Cringing away from the wall as it shook from whatever had damaged the door, Antimony pressed her mouth together tightly in an effort not to just explode on the younger woman. A moment passed, and then she noticed again that D'hein was awake, looked to him, and looked away anxiously.
D'hein's tired eyes roved across the road towards Antimony, and he muttered in a weary voice, "Why are people always yelling around you?"
She shut her eyes at that, ears shivering low by her skull, and then she moved to bend down by the tray she'd brought in earlier. Her hands shook slightly as she poured the third cup of tea, but she ignored it as she crossed the room to hold the mug, slightly cooler than it would have been had she poured it immediately but still quite warm, out towards D'hein. "I apologize for waking you."
Though D'hein's expression was still sleepy, one ear inside out and the other swinging as though limp next to his head, his hand lifted with a swiftness as though awake. Instinctively, he ignored the cup and placed his hand on the outside of Antimony's. "You're not the one who woke me. Is everything all right?"
"Ah, I wouldn't want--don't worry yourself over it. Everything will be fine." Her eyes drifted towards the bathroom door with a slight frown. "She's just... upset." And not in a state to listen to reason in any form, apparently. Antimony sighed.
D'hein's eyes looked down at their hands with curiosity, as if he hadn't noticed himself reaching out to touch her. "You know you don't have to take anyone else's troubles upon yourself now."
Lips pursing, Antimony's fingers fidgeted against the mug, beneath D'hein's hand, and then turned it so that the ceramic was pressed against his. "Drink," she said simply, then paused. "I already took on her troubles weeks ago."
"You have too large a heart for you own good, maybe." He took the tea, sipped it, smiled, and drank of it deeply.
Her tail curled, ears splaying in embarrassment. "Ah, well... I wouldn't say..." Stepping back, she coughed, glanced again towards the door, and then reluctantly stepped towards it, knocking first and then pushing on it experimentally. "Miss Loughree... are you alright?"
Watching Antimony, D'hein drank what was left in the cup of tea and then leaned over to set it down on the floor. He almost fell out of the bed in the process, and his tail whipped in the air, but he righted himself and rolled over to lay back down.
The door Antimony pushed about did not give, thanks to a significant weight pressing against the other side. There came the sound of shifting, and Loughrees voice replied immediately from the other side. "Yes."
"Ah." A sigh. "Well. That's good. I'd worried..." She brought her hands together, fingers twisting; the gesture made their joints ache. "How... long do you intend to stay in there?"
"I don't want to be in here at all!" Her fist pounded against the opposite side of the door. "Hiding in bathrooms from harmless people. This is pathetic."
Antimony leaned back slightly at the pounding, winced. "It's... alright, dear. You can... well." She fidgeted, tail shifting to press against one leg, curling around her knee. "I understand you're frightened and worried. You... can stay there as long as you need."
After a sudden shifting, the door snapped open, revealing Loughree's dirty, glaring features. "I didn't come here looking for mothering. You can't make this better with tea and hugs."
Green eyes widened at that, ears shifting back in sudden discomfort, and some hurt. "I am only trying to help you calm down," she protested after a moment, brow furrowing.
"It isn't working!" She punched the doorframe, drawing a painful-sounding crack. She shook. "That's... not your fault. This whole thing is my fault."
Antimony reached out suddenly to Loughree's hand. "Stop that. Hurting yourself won't help either." She hesitated and then added, "Neither will blaming yourself. Perhaps... perhaps it is my fault, for continuing to associate with Megiddo."
The hand that Antimony reached for suddenly opened and took her wrist in a firm grip. "Did you tell him?" Her nostrils curled and she leaned down to Antimony's eye level, clay-red eyes shining through her dirty hair. "Did you tell him about her? Is that how he knew?"
"What?" Her brow wrinkled deeply, and she cast an anxious look over her shoulder, then back to Loughree. "I... no! No, why would I do such a thing..?"
"I know you wouldn't." Loughree let go of the odler woman's hand, and her broad shoulders buckled. "I just don't know how he found out. I was so careful."
"I don't... Are you sure it was him? Perhaps... a coincidence... maybe she traveled or had to leave for some, ah, other reason..?"
The woman reached up to the collar of her shirt and pulled it down to reveal her neck, displaying fresh, heinous burns. Distinguishable in the burns, just barely between the hideously disfigured, oozing flesh, were letters inscribed as though with a brand. "It was him."
Antimony sucked in a sharp breath, leaned back, and then almost immediately moved forward, reached to touch the edges of the collar. "Miss Loughree, that--that needs seeing to..." One ear shook. "... But I don't understand?"
Loughree dropped her hands away and lifted her chin so that Antimony could have a better look. "I hunted him. I confronted him on the night I heard the screaming. I thought I could fight him, but... In the Shroud, when the Clan was falling apart, I used to find bodies with the names seared into them. Our ancestors' names. Children's bodies, burned."
The skin was in a horrible condition, blisters peeling back down to muscle in some small patches, and inching rapidly towards infection. One of Antimony's hands went instinctively to her own neck, but then dropped when she remembered she would have none of her old tools. "You need to... see someone for this, Miss Loughree," her ears drooped. "Even something this localized could become deadly." She licked her lips, processed the Keeper's words. "He... told you he'd taken her?"
Rolling her chin down and looking aside, Loughree muttered. "It's hard to worry about myself when she's..." Her gaze twitched towards Antimony for only an instant. "Yes."
Antimony drew a slow breath. "Oh." She blinked, pressed her lips together, and then finally turned towards D'hein. "She... needs medical help," she wrung her hands as she spoke. "I don't have any aloe, or anything else useful with me, but..."
D'hein burst into a sitting position, the bed keening underneath him. His head tilted oddly and only one of his eyes was open. "I can procure whatever you need! Or a healer."
The broad Miqo'te glared down at D'hein, letting her burned neck remain exposed as she crossed her arms.
For a few seconds, Antimony just blinked in mild surprise at the Tia and his sudden, if lopsided, reaction. "A..." She hesitated at asking outright for another healer. How could she be sure they would treat Loughree properly? And they could ask questions that would upset the younger woman... Antimony bit her lower lip briefly and then changed course, "Warm water, salt... ah, aloe, as freshly cut as possible. And dressing."
The Tia-or-Nunh rubbed his eyes with one hand. "Dressing? They make a really good seasoned vinegar at that place in Hustings Strip I took you one time..."
"I don't know how I feel about charity." Loughree turned her attention back to Antimony, no longer glaring, just musing. "The refugees can't afford medicine. Why should I have that luxury?"
"Anyone should," that answer came easily enough. "Don't be ridiculous." Then to D'hein with an anxious huff, "Not food - cloth, to wrap the wound in!"
"It sounded like you were describing a salad. A salted aloe salad. Oh, well." D'hein brought his feet around and hopped off the bed, landing directly on the tray of bread and tea, shattering most of the dishes with one foot and toppling directly forward without any motion to catch himself. He stood so quickly, though, that he almost appeared to bounce, rolling to one foot and positioning himself facing the door, shards of broken pottery stuck in his boot. "I'll be right back."
Antimony let out a very unbecoming squeak as D'hein outright squashed and shattered the tray's contents, hands moving to her mouth. She just watched him with wide, uncertain eyes as he made to leave.
Slipping out of the room smoothly, D'hein pulled the door shut on his tail with a heavy, boney thwack that caused the door to bounce back open. He continued on, though, not noticing that he'd failed to close the door.
Loughree watched him go with a an unchanged expression, but after a few minutes, she smirked. "At least he isn't hitting on me this time."
Antimony had taken a step forward, in part out of concern for D'hein's tail and in part to close the door, when Loughree spoke. She paused, blinked. "Ah... what?"
"I remember him. Sweet-talker. Always trying to get somewhere."
At that, Antimony sighed and closed the distance between herself and the door so as to close it. "Perhaps." She was struck with a pang of guilt then, for letting herself get distracted by Loughree's troubles, delaying attention towards those that dogged herself and D'hein, and almost immediately she felt guilty for feeling guilty. And then she just wanted to sink into the floor. She chose instead to look towards the crushed bread and shattered plateware, ears low.
After watching Antimony's silence some, Loughree followed Antimony's gaze to the mess on the floor. A moment later, wordlessly, Loughree stepped forward and dropped into a crouch over the shattered plates, piling the larger shards onto the tray, along with the ruined food, and her own spilled cup of tea. "Your room kind of gets abused by people, doesn't it?"
"I... imagine the innkeeper will not want me to return after this." Watching Loughree pull the mess into a more localized space brought a small, appreciative smile to her face though.
Loughree hummed at that. "I'm sorry. I don't know why I keep coming here and breaking things. You know you're the only person who even knows that I had someone I was taking care of."
"It is... better than going elsewhere and hurting yourself, I should think." She wasn't sure what to think about the last part. Honored? Saddened? Ambivalent?
"Maybe I could use a little abuse." She paused after she said that, staring at the shards of broken pottery in her hand, and then continued without another word. Her tail shivered.
"I'll have none of that," Antimony spoke sharply, but almost immediately regretted her tone. Her posture slumped with a sigh. "Let's... just focus on fixing that burn for now." All the while, Aijeen moved potentially further and further away... she couldn't think about that.
Loughree hefted the tray into her lap, its contents clattering. She rose to her feet and then shifted, just holding it, not looking sure what to do with it. Most of the furniture in the room was broken. Finally, she carried the tray over to the furniture she had previously broken and piled and set it in with the rest of the mess.
Shifting her head about, stretching the burned flesh on her neck but not feeling it, Loughree turned around to Antimony and said at last. "You can focus on whatever you want."
And yet Loughree had made it impossible to do just that. Immediately Antimony cringed with guilt at her own thoughts, and then forced a small smile towards the Keeper, who stood now by the remnants of her destructive tendencies. "Would you like another cup of tea?"
"No." Loughree looked away, an expression of disgust on her features. "Stop offering me things. Charity makes me feel like I'm being made fun of."
Antimony's tail stiffened at that, ears laying back, and she stammered a moment before, "Oh... oh, I didn't mean--that is, I only meant to offer... help."
"I know that. Just. Stop trying so hard. I don't need anything." The blonde, broad woman paced back towards the middle of the room. "I don't understand charity. I don't understand why you're helping. I know you are, but you don't need me, so I don't understand."
"Does it matter? As long as it's genuine?" Grey ears tilted, relaxing slightly. She hesitated for a moment longer. "After we address your burn, I... I can't stay here for very long." A pause, and her expression flashed briefly with discomfort before softening towards Loughree. "But you're welcome to, ah, remain, should you need a place to stay. Er--not to assume that you're homeless or anything! Only--you came here for a reason... I think! And I... will return here, hopefully in a few days. So." She wrung her hands. "Perhaps it's charity, but you're welcome."
"I have a home." Loughree's expression didn't seem able to soften, nor did her voice. "And no reason not to go back to it. I don't have a reason to have come here in the first place, either. I don't know."
"Well." She furrowed her brow. "That's alright, too, I suppose. I only want to make sure you're... ah, comfortable."
Rolling her broad shoulders, Loughree tilted her neck, the burns cracking illustratively. "Don't think that's likely."
Antimony didn't miss the hint. Tapping her fingers together anxiously, the older woman twisted towards the door. "Aah, what is taking that Tia so long? They weren't difficult supplies!"
"It hasn't been that long." Loughree righted her head, the burnt flesh sinking back into itself like folded paper. She winced slightly, but smirked. "Maybe he's getting you flowers."
Her head canted back towards Loughree, with what was at first a baffled and then a flustered expression. "Nonsense! I told him to get aloe, warm water, and dressing."
"So you think that doesn't mean he's not going to flatter you with anything. It's like you've never actually met a man."
Antimony frowned, huffed, and then gestured towards the bed, "Sit and rest while we wait."
"I don't need to rest," Loughree huffed, but paced towards the bed anyway.
There was a sudden thud against the room's door, then silence for a moment, and then another thud. Finally the door swung inward to reveal D'hein, his forehead reddened and his arms full of goods. He indeed had fresh cuts of aloe, a roll of long, thin cloth, and a jug of warmed water. He also held across his chest several bottles of milk.
Walking directly to Antimony as though in a sleepy daze, he deposited all of the medicinal items in the womans arms and muttered, "They had most of this in the bar already because sometimes people get burned I guess. I made them heat the water." He then placed one of the bottles of milk on top of the items in her arms. "Drink this bones. Gives you strong milk."
He turned and forced a bottle into Loughree's hands as well. "Cheer up. Strong bones."
Finally, he collapsed face-down on the bed, successfully taking it for himself before Loughree could sit down. He cradled the final bottle of milk next to him like he'd forgotten what it was. "Make sure you drink it..."
Loughree stared at the bottle in her hands like she'd never seen a bottle before. "Well it's not exactly flowers."
It took no small amount of effort not to drop the items that found themselves very suddenly deposited into unsuspecting arms. Antimony leaned back sharply as the bottle threatened to roll right off and managed to stagger towards the bed in time for it to drop harmlessly onto the mattress, by D'hein's feet. She blinked at it in a strange bemusement before Loughree's words brought her back to the present and she shook herself. The other items went to the bed as well, in a corner not occupied by D'hein, save for the jug of water. She held that between her hands and let its warmth ease aching joints a moment before turning towards the Keeper and giving a slight nod.
"Well, then. Ah... let's--come here and sit so we can take care of you."
Allowing herself to smirk in good humor, Loughree moved the bottle from one hand to the other as she paced over. "He gave me a bottle, too. Does this mean he's courting me, too? Giving me food is a lot more effective than whatever he was doing last time." She sat on the bed where indicated, carefully pulling her tail away from D'hein and up over her lap. The deteriorating bed frame creaked beneath her.
One of Antimony's ears twitched. "It's not any of my business if he were, but I highly doubt it." She eyed the bed warily when it groaned and bent slightly under Loughree's added weight. "Wait," she said to the Keeper, turning from her and crossing the short distance into the bathroom. She was gone only a few seconds, only to return with a small towel hung over one arm. "We'll need to remove your shirt so I can clean and dress the burn. Can you lift your arm?"
Loughree made a small show of stretching her arms to either side and then over her head, flapping them about a bit before pulling the filthy shirt over her head, cringing at the feeling but not uttering a sound. She was careful to keep the baggy shirt hanging over the front of her body, and snapped her arms down in front of her as soon as the shirt was loose. Only her shoulders and her naked back were exposed, both pale and carved with incredibly dense muscle. The fact that she was otherwise thin made the stressed muscles stand out all the more.
If Antimony noted anything else about Loughree's body aside from the wound it was that the younger woman was perhaps too thin to be healthy. She filed this away automatically as her body set to work on the burn along Loughree's shoulder. The skin was crinkled, peeling, dry in some places, wet with body fluid in others. Opening the jug of water, she damped the towel and then very carefully dabbed around the wound. She knew it would hurt but it was not something she could let stop her. Dirt washed away, along with dead skin.
"You are lucky, it is not very deep," she murmured as she set the towel across her  lap and then took up a number of the aloe leaves. The thick, waxy leaves had been cut in a way that told Antimony someone had known what they were doing. But then, burns were likely a common problem in a kitchen. She broke one of the leaves in half and squeezed out the gel-like substance all over the burn. "It may sting at first, but it should start to soothe very quickly." This imparted to Loughree, she then bowed her head and murmured a few low prayers as she worked - to cleanse and seal the burn from infection, to ward off spiritual ills that may invade the damaged opening, to hasten healing.
A few other aloe leaves had been cut lengthwise, and these she lay across Loughree's shoulder so that the gel-covered halves pressed against the wound. She then took up the cloth dressing and began to wrap them down.
The young Miqo'te did not complain about any of the pain, though her expression showed that she did feel it. She kept herself quiet and still, at first keeping her eyes turned away. When Antimony began to pray, Loughree's ears lifted and turned towards her, one twitching. Her blue eyes watch the woman, then. As Antimony began to wrap the burns, Loughree's tail shivered. "Thank you. I wouldn't have known to do this on my own."
Pulling the dressing across Loughree's chest and up over the woman's shoulder repeatedly, Antimony pressed her ears back in a display of humility. "I would not have let you go without seeing to it. If the creeping death had set in... well, let's not think on that." Her own tail shifted anxiously. A moment later, she was tying off the remaining dressing and stepping back from the Keeper."You'll want to change the aloe at least twice a day."
Loughree blinked at the woman and smirked. "Then I guess I'll be scrounging around the desert for wild aloe." She looked down at her hands crossed over her breast, holding ehr shirt to her. "Or I can make some money somehow. I don't need to be a Brass Blade in order to..." She left off the last of the thought and cast her gaze at the wall.
"You are a smart, strong woman," Antimony spoke after a moment before bending to gather up the remains of the aloe, bundling them in the towel. "I am certain you can make a life in any way you choose."
"I was only ever taught to live one way. And I'm starting to think that hurting other people isn't the best way to get what I need. Can I put my shirt back on now?"
At some point while Loughree was speaking, D'hein roused once more. Pushing himself up on his elbows, one eyes pinked and one eyes squinted around the wound. "What? What's going on?" His gaze found Loughree's exposed side and back and lingered there.
"Of course, just be careful not to shift the--" Antimony blinked, straightening with the bundle of aloe in her hands, and cast a bemused look towards D'hein.
Looking back at D'hein, Loughree frowned and elbowed the man in the leg. He didn't appear to notice, so the woman just huffed and pulled the filthy shirt back over her head, standing from the bed with her tail swinging around behind her. "Thank you, Antimony."
D'hein just sat up and appeared surly. "Has it been an hour yet?"
"What?" Antimony furrowed her brow, not immediately following D'hein's train of thought. She cast a brief, small smile that deepened the spidery lines to either side of her mouth towards Loughree and then returned her confusion to the Tia. "I... I'm unsure. It's impossible to keep track of in this walled off city."
"Lots of people keep timepieces." Loughree stretched her arms and her neck, wincing at the sensations. It was like she was testing how much pain she would feel, or how much she would endure. "I think it's been about an hour since you two came back in."
D'heing curled forward and stared at the ground. "I'm never going to get a nap."
"You've taken two already, haven't you?" She felt her tail curling unhappily and forced it to relax with a sigh. The effort didn't last long and soon the limb was twitching anxiously behind her once more. "There is some time for additional rest, I suppose.."
"No. No, there's not." D'heing brushed at his face and forced himself to stand, though he looked very unhappy about it. His ears were flat on top of his head, his tail limp behind him. "I told Illira one hour, and one hour I will stick to. If I leave her any longer she's liable to stab someone. Possibly myself."
"Wh-what?" Antimony paled, then shook herself, her own ears dropping back. "Now look--I still don't think I want that woman accompanying us on such a personal matter...!"
D'hein's entire argument was to look at Antimony with a frown on his face, arms at his sides.
"She--it--" Antimony sputtered, green eyes shifting around the room before returning to the Tia. "She has no care for finding Aijeen or Airos! And she certainly wouldn't care about protecting them from whatever has committed those murders."
"She has a strong sense of right. Too strong, to be honest. If she discovers some corruption of malevolence oppression Aijeen and K'airos, her first instinct will be to destroy it. You can trust that even if you don't like her."
Antimony winced. "It's not that I... she just... well." Her tail performed a number of contortions against her leg. "She's clearly... she has been nothing but belittling to me this entire time and I don't understand what--" Forcing herself to stop, Antimony shut her eyes, drew a deep breath, and let it out lengthily through her nose.
"If she's mean to you just call her ugly and mean like you did last time. Her feelings can be hurt if you decide you want to." D'hein turned to take a step towards the door, only to find himself face-to-face with Loughree again. The woman, almost taller than he was and just as broad, was watching him with arms crossed and a frown on her face. D'hein looked over her filthy appearance, the tattered old clothes, the bandages, the tangled hair. Then he turned to Antimony and said, "I'm confused why there's a refugee in your room."
"A ref... what?" She blinked at Loughree, and then frowned sharply towards the Tia. "No. Miss Loughree is no refugee, and she certainly deserves more respect than what you've given her." Perhaps an unexpected reaction, even to Antimony, given her earlier own feelings towards the Keeper's presence.
Loughree looked past D'hein to Antimony. "I don't think I need-"
"You're right!" D'hein snapped straight, his tail lifting and falling decisively behind him. He then inclines his head to Loughree. "Refugee, soldier, Dodo or stranger, all women deserve the utmost respect, and I apologise." He then reached out to poke the bottle that Loughree still held in one hand. "Drink your milk."
He shuffled into the middle of the room and went for the door. "I need to go collect Illira." He lifted the milk in his hand, only just realizing he still possessed it, and cracked it open.
Antimony went from looking satisfied at the Tia's apology to extremely unhappy at his announcement of retrieving the elezen woman. She just frowned though.
As D'hein left through the door, chuckling happily as though all were suddenly right in the world as soon as he pressed the bottle of milk to his lips, Loughree turned a deadpan gaze on Antimony. "You keep strange friends, Antimony."
The older woman let out a faint sigh. "I suppose so." She hesitated, and then held the aloe wrapped in the towel towards Loughree. "Will... you be alright on your own? You're still welcome to remain here while I travel."
Loughree accepted the towel and tucked it under one arm. "How long are you going to be gone? And... wait." She flicked her eyes towards the door, and then back to Antimony. "You're looking for someone. You're looking for someone who is... That's why you were asking me about the other night!"
Grey ears splayed out flat on either side of her head. "Ah, that..." Her fingers flexed uselessly around where they'd held the towel, and her brow knit with an anxious crease behind her glasses. "It... yes."
Loughree pivoted on one foot to turn herself directly towards Antimony and said in a very serious tone, "Tell me what's happening."
Antimony flinched back from the younger Keeper, brought her hands down to twist into the fabric of her robe. "It's... it's very complicated. I'm not sure I... can."
The broad woman's tone hardened. "I am sure you can."
Antimony quailed. "It's nothing but--just... old family troubles." Her tail twisted. "I apologize for suspecting your involvement."
"I'm involved. I didn't kill those men, but he did, and I went to jail for it."
Green eyes shifted to one side. "Well. Yes. But... and I am sorry for it..! Only, this is--it's more than... that."
Loughree's features scrunched up. "Why won't you tell me what's going on?"
Grey ears drooped further. "Oh, it's not that--I'm not trying to... it's only... it's a very personal matter and..." Antimony shut her eyes, wrinkling her brow, and tried to breathe in deep. "My... my daughter's gotten involved with something I thought had long been... it killed D'ahl. I'm simply trying to make sure she is safe."
"I don't know who D'ahl is. I don't know who your daughter is." Loughree's ears shifted back, her shoulders lifted, her stance loosening and her tone dropping. "Sorry. I just don't know where this connects with... him."
Antimony sighed, a weary look drawing deep lines along her features. "I am sorry. I wish I knew what... else to help you. I don't know what Megiddo has to do with... anything, aside from... well." Weaving her fingers together down by her waist, she gave Loughree a helpless furrow of her brow.
The broad woman turned aside, looking away. "Fine. I won't ask anymore. But whatever happened that night, he wanted it to. He wasn't going to let anyone get in the way."
Antimony looked down and away as well. "I can't fathom..." She couldn't finish that thought, perhaps afraid for how Loughree might push it. Instead she just sighed, dropped her head.
Gradually, Loughree's arms dropped from her chest to cross more casually over her stomach. She kept her gaze averted, though, her tail swinging behind her. "You're going to go looking for her, then? Is it going to be a long trip? Dangerous at all?"
One ear shifted forward, then backward. "She's my daughter. It... it shouldn't be." Her lips pressed together, but she hesitated on voicing her worry regarding the bone monster. "And long... I don't know."
"Sorry. Stupid questions. Look, just, make sure you..." The woman looked back at Antimony, ears lifting on her head, turning forward, and then the fell down again. Loughree lifted her palms. "Who am I kidding? It's not my business and you're from some Sagolii tribe, right? You know what you're doing and I'm barely holding together. You'll be fine."
Antimony couldn't quite say with confidence that she knew at all what she was doing. She hadn't managed to figure out how to handle K'aijeen in all her years with the tribe, so what hope did she have now...? "I am more worried about your well-being than my own," she replied with an empathetic look.
"Things can't get any worse." Loughree muttered in response. "If he killed me it would improve my situation, so he isn't going to. I guess he could burn down my apartment? There's nothing of value in there."
"You can stay here," she offered for not the first time.
"And then he could burn down your hotel room." Loughree snickered. "have you ever just fallen so far that you just stop caring if you ever hit bottom?"
Antimony's tail stilled for a moment. "... Perhaps." Her features softened into something sad and distant, and then she glanced up at Loughree. "I won't let him burn this room down, or do anything else to it or you. He... is supposed to be helping me find my daughter anyway."
The broad woman's muscles tensed, from her lower back through her shoulders to the very tips of her fingers. Her tail fluffed out and shivered, and she scowled. "Oh, he is, is he?"
"Yes, so you should not worry. Sleep here. Ah.." Her mouth twisted. "Should you want for food or water, put it on my tab."
"Shouldn't worry? He's supposed to be helping you find your daughter and I shouldn't worry?" Her arms snapped open, and she pointed in the general direction of the Ossuary. "He found your daughter! He found her the other night, and killed four people! While another died, if you're telling me the truth. Am I wrong?"
"And then she ran!" Antimony gestured somewhat desperately at Loughree. "She was frightened and... she is no longer here, so I must find her and go to her! And Megiddo has helped me in the past. I just... need to find her."
"He's not helping you." Loughree said sternly. "He found her, and let something... He let something happen to her, and then he just watched her run. He's manipulating you."
"You're letting your hatred for him color your perception," Antimony replied firmly. "I know what she summoned with her. He--he could not have fought it."
Loughree snapped back, one arm swinging around and a closed fist slamming into the wall with enough force to make the adjacent walls creak. "You'd hate him too if you'd buried as much family as I have, burned and poked and bleed out! If he'd taken as much from you, for no other reason than that he can!"
Antimony flinched bodily, lifting one hand anxiously towards the wall as though afraid it might crumble just like the rest of her borrowed room. "I didn't--that's not what--I only meant that... there was nothing he could have done..! Please, stop hitting objects.."
"Nothing he could have done." Loughree snarled, turning an angry glare on Antimony. "But he did do something. Or weren't you listening?"
"I don't know why he killed those men!" Her brow furrowed deeper, eyes widening. "I--I don't know what else I can say to you, Miss Loughree. I only know of my daughter."
"Fine. Take the killer's help." Loughree spun suddenly, her large body whirling and he tail arching behind her fast enough to stir the air in the room. She ripped the door open. "I just hope he doesn't take your daughter from you."
Antimony flinched again, ducking her head and ears for a moment before peering towards the Keeper. "I would not allow it." She hesitated. "And... it is nothing I can change now, regardless. He's gone ahead, with another friend."
"You will regret his involvement, Antimony. Good luck." Loughree left the door open as she walked down the hall, storming off.
The older woman lifted her arm towards Loughree, but then the Keeper was gone and she was left staring at the empty doorway. Her hand hovered in the air for several seconds, a helpless look on her face, and then she pulled the limb in, wrapped it around to hug herself. Her eyes shifted towards the bathroom, with its broken door. She let out a shuddering sigh.
D'hein's tired eyes roved across the road towards Antimony, and he muttered in a weary voice, "Why are people always yelling around you?"
She shut her eyes at that, ears shivering low by her skull, and then she moved to bend down by the tray she'd brought in earlier. Her hands shook slightly as she poured the third cup of tea, but she ignored it as she crossed the room to hold the mug, slightly cooler than it would have been had she poured it immediately but still quite warm, out towards D'hein. "I apologize for waking you."
Though D'hein's expression was still sleepy, one ear inside out and the other swinging as though limp next to his head, his hand lifted with a swiftness as though awake. Instinctively, he ignored the cup and placed his hand on the outside of Antimony's. "You're not the one who woke me. Is everything all right?"
"Ah, I wouldn't want--don't worry yourself over it. Everything will be fine." Her eyes drifted towards the bathroom door with a slight frown. "She's just... upset." And not in a state to listen to reason in any form, apparently. Antimony sighed.
D'hein's eyes looked down at their hands with curiosity, as if he hadn't noticed himself reaching out to touch her. "You know you don't have to take anyone else's troubles upon yourself now."
Lips pursing, Antimony's fingers fidgeted against the mug, beneath D'hein's hand, and then turned it so that the ceramic was pressed against his. "Drink," she said simply, then paused. "I already took on her troubles weeks ago."
"You have too large a heart for you own good, maybe." He took the tea, sipped it, smiled, and drank of it deeply.
Her tail curled, ears splaying in embarrassment. "Ah, well... I wouldn't say..." Stepping back, she coughed, glanced again towards the door, and then reluctantly stepped towards it, knocking first and then pushing on it experimentally. "Miss Loughree... are you alright?"
Watching Antimony, D'hein drank what was left in the cup of tea and then leaned over to set it down on the floor. He almost fell out of the bed in the process, and his tail whipped in the air, but he righted himself and rolled over to lay back down.
The door Antimony pushed about did not give, thanks to a significant weight pressing against the other side. There came the sound of shifting, and Loughrees voice replied immediately from the other side. "Yes."
"Ah." A sigh. "Well. That's good. I'd worried..." She brought her hands together, fingers twisting; the gesture made their joints ache. "How... long do you intend to stay in there?"
"I don't want to be in here at all!" Her fist pounded against the opposite side of the door. "Hiding in bathrooms from harmless people. This is pathetic."
Antimony leaned back slightly at the pounding, winced. "It's... alright, dear. You can... well." She fidgeted, tail shifting to press against one leg, curling around her knee. "I understand you're frightened and worried. You... can stay there as long as you need."
After a sudden shifting, the door snapped open, revealing Loughree's dirty, glaring features. "I didn't come here looking for mothering. You can't make this better with tea and hugs."
Green eyes widened at that, ears shifting back in sudden discomfort, and some hurt. "I am only trying to help you calm down," she protested after a moment, brow furrowing.
"It isn't working!" She punched the doorframe, drawing a painful-sounding crack. She shook. "That's... not your fault. This whole thing is my fault."
Antimony reached out suddenly to Loughree's hand. "Stop that. Hurting yourself won't help either." She hesitated and then added, "Neither will blaming yourself. Perhaps... perhaps it is my fault, for continuing to associate with Megiddo."
The hand that Antimony reached for suddenly opened and took her wrist in a firm grip. "Did you tell him?" Her nostrils curled and she leaned down to Antimony's eye level, clay-red eyes shining through her dirty hair. "Did you tell him about her? Is that how he knew?"
"What?" Her brow wrinkled deeply, and she cast an anxious look over her shoulder, then back to Loughree. "I... no! No, why would I do such a thing..?"
"I know you wouldn't." Loughree let go of the odler woman's hand, and her broad shoulders buckled. "I just don't know how he found out. I was so careful."
"I don't... Are you sure it was him? Perhaps... a coincidence... maybe she traveled or had to leave for some, ah, other reason..?"
The woman reached up to the collar of her shirt and pulled it down to reveal her neck, displaying fresh, heinous burns. Distinguishable in the burns, just barely between the hideously disfigured, oozing flesh, were letters inscribed as though with a brand. "It was him."
Antimony sucked in a sharp breath, leaned back, and then almost immediately moved forward, reached to touch the edges of the collar. "Miss Loughree, that--that needs seeing to..." One ear shook. "... But I don't understand?"
Loughree dropped her hands away and lifted her chin so that Antimony could have a better look. "I hunted him. I confronted him on the night I heard the screaming. I thought I could fight him, but... In the Shroud, when the Clan was falling apart, I used to find bodies with the names seared into them. Our ancestors' names. Children's bodies, burned."
The skin was in a horrible condition, blisters peeling back down to muscle in some small patches, and inching rapidly towards infection. One of Antimony's hands went instinctively to her own neck, but then dropped when she remembered she would have none of her old tools. "You need to... see someone for this, Miss Loughree," her ears drooped. "Even something this localized could become deadly." She licked her lips, processed the Keeper's words. "He... told you he'd taken her?"
Rolling her chin down and looking aside, Loughree muttered. "It's hard to worry about myself when she's..." Her gaze twitched towards Antimony for only an instant. "Yes."
Antimony drew a slow breath. "Oh." She blinked, pressed her lips together, and then finally turned towards D'hein. "She... needs medical help," she wrung her hands as she spoke. "I don't have any aloe, or anything else useful with me, but..."
D'hein burst into a sitting position, the bed keening underneath him. His head tilted oddly and only one of his eyes was open. "I can procure whatever you need! Or a healer."
The broad Miqo'te glared down at D'hein, letting her burned neck remain exposed as she crossed her arms.
For a few seconds, Antimony just blinked in mild surprise at the Tia and his sudden, if lopsided, reaction. "A..." She hesitated at asking outright for another healer. How could she be sure they would treat Loughree properly? And they could ask questions that would upset the younger woman... Antimony bit her lower lip briefly and then changed course, "Warm water, salt... ah, aloe, as freshly cut as possible. And dressing."
The Tia-or-Nunh rubbed his eyes with one hand. "Dressing? They make a really good seasoned vinegar at that place in Hustings Strip I took you one time..."
"I don't know how I feel about charity." Loughree turned her attention back to Antimony, no longer glaring, just musing. "The refugees can't afford medicine. Why should I have that luxury?"
"Anyone should," that answer came easily enough. "Don't be ridiculous." Then to D'hein with an anxious huff, "Not food - cloth, to wrap the wound in!"
"It sounded like you were describing a salad. A salted aloe salad. Oh, well." D'hein brought his feet around and hopped off the bed, landing directly on the tray of bread and tea, shattering most of the dishes with one foot and toppling directly forward without any motion to catch himself. He stood so quickly, though, that he almost appeared to bounce, rolling to one foot and positioning himself facing the door, shards of broken pottery stuck in his boot. "I'll be right back."
Antimony let out a very unbecoming squeak as D'hein outright squashed and shattered the tray's contents, hands moving to her mouth. She just watched him with wide, uncertain eyes as he made to leave.
Slipping out of the room smoothly, D'hein pulled the door shut on his tail with a heavy, boney thwack that caused the door to bounce back open. He continued on, though, not noticing that he'd failed to close the door.
Loughree watched him go with a an unchanged expression, but after a few minutes, she smirked. "At least he isn't hitting on me this time."
Antimony had taken a step forward, in part out of concern for D'hein's tail and in part to close the door, when Loughree spoke. She paused, blinked. "Ah... what?"
"I remember him. Sweet-talker. Always trying to get somewhere."
At that, Antimony sighed and closed the distance between herself and the door so as to close it. "Perhaps." She was struck with a pang of guilt then, for letting herself get distracted by Loughree's troubles, delaying attention towards those that dogged herself and D'hein, and almost immediately she felt guilty for feeling guilty. And then she just wanted to sink into the floor. She chose instead to look towards the crushed bread and shattered plateware, ears low.
After watching Antimony's silence some, Loughree followed Antimony's gaze to the mess on the floor. A moment later, wordlessly, Loughree stepped forward and dropped into a crouch over the shattered plates, piling the larger shards onto the tray, along with the ruined food, and her own spilled cup of tea. "Your room kind of gets abused by people, doesn't it?"
"I... imagine the innkeeper will not want me to return after this." Watching Loughree pull the mess into a more localized space brought a small, appreciative smile to her face though.
Loughree hummed at that. "I'm sorry. I don't know why I keep coming here and breaking things. You know you're the only person who even knows that I had someone I was taking care of."
"It is... better than going elsewhere and hurting yourself, I should think." She wasn't sure what to think about the last part. Honored? Saddened? Ambivalent?
"Maybe I could use a little abuse." She paused after she said that, staring at the shards of broken pottery in her hand, and then continued without another word. Her tail shivered.
"I'll have none of that," Antimony spoke sharply, but almost immediately regretted her tone. Her posture slumped with a sigh. "Let's... just focus on fixing that burn for now." All the while, Aijeen moved potentially further and further away... she couldn't think about that.
Loughree hefted the tray into her lap, its contents clattering. She rose to her feet and then shifted, just holding it, not looking sure what to do with it. Most of the furniture in the room was broken. Finally, she carried the tray over to the furniture she had previously broken and piled and set it in with the rest of the mess.
Shifting her head about, stretching the burned flesh on her neck but not feeling it, Loughree turned around to Antimony and said at last. "You can focus on whatever you want."
And yet Loughree had made it impossible to do just that. Immediately Antimony cringed with guilt at her own thoughts, and then forced a small smile towards the Keeper, who stood now by the remnants of her destructive tendencies. "Would you like another cup of tea?"
"No." Loughree looked away, an expression of disgust on her features. "Stop offering me things. Charity makes me feel like I'm being made fun of."
Antimony's tail stiffened at that, ears laying back, and she stammered a moment before, "Oh... oh, I didn't mean--that is, I only meant to offer... help."
"I know that. Just. Stop trying so hard. I don't need anything." The blonde, broad woman paced back towards the middle of the room. "I don't understand charity. I don't understand why you're helping. I know you are, but you don't need me, so I don't understand."
"Does it matter? As long as it's genuine?" Grey ears tilted, relaxing slightly. She hesitated for a moment longer. "After we address your burn, I... I can't stay here for very long." A pause, and her expression flashed briefly with discomfort before softening towards Loughree. "But you're welcome to, ah, remain, should you need a place to stay. Er--not to assume that you're homeless or anything! Only--you came here for a reason... I think! And I... will return here, hopefully in a few days. So." She wrung her hands. "Perhaps it's charity, but you're welcome."
"I have a home." Loughree's expression didn't seem able to soften, nor did her voice. "And no reason not to go back to it. I don't have a reason to have come here in the first place, either. I don't know."
"Well." She furrowed her brow. "That's alright, too, I suppose. I only want to make sure you're... ah, comfortable."
Rolling her broad shoulders, Loughree tilted her neck, the burns cracking illustratively. "Don't think that's likely."
Antimony didn't miss the hint. Tapping her fingers together anxiously, the older woman twisted towards the door. "Aah, what is taking that Tia so long? They weren't difficult supplies!"
"It hasn't been that long." Loughree righted her head, the burnt flesh sinking back into itself like folded paper. She winced slightly, but smirked. "Maybe he's getting you flowers."
Her head canted back towards Loughree, with what was at first a baffled and then a flustered expression. "Nonsense! I told him to get aloe, warm water, and dressing."
"So you think that doesn't mean he's not going to flatter you with anything. It's like you've never actually met a man."
Antimony frowned, huffed, and then gestured towards the bed, "Sit and rest while we wait."
"I don't need to rest," Loughree huffed, but paced towards the bed anyway.
There was a sudden thud against the room's door, then silence for a moment, and then another thud. Finally the door swung inward to reveal D'hein, his forehead reddened and his arms full of goods. He indeed had fresh cuts of aloe, a roll of long, thin cloth, and a jug of warmed water. He also held across his chest several bottles of milk.
Walking directly to Antimony as though in a sleepy daze, he deposited all of the medicinal items in the womans arms and muttered, "They had most of this in the bar already because sometimes people get burned I guess. I made them heat the water." He then placed one of the bottles of milk on top of the items in her arms. "Drink this bones. Gives you strong milk."
He turned and forced a bottle into Loughree's hands as well. "Cheer up. Strong bones."
Finally, he collapsed face-down on the bed, successfully taking it for himself before Loughree could sit down. He cradled the final bottle of milk next to him like he'd forgotten what it was. "Make sure you drink it..."
Loughree stared at the bottle in her hands like she'd never seen a bottle before. "Well it's not exactly flowers."
It took no small amount of effort not to drop the items that found themselves very suddenly deposited into unsuspecting arms. Antimony leaned back sharply as the bottle threatened to roll right off and managed to stagger towards the bed in time for it to drop harmlessly onto the mattress, by D'hein's feet. She blinked at it in a strange bemusement before Loughree's words brought her back to the present and she shook herself. The other items went to the bed as well, in a corner not occupied by D'hein, save for the jug of water. She held that between her hands and let its warmth ease aching joints a moment before turning towards the Keeper and giving a slight nod.
"Well, then. Ah... let's--come here and sit so we can take care of you."
Allowing herself to smirk in good humor, Loughree moved the bottle from one hand to the other as she paced over. "He gave me a bottle, too. Does this mean he's courting me, too? Giving me food is a lot more effective than whatever he was doing last time." She sat on the bed where indicated, carefully pulling her tail away from D'hein and up over her lap. The deteriorating bed frame creaked beneath her.
One of Antimony's ears twitched. "It's not any of my business if he were, but I highly doubt it." She eyed the bed warily when it groaned and bent slightly under Loughree's added weight. "Wait," she said to the Keeper, turning from her and crossing the short distance into the bathroom. She was gone only a few seconds, only to return with a small towel hung over one arm. "We'll need to remove your shirt so I can clean and dress the burn. Can you lift your arm?"
Loughree made a small show of stretching her arms to either side and then over her head, flapping them about a bit before pulling the filthy shirt over her head, cringing at the feeling but not uttering a sound. She was careful to keep the baggy shirt hanging over the front of her body, and snapped her arms down in front of her as soon as the shirt was loose. Only her shoulders and her naked back were exposed, both pale and carved with incredibly dense muscle. The fact that she was otherwise thin made the stressed muscles stand out all the more.
If Antimony noted anything else about Loughree's body aside from the wound it was that the younger woman was perhaps too thin to be healthy. She filed this away automatically as her body set to work on the burn along Loughree's shoulder. The skin was crinkled, peeling, dry in some places, wet with body fluid in others. Opening the jug of water, she damped the towel and then very carefully dabbed around the wound. She knew it would hurt but it was not something she could let stop her. Dirt washed away, along with dead skin.
"You are lucky, it is not very deep," she murmured as she set the towel across her  lap and then took up a number of the aloe leaves. The thick, waxy leaves had been cut in a way that told Antimony someone had known what they were doing. But then, burns were likely a common problem in a kitchen. She broke one of the leaves in half and squeezed out the gel-like substance all over the burn. "It may sting at first, but it should start to soothe very quickly." This imparted to Loughree, she then bowed her head and murmured a few low prayers as she worked - to cleanse and seal the burn from infection, to ward off spiritual ills that may invade the damaged opening, to hasten healing.
A few other aloe leaves had been cut lengthwise, and these she lay across Loughree's shoulder so that the gel-covered halves pressed against the wound. She then took up the cloth dressing and began to wrap them down.
The young Miqo'te did not complain about any of the pain, though her expression showed that she did feel it. She kept herself quiet and still, at first keeping her eyes turned away. When Antimony began to pray, Loughree's ears lifted and turned towards her, one twitching. Her blue eyes watch the woman, then. As Antimony began to wrap the burns, Loughree's tail shivered. "Thank you. I wouldn't have known to do this on my own."
Pulling the dressing across Loughree's chest and up over the woman's shoulder repeatedly, Antimony pressed her ears back in a display of humility. "I would not have let you go without seeing to it. If the creeping death had set in... well, let's not think on that." Her own tail shifted anxiously. A moment later, she was tying off the remaining dressing and stepping back from the Keeper."You'll want to change the aloe at least twice a day."
Loughree blinked at the woman and smirked. "Then I guess I'll be scrounging around the desert for wild aloe." She looked down at her hands crossed over her breast, holding ehr shirt to her. "Or I can make some money somehow. I don't need to be a Brass Blade in order to..." She left off the last of the thought and cast her gaze at the wall.
"You are a smart, strong woman," Antimony spoke after a moment before bending to gather up the remains of the aloe, bundling them in the towel. "I am certain you can make a life in any way you choose."
"I was only ever taught to live one way. And I'm starting to think that hurting other people isn't the best way to get what I need. Can I put my shirt back on now?"
At some point while Loughree was speaking, D'hein roused once more. Pushing himself up on his elbows, one eyes pinked and one eyes squinted around the wound. "What? What's going on?" His gaze found Loughree's exposed side and back and lingered there.
"Of course, just be careful not to shift the--" Antimony blinked, straightening with the bundle of aloe in her hands, and cast a bemused look towards D'hein.
Looking back at D'hein, Loughree frowned and elbowed the man in the leg. He didn't appear to notice, so the woman just huffed and pulled the filthy shirt back over her head, standing from the bed with her tail swinging around behind her. "Thank you, Antimony."
D'hein just sat up and appeared surly. "Has it been an hour yet?"
"What?" Antimony furrowed her brow, not immediately following D'hein's train of thought. She cast a brief, small smile that deepened the spidery lines to either side of her mouth towards Loughree and then returned her confusion to the Tia. "I... I'm unsure. It's impossible to keep track of in this walled off city."
"Lots of people keep timepieces." Loughree stretched her arms and her neck, wincing at the sensations. It was like she was testing how much pain she would feel, or how much she would endure. "I think it's been about an hour since you two came back in."
D'heing curled forward and stared at the ground. "I'm never going to get a nap."
"You've taken two already, haven't you?" She felt her tail curling unhappily and forced it to relax with a sigh. The effort didn't last long and soon the limb was twitching anxiously behind her once more. "There is some time for additional rest, I suppose.."
"No. No, there's not." D'heing brushed at his face and forced himself to stand, though he looked very unhappy about it. His ears were flat on top of his head, his tail limp behind him. "I told Illira one hour, and one hour I will stick to. If I leave her any longer she's liable to stab someone. Possibly myself."
"Wh-what?" Antimony paled, then shook herself, her own ears dropping back. "Now look--I still don't think I want that woman accompanying us on such a personal matter...!"
D'hein's entire argument was to look at Antimony with a frown on his face, arms at his sides.
"She--it--" Antimony sputtered, green eyes shifting around the room before returning to the Tia. "She has no care for finding Aijeen or Airos! And she certainly wouldn't care about protecting them from whatever has committed those murders."
"She has a strong sense of right. Too strong, to be honest. If she discovers some corruption of malevolence oppression Aijeen and K'airos, her first instinct will be to destroy it. You can trust that even if you don't like her."
Antimony winced. "It's not that I... she just... well." Her tail performed a number of contortions against her leg. "She's clearly... she has been nothing but belittling to me this entire time and I don't understand what--" Forcing herself to stop, Antimony shut her eyes, drew a deep breath, and let it out lengthily through her nose.
"If she's mean to you just call her ugly and mean like you did last time. Her feelings can be hurt if you decide you want to." D'hein turned to take a step towards the door, only to find himself face-to-face with Loughree again. The woman, almost taller than he was and just as broad, was watching him with arms crossed and a frown on her face. D'hein looked over her filthy appearance, the tattered old clothes, the bandages, the tangled hair. Then he turned to Antimony and said, "I'm confused why there's a refugee in your room."
"A ref... what?" She blinked at Loughree, and then frowned sharply towards the Tia. "No. Miss Loughree is no refugee, and she certainly deserves more respect than what you've given her." Perhaps an unexpected reaction, even to Antimony, given her earlier own feelings towards the Keeper's presence.
Loughree looked past D'hein to Antimony. "I don't think I need-"
"You're right!" D'hein snapped straight, his tail lifting and falling decisively behind him. He then inclines his head to Loughree. "Refugee, soldier, Dodo or stranger, all women deserve the utmost respect, and I apologise." He then reached out to poke the bottle that Loughree still held in one hand. "Drink your milk."
He shuffled into the middle of the room and went for the door. "I need to go collect Illira." He lifted the milk in his hand, only just realizing he still possessed it, and cracked it open.
Antimony went from looking satisfied at the Tia's apology to extremely unhappy at his announcement of retrieving the elezen woman. She just frowned though.
As D'hein left through the door, chuckling happily as though all were suddenly right in the world as soon as he pressed the bottle of milk to his lips, Loughree turned a deadpan gaze on Antimony. "You keep strange friends, Antimony."
The older woman let out a faint sigh. "I suppose so." She hesitated, and then held the aloe wrapped in the towel towards Loughree. "Will... you be alright on your own? You're still welcome to remain here while I travel."
Loughree accepted the towel and tucked it under one arm. "How long are you going to be gone? And... wait." She flicked her eyes towards the door, and then back to Antimony. "You're looking for someone. You're looking for someone who is... That's why you were asking me about the other night!"
Grey ears splayed out flat on either side of her head. "Ah, that..." Her fingers flexed uselessly around where they'd held the towel, and her brow knit with an anxious crease behind her glasses. "It... yes."
Loughree pivoted on one foot to turn herself directly towards Antimony and said in a very serious tone, "Tell me what's happening."
Antimony flinched back from the younger Keeper, brought her hands down to twist into the fabric of her robe. "It's... it's very complicated. I'm not sure I... can."
The broad woman's tone hardened. "I am sure you can."
Antimony quailed. "It's nothing but--just... old family troubles." Her tail twisted. "I apologize for suspecting your involvement."
"I'm involved. I didn't kill those men, but he did, and I went to jail for it."
Green eyes shifted to one side. "Well. Yes. But... and I am sorry for it..! Only, this is--it's more than... that."
Loughree's features scrunched up. "Why won't you tell me what's going on?"
Grey ears drooped further. "Oh, it's not that--I'm not trying to... it's only... it's a very personal matter and..." Antimony shut her eyes, wrinkling her brow, and tried to breathe in deep. "My... my daughter's gotten involved with something I thought had long been... it killed D'ahl. I'm simply trying to make sure she is safe."
"I don't know who D'ahl is. I don't know who your daughter is." Loughree's ears shifted back, her shoulders lifted, her stance loosening and her tone dropping. "Sorry. I just don't know where this connects with... him."
Antimony sighed, a weary look drawing deep lines along her features. "I am sorry. I wish I knew what... else to help you. I don't know what Megiddo has to do with... anything, aside from... well." Weaving her fingers together down by her waist, she gave Loughree a helpless furrow of her brow.
The broad woman turned aside, looking away. "Fine. I won't ask anymore. But whatever happened that night, he wanted it to. He wasn't going to let anyone get in the way."
Antimony looked down and away as well. "I can't fathom..." She couldn't finish that thought, perhaps afraid for how Loughree might push it. Instead she just sighed, dropped her head.
Gradually, Loughree's arms dropped from her chest to cross more casually over her stomach. She kept her gaze averted, though, her tail swinging behind her. "You're going to go looking for her, then? Is it going to be a long trip? Dangerous at all?"
One ear shifted forward, then backward. "She's my daughter. It... it shouldn't be." Her lips pressed together, but she hesitated on voicing her worry regarding the bone monster. "And long... I don't know."
"Sorry. Stupid questions. Look, just, make sure you..." The woman looked back at Antimony, ears lifting on her head, turning forward, and then the fell down again. Loughree lifted her palms. "Who am I kidding? It's not my business and you're from some Sagolii tribe, right? You know what you're doing and I'm barely holding together. You'll be fine."
Antimony couldn't quite say with confidence that she knew at all what she was doing. She hadn't managed to figure out how to handle K'aijeen in all her years with the tribe, so what hope did she have now...? "I am more worried about your well-being than my own," she replied with an empathetic look.
"Things can't get any worse." Loughree muttered in response. "If he killed me it would improve my situation, so he isn't going to. I guess he could burn down my apartment? There's nothing of value in there."
"You can stay here," she offered for not the first time.
"And then he could burn down your hotel room." Loughree snickered. "have you ever just fallen so far that you just stop caring if you ever hit bottom?"
Antimony's tail stilled for a moment. "... Perhaps." Her features softened into something sad and distant, and then she glanced up at Loughree. "I won't let him burn this room down, or do anything else to it or you. He... is supposed to be helping me find my daughter anyway."
The broad woman's muscles tensed, from her lower back through her shoulders to the very tips of her fingers. Her tail fluffed out and shivered, and she scowled. "Oh, he is, is he?"
"Yes, so you should not worry. Sleep here. Ah.." Her mouth twisted. "Should you want for food or water, put it on my tab."
"Shouldn't worry? He's supposed to be helping you find your daughter and I shouldn't worry?" Her arms snapped open, and she pointed in the general direction of the Ossuary. "He found your daughter! He found her the other night, and killed four people! While another died, if you're telling me the truth. Am I wrong?"
"And then she ran!" Antimony gestured somewhat desperately at Loughree. "She was frightened and... she is no longer here, so I must find her and go to her! And Megiddo has helped me in the past. I just... need to find her."
"He's not helping you." Loughree said sternly. "He found her, and let something... He let something happen to her, and then he just watched her run. He's manipulating you."
"You're letting your hatred for him color your perception," Antimony replied firmly. "I know what she summoned with her. He--he could not have fought it."
Loughree snapped back, one arm swinging around and a closed fist slamming into the wall with enough force to make the adjacent walls creak. "You'd hate him too if you'd buried as much family as I have, burned and poked and bleed out! If he'd taken as much from you, for no other reason than that he can!"
Antimony flinched bodily, lifting one hand anxiously towards the wall as though afraid it might crumble just like the rest of her borrowed room. "I didn't--that's not what--I only meant that... there was nothing he could have done..! Please, stop hitting objects.."
"Nothing he could have done." Loughree snarled, turning an angry glare on Antimony. "But he did do something. Or weren't you listening?"
"I don't know why he killed those men!" Her brow furrowed deeper, eyes widening. "I--I don't know what else I can say to you, Miss Loughree. I only know of my daughter."
"Fine. Take the killer's help." Loughree spun suddenly, her large body whirling and he tail arching behind her fast enough to stir the air in the room. She ripped the door open. "I just hope he doesn't take your daughter from you."
Antimony flinched again, ducking her head and ears for a moment before peering towards the Keeper. "I would not allow it." She hesitated. "And... it is nothing I can change now, regardless. He's gone ahead, with another friend."
"You will regret his involvement, Antimony. Good luck." Loughree left the door open as she walked down the hall, storming off.
The older woman lifted her arm towards Loughree, but then the Keeper was gone and she was left staring at the empty doorway. Her hand hovered in the air for several seconds, a helpless look on her face, and then she pulled the limb in, wrapped it around to hug herself. Her eyes shifted towards the bathroom, with its broken door. She let out a shuddering sigh.
![[Image: AntiThalSig.png]](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/179079766/AntiThalSig.png)
"Song dogs barking at the break of dawn, lightning pushes the edges of a thunderstorm; and these streets, quiet as a sleeping army, send their battered dreams to heaven."
Hipparion Tribe (Sagolii)Â - Â Antimony Jhanhi's Wiki
