As Jamie revealed himself, the four or five Iron Enigma members left in the room would look over at the Guild master of Phoenix Wing. After a long moment of no one doing anything, Gregory would finally walk over to Solux, picking him up. "Come on, Laynette, the police are going to be all over the place when they get here, so let's get you out of the way of the hustle and bustle." The younger mage would nod, and start heading over to her guild master, her crutches making a repeated clicking against the floor. When she got the stairs, Gregory would walk just behind her, carrying Solux over his shoulder, going up the stairs.

Delilah would lick her lips before returning to counting the furniture that was damaged beyond repair, and she would jump over the bar and head over to the Hotel guy to give him the totals so that he could estimate how much they'd have to pay for damages. The couple of other members left would stand around for a bit around their fallen comrade before heading back to their rooms as well, their faces ashen and downcast. No one said a word to or about Jamie.

Mithera made a tiny little shrug with her front shoulders. "I want to change back to my human form before I head back to Phoenix Wing, so that Iron Enigma won't know it's me. That's going to take a day or so, but that shouldn't be too much of a problem, right?" She cocked her head sideways a bit, and as Dornae said his bit and started towards the door, she turned her head towards him. "Thanks for getting me clothes!" She called as the door closed, before turning back to face Valak and Ferrin, curious as to what Ferrin had though up.

@Caits@Crimson Raven@yoshua171

@Burthstone @yoshua171

Ferrin didn't respond to Dornae's warning as he walked out. After Dornae left, Ferrin let the silence stretch as he sat deep in thought. Suddenly he sprang out of his seat. "I am going for a walk." He said. He pointed a long metal finger at the candles. "Those will give you warning if anyone approaches. The size of the flame will judge the magic the person has, the color candle will tell you how close they are. Red means danger." He looked between the two. "Play nice." With that said, he vanished. Not a fade out or and blur of motion. Just gone, one moment he was there, the next he wasn't.

Under a carefully crafted veil, an illusion magic that could make him invisible, un-smellable, and unhearable, Ferrin slipped out the still open door and headed out the entrance of the hotel. He opened the door and walked out, making the hotel manager stare. Ferrin checked a map of the city he had picked up when he got there. He had a skeleton of a plan, he would have to make the rest up as he went along. He found what he was looking for and started walking, careful not to bump into anyone.

Over at the Iron Enigma hotel...

The silence was interrupted by a huge troop of soldiers that surrounded the building. A heavyset man with a florid red face, that was currently set in an angry grimace with every vain visible and a thick cigar in his mouth, strolled in. His decorated armor marked him as a Captain and he certainly looked the part. He surveyed the room as he stood inplace, ignoring the tension in the room. He seemed to disapprove of what he saw, as he veins pulsed and his face got even redder. "WHO IS THE MASTER OF THIS SORRY GUILD?" He asked loudly.

Argus couldn't help but feel as if his skin was crawling the closer they got to the arena, his hands clenched into fists as he struggled to relax his body, to no avail. The dull thrum of the crowd's eager anticipation only serving to awaken memories and experiences he'd long since buried. Old scars began to throb underneath his clothes as his demonic eyes swept from side to side, making him look almost like a cornered animal getting ready to pounce. When he arrived in the Frenzy Plant area, he once again tried to loosen up, with slight success. However, all thoughts of the crowd were completely wiped from his mind as he saw the two more bestial looking members of the guild, on able to take his eyes from getting wide as he let out a low whistle.

"Oh my god, you guys look fucking awesome!" he said excitedly, quickly getting coming closer to get a look at their abnormal attributes, only to stop himself half-way. Due to his background, Argus had little in the way of manners and politeness in most cases, and those cases where he does are because he had been severely punished for breaking them. Invading someone's personal space was one of the things he had learned(painfully) not to do. Regaining his composure, he gave a somewhat embarrassed wave and a smile to the ladies. "Heheh, sorry about that. Never seen people like you before and I always get overly excited when I see new things. I grew up kinda . . . isolated from the world."

Argus then turned to the other person, recoiling slight from the sight of him. He recognize the sight of an Oni immediately, the last time he'd met one was in the pits and it hadn't been a pleasant experience. He'd almost been killed by that monster of a fighter, and thus had a healthy amount of fear for the other member. This time when he smiled and waved, they were a lot more noticeably nervous and shaken. "Hey bnig guy, heh, how's the weather up there?" Argus mentally slapped himself for the lame joke, feeling like an idiot for saying it in the first place.

@Lugubrious

@hatakekuro

The Necromancer couldn't help it, as Nero had started to do his little happy dance with bouts of laughter from her little kiss, she started to giggle uncontrollably. The scene most likely brought some strange glances at their directions, but who would ever interfere the two at this moment? Eve genuinely likes Nero, their personalities match and they both would help each other out in situations. However, love was a completely different story to this girl. At the moment, she basically has a crush on Nero, but letting these feelings settle in the right environment without disturbing the pot, it will grow for sure. Better or worse? Most likely better, but two dark mages falling in love is quite the dangerous and interesting situation, only time could tell what would happen to the two.

It didn't take long before the dancing and laughter stopped from the both of them, however, Eve still had a bright smile on her face. She was actually surprised as Ayame was missing from the store! Ah! How could she not notice one of her friends missing!? She was too busy trying to talk to people rather than keeping an eye on the weakest of emotional state friend! "Yeah! Lets go find Ayame."

Eve followed Nero around the streets, keeping a sharp eye to find their young friend, and it seemed that Nero had found her sitting upon some park bench. The Necromancer lightly jogged over to Ayame to find her face seem utterly confused at the situation at hand, though there was nothing to be surprised about as she looked behind her. Eve smiled brightly towards Ayame as Nero referenced the two as her best friends, and it seemed that the three needed to go to someplace where they could relax and talk to each other. "Uh, maybe we could use some relaxing time? We've been running and stressing out so much, I think going to some place calm would have a good effect. Right?"



The Antimage was lying calmly on the soft ground, beams of light were shinning through the little cracks by the thick brush of leaves from the trees. There wasn't a single sound coming from the area, everything was just peaceful... Huh, who knew that this intense guy could ever enjoy this serene scene. Magni exhaled lightly, thoughts were drifting through his mind as he blankly stared into the sky. Why was he born this way? What is he? Why did he leave? They were all questions, but no answers were to be found. The Antimage closed his eyes once again, feeling the way his eyes scrapped against his flesh, it was soothing. A new thought soon invaded his brain, and the man scoffed at the idea. Well... at least Magni knew one thing, he was a complete and udder monster.

@Raijinslayer
ENMA
This time in Enma's mouth was a sweet pastry called a churro. The long piece of fried dough seemed to had disappeared with in his mouth in a matter of seconds at the same time as Argus approached him. The oni's cheeks seemed like were puffed up like two separate balloons as he chewed and listened to the man's lame joke. He swallowed the pasty and burped contently, patting his stomach. "Sunny with a cool autumn breeze. And churros, lots of them. Man, you humans make some delicious stuff!" He dove his hand into his sleeves and pulled out a bottle of rum, popping the lid right off with his thumb and took a long swig of it. Enma held it out towards Argus to see if he wanted some. "So who exactly are you?" It had just occurred to him that this random man approached him, talked about weather and churros, and offered him booze.

@Caits
FERRIS

He leaned back in his seat and stretched his arms up to the ceiling, letting out a loud yawn. "And we've got the easiest part of the games. The hard part is taking part in the actual events. I know I wouldn't last a second against Indigo! I would just be a puddle of blood when she'd be done with me!" Ferris laughed at the thought of actually fighting her. There were many things that he'd rather fight, such as a herd of vulcan, a dinosaur, a wyvern, lizardmen, anything other than her. Only a mad man would want to fight her at full power.

"So...by the way, what time do you want me to pick you up?" The male model asked regarding to their date tonight. He had a sly, yet charming grin on his pretty boy face that almost seemed to sparkle just from his perfect teeth.

@CirusArvennicus
RILEY

"Er, well it does feel a bit strange, but look around us Jazzy. How many reporters here are from a magazine about guilds and other topics pertaining to magic. There are few in number while there is an increasing demand for content containing articles of the magic world. I can imagine that my boss just wants to talk about the games as a special just to get some extra cash out of the whole thing...It's a narrow view of a much larger spectrum, but then again we're a fashion magazine so I guess as soon this is all over we'll go back to the old grind." He sighed, showing that he seemed saddened that he would have very little chance to cover magic unless it involved fashion. Don't get him wrong, he loved fashion though it's comparatively less cool to creating small scale natural disasters.

@Oblivion666
ZEV

Zev listened with great intent to Zephyr's story. It's certainly not a story one would hear in a bar when drinking with some buddies. The story was a bit odd. Why would a god even associate himself with a human like Zephyr? It's not as if he wasn't a powerful mage, but when one is a god there is very little need to entertain a being that was on many levels below him. Perhaps he was simply bored and decided to tag along with a human being to entertain himself in exchange for his freedom? Whatever the case was, it was undeniable that Zephyr gained a power that lethal double edged sword. It was correct to assume that such a power could damage his body if he over exerted it. A god's power isn't something to take lightly.
"I've always been curious about gods and God Slayers. God Slaying could be considered the ultimate form of Slayer Magic though we have never heard of tales of humans slaying them. So why would a god teach a human how to kill it and where are the rest of these almighty deities and where are the rest of them?" The information broker leaned back in his seat and scratched the back of his neck. "I can only assume that a handful of people in the world knows anything about it. I doubt that even most of the God Slayers of today know anything about the very thing they are meant to kill."

Argus barely was able to hold in a chuckle as he saw the fiercesome Oni's face stuffed full of some strange food he'd never seen before. He raised an eye as the man held out a bottle towards him before taking it with a shrug.

"Name's Argus Leandros, and as of a half an hour ago, a new member of Frenzy Plant. Glad to be a part of the guild that has so many interesting people in it, so I hope we can get along with each other."

With that, Argus took a bignswig of the beverage Enma had given him . . . only to immediately spit the stuff out before looking at the bottle with a look of disgust. Despite his age, Argus had never had an alcoholic beverage, and something like Rum would be much to string for a beginners pallet. "What the hell is this stuff, it tastes awful!?!? Ugh, appreciate the besture, but I don't think this is my kind of drink." Argus handed the bottle back to Enma, his mind currently formulating a way to get the horrible taste of alchohol out of his mouth.

"Can you tell me where you got those . . . 'churros', I think you called them, those looked real good."

@hatakekuro

@Lugubrious

sasha
@yipeeXD@lmpkio

Sasha blinked. She didn't actually know what the restaurant served, but she sent a quick eye over the menu "um. I think they serve a variety of stuff" she said, having just liked the look of the place, shifting as she realized that she should have checked that out first. "why? Are you allergy to something?" that would just be good, sending a new member into anaphylaxis.

penny
@CirusArvennicus@silver fox
Penny thought back to Edolas, the few hours she had been without her magic, powerless and shook her head "I think it would make it worse" she said to Trinity, "to suddenly lose something you've always had? How did you feel, not having full access to your magic? What if it forces him out of this small form, that could cause damage right? Better not to risk it" but what did Penny know, pretending to be in some semblance of charge.

Penny have a grimace. She hadn't really spent that much time in the Edolas guild, and supposed she'd have to talk with the others about that, and gave a nod, "alright, I'd recommend not getting covered in paint again, but who knows with you" she said, sitting down wearily, wondering the what else could happen today

jessie
@hatakekuro

Jessie nodded, but said "everyone has a weakness, you just have to know how to look for it and be quick enough" Jessie magic was more passive, similar to charm magic, not something she used in battles So what did she know? She shifted and gave an almost shy smile, and said "well I've just been going back to the hotel after the games have ended, so whenever you want to"

jamie

@burthstone@Crimson Raven
Ignored, Jamie took that as answer enough, and also took the chance to look around fully, frowning at what he saw. Unsettled, She took it all in, none of mine would do this. They are capable of killing, yes. But not this, why draw attention?. Jamie cursed lightly under her breath even if it was an accident, they then wouldn't run off, without dealing with it. so just what had happened here, and who now had Mithera?

Jamie hesitated, deciding to leave for now, just as someone entered and shout. Stopping, Jamie crossed his arms over his chest, and said "their master appears to be having some troubles at the moment, perhaps you can come back later?" Jamie wasn't being nice. Jamie was being purely selfish. Jamie could watch iron enigma here, she didn't need them scattered, not at the moment, and it was clear that this guy would just let his anger rule him. That would just cause trouble. "I'd be happy to talk to you, and specifically to ask why your guards didn't notice two of my members being kidnapped" Jamie said smoothly

Lazarus

He was seated, next to Sasha and across from Shujin. He didn't take his eyes off of him. 'What are you pulling here?' He did look at the menu. He pointed randomly to the first thing he saw. "I'll have that." It didn't both him what it was, he would eat it happily. He cleared his throat, about to speak.

Shujin

He cut Lazarus off. "Miss Shin... I mean Sasha. Whilst I am here, I have something to discuss with you." He looked at the menu casually. "It can wait if you'd prefer to hear it in private or not at all... But I'd rather not." He raised an eyebrow, keen to see what she had to say.

sasha
@yipeeXD

Sasha frowned slightly, looking to shujin. She didn't know any reason why he would want to talk with her, nor did she know if she wanted to hear it. Not right now, she just wanted to have a little bit of fun and to not have to think on anything too serious, but she sighed, setting her menu aside breifly, she leaned against the table and said "that depends on what i5 is, doesn't it? But go ahead" she said, figuring she might as well here it.

@liferusher

His mindless destruction grew boring for him as the throne room sat in ruins with him sitting on a broken stone pillar. Destroying his surrondings didn't seem to do anything besides make the area around him look like shit. While sitting he would suddenly see a rabbit sit on a pile of gold followed by a letter being placed on the throne out of nowhere. "What the..." Ike mumbled as he walked over to the letter and picked it up and started to read it. Needless to say it didn't take long for a vein to pop on his forehead as he tore the letter apart. "My fault?! You shouldn't have trapped me in here you.... Not worth it." Ike spoke to himself before looking at the rabbit, he took a few steps towards it, kind of expecting what was about to come if he got close to it.

Once Jamie finished speaking Gregory would reappear at the bottom of the stairway, now unburdened. "Ignore him," he'd say to the captain, meaning Jamie, and he walk over after pulling the bandanna down from his face. "I'd be the Guild Master of Iron Enigma, sir. Though if you're looking for a tale of what went down here my wife would be able to give you a better version of the story than I could, as she was here when it happened," his voice was calm, and he stuck his hands in his pockets as he talked to the Captain.

Mithera nodded as Ferrin said he was going for a walk. "Okay! See yo-" He was gone already, and Mithera had to stop herself from making a 'hmph!' sound. She glanced over at the candles before settling her head down against herself, thinking for a moment before lifting her head up towards Valak. "Hey, by the way, if Grant took any of my blood while I was asleep in their hotel last night, it doesn't matter where we go or how we hide he'll be able to track me down. So if it turns out he did, I'll take my leave as soon as possible, since they're going to be after you three too."

@Crimson Raven@Caits

It wasn't like she wanted him to continue suffering. There was just so much to live for and Karn was apparently not seeing it. Now that he's found friends and family, he's just gonna lay down and die? Despite all that, she didn't have any answers for how to cure his disease. Penny was right, it would be a terrible solution but... "What else are we to do? I don't like how this plan Prince mentioned sounds..." She watches Prince wander off, thinking about it.

"Prince's theory was that Karn's magic energy was... overpowering his vital energy?" She thought about it for a moment, considering her options before she looked to Penny. "I might be able to feel out his energy flow. Let me try." She sat herself down in her chair again, taking a slow breath and centering herself. "So much for a dramatic entrance."

She put a finger tenderly on Karn's forehead. "Energy Make: Feeler." Energy swirls down her arm to her hand, then to her finger, gathering at the tip before it would slowly extend from her finger. She had to concentrate hard on trying to use it to feel out Karn's Metaphysical enegies, she might need to go somewhere quiet.


"I suppose that would be the major point of sending us to an event like this." Jasmine thought about what he said. Magic had just gone through a Dark Ages period in Fiore. Now that it was returning, and in such a big way, there was a great opportunity laying in front of them. "Hey, Riley. What do you think of... using this event to start our own magazine? We'd have some equipment to get, and maybe some money to borrow to do so, but we could probably write all the content ourselves, for a bit. Until we get some new hires, right? That's a lot of writing, but we could totally do it."

@Caits@CirusArvennicus



Prince chuckled at Penny's input and he nodded. "Also remember. The only thing keeping him alive is Rian's magic. If you cut it off, he will have to rely on his own willpower. And he doesn't have that much left." he said before waving and disappearing with a quick leap away.

Soon, he weaved his way toward the Dragon Fang stands, sniffing around until he spotted Familiar blue hair. Grinning mischieviously, the tall man silently moved closer from behind before leaning in and kissing Michael on the cheek. "Heeeey cutie~" he purred.

---



Karn simply continued to sleep but his nose twitched and his little paws swatted at the finger as he stirred a bit. Shifting and wriggling, soon starting to whimper and mewl before ultimately coughing and hacking. As if uncomfortable.

Fleo nodded sagaciously. ”Ah, okay, I gotcha. I'm also sorta out here to see what the world has to offer. Actually, it's more or less my life goal. I had a pretty...confined childhood, so now that I can go wherever I want I'm making sure to take everything in I can. Places, people, culture, guilds, games, nothing's too lowly or obscure to be worthy of attention. The thought made her smile, and she looked out, not at the empty arena, but at the immense variety of people who wreathed it.



Though Indigo maintained her regal demeanor at first, her confidence began to ebb when Isla turned the situation around. Sure, the Librarian had ultimate power over Isla in terms of combat, but she also knew nothing about how the wretched girl's magic operated. One false move could mean the end of Ike. Even if she were to use an order to demand Isla's compliance, she couldn't be sure of a resolution that completely suited her. Without any clue how Paint Magic worked, Indigo couldn't issue a specific order, and the more broad an order was the easier it was to find loopholes, abuse wiggle room, and generally not cooperate.

Gingerly, Indigo picked up the painting and tucked it beneath her arm. Though the situation seemed impossible, she knew that with enough time Ike would be freed. True soldiers didn't leave one another behind. When Isla mentioned restoring her leg, however, the Librarian was able to look down the bridge of her nose imperiously at her and sneer, ”It seems like neither of us will be able to get exactly what we want. I suspect my magic has severed the nerves that allow you to use your leg. They'll be fixed in time, just like Ike.” The Librarian gave Isla a mocking bow before turning and striding away. As she went, she called to the people who remained around the painting booth, ”Trust this girl at your own peril. She is as good as a demon who feeds on pride and steals you away.” A few moments later, and Indigo was gone. There had been no flashy magic, no monologues about the power of friendship, and no fight, but all the same justice had triumphed over a small evil.



”You know the west entrance to the arenya? There's a whole heap of vendors down nya, including the churros!”

None other than Ni Rensa had appeared by Argus's left side. In the middle of the great lull that had settled over the Doma Flau due to the paucity of spectacles, the War Sphinx still looked excited and upbeat. She'd been utterly tickled by the Crimson Demon's comment about her appearance, and having followed him up toward Enma, proved only too happy to keep on talking. ”You left so fast, I didn't get to thank nya for the compliment! Nyobody's really scared of me or anyathing like that, but usually the only people who go outta their way to talk to me are the...” Ni Rensa's face grew terribly serious all of a sudden, even developing a sharp-toothed scowl. ”...the fur fetishists.” Clearly, this soldier didn't shy away from saying whatever came to mind. She fixed Argus with a glance that said Can you believe it? ”I mean, seriously. Isn't it obvious that I'm a meanya ceruleanya fightin' machinya? But whatever! Who the heck are you?” After changing topics, her features were once again their bright, inquisitive selves.



In reply to Eve's suggestion Nero offered an affirmative nod. ”I'm always down for downtime. What do you think, Aya?” As of yet, Ayame had not responded either to the other dark mages' presence or words. He hoped a period of isolation from her friends, even if very brief, hadn't locked her into some sort of 'panic mode' where she'd allowed her shyness and anxiety to overwhelm her mind. The idea popped into Nero's head that he'd definitely be able to remove those problematic traits from her psyche, but immediately afterward the genie chastised himself for the thought. The Law of Manifestation wasn't something to be used on friends in any situation short of a dire emergency.

James chuckled as Fleo said she liked to spend her time drifting and experiencing as much as she could. "You might be surprised to find that sometimes all that's needed is someplace where you don't feel confined." He didn't say anything else after, returning to his studying. After a couple minutes, he looked up towards the Arena. "Odd that they haven't started the next fight yet. The crowd's are getting restless."

The woman seemed very understanding of the situation at hand and grabbed the painting of Ike beneat her arm. Yet she still seemed very dominant. Isla her smile faded as the woman began to speak to her. It didn't sound like a joke and it also didn't sound like she had any forgiveness for Isla either. As the woman turned her back on Isla something snapped within the small girl. What was it? Sadness? Madness? No more like regret! "Hey!... hey!... you are not that kind of person right... you aren't gonna leave me behind... right?" Her voice became softer and softer as the woman walked away and said something to the people who all returned to doing their previous business "Please don't leave me..."



As Ike came closer the rabbit seemed to be getting a little rowdie but merely jumped around in the gold a little. The rabbit came closer to Ike and jumped onto two legs. He set both his front legs onto one of Ike his legs and looked up at Ike while sniffling his leg a few times. Whenever Ike would touch the rabbit it would turn into a 4 feet tall and 3 feet wide rabbit with a big muscular upper body and a very wide mouth with 2 rows of teeth. Despites the lack of legs it still had great speed and could jump somewhat high. The rabbit would turn back to it's original state after the big clock in the central lounge area would ring 6 or 12 times.

@Caits

Marlene Evangeline

"No no," Marlene replies as she grabs a menu from the table, "I was just wondering if you knew."

She views the menu for a bit, seeing a variety of foods for one's choosing. And indeed did they look delicious! One of them however caught her eye, making Marlene grin with glee.

"So... it appears this place serves sushi as a dish," she says happily as she puts the menu down and folds her hands, "I'm totally in for a delicious dragon roll please!"

Ayame was startled by Nero his sudden appearance and freaked out a little by it. She swung her hands around at him while he tried to comfort the girl by putting his hand onto her shoulder, in attempt to do so she fell sideways onto the bench. While the dark said something to Ayame she covered her eyes and flailed around a little "P-please don't hurt m-me..." She uncovered one of her eyes when she realised it was Nero that was speaking and soon uncovered the other eye too while sitting upright again. She awkwardly smiled at the dark mage and gave a nod at the dark mage.

Ayame also noticed that close after Nero was Eve again. Ayame immediately reacted to the girl and gave her a piece of paper with the name of the pharmacy written on the front and the back completely blank. Ayame had thought that this would help Eve to communicate with them. She held out the piece of paper while searching for a pen she had put somewhere in her clothes. She couldn't find it and tried looking more severely but stopped for a moment when she heard a voice close by enough that it couldn't be anyone but Eve talking. She gazed at Eve for a moment with her mouth agape and shook her head from side to side once she realised Eve had regained her voice. She dropped the card "H-h...uh?" she shook her head once more and slapped both her cheeks multiple times to see if she wasn't sleeping, making her cheeks red in the progress. She shook her head once more and gave a timid and confused nod at Eve her idea.

She gave another confirming nod at Nero and jumped up from the bench with the bag in her hand, ready to follow either of the two dark mages.

"If you've only ever known one place, one family, and one way of life, do you think it would be so easy for a child to leave it all on a whim?" Jackie asked in response, closing her eyes and sighing.

michael
@silver fox
Michael jolted when Prince kissed his check, probably blushing a lovely shade of plum. Michael was so relieved he could have just cried. He swallowed, and managed a clear "hi" without any embarrassment, in fact compared to his normal reactions this was positively subdued "where have you been!" he asked, realizing he hadn't seen the cat man all day. He really was a bad friend. He didn't know hat they were doing or even that they were missing. He looked down at his shoes. Miserable, he waited for Prince to answer.

penny
@CirusArvennicus

Penny couldn't help but think that Prince just expected the worst, that Karn had been strong this long. But...there was only so long someone could be strong. As Trtinty said she was going to do something, penny didn't have a chance to say that poking at him might not be a good idea, before it was too late.

She crouched, as Karn spluttered and coughed, reaching out to gently stroke him, wanting to give comfort, warming up her hands slightly wanting to sooth. Were they being cruel? She didn't know. But she knew she couldn't kill someone simply to kill Karn as well, not when this Rians only crime was preventing death.

Her head was starting to ache as she thought about this, but that didn't matter, "shhh. It's okay, everything will be alright Karn,"she managed t get the words out, even as she felt like crying. It was there, the thought that maybe the only way to save Karn was to kill him.

sasha
@lmpkio@YipeeXD

Sasha glanced to Marlene, smiling at her, but her eyes quickly went back to Shujin. There was something she didn't trust here, and she was uneasy about what he would say. Her expression became serious as she waited for him to speak, almost daring.