A Walk in the Evening

Dinner had just ended and the children were clearing off the plates. Bertie stood up and stretched, looking momentarily more like a scarecrow than usual. He pulled his arms in, running his fingers through his hair, "Flora dear, was it just me or did that town we passed an hour ago appear to have a public house?"

Flora glanced up at her husband...husband…still getting used to that. "Yes. I believe it did." She then proceeded to make her own way to standing.

He smiled, slightly mischievously, "I was thinking, perhaps we should repair to yon Ale House and give their spinet a spin" He leaned in closer, "and if they have baths and beds, so much the better.” Meanwhile, he thought, ‘and if they have dice, still better.’

A slight smile crossed her lips. She nodded. "I do believe that sounds like a good idea for the evening.” Flora took hold of his arm. "Shall we go, then?"

He extended his arm to her. "Yes, indeed the very idea of spending another night camping in the rough, would be the death of me. I swear every bed in this camp was designed by those verdammt gnomes."

She just glanced at him not saying a word. As they walked, she glanced up at the stars and then back at him and perhaps the question that had been on her mind sort of found its way to her lips. "Does any of this bother you? My turning cat-like?"

"Hrm, right into it then," Bertie murmured. He turned to Flora smiling so that even his crooked teeth seemed cheerful. "Well, in and amongst that papist ceremony we went through I recall something that sounded like 'better or worse', though to be sure, I can't seem to recall 'cat' being mentioned." He turned and with Flora on his arm began walking away from the camp. "What is 'cat' in Latin anyway," he asked with a flourish. "Felis, felix, kättepuß, moggisius?"

Flora stopped walking which was meant to make him stop as well and shook her head. "Cat wasn't mentioned and you choose to not answer by changing the subject that is up to you but I can only derive one conclusion from your reluctance." Perhaps he—no, he probably didn't understand how much of Flora's self worth was tied to her appearance and how much this was blow to that.

"Perish the thought my dear, you mistake my desire for edification as a lack of concern for your plight. Frankly, nothing could be further from the truth. The night is young and we should make what we can of it."

She glanced at him and internally sighed. Well, the woman did know this going in, she supposed. Fine, if he wanted to just enjoy the night then so be it. "Yes, it is.” She paused as a grin came across her face. "So will you teach me one day to play one of those gambling games you enjoy so much?"

Bertie's smile turned to one of self-satisfaction. "Assuredly." He turned and smoothed her cheek with his palm. "Fret not on any accord, I will enjoy your company regardless of what your ears look like."

She smiled at his touch and his words. Glancing around as they were on the way to town and noticing there was no one else around. Flora rose up and kissed him gently on the cheek. "Thank you for that." She glanced at him again. "I do not suppose that you heard what happened earlier with the bats."

"You mean that bearded dwarf crone who was cackling on about her fleidermice? You'd think that they'd have the decency to at least teach the help a proper dialect of hochdeutsch rather than that gypo-slavvy-greaser dialect she was yammering on in."

Flora listened to him and then shook her head. "No, not that kind of bat. I meant what happened with the actual bats, the trained ones and myself."

"Well, as best as I could make out she didn't want her playing with her fleidermice, 'bats' if you will, I really didn't make much of it. The circus folk are rather sensitive about their acts. There is usually, some sort of trick involved and she probably wanted to make sure that you didn't learn it."

That answer made it apparent that he did not know. Well, the choice was to just go along and not tell him or to tell him. Flora did not see how he would not find out anyway. "There was a reason beyond that that I was told to stay away from the bats." A breath felt needed here. "I was able to channel myself into one of them. I went into its body."

Bertie reached up and petted one of Flora's ears that was growing fuzzier lightly with his thumb. "You’re turning into a regular menagerie, my dear. It’s a good thing I am fond of variety."

Smiling at him, the petting of her ears felt good. She went into a soft purr though not on she could control. "Well, I was thinking that maybe I should try it with some different types of animals."

"My goodness Flora, that sounded naughtier than I think you intended." He cupped her face in his hands. "And you’re positively purring." He stepped back. "Perhaps we should change topics. We wouldn't want to scandalize the locals."

"I just meant in the changing ...." She stopped. Perhaps he was correct and they were nearing the town now. "Well, then it is a beautiful night out.” She listened for a moment. "I do believe we are approaching our destination." She resumed her place by his side, retaking his arm.

"As to gaming, rather than actually playing have you considered being my assistant? I mean done right, it can make the difference. I mean I suppose I could show you the rules, but cards are more about reading the other players, which is where having a capable assistant comes in."

He turned in front of her and reached around Flora's waist. "And you know if that tail keeps growing, I could think of other things it could be useful for."

She smiled at what he said regarding her tail. "I am sure you could. After all, you are nothing less than creative my dear." She then backtracked and responded to what he had first said. “Being your assistant does sound like it would be interesting. I would be willing to do that."

"Well, all it takes, is a sharp eye and a pretty smile," he paused and winked at her, “and a way to communicate. One nice thing about traipsing through the Carpathians, is there aren't many who speak the Queen's English."

"That does not sound hard. Just tell me what I will be looking for." She was more than willing to learn.

"Well, mostly you act like you normally do and I act like me. You get to play hostess, and bring me my brandy and cigars, and in the meantime, you keep an eye on the other players and let me know what you see. On the sly, as it were.

Flora nodded and then noticed the gaming house was nearby. "Well, I will try it. Anything else I need to know before we go in?"

“Actually, no. We haven't even found out if there is any gambling going on, though it’s pretty likely. Let's just start with the spinet and work our way up from there. Drunk foreigners are always good marks. Let's play the part and if nothing else, let's hope they have comfortable beds and bathtubs.”

She smiled at him with a nod and headed with him into the building.

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