Somehow, Olivia has escaped form the Gypsy camp and almost certain bat snogging. Perhaps she has a magic charm that repels lips. Or perhaps she's just really, really, lucky. In any event, back home Olivia heads. Dinner will soon be served at the Weaver compound and it beats cooking in her room. She only has to drop by her room and drop off the troll costume sketches first. Djivan was nice enough to loan them to her as encouragement to accept the role. And to, ahem, find her motivation. But somehow as will all of Olivia's outings … it never goes quite as planned. As she approaches her cabin, she notices a suspicious looking Kadie shadow lurking around the barrels near one of her windows.

Olivia holds a hand briefly to her forehead and mutters, "Why me?" before sidling over to the barrels as quietly as she can, hoping for a glimpse of the lurker.

Normally, one would expect it to be Gunther, as he's well known for this sort of antics. But … not this time. It's Zahnrad! He's crouched near the base of her cabin. He takes a few measurements, then starts trying to jam a long rod down at an angle under her cabin…

Olivia silently rolls up Djivan's sketches so they won't incite comment from the Kadie, then gently clears her throat. "Hi Zahn," she says, trying not to startle him too much. "Uh… what are you doing?"

"Wah!" goes Zahnrad and his measuring device goes flying up into the air. Scrabbling his feet, the Kadie then tips over next. "Nothing! Why would I be up to something! Not looking for … ahem!" he babbles.

Olivia sighs as her best-laid plans seem to go astray yet one more time. Then she leans against the nearest barrel and asks casually, "Looking for what, Zahn? What could possibly be underneath my room except dirt?"

Zahnrad waves his hands wildly. "Ssssssh! Not out in public" the Kadie hisses. "Inside, inside, inside," he urges next and gets to his feet. He even whips his tail and retrieves his measuring tape in one sweep.

Olivia reaches for her key as the Kadie boy directs her towards the door, saying, "All right, all right – sheesh, Zahn, keep yer pants on!" She unlocks it as swiftly as she can and holds the door open for him.

"My pants are on, the Lapis didn't get them!" Zahnrad blurts, then covers his mouth.

Olivia looks at Zahn curiously, one eyebrow quirked. "What's this about Lapis?"

"Who mentioned Lapis?" Zahnrad asks.

Olivia looks at the Kadie even more curiously now. "You did! Just now!"

"I did not," Zahnrad insists. "You must be hearing things. Why would Clover and Parsley want my pants?"

Olivia starts grinning, finally getting an idea of what Zahn is talking about. "You've been visiting Clover, haven't you? And I guess Parsley was there, too… Got propositioned, did ya?"

"Of course not. That's silly," Zahnrad insists. He points to Olivia's door, adding, "Inside."

Olivia's grin only gets wider, but at least she does walk into her room. "Oh, c'mon, Zahnrad, it's nothing to be embarrassed about," she chides. "You're young and reasonably cute and they're Lapis. It happens!"

Olivia's room
Inside this room are several pieces of well-worn furniture, inherited from past occupants: a bed, a long, squat dresser with a slice of mirror hung above it, and a small desk and chair. The rest of the room is decorated in what can best be described as "controlled chaos." Canvases cover most of the wall space, on which have been glued odd assortments of buttons, twine, bits of colored cloth, autumn leaves, pebbles of varying sizes, etc. Some of this "art" represents recognizable figures but most are unlike anything ever seen before. Overflowing bags stuffed with cloth scraps sit near the doorway, while more cloth, bobbins of thread, yarn, and ribbons cover the surface of the desk. Located next the bed is something that might be a nightstand (judging from the trinkets resting on it), but it too is built from a mish-mash of smaller elements, twisting around and around like a corkscrew and then widening and flattening at the top.

"Bah, no it doesn't," Zahnrad insists as follows after Olivia. He then stops inside her room, mouth agape. "Wow, they already got to your room," he finally says.

Olivia gives up on the subject of Lapis for the moment and closes the door behind them. "Who got to my room?" she insists. "You can quit being obtuse now… or at least, more obtuse than usual. What's going on?"

Zahn waves his arms. "It's chaos in here. They must have done it because no on in their right mind would have a room like this," he insists. "So, do they do it in your sleep? Ever have any weird dreams about monsters under your bed?"

Olivia laughs and shakes her head. "Zahn, this is how my room always looks! It's chaos in here because I like it this way. If my room's too ordered I can't think straight. You've just never seen it before, that's all!"

"Oh," Zahn says, looking deflated. "Does that mean you're one of them then?"

Olivia walks over to her desk and slides Djivan's sketches underneath a few other papers. Then she favors the Kadie with an exasperated look. "One of who?"

"Wow, hanging around that rat as ruined your ability to think," Zahn notes. "The trolls of course."

"At last, you make sense. That's a first for you," Olivia retorts acidly. "Haven't you talked to your own brother lately? I told him all about my checkup with Isolde and Natasha. I'm still just a Skeek, same as always."

"Really? Then why did you pick the cabin right above one of their chambers?" Zahnrad counters and folds his arms.

Olivia stares at the Kadie boy for a full minute in silence. Then she stammers, "W-what did you say? H-how do you figure that?"

"I've been looking through the old town blueprints from when the sewers and water tunnels were laid. There are several preexisting tunnels and chambers that were used. One of them is right under your cabin," Zahn notes. He unfurls a set of plans that were hidden in his shirt. He taps the location of Olivia's cabin on them.

Olivia leans forward and examines the plans. After a little while, she replies quietly, "No, I didn't know my room was right above one of these preexisting places. But I didn't choose this room, my aunt assigned it to me – just as she did with all the other apprentices. She's tried very hard not to treat me any differently than all the rest, even though we're related."

"Ah, so then she knew you were one of them, then?" Zahnrad inquires as he rubs his chin. "Regardless! This requires investigation. I will need to remove your floor."

Olivia's eyebrows vanish up into her hairline. "And just where do you propose I live while you're tearing my room apart, hmmm?"

"I'm sure the gypsies would let you move in with them. What about that bat who seems fond of you?" Zahnrad offers. "She's a girl, so no one can complain that your honor would be in danger… "

"You can STOP right there, Zahnrad!" Olivia snaps, poking a fingertip into the Kadie's chest. "I am NOT moving in with Liliana! You have no idea of how much my honor would be in danger if I did that! That Eeee's a walking hormone!"

Zahnrad ows! He rubs his chest and complains, "You are mean. I'm only trying to help." He pauses, thinking for a moment, then asks, "Well, maybe I could remove just a part of your floor."

Olivia starts pacing the room, one hand clapped to her forehead again. "Let me think, let me think," she mutters. After another minute, she says, "All right, if you must tear apart my floor to see if there's a tunnel underneath, at least give me a day or two to move my necessities into my own wagon. I got it back from Emmett a while ago and it's ready to be lived in again. I could just camp out in there while you're working."

"Right, right," Zahnrad says and waves his hand. "So … this begs the question … do you want Gunther to know about this? I mean, I have found your horde." Okay, now the Kadie just looks like he wants to burst into laughter.

Olivia looks like she dearly wants to shake Zahnrad until his teeth rattle, but she exercises great restraint and doesn't do it. "Oh, shut UP already," she growls. "I am NOT a part of a horde! I told you, Isolde and Natasha found no evidence that I was a changeling!"

"You really need to relax more," Zahnrad notes and waves the town plans at her. "And people say Kadies are high strung!"

"I'm high-strung because of you and your crazy brother!" Olivia retorts, then just shakes her head. "Oh, nevermind – I don't see how Amy puts up with you! Anyway, can you come back the day after tomorrow and start then? That will give me enough time to move into the wagon and tell my aunt what's going on, so she won't freak out when she sees you pulling up the floor. Of course, you'll have to put everything back to the way it was when you're done if you don't find anything underneath here."

"Oh, sure. There's no real rush. My tests outside didn't reveal any recent breaches. So, I suppose it is safe for now anyway," Zahnrad says. He rolls his plans back up and tucks them away. "So, what were you carrying that you put away so quickly?"

Olivia rolls her eyes heavenward. "Some sketches that Djivan drew for me. I didn't want to deal with the snide comments I knew I'd get if you found out who made them!"

Zahn's eyes narrow. "What sort of sketches? Nude?" he asks.

Olivia starts to grin again, this time in a quite devilish manner. "Sure! They're of me – want to see? Of course, I'm not alone in them… "

"Yes," Zahn answers and holds out his hand. Apparently the Kadie is either crazy, or thinking she's bluffing.

Olivia goes back to the desk and digs out one of her sketches of Amelia in the silver-and-green dress that she made for her some time ago. She hands that to Zahn, picture-side down, just to tease him. "Look with caution, the subject matter is a little lurid… " She trails off, twitching her whiskers.

Zahnrad turns the paper over slowly and peers at it. Instead of looking shocked though, he notes, "Well, I see Djivan must be entranced by Amelia and is projecting her on you. Which you could never possibly equal… "

"Nor would I want to… then you'd be after me instead of her and I can't have that!" Olivia quips, not missing a beat.

"You would be so lucky," Zahn retorts and hands the picture back. "Haha. Not going to show me what you had, fine. And here I was warning you about the doom that sleeps beneath."

"As opposed to the doom that's standing right in front of me?" Olivia needles him. When the Kadie looks at her furiously, she holds up her hands and relents, "All right, take it easy. Thank you for coming to warn me. Really, I had no idea that something like that was underneath my room. Just promise me that you won't totally wreck the place, okay?"

"When have I ever wrecked something badly?" Zahnrad inquires, looking hurt.

"You want a list, or do I have to stop at just one example?" Olivia says, looking devilish again.

"Oh ha ha," Zahnrad says and sticks out his tongue. "See if I ever let you ride on my new airship."

"I'll let you save that honor for Amelia," the Skeek says archly, winking at the Kadie and escorting him to the door.