Zane blinked at Null's tears, wincing, and scooted his chair around to face the other a bit better, holding his hands out in a calming gesture. "Hey, hey--that was my bad, y'know? I mean, not my bad totally, but... like, that was Cyril, not you," he said, offering a hand for Null to shake. "I dunno about all that 'feeding off of anger' stuff, but it sounds pretty dope. Cyril got what was coming to him, haha."
Zane's eyes widened as Kosok leapt onto his shoulder, then laughed slightly, uncovering his nose. "A healer, huh, little guy?" he asked, clearly not catching on that Kosok was, in fact, capable and sapient both. He blinked as Kosok laid his tail on his nose, and he threatened to sneeze, mouthing something that looked like 'pineapple' really slowly--it seemed to work, the sneeze successfully tamped down.
He straightened back to attention when Dahlia turned towards him again, and he offered her a smile, nodding his head a little (not too much--he didn't want to jostle Kosok). "Hey, that's a great idea! I mean... I should probably get back to studying soon, just two chapters left and all, but my apartment's cozy enough. Cody cleaned it up recently... he cleans sometimes when he's bored. It's cute," Zane mused aloud, then blinked out of his thoughts and laughed sheepishly. "S-so what I'm saying is, uh, we make a mean cup of hot cocoa or coffee... or tea, Cody has like, five bajillion types of tea, so..." He trailed off and grinned, shrugging, then blinked in realization that the pain throbbing in his nose had lessened considerably. "Woah... woah! What?" Zane gasped, turning towards Kosok on his shoulder with shining eyes.
Cody trotted back over with dripping napkin-wrapped-ice in hands, settling down beside Zane and handing him the compress. He paused, looking up at Kosok, a laugh bubbling out of him. "I-it looks like his tail is a mustache, on you," he giggled, then blinked in realization that Zane's nose looked better. He looked back at Dahlia, a question (and amazement) in his eyes. Zane caught his attention before he could ask anything, as he relayed the possible plan to hang out afterwards to the other man.
Cody picked up his popcorn again and looked back at Cyril, then at Dahlia, a grin forming on his face. "I can fix something really quick and easy for a late night dinner, too," Cody said, hunching his shoulders excitedly. He got up again, waving for the others to follow him. "Come on--let's blow this joint, as nicely decorated as this joint is."
Cyril experienced what could only be described as a blinding white light for a few moments, and suddenly, he was on the floor. He could've sworn he saw visions in the time between impact and waking up (violent ones--visions somehow familiar and somehow
very unfamiliar--were those
his hands holding that knife...?), but eventually, he found himself blinking awake, being helped to his feet. He muttered something unintelligible, groaning, and gave Winter and Null a woozy stare. "I'm... gggonna... go home, now," he slurred, feeling like he was walking through molasses. He blinked unevenly as he saw Zane, Cody, and that woman from before making their way to the door, and made a grunting noise as Cody nearly bumped into him. Cyril gave him a rotten stare, before it crumpled slightly as a wave of pain coursed over him.
Cody eyed him for a moment, then looked at Null and Winter, then sighed, looking over at Zane. "Hey... wanna at least help him find Ava's apartment? You guys live in the same complex, right?" Zane nodded, smiling good-naturedly at Cody's probably too-forgiving nature. "Th-this is for Ava's sake--you know how worried she'd be if Cyril didn't come home," he added, as if reading Zane's mind.
Zane looped one of Cyril's arms around his shoulders, then cast a look back at Null and Winter with a wave. "It was nice meeting you two! Sorry about our guy here. We'll make sure he gets a good night's rest," he said, with an ounce of pointed venom towards Cyril--as much as someone like him could have, at least. "Buh-bye!"
"Bye you two!" Cody called back to the other two, then continued munching on popcorn as the four (or five, if you counted the cute little critter on Zane's shoulder) walked out of the tavern and into the chilly night air.
[Claiming Day 1! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, everyone!]