T - Harps, Lucca, Callypso, Lauryn

[Lucca]

Felix blinked golden eyes at...Iso? Apparently. He sat up on his haunches, tilting his neck back and forth to alleviate a little bit of the tension in it from his previous position. Horns and quills combined to make comfortable sleeping positions relatively difficult. "Not really," he said with a shrug. "I mean, worrying's not gonna help us find a way out, is it? Besides, there are worse places to be locked into, and at least we're together!" He grinned at both of them. "Nice to meet you both!" Hmm, this carpet felt nice on his paws, especially after the threadbare ones at his small apartment. Was it too much to hope they could stay here a while? Maybe it was all someone's good intentions?

...yeah, actually, even he wasn't stupid enough to truly believe that. "UHHHH." Felix scrunched up his face in thought. It looked a bit painful. "I was in the market. I was going to work! And then...there was this weird noise. Like...I dunno what it was like. Weird." Speaking of weird noises...his ears twitched. What was that? Sounded like footsteps, and he obediently turned toward the door, as if expecting someone to come in. Though...wait...they'd sounded a bit further away than that. So maybe...

"Pancakes?" Felix sniffed the air eagerly, but frowned when he could find no such thing. "Nah, I don't." Pity, too. Pancakes sounded really good right about now.

[Harpsdesire]

As her mother spoke, Kendra found her anxiety somewhat returning. If mom was troubled by the situation, than it appropriate that she be worried as well. She frowned a little. The minor rollercoaster of waxing and waning nerves was irritating, and worse than that it gave her that most-uncomfortable sense that she was powerless. Kendra did her best to ignore this, and instead wandered back over to the dresser she had been about to inspect when the introductions started. ”I’ll help you look.”

As she rummaged through the drawers, which seemed to be filled mostly with extra linens of the same rich quality as those on the three beds, the girl tried to remember what she had been experiencing the last few moments before she woke up here. Nothing of particular interest came to mind until Felix mentioned the strange sound. ”I heard that too! It was like…” Kendra grasped for a description even a hair more eloquent than what the porcupine had said. ”Uh… Scratchy? Like dead leaves blowing down the street maybe. And I saw the regular bazaar stuff.” She shrugged, for the noise didn’t strike her as particularly unusual or significant.

”I do smell something good. I guess it is pancakes.” Considering the richness of the room, Kendra wondered idly if there would be any point in hoping for room service. She was a bit hungry, now that she thought about it, but that took a back seat to helping mom look for a key. Kendra dropped to all fours to look under the dresser, as the drawers didn’t seem to yield a key that would fit the bedroom door.

[Callypso]

“Worrying” may not help us accomplish our goals, but retracing our steps and discovering what we have in common might. Our prison may be in every way luxurious, but unless we receive a proper explanation for our being here and why we have been locked within, a prison it shall remain.

In a way, Iso was grateful that neither her daughter nor Felix seemed unduly distressed, though she couldn’t fathom why they weren’t more upset about their situation. It was true, all of them were unharmed as of yet, but there was no denying the fact that they were more than likely brought here under dubious circumstances. The doctor did not appreciate surprises, especially when it involved waking up in a strange place without any hint as to why or how. Furthermore, the rest of their family might be worried sick. Had something similar happened to Polina, Aberforth or her infant children? She would not stand idly by when her family’s health and safety might be in question.

Still, the porcupine had a point. She had to remain focused, and a continued examination of the room and each other’s prior whereabouts seemed the best tactic for now.

I recall hearing that noise as well, Iso added as she moved on from the armoire to a glossy walnut side-table. All the armoire had contained were extra sheets, bathrobes and towels. She pulled open the drawer and began searching through pens and sheets of loose-leaf paper. The dry, dragging noise hadn’t seemed relevant at the time, considering they had been in the market. She wasn’t entirely sure it mattered now.

You were on your way to work? We were grocery shopping, and, she cleared her throat out of slight embarrassment, Well, we saw you pass and followed out of curiosity. I’m sure you’re aware that you’re somewhat of an anomaly these days, Felix. We meant no harm, I assure you, but here we are.

The ferret couldn't help but wonder if the porcupine might not volunteer some blood samples if they ever managed to get out of this room. She would never experiment on another Card, but if she could find some way to help the Selkies through research...

Hmm... earlier I smelled cigar smoke, and now pancakes, Iso replied to her daughter's affirmation. Was there any significance to what her olfactory system was registering? Or were they manufactured scents designed to comfort them? In any event, there was still a key to be found, and explanations to be had.

[Nathalia]

Kendra and Iso seem to have located a little loose change.
5 unassigned p for Iso, 3 for Kendra.
Kendra also found an odd bit of tingly clothing in the drawers...maybe she'd best hold onto it?

Silk Finery: Oh! What dashing collection of lovely silk clothing! 2 pieces; a cravat and spats, how utterly wonderful; you can keep them all or share.
They tingle a bit to the touch, but I'm sure it's nothing, right?

The smell of pancakes seemed to be getting closer, along with the unmistakable sound of a heavy cart on plush carpeting.
A knock at the door interrupted their thoughts, and a scraping sound indicated a large bolt was being pulled back inside the door.

"Excuse me! Please don't mind me coming in, room service."
A rather short and extremely skinny Card...probably a Mouse mix, pushed her way into the room.
She lacked any fur on her body, save for a neatly cared-for mane that fell to the left side of her face. Her small, white uniform bespoke of a servant, and her drab colors suggested a Mid-Ranger...or maybe a Corvie mix.
Her large ears twitched and she gazed, seemingly at random around the room.
"Excuse the ah...the "looking", blind, you see?" She gestured to her unfocused and extremely red eyes, and gave a quick smile and a shrug, before carefully retracing her steps and pulling a cart back in after her.
"My name is Chrissie." She continued, brightly, pulling covers off of steaming stacks of freshly-made pancakes topped with whipped cream, butter, and blueberries.
"I'm just a maid, if you have any questions, though, please feel free to ask. I will start you off by saying that you're in the upper end of the East Capital, Norester street; in the manor house of Mr. Rankin Mellowthorpe. You've been brought here for your own safety."

The look on her face suggested that she was entirely aware this wouldn't satisfy them, but she stood back and gestured to the pancakes.
"It's been a while since you were brought in, please, help yourselves."

[Lucca]

Felix tilted his head. Iso did seem to like getting wound up about things. Then again, she was a Corvie, and a mother (and didn't that bring a slight pang to his heart, that thought) and both of those would seem to lend themselves to an almost unnatural fixation on the facts of a situation. Himself, the Porcupine still wasn't worried. Locked in they may be, but they were still perfectly unharmed and no one would just throw them in such a lovely room and leave them.

Felix turned to grin at Iso as she made the confession of following him. "Nah, I know. Saw you two following me. Though I had hoped it was because I have these handsome horns, and not just because of my region," he said with a wink, clearly joking. "I would have stopped and introduced myself, but, well, had to get to work, you know." A shrug, and he watched for a moment as they looked through drawers. Just as it occurred to him, distantly, that perhaps he should be helping them search the room, the sound of something coming closer to their door was unmistakable.

It sounded like...wheels? He grinned at the other two at the knock, as if to say, 'see now? I thought we wouldn't be left here long'. And then in walked...pancakes! And a Mouse. Who was blind? Well, then she obviously wasn't the one who brought them here...right? "Hullo, Chrissie, I'm Felix!" he said cheerfully, and then let out a low whistle. That was a -nice- part of town. He'd never even set paw near there, even before he had become basically broke.

Did he have questions? A few, but he decided to leave that to the more intelligent members of the group. Instead, he waddled over to test the food, taking a plate of pancakes with a "Thanks, this looks great!" and a small, eager noise. He wasted no time in starting in on the pancakes. Deciding what to do could come after breakfast.

[Harpsdesire]

As Kendra's paw brushed over something buried in the extra sheets and pillowcases, she felt a tiny prickle of magic. "Hm." She fished the items out of the collection of more mundane cloth and inspected them. Some kind of clothing, obviously, although rather on the fancy side-- she'd never seen anyone wearing actual spats before. Although she felt a touch guilty for doing so, she held on to the silky clothing. If it was magic, it might be a clue... also, it was just so pretty! Delicate, too; she was able to ball both items up in one paw, so fine was the silk.

She was about to mention her finds to her mother when she heard a rumble in the hallway outside their luxurious prison, a knock, a scraping... She turned to see a mouse enter. The woman looked remarkably harmless, but she turned to her mother for a clue as to how she should feel about this new development.

Before she had much chance to consider the implications of the arrival, Chrissie was kindly offering some information-- and even better, some pancakes! She glanced at her mother for permission to take part in the very tempting looking breakfast, but was distracted from food, at least for the moment, by something the maid said. "Protection from what?" She suddenly feared for her father and the helpless litter of siblings she and her mother had left at home. The East Capital meant little to her, and Rankin Whathisname even less, but the fact that they had been trapped here a while when her bothers and sisters could be in danger made Kendra's temper flare-- her usual response to stress and the dizzily twisting feeling that the world was spinning out of control.

"What?!?" She gaped at Chrissie, "A-- a WHILE? How long is a while?" The petite young ferret fumed for a moment with all the pointless temper of a typical adolescent. She didn't realize how tightly she was squeezing the silky fabric in her paw until a moment later when her flare of temper faded as quickly as it had ignited, and she looked rather ashamed of herself, as well as defeated. She hung her head and wrung her paws, looking quite abashed.

[Nathalia]

Thank you for being a guinea pig, Felix. <3
Iso will be able to see that the food has no adverse effects on Cards and are, in fact, delicious.

Chrissie's head turned slowly in the general direction of Kendra's voice.
"Protection from what's been out happening in the city. There's something...seriously wrong. I wish I could give you better, but the Master hasn't told me too much and- Um, sorry, but I can't exactly go and look out a window."
Her smile faltered for a second before she slipped it back into place.
"Anyway, Master's shopper was out in the market and saw all of you in the street. Gorrvin's a strong man, so he loaded you up on the cart too and brought you all back. Gotta say, one of you has something interesting? On your back? Master said he'll want to speak to you about the nature of it, if he could, please. Not now, of course."

Uncovering some water and some milk, she handed out glasses as best she could.
"It's been about 6 hours since you all came in, whatever hit you must have done it hard. We think it was some kind of gas. The windows are, um...gone for right now, I think. The Master has an ability to seal the Mansion, you see; it's to stop the gas getting in."

[Callypso]

((Oh my god, Nat, you totally read Iso’s mind before I even had a chance to post!))

The desk yielded naught but a few coins. She wasn’t deterred yet. It was an extremely large room and there were plenty of places in which a rogue key might be hiding. About to leave the desk and head over to a closet, the distinctive squeak of wheels was heard outside the door. Iso placed herself strategically between her daughter and the doorway as the slide- click! of a deadbolt being undone sounded from the door. Room service, indeed!

A very slight, hairless mouse entered the room, bringing in with her a cart laden with fluffy, aromatic pancakes. Iso peered curiously at the woman’s red eyes before her suspicions were confirmed by the stranger. Blind. Interesting.

Iso’s nostrils flared as the woman immediately rattled off where they were and in whose home they had the “pleasure” of being guests. She shook her head ever so slightly at Kendra as she started toward the breakfast platter to discourage her from eating. They didn’t have nearly enough information on this “Rankin Mellowthorpe”; the food could be drugged or poisoned for all they knew! Besides, the mouse didn’t look entirely convinced of her own tale.

She visibly paled and took a step forward as the porcupine, who clearly entertained none of Iso’s thoughts, began to help himself. Moments passed and, when the fool Selkie didn’t appear to pass out or show any outward signs of illness, she gestured for Kendra to go ahead and eat.

The ferret listed intently to what the servant had to say, holding her tongue even though the ink along her backside had formed long tendrils that whipped nastily to and fro.

I see. And your master’s protection included locking his charges in their quarters, despite his ability to “seal” the mansion, as you said? That seems highly necessary.

There was little chance the Mouse could misinterpret the ferret’s clipped tones. Despite her outward anger, Iso was absolutely terrified. What was this “gas” she spoke of? Had it affected the Capital in its entirety? Where was the rest of her family, and were they safe? More importantly, how was it that this "Gorrvin" had been unaffected, and why would they assume it was gas?

Iso rubbed her forehead with a paw to ease the tension that was building in her eyes. This was how she had felt during the War - too many questions, answers that didn't quite add up. She was hoping that this was simply some overexcited Corvie's experiment gone wrong, and that this was all some ridiculous misunderstanding... though the woman had said the whole city was gone wrong. Ugh.

Your master was referring to me, I believe. I have questions of my own I'd like to ask. And I want to see him now.

[Lucca]

Felix paused from devouring the delicious and wonderful pancakes to frown over at the two Corvies. He wasn't sure why they were so upset. It seemed like the guy had been nice, saving them like that! He thought they should probably thank the guy, since it didn't seem like he'd extended such a generous invitation to everyone! Or maybe...that was the problem? Licking a bit of whipped cream off his muzzle, Felix thought about this, even though he didn't want to, really. Family was a sort of sore subject for him since he'd lost his, and it made him sad to think about, but what about Kendra's daddy? Maybe they were worried about him (or her). That...kinda made sense.

Felix accepted the milk from the Mouse with a cheerful "Thanks, Chrissie!" and downed the glass. Really, this was the nicest meal he'd been able to have in a while. And it had been completely free! You just couldn't beat that! He turned, though, to look at the Ferrets. "Iso, come on, why don't you have breakfast first? It's good!" He smiled at them both, spiked tail giving a hopeful wag, and nodded to the other two plates of pancakes. Truth be told, he could have polished off another one himself, but that would just be rude. "We'll find out what's going on soon, and at least we're safe here from the gas."

[Nathalia]

[

Chrissie's face moved in the direction of Felix's voice.
"Not a problem, sir. I'm here to help, as it were. Madame? I don't blame you your suspicions, but it does make a great deal of sense, actually. The Master doesn't know you from Adam, pardon my saying, and keeping random people from the streets under lock and key until he could ascertain if they were dangerous makes a great deal of sense to me."
She bowed her head slightly, as though in apology and gestured back toward the cart.
"Please, eat and I'll go and make certain you have an audience with Mr. Mellowthorpe as soon as is possible."

So saying, she backed out of the room, feeling her way past the cart with her tail and slipping back out.
She looked a bit cowed. Iso seems to have frightened her.