T - Lauryn, Chou, Nako---

[Nathalia]

Miah awoke to a splitting headache and a feathery body pressed against his own.
Who would-
Oh, Ercole...no real surprise there, right?
The Heron looks as though he's slowly waking up from a drugged stupor...again, no real shock, but why is Miah waking from one as well?

Oh...this isn't where they went to sleep!
And they're smelling of tobacco smoke and some kind of tar.
And drink...thanks to his lover...lots of drink. Of weird sorts too.

Delaney had fallen unconscious after the plant monster making off with her had started squeezing too hard.
She slowly started to come to now, her head spinning and her vision slightly foggy.
She found herself lying a few feet from these strange two men, paws in the air...and some kind of vine embedded in her back!

They all appear to be in a rather cozy, and small room. A small fire place at the back is smoldering gently, as though the tiny fire lit in the grate had only gone out a short while ago. The place smells of themselves, the fire, coffee, and...a man, maybe some kind of hoofed mammal. There are a few squishy armchairs, one of which Del is occupying, and a nice cozy rug, if a bit careworn, that Miah and Ercole are sitting.
What's going on?

[Chou]

Ercole couldn’t remember the last time that he had a full week of happiness. Things had been going well for the Heron. He found a card that he finally felt he could connect with and even love. His experiments hadn’t backfired in his face for at least a good, solid week and his momes that he could summon from his fashion-victim of a hat seemed to be in a better mood than usual and had taken interest in helping him around his makeshift lab. He’d even been laying off of the ‘extracurricular drink’ as he liked to call it.

Ercole yawned, smacked his tongue against his dry mouth and rolled over. He felt the warmth of another body next to him and smiled. Miah’s presence always comforted the Heron. The avian stroked down the length of Jeremiah’s back with his beak, a morning routine of sorts, as Ercole began to gather his surroundings as best as he could with a belly still full of drink. He fully stretched his wings out above his head and stumbled to stay upright on his wobbly legs. “Well, t-this isn’t where I fell a-asleep at all…” the bird whispered as he swayed from left to right nervously.

He had been so good this past week in terms of his addiction, he wondered what he had gotten Miah into this time, perhaps they were celebrating something? He stretched his neck towards the sleeping mouse and inhaled deeply. He smelled more ‘earthy‘ than usual. The bird was accustomed to the usual chemical smell that filled his apartment after a drink filled night, but this combination was not one that he had smelled in a long while. “Y-you smell just like m-my father did o-on T-Tuesday nights,” Ercole shook his head as he jumped backwards. The sudden movement caused the bird to plummet backwards over an armchair that was not located far behind him. He landed on his back with a large crash, shooting his long legs towards the ceiling.

[Lauryn de Vampyre]

His brow knitted together as the pain slowly drew him awake. Groaning, Jeremiah raised an elongated limb to his throbbing head as he sat up. Keeping his eyes closed, the Mouse drew in a deep breath... and regretted it. What sort of tobacco smell was that. Certainly nothing he'd ever smoked before. He also smelled the unmistakable tang of an assortment of drinks. Rubbing his tongue against the roof of his mouth, he nodded and pursed his lips. Definitely had way too much the night before. Too bad he couldn't remember any of it. What was worse was that his best friend in the world had been doing so well at staying more and more sober. What if what had happened was all his fault somehow?

Hearing movement from close around him he grudgingly opened one eye, and then the other.
Forgetting his pounding migraine and possible guilt for just a moment, Miah couldn't help but laugh at the site of Ercole.
"I know you might be head over heels for me, lover, but this is taking it a bit much," he said in good humor, getting up off the floor and going over to help the Avian upright again.

After his friend was once more vertical, Miah allowed himself a glance at their surroundings.
He frowned. It was no where he'd ever visited before. He smelled not only the tobacco but the unmistakably musty smell of male. The kind of smell ones leaves behind after, well.... you get the idea.

But his roving eyes stopped in confusion when he spied a card sprawled in one of the many armchairs in the small room. Miah gently elbowed Ercole in the wing and pointed at the female. "Do you recognize her?" he asked in a whisper.

[Nathalia]

((Just a heads up; please feel free to keep posting around Nako and search the room until she wakes up. ))

[Chou]

Ercole chuckled as Miah helped him to his unsteady feet. A sharp feeling of pain immediately pulsed in his skull once he reached his full height. Clutching his head with his wing, he turned to the direction that the mouse was pointing. The bird hopped closer to the sleeping card and bent down to get a closer look - everything still appearing as a haze.

“I-I don’t know w-who she is…Never seen her b-before,” Ercole shrugged. “B-but take a look a-at this f-foliage on her backside. I i-imagine it feels r-rightly cool under there in t-the summertime, yeah?” He examined the plant growing out of the card’s back a little bit closer and thought to himself about the possibilities of the effects his poisons would have on plant material that was fused to another being. He longed to reach out and pluck one of the leaves, stuff it into a vial and immediately begin testing. But, he was quickly reminded of the fact that he was probably miles from his lab. He nodded and then began looking around trying to make sense of the situation. “S-she smells of the same t-toxins as we do, w-which leads m-me to believe that we were together before b-being brought here,” he mumbled softly to himself.

He looked towards Miah for any insight into what had happened the previous night as he prodded the room for more clues. There was an aged fire that may have been contributing to the disgusting combination of odors in the room but nothing else seemed terribly out of place. The bird paused, and noticed a large bookshelf filled with encyclopedias and reference materials. Ercole skimmed over the titles located on the shelf that were at his eye-level - close enough that his beak touched and lightly dragged across each spine. One book caught his eye as he passed. It was gigantic in size compared to the surrounding books, had a golden spine and looked oddly familiar to the bird. The title read ‘Neighboring Flora & Fauna: A Guide’. Ercole swung the glittering cover open and inspected the first few pages in hopes of finding its owners name. Unfortunately, the pages had no sign of any marks or signatures. He turned towards the mouse once more and asked, “I-I don’t remember l-leaving the apart-apartment, do y-you?”

[Nathalia]

The book Ercole slid off the shelf may not have contained any personal information, but it did contain a tiny leather pouch. Even had a handful of coppers inside! (20 unassigned p)
Best slip that away quickly, lest someone sees.

[Nako]

There was a moment of something that almost seemed like.. comfort. Sights and sounds hitting her ears that were almost normal. Talking, and walking around. The heady smells of other cards, some older than others, assaulted her nose. The comfortable place she sat though..nice and soft. It gave off soft noises of cloth and cushiness, like the overstuffed couch her mother would sit in while he idly smoked a pipe.

She let out a soft sigh, shifting her weight and sitting up onto her haunches. The cards in the room… they were searching for something. She watched the two for a moment before speaking "E-excuse me… but where are we? Did you bring me here? I had the most awful dream that I was abducted by vicious plants…" It had obviously been a dream… right? There was no way something so awful could have happened to her.

((Sorry for the delay, guys DX))

[Lauryn de Vampyre]

Miah couldn't help but chuckle when Ercole said, her backside. Definitely wasn't the right time or place, but hey... you have to learn how to have a sense of humor in any situation, right? But wait, did he just say something about foliage?

The Mouse crept closer until he too could see the large vine looking plant growing from her back. How odd. Was that normal for her family?

"I don't think you'd be able to fit underneath there, sugar," he said to Ercole. He could see the experimental gleam in his friend's eyes and chuckled, knowing what it must be doing to him to not take samples. Miah personally wouldn't have cared if Ercole had taken a leaf or two, but the girl might have.

"Together?" he repeated skeptically. "What by the Suits would we be doin' with an unfamiliar child?" Children, while adorable, weren't his normal companions. Where had she come from? He just shrugged his shoulders at Ercole and shook his head, answering the man's unspoken question.

He watched the Heron start looking around the room, and decided to do the same. Looking around, he realized this was the kind of room used as a Study, or Cigar Room for Cards rich enough to afford such a lifestyle. He'd entertained many of his clients in such rooms.

Pursing his lips Miah headed to a small wooden desk set against the wall. It had a few bits of paper on it, a paperweight, pens and other knickknacks carefully arranged. Gulping rather hard, and thinking a good long time about what he was about to do (thanks to the 'thief' now forever upon his brow), Miah leaned forward and grabbed hold of the paperweight.

It was a simple, clear crystal globe with little air bubbles in the middle. Still, it was large and heavy enough to be a good blunt weapon should the need arise for such a thing. And considering how they'd just woken up... the possibility wasn't that remote.

Miah was about to answer Ercole when the young girl in the chair began to stir. He sauntered over to her and gave her a wide and friendly grin.

"Hey there, darling! Glad to see yer finally awake," Miah said, stopping before he got too close. Wouldn't want to freak the poor thing out. "Er, we uh... don't know where we are either, sugar. I was kinda hopin' you'd have a better idea than us," he said, gesturing to himself and Ercole behind him.

At the mention of plant monsters, Miah's heart skipped a beat. Back awhile ago, during THAT time.... there had been monsters too. Now it was true this was a child and maybe someone had dressed up in a plant monster costume just to scare her, but what were the chances of that really?

Taking a deep, and uncomfortable breath Miah had an idea and was dreading the answer. "Darlin'... have you always had that plant thing on yer back?"

[Nathalia]

Miah located a few coppers (2 unassigned p) and that fancy glass bauble. Nice, but no magic in 'em. Still, after his last run-in, perhaps that's for the best.

the room contains two doors, one's been barricaded a bit, a shelf pushed in front of it as well as a couch.
The shelf contains more books, some pots of...ink, maybe? A very small vial that smells a bit like booze, and a framed picture of a rather elderly-looking Kahmden Giraffe. She looks nice.
The other looks as though it leads further into the...apartment? House?
Whatever this place is.

[Chou]

The prospect of not knowing most of what happened or the location of where they were now was extremely interesting to the bird. He looked at it as a challenge - not unlike one of his many experiments.

Ercole continued to scrounge while Miah was questioning the child. “T-there has t-to be something h-here that will answer some questions,” the avian murmured to himself while readying his ‘thinking stance’. He slowly raised one leg and began scoping the room from top to bottom. The bird wasn’t a stranger to waking up in an unfamiliar place due to his habits. He also knew the importance of keeping your residence ‘identity-free’ (he was still convinced that someone was after his recipes - whether they were functional or not) but he was certain there had to be something here. He itched to find where the musty, male odor was coming from… Certainly, it wasn’t coming from Miah or the child and he was confident that the source of the smell wasn’t himself. The bird decided to begin walking the perimeter of the cozy room, careful not to knock anything over - a feat most difficult for the still, slightly intoxicated bird.

There was another shelf just across the way that looked to contain a few more books as well as some other items that Ercole could most certainly identify. At the sight of the gleam of the pots and vial, the bird smacked his dry lips and quickly made his way over. He had been trying to kick the drink (both alcohol and poison) but whatever was swooshing in his belly began taking a toll on his conscience. The Corvie reached into his breast feathers and fished for a vial of his home-brewed poison but was met with a single, empty container. The bird let out a loud sigh while eyeing the vial on the shelf. He knew he’d have to be quick, the bird figured Miah wouldn’t be too happy if he was aware of the new urges he was feeling. He bent down close to the shelf to give the appearance that he was carefully reading each title of the neatly perched books but took a good smell of the dark liquid inside of the pots first before continuing the motion to the vial. Ercole shuddered at the ink-like smell. It took him back to past times and how he had chased down a creature that had this very same odor but did not successfully capture it. He nodded, remembering his lust for finding just what that ink creature was truly made out of and what it could have meant for his poisons, quickly lifted one of the pots filled with the ink-smelling liquid and anxiously poured a few drops into the vial that smelled like booze on the shelf. And in just an instant, he wrapped his beak around the mystery cocktail and gulped up the awkward smelling substance.