He just stared at the door once she was gone, unable to comprehend what was wrong or how it led to her being angry and sounding like she was abandoning him...while also looking for work for him.

afer a minute of the silence, his lips press into a thin line. By taking the illusion off of him, she had essentially trapped him in the room. There was no way for him to leave and still use the room he had paid for...since he no longer looks like the guy who rented it.

With a deep sigh, he sinks onto the bed and just stares into the nothingness...before eventually just flopping over and closing his eyes in defeat for the moment.

---

---

About forty-five minutes later, the girl reappeared. The door did not open, nor did it shut. She tossed something at him that jingled slightly. She'd done a bit of theft but also found him a job and a way for her to be kept busy and out of trouble while he was working. "Get up," she no longer sounded angry. Instead, she just... spoke. Her tone was dead, almost resigned but calling it that would be an overstatement. The energy she'd had was gone, giving way to both tiredness and realization of the facts. She was aware she'd trapped him here; that part she didn't regret; but she was also aware of how annoying she was; that part she wasn't going to change.

He jumped slightly at the sudden sound of something thrown at him, just it wasnt much. For a moment afterwards, he still laid as he had when she entered the room. But his eyes were cracked open, looking at what was no doubt more money. With a sigh, he finally sits up, "...youre why there were extra coins in my purse." he murmurs, now realizing what had happened. The theft didnt sit well with him, he was a knight...exknight...and he needed to survive.

Unknown to her, he hadnt yet found her annoying, so much as she was just incomprehensible to him, and he was lost on how to interact with her.

---

---

"How else would have it happened? Ghosts?" she huffed. "I found you a job and a way to buy yourself clothes so I don't have to do the work for you. You're welcome," with that she returned to her fox form and jumped onto the bed. Padding up to one of the pillows, she flopped down. She paused to give him a quick snarl as if to say 'don't wake me up or I will bite you,' then curled up into a little ball. She wanted to sleep. She didn't seem to notice that she'd forgotten to put the illusion back on him.

He continues to sit awkwardly for a moment, but when he speaks, its slowly and quietly. "...No, Im sorry. It must be a drain on you....but I didnt ask for the illusion, and its not the clothes that make it useful. Its the face. I still cant leave....because i cant come back unless i look like the man who rented the room."

his own voice was still fairly flat, and its followed by a sigh. He isnt even sure she was still awake to hear him, or if she would respond at all.

---

---

She lifted her head for about two seconds to give him a look similar to 'stop talking.' She was tired. His clothes, to her, were dirty and needed to be replaced. As for the illusion, that technically was not her job. She curled her tails over her head, her own attempt to finish the conversation. If he was smart, he might realize that a hood did a fine job hiding somebody's face if done correctly. Then again, it wasn't her job to make him smart, nor help him be smart.

He sighs again, they were at an impasse. And no, he wasnt going to use a hood to hide his identity. Thats just shady.

So he continues to sit there for sometime. About ten minutes, if she didn't get annoyed at his lack of activity. After that, he would get up...but only to take stock of what they have by counting the money. very slowly.

---

---

After a few minutes of him counting coins, she picked her head up and growled at him. He was making her mad now. She wanted to sleep, for the gods' sakes. If he didn't leave, she was already debating assaulting him. She was not going to give him more magic, considering she had to be near him for the spell to work and she was trying to nap. Her ears pinned back halfway, hopefully not betraying how angry she actually was with him.

"Still awake, I see." he says blandly, not even looking up, or he may lose count. "I've had a bit of a think about it. Youre the one that offered the illusion, and we used that illusion to get this room. Without the illusion, even if i leave, I cant come back. SO, I wont leave. It will be...unpleasant, to not be able to eat for the rest of the night. But your capriciousness will have consequences. Just like this."

Clink. Clink. Clink.

"Its either that, or I take the money and leave. You may have saved my life, but I also saved yours. And I dont deserve to be trapped like this and growled at for your mistakes."

---

---

She huffed, getting up from the pillow and jumping to the floor. She changed back to a slightly human form. "Feel free to leave. Unlike you, I'm not the one in danger of being recognized." She paused. Either her memory was just failing her or she'd blocked something out. "Name one time you saved my life. As far as I recall you didn't." That business with the storm, she decided, didn't count. She would have lived, just been mad at a few gods.

"I was in a bad shape...bu I do recall a very cold and very wet little foxling clinging o an almost dead man in hiding. Said dead man shared wamrth. But if youre going to be stubborn. Suppose I will too." he sighs, "I dont like it, but I suppose if you still think its a one sided affair, youre just going to have to accept that its a debt you made impossible for me to pay back."

"Your memory is clearly crap," she muttered. "Also, I don't even want you in my debt. I helped you because that's common sense." She didn't need to look after him. She didn't want to have him trying to repay her. She just wanted things to be normal, really. But that was never going to happen. "This country isn't the same anymore, nor are its people. Learn that. You're not a knight. You're just a man."

Her last words sting a little, so he falls silent for a beat or two. Then he finishes counting the money, and slides them back into the pouch. Finally, yet another sigh, "...I know that. It's why I'm not refusing this money. But I will, once Im getting money from a job. I may not be a knight...but I have to have some standards. A man with no standards is not a man at all."

He slips the money away and settles into his spot, "Get comfortable. Either I'll be able to do my job, or you'll have to steal your dinner. Youre obviously skilled enough to survive on your own."

"A man with standards is a dead man." She went to the door. "Don't be here when I get back." with that she left, again. Her plan was to get food for herself, and for him. She didn't mean half the things she said, not right now at least. She didn't really know what to do and it stressed her out.

Ray watched her go, staying still for a minute. two minutes. Three...ok, that should be enough. He stands and shakes his head. He did not like that the plan to help each other fell apart so quickly, but he didnt have the will or energy to try to make it work if she was going to do whatever she wanted like this.

One more moment. And then it wouldn't be awkward to leave right after she does. As he walks out of the room, he has to consider how he was going to maneuver around town. People here would recognise him and bring attention to him. Maybe point him out to their new guards...even if, when you really looked, no one liked them. Word on the street was that magic was going to be forbidden. Thats just how this empire worked.

But he kept his head low, keeping to the streets along the outside of the city. Eventually, he found what he was looking for, a person of ill repute trying to take advantage of the chaos to mug people. So Ray did his duty...he knocked the man unconcious, and also stole just about everything he had on him. With a new knife, he gave himself a shave, even shaving off the sides of his hair. It was definitely a different look, but he wondered if itd be enough...

---

---

Alone. She was... alone. She'd returned to find the room empty. She was alone now... it was most definitely her fault, but it still felt wrong. She couldn't remember why he'd left, not even what she'd said. She figured she'd screwed up a little worse than she'd been able to with his patience. She let herself collapse onto the bed, tired but unable to sleep. She never slept when she was alone. But hey, she might as well take advantage of his absence and the fact that he'd already paid for the room to figure out her next move.

If she went to find him, he might not want to see or speak to her. She could always use her magic, but she'd already done enough of that to mess up anything she'd earned to him. She didn't want his debt, yeah, and she probably did owe him a little bit for the warmth thing. She was well aware of the words that had hurt him the most- she hadn't been able to stop thinking about those. "You're just a man." So was she, in her own way. She was just a kid, not even that. She was... well, nothing. She couldn't use her magic in public, and that was what had gotten her by. She had no skills- theft didn't really count, even if she was good at that.

"Well, time to go gambling." She muttered, forcing herself off the bed after staying down for a few more minutes. Time to go man hunting and try to not die. Both of those were not something she liked. But it was what had to be done. She got up, locked the room's door, then vanished. Good luck to her, locating him in a city like this. It wasn't small.

With a new look, and an ill-gotten bump up in his money, Ray moved on. He didnt want to stay in the city, he decided, too busy. Too many chances to get recogized.

After some time, and a few more failed muggings, he felt he had a sizable sum to start with. Still, she should be careful. So he spent some money getting a hand cart, a few peices of lumber, a sleeping bad, a small pot, and a bag of dood - things like smoked meats and bits of cheese and hard tack.

In a small open area withing the side streets of the market area, he looks over his haul and prepares to start the next part of his plan, returning to the forest, somewhwre area from town, and away from the sentient house.