After dropping off Hester and escaping her grateful father with just two sweet-potato pies (instead of ten), Alptraum and Snow headed back to Gromit. It was still mid-afternoon, and the streets were packed with flower vendors and buyers, which made for slow going even though people tended to make way for the obvious hearse, and it was already dinner-time when they finally reached the Inn.

Pausing at the front counter, Snow orders some food and hot water to be sent to the room, and asks Alptraum if he's still hungry as well.

Alptraum does actually order some food as well. He's still not quite feeling himself after the incident at the tree … and the long and rather painful ride back with the girl they rescued. More than once he found himself wondering just why it is they risked their life for the girl. She sure had an issue with bats.

The innkeeper promises to send everything up to the room when it's ready, just as the dinner crowd begins to arrive. "Let's go," Snow whispers. "I don't like crowds."

"Eh, if anyone stares at you I'll beat them up," Alptraum jokes in whisper. He heads for the stairs to the rooms anyway and motions for her to follow.

The room is just as they left it, although a little more tidy. Snow tosses the bag with the restraints and flowers onto the bed, shucks off her cloak and drops it next to the small bathtub. "I itch all over. This cloak gets washed tonight," she claims.

"What is on it to make you itch? Alptraum asks. The bat even goes as far to pick up the cloak and sniff it. "and where do you plan to go from here?" he asks.

"Well, we did… do stuff on the cloak before we left," Snow remarks. "It's got sweat and blood and other stuff dried into it, and that makes the fur lining stiff. I suppose I can go back to the temple and get another assignment if I want."

"Or you could travel with me and endure the insanity which is my life," Alptraum offers and grins as he sets the cloak aside. "I have two people that actively want me to modify their appearance for a while, for example."

"Hmmm," the albino girl goes. "Well, I do owe you some help, I think. I bet you haven't been practicing with your aura at all since the first time we met."

"One of the legs of my trip will be hard for you, though. Lots of swamp to traverse," Alptraum notes. The comment about his auras makes the bat shrug a bit. "Not really. I'm not even sure how to use them," he admits.

The naked girl sits on the edge of the bed and pats the spot next to her. "It should not be difficult," she says. "You already have one aura associated with your wraith glamour, after all."

"You really like to go around naked. I now feel weird being clothed," Alptraum jokes as he heads over and sits on the edge. "I've been told I have a draconic aura as well, but I don't feel it and have no idea how to use it."

"Well, the wraith is your Barsunala aspect, isn't it?" Snow asks. "Do you have a dragon aspect you can project?"

"Well just my shadow cloak. I can use it to change my appearance a lot, but I don't think I have the power right now to use it," Alptraum admits.

"But I can push it a bit since food is coming," Alptraum adds, "I think."

"Well, we'll have to see what you can do without using the cloak," Snow suggests. "You shouldn't need to change your appearance to project an aura, it's… " Someone knocks on the door just then, and a deep but feminine voice says, "Room Service."

"Does that mean you don't want me to ravish you as a dragon some day?" Alptraum jokes and nudges her with his elbow.

"Just a moment," he calls to the door and gets off the bed and heads to open it.

A Rhian maid is waiting outside, holding two buckets of hot water in one hand and a platter of food in the other. How did she knock on the door? "Food and water, right?" she asks, to make sure she has the right room.

Alptraum somehow suspects she head-butted the door. "Yes, that's us," he agrees and holds out his hands for the buckets first. "Hand me the water and I'll set it in, then you can hand me the food."

The maid hands over the buckets first, careful not to slosh any of the steaming contents. "Be careful, they are full of hot water," she warns the bat.

"Indeed," Alptraum agrees as he takes the buckets and carefully carries them into the room. After setting them down, he returns to get the platter.

The platter has a bowl of stew, a small loaf of bread, some steamed vegetables and a selection of cold meats – but no blood!

"Hm, no food for a vampire, I see. The kitchen is out?" Alptraum asks the Rhian.

"Oh, that's me," the maid claims. "The cook hasn't had time to bleed out the fresh meat yet."

"Wait, what? I'm supposed to invite you in and bite you?" Alptraum asks, brow raised.

The Rhian nods. "I always feed the vampires when there isn't anything fresh in the kitchen," she explains. "I even eat special herbs for flavor. I just can't feed more than one every twelve hours. Town ordinance."

"Er, well, come on in, then," Alptraum relents and steps to the side. "Where are you normally, er, bitten?"

The Rhian comes in, doesn't bat an eye at the naked albino girl, and sits down cross-legged in the middle of the floor. She removes a towel that was doubling as an apron and replies, "Your preference – right side or left?"

"Your left is easier for me, I think," Alptraum offers as he scratches his head.

The Rhian sets the towel over her left shoulder, and tilts her head to bare her long neck on that side, even brushing her hair out of the way.

Alptraum looks this way and that at the Rhian, trying to figure out the best way to do it. In the end he just sits in her lap, wraps his arms and wings around her to hold on, then bites down hard on her neck. It takes a little work to puncture the thick skin, but he manages to do so. He also hopes it didn't hurt her too much.

Whatever it feels like – the woman doesn't flinch. She must be pretty used to it, as she just sits there and flicks her tail. Meanwhile, Snow pours one of the buckets into the tub and drops her soiled cloak into it, washing it with one hand while she eats with the other.

The maid's blood does taste nice, at least. A little smoky, and with a hint of alcohol. She probably had a glass of wine recently.

Alptraum eats slowly in order to avoid any issues, such as the urge to burp, by eating fast. His jaws are probably set on her neck for a goof fifteen minutes before they release and he draws back. He eyes the two puncture wounds, then looks to his hand. "I can't fix the bite right now," he apologizes, then ends up licking the wound to clean up some seepage.

"That's okay, I have a bandage in my pocket," the maid notes, and actually smiles at Alptraum. "You didn't get my apron all bloody either. Thanks."

"Others aren't as clean?" Alptraum asks as he gets out of the Rhian's lap and stretches briefly.

"The drunk ones aren't," the maid says, wrapping a cloth bandage around her neck before she gets up. She takes a moment to make sure she has her balance, and then heads for the door. "Enjoy your stay," she tells Alptraum.

Alptraum actually bows. "Thank you. Have a good evening," he says. He closes the door behind her and remarks, "Strange woman."

"Gromit has a high vampire population," Snow remarks, sitting on the floor next to the bathtub and eating while her cloak soaks. "I'm surprised you ordered some solid food though."

"Wel, I was trying to get something to feed my hand," Alptraum admits, then shrugs, "But I doubt this will work. You're welcome to it." He does pick up one of the cold meats just to see if it is edible by his right hand, but he doubts it.

The shadow extends around the meat, and… something different happens. While it doesn't seem to extract produce as much energy as it would from a live animal, the hand seems to partially ken the meat – just enough that Alptraum can actually taste it.

Alptraum gets a really odd look on his face and his ears splay. "Okay, this is odd," he mutters and draws the shadow back to see if it actually ate it.

The food is certainly gone, with nothing left but a slight bit of grease.

Alptraum hmmms. He picks up one of the cold cuts and actually puts it in his mouth. The next experiment is he tries to shadow-consume it from there instead of just being in his hand.

It doesn't work. The shadow extends up his arm and tries to cover his face, but can't quite get into his mouth. Snow's eyes go wide as she watches the attempt.

Alptraum just spits the meat out into his hand. "So much for that," the Eeee admits. "The shadow is localized to my hand. It can't go through me to get to my mouth, so no appearing to eat normally."

"It should," Snow says. "Must be blocked?" The hand gets rid of the chewed up meat. It tastes like it's already been in someone's mouth though.

"The Barsunala prevents it full access to my body. Which may be a good thing, I don't know what would happen if the shadow flesh had unblocked access to my body. I could end up really nasty," Alptraum notes and shrugs. "What of the food do you want? I'll shadow-consume the rest."

The girl takes the bread and the stew, and some of the vegetables (which she just throws into the stew). "You're probably best off with the cold stuff," she notes, holding the bowl of stew of in her lap.

"Though you wouldn't do anything horrible to me, right?" Alptraum jokingly asks his right hand. He even waggles his fingers.

The hand is silent, which is probably for the best. Having it grow a mouth and talk would just be disturbing.

Alptraum goes about slowly consuming each piece of the cold cuts, focusing on how the whole process feels. "Absorbing food like this is strange," the bat ends up saying after a bit. He doesn't stop, though, seemingly oddly fascinated by the whole process.

"Eat your vegetables too," Snow says. "They are full of good things that help keep your insides clean."

"I'm not sure I can?" Alptraum admits, but he tries those too. "And who says I'm not clean inside?"

"I don't understand it either," Snow says, but eats a bit of carrot anyway. "When you were wearing your shadow earlier, I didn't sense any glamour. But that would be the source of the draconic aura you mentioned, right? Have you ever felt it from anyone else?"

"Well, yes. From Vorgulremik, the source of this shell," Alptraum notes and taps the back of his right hand. "And as for a shadow's aura, certainly. A shadow dragon I know has quite an intimidating one."

"And oh, yes, Countess Draco has one she uses regularly," Alptraum adds.

"Hmm, an aura of intimidation is probably useful," Snow admits, finishing her meal. "I haven't tried producing one myself. But you've also got a slight glamour similar to my own, you just don't seem to have control over it."

"I suppose it's more of a vampiric aura," the girl states.

"So … how do I get control of it? And I have a seduction glamour?" Alptraum asks.

"Well, something like that," Snow admits. "Maybe it's just more noticeable because of the Barsunala, or some other reason. When did you first notice it working?"

"Well, when a bunch of girls fawned over me back at the gypsy camp I grew up in," Alptraum admits, "It was odd. I don't even know how I did it."

"Hmmm, what was different about you?" the girl asks.

"Maybe I was relaxed and happy?" Alptraum offers. "It was the first time I had seen them in a while. I also think I may have been slightly tipsy and a little flirty."

"Were you normally feeling stressed around them before?" Snow asks, hugging her knees to her chest.

"Maybe a little?" Alptraum offers. He ponders something and then asks, "Mind if I try something? Tell me if you feel anything?"

The girl nods and stares at Alptraum with her big pink eyes.

Alptraum stands up straight in an attempt to try and look imposing. He rolls his right hand a bit and then points to the spot on the floor right in front of him while focusing on a desire to see Snow kneel before him and submit herself to his will. In other words, he focuses on one of the draconic desires to be feared or worshiped.

Snow blinks, and actually moves to the spot Alptraum points at. She does kneel but seems to shake it off after wards. "Weird," she says. "What were you trying to do?"

"Oh, trying to get you to worship me," Alptraum says with a fangy grin. "First time it wasn't me kneeling before a woman!"

"I thought you were going to try the seduction glamour," Snow admits, and then looks like she has an idea. "Hey, when did you lose your virginity?" she asks.

"That's an odd question!" Alptraum claims. "I lost it to a crazy Eeee scientist woman," he then admits, ears folded back.

"Did you seem to become more attractive after that?" Snow asks, looking serious despite being naked and kneeling before the bat.

Alptraum rubs his neck. "Maybe? A little? Probably because I actually tried a bit after that. Why?" he asks.

"Oh, well maybe it sort of 'woke up' after that," Snow suggests. "Mine didn't kick in until my first menses!"

And then Alptraum decides to be a little more devious and try something more. He reaches down with his right hand and lets a small part of the smoother chitin slide down her cheek. "Do you think I'm attractive, Snow?" he murmurs as he looks down at the woman, "Even if I'm not human?" Another nudge in his mental focus, this time for the woman to find him attractive.

"Oh sure, that's why I seduced you before," the girl says with a smile. "You didn't run away from me. And your glamour just dipped a little there… maybe you shouldn't try to force it. Odd that it seems to work best when you aren't trying though."

"Why would that be?" Alptraum has to ask. The bat also grins and notes, "I was probably pretty easy to seduce. You seem to be quite capable of turning off parts of my mind."

"Well, you were the first non-monster I tried it on," Snow admits, and reaches over to dip her hand in the second bucket of water. "And this has cooled enough that I can wash up now! Are you going to help again?" she asks.

Alptraum grins again. "I can try, sure," he offers. "How do you want help?"

Snow stands and gets a bottle from her bag. "I can't reach my back," she tells Alptraum as she pours some of the contents into the bucket and swirls it around with her hand.

"I'll help on one condition," Alptraum says and waggles his brow. "I want you to undress me. I don't want to get my clothing wet or soapy."

"Okay," the girl agrees, and starts working on Alptraum's buttons. "I've never had to do this before, so stop me if I start to hurt you. Clothes are complicated… "

"Oh, I'm sure I'll scream if you hurt anything," Alptraum promises, then licks the human's cheek. "Just be careful around the wings. Be sure to undo all the cinches before trying to pill the shirt off."

This takes awhile as Snow tries to figure things out. It's almost like she's never had to deal with a knot before. But eventually the shirt is off without any severe damage. "I hope the pants are easier," Snow comments.

"Much simpler," Alptraum agrees as he folds up his shirt … only to end up tossing it over to the bed anyway.

Snow has less issue with the belt and pants. "You smell like fish still," she notes to Alptraum.

"I do? From all that water, I'm guessing," Alptraum admits as he steps away from his pants then checks himself over for anything amiss other than a smell. "I'll have to bathe after you."

"We might need fresh water for that," Snow notes, getting her washcloth. "I added some special oils already that help my skin." She kneels next to the bucket, and dunks the rabbit-fur cloth.

Alptraum dips his own hand into the bucket too and tries to extrude a pocketed shadow-cloak to collect some of the water for use on her back. "You could always tongue bathe me," he jokes.

"Human tongues aren't really made for dealing with fur… or washing," Snow notes, as she starts to wash herself off. "I'd have to use my hands at the very least!"

Alptraum brings his hand back out of the bucket and slowly presses the oil-like shadow cloak against her back. Instead of using his hand, he moves the shadow cloak around against her skin. He may not be able to feel it, but he's pretty certain it must feel rather strange. He also keeps an eye on the orb on his hand, just to be sure he doesn't drain down into a point where it will be dangerous for her.

The odd thing is that now he can taste Snow's back, along with the soapy tasting stuff she added to the water. "That feels kinda nice, Alptraum," Snow comments. "Much more gentle than the washcloth."

Alptraum blinks a few times. "Why am I able to taste things now," he asks, "Does that mean the shadow is burrowing deeper into me?" He tries to 'turn off' the taste as he works the shadow all over her back, then even up over her shoulders and neck.

This efforts removes the soapy taste… but not the human flavor. Apparently now that it's discovered taste, the shadow is only willing to ignore stuff it doesn't think tastes good.

Alptraum tries to follow the shadow if he can back into his hand to see where it goes and if it has extended a bit further past the point in his forearm where it has previously stopped. This causes his work to hesitate now and then as he focuses, but he does try to at least keep up the bathing.

"Are you using your tongue?" Snow asks, as she works on her chest. "It feels like your tongue." There's no sense of the shadow having extended further up his arm – although he was never able to feel it before either. Without the ugly see-through-flesh device there's really no way to tell. But the dagger was slotted when the arm was drained of power at the same time, back in the old temple. Maybe that changed something.

"No, I'm using my shadow," Alptraum admits. He takes a moment to actually fish out his dagger from his clothes and slide it into his forearm. He realizes he can ask Kaira to check the condition from the inside.

The power orb flashes briefly when the dagger is inserted, but still glows very dimly. There's no immediate response from the dagger itself either.

"Kaira, can you hear me?" the Eeee thinks as he continues to bathe the human carefully. "If you can, can you see if something in my forearm changed? I'm tasting stuff through the shadow… "

"I hear you, hold on," the dragon replies. "You've barely got enough power to talk to me. Are you in danger right now? I can't see what's going on."

"No danger, just helping Snow bathe," Alptraum claims, "I don't want to keep it slotted long, though. Power is low."

"Watch your power then," Kaira replies. "I can check things out when you're recharged."

"Great, now I'm just going to worry," Alptraum complains, but removes the dagger anyway. His full attention returns to Snow, so the next half an hour involves a very thorough cleaning of a pale human. He doesn't restrict himself to her back, though.

At some point, Snow starts washing back, using her hands to get in past Alptraum's fur. "You still seem a little tense," she notes.

"Tense? How do you mean?" Alptraum ends up asking and looking a bit confused.

"Well, you aren't flirting with me, which is usually a sign that you're relaxed," the girl notes.

"I'm worried about my hand. I think something happened when it was drained to near empty while the dagger was slotted," Alptraum admits and shrugs a bit. "Plus after such a tiring day I didn't think you would really want to be flirted with."

"I've slept most of the day in the back of the wagon," Snow points out. "And it really did feel like a tongue. Did you want to get some rest though? You've been busy all day."

Alptraum holds up his hand and extrudes the shadow to see if it looks any different.

It still looks like a black liquid blob.

Alptraum tries using the shadow on his chest to see how it feels to himself.

It does feel a little warmer than usual. And Alptraum can actually feel his chest. It tastes a little soapy until the shadow starts ignoring that.

Alptraum blinks. "I can feel myself," he admits. He tries encasing the sponge in the shadow to see if he can feel the sponge too.

It feels like rabbit fur. He knows because Phlagaea got him some bunny slippers not long ago.

"So… before this you couldn't feel anything with it?" Snow asks. "What about when do that thing where you lick a person inside and out?"

Alptraum repeatedly blinks. "I can feel with it in general. Something has changed," he says a bit nervously. He feels along the upper part of his right arm while holding the sponge to see if he feels any movement within his arm. "That is feeling someone, yes, but it isn't quite like this. The shadow is acting like a real limb now, complete with sensation."

Nothing feels different to the touch, and nothing is moving around that he can tell – there isn't even the pumping sensation.

Alptraum pinpricks the palm of his right hand using a fang tip to draw a drop of blood to see if his blood has changed any.

"Did you ever try to eat food with it before?" Snow asks, and blinks when the bat bites himself. A bead of dark, black-swirled blood appears from the wound.

"No, I hadn't," Alptraum admits, "I'm not sure if that was what changed something." He sniffs at the blood droplit.

The bat even licks the droplet, performing a quick taste test.

"So, you're worried that because it can feel stuff… that it's sick?" the girl asks, pausing in her washing of Alptraum's ribs.

It doesn't taste any different – and nowhere near as pleasant as the food or Snow did, for that matter.

"No, I'm just wondering why now all of a sudden I can feel with it. Not that I'm complaining as it will help me avoid problems," Alptraum admits.

"How do you know how it does anything?" Snow asks, turning her attention to the armored hand.

Alptraum's brow furrows, then he just shrugs. "I can't do anything about it right now, I guess," he admits, "I know because the former shadow taught me a little before it faded and another Shadow Dragon has been teaching me."

"Can you feel things better without the shadow though?" she asks, pushing the palm of Alptraum's right hand to her chest.

Alptraum pokes and prods at the flesh too, to see if the sensation is any different, of it is still just pressure and not heat or anything else.

"I think it's still the same. No real feeling other than pressure. Not sure there will ever be now. Not after the doctor examined it and said the tissue itself was in a bad state," Alptraum admits and frowns a bit.

"But if you extend your shadow over it, you can feel stuff normally?" Snow asks.

Alptraum tries extending the shadow over the skin of his hand and forearm, then feels Snow's chest with it.

It feels the same as if he were using his left hand! Except he can taste it too.

"Hah! Yes, I can," Alptraum says and smiles in spite of the creepiness of the situation. "That will come in … handy."

"So … back to what I mentioned earlier. Do you want to travel with me for a while?" Alptraum asks, "First stop is Sturmdrang Castle. After that I will be going to see Azrael. Getting you to Azrael will be hard, though."

Snow ponders. "I've never been in a castle before," she admits. "And I want to see if you can really change people. How do you even try something like that?"

"I've already tried it on a lizard and it worked," Alptraum says. "If I know an imprint, I can impress it on someone else. For example, I could turn you into an Eeee for a while."

Something seems to click behind Snow's eyes. "Imprint? Is that what you were doing with me the other night?" she asks. "Can… can you turn someone into me now?" She looks surprised at the notion.

"Probably, yes," Alptraum admits and grins sheepishly. "Why?"

"It just seems… odd," Snow admits. "Why would anyone want to look like me? Or is there some other use for the imprint?"

"Repairing wounds," Alptraum points out. "I can fix your body if it was badly damaged. I think, anyway. I know how it goes back together."

"Oh, that can be handy!" Snow agrees, and moves to sit in Alptraum's lap. "Are you tired yet?" she asks.

"Not terribly. Why do you ask?" Alptraum asks the naked human in his lap. "You're plotting something, I know it… "

"Well, you need to get your rest so we can be on our way in the morning," Snow points out, tapping a finger on Alptraum's star-shaped scar. "But if you aren't tired out, you won't sleep well. So… should I tire you out?"

Alptraum's lips draw back in a smirk. "I suppose you could," he admits, "Since you do seem capable of controlling me. Let's use this as a chance for you to practice, for me to practice resisting, and for both of us to wear out, hmm?""

"Okay… but this time you get to wear the restraints," Snow says with a wicked grin.

"Make me," Alptraum rumbles darkly and his fangs gleam. Of course the next couple hours went to prove that yes, Snow could indeed 'make him'. In fact, by the time the pair passed out from exhaustion, he was still in them. Hopefully the cleaning staff won't walk in while they're asleep…