek's going to start bleeding soon. Her head thunks against the dark wood of the headboard, and she squeezes her eyes shut. Breeeathe. "... Raph-deah, do me a favah. Pass me that bottle 'n' that glass, 'n' start talkin' about the weathah. Snowin', y'know. Awfully chilly."

Zeraph begins to push himself up into a sitting position, so he can lean against the head board as well, a pain shooting up from his injured side as he does so. Surprisingly..his back is too numb to hurt. "Is it? I always liked the snow.." He replies, to automatically keep the conversation off of..killing him. The hare holds the bottle and glass out to her.

Keita actually manages to smile, and when the bottle thumps her on the forearm, she opens her eyes in order to uncork the bottle and pour herself a glass. She holds out the glass. "Y'want some?"

Zeraph smirks and nods. "Yeah.. 'Ladies first' though." He states, leaning his head back against the head board and gazing up at the ceiling. There may not be much sleep happening tonight..

Keita lifts the bottle. "I've got m'firsts." She continues to hold the glass out to him while she takes a swig from the bottle.

Zeraph glances over and smiles at Keita. There's the doe he knows and loves. The glass is taken from the other hare, and he goes to take a drink from it with a sigh. "I should start wearing more protection."

Keita smirks softly. "Y'know, I find that this'ere tavern provides quite a lot o' protection from stabby wounds." She nods, assuredly.

Zeraph grunts, dipping his muzzle so that it is almost buried into the glass, focused on alcohol for the moment. "K. I'm not going to quit the Patrol.. if that's what you're implying.."

Keita shrugs and tilts the bottle yet again. She pauses just before drinking. "Still 'n' all, we're here if ya evah need it." She nods to herself, then drinks.

Zeraph lifts his mouth away from the glass to give a half smile to Keita. "I know. And I'm glad for it." The hare nods. "And this is good." He gestures to the glass by raising it a little.

Keita's lips curve up. "'Course it is." And she drinks, for the moment being able to relax. What she'd planned on doing in the first place. She glances at him, but doesn't say anything.

Zeraph has turned his attention away from her by the time that Keita glances at him, relaxing as well. One gaze is given to Rothal, just to make sure he is alright, before he takes another swig of drink.

With him looking away, this gives Keita the chance to watch him, with that little knit of concern between her eyes. She soon looks away, though, to take another drink. She sighs. "I talked t'Jarril about doin' something t' call the hounds off o' Vansinnig. Dunno if it'll do any good."

Zeraph flicks his ears into a perked position. "I hope so. Though Dark seems to have it out for him pretty bad." He turns a glance to Keita, brows furrowed. The buck appears to be doing better, though. And the fact that he made it walking around is good.

"Dark's an idiot. The worst kind o' idiot. He's the kind o' idiot who thinks he's doin' the righ' thing." She snorts into the bottle, shaking her head.

Zeraph sighs as once again his ears betray his thoughts, lowering back in a splaying sort of motion. "Dark's not all that bad, K. He's stubborn, yes, but he's a good friend."

"Do all yer friends try t' murdah yer othah friends? Because me, I count those as enemies." Then again, that's assuming Zeraph counts Vansinnig as a friend.

Zeraph grunts. "I knew Dark before I knew Van and became friends with him, though K. And when I met Van.. we didn't start off on the right foot so much.. But I do wish for his safety now. He's fun to bother."

Liquid courage? Keita drinks again. "I knew Darklett long before I knew Vansinnig, same s'you. But you didn't see what they did t'Van." Grimace. "They came fer him in a group, Raph, like a murderin' gang. You should've seen the way Darklett looked when he realized Vansinnig wasn't dead. He looked... mad." And not in the angry sort of way, either.

Zeraph sighs as he looks over at Keita. "Yeah. I know K. I know he can be...a bit insane when it comes to that sort of thing. But..I can't just suddenly start hating him."

Keita shakes her head. "I know ya can't. You still think folks're mostly good." She's not saying this to be mean, but she does sound rather sad about it. "Just... keep it in mind, a'right? When ya think about who the good guy should be."

Zeraph is staring resolutely at his leg, just silent for a little while after she makes the statement about him 'thinking folks're mostly good'. He half sighs. "K, you know I mostly hate vermin. And you know that before I was kept captive for the longest time, I wouldn't even talk to one that wasn't proven to be good right away."

"I wasn't really talkin' about the vermin folks. They're a separate case because ya make 'em one." Another drink, and are her words getting the slightest bit less crisp? Ah well. She looks at him, though, silent long enough to let him speak.

"I know.. And so, Vansinnig was not a 'vermin' to me on first glance." Zeraph turns his attention to her. "But then the way he acted. It changed my perspective.."

Keita doesn't say anything. She doesn't, however, drink anymore for the moment. She knows her limit's quickly approaching. Psh, lightweight.

Zeraph swallows the last of the drink within the glass, going to set the empty cup on the bed in between them.

When he doesn't say anything, Keita sets the bottle between her legs so that it won't spill and folds her paws over her stomach, leaning back a bit more. Hell, it /is/ her bed. "So it changed yer perspective. Van's no more a vermin than I am."

The shifting and setting down of bottles makes Raph go still again and he watches Keita for a moment, before nodding. "Yes. I know. Yet he acts like one...or are all badgers so disgruntled?" He smirks.

Keita smirks. "Not in my experience, 'least not if ya don't piss 'em off." She drums her fingers on the bottle's neck, idly.

Zeraph finds his attention lowering to the doe's drumming fingers. "Then, I suppose he is rather vermin-like in attitude. However, I do find myself enjoying talking to him.. Or arguing with him...Whatever you prefer."

Keita notices the diverted attention, and stills her fingers, curling them around the bottle. "What're yer tryin' to say, Raph? Whatevah it is, jus' come out 'n' say it.

"

Zeraph shrugs. "I guess... That I have a love-hate relationship with that badger."

"Whereas Darklett yer just peachy with," she offers, and lifts the bottle for another, smaller, sip.

"Yes." Zeraph sighs. "I can talk to Dark without him trying to kill me. Yet Van always seems to be trying to find an excuse to hit me."

Keita cuts her eyes wideways at Zeraph. "He's tryin' t'change, Raph. Hell, he apologized t'Lily the othah day even though he nevah did nothin' t'her."

Zeraph nods. "Yeah. I figured.." The hare sighs. "But I didn't say anything about hating him, K." He is thinking about taking the bottle.

Keita notes his studying of the bottle, and holds it out to him. Shrug. "I know ya don't hate him. Still doesn't help anythin', though."

Zeraph takes the bottle from her and tips it back, taking a swig. "How does it not help? I want him to be safe."

"I want there t'be twenty customahs down in the tavern when I wake up t'morrah, 'n' each t'ordah three of m'most expensive drinks. Wishin' won't get me anythin'." She holds her paw out for the bottle, again, thumping him lightly on the shoulder.

Zeraph doesn't turn, or even glance towards Keita. He just holds the bottle out to the side so she can take it. "Yeah..Well. I guess that /doesn't/ work.. I didn't wish for the attitude.." He snorts.

Keita rolls her eyes as she takes the bottle, and waits until after she drinks to respond. "Attitude or not, I meant what I said." She holds the bottle out again, but doesn't look his way. "And I'm... tired. Tired o' all this. I have t'hear it from m'own mate for helpin' out a friend who was dyin'. So what d'ya want me t'say? 'Great, thanks fer likin' him'?"

Zeraph grunts, just taking the bottle back to gulp some more. He sighs. "No. It seemed as if you wanted me to do something about it. When I can't. Darklett is a Major. I'm not even an officer." He goes to put the bottle back in her paws instinctively. "...and I'm sorry about your mate, but what she does has nothign to do with me."

"I just want ya t'think before followin' any ordahs Darklett gives ya... that's it 'n' that's all." She doesn't take the bottle back this time, leaving him to it for the moment. "Mostly I just want ya t'think. Emotions run that patrol, 'n' yer smartah than that. Which is maybe why I like ya." She smirks.

Zeraph grins a little. "Well, I don't really have to worry about Dark's orders, as I am not in his patrol. So it's Jarr's that you need think about." He looks towards her, just holding the bottle close to his muzzle for now. "Have a problem with him?" It's an honest question. No attitude behind it.

"When he's not tryin' to burn down the village? I rathah like the chap. He's helped me out from time t'time." Not to mention when she lost her leg. She reaches across, slipping a paw around the bottle and gently tugging it away. She drinks, then thunks it back into his paw.

Not protesting the kidnap of the bottle, Zeraph just lets it be taken then placed back into his paw. He takes a swig, just savoring it in his mouth as he rests the bottle on his thigh. Finally, the buck nods, swallows, and smiles. "Good."

Keita looks at the bottle, then the thigh she'd have to reach towards in order to get it. Her nose wrinkles, and the nose wrinkle leads her to snicker. No, don't need a drink that much. XD She lifts her arms, tucking them behind her head, pillow-wise. Ah. "Yup."

With a flicker of ears and a turning of his head, Zeraph stares at Keita curiously after she snickers. He raises a brow at the doe, takes another swig from the bottle, then passes it over towards her.

Rothal slips into a violent state of coughing, the first noise he's made since falling asleep awhile back. The hare is, remarkably, appearing to come around once more, whether wakened by the others' talking or the smell of alcohol.

Keita takes the bottle while Rothal is mid-cough, and she almost fumbles it. Oof. She doesn't, and looks around to her other side at Rothal. "... Roth?"

Zeraph is startled enough to tense, then glance towards Rothal as well, ears perking high. He blinks, rubbing his side a little as he does. Maybe he just hurt himself.

Zeraph is startled enough to tense, then glance towards Rothal as well, ears perking high. He blinks, rubbing his side a little as he does. Maybe he just hurt himself.

Rothal coughs again, blood splattering his lips as his eyes flicker half-open. The hare is having a hard time figuring out where he is, again...

Well, if Keita was feeling at all tipsy, which she was, that's gone out the window. Meh. She grabs a handkerchief out of her pocket and reaches across Roth, wiping his lips. Having set the bottle /down/, first, of course. "Try not t'cough. I patched ya up again, but that's not sayin' much."

Oh yes. The happy feeling is gone. Zeraph leans back against the headboard with a grunt and stares bleakly at the ceiling. Why?

Rothal grabs at Keita's paw, anger flashing across his face. And then there is a brief flicker of understanding, and the hare's look softens as he realizes where he is.

Keita's eyebrows go up at the grab, but she smartly doesn't move. Only when recognition registers in her eyes does she gently pull it away, then patting him gently on the shoulder. "There ya go, Roth."

Zeraph's focus drops from the ceiling towards his two friends, worriedly. Especially when he hears Roth seem to start to panic. He sighs.

Rothal glances away from Keita, somehow finding room for embarrassment in his manner. "Sorry, Keita... h'I didn't know.." He pauses, turning away slightly as another series of coughs rattles through his body.

Keita makes a soft 'psh' sound, shaking her head. "Don't even worry about it." She actually manages to smile at the embarrassment, scooching a couple inches away from him and towards Zeraph to give the buck a bit more room to himself on the bed. She bumps an elbow into Zeraph, but doesn't look his way. "Jus'... try to breathe normally, eh? Nothin' too shallow or too deep. Jus' normal." So helpful.

Zeraph is elbowed and glances at Keita as if she may be crazy, ears tilting back and brows furrowing. The buck once again looks to Rothal, ears flickering.

Rothal makes a sound akin to a chuckle, though it contains a good deal of rasp-iness. "Aye, h'I'll try that.." For a moment he's silent, the he turns his head slightly at the others, noting the bottle and eyeing it hopefully. But he doesn't ask for it, figuring he's messed up enough as it is.

Mm. She looks from the bottle to Rothal, then back. "Gimme that glass from before," she murmurs, flicking an ear towards Zeraph.

Zeraph reaches down beside the doe's leg, picks up the glass, and gives it to her quietly, his attention on Rothal the whole time. Still worried.

Rothal watches quietly, his eyes following the proceedings while his paw wipes blood specks from his lips. The hare /is/ attempting to breathe normally, though it's obviously hard for him.

Keita takes the glass and pours an amount that is perhaps smaller than Rothal would like, but it's two good gulps worth. She then digs out a small packet, which she pours into the drink. She swirls it. Mixing drugs and alcohol, tsk-tsk. "Here ya go," she murmurs, setting it in his paw and waiting for him to grip it before letting go.

Zeraph leans back against the headboard again. He doesn't feel he can do much with Rothal, especially with Keita in between the two of them. So the buck remains silent.

Rothal takes the glass, gazing at it for a moment. Then he looks up, watching Keita intently. "Yah want me to drink this, don't yah?" Not exactly accusing, the hare just seems to be stating a fact.

Keita quirks a brow. "That's the idea, aye."

Rothal is silent for another moment, suspecting that the drink is going to knock him out for some time. After a moment of thought, he puts the glass to his mouth and swallows the liquid.

Zeraph goes to shift so that he is in another position, and can be more turned towards both of his friends at the same time.

Maybe not knock him out, but he might feel a bit loopy and he /ought/ to feel less achy. She then tilts the bottle, taking another swig. Got to work to get that buzz back. She leans back against the headboard again, reaching back to her right to thump the bottle to Zeraph's chest. Drink up.

Zeraph instinctively reaches his paw up to his chest to take the bottle as it is bumped against him. He goes to swig from it too. Still watching Rothal. Maybe expecting him to just go out like a light.

Rothal places the glass on the bed beside him, and lies back down, too tired to do anything else. Even moving the small amount that he was, he's tired enough to fall almost instantly back into sleep.

Keita plucks up the now-empty glass, passing it over to Zeraph so that he can place it back on the bedside table. "Well, that was... brief." Heh.

Zeraph takes the glass back and returns it to its previous position. "Perhaps..but he's alive." He shifts so that he is again rested back on the headboard.

Keita nods, head lowered so that she's peering at her one and a half legs. "Aye. He'll be a'right, s'long as he doesn't go for any more strolls."

"I'll tell him not to." Zeraph grunts out and gives a deep sigh. "At least I get to spend time with you?"

Keita coughs, cutting an eye to the side at Zeraph. "Don't sound too excited about it or nothin'." Damned by faint praise. XD She manages an amused grin.

Zeraph chuckles at her. "Yes. Just.. Even if you don't like it, the mountain is my home."

Jarril slowly enters the room, being quiet as he makes his way over to where Zeraph is and sits down on the side of the cot. Taking out a scroll he places it down beside the bed and smiles, talking quietly. "Get better Zeraph, ya been promoted ta lieutenant..."

Zeraph is a little out of it right now, leaned back against the headboard beside Keita, with Rothal asleep on the other side. There is a bottle in between the doe and buck that are awake. For a moment, Raph just stares at Jarril when he comes into the room, then looks down slowly towards the scroll that is set beside him. More staring. Before it clicks in his head and his ears perk quickly. "Uh.. Yes, sah. Thank you, sah."

Keita watches Jarril enter, and has a moment to think about the state of her sleeping chamber when patrol officers instead of her mate are entering. She watches him, and if she doesn't have the bottle, she takes it to take a swig, looking away to, um. To let them have a moment to be patrol-y.

Jarril nods. "Well, that's all I wanted ta say. Get well." No patrol type things, nothing. The hare turns to head out and nods to Keita. "My apologies. I did what ya ask though, he's agreed ta back off for the time being." Without another word, the major heads towards the door.

Zeraph is still a little startled, so he just nods when Jarril states that is all and gives a glance to Keita, before smiling. "See ya soon, then." He calls to the major, shifting again.

A smile breaks out and Keita raises her bottle in her version of a salute. "Ya bloody genius! You have aaaaall the soup 'n' drinks ya want." She then takes a swig and looks to Zeraph, eyebrows waggling comically, her lowered voice amused. "Lieutenant, eh? Should I call ya 'sah', now?"

Jarril stops and grins, thinking that was offered when the village was saved but he nods his head. "Not a problem, happy ta help." He opens the door and smiles before heading out, closing it behind him.

Zeraph is just grinning, not even looking at Keita. She doesn't even get a glance as he responds to her question. "I don't have to take that attitude, I'm a Lieutenant now." Amused.

Keita snorts out laughter and, instead of saying anything, holds out the bottle once more. With the occasional fit of sniggering, of course.

Zeraph laughs a little as he takes the bottle and drinks down another gulp. "Well. I feel better already."

With a final chuckle, she nods. "Oh, I just bet ya do..." She moves to shove his shoulder, but at the last minute she remembers his condition and just... pats? Right. "Congrats, mate."

Zeraph glances towards his tipsy friend and smirks. "Oh, yes. Recognition for all these...wounds?" He goes to lean over and give her a sideways hug. "And thanks."

Keita returns the hug with one arm hooking around his shoulders so that she can muss up his headfur with a ruffle while she's doing it. Griiiin. "Well, 'least ya got somethin' for 'em, othah than my bedside mannah."

Zeraph chuckles and grins. "I'll take your bedside manner anytime. I'd rather be here than the infirmary I think.."

Keita centers herself on the bed, again, and nods. "Aye, well. The infirmary /is/ a bit depressin'. Sheets aren't nearly s'soft, eithah."

Zeraph begins patting the sheets. Maybe he's a little 'happy'. He goes to take another swig of the almost empty bottle, then hands it back to Keita. "Sorry about the blood, though."

Keita shrugs and takes the bottle again, eyeing it perhaps the first time in several drinks. Wow. And she's still talking coherently? She waves the bottle-holding paw, shaking her head. "Don't worry yerself, m'fine, feathahed friend." Nod, swig, pass. "I've got extras."

Zeraph gazes at Keita thoughtfully, then leans over to stare into her eyes. "Are you feeling alright?" That comment was a little off.

Keita peers at him as he comes closer, eyes almost crossing. "A'righ'? 'Course m'a'right." She's rather happily grinning, too, so obviously she is. Then. "But are... /you/ a'right, Raphy?" That's the real question, here.

Zeraph smirks as he leans back, nodding his head. "Of course I'm alright, ya crazy doe. I'm always alright..I mean.. as long as I'm still alive." If that makes sense.

In her current state? It makes so much sense she laughs. She then begins climbing diiiirectly over him, though she miraculously avoids bumping him in any way. "'Ell! Fergot. Lily. Gottago kiss'er." Sure nod.

Zeraph leans back away from the climbing, one-legged doe, ears flicking into a perked position. "I'm not sure I wanted to know.. but alright." He smirks. "Have fun with it.."

The door creaks open, and without scouting the area before she enters, she pushes herself in. Her eyes look up, and automatically her jaw drops. What is this before her? In bed, together... Lily gasps, stepping back. "What th' bloody /'ell/?!? She growls suddenly.

Lily's words interrupt her juuuust as she's got one leg over and the other's on its way. Noooot her best moment ever. Especially not with the silly grin plastered on her face. The fact that it /stays/ for a moment after she looks up and sees Lily is simply disastrous. When her drink-addled brain catches up with her, her eyes widen and she lifts one paw. Which, unbalancing her, leaves her to fall rather drunkenly onto Zeraph's lap. Nothisstomach, thank God, but still not good. "Lil'! Notwhatchathink!"

As a result of Lily's emergence, which Zeraph has to see by looking around Keita's body, he gets a doe in his lap. Normally, he'd just stare? But now, this could be dead serious, and he's injured, as well as this doe not being the kind he'd want to fall on him. So the buck is thrown backward against the headboard, because of trying to get out of the way and far from the other hare, ears pinning. Clunk. Ow.

Lily's paws slowly curls up. Her nose twitches at the scent of alcohol in the room. "Lovely." She snorts, advancing forward in a rather aggressive manner. "S'funny, Keita. It looks /exactly/ like wot m'thinkin'!" The doe screams. Her eyes turn from Keita to the buck. "You... oh, m'gonnah /kill/ yah!"

Keita scrambles up from what ended up being more knees than lap, clambering up from the bed. She stands, sways, and only then realizes that she's sans-leg as she drops to the hard-wood floor. A grunt is driven out of her, her arm flying up and slapping down on the edge of the bed. Puuuuull up, and now she's kneeling in Lily's way of Zeraph destruction. She feels deceptively clear-headed for having drunk half a bottle on no food. "Not whatcha think! I was comin' t'giveya a kiss!" /Deceptively/ clear-headed being the key, here.

Zeraph raises his paws, disarmingly. "Hey! There's nothing going on!" He glances down at Keita as she nearly face-plants, then has to drag her way up in between him and Lily again. The buck goes to straighten even more, looking startled. Of course, he doesn't want to have to fight the doe who is threatening him, but he's ready for it. Suddenly, his legs may work just fine... X_X

Lily stops short of Keita, an angry glare being shot right at the other doe. "Don' even start wi' tha' bloomin' excuse! Unless yah drink 'nough t'think this /buck/ is me, then don' you /dare/." She snarls, her foot rising as if about to send a kick at Keita. But instead Lily just lets out a grunt of anger, and attempts to shove herself past Kei and right at the buck, blunt claws and paws flying. "Don' yah lie t'me, buck! We let yah in /our/ home an' yah try t'.... rrraa! You good fer nothin'... M'gonna..." She puffs, huffs, and threats, trying her best to clock Zeraph in the muzzle.

Keita is coherent enough to see what's coming, and a rather great amount of concern rises up in her. With wide eyes, she shouts, "No!" She throws herself at Lily's legs from her kneeling position. To take her down? Yes. To take her down. Oh, that should make Lily the happiest doe in the world.

Zeraph backs as far as he can up against the headboard, which nearly makes him meld with it. "K!" Panicked. He doesn't want to have to hurt Lily. As the punch is sent at his nose, training kicks in and his paw reaches up quickly to intercept it. Or Keita could just take her down..That'll work.

Lily is, in fact, taken down. The doe lands smack on her back, her head cracking cruelly against the floor. It's enough to stun her for a moment, though she is still spluttering and spitting angrily. "Lemme go! I'll kill 'im. Keita... gerroff me!"

Keita manages to pull herself up Lily's body, grabbing at her arms to try and keep her down with sheer weight. "No, Lil'! No! We weren't doin' nothin'!" She then grabs her head, forgetting the arm for the moment, and tries to turn it so that she's looking up towards the bed. "Roth's up there, too! W'weren't... weren't doin' nothin'!" She's doing her best to behave as soberly as she can. "I had t'fix Rothal up 'n' it was easiest from the bed, 'n' w'got t'talkin' so I jus'... stayed there!"

It's amazing how having your life threatened can suddenly throw someone into action. Zeraph is out of the bed in a moment, dulled from the alcohol definitely, so it doesn't hurt to be on his footpaws as it would if he was sober. Plus, his back is definitely healing. The buck has stooped and grabbed the scroll in a quick movement, before snatching up the rest of his stuff which had been set off to the side. He backs against the wall, waiting for the best opportunity..to run.

Lily is pinned for the moment, her paws clasping and unclasping in anger. Her eyes are narrowed to slits as she looks up at the other. Though Keita might be attempting to act sober, she can still smell alcohol. "An' /you/. Don' get me started on /you/. Never took yah as ah buck gel." Lily says angrily. As her head is grabbed, her lips are forced to purse together and her voice gets a lisp. "Ohf. Fo dere are two of fem?? Bit gweedy awent we?" The free arm is taken advantage of and Lily props herself up, trying to push Keita off of her.

Keita's head starts to ache, fiercely, but all she can do is release Lily's face and grab for her free arm, again, to hold her down. She snorts out disgusted laughter - as well as a blast of alcohol right into Lily's face. "Oh, aye! I'm a'real suckah fer unconscious bucks!" Then, "Get outta here, Raph!"

Zeraph scowls, ears pinning. This isn't going anywhere /good/ fast. The hare puts his tunic and weapons back on, speaking to Lily as he does. "Listen, Lil. Nothing was happening. K's not my type. Sorry." Then, without another command, Raph has leapt half of the room and is sprinting out the door. He'll regret this later...

Lily is forced to turn her head to the side, her nose wrinkles up and her upper sliding up over her incisors. "Oh, yah think yah really funny!" She snaps back. Her eyes bore into Zeraph. "Yeah, run 'way. Bloody 'ell." Lily snarls and without a target for true, unbridled hatred, the doe slumps back on the floor under the weight of Keita. "Y'nevah loved me. I knew it all ah'long. I'm just' th' leftovers... what was left aftah Rory left. Ah damned hand-me-down mate, huh?" The doe grunts bitterly. "I shouldah stayed gone. I shouldah died in Ruingate, s'what I shouldah done."

What can Keita do in this situation? What? She releases one of Lily's arms juuust long enough... to haul back a paw and to slap for her cheek, open-palm and everything. It's not anywhere near as hard as she could - after all, she doesn't really want to /hurt/ her - but it should be enough to startle, and to shut up. Her voice is deadly calm, all trace of outward drunkenness gone. "Stop it."

Lily is slapped before she can do anything to react. Her face is turned to the side, a bit of spittle landing on the floor not far away. Though not from the pain, her tears begin to brim with a wall of tear. She doesn't looks back at Keita, the doe trying to keep her anger at the front instead of the overwhelming desire to crawl into a corner and cry.

Keita's eyes widen with shock at her own actions, but she's done it and... it's done. She swallows on a dry throat, and slowly, as if she might set something off if she moves any quicker, releases Lily's remaining arm. Her words are strained, so strained and deliberate. "I've... had... a bad... day." Another dry swallow, and an unbelieving shake of her head. "An unbelievably... bad... week. I don't feel like addin' a friends death on top o' it. So if ya want t' hit me, if ya want t' kick me, then do it. But leave Zeraph outta this." And she rolls off, sitting on her rear with her arms held behind her to prop herself up. And she just sits there, watching the other.

Lily doesn't move even as she's being released. She doesn't try to retaliate. In fact, she simply lays there until the wall of tears is broken and fat tears begin to roll down her cheek. Both eyes sending the trail of tears down the cheek pressed against the floor. She stays quiet for a while, her ears sliding until they're lined up against her neck. "M'leavin'." The doe whispers, her eyes shutting slowly. "I'm leavin' you." Lily repeats, as if making it official.

Keita doesn't move, doesn't breathe. It might make Lily's words true. To her it seems like hours have passed, but it's really only been seconds when she all of a sudden back-pedals, back-pedals all the way until she bumps up against the bed-side table, where leaned crutches are knocked down. They clatter to the floor, impossibly loud in the room. The sound doesn't even register with Keita, though, as a single tear escapes, spilling down her cheek. This is what it feels like to be in shock.

Lily winces at the noises. Her eyes slowly open and focus into a world where she has declared herself single. The doe sits up, timidly looking at Keita. Lily blinks in surprise. Could Keita be crying? The doe pulls her knees up, bringing herself to her feet, still fairly closer to the doe than she would like. "I... please don'... s'best for both o'us, isn't it?" She says, trying to reason both with Keita and herself. "We're nevah happy... we always argue, Kei...ta." Lily swallows on the nickname, choosing to forgo it altogether.

"Is this because I... I-I-I," and that's a hitching breath. She forces the words out in a way that's almost gasping. "Hit you? Oh spirits, m'so sorry, I'll nevah do it again, I won't even /touch/ ya, oh hell, oh damn, oh Lily, I love ya, please, I'll nuh-nuh-nuh-nevah evah do it again." Her words are so fast as to almost be indistinguishable. Shocked, dark circles have appeared under her eyes where moments ago there were none.

Lily gingerly puts a paw up to where she was hit, the light sting still lingering. Her ears are completely limp, resting up against her shoulders. Her eyes drop away from the doe. The dry sobbing of Keita seems to tug heavily at the doe's heart and she finds herself stepping forward, falling to her knees in front of the other. She cringes at the word 'love'. "No... y'don'. Y'can't. M'jus' tha' doe yah met in th' mountain. We aren't happy, an' this isn't righ'. It can't be." She says quietly. "C'mon. Pull yahself t'gethah...." Lily hisses under her breath.

Despite what she may have said to Oxeye the other day, despite how often she's thought how much easier it would be if the two weren't a two, Keita realizes with a heart-rending, painful sadness that it is, and that she does, whether it's the same love she had for Rory or not. It is the phrase "we aren't happy" that stays her paws, that keeps her from reaching out to the other, and it is a bitterly felt restraint. The gaze she holds upon Lily is a broken one, and as it should be, she breaks it. Then, so quietly, "... Yer righ'." She pulls herself together, physically if not emotionally, and reaches blindly for her crutches through eyes which she tries not to let be tearful. "I... I'll go. Yuh-you stay." Not even thinking of Rothal, still there in the bed.

Lily was, whether she admits it or not, hoping beyond hope that the doe /would/ reach out for her. Cling, hug, punch... anything. Lily wanted physical contact in any sense of the word. But none comes. She closes her eyes and hangs her head for a moment before going to help Kei with her crutches. "Don' be ridiculous. This tavern is yah home. This village is yah family. Halyard needs yah." Lily reminds the other. "I'll leave. I'll get outta yah fur. This is mah fault 'nyways."

Physical contact does come, in the form of a paw gently to the back of Lily's wrist. "... For once, darlin', let me be the one t'leave?" It is said with a smile so tremulous and heavy-hearted that Keita is almost driven to laugh - or sob. She does neither, and instead removes her paw from the other's, reaching beneath both to grasp the crutch there and lift it, tucking it under her arm with ever-so-slightly shaking paws. She keeps her face turned away as she forces herself up, to hide the struggle raging there. Her back is turned when she stands. "I'll go for t'night... This tavern is yer home, too, 'n' it's still yours. I undahstand if ya don't want it, now, 'n' I have a feelin'... jus' maybe, that there's somewhere else ya'd rathah go, 'n' maybe that's where ya /should/ go, if it's what ya want." Her words have a way of trailing off without the trail, and she takes a step. "... Goodbye, Lil'."

Lily takes deep, controlled breaths, only to keep herself from breaking into heavy sobs herself. Her paw lifts as it's touched, lingering in the air even after it's left go. Her fingers spread slightly, and Lily keeps her eyes on the doe, though the vision is completely blurred from tears. The doe remains completely silent, the only sound coming from her is the gasps for air she keeps taking. Perhaps it's the goodbye that gets her, or maybe it's the sweet nickname she's become so accustomed to.... but whatever it is, the doe steps forward with a shuddering breath. "Wait." She squeaks out, moving to take Kei's jaw line in both paws. Lily leans forward, trying to press a kiss onto her lips before stepping back quickly and burying her face in her paws, finally sobbing. "G-g-g'bye."

As the kiss settles upon her lips, Keita's eyes slip shut and twin tears roll down her cheeks. She doesn't resist, and when the kiss ends her lips follow it for a moment, loath for the kiss to end. It does, however, and she opens her eyes to see the sobbing doe - her Lily, her once Lily. Her heart breaks, and it takes everything she has not to hold her, to cover her, to /bury/ her in reassurances, but she manages somehow. Without another word she side-steps Lily and floats on a daze to the door. Her fingers closing on the door-knob, she pauses one last time, to turn half-way back, bewildered, as her eyes settle upon the bed, seemingly the cause of all this. Her eyes shift to Lily's, for one last look. "I... didn't. I really..." That's all she can manage, and the door pulls open as if on its own accord, and through it she inevitably steps.

Lily doesn't look back at the other, the only thing that Lily can possible see at the moment is the insides of her paws, and the tears mixing in with her pawpads. Her shoulders shake with each unsure breath, the air rattling around in her throat, as if her physical body is just as upset as she is mentally. The doe stays rooted to her spot, saying only one thing before it ends. "I know."