Since the chaotic meeting earlier in the day when Lilac nearly lost her mind, Xander withdrew himself to the Governor's Palace in Viper's Hold where he set up sleeping quarters. At least one night before they leave he won't be assaulted with either snoring or the scent of a nearby doe. The books prove to be boring, if at least quiet, company, as he sits near the fire. Most of the books seem to be on reptilian politics, history, and other such mundane matters. No romance novels, adventure stories, or anything even remotely interesting have yet been found. He's been lucky he hasn't fallen asleep leafing through them.

"How could she be pregnant?" the Fire Mage mutters to himself as he stares at the ceiling. "I mean… would it even have involved her own eggs?" For some reason the bizarre method of reproduction strikes a fearful chord deep in his bunny soul.

The books haven't helped enlighten any of that, alas. Not a single one even spoke of reproduction … even in a medical sense. There's a light rapping on the door. "Are you still awake?" comes the melodic voice of Umeko a moment later.

"What? Oh, Umeko?" the Lapi asks, jerking upright and then pulling the blanket (really an old tapestry) up to his neck. "I'm awake! What do you need?"

"The door opens and Umeko slides herself through the door frame. Carefully, she closes the door behind her. Her hand lingers on the knob for a moment. "I am the Governess, can I not visit my own library?" she asks the Lapi. Her head rolls in a sinewy movement as her face turns towards him. Her hair is currently down and framing her golden face with liquid white. A few stray strands have even drifted such that they lay across her snout.

"C-couldn't sleep?" Xander asks, still clutching the tapestry for some reason. He's been a little too weirded out by things, perhaps. "Did you need to look something up?"

Umeko glides across the floor. When she reaches one of the overturned bookcases, she walks up along one of its ridges; perfectly balanced. "I've had much on my mind, yes," she answers, those cool golden eyes never leaving the buck. "But I doubt I will find any of the answers in these tomes. What about yourself?" she asks as she gracefully crouches down, her forearms resting on her thighs to balance. In the low firelight, it almost makes her look like a shimmering gargoyle.

"You… you aren't a ghost right?" the Mage asks, just to be certain. "I… was worrying about Lilac, and… things."

Umeko drops her hands down to the floor and slinks off the bookcase. Her entire body sways from side to side as she walks over to him on all four claws. When she reaches the tapestry, her head cranes upward slightly and she peers into Xander's eyes; her white mane just brushing over the surface of the tapestry. "Do I look like a ghost, Xander? What could you possibly have to worry about? Lilac is my concern, not yours," she nearly coos.

With his ears back, Xander asks nervously, "So… did you… want me for something? I mean… want to see me about something?" The edge up the tapestry rises up to his chin… although it could be his head just tucking downwards more.

Umeko's lips pull slowly back into a small smile. "Why so nervous?" she asks as she sits back and places her hands on the tapestry; claw tips deftly hooking onto the weave. "Am I so frightening?"

"N-no… " Xander says, trying to sound unafraid. "Are you here to seduce me? Because… if you aren't, I may have a heart attack."

"Seduce? Tsk," Umeko nearly purrs as her head sways side to side, hair flowing like water as she does so. Her lips pull back further, exposing her rows of sharp teeth. "I prefer to think of it as … devouring," she says, eyes narrowing to slits.

"Eeee!" Xander squeals and ducks under the tapestry. "It's a dream it's a dream it's a dream!" he chants.

Unfortunately for Xander, he finds that she's got quite a good grip on the tapestry as she starts pulling it off him. "Now, now," she purrs as it slowly pulls away, "Show me some of that brave Lapi spirit like Anisa has… "

"Did you eat her already then?" Xander asks, trying to hold onto the tapestry. "Umm… I'm only wearing my shorts! You don't want to see me in just my shorts!"

"I don't?" Umeko says as the tugging on the tapestry becomes more insistent. "You've seen me with nothing on," she points out.

"Mammals are… messier!" Xander insists, then finally lets go of the tapestry and tries to burrow under a nearby pile of books.

With deft flicks of her wrists, the tapestry goes into a heap. While Xander goes frantic and tries to hide, Umeko just follows with a slow and steady pace; very much in control. "Dear me," she says as she starts lifting the books away, one by one, "I do believe you are afraid of me. And after all I've done to try and befriend you and welcome you into my life… "

"You want to welcome me into your tummy!" Xander accuses. "And not in the good way! I never should have told you I was delicious." A big volume of tax records is the rabbit's last defense.

"You take the word 'devour' all too literally," Umeko notes as her claws tap on the cover of the book. "Can you not face me without some sort of defense? You're always so shielded. I once thought I was closed … but you are far worse. I've seen how you look at Long-Shadow and I … and yet you never say anything."

"I don't want to make a fool of myself is why," Xander says, peeking up over the edge of the book. "I've been under a lot of stress you know."

Claws hook over the edge and she starts pulling it down. "Being a fool and honest is better than hiding. If you do not travel the road, you will never reach the destination," she purrs. Xander once again finds himself eye to eye with her. She's mere inches away. Even the soft and odd reptilian scent she has tickles his nose.

"You want me to be more… aggressive about things?" Xander asks carefully, raising his ears up a little bit.

Taking the moment of distraction, Umeko pulls the book away and tosses it to the side. And with lightning grace she pounces down, pinning Xander to the floor. Her claws grip like manacles around his wrists. Again those lips go back, exposing her teeth. "Don't fire mages usually play with fire?" she asks, her nose touching his now.

"Uh… well… uh… " Xander stammers, and then in a panic… licks Umeko's nose.

With a throaty chuckle, Umeko kisses Xander. It's right about then everything goes woosy and wobbly … and the fire in the fireplace puffs out. The weird state of limbo seems to float for many minutes … then he can feel something lightly shaking his shoulder.

"Wwaaugh!" Xander yelps, grabbing onto whatever is shaking him.

Light creep back into his world and Xander finds himself holding onto Umeko's sides and half-pulling off her loosely draped 'nightgown'. Her hands are resting on his shoulders and she looks very confused. "Is something the matter?" she asks a bit worriedly, "You were making all sorts of funny noises when I came in. Who wants to eat you?"

"Ummm… " Xander says, then blinks and asks, "You were worried about me?"

Umeko's brow ridge furrows and she lets go of his shoulders. He's back in same place he was earlier, a seat near the fireplace. "Should I not be worried about you?" she asks as she tries to tug her nightgown back up, even with Xander's hands still pulling on it.

Xander finally lets go when he realizes he's clinging. "Oh, I was just… surprised is all. Considering what's going on with… others. Did I wake you up?"

"No, I couldn't sleep," the Kiriga admits. Like 'earlier' her hair us down and hanging loose. She runs her claws through it lightly. "But … I guess you were able to sleep. Bad dream?"

"Not… sure," Xander admits, and then checks to see that he's got his shorts on. "I've been stressing, and… I guess my subconscious decided to give me a kick over something… " he admits.

If Xander had his shorts on earlier, he certainly still does now. "Ah, yes. You must be worried about Lilac," Umeko reasons, "I know you have … feelings for her. It must have been a shock to hear what happened to her. I'm not sure what to make of it, either. I sent her to one of the life mages to be examined."

"Feelings?" Xander asks, a bit surprised. "Oh… I worry about her is all. She seems so helpless at times. When she's not a monster, I mean. If not for her curse, I wonder if she'd have made it this far. I worry about you too."

"Yes. You make lots of comments about her, ah. Well, you make comments," Umeko observes and glances towards Xander. "She made her choice to atone for a mistake. I cannot fault her for the decision; though it would have been best had she heeded our warnings in the first place. But, she need not hear that; she is punishing herself far more than we would have." The Kiriga continues to comb out her hair for before adding, "And thank you for worrying about me. You've been a good, if confusing, friend."

"Confusing? You're one to talk… err… I mean, sorry for being confusing," Xander says, trying to cover his initial faux pas. "I'm sure you're feeling under a lot of stress now with no… outlet."

"I show perhaps ten percent of what I feel," Umeko admits with a sigh. "One cannot show weakness when of the nobility, or suffer the fate of the devoured. The only outlets I have, well … it is best if I'm alone during those times. I wouldn't want you to see me … weak. But then, you have before; after those women."

"You don't seem very fragile, Umeko," Xander says. "And it doesn't matter to me if you look tired or weak. It makes you seem more… approachable." Then, after a moment, he asks, "Devoured?"

"Oh, just … sorry. Metaphor. The nobility is all politics and position. The hunters and the hunted. Show weakness and the other nobles descend upon you to take all you have," Umeko tries to explain. Giving up on her hair, she looks into the embers in the fireplace. "I'm more fragile than I show," she admits. "I want to be strong. But … all I do is doubt my decisions. Sure, I show resolute in actions but … I do not often feel it."

Xander gets up and puts an arm around Umeko's shoulders, trying to nudge her towards the fire. "Well, you're the only noble around here, aren't you?" he asks. "You need to get your mind off of all your problems, so what relaxes you?"

It doesn't take much to get her to move closer to the fire. Her eyes close and she takes a few deep breaths before answering, "I enjoy painting, dancing, and the company of my friends. What about you? You said you were feeling stressed."

"I'm a rabbit surrounded by giant snakes," Xander says. "And what happened to Lilac disturbs me on a visceral level. And… well, there were some other things I let get to me too, that I shouldn't have."

There's a pause, then the Kiriga asks, "Were they things I did wrong?"

Xander rubs the back of his head before answering. "I think there was some miscommunication both ways," the Lapi says, and then pokes at the fire with a stick to get the embers to flare up. "I know you grew up in a rather protected environment, so figured you just didn't realize certain things."

It takes a bit of prodding, but the embers to flare up a bit more. Umeko's head leans forward and her mane drapes to cover her face. "What did I do wrong?" she asks in a quiet voice.

"Not wrong," Xander repeats, and droops his ears. "Errr, you were just innocent, I suppose. It was a little frustrating," he says. "You never seem bothered that I was a male and all, but then you met Long-Shadow and it was clear that you weren't as innocent as I thought… err, no offense!"

Umeko slides the talons of her fingers against each other slowly. "I'm not sure I understand," she admits, "I treated you as I thought, well, Lapi treated each other. Being open and close. You were the only close friend I had, other than Lilac, you know. And why should it bother me that you're male?"

"Well, because men and women aren't as close as that usually unless they're related or lovers… or not close at all and just being professional," Xander explains. "I couldn't tell if you thought of me like a brother, or as someone you were attracted to. And even though you aren't a mammal… err… it doesn't make much difference when it comes to touching you and seeing you."

"Oh," Umeko says after several moments of uncomfortable silence. "I'm sorry, Xander. I did not mean to make you so uncomfortable."

"Well, I always look uncomfortable to some degree, so it's not like you could have known!" the Lapi says with a big grin. "And no harm done, right?"

"No, I suppose not," Umeko admits as she peers through her hair at the male. there's another pause, then she says, "And to answer one of your wonders, you are attractive. You are intelligent and kind. I do not understand why you would think you would not be."

"Err, well you never… " Xander starts to say, and then just pauses to rethink it. "Well, you've got Long-Shadow. I'm the sort of guy women see as being a good long-term provider and companion, but not exactly one to stir the passions."

At that, Umeko snorts. "You do not give yourself enough credit," she notes and lifts her head, "You could do far, far, better than a family-betrayer like me, Xander. I imagine you stir more passions than you realize."

"Well, if I stir any, it'll be more than I realize," Xander admits, and then frowns. "But the thing with Lilac just brought up some unpleasant thoughts. I'm not kidding about the difference between me and Long-Shadow. I might have a wife and children eventually, but some part of me will always worry that I'm not the one who fathered all of them, you know?"

"You fear that someone will take what you cherish from you, then?" Umeko asks and looks over to Xander. She reaches over and caresses his cheek lightly with her hand for a moment, then stops. "Oh … sorry."

"That, and… well, it's why I went into Fire Magic, really," the buck explains, then grins at the apology. "And I promise not to jump on you unless you ask really nicely, so don't worry about the occasional touch."

"You became a fire mage because why?" Umeko has to ask, her head tilting as she doesn't quite understand.

Xander grins again. "Because it's flashy and has very few mundane applications," the buck admits. "At least, until I found out about being a cook… but before that it was something dangerous, and Fire Mages were intimidating and powerful figures. I haven't really done so well in being intimidating though. I don't have it in me. But I figured, even if I was just myself and a nice guy, who would cross me?"

Umeko hisses her strange reptilian version of a laugh. "That's silly," she eventually manages to say. "I prefer that you are not intimidating."

Xander crosses his arms across his chest, but frankly it's hard for a bunny to look masculine while wearing polka-dot boxer shorts that proclaim 'HOT STUFF' is inside. "How come?" he demands. "Don't you like big buff intimidating guys?"

Stopping herself from laughing again … but unable to stop the amused grin on her face when she reads the shorts, it takes Umeko a moment to actually answer that. "In truth, 'buff' is nice, but intimidating is not. I grew up in a society where all men are expected to be stern and intimidating, Xander. I was expected to be subservient to them. I grew up being taught how to be proper for them. But I don't have to do that with you," she points out. "You don't try to boss me around and you … well, I feel like you're happy when I'm around … instead of just tolerating me."

"And that was what surprised me so about Long-Shadow. He is tall … but so amazingly gentle, Xander. He makes me feel important, wanted," Umeko adds. "That means the world to me."

The buck relaxes and grins. "Well, so long as I have some positive function for you, I'm happy," he says. "But no more polishing sessions unless you're prepared to fight me off. And yeah, Long-Shadow is a leader like that. He doesn't dominate, like you said, or intimidate. You just want to follow him because… you like him."

"Who said I would fight … " Umeko starts to say, then seems to stop and rethink things. "You should know by now you do mean a lot to me too, Xander. I would die for you," she says.

The brown bunny waggles his eyebrows. "But would you… " he starts to say, leaning in close to Umeko now, and then whispering, "bake me a cake?"

"The question isn't if I would bake it, but if you would eat it. I am a terrible cook," Umeko admits with a sheepish grin.

"Get Anisa to bake it for you, and just tell me you did it then," Xander suggests, still grinning. "But I'm glad I found something you'd consider a challenge! Or you could just frost yourself and… err… never mind that suggestion!"

Umeko rubs her chin in thought. "I could do that easily, being scaled," she observes, "But as you say, never mind that."

"Cake," Xander says. "Go with the cake. I'm almost always the one who ends up doing the baking, so nobody ever bakes me anything," he explains. "And Long-Shadow won't want any of it, being a carnivore. A whole cake, just for me! And you too, if you want any."

"Can I frost you?" Umeko asks, trying to sound innocent about it. Not succeeding well, though.

"It'd be really messy," Xander notes, scratching his chest fur. "And… err… this isn't a thinly veiled carnivore joke is it?" he asks.

Umeko laughs (or the close approximation of it, anyway), again. "No," she says and pokes Xander's nose gently. "I'm just teasing my Lapi."

Xander crosses his arms again. "I knew you were. If you were going to eat me, I'd be the main course – not the dessert!" he claims.

"I wouldn't eat you," Umeko tries to assure Xander.

"But if you did, I'd be the main course right?" Xander asks, watching the reptile with one eye and a barely suppressed grin.

"Oh, of course," Umeko says with a firm nod.

"I would hunt you live, you see," Umeko continues. "Stalk you slow and steady, until you were mine to enjoy."

"I must have somehow known that you would," Xander says. "That's almost exactly what I was dreaming about before you woke me! You had your hair down and were stalking me all sexy like… "

Umeko's brow goes up. "You had a dream about me stalking you?" she asks slowly, trying to be sure. " … well, did you enjoy it?"

"I don't know how to answer that without getting into trouble of some kind," Xander recites. He's apparently had questions like that before from women. "The kiss was kinda nice though."

"And, you know… being pursued by a beautiful woman after my body was different," the buck adds. "Even if it was out of hunger… "

Umeko seems to think a bit. "Well, I promise the next time I hunt you it won't be for hunger?" she offers.

Brown ears shoot up straight, and Xander nods happily. "Sure! It's a promise!" he readily agrees. "And I'm sure I was only dreaming of that because we're planning to get ourselves swallowed whole by a giant underground monster-god."

"It's just a monster, not a God. And it could be worse," Umeko observes, "Instead of eating us, it could make you pregnant next."

"You just had to suggest that?" Xander moans, putting his face into his hands. "How'm I gonna get any sleep now?"