It's a busy day at the Apothecary, thanks to some newly arrived Journeyman mages. Half a dozen of them cluster around the Jobs Board, while another four take up the available table space to fill out forms so they can post their own service notices. None of them buy anything yet, however, as the matronly Skeek behind the counter idles away the time by knitting some baby booties.

The doors swing open, and in walks an individual who is definitely not a mage – or if she is, she must be in disguise. Pausing at the door, the barmaid-outfitted Lapi looks around, looking for the owner of the establishment. "Aaron?"

The Skeek looks up from her knitting and smiles at the white doe. "Oh, you must be Christina! Aaron is up in the attic doing some packing, but you can go back and see him," she says, and sets down her knitting to open a partition in the counter. "Just go on between the shelves to the back, and you'll see a ladder."

Anisa smiles at the mouse, "Just back there? Thank you." The rabbit goes in the direction indicated, and looks for a ladder between the shelves. "Aaron? Where are you?"

"Anisa?" comes a familiar voice. Sure enough, a pull-down stair-ladder leads up into the second floor of the shop, next to a small room where Anisa can a see a Savanite woman mixing herbs at a table. "I'm up here in the storeroom."

Looking up the ladder for the source of the voice, the doe starts her way up rather clumsily in her dress. "Wow, must be the busy season. I haven't seen this place so full before."

Small, high windows don't let much light into the storage area, but it's easy to see that it's packed full of shelves laden with jars and boxes, save for a small area around the trapdoor. There, three cots nestle up against the outer wall with a single small table. Aaron stands between a small standing wardrobe and an open chest, where he's folding clothes from the former to place into the latter. "Well, I seem to have gotten a lot of good advertising lately," Aaron says with a grin as he spots the doe. "What brings you by, Anisa? You couldn't have already heard that I'm moving into my house soon!"

"Already? No, I didn't know." A small grin creeps across Anisa's face. "Looks like you got to it fast. Is this where you were living before?"

Aaron straightens up and spreads his arms. "Fabulous, isn't it? Nothing but the best!" he jokes. "I closed the deal on the house the afternoon we got back. Figured it was time to give Creen-Catcher and her husband some privacy up here."

The white Lapi laughs. "I know how it feels to live where you work, but looks like you're past that now. Need any help?" The doe walks over to the clothes, and gives them the look over. "Almost done?"

"Well, I'll need help moving some of these trunks and boxes," Aaron says, gesturing to some others that have already been packed. "Mostly books and junk I've collected. I don't have any actual furniture or anything yet, but I have a wagon reserved for tomorrow that I was gonna haul this stuff in, and maybe see if I could pick up some chairs and a table afterwards."

The grin gets wider. "I could help you out with that." Anisa takes a seat on one of the cots, shooting her ears up as though she just had an idea. "Say, with all this stuff being moved out, you'll have a lot of extra room here, won't you?"

Aaron looks around the place. "Are you kidding? I've got more stuff downstairs I need to bring up here for storage still," he says, shaking his head. "Although I might end up moving some to the house too, and free up space here. It's got a carriage-shed that I can use for storage, since I'm not getting a carriage anytime soon."

The ears stay up. "So you'll have some extra space at the house for a while?" The doe picks up one of the wrinkled shirts, and folds it in her lap. "I mean, some you don't intend to use for a while?"

Grinning, Aaron sits on a cot and says, "I've got nothing but space there for now. Three bedrooms, a study, even a basement! All it's got in there now are curtains and floor rugs. I'll be literally camping out in my own bedroom until I can get a bed."

Anisa puts the shirt back into the trunk, and smirks a bit. "In that case, could I ask a small favor for helping you move stuff tomorrow? I could even con some of my brothers into helping maybe." The doe flicks back her ears. "That is, if you agree."

Aaron perks her ears forward. "A favor? Sure!" he agrees quickly, then timidly asks, "Uh, what sort of favor?"

The doe perks up a single ear, not thinking Aaron would agree before he even heard what she proposed. "Well, you see … remember that bet you made about working out with me to learn to fight?" The rabbit grins. "I just recently received some things that may help that process out a bit, but I need a place to put it all."

"Oh!" the buck says, looking less worried. "Sure, you can set up some exercise stuff there. I thought about putting in a workout room anyway."

"Really?" Anisa loses her composure briefly. "Er, you mean it? Even if it's … quite a bit?"

"Quite a bit?" Aaron asks, his left ear starting to lop a bit. "How much stuff are you talking about, exactly?"

The doe fidgets. "Um … you see, it used to be the College Esoterica's, so … " She pauses, then looks up, grinning in spite of herself. "Basically enough to open up an entire gym. But it's easy to stash away! Honest!"

Aaron's ear falls across his face, and it takes him a moment to recover enough to brush it back. "A whole gym? Err … well, I'm sure most of it could be packed into the carriage-shed. How much space does it take up, and what are you going to do with it all?"

"I'm not sure yet. I was gonna figure that out as I went along," replies Anisa. "If I keep them at the College storage, I'll have to pay for them, and I can't afford that! But this is too much of an opportunity for me to pass it by!" The doe's eyes look pleading. "Please? How about I just keep part of it at your place – and only for a little while – and half at the Tavern? I'll let you use it whenever you want!"

Aaron holds up his hands. "Whoa, no need to get all doe-eyed! You can keep it at my place, and even set up some of it. And if you're really thinking of starting some sort of business based on it … well, I might be able to help a little there too."

This time Anisa's ear flops forward. "You will?" This was unexpected, but the doe smiles. "What do you mean? I figured you have your paws full with the store and all… "

Aaron chuckles, and says, "I'm still part of a Guild, and have some contacts. I can offer you advice, introduce you to some folks that might be interested in investing, that sort of thing."

"You'll need to have your father get you into the Merchant's Association too, though," the buck points out. "They'll have lots of resources you can make use of."

"The Merchant's Guild?" The white rabbit bites her lip, "I … don't exactly have a sterling reputation with them, but if you can pull some strings, that'd be amazing." The Lapi smiles again. "But of course, this is only an idea for now, daddy might fight me on the idea when I tell him."

Aaron stands up and pats Anisa on the shoulder, "You don't seem the type to give up easily. Still, might be best to see what you've gotten from the College, and what sort of shape it's in before making plans."

Anisa nods, with an ear-blush at the compliments. "That's probably a good idea. It was pretty dark in the storage, so I'm not positive what shape it's all in." The rabbit smoothes her ears back. "I have to move it in ten days or pay storage fees, so we'll have to do it right after we get you moved."

Aaron nods. "If you get here tomorrow morning, it shouldn't be a problem," he says, and waves to his trunks. "This is just one wagon load, and the house is in the Scholar's Quarter anyway, so it's close to the College. Shouldn't take too long to move your stuff from there to my shed using the wagon."

"Good!" The doe leaps up from the cot, a huge grin on her face. "I'll con some of my brothers to help, and we'll be over here at dawn. Hope you're an early riser." The rabbit grins. "And when we get everything moved, you get your first lesson!"

Aaron makes a slight "eep" sound at that last promise. "I'll make sure to bring some towels and bandages then."

Making her way down the ladder, Anisa smiles as her head disappears behind the floor. "Oh, you won't need those… yet. And thank you!" A loud thump indicates the doe jumping down halfway to the floor, followed by the pattering of running feet and the door swinging open.

One of the side effects of running a family restaurant is that meals generally include only one half of the family at a time, and take place when business is slow. So for the evening meal, Anisa sits at the table with her brothers Royce, Tyson and Benjamin, her silent nephew Coal and her parents, Beatrice and Abram. Quinn, Ranit and Bessy are left to take care of the late-lunch patrons.

The sole daughter of the family sits back in her chair, brushing her ears as she waits for dinner to be put out. "What are we having tonight? I hope it's not beet hearts again."

"Beets are good for you," Beatrice lightly scolds in reflex, as she sets a bowl of vegetable stew in front of Anisa and the others. The doe can tell it's mostly made from the day's leftover lunch special. Benjamin makes a face at the mention of beets, while Abram slices a loaf of bread.

"How come you don't ever use the bread-slicer I made, Dad?" Royce asks as he watches his father slice bread. "Quinn uses it for the customers' bread."

"Because I enjoy slicing bread, son," Abram replies. Tyson just stares sulkily into his bowl.

Anisa's ears wilt at the sight of the soup, and she puts her brush away. Sighing, she takes the ladle and pours herself a portion of the course. "Daddy fears doohickeys," she says with a grin. "He's an old fashioned coot."

The elder Snowshoe just hmphs at Anisa's comment, but doesn't disagree. Still, she's the last one to get a slice of fresh bread.

The young doe nibbles on her slice, and idly stirs her soup with her spoon. "So, what's everyone doing in the morning? Anything important?"

Beatrice finally sits down herself, and lifts Coal into her lap. "Making breakfast of course, dear," she says. Tyson and Benjamin predictably roll their eyes.

"Why do you ask, Christina?" Abram asks after a spoonful of stew.

Ripping off a corner of her slice, Anisa drop it into the soup. "Well, I promised to help a friend with a job, and I was wondering if anyone wanted to help me out?" The rabbit looks in her brothers' general direction. "I might be willing to part with some of my tips."

Benjamin perks up and asks, "What job? Is it from that magic guy you met?"

Even Royce looks up from the book he's reading, while Tyson mutters, "S'long as it's not going to the Market."

The white doe rolls her eyes at Tyson. "As a matter of fact, it is! He got himself a house and needs to move a few things. Since I have several strong, hard-working, willing brothers, I figured that maybe we can lend him a paw or two." She grins, taking a sip of her soup. "And you guys might get some shekels in the process!"

While the mention of shekels gets a bit more respectful attention from Tyson, Beatrice says, "You certainly are spending a lot of time working for this young man of yours, Christina. When are you going to introduce us to him?"

"And where is this house of his?" her father asks.

Anisa wilts an ear, and looks to her mother. "Well, you never asked! I mean, it's just work, not like we're dating or anything." She shrugs. "But maybe I can get him to come over after we're done tomorrow, if he's not busy. His shop's had a lot of business lately." The doe then addresses Abram. "The house is in the Scholars' Quarter! How hopping is that?" She grins.

That gets Royce's attention. "I wouldn't mind poking around … uh … looking at some of the fixtures in a house around there. Is this stuff of his very heavy?"

Abram perks an ear at the mention of the location, but doesn't seem about to offer more signs of approval beyond that. Beatrice smiles though, and after wiping Coal's chin asks, "And he's single, is that right?"

"Well, I wanna help!" Benjamin volunteers.

"Some of it is," nods the doe, "but not too heavy, mostly just clothes and the like, and a little furniture. He was living out of his store, so he doesn't have much in the way of home amenities." The white Lapi turns to Beatrice, and rolls her eyes. "Yes, he is, mother – but don't be getting any ideas. He's just a friend, okay?"

Anisa grins, scruffing Ben's head fur. "I knew I could count on you."

Beatrice says, "Of course, dear," but gives Anisa that "maybe you just aren't trying hard enough, then," look of hers.

Ben makes a noise of protest and straightens his fur out.

Tyson says, "I guess I could help, if there's money. I don't have chores until afternoon."

"I heard that Lightfoot has some rare books," Royce comments. "I could help move stuff for a chance to look at them."

"That's two," Anisa looks to Royce, and grins. "He'll let you take a look, I'm positive. Might even give you a freebie if you're nice, and he has some neat stuff to look at, too." The doe looks to her parents, and specifically at Abram. "Well, can they? I think the place can handle itself without them for a morning."

"Try not to take all day doing it, then," Abram says, giving his implied permission. "Whatever 'tips' you get, they probably aren't going to make up for a day's salary, after all."

The doe crosses her arms. "I have tips saved up! I'm not getting paid to do this. It's just to help him out." The Lapi takes another loud slurp of her soup. "Like I said, he's a friend."

"That sounds fair enough," Abram says. "I don't want you feeling obligated to him for taking you on that little trip, after all. And he sounds respectable enough, for a change."

That last bit earns a snicker from Tyson.

Anisa scowls at the bucks. "Hey, I worked during that trip, thank you! It's not like it was a pleasure cruise or anything." The doe slumps back in her seat, stirring her soup. "And I don't know what you mean by 'respectable.' It's not like I drag guys home all the time, unlike some older brothers do with women."

Beatrice gives Anisa a sharp look, since Coal is right there in her lap.

Abram also gives Anisa a sharp look, while Tyson just scowls and kicks at a table leg. "I meant that he doesn't seem to be interested in just partying, like so many of your other friends, Christina. Really, you shouldn't be so defensive all the time."

"Whaddaya expect with this family?" the doe mutters under her breath, while crumbling more bread into her soup. "He's a businessman, yeah. Not a partier."

"Pretty dull then, huh?" Tyson offers. "Like Royce probably!" he adds, grinning at the younger buck.

Admirably, Royce doesn't react at all to Tyson's jibe, and just eats his supper.

Anisa makes a face at Tyson. "No, he's not dull. He's been on a lot of adventures, as a matter of fact – almost as many as Gibson." She takes another slurp of soup, finishing it off. "And Royce isn't dull, either; he just doesn't have to show off his incisors all the time, via his loud mouth. Unlike some others I know." The rabbit smirks.

"Oh yeah? Well … well," Tyson starts, but can only finish with, "We'll see."

"That's enough bickering for one meal, please," Abram says, giving his obstinate offspring warning glares. "It's bad for the digestion."

The younger doe just gives a small smirk of triumph. "Anyways, we'll have to get up at sunup tomorrow. He wants to get an early start. After we're done, we'll come here to grab a bite to eat and you can meet him."

Early the next morning, Anisa brings Benjamin and Royce to the Apothecary, Tyson saying he'll catch up later, but that's his usual excuse anyway. The store isn't officially opened yet, but Aaron meets them at the door and guides them to the back, where a wagon waits in the alley (driven by the same pipe-smoking Kavi that both dropped off and picked them up from the docks before) which has already been loaded with some of the lighter cases, mainly filled with glass.

"I'm glad you showed up," Aaron tells them. "I wouldn't be able to get the heavy stuff down from the attic without someone to catch it!"

"That's why we're here," replies Anisa with a smile. "Aaron, these are my brothers, Ben and Royce. Guys, this is Aaron." The doe dusts off her pants, thankful to be able to spend at least part of the day without a dress.

Royce shakes Aaron's hand, and says, "Pleased to meet you!" while Benjamin just nods, turning shy and maybe even looking a little … guilty?

The doe blinks at the small buck, but just shrugs. "So, where do you want us? My other brother said he'd show up later, but knowing him, he may or may not show up."

"Well, the books are heaviest, so if you could carry them out, Anisa, I think us guys could handle the rest of the stuff," Aaron asks. A fuzzy faced cheetah climbs down the ladder behind him, makes a short bow, and then hides herself in the back room.

"Friend of yours?" Royce asks, nodding after the Savanite.

"No problem! Unless you want to carry them, Royce?" She blinks as the Savanite walks by.

Aaron looks back to see the door closing. "Oh, that's Creen-Catcher, my lab assistant. She'll be glad to have the attic to herself finally, I bet," he says, then starts climbing up the ladder, pausing only to comment, "The books are packed pretty tight, must weigh at least a hundred pounds."

"A hundred pounds?" Royce chokes, and then looks to Anisa. "Uh, maybe you should handle those, sis."

Benjamin gives a little chuckle at that, and then follows Aaron up the ladder to see what he can carry.

Anisa nods, and walks over to the stacks. "I guess I'll get them then. Royce just really likes books, you see." She grins. "You two would get along great."

There's a scraping noise as Aaron and Ben slide the crate full of books to the top of the stair-ladder. "Ready when you are, Anisa," the older Lapi says.

The doe stands at the base of the ladder, and holds out her paws. "Ready! Just let her go!" She braces herself for the sudden drop.

The two males carefully tip the crate so it will slide down the ladder without catching, and Anisa intercepts it easily. It's big, but she manages to get a good grip for carrying it out to the wagon.

"Oof! More than a little light reading I see!" Anisa hefts the crate up to get a better grip, and starts outside to the weasel. "I hope my back can take all this."

Deciding to lend a hand now that the dangerous part is done with, Royce takes the opposite end of the crate. He doesn't take on an equal share of the weight, but at least is able to easily guide Anisa out the door to the wagon.

Once that particularly heavy and bulky item is taken care of, the rest of the boxes are handled with relative ease. Soon enough, the Lapis get to catch a few minutes of rest while the wagon makes its way over the cobbles to the Scholars Quarter.

The townhouse Aaron has purchased is close to the edge of the Quarter, but sits on a corner lot across from a park so has a good view. He quickly hops from the wagon to open the gate and the double-doors so that the wagon can be unloaded.

Leading the way through the living room to the attached study, Aaron says, "We can just leave everything in here for now." The wagon is quickly unloaded.

Exhausted somewhat, Anisa hauls the last of the books into the house, and flops to the ground. Resting against a trunk, she takes her first real look at the inside. "Whew, who would have thought books could be such a chore? Wow, this place is nice," she says, wide eyed. "How did you manage to find it? The Scholar's Quarter isn't cheap."

"A friend in the Alchemist's Guild tipped me off about it," Aaron says.

The study has a built-in bookshelf taking up one full wall, and an archway connecting it to the living room. Benjamin has already wandered across to the dining room, and reports, "Hey, there's a bar like ours, Anisa!"

The doe picks herself up, and dusts off her shirt. "Really? In a house?" The rabbit grins. "That's different. You could throw a nice party with that." She walks around to get a better vantage. "I bet it beats sleeping in an attic!"

"Care for the tour?" Aaron asks with a smirk. "I'm sure Royce wouldn't mind unpacking some of these books for me."

At the mention of his name, Royce looks up only half-guiltily from a copy of The Sylvanian Heresy that he's plucked from the first crate.

"Sure!" Anisa walks over besides the buck. "Yeah, I bet he'd like that more than a pretty house." She winks at her brother. "Wanna see, Ben?"

"Oh yeah!" agrees Benjamin, showing a bit more liveliness once his initial shyness has worn off.

The first level of the house is mostly open in the front, with the living room and dining room sharing the same wide space. While the living room has a large fireplace with a stone mantle, the dining room sports an extra set of windows thanks to the house being on a corner. The rear half of the floor is taken up by the study and kitchen, with a hallway and staircase between them.

As Ben noted, there is a wet-bar next to the kitchen entry into the dining room, along with an open counter between the two rooms. "I have no idea what to do with a bar," Aaron admits. "But it looks nice."

Anisa grins. "I'll show you how to use it someday. It's my job, after all." The doe follows along. "I love the fireplace."

"I'm used to campfires myself!" Aaron grins.

Ben invades the kitchen. "Aww, it looks just like ours," he reports, sounding disappointed.

"Just like ours?" The doe follows her little brother into the kitchen. "Our kitchen is a restaurant kitchen. You mean this is one, too?"

The kitchen sports a ceramic stove and oven, sink, counter top … nothing unexpected. However a strange ceramic box taller than Benjamin sits next to the pantry, and the teenager has the door open and a confused look on his face.

"That's the ice-box," Aaron points out. "Although there's cold storage in the basement too," he adds, pointing to a door at the back of the kitchen.

"I know it's an ice-box," Ben complains. "But where do you put the ice? It's all just shelves and funny markings."

Anisa goes over next to her brother, and takes a look as well. "How does it keep cold? Is it a mage ice-box or something?"

"Really?" Aaron asks, and has a look for himself. He rubs his chin after looking at the runes, and then inspects the outside of the box until he finds a water pipe attaching it to the wall. "Ah! You're right, it uses water magic. The water fills a gap between the inner and other walls, and the enchantment turns it to ice. I'll have to have a mage come in and charge it up."

The doe steps back, and shakes her head in amazement. "Mama would go nuts over something like this, but I bet it'd mean more leftovers."

"I didn't notice before," Aaron admits, looking embarrassed."I'm not very familiar with kitchens."

Anisa grins at Aaron. "How many guys are? But now that you have one, you can learn!" She laughs.

"I like our regular one," Benjamin says. "The Vykarin that delivers our ice is pretty cool, even if he talks funny."

"Learn how to cook?" Aaron asks, as if the thought had never occurred to him before. "Do you give lessons in that too?"

"A few," shrugs the doe. "I work in a Tavern after all, and sometimes I have to help out in the kitchen." The doe grins. "You're worse than my brothers – a chronic bachelor. How do you get by?"

"I eat out a lot," Aaron admits, and looks out of the door that opens on the hallway. "At least I know what the room behind the kitchen is for, though," he says proudly. There is a small room there, with built-in shelf and a washbasin with a set of rollers on the side, and a clothesline running from end to end. "I've always washed my own clothes."

"Now that's girl work!" Benjamin teases.

A small ceramic gas heater sits in the corner of the room, probably to help with the drying.

Anisa grins, looking around the small room. She flattens her ears at Ben's words, and thumps one of his ears. "Is that so? Maybe me and Mama need to recruit a new paw to do the laundry then, and show you what a girl's work is like!"

"No way, 'Nisa!" Ben says, looking horrified. "I was only kidding!"

Aaron chuckles and opens the door at the end of the hall, revealing the fenced-in back yard. There isn't much to it, just a lawn really, although the rear part is almost completely taken up by the long carriage-shed. The split-door on the shed suggests a stall for a Drokar or Dromodon is inside as well.

"I'll have to plant an herb garden at least," Aaron notes. "Or something. It looks so empty now."

The doe peeks her head outside, and spies the structure. "Is that the shed you were talking about? Dagh, it's huge!" She steps outside, wiggling her toes in the grass. "That'd be nice, not having to buy your stuff from the market after all those grubby paws have been all over them."

Opening another door opposite the laundry room, Ben discovers the under-stair closet.

"Oh … yeah I guess you could grow veggies here too," the Apothecary says, again in a tone of I never thought of that.

Anisa walks back inside, and looks to Ben. "Wow, this place has all sorts of nooks and crannies. I'm impressed!"

Aaron steps back inside, and says, "I wouldn't mind trees. Trees, I can really appreciate. Ready to see upstairs?"

"Yeah," Ben says, then asks, "Is that where the bathroom is?" His expression suggests that he really needs the answer to be "yes" to that question.

The doe nods. "Let us see the rest of your palace, oh young prince!" She grins, using her best refined accent. She looks to Ben. "Uh, I think we'd better hurry before he explodes."

Aaron blushes at the appellation, and leads them up the stairs. "The bathroom is the first door on the right as we go up, Ben."

Once given the word, the teenager dashes past Aaron with a "Thanks!" The sound of a door opening and closing comes before the other two even reach the top of the stairs.

Anisa can't help but giggle in spite of herself. "Sorry about that. He's the baby of the family, and still acts like it sometimes."

There's a window at either end of the upstairs hallway, and a door immediately to the left at the top of the landing. The bathroom door is a few feet further down the hall, with a linen closet next to it. The two remaining bedroom doors are at the far end, the one facing the street.

Aaron opens the door to the first room. "Nothing wrong with being young," he says, and steps into the room.

"True, but there's a lot of that youngness in my family." The doe follows Aaron into the room.

The rear bedroom is larger than the hotel room Anisa stayed in on Caroban. The windows look out over the back yard, and the room sports a closet and another small gas heater. A frosted-glass skylight lets in quite a bit of sunlight to keep the room bright. "This is the smallest room," Aaron points out.

Anisa goes wide eyed, looking about the interior. "The smallest? You have to be kidding me!" The Lapi paces around inside the room, mouth agape. "This has to be almost twice the size of my room!"

Aaron grins. "Well, this isn't an inn. There's no premium on quantity of rooms. After I furnish it, I thought I might be able to rent it out, though."

"I bet you could charge the same as an apartment with this; it's big enough." The doe waves her arms around in emphasis. "Dagh, I'm almost afraid to see the other rooms."

"Heh, they scared me when I first saw them!" Aaron admits, and leads the way out to the hallway. There's the sound of running water as they pass the bathroom, where Ben must be either washing his hands or just turning all the valves on and off.

Anisa cocks an ear at the washroom. "Did you fall in?" shesays out loud to tease. "Another good thing you'll have is privacy. I wonder what that's like."

The right-front bedroom is next, right over the living room below. It's longer than the back room, but has the same closet and heater. The main difference is the front window, which bulges out into a window box. The bench even opens up for extra storage space. "I fell in love with this bit!" Aaron says. "You can lay in the sun on it." There's also another skylight in this room, so that the gaslights aren't needed during the day. The view out of the window shows the park, and a small schoolhouse on the opposite corner of it.

"I still can't see how you were able to afford all this!" The doe goes over to the window, and sits on the box, gazing outside. "I'm starting to fall in love with it, too. Who wouldn't? Perfect placement too. I'm surprised no one beat you to it.

"Saving up for ten years helped," Aaron says, "plus a loan from my Guild, too. They held the lease on the house originally, so that's mainly how I was able to get it."

Benjamin bursts in through the door, and says, "Oh wow, you've got to see this, Anisa! You'll have kittens!"

Anisa jumps in surprise as her brother bursts inside, thensmoothes her fur down in annoyance. "I hope not, unless you know something I don't. What is it?"

Ben has already dashed across the hall to the door of the master bedroom, and waves for his sister to follow… then disappears again.

The doe shrugs, and follows her brother over to the room. She opens the door, and takes a look inside.

"I bet I know what he found," Aaron says from behind Anisa. The master bedroom is even longer than the dining room below, sporting two skylights and two window-boxes, the second one being on the corner. Benjamin waves from what looks like a small hallway along the outer wall at the back of the room.

Taking her time to admire the room, yet keeping in amazed silence, Anisa walks across the floor to Benjamin. "What is it then? I'm already jealous as it is!"

Grinning, Benjamin steps aside. At the far end of the little hallway is a door to the bathroom, but the hallway really is a small room. In fact … it's a giant walk in closet and dressing room. Ben grins as he stands between two full length wall mirrors, doppelganger reflections marching off to infinity on either side of him.

Anisa steps inside, her already wide eyes going even wider. "Dagh on a log, you could fit several wardrobes in here!" The Lapi walks to the mirrors, making it feel like the room is even bigger than it already is. "I could fit all my stuff in here, and have room left for several times more!" She grins to Aaron. "Looks like you'll have plenty of space! I don't think you had enough to fill it."

"I don't think I'll ever be able to fill it," Aaron says. "But if I ever get married, it'll probably fill up fast." He opens the door to the bathroom and peeks in, checking to see that Ben didn't leave a mess.

The doe laughs with a nod. "A closet like that just begs to be filled; it's like a vacuum." She walks around the wardrobe, making small dancing movements while watching herself in the mirror. "You could even use it as a studio."

Aaron pulls his head back in and blinks, ears twisting around. "A studio? For … painting you mean?"

Anisa laughs, doing a pirouette. "No, for dancing. These mirrors are perfect to practice with. They'd work good for fighting practice too." The doe uses the mirrors to track and pull out a piece of errant fluff from her ear. "Whoever lived here before must have had an affluent wife."

"I think he was a professor at the Collegia Naturalis," Aaron says, trying not to look too embarrassed over not knowing what Anisa meant by "studio." He gestures through the open door. "Here's the bathroom. No surprises there though."

Ben stands behind Anisa and makes faces in the mirror.

"He must have been a successful one." The white Lapi peers over the buck's shoulder and into the bathroom. "I see you Ben, watch it!"

The bathroom is large, but not especially so. A double sink and mirror are next to the door, with a toilet and human-sized bathtub-shower against the back wall.

Anisa steps back into the wardrobe, letting Aaron close the door. "Was the professor a Lapi? This doesn't seem to be a Lapi geared house, but then again it doesn't seem geared at anything in particular."

"A poodle actually," Aaron says. "His wife was a noble, though. They moved to Gallis recently."

Stepping back into the main bedroom, Aaron asks, "So what do you think? Should the exercise stuff go in here or in one of the other rooms?"

The Lapi woman smirks. "Well, that explains the size of the wardrobe." Following Aaron back into the room, she flops an ear at his comment. "In here? I thought we were just going to stash it for now."

"What exercise stuff?" Ben asks, perking his ears.

Anisa cringes at Ben's words, and looks to him sheepishly. "Uh, I kinda forgot to tell you guys about that. I got a few, er, presents from the College, and I need your help to move it all."

"Well, the stuff that isn't going to get stashed anyway," Aaron says. "The shed isn't heated, and there's no bathroom in it either."

Anisa hmmms, walking over to Ben to play idly with his ears. "If you're not going to use the wardrobe, that'd be the prime place for it. You could watch as you practice, and see what you're doing wrong and right."

"Presents?" Ben says, emphasizing his favorite word. "Magical stuff? Animated boxing dummies and the like?" His eyes practically glitter.

The doe grimaces at the little buck. "Well, exercise equipment. I don't think it's the enchanted kind, actually."

Aaron rubs his cheek in thought, pondering the location of the equipment still. "If you think so, sure. As long as I don't have to stagger too far to either bed or the shower!" he grins.

Anisa grins. "We can make a path. It's big enough for a few essentials and still have some room left over, unless you think it'd be better in another room?"

"I didn't know wizards exercised at all," Ben says, and wiggles his fingers in a mock-arcane manner. "What's the point if you can just get what you want with magic?"

Aaron smirks at Ben, and shrugs to Anisa. "I haven't even seen the stuff yet. I'll have a better idea of where it would fit after we've gotten out of storage."

"Because he's not a wizard, goofball," Anisa retorts at her brother. "He just sells them the stuff they need. Yeah, when we get it all moved, we'll have a good idea. We might need to start on that soon." The doe looks out the window to gauge the time. "We need to do it before lunch; you're invited."

"I should have a good appetite by then!" Aaron says, and looks out the window as well. "I see Patch coming back with the wagon, so he must be done feeding and watering Daisy. Let's go collect Royce and get your stuff moved."

"I'll get him!" Ben says, and dashes out the room.

Anisa nods, and follows after her brother. "Be careful going down the stairs! Mama'll kill me if you hurt yourself again."

"Know what I need to get for the kitchen?" Aaron asks as he follows. "I have no idea what… " A sharp scream interrupts the Lapi, though, coming from the study below.

"Oh Dagh, he fell!" Fur on end, the doe sprints out of the room and down the stairs, skidding to a halt in the study. "What happened?!"

Benjamin is crammed back into a corner of the room, panting and clutching his chest in fear. A demonic monster looms in the center of the room … until Royce takes off the Savanite spirit-mask and looks horribly embarrassed. "It's just me Ben! I didn't expect you to come rushing in like that… "

Aaron skids in after Anisa, and looks around. "Oh … I see you started unpacking the souvenirs," he says, seeing the mask. The shelves are already filled with books and several knick-knacks.

Anisa's own heart pounds wildly, and she braces herself against the wall angrily. "Dagh take it, you scared me half to death! Royce, put that stuff down!" The rabbit catches her breath, and walks over to the smallest of the Lapines. "Are you alright?"

Between gasps, Ben calms down a bit. "That was … where can I get a mask like that??"

"They don't make them anymore," Aaron says, putting the mask up on one of the shelves. "That particular tribe got caught by slavers a long time ago."

"You couldn't have one anyways. You scare everyone into an early grave." The doe walks over to one of the boxes, and takes a seat while she calms down. "You two get ready. We need to go to the College in a little bit."

"Which College?" Royce asks, recovered himself now. "You don't mean the old Esoterica campus do you?"

Anisa nods. "That's the one. I have some stuff there that I need to move over, and you're not to tell Daddy a word about it yet."

"This better not end up like the last time we kept a secret from Dad!" Royce warns, but not very strongly.

Ben suddenly gets shy again, remembering that he's the one who snitched about it.

"Don't worry, it won't." The doe stands back up. "We just have to move some exercise equipment that I was given, Aaron's letting me keep it at his place for now."

"Oh … well, that sounds safe enough," Royce says. "Probably best that Tyson didn't come along, then. He'd never keep that secret."

Anisa pops her back, and nods. "It's not like he's gonna show up anyways; I should have figured as much. Anyway, let's get going. We still have to make it home for lunch afterwards."

It takes two trips in the wagon to move everything, since the floor mats alone took up the entire wagon. There was only one minor injury, when Ben tried to pick up a small barrel that turned out to hold a hundred pounds of sand, but otherwise things went smoothly (especially after Anisa threatened to put a leash on Royce to keep him from wandering off into the rest of the warehouse). All told, the equipment came close to filling up the entire carriage-shed, and Royce warned not to try any of the exotic looking isometrics machines until he'd had a chance to figure them out.

The equipment is all well-maintained and in good condition despite being in storage for a few years, and if it was all fully reassembled could easily fill up a good-sized gymnasium. "I don't even recognize half of this stuff," Aaron says while examining the hook-slots for sand bags at the ends of a barbell.

Ben is half buried in a crate full of protective gear as he rummages around, and Royce busies himself picking up small stone dumbbells that rolled out of a broken crate.

"Be careful with that stuff, Ben. You don't know where it's all been." Anisa sets down a box of varied equipment, and smoothes back her ears. "Don't worry, you'll get familiar with it soon enough."

Aaron grins at that. "Yeah, I guess I need to build up some upper-body strength before you teach me wrestling," he says.

"I wouldn't matter," Royce confides. "She cheats."

The doe laughs. "If I teach you wrestling. You'd really need a guy to teach you that, but I might be able to manage. And I do not cheat." The Lapi makes a playful kick at her brother. "Just because I can wipe the walls with you."

Royce scurries out of reach with a wicked grin on his face, while Ben finally emerges from the crate, decked out in enough padding that he's barely recognizable.

Anisa giggles at the small buck. "Ready for battle, mister knight? You look like you can barely move in that getup."

"Mrghpple," Ben says from somewhere under a Jupani-sized head protector. After shedding some of the armor, he asks, "Can I have one of these big rubber balls 'Nisa?"

"The medicine balls?" The doe asks. "Sure, you can have one. If Daddy asks, just tell him I bought it for you in the market, and make sure you don't break anything with it." She looks to Aaron. "Ready for lunch? I think my parents are itching to meet you."

Aaron ears go back in a moment of fear. "Oh, they are? Uh … what do they expect, exactly?"

Anisa shrugs. "Beats me. They just wanted to meet the person I kept working for." She rolls her eyes. "I don't think I have to fill in the rest for you, except to say that they tend to jump to conclusions. Anyways, they'd like to get to know you, and it's a free lunch to boot."

"Oh, alright then," Aaron says, relaxing. "As long as you don't need me to act like your boyfriend. Err … do you already have a boyfriend?"

Ben pantomimes laughing his guts out behind Aaron.

The doe almost doubles over in laughter, but shakes her head. "Oh, no no, no acting or anything. I've already told them we're friends, and that's it. If you were my boyfriend, they'd probably have a heart attack in joy though." The rabbit grins, and throws a chest protector at Ben. "The lunch was part of the condition for us getting this morning off."

Aaron grins. "Well then, we'd better go. I wouldn't want to get you in trouble after all! I'll get an extra key to the shed made up for you afterwards as well."

Anisa nods, and closes the box up. "Sounds good to me! Anyways, I'm starved. Hopefully Mama'll have something other than leftovers today."