A Small Glade

[Asila]

Evening looked at Rojo doubtfully when he pretty much told her to let Shadow take care of everything. It's hard to blame her for the sentiment. He has been invisible to her for most of the day, after all. And she was just the type of person who couldn't beleive something was real until it hit her. Actually, sometimes it even took more than that, since being crashed into had only confused her.

When Devon began to spew nonsense about letting her have the cabin to herself while everyone else slept outside, she stared at him as though he were speaking nonsense. Why did she have to sleep in the stuffy cabin? She'd much rather sleep beneath the stars and breath in the fresh forest air then be stuck in the carriage. But Devon was giving her no time to argue. She wondered vaguely if that was a strategic manuever on his part. Now that she thought about it, she could believe it of him. Chances where that he'd remembered how well that approach had worked the first time around.

She watched Devon's movements, unable to believe this. When he returned to the cabin after removing Rojo and handed her the blankets, she started sputtering. "Wait! Can't I sleep outside?" She said desperately, even though he didn't seem to be listening. "I like it out there!" She watched him walk away, somehow failing to be charmed by his flawless chivalry. She was practically screaming at him in her own mind. Something to the effect of You idiotic, ignorant, pompous human! What ever made you think I wanted to get stuck in here, anyway? Great! Wonderful! Perfect! Now when the invisible things show up, I'll be a nice little grab and go snack! With these stupid walls between my senses and the forests, it'll be more difficult to even here them coming! Stupid, stupid jerks!

At this point, she was too frustrated to even continue her tirade in coherent sentences. Instead, she stomped over to the bed Devon had pulled down, threw the blankets down in a childish display of anger, and threw herself down on it. She immediately decided that chucking herself on the bed, and on her stomach, no less, had been a very bad idea. She ended up nearly biting her tongue again as her jaw crashed shut in response to the pain. That only made her angrier, and she was vehemently glaring at the cabin walls now.

She lay in this fashion for about an hour, seething. It seemed positively foolish of them to have put her in here. She was wide awake throughout the night! They should have posted her as a sentry! Doing so would have been much more practical. Besides, she couldn't sleep in enclosed spaces. She felt smothered. She'd much rather be outside...

That's when it hit her like a palm to her forehead. What was stopping her from just going outside? She didn't have to stay in here! She groaned to herself, feeling terribly foolish. That was quickly becoming a tendency of hers, doing things that made her feel foolish. When Devon had told her to sleep in the cabin, she'd pretty much just listened! Oh, she'd said a few words in protest, but that had been pretty much it. She should have stormed outside and dragged them back into the carriage and claimed the forest for herself. Or, at the very least, she could have ignored Devon entirely and flown to the higher branches of a tree, to watch the forest in the guise of an owl. But did she try? No! She'd listened.

Curse Devon and his mind games! She stood up, more slowly this time since her injury was aching due to the abuse it had suffered. She paced outside, sure that everyone must be sleeping now. An hour had passed, and the humans wouldn't wake up at night the way she did. Once the sun rose, they'd have the advantage since she'd be utterly exhausted, but right now she was pretty sure she was the only one awake. She paced over to Devon, perfectly silent, and crouched before him, staring. And thinking. Should she prank him? Or just disrupt his sleep with ill-tempered, albeit whispered (since people where sleeping here) insults. As tempting as it was to turn into a very large, scary beast and frighten him awake in the name of revenge, she decided that was a bad idea. They had just been attacked today, after all. He'd probably react to such a surprise violently.

So she decided to go with the remaining option and launch a belated complaint. "Devon," She whispered in vaguely musical way that carried mischevious undertones, like the sing-song voice of a child. She reached out and shook his shoulder. "May I have a word?"

Now, Evening hadn't the faintest idea what a proper gentleman would think of a young women amidst the presence of four males at this hour. She would be quite surprised if he reacted with anything other than a tired "What?"

As for Rojo, she was paying no attention to him, assuming that he was asleep. If he wasn't, that may or may not present another problem all together...

[Rojo]

Rojo felt himself being pulled off the comfy seat and placed on the ground, then wrapped up in a blanket. He also was annoyed with his arranged sleep position. He decided he'd go for a walk. He hated sleep. It was a pointless waste of time. He unraveled himself from the blankets, folded them up neatly and placed them on the step of the carriage. He turned around and looked into the dark. It was useful that being undead meant you could see better in the dark, but it also meant you lit up like a Coldfest Tree. He walked out a bit before his eyes began shining a light blue; the colour of his aura. He walked into the forest, his feet seemed to have minds of their own. Able to move, careful to avoid twigs and leaves. He doubted a wolf would'e heard him coming. But he definitely heard the wolf. He turned around, to see a large black wolf standing behind him. It wasn't growling, or ready to attack, it was staring at him, daring him to meet that pearly gaze...no, he musn't look into its eyes.

It was a trick, the one he had thought of earlier. The one where the man pretends to strike up a conversation with you whilst his chum comes up behinds you and sticks you. This was the animal equivalent of that. He altered his hearing, directing his listening behind him. He heard the creak of the knee joints bending, the air moving...

He sidestepped as the wolf jumped. It nearly crashed into the other quadraped, but the other moved, then they both charged, running for him. He jumped, kicking one in the head as he did, but the other one snapped at his leg, tearing trouser and cleaving flesh. He collapsed and fell to the ground. One immediatly bore down on him, jaws snapping, saliva spitting over Rojo's face. The other one tried biting for his legs again, but he kicked out, and after three fruitless atempts, his foot connected with something soft; a neck. The wolf fell backwards, retreating from the lashing foot. The moving corpse pushed his hand against the wolf bearing down on him and his hands began to glow. Fire seethed around him. The wolves jumped back, and he realised them for what they were. These weren't no ordinary wolves, they were worgs. But different...normal worgs had different shaped heads, these ones had elongated snouts and black fur, whilst Yorl worgs normally had grey fur and wider heads. He only knew they were worgs due to two facts: 1. They didn't like fire and 2. They had two sets of canines.

"Ooh, you don't like fire, do ya, puppies!" he sneered, getting to his feet and using the dwarven slang term for worgs. He ignited his hands, the blue glow mixed with the red, orange and yellow lit up the small area of the wood. The worgs yelped, and he dismissed one of the orbs of fire. He used the other one to staunch the wound and stop the bleeding. He ignored the new wound and the pain and bleeding that had resumed in his shoulder. Rojo continued his walk. It was a very strange thing to do. Most people would hurry back and tell of their battle. Not Rojo. He walked it off. He looked about, and noticed the interesting plants and insects.

He had an extra jar around somewhere...they were dead useful, jars. He pulled out a small one with something brown and decaying in it. He cleaned it out with a quick scurging spell, then carefully cut off a few mushrooms, with a greyish hue, and put them in the jar. He never knew when he would get a chance to take new flora and fungi back to Yorl. He popped one casually in his mouth. It didn't matter if it was poisionous; what was it gonna do, kill him? Pfft...he chewed cautiously and swallowed. It tasted sticky and reminded him of wax.

Rojo turned back towards the carriage, still examining the mushrooms carefully. He wondered what they would do if dried and dipped in mandrake urine...

When he got back, he saw Evening bending over by Devon. He watched curious for a moment, unsure of what she was doing, then he fell asleep. Standing up. It was a bloody hard trick to learn, but he had mastered it...mostly.

[Seven]

((Oh dear. It seems Devon upset everyone trying to be polite. Moral of the story: Abandon your noble-esque ways Devon!!! Too bad he doesn't know that. This might be short, as he was asleep just moments earlier, and therefore doesn't realy have any views.))

Devon was heavily asleep on the forest floor, completely oblivious to the rest of the world. He had only meant to be polite towards Evening, after all, what kind of man would sleep on a bed if it meant there was a lady on the floor? It was old fashioned chivalry, though he hadn't realized it had only upset her and gave her difficulties sleeping. He should have expected it though, since Evening had said she lived in these forests alone for years--of course she wouldn't be used to an indoor bed. But such ways were already engrained into Devon's mind, and he only thought it proper that a young (at least appearance wise... so he thought) lady have quarters to herself.

It seems he slept through quite a bit though, not realizing Rojo's absence of skirmish with the forest creatures. Devon was a pretty heavy sleepier, despite how he looked, and though from his upbringing he would have much prefered a bed in a warm room, anything would do. And so, Devon was fast asleep when Evening arrived by him, looking as innocent and peaceful as a sleeping cherub, but not as chubby.

When Evening shook his shoulder, he just murmured and sighed at first, as if defying the call to wake up. But at the so tired child. He blinked slowly, as if trying to readjust his focus, though he still didn't really comprehend what was going on, or that this was technically violating his mentality of 'socially acceptable.' (He may be a good guy, but he's still a noble in the end). If he were fully awake, he might have been more startled by her sudden encroachment. Instead, he propped himself up a little with one arm, smiling weakly and trying not to yawn in her face. "Yes, Miss Evening?" he did not betray his usual polite manner, even in his current drowsy state.

[Asila]

Evening too had missed Rojo's absence. She was so intent on her revenge mission that everyone except the one she meant to pick on had escaped her mind. This singular focus of hers could prove a problem for her in the future. In a way, it already had. If she'd not been so focused on her little charade when she had first met up with these humans, she may have been able to realise that they were not quite so gullible as she had originally thought.

But such insights were far from her devious little mind as she gazed at Devon with a slight, mischevious smirk. She watched him stir when she shook him, the smirk widening into a smile. He was so cute when he was just waking up! It almost made her want to forget this whole thing and just go back to the carriage to sleep through the night like a good little Tallamous girl. Yeah, right.

When he wakes up enough to acknowledge her, she quickly begins to speak. But as she does so she reaches out with her web of conciousness to communicate with Devon's tigers, quickly setting her plan into place. “Devon, the tigers and I were just having a conversation, and they think that you are perfectly silly for having me sleep in the carriage when it is so much nicer outside!" She shakes her head in wonder at the noble's short-sightedness.

It was then that the tigers drifted in to surround them, ghostly shapes in the night-darkened forest, their pale coats illuminated by the moon. A night forest and ghostly shapes, poor Devon may just think he was dreaming. And this wasn't even the end of it.

The cats drifted in to surround them, taking they're places in a circle around their master. They shared glances as she had instructed them to, looking for all the world like a worried family at an intervention. Despite the quiet nature of the display, it was clear that all this had been staged by the Tallamous girl, and while it was a harmless display of power, it still proved a point. She was sure that Devon, who, as a noble, would be an expert at picking up subtle statements, would recognize what she was getting at.

She sighs dramatically, as though much aggreived by the situation. However, her golden eyes are practically shining with amusement in the moonlight. "They are very worried about you, you know. They wouldn't want you to provoke your guest into a state of fury. Tallamous girls can be very frightening, after all." Finished, she rests her head on her knees and stares at him with an intent expression, as though hardly able to wait to see his reaction. This should be good.

[Rojo]

Rojo was sleeping peacefully, enjoying a dream involving elves, cream, and jumping when he heard movement. He woke instantly, looking about. He noticed the tigers and Evening were surrounding poor Devon. At first he thought she was controlling the tigers to attack Devon, but as he got closer (as he was curious) he discovered by her tone she was pulling a trick on the poor noble.

In the darkness, Rojo's white teeth flashed into a grin. He creapt up behind Evening, ready to pull a trick on the trickster...

Many miles away, Shadow was still running, regardless of trees. He jumped over a log and kept running. He loved to run. He loved the feel of the wind on his hair. He jumped from the forest and down a large hill where the trees had left. He hit the grass with a monotonus thump. The Darkling rolled for a few yards, then stopped to look up at the sky, watching all the stars twinkle like lanterns in a dark room...he wondered, looking up at the sky still pondourusly, that prehaps every star was a lantern, and the empty blackness of the sky above was was a dark room...
He put his hands behind his head. No Lantern was complete without their Darkling...
The air flickered next to him, and a shape a darker shade of black than the sky above stood to his left.
Shadow scrambled up in an instant. He instinctively reached for his flail, but a hissing voice said
"Don't bother...no sense in killing a stranger, is there?" the Darkling's white eyes glowed back at Shadow's.
"In case you're wondering, I'm that sickeningly polite noble boy's..."
Shadow's eyes widened at this
"Yes-s-s...you're wondering why I've come to see you? It's to tell you She's not going to attack again any time soon. I work for neither her or the Rebellion. I am...a guide of sorts..."
Shadow's eyes narrowed suspiciously...

"RARGH!" yelled Rojo, and he pushed Evening forward, likely sending her toppling onto Devon.

((Seven...um, sorry if there was anything wrong with introducing Devon's Darkling...I won't control him from now on. You can control him from now on...sorry if I wasn't supposed to...I'll even delete that part if you like...))

[Seven]

((Actually Rojo, I think introducing Devon's darkling was very interesting. I'm not sure who would have to play him though, as I know Devon's character (and thus his faults), but you know what the you're plotting with Her. We might have to discuss this over PM.))

His drowsy expression momently gave way to one of confusion. Perhaps we was dreaming, for he had never seen his beloved Tigers behave in such an odd manner. Why, maybe it was just that he was still in half-dream or the madness of the moonlight playing tricks on his mind, but he could practically see them dressed up formally, with their noses upturned, wearing fancy hats and bonnets as they gossiped about the young noble and the terrible indecency of the whole thing.

Evening would enjoy the change in his expression as he became horror-struck, thinking he wronged the girl by putting her in the carriage. Well, he did and he didn't, but in the middle of the night in a confused mentality, Devon didn't quite differentiate, mixing up his left with his right, much more the complicated rules that his society had laid out for him. She'd see him panic, as if about to make haste for an apology, but that quickly ended as he tried to refocus his mind. Young Devon does indeed act strange when you wake him up in the middle of the night. It's amusing as well, since it seems he has the memory span of a goldfish.

His confused expression returned him, trying for the life of him to remember what was going on. The tigers continued to sit around him in a circle, though his sleepy mind no longer interpreted them as if they were talking in pish-posh voices. The Tallamous girl was leaning over him, her features glimmering in the moonlight and her eyes glowing like the cats around him. He cocked his head slightly, his lips slightly up-curving into a little grin. "Why Miss Evening--how true you are to your name, for you appear as radiant and lovely as the pale Moon-flower in the grace of Night..."

Please forgive the young Master, he's only half-awake and does not realize what he's saying for such flattery and poetic words come second nature to him. Though such fawning appraisal would be appropriate for the young ladies in the glamorous events and balls that nobles hold, it seems these more than polite words have now carried over to this instance. Well...that and Devon has been notorious for using such lines on other less 'deserving' girls (though he's been careful to not let it slip in front of his society), but he would never do such a thing with a woman like Evening (assuming he's in his correct state of mind at least), who would be journeying with them and would probably only anger at such words.
And yes, if you haven't picked up on the less than subtle context clues, Devon can be a flirt.

He continues to grin, though she can tell his mind is still lost in the sea of dreams, "...and I imagine your lips would be as delicate and soft." And then, just as spontaneously as he had begun to court her with adulation, he blinked, yawned, and rolled over back to sleep, calling out quite unceremoniously, as if he had already forgotten the whole thing, "Good night!" It didn't seem possible, but he was already fast asleep, and Evening could hear some of the Tigers snickering.

Of course, we can't forget about Rojo, now can we? Little mischievous devil that he is jumped poor Evening, making her land directly on top of Devon. She may not be too heavy, but the sudden impact is painful, as his eyes shoot open and he gives a frightened "ACK!" of surprise. Well, he's most certainly awake now, and probably a little flustered and red from both the terrible fright and suddenly finding Evening in his arms, with the White Tigers surrounding him, almost looking amused. He looks back and forth between all the various perpetrators who had gathered around their currently not so gracious host with a bewilderment in his eyes, "What in heaven's name is going on!!?"

One of the Tigers gave a heavy "Marooo," noise, as if trying to convey their total innocence in the matter. What amusement the animals made of the humanoids and their constant games though!

"Why is everyone surrounding me?" he looks at Rojo, then to Evening, "And why are you ontop of me? In fact, do I really want to know? Perhaps not..."

[Asila]

Well, it seemed that her trick wasn’t about to progress as she had planned, but in the moments after she had fallen into silence she could not predict such an outcome as the one that was pending. So she watched the noble with great excitement, convinced that she would finally prove to them that she could be quite the threat should she wish to be. After all, someone who was capable of controlling very large, predatory animals was not a being that anyone with common sense would take lightly.

Or, that was the message that should have been delivered. Unfortunately, she had forgotten that very few people were alert when they had been prodded awake so early on in their slumber, and exhaustion could warp thoughts and perceptions in such a way that the mind could become a nonsensical entity, prone to peculiar leaps in logic and odd behavior.

Initially, however, it seemed that Devon had been appropriately horrified by her words. This was great! Perhaps this human would remember not to be so damn pushy and cease compromising her free will, since she absolutely hated being ordered around. Her smile became smug when he began to panic. This really was going quite nicely. It seemed that her little display of power had made quite the impression…

But then his countenance displayed confusion, and the first inkling of doubt crept into the back of her mind. Maybe he wasn’t so quick on the uptake as she had assumed. How irritating. What would she have to do to prove to these dense acquaintances of hers that she would not tolerate being ordered around like an underling? Would she have to call in a massive colony of bats? She knew humans hated bats, something that made little sense to her since she thought they were cute, but it was also a fear that she could take advantage of…

Then Devon started speaking, and her jaw would have dropped had it not been resting on her knees. Her eyes widened in disbelief as a variety of emotions flickered across her expression; surprise, confusion, doubt (this regarding the stability of Devon’s mind), annoyance, and, for a moment, anger, though this last was soon bogged down by the befuddling mix that the other emotions created. She found herself staring at him as though he had lost it.

Fortunately, she took a moment to study him before giving in to the temptation to smack him, and saw that he was not quite himself at the moment. The look in his eyes was very vague…he didn’t even seem to be entirely conscious. Instead, she rolled her eyes at his sudden good night and began to rise, a bit in a huff over the whole thing. The snickering of the Tigers hardly improved her mood, and she sent them a look that shouted ’This is NOT funny!’. As tempting as it was to wake him and try to achieve a small degree of revenge of this new insult, trying to wake him may only earn her a few more sentences of flattery that she would rather not endure, so she chose to depart and allow him a night’s rest, hoping that he would be sane in the morning.

She had only just begun to stand when something pushed her from behind, and so she was even more off balance than she had been before and promptly fell upon Devon. She froze for a long moment, the wound in her stomach putting up a painful protest and her mind stalling as she realized just who it was she had fallen upon. The handsome noble whose earlier words had tilted toward seductive.

She barely heard Devon’s surprised questions, she was so shocked herself. However, at the last, her mind immediately sprang into action. She lifts herself up onto her arms to that she was no longer touching him but did not immediately stand, choosing instead to glower at him from only a few inches distance. “Don’t be an idiot. What explanations could your twisted little mind possibly be providing you-” She pauses, outraged. Those possible ‘explanations’ had only just appeared within her own thoughts. She immediately scrambles to her feet and takes a few decisive steps away. “On second thought, forget I asked.” She adds hastily, before rounding on Rojo.

“What was that for?!!” She yelps, glaring at him. “What did I ever do to you, anyway?” Another question that wasn’t well thought out, but she glared at him regardless in a self-righteous fashion, planting her hands on her hips expectantly as she awaited his answer. Poor Devon, on the other hand, had yet to receive a decent explanation.

[Rojo]

Rojo sniggered gleefully as Evening was sent tumbling over Devon. Although he was a mature and fully-grown adult, he could be a little childish at times.

When Evening got up and gave him a piece of her mind. He shrugged and said
"What? I di'nt do nothing!" then he gave a mischevious grin and jumped onto the top of Devon's carriage. With some difficulty admittedly, considering his leg. He set into a fit of giggles.

This was interesting...

[Seven]

Devon met Evening's glower with dazed stupor on his face. Why was she upset with him. Of course he didn't know what things he had told her earlier, though he began to assume that she was offended at the fact that he might have thought she was doing something indecent to him. Of course he didn't think that of her, he was sure this was nothing more than some nonsensical trifle, or a misunderstanding. But he couldn't know until someone told him already!

Devon just stared between his two companions with continued looks or perplexity. "Would someone mind terribly to fill me in? I feel rather...um..." the words escaped him in his fit of confusion, "...lost." Devon rose to his feet, feeling it was inappropriate to remain lying in the heat of such an interesting conflict. He peered over at Rojo as he walked toward the two. Rojo was the one giggling, so he figured that he must have pushed her ontop of him...but what was she doing out there in front of him in the first place? And why were the tigers awake and all seated perfectly in a circle? If only tigers could talk, surely they would tell him!

He smiled apologetically at Evening, "Forgive me, I didn't intend to imply that you might be doing anything wrong, I am just terribly confused." He regained his etiquette laced speech pattern before looking back at Rojo again, "So....dear Rojo, care to explain what happened?"

[Asila]

Evening scowled at Rojo, not amused in the slightest. In fact, she was considering scouring the forest for some very large, rabid animal that she could face off against him. Then they'd see who was laughing!

Now that was a terrible thing to think. She narrows her eyes slightly at the spiteful thought, unhappy with it. She'd never do such a thing to some poor, suffering creature! That would be unforgivably cruel.

She cast a dark glance at Devon when he asked for an explanation. She really wasn't feeling all that charitable at the moment, and so did not answer. If Rojo thought the whole thing was so funny, he could explain! She was too angry to get her account right at the moment anyway.

She stared a Devon when he asked her to forgive him, since it seemed he could not remember anything at all. Oh great, so her whole scheme had been for nothing! Really, why did she even try? She shook her head, took a stabilising breath of air, and said "Don't worry about it. It's fine" Before contradicting the statement by storming back to the carriage, slamming the door so hard that it immediately bounced back open. She just ignored it and chose a nice dark corner to sulk in.

And so the explanation was left to Rojo.

[Rojo]

Rojo jumped as the slamming door caused the carriage to shudder. He made a sardonic face and looked down at Devon.
"Just a little fun..." He grinned, then let himself down from the carriage, trying not to put weight on his leg. He was suprised Jenri hadn't woken up in the noise...

[Seven]

Devon was about to protest and demand a further explanation when he noticed that Rojo was limping. His eyes fell upon the leg, then as he raised his eyes to meet Rojo's, he noticed that his shoulder's wound had reopened. "My God Rojo! You've been injured--again!" he exclaims worriedly, making a fuss out of the thing. "Honestly Rojo, what trouble have you've gotten yourself into this time? Can I not remove my gaze from you for one instance before I find you bleeding again?" He says as though he and Rojo really were old friends, but only because it was starting to feel that way, and Rojo's common carelessness and troublesome antics were concerning for Devon. He gave his friend a scolding look before hurrying to the back of the carriage, "Don't move!" he calls out, "I have more fist aid!" he returns with another bundle of bandages, sighing, wondering what on earth occurred this time. Honestly, the whole scene was very odd. Evening on top of him, Rojo snickering and laughing like a little devil, then discovering that Rojo was injured--what next? He commanded that Rojo take a seat, so that he could cleanse the man's wounds and ensure they did not become infected.

Elsewhere, in the darkness of the woods stood two Darklings, the counterparts of the two men described in the former section. One was Rojo's Darkling, the other Devon's. The latter's had a crude and cunning air about him, a truly odd little thing. He described his lantern's polite mannerisms with disgust, yet he possessed all of them as well, as if the teachings engraved into Devon had become both of their cages. Perhaps that is why the Darkling held such disdain for it. And even though he knew the etiquette, the correct speech patterns, and such, he did not necessarily have to use them to be polite; in fact, he could be quite shrewd about it.
He tilted his head slightly, grinning, "What's the matter? Do you not speak? Or is it that you have no trust for me?"
It gave out a low chuckle, "Why, shouldn't we get along splendidly? I am, after all, the Darkling of your Lantern's friend. Shouldn't you be more polite?" He asked ironically.

[Asila]

It was impossible to know for just how long she would have seethed in her dark corner if her thoughts hadn't been interrupted by Devon's sudden exclamation. She sits still for a moment longer, wanting to just ignore them. She was still upset over the failure of her prank and still annoyed that, once again, the joke had been turned on her.

However, hearing that someone who she liked for the most part had been injured was nearly impossible to ignore. She made a valiant effort, but in the end she just gave a defeated sigh.

Well, so much for shunning them, She thinks to herself, rising. She cautiously moves toward the open door, as though hoping not to be seen. She was oddly concerned about Rojo, but didn't want the other's to learn of the sentiment. Besides, she wasn't that concerned. She was more curious than anything.

She freezes when Devon returns to the carriage to grab first aid supplies, but he is too preoccupied to notice her. Not to mention that her desire not to be seen was stupid. What was she skulking around for? Why did she even care about what they thought. And, for the love of all that was sacred, why did she keep asking herself these questions when she didn't want to hear the answer? She only shook her head, bemused, and stepped out of the carriage.

"All right, I admit it, I'm concerned." She says in her usual candid fashion as she paces toward them. Her tone of voice is so tense that she sounds more as though she's admitting to having contracted a terminal and contagious disease instead of something nice.

"What did you do, anyway?" She asked Rojo, scenting the blood in the air now that she was actually paying close attention to her surroundings. She immediately received a headache, but tuned it out.

[Rojo]

Rojo was almost taken aback by Devon's sudden motherlyness
"I'm fine" he protested, trying to indicate this, and failing. When Evening came out and said she was concerned, he did a sardonic double-take
"What's this? The cold-hearted girl cares about me? Well, I'm touched..."

Shadow meets the gaze of the Darkling, wondering whether to show him, then he just shakes his head dismissively. He wasn't ready to show anyone aside from Rojo right now...Then he pointed to the other Darkling, but he paused half-way through. He realised sign-language wasn't going to work...
He held up a finger and a silvery light came from it. He began writing in the air with his finger:
What is your name?

[Seven]

"Now now," Devon continued to chastise his friend, "don't start getting edgy with us just because we're concerned and YOU...are apparently never! Why didn't you tell us you were injured again? What happened Rojo?" Devon said, pulling out a wet cotton swap to clean the wound first before bandaging it.

The Darkling looked at Shadow curiously as it tried to sign to him. He made a brief comment of, "Now now, I simply despise charades!" He was far more pleased to see Shadow could spell out what he meant in the air. "Ah...I see," he grinned, "Nevod is my name--should it be a 'pleasure to meet you'?" he said, making fun at the common introduction.