Hineni leisurely strolls down the street, his eyes rising up towards the night sky.

The air is warm and fresh, carrying with it a light dew that feels nice on the skin of his face. Many lights glow with orange hues, shining out of the many windows that he walks past. Hineni recalls nights when he had wandered down this very street, avoiding looking into the glowing spaces for fear of what he might see there.

— Warmth, comfort, happiness, people who have found, if not a purpose, at the very least, a place to call home in earnest words.

This was something that he hadn’t had back then. He just had a house. But now that he has this too, he notices that his eyes no longer stare at the street. Instead, they stare around through the glass of many homes. Flowers fill the windows, as do silhouettes moving on the far side of them.

He is the only one outside right now on the street. People in this neighborhood had long since gotten used to staying inside after dark, because of the threat of danger and thieves in this poor neighborhood. The joke is that this had gotten so severe, that not even the thieves went out anymore, because there was simply nobody to rob. So, in essence, the problem solved itself and nobody even really knows about it, except for the lone night-owls, who only dare to wander the streets in these hours.

Hineni lets out a breath of relief. Life is good these days.

He stops, having arrived at his destination. His eyes wander up to the sign, hanging above the door, proudly displaying the title of ‘adventurer’s guild’.

“Damn…” mutters Hineni beneath his breath, realizing. They had never hung up a sign like this outside of their structure. He makes a mental note to tell Sockel to get it done first thing.

— The signmaker’s guild is going to charge a fortune for it though. Damned criminals.

He sighs, shaking his head and opening the door to step inside of a familiar building that he hadn’t been inside for months now.

The ambiance is as loud and rambunctious as always. Voices crash against him, together with the sour smells of liquor, the moment he steps inside. People are drinking and celebrating in a way that they never do at their guild. He supposes that they attract the quiet types, who hate it here because it's too loud. He supposes the owl-god doesn’t really inspire a party atmosphere.

Hineni is unsure if that is a problem or not. His introverted side says he enjoys the quiet nights, even if it means less business. Alcohol sales are good money though.

The party slows down as he steps inside. Several people turn to look his way. Frogs. He can smell them from here. Others are just normal people who are simply unaware of the frog-owl situation entirely and are simply confused why half of the party suddenly fell tensely silent.

“Hey,” says Hineni, walking inside past the counter. Anura, the frog-priestess is sitting behind it, looking rather overworked. He looks over his shoulder towards her, stopping as he passes. “- Is she here?”

Anura blinks and shakes her head, watching him as he takes the first chair from a man and then leans it back, sitting down and kicking up his legs onto a table. Twiddling his thumbs, he simply stares up towards the ceiling.

The people around him seem to still be a little confused and dazed at his presence here.

“Oh. Don’t mind me,” says Hineni, looking at the man whose chair he stole. He slides the half-empty mug across the table towards him. “Keep drinking.”

It’s quiet.

“YOU!” screeches a harpyish voice.

Hineni knew this moment would come. He turns his head, looking at the figure who had been alerted. A well-dressed, very out of place woman stands atop the spiral staircase that leads to the upper, inner balcony. Her hands grip the railing with such intensity that her fingers, already pale, become as white as a skeleton’s from the pressure.

“Ma’am,” nods Hineni, staring up at the gestalt. Rhine’s mother. She looks a little haggard, but as prim and proper as last time he saw her. “Hope those scars healed up nicely,” he says. “Would be a shame if you had any,” he says, rubbing his scarred face, as if lost in thought.

The woman lets out a furious howl, lifting an arm, a serpent of raging water builds itself around it, lashing out as if she could barely control it.

“YOU DISGUSTING MESS OF A CREATURE!” she screams, lifting her arm to cast her spell. Hineni lifts an eyebrow, not budging. “GET HIM!” The crowd shifts.

“— Stop!” yells a voice from the side. Anura.

She frog-hops over the counter, quickly walking towards him, her hands up. “No fighting in the guild!” she warns, looking around the room with a stern expression. “Or do you want to disappoint her?” she asks, presumably talking about Nekyia, the big-frog.

The people in the room look at each other, still as angry and tense, but most of them seem to loosen their shoulders, at least. The others are still confused.

“HE STOLE MY SON, ANURA!” yells Rhine’s mother.

Hineni lifts a finger. “Actually, ma’am, I kidnapped him,” says Hineni, lifting a single leg up higher. “It’s all in the legs, you know? Kidnapping.”

A hand lowers itself onto his shoulder. “You really should go,” says Anura, leaning down towards him. “This is very owl-like behavior,” she says. “If you’re trying to provoke us into a fight, we’re better than that,” she says, lifting her gaze to the woman upstairs, who someone has gone up to, to hold back from charging down. “— But we will call the guards. Please leave,” she warns.

“Yeah… about that -” says Hineni. He lifts a hand. “Wait for it…”

She leans down. “Listen,” she whispers. “I’m doing you a favor. They’re not going to stay calm forever,” she warns. “Please leave. I mean it well,” she says, her eyes looking around the silent room.

Hineni shakes his head. “No, listen, wait for it…”

(Hineni) has purchased: [Adventuring Guild] for 44,400 Obols.

“There it is!” he says, smiling and clapping his hands together. “Okay everyone. Looks like the paperwork is through,” he says, holding his arms out. “Please leave my building, before I call the guards.”

“What?!” yells a man from the side. The crowd becomes loud, starting to buzz again like a hive. He sees hands moving, getting ready to grab weapons and channel spells. Anura steps forward, holding out her hands.

“STOP!” she yells again, looking over her shoulder. “This isn’t right,” she says, looking down his way. “The building wasn’t listed for sale!”

Hineni shrugs. “Not on the private market,” he says. “Funny though. Did you know that the city bureaucrats are real strict about your taxes?” he asks. “Did you know that if you don’t pay even a single one of your taxes, your entire property is legally allowed to be confiscated by the magistrate?” he asks. “Some funny, old bylaw, somewhere in the very back of the books.” He taps his head, glad that he has Seltsam around to look up this kind of stuff for him.

“That’s absurd!” snaps Anura. “We’re on the books for everything! Property, food, alcohol. We’re on the up and up. We paid!”

“Sorry,” says Hineni, as the front door opens up. “You forgot an important one,” he says, looking at her. “Exotic animals require an extra tax if you hold them inside of the city walls.”

“Exotic… what?!”

“— Frogs,” says a familiar voice, stepping inside. All eyes turn to Avarice, the god of wealth, who enters the guild along with some city guards and a well dressed man with a ledger. “Bringing an exotic frog from the southern regions into the city, unclaimed, is a problem,” he says. “The tax would go to protect the local ecosystem, you see. However, it seems you have failed to pay it,” says the god.

“Your grace!” argues Anura. “Please! Why are you going along with this?!” she asks. “You know what that thing is! What they’re trying to do!”

Avarice lifts a hand. “I’m a business-man, first and foremost. Politics aren’t my field.” He looks around. “Gentlemen. Please vacate the structure.”

The guards next to him move forward, several others filing in from outside.

“This isn’t right!” argues a man, getting grabbed by two of them and being dragged outside. A few others begin to cooperate and leave by themselves, but a few others seem determined to put up a fight.

“Why are you doing this?” asks Anura, this time asking him and not Avarice. Hineni looks at her.

“Tell her thank you, for saving me back then,” says Hineni. “And tell her that next she wants to talk to me, to send a letter instead.”

“You’re not a bad person!” says Anura. “Think about what you’re doing! About where this is going to go!” A guard grabs her shoulder, pulling her back. Another comes to help pull her outside. “It’s not too late! Ribbit!”

“Sorry,” says Hineni, shaking his head. He taps against his skull. “Love makes you do dumb things, you know?” he asks as she’s dragged away. “If you want a job, I got one for you though,” he calls after her.

Hineni nods. This went well. He feels good about this.

The man looks over his shoulder, up the rafters towards where Rhine’s mother is. There is a fury in her eyes that is decently familiar to Hineni. The well worn grooves next to her eyes sink deeply back down towards her skull, highlighting her features, which are most… froggy.

(???) started channeling: [Serpentine Flow]

A hand grabs her arm from behind, having come in through the back stairwell of the guild.

(???)’s [Serpentine Flow] has been interrupted by (Rhine)

The two of them look at each other for a time, she stares down his way, towards his hand om her wrist, towards his eyes, towards him and Rhine does the same, holding on to her with strong hands that have worked hard for weeks and months.

“…You’ve gotten taller, droplet,” says his mother, perhaps out of place, perhaps not. But it is what she says. She looks oddly proud.

“Yeah,” is all that Rhine says.

(Rhine) has used: [High Pressure Burst]

He lets go of her, just as a concentrated blast of water shoots out of his hand, sending the woman flying over the railing and down straight all the way across the room.

She lands, violently crashing down between several tables. Some guards move over to carry her away while she's still dazed.

“Not bad,” says Hineni, giving Rhine a thumbs-up.

“I raised that boy,” says Sockel. He hadn’t even noticed her sitting down next to him. She pretends to wipe a tear from her eye.

“Good work, Sockel,” says Hineni.

“It was both of our fantastic parenting that did it,” she replies, looking around the room.

“Miss working here?” asks Hineni, watching the guards clean up the rest of the guild.

“Not in the least,” replies Sockel. “What a dump,” she says. “They do have a sign though. We need one of those.”

“Right?!” asks Hineni.

It’s good to have people on the same wavelength as himself.