Mitch folded his arms.

"You don't need music to do that," Mitch said, "Apparently my dad has declared this a spontaneous holiday."

"All the better then! He'll be in an even better mood when he'll be here--Hey!" she heard the door of the house slam shut. Then Belisarius' voice roaring out, "Val said to tell you guys we can do this without dragging your around! Be good pets and sort your things out by the time we're back, ok?"

"Do what!?" Mitch said, surprised.

ooc:do what? where's Mitch and Rikki right now?

"I have no intention to rest right now." Pain answered "Plus, I am a cat - I can see perfectly well in the night"



"What's that?"

Borues twitched his ears this way and that way.

"Hmm, might be music," Borues said, "If it is, and there's teens at the lake, scaring them off will be quite fun. Heh."

"No!" Pain replied "Humans will mean a faster way of reaching the human settlement..." he stopped for a second... "Although if they refuse, scaring them off will be a good way of punishing them for the bad decision..."

Borues looked at Pain with a tilted head and a raised eye brow.

"You want to travel with drunk teens?" Borues asked blankly.

Pain narrowed "Drunk or not, they might still provide me with a faster way to reach the settlement..."

"Sigh, if we're going to the lake then, I best get some supplies," Borues said, heading to his den on the right hand path, "It's better to travel with someone who has supplies then it is alone. Don't you think?"

Lance went outside and walked out to the side walk seeing Belisarius and Val coming out of there owner place. "Hey guys ready to get started on that expedition?" He said waving to the two.

"They can't do that to us! Come on Rikki!" Mitch said, grabbing her hand and heading out of the bathroom.

Valiant was already flipping his phone shut. "Taxi's on the way already, handsome! Ain't your beau coming, too?" he ogled comically at the doberman. "Or are you planning to get the best of two worlds in this trip, hmm?"
"Guess you'll have to wait for that," belisarius intervened, pointing with his thumb at the panda running out of the house, dragging effortlessly the black ferret.
Valiant was admired. "Yup! You can tell she's in love when she lets her fiancée to drag her around."

"Like I'm gonna let you guys have all the fun," Mitch said, sticking his tongue out at them, "So when's our ride getting here? Oh, you guys, I need to talk to you two about behaviors and such when my parents get here too. Hey Lance!" He added lastly, waving to the doberman.

"Right, right, okay!" Pain said with a sigh and followed the bear "Lead on..."

Borues went around the den and to the front door. He opened it without hesitation and walked in. The den inside was sparsely decorated. There was a deer pelt for a rug in front of a fire pit in a wall to the left of the door and a stache of firewood to it's right. In the back of the hut was another door leading to a smaller storage room. It was obvious that this was NOT the bear's main den. There were two wooden chairs on the other side of the door.

"There, see how much easier it is to be agreeable?" Borues said.

"Make yourself at home, as such as it is," he added, "More of a stop over really. I have a few of these scattered about along my patrol paths." He headed to the back room and began to rummage for supplies.

"You've had mead, yes?" he asked absentmindedly while getting ruck sacks ready.

As they entered the den, Pain looked around "Nice place you got here." he commented.

As the bear began rummaging in his storage, the Nebelung simply leaned on the wall next to the door.



"I had once or twice." Pain replied "But if you ask if I like it - no, I don't. It makes me lose control over my body."

"Heh thanks. But fair enough, looks like we'll have to go with water then," Borues said, after a few more rummagings, the bear came out with two ruck sacks and regular sized water bottles. His, of course, was larger. He tossed Pain his.

"I knew I stumbled across that deer carcass for a reason, waste not, want not, heh," Borues said. In the sacks, neatly arranged, on the left, enough dried meat to last half a day, on the right, a brown paper bag of nut crushings. Which, Borues popped a few of his in his mouth.

"It's easier to crush them out of their shells before you hibernate and not try it when your still groggy," he said.

Lance chuckled and watched as the panda and ferret ran out of the house one dragging the other. "Heh, adorable." He said shaking his head.

"And what would be these instructions?" Valiant asked.

"Ohh, nothing serious to worry about, just greetings and placement and all," Mitch said, then, "Actually, and I know this is gonna be tricky, which of you would you say is the Alpha? If you had to decide on the fly?"

"He is!" Belisarius said, already pointing the finger. "Because I moved into his territory to live with him, I offered him a prey to share, and during our matinpfffhmgn* At that point, a paw clasped around his muzzle.
"Too much information, lover. And yes, I'm boss, Mitch. Is it something regarding pecking order in conversation or something?"

"Eh heh, heh, not in conversation, no, but in greeting," Mitch said, trying to think, "Once we get inside it's all informal. But, when I present you to my parents, Valiant should be standing next to his dad. Bel should be slightly behind then. And then Rikki should be standing beside Bel only more in front. Hmm. What else? Your parents can stand however they please, it's their turf. Herm, how to put this." He thought for a moment, crossing his arms.

"When my parents come out of the woods, your parents should be on their right, in whichever placement they decide," he said, "Then Valaint, Bel, and then Rikki. Cause I have to introduce the fiance's family in some order of authority. Hmm. What else?" He looked down to think more, tapping a foot.

Pain caught the ruck sack and removed his own small backpack from himself, putting it on his chest and putting the Ruck sack on his back.

"No way to know that, but thanks for the information." he replied to the bears last comment.

A small sipping sound could be heard in the back of the den.

"You sure you don't want a sip?" Borues asked.

Pain shook his head "Nay, I like to keep my focus and my aim intact. Given my size and my low tolerance to such beverages even a single sip might affect either if not both of them."

"Heh heh, fair enough," Borues said, putting the bottle back in it's place. Borues headed for the door.

"All right, let's go then," he said.

Pain simply shrugged "You lead, I'll follow."

"Ohhh don't be like that," Borues said, heading down the trail, keeping an ear out for the strange music that was coming from the forest.

"You'll be over your deal soon enough, then we'll kick back in the forest one day and drown ourselves in mead and laugh about it," he said, turning around, "I do like the, occasional company."

Bel, Rikki and Val exchanged a look. So far it seemed simple enough...just make sure Dad would not treat a chieftain and dignitary like some cute puppy...

Mitch noticed the look.

"What?" He asked, nervous now.

"Well, Dad is one...informal human, let's say. He always enjoys a display of good manners, but we fear he could play the amicone act with your parents. We're thinking of a way to make him understand it's not the case."
The taxi arrived at that moment.
"Let's worry about that later," Valiant said, going to open the doors. Ladies and fiancées first."

"But really, the hosts can do whatever they please," Mitch said, guiding Rikki to the car, "I mean, it's a small price to pay for trying to take their daughter away. Be glad their not a northern tribe. My dad had to do this most ridiculous bird dance. Like he said, ladies first." He added last.

Lance sat himself next to Rikki and Mitch on the left side of the Taxi stretching out a bit as he did so.

Pain sighed "Once again - I do not drink." the cat replied "But if all goes well, I might consider joining you on one of those patrols of yours."

"Heh, there's the spirit, heh," Borues said, "Although, this music gets odder and odder. That is the oddest stringed instrument I have ever heard."

ooc: sitar: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sitar

Pain hissed silently "Ugh.. Who, by the spirits, listens to that stuff."

Borues shrugged and walked on. Drums could now be heard in the mix. Borues stopped for a moment to listen.

"Something's not right, but I don't know what," he said, taking a sip from his bottle.

Pain's ears fell flat "What do you mean by that?"

"Like I said, I don't know, though that's a lot of instruments for just a rogue band of teens," Borues said, scratching his head.

ooc: unsure of how long a walk from the park to the lake would take, gussing. but also trying not to leave others behind.

"Teens don't play on such instruments these days, mind you." keeping an annoyed expression.