Welcome to Gaia! ::

He shook off his sopping cloak as they headed down the stairs and was struck anew by the cold as he lost what little warmth the cloak contained. Thus he gratefully took the torch and the radius of heat that came with it as he knelt to arrange some logs in the fireplace. "So," he began as he tried to open the flue. "What time do you suppose it is?" A thud. "Ah- there it is. This thing probably hasn't been opened since March." He picked up some smaller sticks and held them to the torch to light, thinking how glad he was the thunder wasn't too audible down here, then put the glowing sticks in the fireplace against the logs. "At least it's warmer down here than it is upstairs," he said, fanning the sparks into flame.

((Add "Do Redwallers have matches?" to the list of bizarre Redwall questions. Right under "Where do they get milk?" and "Where do the apple cores go?" and above "Do hares have eyebrows?"))

Donato continued arranging the firewood, coaxing the flame to grow as she spoke. "Mm, it must be well after midnight." He glanced over his shoulder at her as she yawned. He smiled. He couldn't imagine falling asleep tonight; he was wide awake, but he thought Eula'd be asleep in that chair before too long.

"Yeah. Sledding and snow-forts." He grinned at the thought as he watched the fire grow. For a moment he forgot their more immediate troubles as he amused himself with the thought of the dibbuns tracking all manner of mud and slush into the Great Hall.

Now he turned himself around, still crouching on the hearth, and looked at Eula with a slight frown. "Well, you should try to sleep tonight at least." He gave a short sigh. "Things'll be alright."

He pushed himself up from the floor with a grunt. "Oof." His mind was awake, but evidently his legs were ready for bed. The hare perched himself on the chair with Eula, putting an arm around her shoulders. "Believe me, the feeling's mutual," he chuckled. "You're much better company than a dozing sentry."

((is trying to figure out how/who to enter...))

Eula had woken early in the morning. No matter how little sleep she got, she seemed to get up with the sun regardless. She had been momentarily surprised to find herself in Cavern Hole, then the surprise lasted a little longer when she realized she'd fallen asleep in Donato's arms. She hadn't intended on falling asleep, she should've known better. A tad embarrassed and not wanting to wake him, Eula had carefully extracted herself, tip-toed up the stairs and returned to her room to change.

Now she was at breakfast, filling her plate and having herself a hearty breakfast. She usually had no appetite when there was a lot on her mind, but that didn't appear to be the case this morning. She was a little surprised by how wide awake she felt, too. Those few hours of dreamless sleep had done her a world of good.

Turan was up early as well, but he could've been up all night for all anybody else knew. He seemed to be in a hurry during breakfast though, making himself a plate and just standing by the table to eat it quickly and leave. He acknowledged anyone he passed with a simple "Good morning." Nothing out of the ordinary.

Ah, that's what felt so weird about the morning, that it wasn't weird. Didn't anyone understand what was going on today? She continued her breakfast in quiet contemplation, taking her meal slowly to see if anyone would come by and speak with her.

Tracy waved cheerfully at Kusaa, nearly spilling over her drink.

Tannia, holding her daughter in her lap, quickly saved the drink from spilling onto the floor. Crisis averted, she nodded politely at Kusaa, but her eyes followed the bat and she noticed the look that passed between her and Turan. She knew to leave well enough alone, and just waited a moment for the understanding eye contact between herself and Turan, then she returned to eating breakfast with Tracy.

Turan nodded at Kusaa, glanced at Tannia, and gave her a quick, easy wink before turning and following Kusaa.

Eula had not noticed the look that passed between Kusaa and Turan, but when she saw them both walking by she immediately knew what was happening. She put her spoon down and pushed back from the table, as if to follow...

But Turan cleared his throat, "Good morning, Eula." He stooped a bit, paw on Eula's shoulder to prevent her from rising. He said something quietly, then stood back up, nodded at her, again gave that casual look like everything was fine, then went to follow Kusaa out again.

Eula hesitated in her seat, looking put out for a moment. But she nodded eventually and returned to her meal.

Donato woke up some while after Eula left to find the fire out and the back of his tunic still slightly damp. He stood up and stretched, thinking that perhaps falling asleep in a chair wasn't the best of plans. "Oops...." He stooped to pick up his cloak, then headed upstairs to change into a dry, unwrinkled tunic.

In a few minutes, he was back downstairs looking for Eula at the breakfast table. She usually woke up much earlier than he, she might have finished... Oh, there she was. He made his way through the usual crowd and sat down across from her. "Morning."

AUUUGGGH, good morning Abbey! ::she came in the hall with arms in the air, stretching and yawning loudly, looking as if she'd just crawled out of bed which was probably the case. Sasha usually didn't make a scene when she entered anywhere (at least that was what she told herself) but she was in an odd mood that day. There was a lot going on, though Sasha was slightly out of the loop of things and although that frustrated her, it was nice for once to not be readily involved in something dangerous and urgent. She had actually slept in a bit that morning, wasn't that lovely? She passed Eula and Donato, ruffling Eula's headfur a bit as she walked past to take a seat beside her cousin and niece:: Good morning cousin ::she said with a smile, and then it got wider as she leaned down to Tracy, signing 'Good Morning' before she leaned in to kiss her nose::

((gotta make a big entrance for my returning post!!! ba ba ba daaa! *trumpets*))