.Cat Logic. (Open to all.)

[Zacaria]

Snow, why did it have to snow here? Why couldn't there be open plains bathed in sunlight and nice heated rocks to sprawl out on and be lazy? The poor felinic male hadn't the luck with snow all around. Ah well. He'd had a bit of fun not too long ago with a grumpy guy who was too intent on slaughtering wooden goblins, a guy who was trying hard to compliment and failed miserably at complimenting a Tiefling, a guy who seemed indifferent altogether and a little gnome who he was quite certain was borderline schizophrenic. It wasn't a perfect first attempt with the locals, but it had been nice. Cold with snow all over, but nice nonetheless. Since then he'd kept kind of to himself, mostly because being relatively new, he wasn't quite sure where the borders of the rules began and where they ended. Being what he was and how he was, he could see himself getting into trouble if he'd done the wrong thing around the wrong person and wound up with a boot to the backside.

With a few days passed and all of the hubbub of being new done with, he'd found himself a cozy little spot in the Obsidian Heart Inne, enjoying the warmth and hospitality the establishment had to offer. At the moment, he was content in a corner of the Inne, enjoying a meal that he'd gotten from the rather accommodating staff. The Chicken Stew he'd ordered was half finished with a half a loaf of bread still ready to eat and only a few of the steamed carrots plucked from the ones given, the butter half melted all over them which gave that rich, creamy smell and taste to the sweet vegetables. With his belly half full and his limbs warm from the colder weather outside, he'd stripped out of his furs and found himself in nothing more than a simple pair of brown leather pants, boots that had been unlaced and set aside (Neatly, not haphazardly.) and an older but tailored white tunic that was folded up and tossed over a muscular shoulder. Not quite caring if he was shirtless, the warmth felt good on his body and they were lucky he hadn't stripped out of his pants (Yet!). A purr was rumbling from deep within the man's chest and eyes had grown half-lidded.

At the current moment, he couldn't be forced to do anything with the alacrity that some of the other adventurers seemed to possess as he was feeling quite lazy and felt the need to just laze about for the day. Because honestly, if he couldn't see the snow, feel the cold or the wind, then it didn't exist. Cat logic always wins.

[Áine Cruach]

A brief but thorough blast of cold was released into the warmth of the inne with the opening of the main door, a heavily padded figure slipping through the gap as quickly as they were able to escape the cold elements of the outside. They got a bit stuck at first, one of the many woolen layers getting caught on the door in some fashion or another before it was closed to the satisfaction of everyone present, but a sharp yank and a grumble had everything in order, and the slightly damp individual was able to waddle up to the counter unimpeded. Their ample coverings that left only sharp eyes exposed were a stark contrast to the shirtless individual already basking in the fires warmth, but as far as they were concerned it was strictly necessary to survive the harsh weather outside of this warm sanctuary!

Mittened hands gestured about until they had the attention of Hana'lee, and a brief game of charades took place where a mug behind the counter was indicated, then the fire, then themselves, and finally a small brown bean extracted from somewhere that the woman was allowed to handle briefly. The game went through a few cycles before the person was satisfied that Hana understood what was what, and they settled down on a chair in those many layers, waiting for the chill to be chased away by the distant fire before they felt brave enough to begin peeling.

The mittens were the first to go, to ensure that the rest of the extraction process went as smoothly as possible, though it was slow going given the number of layers and the pause between each one as they adapted to the subtle shifts in temperature. A heavy blanket was unwrapped from around their shoulders and upper torso and laid to one side, the buttons to an oversized tatty coat fumbled with before it was shucked off. A shock of silver-blonde and black hair revealed as an unattractive hat was removed, soon followed by an ugly and somewhat itchy jumper that had covered a boring but significantly less scratchy jumper. A scarf was wound tight around the neck and pulled up to cover mouth and nose .. but it remained mostly in place, the material only pulled down to expose the lower half of the face when Hana'lee returned with a mug of steaming something.

The mug was all but pounced on with the degree of alacrity displayed by the now exposed young girl, a few sniffs given to the rim in order to identify the liquid; something of a smile for the intelligent server and a few guttural sounding words of thanks slipping from her mouth as coins changed hands, though whether Hana understood them was something else all together. Her body language was clear enough though as she settled in to sipping delicately at the hot chocolate, hunched over as if to protect it from unseen thieves, a pleased noise sounding as she warmed up from the inside and began to relax a little.

[Zacaria]

His gaze lifted when the door opened and the rumbling purr was cut short when that cold blasted against him. Almost instantly, he was regretting having removed his shirt and furs when the cold seemed to be ceaseless and working against his means of being comfortable and cozy. Eventually though, the door was closed and those hazel eyes watched like a predator as the bundle of whatever it was moved towards someone to order a drink. Narrowing his eyes, he looked down to his partially eaten stew and decided now was time to take another spoonful and shoveled it into his mouth, followed by another, then another and a pluck of buttered carrot tossed into his mouth. By the time the food had been chewed and swallowed, his gaze lifted back up to find a female underneath the layers that outnumbered his own layers to keep warm most definitely. A snorting sigh and he turned to lean into his food and his gaze wandered back to the food, but curiosity had been piqued.

"...Don't like the cold?"

Came from the man that had a near hispanic-esque accent on the tail end of his words. Did he like the cold? Nope, not a single bit, but it didn't mean he couldn't be nosy and stick his nose where people probably didn't want it, both literally and figuratively.

[Áine Cruach]

For a time she was consumed by the flavour and warming properties of her drink, and so didn't quite realise that she was being addressed until a niggly feeling at the back of her neck clued her in on that fact. Turning on her chair, she looked around the inne until she saw who happened to be paying direct attention to her, and would proceed to stare at him blankly until he repeated himself .. after which she continued to stare with a slightly blank, uncomprehending expression.

Some time passed, and that blank expression was eventually replaced by something bordering on anxiousness, the girl gripping her mug tightly and inclining her head a fraction before she bit her lip and sounded a series of words that were a curious blend of sharp sounds with a tinge of a maddish accent. This amounted to 'what?', only in Draconic. After her little speech she'd wait again, only this time hoping to see the dawning of comprehension on the mans face, followed by a lengthy and detailed conversation about .. anything at all, actually!

[Áine Cruach]

Seconds ticked by that were soon turning into minutes as the silence stretched out and no confirmation or denial came. Brows furrowed slightly in the centre, a flush that could not claim its origins to the cold outside bursting with colour underneath her freckles. Áine froze, unsure of what to do, until she finally mumbled something incomprehensible that may have been sorrymymistake in garbled draconic before she swiveled in her seat and placed her back to the man. Fingers gripped her cooling mug, a mental chastisement delivered to herself. She shouldn't have ventured outside without her brothers, hiding behind them always made life so much easier, and she never put her foot in her mouth when one or both were there to guide her through the chaos known as this 'social life' she had heard so much about! Well. If by guide, you meant scare off anyone and everyone from even the possibility of hurting their baby sister. Or their sister hurting them.

Grumbling into her hot chocolate, she drained the vessel clean of the almost sickly sweet stuff and caught the attention of Hana with a wave, gesturing at the now empty mug and indicating with a show of fingers that she would appreciate another if you could be so kind. Her smile was a little strained when the ever friendly islander acquiesced to her request, though after a moment the expression froze on her face and she stared blankly at the array of bottles behind the inne's counter.

The man had been shirtless.

This in and of itself wasn't an issue exactly: the girl had spent her formative years primarily around men after all, most of whom enjoyed beating the stuffing out of other men, and for some reason shirts seemed to fall off as a matter of course. She could probably tell you how many scars riddled Aindréas' body with a fair degree of accuracy provided he hadn't gotten into any scrapes since earlier that morning and had added to the tally. No, the issue was that Áine had been staring at a man who was shirtless while in an eating and drinking establishment: that had to have been some kind of faux pas in the civilised world, right? It would explain the unblinking awkward silence beyond a mere translation issue. That she was used to.

''...xsio.''

Elbows were dropped on the counter with head placed in palms, which is where they would remain until Hana'lee graciously got her attention, and coins once again changed hands so that Little Miss Steelfang could lay claim to a delicious hot chocolate. It wasn't a cure all, but it soothed her wounds a little bit.