But the newcomer didn’t respond, just went to light a cigarette from the ashes. Though, before he could, a bird emerged from the ashes, lept into the man’s hair, and promptly got itself completely entangled.
“Hell to this.”
He sighed and turned. As he did, he heard the screeching words of the animals again, and a few loud thuds. He chose to pretend he did not hear those sounds, instead walking toward the stairs that hopefully lead to some sort of guest sleeping chambers. The Abyss had nothing of the sort, of course, but he had read that Upperworld inns were known for rooms patrons could spend the night in.
As he paused at the bottom of the stairway, he called, “Mistress or master of this manor, if you do not mind, I shall sleep in one of your guest chambers tonight. I shall pay whatever fee you require at sunrise.”
At that, he clomped up the stairs, opened the first room he saw with a door ajar, planned an emergency exit route (as usual), checked for hidden traps or ambushers (as usual), and then promptly fell asleep on the softest bed he had ever felt.