"Yeah, I'd say that was a mistake."

"But how else were we going to get rid of the rain?"

Sentenza shook his head and groaned as he leaned the chair on its back legs. "Better the devil you know than the devil you don't."

"How can we know this new situation will be worse without at least knowing what both outcomes are first? We will never know if X is greater than Y if we only know the value of Y."

Sentenza pulled off his hat and wiped his brow. As Ted was about to open his mouth to add something, the outlaw cut him off. "That's the rub. We know the mess the rains are causing. Mostly at least, but to 'fix' it. Well, who knows what that thing will do."

"How could he misconstrue simply taking something back?" scoffed Narissa as she carefully, and meticulously, filed the tips of her fingernails.

Trizel grunted in frustration. "I fear Sentenza may be right. This man is a devilish trickster. Any opportunity to make things worse for us, and I am sure he will take it!"

Sentenza shook his head. "Exactly what I was thinking. Say he figures what will cure a rainstorm better than a dessert sun? No water would last then under that kind of constant heat."

"Curious. You think he will follow the agreement to the letter, but only technically? For example," Sid postulated. "Decrease the temperature enough that the rain turns to snow?"

"Whatever it is, I'm sure it'll be worse. Seems to be the way he works after all. A gift bites you, a punishment even more so."

"I think you're all blowing this out of proportion," sighed Narissa as she held her hand out to inspect her nails, but as her hand started to slightly shake, she quickly went back to filing them ever so carefully. She took care that both of her hands were moving almost constantly. "He didn't seem so terrible awful. Definitely creepy, and no clue what personal space is, but harmless enough."

"Hah!" balked Trizel. "That fiend wanted us to eat each other when our supplies ran out. Luckily, they seem to have stabilized somehow, and should not be an issue, barring any unforeseen disasters."

Sentenza glanced towards Bakade, and nodded ever so slightly at her. This made her fidget with the hem of her makeshift skirt and tilt her bony head down and away from the table. Then he stretched his arms back and cracked his neck before adding, "Unforeseen disasters like something worse than a flood?"

Sid maneuvered his head around Bakade's antler, and declared, "I want to reiterate, that we are currently unaware of what this alternate scenario to the rain is. I would also like to bring up the fact that both Trizel and I were willing to negotiate to remove the rain. The rest of you simply were not present when the offer was made."

"He put you on edge," nodded Sentenza. "Made you uncomfortable to get you sloppy. So that you wouldn't think straight."

"Are you trying to imply that I am so easily tricked?" growled Trizel.

"You? Easy to trick? Why I'd never say such a thing dear Trizel," mocked Sentenza. "You're far more likely to just go into a blind fury and rush to your own doom."

Despite Sid trying to spread the blame, Ted knew he was the one who agreed. Trizel would never have agreed to work with him since he was so worked up, and Sid was too unflappable to disregard potential consequences. To him it was all too clear. Only one person was at fault for this new threat looming over their heads. Regret clung to Ted's heart. He had messed things up, and he suddenly felt like a huge burden on everyone else here. He lied his head down on his arms as they rested on the table. There was no way that thing wouldn't use this as an opportunity to make things worse for them. After all, the rains were supposedly a reward for how good the liquor was.

As the argument got more heated, Bakade quietly excused herself. When she came back, it had devolved from a shouting match into a standoff with Trizel holding the side of the table, and Sentenza pointing his revolver right at the giant's head. She shook them both out of their stare down as she slammed a barrel onto the table.

"Dddrrrriiiiinnnnkkkk," she cooed as she tossed mugs out on the table.

"I don't know if that's the best idea this time," sighed Sentenza. "We need to think this problem through."

"Curious. I believe I already stated that without kno..."

Bakade cut Sid off as she roared out, "DDDRRRRIIIIINNNKKKK!" The words cut straight through, like a biting wind from the arctic, and it served to shut them all up for good as she sloppily poured the banana rum and passed it out with a pint in front of each of them.

Her roar had shaken Ted out of his slump, and he lifted his head to see the drink in front of him. He recognized the smell and started to open his mouth as he raised a finger. Bakade's blue flames stared straight at him. There was no need for her to say anything or have any other expression than that quiet look. Ted got the hint, and immediately grabbed the mug, and with his mouth already open, he took a big swig. He slammed it down and shuddered slightly as the strong alcohol wasn't completely covered by the sweet banana flavor.

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"Cheers," Ted managed to spit out between a couple coughs.

It was tough at first. Everyone seemed a little apprehensive about drinking at that moment, but with Bakade's monstrous form overlooking them, they all gave in. Even Narissa drank along with them under the threatening gaze of Bakade's moose skull. With enough time and enough drinking, they all began to finally unwind and relax.

"No," gasped Narissa. "You're not serious, are you?"

"Afraid so," sighed Trizel with rosy, red cheeks.

"Haven't gotten around to it yet," added Ted.

"Hhhheeeeyyyy," complained Bakade. "IIII," she paused and looked over at Sentenza who stared back at her and raised an eyebrow. "Uuuuhhhh....wwwweeeee pppuuuuuttttt ttthhhheeeee ffffiiiiirrrreeepppiiittt ttoooogggeeeetthhhheerrrr."

Narissa let out a deep, genuine laugh from down in her gut as she threw her head back. Finally, she wiped away a tear as she tried to stifle her laughter. "I assumed you just wanted to force us to sit together."

"Baka...hic...bawk," agreed Nugget as she sat bobbed her head.

"Wait," interrupted Ted. "I never found out what happened. All this drama sort of jumped up." He looked at Narissa and with eyes full of determination asked, "Are you sharing the room with Nugget?"

Nugget and Narissa both looked in surprise at Ted, and then at each other. After a moment of silence, Narissa broke out in laughter as Nugget closed her eyes and shook her head. With Narissa even hitting her hand against the table. "You thought....with her? I can't....I can't..."

Narissa held her sides as she leaned back in her chair and laughed. Everyone besides Narissa and Nugget seemed to be confused.

"Oh dear, this is all just too much. I have to stop. I can't," she took in a deep breath, and let it out slowly. "I can't afford to get any laugh lines. Though I must admit it does feel good to cut loose like this."

"Um, so..." This outburst of hers had made Ted even more curious. He just had to know what had gone on between them. "Why not?"

"Isn't it obvious dear?" scoffed Narissa with a smile.

"There are countless reasons you would not want to share a room with each other," Sid chimed in. "However, I would also like to know the specifics, as Nugget is generally unhelpful in explaining her reasoning to me."

Nugget turned her head to stare at Sid who immediately started to stammer out an excuse, "Of course that is fine! I do enjoy a puzzle, and a...woman...has the right to hold her own mysteries."

Nugget seemed satisfied with his answer. She gave a small nod and started to preen her feathers.

Sid wiped the sweat from his forehead as Trizel and Sentenza both had big grins on their faces.

"Haven't learned yet, have you Sid?" mocked Sentenza.

"I will say," agreed Trizel. "Practically threw himself into the monster's den."

"When I drink, my mental filter is the first to go," reasoned Sid.

"Right!" Ted said as he tried to steer the conversation back and get some answers. "You had to have had a specific reason you didn't take the biggest room to share."

Narissa smiled wickedly as she held her mug up with both her hands wrapped around it. "I do?" she slowly took a drink as she raised an eyebrow at Ted.

"Yes?" he said with some desperation. "I mean, it wasn't just on some whim, right?"

"Oh fine." she said with a smile as she rolled her eyes. "You really are much too fun to tease darling." She set her mug down and looked over at Nugget. "We disagree on what a room is best for. She of course is all about utility and placing furniture to improve energy or some similar nonsense. While I of course believe a room should be above all a statement. It needs comfort of course, but one look in your room and everyone should know who you are inside!"

"What? You could communicate all this with Nugget?" Sid was clearly shocked.

"Yes, of course. Though not with words you see, but us ladies have our ways. Her energy and body language were practically screaming it."

"Llllaaaaddddiiiieeeessss?" creeked out Bakade sorrowfully as she looked down at herself.

Narissa sighed. "Don't take it personally cutie. I was only teasing. I didn't plan on sharing a room with such a bold barn animal. It was never an option on the table."

Nugget turned to glare at Narissa as she called her a barn animal, but Narissa glared right back. "No point in being upset about it just words. Especially when they're the truth."

Nugget calmly stood up and slowly twisted her neck from one side to the other as she stared at Narissa, who, for her part, rolled her eyes. "Not this again. I thought we got through this and came to an understanding?"\

"Ba-kaw."

"Tsk. Of course, you would act like this," Narissa complained. She started to pout as she turned towards Trizel. "Oh, if only a big strong man could come save me from this vicious bird."

Trizel scoffed. "Narissa, no girl could get me to fight that thi...beautiful creature."

Narissa sighed as she dropped the act. "Fine. I'm old enough to be your mother anyway." She turned back to Nugget. "Sorry, alright? It upsets you, so I'll try not to call you what you are."

Nugget stood firm, unflinching, and uncompromised. Most of them had seen her like this before and knew what it would lead to. The question was how Narissa would handle it.

"Ttttwwwooooo wwweeeeeekkkkksssss," whispered Bakade as she slipped out of her seat and leaned towards Sentenza. "Oooooonnnn Nnnnuuuugggeeeettt wwiiiinnniiinngg."

"I said you can't do it like that," sighed Sentenza. He scratched his neck as Nugget refused to back down. "Pick a limb. First one hit is the winner."

"Rrriiiiigghtt haaannddd." she whispered immediately.

"Can I get both feet?" whispered Sid as he leaned in as well.

"Fine, but everyone else only pays out half if you win."

"Acceptable."

Sentenza leaned towards Ted, "You want in? We got the head, left arm, and body left."

"Curious, is the body also a lesser payout?" queried Sid.

"Nope," Sentenza shook his head. "Least likely she gets hit there. Everything else reaches out, or, with the head, it'd send a statement."

"I'm good," sighed Ted as he figured he'd never get any more specifics on the room situation.

"Why did you not ask me?" Trizel asked.

With the others all bunched up together, Narissa's eye twitched. "I can hear everything you're saying you know. We're literally all sitting at the same table, and half of you got up to 'whisper' over there."

"You never bet Trizel, that's why I didn't ask, and if you're so curious. Would you like to place a bet on where Nugget hits you first?" Sentenza couldn't help but look amused as he watched the noble Narissa and the proud Nugget stand off again. "Looks like this time we'll get to see some real action thanks to your big mouth, so you might as well try and get something out of it."

"Fine, head." sighed Narissa.

"I could bet," grumbled Trizel.

Sentenza shook his head as he chuckled slightly. "Alright, body or left arm?"

Trizel tapped his chin as Narissa threw her chair back to stand up as Nugget put one foot forward. The two were glaring so intensely at each other it wouldn't be surprising if either of them burst into flames. Nugget took another step forward, and Narrissa grit her teeth.

"It's escalating Trizel, better hurry or you'll get nothing."

"Fine fine, body." Trizel said with a nod.

"Then I'll take the left arm." nodded Sentenza.

"Come on, Narissa, Nugget. Can't you guys calm down?" pleaded Ted. "Just actually apologize Narissa."

"Apologize? To her?"

"Ted, keep your mouth shut. We've been waiting a long while for this." whispered Sentenza. "We can't have a second fight ruined."

"Yes, letting them fight will get it out of their system," Sid did not sound too confident that he believed what he was saying, but it was obvious he wanted to see them fight.

Suddenly, there was a loud clacking as the door blew open and something fell onto the ground as a scraping noise got closer to them. They all turned to look at what was intruding on their long-awaited entertainment. A scythe slid across the floor towards them as an ancient looking skeleton was lying in the doorway.

As she saw the intruder, Narissa quickly opened up a pouch on her waist, and inside was a single glowing stone. She grimaced, and quickly closed it.

"Darn it. Every time," complained Sid.

"Ow!"

They all turned again as Narissa cried out in pain and was hopping as she held her left foot and winced.

"Yes! I win!" cheered Sid.

Uh, where is my robe? a low voice, that seemed to circumvent their ears entirely and go directly into their minds, asked.