T - Harps, Lucca

[Lucca]

Colin was secretly relieved when the dead Queen backed away from him, despite the fact that he gave Arpeggio a quiet look of reprimand. The Tove, on the other hand, looked quite pleased with himself, and made a quiet humming noise of contentment, settling in on Colin's shoulders and relaxing again. When Colin made it up the stairs, he walked a few steps away so he could look back and watch the rest of the group emerge. To his satisfaction, everyone had made it up, including the Rabbits. He knew it was in his best interests to not make an enemy of such a powerful creature as this Heike, and the game of politics was one for which he had both a slight enjoyment and a lot of practice. Joel was carrying an unconscious, smaller Rabbit, and Dania and Faust apparently wanted to offer refreshment to the Rabbits.

Good, that was good...except that the way Dania worded it almost made him wince, but he fought it down. As they walked toward the dining area, Colin turned to Heike, and muttered in a low tone. "I apologize if we're not making a very good impression, Your Lordship. It's been a very trying day for all of us, including having the majority of my Court just up and vanish literally overnight, and not a lot of Cards even know Rabbits exist,let alone have any reliable information about you. Of course, from what little dealings I've had with your kind in the past, I can assume that's intentional." Really, he was just trying to make conversation and set the Rabbit's mind at ease. He also smiled at Horatio, so the Penguin would know he was included, although...the other Rabbit was going to help prepare tea? Well, if she wanted to, then.

Heike was his primary concern, and he seemed to be just as tense around them as they were around him. One thing was clear, though, and that was that these Rabbits knew no more about the situation than he did. Unfortunate, as he was hoping the basement might hold some answers. That left the only possible avenue of clues to be Not-Faust, who had vanished, and Zacharias, who almost certainly knew more than he had told them, and...had...also...vanished.

When he realized -that- was the reason for the odd, empty feeling...well, Colin was instantly uneasy. Why would the Wolf leave right after his bath? He had said he was going to the other Courts, but...Colin itched to check on him, but once again he had important company he couldn't leave. He was the only one of the group of Cards who didn't seem afraid of Heike, and the only one who could have a chance of matching him in a fight, most likely, though he hoped there would be none of that necessary.

[Nathalia]

((Faust gave Dania a nod of agreement, though it seemed a bit forced.
"Please...if you need help, call? Maybe I won't be of much use...but-" He watched a painting pass them by as they meandered forward, his mind whirring to catch up with the rest of him. "But I'd rather die than sit by when you...needed help."
It was a stupid thing to say, he almost wished he hadn't said it.
Almost.
Instead, he set about clearing off the main table, trucking things into the kitchen as best he could (and snapping up one or two things on the way), getting the table wiped off as best he could, before sitting down with a heavy groan, out of the way on the far side so as not to attract too much attention.
He was afraid of these Rabbits, he was terrified of Dania being alone in the back with one, he was afraid of the dead Queen, now dancing attention on Colin, he was honestly still a bit afraid of Colin, he was afraid of this Wolf they had mentioned, off somewhere in this Palace...
So very afraid.
Letting his pounding head rest in his hands, he did his best to hide the horror that brought him to the verge of tears.

The corpse, upon being rejected again, continued making its high-pitched, constant noise, before wandering back into the kitchen with Dania and Nadja. Stumbling up to them, it held out its arm, almost as though seeking assistance with it, before setting it on the counter with a soft click, and turning back to the pair.
"There was even going to be a party for you...." It mumbled, sockets staring blankly out over the kitchen, it then crouched down near Nadja as though it wanted to be scratched behind the ears.))


Dania seems to have found something!
:Most Certainly Not Aspirin: Well, any good medical Corvie would be able to tell you these are not a normal medicine...but then what are they? There are only two pills left in the ancient-looking bottle and they're a little sticky with age. They smell like lavender and something rotten...oh, do be careful. There pills must be used together for a spell or mutation (either eaten or crushed and snorted) or they can be used separately in a breeding, though if they are used on two different children, the effects will be heavily diluted.


~Nathalia

[Harpsdesire]

The look Heike gave her made Dania want to melt through the floor. How could rabbits make the huge efforts they must to stay hidden, and then be so surprised – offended even – that the very beings they strenuously avoided didn't know about their tastes and habits? At least he included an answer with his somewhat insensitive remark about her nerves. Dania nodded, ”Of course, sir. We are... honored by your visit.” She looked down demurely. On her way to the kitchen she would have to make sure she picked up the half-finished plate of meat along with the used dishes.

”Faust... I--” The woman was at a loss for how to respond to his words. She finally settled on, ”I'll be sure to call you the moment anything happens.” Perhaps sensing his fear, she trailed one paw down his arm ever so gently. ”Please try to rest.” Her smile was almost tender.

The rat made sure Faust was seated as comfortably as possible before she hurried off to make the preparations, looking back over her shoulder at the smaller rabbit who tagged along. When they arrived at the kitchen, the small Avington spoke. She sounded surprisingly friendly. Kind, even. “I'm Dania.” Dania looked down at the red 'Q' on her chest, a small, rueful smile on her face. How could she possibly explain this to the rabbit? ”I'm queen ranked, but I'm not titled. I-- hm.” How could she explain it. ”I have more power than lower ranked cards, but I'm not in charge of anything. His Majesty Colin is in charge of this court.”

But really, that wasn't the issue at hand. The real story was that she just didn't see herself as nobility. ”I've only been a Queen for... a few hours, I suppose. I'm not used to it. And-- and I... I like cooking for people. My mother does the same. She makes a... a home for anyone who needs a place to stay the night or a warm meal.” She blushed, realizing how silly this must sound to the rabbit. It must be the stress of the day catching up to her. Dania hurried to gather the cookies, some fresh fruit to replenish the bowl on the table, a dish of salad greens that were probably intended for the nobles' lunch. Nadja seemed quite capable of making the tea itself, although Dania kept an eye on the rabbit, just in case.

”A party, hmm?” She responded to the mummified queen, rather distracted, and eyed the arm on the counter with a little distaste. She wasn't really sure how to interact with the creature, which was just a little more unsettling than it was endearing. She turned to the rabbit, a little uncomfortably. ”I think the tea is ready.” She smiled, but without joy in the expression.

With Nadja's help the prepared food was swiftly conveyed back to the dining room, where Dania saw Joel fussing over Zulimar. He had covered the small body with a tablecloth in place of a blanket, and seemed to be rubbing the creatures front paws to increase blood flow to the cold limbs. He expected her to eventually awaken on her own, but keeping her warm would help to keep her from going deeper into shock in the meantime.

- 91

[Kari Muffin]

(( OOC: so uh... I had every intention of Horatio being in the kitchen with Nadja since she asked so nicely so I'm slipping him in there. Hope you don't mind. ))

Heike wasn't particularly sure what he was supposed to say to the young Rat lady, considering she was taking everything in the wrong way. He gave a small dismissive shrug. Torquehelms were the same no matter what creature they were. He turned to Colin when he was addressed. "Oh no, Your Majesty, you're doing quite well, amazing really. I honestly expected screaming and crying. I apologize if I sound ungrateful I'm just a mess..." He gave the bird a small smile. It was amazing he was staying as composed as he was. Cards. Everywhere. "Yes, we do like to keep to ourselves. I didn't expect you to know that much, but I honestly have no idea what Cards do and don't know about rabbits."

He watched as the table was cleared, taking a seat when he could. He inspected his surroundings with a curious expression. Everything was just so... gaudy it was kind of amazing. Why did Cards like this sort of thing?

He tried his best to stay looking chipper, hoping that the bird would at least wait for the tea to come out before speaking to him. Nadja was in the kitchen. With Cards. And the cat thing.

---

Horatio gave a weak smile back to the Queen of Spades. A noble. He could feel the pit of his stomach rolling around in protest. He shouldn't be here at all. This was terrifying.

When the little rabbit addressed him he looked completely surprised. "That would be fantastic actually." He gave a small bob of his head as he quietly excused himself from the others. Not that they seemed to be paying him much mind. He sat his rabbit foot aside on one of the chairs when no one was looking and everyone was seated.

It took him a bit to actually get to the kitchen, the large cat monster had passed him, freaking him out a tad. He slowly slipped in afterward. The girls seemed to be chatting, and he definitely missed the Rat's name.

Ultimately he helped with the towels when Nadja gave them to him. He felt a little useless, but at least... he was helping a bit.

[Vyn]

Nadja looked perplexed for a minute but listened intently as the Card spoke. That made sense, somewhat. Enough that she could at least understand why the woman was in the kitchen. "You Cards have a strange way of handling status..." She nevertheless offered the woman a polite smile and a bob of her head before hurrying to get the tea together.

She found a couple towels in the closet while looking for the teapot. "But it sounds like you and your mother do well. That's very good." It probably wouldn't help to explain how different that was from her life, so she just politely went about her work until they were joined by the Corpse.

The thin keening grated at her nerves and made her tremble despite her best attempts at composure. "Oh... hm. Hello?" She gasped as the arm was held out to her. It took her an awkward couple seconds to realize what was going on. "Goodness. You want your arm put back on, don't you?" Her heart fluttered in her chest, pounding pounding as the Cat mentioned something about... a party?

She did say the oddest misplaced things. "A party? That'd be nice, after all this..." She offered wistfully.

When Horatio waddled into the room Nadja instantly perked. "Horatio! Wonderful. I need a little bit more help than I expected." The tea tray was all ready aside from the pot that Dania thankfully reminded her to check. She added it to the tray and offered the towels to Horatio. "If you could take one to to Heike I'd be eternally grateful. I'm going to..." She cut off abruptly as the Corpse Cat shoved its head near her as if it wanted... petting? Nadja swallowed and nervously reached up to oblige it. "Right, yes, I'm going to put her arm back on. If you could also tell Heike that for me, I'd appreciate that."

And then she was alone with the Corpse, just like that. It was more than a little unsettling but a job well done would be worth it, right? She produced the first aid kit she'd located for Zuli in the basement and produced the thick black medical thread and a heavy duty needle. Delicate rabbit paws made the procedure a little awkward but she managed to get the arm back on and snipped the thread neatly.

"I hope that helps. I should return to Heike now, he's probably worried now." It wasn't exactly beautiful but it was done and, really, no one was likely to notice the poor stitch job when confronted with the fact that she was a walking corpse.

Why was she doing this?

Nadja scrubbed her hands thoroughly with water so hot it nearly burned her paws and then quickly returned to the room. "Pardon me, Sirs, for taking so long... I put her arm back on, hopefully she won't be making that noise anymore."

[Lucca]

Colin gave a polite smile to Heike as the others went off to the kitchen, ignoring the corpse as it came back over to him. He waved a wing half heartedly at it, as if it were some annoying insect that was buzzing around. Arpeggio raised his head and let out a low hiss, but settled instantly back down as the strange corpse went off to the kitchen with the others. Though...this did not please Colin at all, really. Dead things in the kitchen was most unsanitary.

"We all are, really, or should be after today," Colin reassured the Rabbit. At any rate, he knew that his calm, polite composure was a pleasant lie. Underneath it was all he could do to keep from falling to peieces. Once again, he silently thanks his parents for teaching him so much about social politics, and Vessatha for teaching him even more. "Most Cards know very little about Rabbits indeed. I only knew of your existence because I've met one before. But she was a lot smaller than you, about the size of the other two with you. And very skittish." He took a seat, settling himself on the chair and forcing himself to relax despite being antsy about where Zach had gone, and waited for the tea. Wonderful. More tea. How he hated having to choke down the beverage and pretend he liked it. What he could really go for right now was a bit of wine...that and some comforting music to calm him down.

[Kari Muffin]

Horatio quietly made his way over to the larger rabbit and offered him a towel. "Your sister will be right with us, here you go for now," he said in his most charming and polite voice. The large Rabbit gave him a curious look before accepting the towel and placing it on his lap.

It was nice to know that Rabbits had manners. He offered towels to Faust and Colin, if they took them or not, it was completely up to them, but he had to offer since he had brought enough out for everyone. He'd offer one to Dania as well when she was finished serving tea. He'd leave the Cat-Deer to what he was doing.

He gave a small sigh of relief when the little Rabbit came out of the kitchen, politely stating what she had been doing. She seemed to be the only one who was nice around here, or at the very least not terrified or High ranked. He pulled out a chair for Nadja, and offered her a towel as well.

---

"She was most likely running errands for her Jack, I imagine." Heike fiddled with his coat a bit more as Colin spoke. What had exactly been going on to cause all of these horrible events? Cards must have been responsible for what happened to Fleur and that other rabbit. However these Cards didn't seem to know anything, did they?

When the penguin arrived to offer him a towel he paused but ultimately accepted it. Nadja was still in the kitchen with that Cat monster? His fur stood up a little with anxiety. Why was his sister so nice to everything? The damn thing could eat her if it wanted to!

He tried his best to keep a straight face, though it was quite clear that he was filled with anxiety from the news. It wasn't until Nadja announced her presence that he relaxed ever so slightly.

Now that they had tea they could have a little chat. After he had taken a nice long drink he spoke. He just had to be blunt about this, there was no other way. He was already in the lion's den.

"So I suppose we should discuss the matters at hand. When we arrived here in search of my daughter we came across another rabbit. And through some physical impossibility they exploded... a Card. Never in all my life have I seen such a violent magical spell, and I suspect only a Card would be capable of creating something like that. Does that happen to relate to any of the problems you've been facing?"

He bit into a cookie, praying a little that this would all work out in the end.

[Harpsdesire]

When Nadja appeared and mentioned repairing the queen’s arm, Dania turned to her with a genuinely relieved smile. ”Thank you, Nadja. I… wanted to fix her up, but I must confess I’m not terribly brave about medical things.” Or anything, really, she thought to herself. Dania set the last of the tea things on the table as Joel stood, apparently having done all he could for the leveret. The corvie wandered towards the table, eyeing the rabbits curiously.

Although she was a little confused to be offered a towel, Dania accepted politely and put it across her lap as if it was a napkin. It must be a rabbit custom or something. Or maybe she forgot to direct Nadja to the napkins? Oops. ”Thanks. I’m sorry; I don’t think I caught your name. I’m Dania.” She smiled at the penguin, drawing a little from her Diamond charm to make the introduction less awkward. There really was no good way to say ‘hi, we’re both trapped in a nightmare, so we may as well be on a first-name basis’ and make it sound natural. Not that sounding natural in social settings was a skill of hers to begin with. At least he looked like a friendly and appealing sort of person, and their shared realm made her feel a small connection to him.

Dania poured cups for the Jack and Queen, then the rest of the table. Suppressing a headachy sigh, she sipped her tea and tried to act appropriately interested in what Colin and the Jack were discussing, even though the main things she cared about in that moment were making sure Joel and Faust were ok. Colin too, but he actually looked like he was in his element, as poised in delicate social situations as she was awkward.

Joel hurried into the kitchen to wash his paws, giving the taxidermied queen as wide a pass as possible. He returned to at take a seat at the table just as Heike finished talking. His eyes went wide. Exploded a card?!? He was shocked to discover that a rabbit was capable of blowing someone up. Maybe they were as powerful as people sa—oh. The big rabbit seemed to think it was somehow their fault. Well. He was going to— um, he was going to let Colin handle this. Joel took a cookie and nibbled it, then set it down on his plate. It had only been an hour or so since he had eaten with Zacharias and the second Faust. What a day.

[Lucca]

Colin nodded at Heike's words. A Jack? That was interesting. Did Rabbits have Jacks just like Cards did? Was Heike a Jack? Why did Rabbits have no Rank on their chest, then? Colin was curious, but he also knew that it wasn't the time for questions of such little import. They had a serious situation on their hands, and, if they got closer to solving it, maybe then there would be time for indulging in simpler matters of curiosity.

He waited to speak, gathering his thoughts as they were served tea. He took the towel from Horatio, nodding his thanks, and wondered at the fact that the other Rabbit was apparently in the kitchen helping the walking corpse. Well...perhaps one monster felt sympathy for another? Though after seeing the near-impeccable manners of this Heike and his retainer, he could hardly classify them as 'monsters' at all. He had just taken a sip of the horrible-tasting, but quite warm, tea, when Heike said something that nearly caused him to choke.

The Cardinal took a moment to swallow, dab at his beak with the towel, and then say, in as level a voice as he could manage. "I'm sorry? I thought you just said...someone exploded." He took another moment to freak out about it privately while he kept the calm expression carefully in place, and then was able to puzzle out what that might mean, exactly. "A Rabbit...exploded -into- a Card?" he asked after a moment, trying and failing to keep himself from paling under his feathers. "I'm sorry but...I have never heard of such a thing. Nor have I found any evidence of such happening in the rest of the Palace. Our problems are more along the lines of Cards simply vanishing, or else falling into such a deep sleep that they cannot be wakened."

[Kari Muffin]

"Horatio," the penguin replied quietly to the rat before going over to take his seat with a tea towel of his own. He was happy that Nadja accepted him pulling out her chair. This entire ordeal was strange and uncomfortable.

He wiggled into his seat, reacquiring the rabbit's foot. He gave it a small awkward pet, placing it on his lap and putting the towel on top of it. He stared at the cookies. Did he really want to try to eat?

He froze at the mention of exploding. What? What was going on? Is that why he had been so threatening in the basement?

And people were disappearing and falling into deep sleeps? What had he landed himself in?

---

Heike watched the bird. At least these Cards didn't seem responsible for his daughter's death. They were just as shocked as they should have been. Well, Colin was, and he seemed to be the only one who really mattered.

White Rabbit, his daughter was dead. The thought made him cringe as he nodded and finished his cookie. "Yes? There's the corpse of the Morganberry rabbit in your cellar, along with my daughter who seemed to have suffered from a similar fate. She... she was missing most of her front half and there were foot prints in her blood. I can only assume a Card exploded from her as well."

For a long moment he looked quite ill. He held up his tea, poised to drink. He spoke first, however, "It's possible that everything is connected and someone is plotting to kill Rabbits and do something to your government."

He was being paranoid, right? His eyes wandered over to his sister. They needed to get out of here.