JP - The Keep - Covered in Fur

“Seen him? No, I’ve met tha fella.” Beatrix answered. “He was askin’ fer directions or somethin’, but had no clue where he was headed. Jacob an’ I wanted to help, but…tha guy didn’t stop walkin’.” She shrugged.

“He ended up in the Keep.” Bai said. “We’re going to try to figure out who put that mark in his neck.”

“Probably a group of bad mages that focus on dark magic.” Beatrix suggested.

Bai had his own idea about who was responsible. “Could be.” He said vaguely.

Looking at Bai, she raised an eyebrow. "That's vague, pretty boy. Wanna elaborate?" She inquired with a smirk. "Also, ya know ya smell kinda like a dog? You with a dog girl or somethin'?"

Bai scowled. “A dog girl lives at the Keep, I’m not with her.”

“Yer scent says otherwise, but okay.” Beatrix shrugged. “With yer attitude, I ain’t surprised yer single.”

Jacob elbowed her. “Be nice, sis.” He chided.

Sighing, she crossed her arms. “Fine, fine. Sorry, I ain’t exactly a…people person. It’s why Jacob does all tha talkin’, usually.”

“I’ve talked us out of more than a few bad situations!” Jacob rolled his eyes.

“But I’m not with her!” Bai objected. Bella was more of a wild animal than human, he was not sure if she was even intelligent enough to consent. Not that he was interested in her that way. Beatrix was probably spot on for why Bai was still single though.

“I ain’t sayin’ yer with her anymore,” Beatrix chuckled. “Chill, grumpy puss.” Patting him on the back, she went to make sure Alex was doing well.

Jacob looked up at Bai. “Ya know, maybe ya should talk to this dog girl…she might like ya.” He suggested with a shrug. “Though, if ya don’t wanna be with her, might wanna make sure she understands that.”

“She can’t even talk!” Bai exclaimed. “She’s more dog than human.”

“Ya so sure about that?” Jacob asked. “Some people pretend not ta understand things so no one suspects them when they come in ta help friends.”

"There's also the possibility that she just is unable to speak common" Alex added.

“That too,” Beatrix nodded.

Bai blushed. “She barks… Like a dog.”

“Maybe that’s all her vocal cords will allow,” Jacob suggested.

“Maybe. But she also…” Bai blushed because Bella went around naked.

“She also what?” Jacob asked.

“She refuses to wear clothes.” Bai said.

“Is she covered in fur like us?” Jacob persisted. “If so, she probably doesn't feel the need cause the fur covers everything. Some of our tribe's people used to be like that. It’s normal amongst those of us with fur.”

“Yeah… just…” Bai shrugged.

Alex glanced at Beatrix before turning away with a blush at the thought of her walking around nude "That's interesting to know."

“Most fur covered tribes are accustomed to nudity,” Beatrix shrugged as she kept walking with them. “There is no shame in lack of clothing when ya have fur to hide everything.”

"That makes a lot of sense now that you mention it" Alex replied wishing his blush would go away "I would love to learn more about your people."

“Maybe we can talk about it while yer gettin’ better.” Beatrix waved a hand calmly. “Yeah, I ain’t lettin’ ya skip out on gettin’ over that nasty stuff.”

"Well in that case there's an empty room next to mine for you and your brother so that way you can keep an extra eye on me" Alex replied with a grin. He wasn't looking forward to the withdrawals but maybe having someone who actually cared would help.

“Difyr might be able to make something to help with withdrawals and get you weaned off that poison.” Bai said, relieved to get off the subject of casual nudity.

Beatrix nodded. “I’ll be sure ta take tha room. If ya get too bad, ya could accidentally hurt yerself, which we wanna avoid.” She explained, already pressing a hand to Alex’s forehead as they walked. “Hm…already heatin’ up. We better get him back soon.”

Jacob was happily running ahead along the path, getting on all fours and chasing rabbits every now and then.

Alex blushed as he felt her hand against his forehead. He hadn't had much interaction with the opposite sex with the exception of the awkward interactions of Bella from time to time. "We should be there soon" he stammered.

Bai gestured to the Keep’s towers rising over the trees. “Almost there.”

Beatrix nodded as she looked up at the Keep’s towers. “Interestin’ place.” She said calmly.

“Safe place, which is what’s important.” Bai said as the walls came into view.

“I like tha sounds of that.” The cat-like woman said, looking at her little brother.

"Here I'll show you your room first then we can look around" Alex offered.

Beatrix nodded and looked at Bai. “Remember what Jacob and I said about yer little dog-lady-friend,” She told him before following Alex.

Jacob skipped along after his sister and Alex.

“She doesn’t think of me that way.” Bai muttered, soon finding himself grabbed by one of Wulfsen’s men. They had something for him to see.

Alex guided the siblings through the keep, pointing out areas of interest before approaching their rooms.

Beatrix took note of everything and looked at their room as she nodded. "It's bigger than tha den we had in tha last village."

"Yeah the keep has a habit of feeling both empty and full at the same time depending on where you look" Alex replied before opening his room and walking towards his bed. Looking around he noticed his box of mage's blood was missing.

Beatrix watched and let Jacob go into their room. "No jumpin' off tha walls, J!" She warned.

Alex walked over to Beatrix taking her hand in his. "Thank you for helping me, I'm not used to people actually caring about me on the account of being a mage," He said, placing a small vial of mage's blood in her hand. "They already found my stash so all that's left is this one." Stepping back he noticed the guards coming for him so he gave her a smile before going with them.