“Nice to meet you” Kathlin responded politely to the beaming Naliyah. Glancing up and down, her eyes strayed over the odd garb the elf was wearing. “That’s a nice…outfit”

“Awww, thaaaanks!” Naliyah said happily, before her attention immediately refocused back upon Rithrynn. “Do you like it, Rithy? I got it from this little hummie shop next to the canal. So quaint! You should come with me next time….”

“Uh, maaaybe, Nali…”

Kathlin winced slightly as she received a very pointed glare from Rithrynn for not holding up her end of the conversation properly, as Naliyah started to edge closer towards her again. “So…have you been in the city…long?”

“Ohh, no. Not that long” Naliyah responded, momentarily sidetracked by the question. “Only so long as Rithy, and Mistress was soooo angry when [i]she[/i] ran away. It’s a funny place though, and everything’s so small. Like you.”

“Uh-huh. Right.” Kathlin said cautiously as she looked up at the elf. “That’s probably why the clothes are so…”

Naliyah grinned down at her, showing a glint of teeth. The bulging human blouse that was held on her bust by one singular button was threatening any moment to burst its stitches. “so what?”

“….never mind”

*

[i]“…You assassins are like cockroaches”[/i]

Liaena thought as she studied Astrid closely. She did recognise the blond woman, but her last memory of her had left her in relative certainty of her death. Clearly, that assumption would have to be revised somewhat. 

Shifting slightly, she realised that she had landed partially on her satchel. Donald, inside and stuffed inside a sock had no doubt had an even more uncomfortable landing than her, and was quite possibly halfway to dreamland yet again by this point. Liaena readjusted her weight so as to avoid smothering him completely. “Y-yes. I understand. Just let me up”

Astrid sneered as she studied her, before grabbing her roughly by the upper arm and pulling her to her feet. Liaena reached down to disentangle the bola from her legs, as she established that her kneecap was only bruised, nothing worse. Her mind was also rapidly racing through her options, as she tried to figure out what to do for the best. 

Fighting would no doubt not be the best plan. While she might be able to easily blow Astrid up in a sneak attack, Liaena was not under any illusions about her own incompetency in a physical fight, and Astrid was no doubt well-versed in fisticuffs. The woman clearly hadn’t recognised her, and under the circumstances her best option seemed to be to bluff until Astrid gave her an opening….

In a sudden moment of horror, Liaena realised that Sharons necklace had fallen slightly out of her shirt when she had been thrown off her feet, and was now partially visible for someone who was looking in the right place. Reaching up to adjust her cloak strings quickly, she dropped the pendant down safely inside her clothes again under the pretext of drawing her cloak more closely around her and shivering. “Where…where are we going?”