Thane's Punishment and The Meeting of an Ermine

From Redwall MUCK Wiki


Characters: Christopher, Thane, Maimed, William, Wilco, spoof healers, Itzel, Kit

Location: Ferravale

Infirmary

The day has been long, and pretty bad for two particular stoats. Chris confronted Thane about the attack on the fox...and well, it ended badly for them both. Chris stumbles into the infirmary with the younger, smaller stoat limp on his shoulders. "I need a healer." he calls out, though its not that urgent. Both beasts are covered in blood, though Thane seems to be the worse off, one of his arms twisted, shoulder a little out of position. When he's set down, the damage is even more clear. Broken snout, big black eye. But it wasn't only Thane to get a beating as Chris has a cut on the side of his face, and a broken nose as well, as to which he makes evident as he turns towards anyone who maybe gathered.

Maimed is still recovering from his injury, still tired and in pain, but the crisis point has long since passed. At the sound of Chris' voice, he opens his eyes and lifts his head, regarding the two stoats, his eyebrow cocking up. This'll no doubt be an interesting story, and he's pleased that Thane's punishment seems to have been a rather severe one... though he still finds it hard not to wish additional injury on the young ruffian. He props himself up on his elbows to watch and see what happens.

William had heard a commotion going on at the bakery and had been just in time to see Chris leaf with a limp Thane for the infirmary. The rat briefly considered his options before going after the stoats. He'd heard a little of what had happened between Thane and the beggar, but not the whole story, just enough to think even less of his great nephew and maybe a little pity for the fox. Naturally since the fox was at the infirmary Wilco wanted to tag along. Since her father had yet to find any beast he'd trust to watch her other than the stoats he had begrudgingly let her go with him. The rats enter the infirm together but soon part ways. Wilco goes to lightly poke at the fox to see if he's alive despite him clearly being awake, and her father stalks over to his nephews. Wilco leans over the fox's bed. "Hi," the ratmaid says, "Are you better now?" she asks. Will says nothing at first and just stands near the stoats as they get fixed up, staring crossly at them both.

Christopher sits on the bed that lays between Maimed and Thane. A bunch of healers gather around the younger stoat while only one attends to Chris who glances up at William. "I know what you're think-ING!" There's a loud crunch and a yelp as the healer at Christopher's side sets his nose back in place before wiping down the cut on his cheek. "Nngh. Look...violence is the only thing he understands. And Its clearly the only tool I can use to teach him..." there's another crunch, from Thane this time, as they set his dislocated shoulder back into place.

Maimed is somewhat shocked by Wilco's concern for him, and even more so by the fact that her father would allow her to visit him after the extremely vehement refusal to let her associate with him the last time they spoke. His eyes smile as he gives the ratmaid a nod to confirm that he's feeling better, and he takes hold of his board, writing down something for the ratmaid to read. "I am now, even more so now that Thane's been beaten." He thinks for a moment, not quite knowing how to react to someone uninvolved with the fight paying him a visit, then writes more. "Thank you for visiting me. Are you sure your father doesn't mind?". He keeps looking back at Thane and Chris, ears perked to hear more about the aftermath of Thane's attack.

William isn't exactly letting Wilco visit the fox so much as he's trusting the healers to keep the infirm safe enough for random dibbuns to wander it unmolested. He's never been to an infirmary other than the abbey's or the one at his old home so he may be expecting too much. The rat has his back to the fox and is focused mostly on the stoats. "Christopher," Will says slowly, "Pa pulled both my arms out their places when I was Thane's age just for one time not leavin' a note before going off t play. What ya think th he'd have done if I'd nearly killed some beast for some gold? An my pa an otter for Martin's sake! What are you sorry for, Stoat?" Wilco reads the fox's message and shrugs. "I don't think Dad knows I'm visiting you, think he's too busy with my cousins over there," she points at the stoats as she talks. "Mum would give Thane a good canning if she was here," the ratmaid claims, turning to make a mean face at the unconcious stoat.

Maimed shrugs at Wilco's statement, his eyes still quite happy. He writes a bit more for her and turns the board again, "Don't care. I'm glad for the visit anyhow." He erases the board with a forearm, as is his habit, although the infirm staff probably won't be too happy at finding chalk on their sheets, and writes something new down. He snaps at Chris so the stoat will notice that he's holding the board in his direction. "You were too nice to him. He's lucky you punished him before I got revenge. I'd have killed him." He tries to keep the board from the ratmaid's eyes this time, not wanting to worry her with the more violent side of vermin life.

The door to the infirm opens slowly and the small fox, Kit, makes her way inside, completely forgetting to close the door behind her. She has to stand on her tiptoes in order to examine the various beasts on the beds and looks somewhat disappointed when she doesn't see who she's looking for. Sighing, she plants her paws on her scrawny hips and is pensively considering things when a healer rudely interrupts her revery by demanding that she 'shut the door NOW before everyone catches their death of cold!' With an unhappy, baleful glare the little fox slowly does as she is told, muttering, "In't even cold outside."

William says to Chris, "You didn't cause much trouble when you were little an your folks were very kind to you. They never needed t be rough with you for some reason. You mostly listened t them an th rest of us weren't allowed t knock sense int you without gettin' em mad. Your Mum being so sick when you were born an th trouble with that damned fox that wouldn't die .... things were different then," the rat says, his voice taking a harder edge when he rembers the fox had once hunted their family.The rat turns his head when the fox snaps at Chris. He catches sight of the writting on the board and smiles. "Now that he's helpless ... mostly helpless an can't fight back? Or before Chris got t him?" he asks doubting the fox could have beat the dibbun in a fight with how weak he looks, not a fair-ish fight at least. Wilco leans away fro the fox's bed when she notices her father is looking her way, she'll just pretend she wasn't talking to any foxes until he turns around again.

Christopher nods his head slowly. "I know, I know." he says, glancing towards Thane, who they've bandaged up as best as they can, both arms put in slings and wrapped tightly. He catches the board writing as he turns back, nodding. "And you'd have every right to. But please...I might not seem like much...but." he nods back at Thane as an example of what he's truly willing to do if he must. "Will." he says quietly. "I don't want to be this rough in punishment. It makes me feel too vermin like...but..." he glances to the broken form of his nephew. "I think it might actually teach him finally that it's not nice to hurt...think you'd be willing to help me keep him in line?" he asks, not seeing the small fox kit.

William narrows his eyes at his daughter for a few moments and looks between her and the fox before turning back to Chris. The older rat lays a paw on the stoat's shoulder and says, "I'll do what I kin, but as best I recall stoats, those by th name Cruz more so, are terrible listeners. And prone to acting out. May be that Thane is more verminous than th rest of th family ......" He is mutters, "or a spoiled brat." more quietly as a less likely and unpopular possibility. Wilco tries to look at what's on the fox's board before he erases it but is too late. Off handily to the fox Will says, "Maybe, but from what little I've heard you wouldn't have before this happened. Now that you know what he can do, of course you'll try even harder t stay alive." Wilco doesn't understand why the fox wrote what he did about a favor and looks around to see who else is around besides her fox. Spying the fox kit the rat dibbun waves a little but stays near the fox's bed. "Do you know how long you'll be in here?" the young rat asks Maimed.

Not seeing the otter she was looking for, Kit entertains herself with listening to the conversation going on amidst the others in the room. She pulls up a chair and hops onto it, legs dangling off the edge. She catches sight of the slight wave from the rat but doesn't return it seeing as how her small counterpart is involved in a conversation with the noseless fox on the bed.

Christopher hums a bit and glances over at the paw, smiling a little bit. "Meh...Grodenchik...Dad always liked that name better. Middle names usually sound better anyway." he smirks a bit before nodding. "I'm sure." he shakes his head a little bit, sighing as he lays down on the cot. "Rob...sent him up from Moledeep for me to deal with." he says. "And I feel like I'm not doing a good job at all." he frowns a little, closing his eyes, scrunching up his face before he realizes his nose still hurts, grunting at that.

Maimed shakes his head, realizing that neither Chris nor William will take him seriously. Whatever. Thane is in a hospital bed and that's good enough for now. He quickly scuffs off what he'd written before turning his attention back to the ratmaid. He writes down, "Sorry. Had to talk to Chris." then after hearing her question, he adds, "No idea. I'm leaving as soon as I feel strong enough. Infirm-" He looks at the board, a bit confused for a moment, suddenly wondering if he's been spelling the word right for all this time. Eventually he decides that whoever wrote the sign for the place isn't very clever and continues. "Infirmaries make me uncomfortable."

"Why?" the little rat says, "Mum used t work at th infirm at that Redwall place when some cat took it over. She learned how t sew beasts up when they get cut open an how t cut em open without killin' em an lots about stuff that makes you not sick an things. Dad doesn't like that place, says they let any beast in even if they're evil an kill everyone. Mum said Dad was exacger-uh making stuff up." Will sighs and replies to his daughter's comment by saying, "It's exaggerating and it's not the same as making things up. ...... And I didn't exaggerate by much. They let that fox in that cause a situation like this one with th newest crazy fox we have now, only seasons back but worse cause he'd keep dying and coming back after over an over again." Wilco is very quiet, she's heard this story before and while she wasn't born when that was going on she's heard the same story from her whole family and others as well. "Well, I hop your better soon," the rat dibbun says to Maimed leaning over to try and give him a hug if he'll let her. Will had not turned around to talk to his daughter so he does not see her trying to hug the fox.

Kit is growing bored and starts playing around by boldly leaning as far backwards off the chair as she possibly can without falling over. At one point she does lose her balance and her paws flail wildly in the air as she struggles to grab onto something. She manages not to fall over that time and is soon at it again, eventually falling over for real and crashing to the floor with an undignified yelp.

While Wilco is endeavoring to explain to Maimed just why he shouldn't be afraid of infirmaries, he can only shake his head, knowing that she probably won't understand, especially since he's not in any fit mood to give her a full explanation of why. He gives her at least some sort of reason though, even though it doesn't sound like a very good one. He turns the board to her so she can read, "It has to do with my face." Her father's story results in a lifted eyebrow, and he wonders just what the details of that story would be like, though he's not on good enough terms with William to venture a question. The ratmaid's hug is nothing short of shocking, and for a moment all he can do is lay there with his arms held out, not sure if he should return it or not. Eventually he does decide to embrace the little rat, unable to help but reflect on just how long it's been since somebeast, /anybeast/ has actually given him a hug. The ratmaid is released fairly soon, however, as the fox soon starts to feel awkward, and he can't help but worry that Wilco will find herself in some trouble if her father discovers that she's hugging mangey foxes.

The one awake stoat in the room glances between the beasts before he decides to say something. "So, erm. Kit...where's Zocalo today?" he asks.

Kit gave up on standing up and is lying spread-eagled on the floor near the chair she tumbled off of. She glances over at Chris and sighs dramatically. "I /dunno/, mate. I been lookin' fer 'im /all/ day." She stares up at the ceiling. "You ain't seen 'im, 'ave ya?"

Itzel slips through the door to the infirmary, bringing a gust of cold air with her as she does so. Her paws tug on her hood to make sure it stays in place, dark eyes scanning the room and taking account of every beast in it. She seems uncomfortable here, for reasons unknown. Certainly it is not all the sick beasts; she passes by them with no second thought, looking over their ailments as if they were a source of wonder, not disgust.

Kit stares openmouthed at the impressive looking ermine who stalks past her without seeming to notice the little fox. It might just be her but it's getting a little...crowded in the infirm. Like literal music to her ears, Kit detects the faint sound of whistling from outside and her ears perk, recognizing Zocalo as he makes his nightly foray into the town center. Without so much as a by-your-leave to the other beasts in the infirm, Kit leaps up and races out the door, once again leaving it open.

Wilco lets go of the maimed fox and moves to sit at the foot of his bed. She waves at the leaving kit and stares up at the ermine as she enters. "Hello," the young rat calls out to the new beast. Her father, William remains standing by Chris' bedside. "You may want t rest a little after having yer face caved in," he advises the stoat, "Don't think you'll be in here long, but they want t keep Thane til he wakes up ..... unless they're smart an know him."

Christopher nods his head slowly. "They can keep him. I plan on letting them know they'd better restrain him..." he says before glancing up as the ermine enters. "Oh! Hey...uhm. Akali..." he calls out with a bit of a smile, trying to ignore how sore his nose is.

Maimed sees the ermine enter, impressed that she seems to be fascinated by the various injuries and ailments rather than disgusted. He stares at her for a moment, then suddenly sits up with a start, letting out a wheeze as his body asserts that doing something like that was a miserable idea. He lays back down with a pained groan and picks up his board, writing frantically, his writing becoming more than a bit messy. He turns it to Chris and snaps twice in his direction to get his attention. "Where's my nugget?! Did Thane have it?"

Akali is not her name, not technically, but Itzel responds to it the same as if it where. it is hard to discern what her eyes are doing, but upon recognizing a face, her mouth breaks into a smile. A smile which falters when Maimed wheezes so abruptly. The ermine turns and back tracs until she can find her way to them amongst the cots. "Hello." She nods at Wilco and Christopher, and then turns to the fox. He seems to interest her a great deal.

William can't help but let out a whistle when he sees the ermine. Sure he's married and a completly different species and almost twice her age, she's pretty. The rat nudges Chris, "Friend of yours?" he asks grinning at the stoat. No matter the answer he will tease the stoat. The ratmaid frowns at her father unquite understand what he's doing, but pretty sure he shouldn't be doing it. "Uh, hello, Miz," she address the ermine. "Are you a friend of the fox?" she asks.

Christopher was about to say something before Will's teasing gets his eyes widen, almost embarrassed. "Will!" he frowns, going to give the rat a firm punch in the side. "Shuddup." he grumbles before blinking at the messaged Maimed had written him, bringing sadness to his face. "I...couldn't find it, I'm sorry. I think he lost it on his way home..." he shake his head slowly.

Maimed drops the board onto his lap and throws up his arms in disgust. Perfect! He gets stabbed, robbed, and even though the culprit was brought to justice, he's /still/ poorer after the ordeal! Amazing. Maimed's arms fold, and he's fully prepared to spend the rest of the day in a beastly sulk, but then he realizes that he's being stared at, and can't help but squirm under the ermine's gaze. He's got no idea why she's looking at him, but he's amazingly uncomfortable at being scrutinized like this. Somehow the fact that the ermine is quite attractive makes her seemingly morbid interest in his mutilations even more embarrassing, like having somebeast handing him a list of all the various ways that she physically outclasses him.

Itzel doesn't seem to notice Maimed noticing her noticing him. And perhaps fascination is the wrong word. Yes, she does take time scrutinizing the tod's various health problems, but once she has gleaned enough to understand why he misses patches of fur, why he must talk through chalk, her interest turns to Christopher and Will her stare just as intense. It's just the way she looks at things. Lucky for the rat, the meaning of the whistle escapes Itzel, who thinks it's just another sort of greeting. But the strange exchange between the two afterwards seems off. "...Yes. Hello to you as well," she says uncertainly.

William takes the jab from the stoat rather well as it didn't hurt much. He isn't sure if the ermine just didn't mind how he'd greeted her or if she's quietly plotting his demise while faking being polite. He doesn't think too long on the matter and figures it'll sort itself out soon enough either way. "Uh, hello. Do you two know each other?" he asks pointing from her to Chris, "I may be wrong, but you looked like you knew each other or something." He'll leave it at that for now and see how the stoat responds. Wilco slides down off Maimed's bed and kicks her father in the shin before crawling onto Chris' bed to sit with him and share any fox germs she may have picked up. Will scowls at his daughter fights the impulse to rub his leg. She's only a dibbun after all, it shouldn't hurt so much. She defiantly has too much of her mother in her.

Christopher glances towards Itzel and hehs a little bit, bit red in the face but glad she doesn't get any of that. He glances towards Maimed again before sighing. "I know I can't cover the value of the gold, but...I can get you some new clothes...and you're welcome to take whatever you want from the bakery free of charge. Like...bread, or scones or something, just to keep you on your paws when you need..." he closes his eyes, going quiet for a second. He responds to William though. "We met at the pond a few nights back." he nods.

Maimed shakes his head at Chris, clearly thinking that the charity is hardly adequate to make up for a missing gold nugget. It's not like he won't take it, though in the end he might just ask Chris to get his usual tunic mended... He heaves a sigh of relief as he sees the ermine lose interest in him, and he settles back into his cot, content to watch the exchange between the rest of the beasts.

Itzel studies the rat first, and then the stoat, allowing him to answer for her. To her it seems that the two are speaking some sort of strange unspoken language that she is not privy to, but at length decides that this should not make her sore. She nods in agreement. "Very few go there. I was surprised." This is a very weak statement, she knows, but she feels very much the outsider here.

"Well, Chris learned how t swim before he could walk just about," Will says, "and ponds are nice places to spend time around. He was probably suprised t see you there. Have you been seeing each other long?" He didn't mean to ask like that, but why not tease the stoat a little more.? Wilco looks the ermine over slowly, eyes narrowed. Itzel seems nice but Koby's dad and cousin are acting weird now that she's here. "Miz," she asks, "Are you married?"

Chris nods his head slowly. "The pond is a nice place to think. Quiet at night." he chuckles a bit before his eyes widen at William's persistent questions. "William!" he frowns. He sits up rather quickly, an action he'll be sure to regret in a moment or two when he gets dizzy, and goes to just outright push the rat towards one of the empty beds, just to knock him over onto something soft, rather than pushing him straight to the floor. "Quiet you..." he says before Koby asks the married question, making him just pause and go completely white. "Can everybody please just stop asking /QUESTIONS!/ Whoa..." He falls over back onto his cot with a frown. "Dizzy..." he shakes it off after a moment or two.

Maimed chortles, huffing a bit as he does so because it hurts his wound to laugh, but he's clearly enjoying seeing Chris' consternation. Nothing helps the recovery process quite like seeing a stoat being mercilessly teased! He places his paws behind his head, getting comfortable as he enjoys the show.

Itzel's confused frown deepens with William's questioning. "We have only seen each other the once..." She does not understand this back and forth between the two at all, and presently gets that sensation creeping up the back of her neck, the one that makes you suspicious of everyone talking behind your back. But this feeling is subdued when she notices the way Chris moves. "You are hurt?" And then the dibbun starts in with her own questioning, distracting Itzel further. Ah, but now at least she understands. The ermine's eyes fall on the rat once more, and this time the displeasure on her face is plain. "It is not for me to bother myself wit such tings as marriage." She makes sure not to break eye contact when she says this.

"Oh, I thought one of you'd said you'd seen each other a few times," Will says as it becomes clear that the ermine missed his mistake in wording anyway. Then the stoat pushes him over. The rat grunts and shoots his nephew an annoyed look. Will sits up and pokes lightly at the stoat. "Sorry, I didn't really mean it like that," he says before catching what his daughter just asked and getting a very unpleasant look from the ermine. "Uh, ok," the rat says not sure what part of the dibbun's very dibbun like question got Itzel so upset. He's just going to keep quiet now and hope the pretty scary face lady goes away. Koby the rat dibbun gets up and pokes at the ermine. "Why are you mad at my dad for? He's already married and can't marry you. I think Chris likes you though," the ratmaid says. It seems quiet obvious to the dibbun that her father is married, he has a daughter after all, doesn't that mean he has to be married to some other rat that's her mother? It makes perfect sense to Koby.

Christopher huhs a little bit and then shrugs. "Broken nose...other than that, no." he replies, shaking his head. "Just got up too fast." he smiles a bit before her response catches his ear. "Oh...hm. See, Will?" he smirks but his looks turns to one of total horror at Koby. "Wilco!" he -shouts-. "Leave her be and go back to playing or something..." that's the first time he's raised his voice to her since he's arrived in the village, but his embarrassment is almost unbearable now.

Having gotten bored with his very passive role of watching, Maimed decides to do something a bit more 'helpful' and probably a world more embarrassing. He writes down something on his board and holds it up, facing Chris and hoping that the angle is too awkward and his actions too uninteresting to capture the interest of the ermine. On the board is written. "Tell her 'your fur is more luscious than the finest silk'!" The fox's eyes gleam, and he's clearly quite pleased with himself for the advice he's offering.

On the contrary, the tapping of chalk on board seems to arouse Itzel's fascination anew. Anything, really, to get away from this uncomfortable line of discussion. She turns as the fox holds up his piece of advice, and cranes her head to the side so that she may see the symbols etched there. But it is obvious from the way that she /doesn't/ blush that she doesn't understand, and if anybeast were particularly observant they'd notice her eyes move the wrong way, trying to read right to left. After she is done studying the board, she turns to the others in the room, then back to the fox. "You write well?"

Koby leans over and punches the stoat in the arm hard. "You aren't my dad .... or my mum. You don't get t tell me what t do!" she yells at the stoat dispite the many times he's dibbunsat her. "He's writing to the stoat," Will says quickly incase the ermine should think otherwise, "And it may help a little if you followed the letters the other way." The rat helped his adoptive father learn the local writting seasons back and his wife is blind, things like odd eye movements catch the rat's attention. "Also from the way he's acting I think my daughter is right about Chris liking you." Will grabs for Wilco and drags her over to sit on his lap. "Leave th stoat alone. And you do have to listen to him some of th time, lass," he reminds her and gives her a cuff on the ear for good measure. The little rat yelps and ducks her head away, sure her mother would do worse to her but still doesn't like her dad's way of punishing either.

Christopher oofs and rubs his arm. He was about to give her a smack before he realized...well, that's not his job. Chris blinks. "No...I just...don't like being teased." he frowns but seems quite satisfied at the cuff to her ear. His smack wouldn't have been that 'gentle', not really aware of just how strong he could be to such a small rat like Koby. Christopher then glances towards Maimed. "Don't you start."

Maimed gives Chris a hurt look and writes a bit more, obviously intending to be helpful in a way that clearly isn't. He holds up his board again, even more pleased with himself now. "It's obvious you like her. Tell her that 'her eyes are like cups full of the purest ambrosia, and that you could drink from her stares for hours'!" He does take note of the way the ermine studies the board, noting that she takes far too long to 'read' it to actually be reading it. The peculiar eye movements are also noticed, the fox's past having trained his eyes to be keen and observant. Shame he doesn't really put that skill to use anymore as a beggar.

Itzel is really rather frustrated with this group. She says a simple hello, and all of a sudden everyone's trying to set her up with the stoat. Meanwhile she asks a question, and it is ignored. The second message is given only a cursory glance; she knows she won't be able to understand it. So instead she trains her focus again on the other beasts. "I do not know the letters. You read them backwards. How strange." She stays completely silent on the matter of who likes or doesn't like who, but shifts her weight to her bare heels, stuffing her thumbs in her belt. The ermine is clearly out of her element.

William shrugs, "You could ask around an find some beast t teach ya how t read it. Might be useful since everything's written that way here. Shop signs and things." She's not reacting like he'd expected so it's a little hard to tease the stoat about her. Wilco grumbles, still being held captive on her dad's lap even though she's a getting a little bit too big to be able to sit there comfortably. "No we don't," the dibbun says to the ermine, "You read backwards. We read th way we've always read stuff." Naturally this comment gets her another swat from her father. "Hush, beasts read an write different in different places, Koby. You ought t remember that," he scolds her quietly.

Christopher's eyes Maimed's board. He turns his head and grabs the pillow from his bed, hurling it at the fox as hard as he can before glancing to Itzel. "I know the feeling. My dad taught me how to speak his native language when I was very young. I find both...to be extremely different, and both very odd." he nods.

Maimed takes the pillow full in the face, letting out an "Oof!" as it hits him. He glares at Chris and takes up his chalk again, completely done with being nice. He taps the board with the chalk to try and capture the stoat's attention once more so he can be adequately insulted. The board says, simply, "Fine! Be that way, snotwhiskers!". With nothing else to do, he soon actually remembers that he was asked a question, giving himself a thump on the forehead with a paw for being forgetful. He erases the board and writes something new, holding it up so Itzel can read, "I do write well." Paw meets forehead once more as he realizes that she can't read it, and he writes down, "Tell her I can write well." then tries to get Chris to look at the board once more.

Itzel can only focus on one beast at a time, and there are so many words going around her. Muddled together like this, these beasts' strange tongue becomes almost indecipherable, but a few do catch her ear in just the right way. "Yes," She says nodding fervently. "Different blaces, I am from, not native." She allows herself the slightest of sniffs. She tries to be humble, but as all beasts, sometimes she fails. "Our words are beautiful like water. Not blocks like your words. Your buildings." The ermine glances at the board again, but of course, nothing comes of it.

Christopher glances at the fox's board before smirking a bit. "He says that he can write just fine." he says before tilting his head a little bit, giving just a wild guess. "Otkuda Vy?" he asks before waiting to see if she understands him or not. Chances are slim but he takes a chance anyway.

Maimed's eyes squint; clearly he's a bit miffed that his insult just got a smirk, but at the very least Chris conveyed what he asked him to. The strange words that spill from Chris' muzzle are completely alien to him, and he cannot understand what he's asking Itzel.

Itzel nods at Chris, a little more at ease now that the talk is no longer focused on matchmaking. "That is good. This is someti-" She stops as the stoat speaks again, trying to work the syllables into words she can understand, but fails. A simple shake of the head is all that is needed to convey her bafflement, before she turns to stare at the fox again. A paw is removed from her belt and placed on the edge of his cot to support a bit of her weight. "You might teach me, if it bleases you?" Then she glances over her shoulder at the stoat for translation.

Christopher almost looks disappointed when she can't understand him. He was sort of hoping for a better way of communicating but that fails miserably. "Oh...I uh. Just asked where you were from is all." he says with a nod, smiling weakly before glancing towards Maimed, waiting for him to write a response to tell her.

Maimed seems very surprised at the question, lifting his eyebrow and writing down his answer. He assumes that Itzel has no intention of paying him for his services, and he's fairly certain that such a thing wouldn't work out anyhow. He turns the board to Chris so he can read, "I doubt a lady, such as yourself, would want to be seen with a beggar."

William has kept oddly quiet for some time as has Wilco. The dibbun has been quiet out of boredom and her father for other adult reasons. The rats watch the other interact and Will tries hard to keep from laughing at the other three. "He says 'yes, but it'll cost ya'" Wilco translates for the ermine ignoring this business of ladies and beggars. Her mother was a beggar once and her the dibbun's opinion also a lady or at least pretty enough to be one if she wanted to. Will doesn't correct his daughter.

Itzel looks between the two beasts, pondering which question to answer first, as both are difficult. Finally, she decides. "I am from the blace where the two rivers meet. You call...one of them you call ...yanni... Grass?" She then leans back towards the fox, giving him his answer. "Bartering is better business anyway, yes?"

Maimed shoots the ratmaid a look that's hovering somewhere between irritation and amusement, and he frantically starts to write down a bit more, hoping that /this/ is more accurately translated. He seems to have been saddled with something that he's not sure he really wants, and so he may as well get the kinks worked out of the arrangement. He turns the board towards the rats and Chris, letting them read (and perhaps interpret), "You'd be better off finding someone who actually knows how to teach."

"He says gold's prefered. What would you offer instead?" Wilco 'translates'. She can read, but she has been taught other skills as well, from both her parents. Will lets the dibbun do as she likes for the time being as she's not really hurting anything and Chris could easily correct the ermine at any time if he wanted to. The rat could also tell Itzel what the fox is writing, but he'd rather not get involved with this.

Christopher watches the board for a bit and then laughs at Koby's response. "Actually...he said that you're probably better off finding somebody else who knows how to teach." he nods. "I know a beast or two I could refer you too I suppose, if you're interested I mean." he doesn't mention himself...he's always wanted to be a teacher. Or a bookkeeper.

Words are easy to translate, but customs, practices? Those are a little more difficult. "I would have to tink on this..." Itzel mutters, contemplating her toes. Her paw leaves the fox's cot and the arm attatched to it clithers inside her cloak. Clinking can be heard beneath as she shrugs her shoulders and tugs on something metal. Adjusting the chains. But Chris' words snap her out of her state. "Hmm? Oh. Berhaps, but I cannot offer gold, if that is truly all you beasts brefer."

Maimed's greedy little heart gains a little ground, and he feels the need to write out something else. Since the ermine didn't initially offer anything, he assumed that she had nothing to give, but from the sounds of this, perhaps there might be something else. He erases his board with a forearm and writes some more, turning it back to Chris and the rats. "Did you have something else you wanted to offer? Actually read what I wrote this time!".

The rat dibbun grins at the fox and read his message aloud: "Did you have something else you wanted to offer? Actually read what I wrote this time!" She did what he wanted. Will smacks the back of her head for her sassiness, sure it was directed at the fox but it still reflects back on /his/ parenting. Seemingly unaware that hitting her did as well.

Christopher watches Wilco's response before laughing. "Silly rat." he chuckles a bit before humming. "If you aren't able to offer anything, I know somebody who would do it free of charge, however I don't want to take thing away from the fox." he says before bowing his head almost out of respect to the beast in question.

Again, answers coming from everywhere. Itzel rocks back and forth on her footpaws, staring at the rafters. "I will have to tink on this," she repeats, this time with force. And then she bows her head, presses her palms together, and turns away, walking calmly towards the exit. She does not know what else to do, does not know how to better, more politely dodge all this attention. This was, after all, her first real foray into town. She had thought this building was a boarding house, and she must admit she is in a little over her head amongst all these beasts.

Maimed throws up his paws in defeat. Outfoxed by a ratmaid! Well, that's that then, there's not even any point in getting upset over it, as she did exactly what he said on his own terms. Luckily he still likes Wilco quite a lot, so her little jokes are as endearing as they are aggrivating. The unsatisfactory answer from Itzel isn't what he expected to hear though, but he simply nods to her as she leaves, not quite sure what to make of this situation either.’

Wilco wiggles around on her dad's lap as she tries to get down. "... can I be unpunished now?" she asks looking up at her father and squishing her face up to make a sad face at him. William turns his good eye away from her so he will be less likely to get tricked by the sad dibbun eyes. Annoyed by this the ratmaid tries to tug at her dad's face to make him look at her. Her claws catch on the strap of his eye patch and it slowly begins to shift a bit. The little rat gets her paw slapped and removed from her dad's face. Will turns away from the others to readjust his eye patch. He could go without it, but he's sure most would rather he wear it so they don't have to see the empty hole in his scared face and gaping hole that once had an eye in it.

Christopher watches Wilco carefully for a bit before he yawns. "Look guys, I'm gonna head home. I'm really tired." he nods, standing up. "But one thing first." he says, going over to the healers, muttering something before they nod. "I'm having Thane restrained...and possibly gagged depending on how loud he is when he wakes up." he says before eying Maimed. "No killing him. He's only a /child/." he then smiles. "Have a good night everybody." he says before stuffing his paws into his pockets, heading home.

Maimed narrows his eyes at Chris and writes something down on his blackboard, turning it so the stoat can read before he leaves. "I said I wouldn't as a favor to you, and even though he's a child who enjoys stabbing beggars." He shrugs and sets his blackboard to the side, clearly stating that he's not in the mood for any further conversation. He turns over and lays his head down on the cot, closing his eyes and easily falling asleep. May as well enjoy it while he still can, as he doubts that Thane is going to be too lovely when he wakes.

William slowly gets to his footpaw and awkwardly shifts his daughter around so he can carry her out. Wilco grumbles and yawns, still trying to fight her way out of her dad's grip. Will shall have none of that. It's way past the little rat's bedtime and passed her father's go to the tavern to drink and relax time as well. "Say good bye, Koby," Will instructs his dibbun, "It's long past time for you t be in bed. Yer luck, I let ya stay up tonight," he says even this was not a all his plan when they'd ran after the stoats earlier. "Urr, uh, bye dumb stoat an a-ahhhnd nice fox," the dibbun says around a yawn. "You kin annoy th fox more another time, Sweetling. Maybe if you agree to omit certain things you kin help me write a letter t Mum in th morning?" he suggests as he carries her out the door and into the cold evening air. They follow the glow of torches back to their shop and with a little shouting and shrill whining the Tazan rats shift back into their usual routine and eventually go to bed.

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