Keine Quest (Part 3): Broken History

[Hello Purvis]

>"Nine blankets and three pillows between five people shouldn't be too bad, I don't think."

[DracoOmega]

>"Nine blankets and three pillows between five people shouldn't be too bad, I don't think."

>"Are they all already here with you, then? I could... perhaps I could try to arrange for guest quarters here for you for the night?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"I would not wish to impose upon Lady Scarlet's generosity..."

[DracoOmega]

>"I would not wish to impose upon Lady Scarlet's generosity..."

>"The choice is yours," she says.

[Hello Purvis]

>"I suppose I do owe them better than a few borrowed blankets on the floor... If you can arrange it, please do."

[DracoOmega]

>"I suppose I do owe them better than a few borrowed blankets on the floor... If you can arrange it, please do."

>"Very well," she says. "I'll speak with the mistress. You can return to the library if you wish. I'll send word."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Thank you very much. Miss Sakuya. I appreciate it deeply."
>Return to the library.

[DracoOmega]

>"Thank you very much. Miss Sakuya. I appreciate it deeply."
>Return to the library.

>Sakuya nods, and heads off down the hallway. You leave in the opposite direction and return to the library.
>Patchouli has returned to solitary reading, while Chen and Ran are talking quietly together at a polite distance. Rumia is wandering back and forth the aisles, while Mokou sits in a chair by herself, idly tapping her foot.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Some good news, everyone. Sakuya is asking Lady Scarlet if it would be alright if we could stay here. Which would mean that most of us wouldn't have to sleep on the floor."

[DracoOmega]

>"Some good news, everyone. Sakuya is asking Lady Scarlet if it would be alright if we could stay here. Which would mean that most of us wouldn't have to sleep on the floor."

>"That would be most kind of her," Ran says.
>Patchouli shakes her head. You think you hear her mutter "uncharacteristically generous" just barely loud enough for you to hear.
>Mokou frowns a little discontentedly

[Hello Purvis]

>Browse around a bit, til the subject's dropped, then sidle over to Mokou.
>"Would you rather go back to your own home?"

[DracoOmega]

>Browse around a bit, til the subject's dropped, then sidle over to Mokou.
>"Would you rather go back to your own home?"

>You let the subject drop, and idle around the library for a little bit, until everyone else seems occupied with their own business. You shift over towards Mokou.
>"Kinda," she says, frowning a little uncertainly. "Can't say I like the place, and you're getting a bit of a crowd tagging along with you, now."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Maybe so, but they're good people, who know things I don't."
>Sigh.
>"I'm sorry, I forgot you don't do so well with crowds. It's really easy to forget you haven't seen and done all the things I remember you going through."
>Shoulder pat. "It's okay, if you need to leave."

[DracoOmega]

>"Maybe so, but they're good people, who know things I don't."
>Sigh.
>"I'm sorry, I forgot you don't do so well with crowds. It's really easy to forget you haven't seen and done all the things I remember you going through."
>Shoulder pat. "It's okay, if you need to leave."

>"No, you're right; I don't have a beef with them, or anything." She quickly glances to her side. "...although bookworm over there could lose the stick up her ass," she mutters quietly.
>"Yeah, I know, I know. Carbon copy of the love you left behind and all... Don't worry about it."
>"And I... wouldn't mind going back, to be honest. Been enough going on for one night." She scuffs a foot against the floor. "Unless you wa-" she stops. "Forget it. You go do your thing."

[Hello Purvis]

>Chuckle.
>"Would you be happier if I begged you to stay?"

[DracoOmega]

>Chuckle.
>"Would you be happier if I begged you to stay?"

>"Now, don't go doing anything stupid like that on my account." She smiles thinly.

[Hello Purvis]

>"I can kowtow, if you prefer."

[DracoOmega]

>"I can kowtow, if you prefer."

>"Ah, for crying out...." Mokou grimaces. "You know, I should probably just say no. I really should. Hell, since I met you, I got dragged through hell, shot to pieces, passed up a damn good shot at beating Kaguya's ass, which is why I came along in the bloody first place... And yet," she sighs. "damned if I can."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Well, I suppose I can do better than a kowtow."
>Kneel down by her and give her a hug.

[DracoOmega]

>"Well, I suppose I can do better than a kowtow."
>Kneel down by her and give her a hug.

>"And wha-" Mokou stiffens in surprise as you kneel down and hug her. After a few moments, you feel her arms tentatively reach around you, nervously returning the embrace.

[Hello Purvis]

>Quietly: "You can do it a bit more strongly than that. I'm not that delicate."

[DracoOmega]

>Quietly: "You can do it a bit more strongly than that. I'm not that delicate."

>"Yeah, uh, well...." Mokou sounds distinctly uncomfortable, but pulls you tighter just the same.

[Hello Purvis]

>Hold it for a bit.
>"If you really need to justify it to yourself, you can always think of it as the most interesting thing to happen in the eon or so."

[DracoOmega]

>Hold it for a bit.
>"If you really need to justify it to yourself, you can always think of it as the most interesting thing to happen in the eon or so."

>You keep holding Mokou close to you. After all the chaos of tonight, it feels good to just be able to do that.
>"Well... it kinda is," she says. "All this."
>Mokou is silent for a time. "I don't think I'm gonna want to let you go, after all this is over," she says softly.

[Hello Purvis]

"One way or another, you won't. Even if it all gets put back together like it should be, I'll just tell you the story until you remember it like you were here anyways."

[DracoOmega]

"One way or another, you won't. Even if it all gets put back together like it should be, I'll just tell you the story until you remember it like you were here anyways."

>Mokou laughs. "Oh, we're fixing it, alright. Last seven years I had aren't worth keeping over what you've got." She shakes her head and gives you a wry smile. "You know the world's upside down when you can be jealous of yourself."

[Hello Purvis]

>Suppress a snort, poorly.
>"Hopefully we'll get it squared away soon enough."

[DracoOmega]

>Suppress a snort, poorly.
>"Hopefully we'll get it squared away soon enough."

>Mokou smiles a little at your reaction.
>"Yeah, well, I guess the future's not going anywhere, if that's really where you went to. Man, this is all pretty messed up..."

>"The arrangements are made," you hear Sakuya's voice behind you; you mustn't have noticed her come in.
>She looks at you and raises an eyebrow. Is that the faint trace of a smirk you see on her face? "And how many rooms will you be needing, again?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"I imagine Ran and Chen would want to share one. And, I suspect Chen would like to have her new friend with her. So...two?"

[DracoOmega]

>"I imagine Ran and Chen would want to share one. And, I suspect Chen would like to have her new friend with her. So...two?"

>"Very well, two it is," Sakuya says, inclining her head towards you. "I can show you to them now, if you'll follow me."