Khalid swore to herself and shook the cell phone in her hand. Infernal thing... The map on the screen rolled as the phone turned side to side, although the red dot on the map still blinked at her cheerfully. She never should have trusted the damn thing... Traditional maps were much better, why couldn't people use those anymore? The display on the phone flickered a few times, which only added to her irritation. She looked away from it, checking the signs around her.

Not much farther now.

She glanced around to make sure her friend was still following her, and that nobody else was. They'd been followed at least four times, over the course of the last week or so, and Khalid was getting tired of it. Not that she would admit to anyone, but there were only so many tails she could lose without pulling out some of the stops of her 'tricks.'

"Aha, found you, you bastard," she grumbled as she finally found the last sign she was looking for. After checking to make sure Jeane was still with her, she put the phone away and marched into the building. Time to pay a visit to an old friend.

Jeane followed Khalid mildly, her hands in her pockets and her trench coat bundled up around her. Khalid hadn't yet told her the entirety of what was going on, but she could wait.

Besides which, it was hilarious to listen to her friend's swearing.

Not that she'd ever admit to that.

She did blink when Khalid marched into a building. That was new. The ranting and swearing at the phone, not at all. Marching into buildings after someone who had been referred to as "Rob", "Robin", "Goodfellow", "damn puck", and many other much less complimentary things. And given the traditional definition of a puck, Jeane wasn't sure she wanted to find out any more about this friend of her friend.

It didn't take Khalid long to pick out the right door in the building. Although they all looked the same to normal humans, her nonhuman senses were telling her differently. Unlike some of the more animal-based nonhumans, she couldn't pick out any differences by scent, but she could definitely see the differences in the doors. She walked briskly up to the proper one and pounded on it with a fist. She wasn't going for 'subtle.'

"Open the damn door, Goodfellow!" she yelled. She didn't care if the other residents got annoyed. They were Robin's neighbors. She did, however, glance over her shoulder once or twice, the gold beads woven into her braids clinking as she did. She didn't see anything out of the ordinary, for the moment, but it didn't hurt to be too careful, especially in their situation. She hated the whole situation. She hated being pursued, she hated not being in control, and most of all, she hated having to ask for help. Which brought her back to the task at hand.

"Door! Open it!"

Jeane stayed close to Khalid, glancing around at the other doors nervously. She didn't like making all the noise, but she also wasn't actually the one making the noise. Not that it made her feel much better. She was about to ask Khalid to be a bit quieter when someone yanked the door open.

Robin paused when he saw Khalid, still half-naked. It was the middle of the night and he had been trying to sleep. Apparently that wasn't happening.

Leaving his robe hanging open, he tilted his head to the side a little, a smile curving his lips. "Well, well. Khalid! It's been a long time. And you brought a guest! Is she for me?" His grin turned absolutely lecherous.

Jeane colored red, staying quiet and letting Khalid handle him. Her friend obviously knew the guy with the crazy-green eyes, so she felt it was okay to almost hide behind her hair.

"It hasn't been long enough, clearly," Khalid retorted. She shifted slightly so Jeane was completely behind her. "And if you leer at her again, puck, I'll make you impotent. Like last time." And she was willing to bet that he remembered that JUST fine. "So don't." She glanced back over her shoulder again, both to check on Jeane and to make sure the hall was still empty. Paranoia, thy name is Khalid. "Anyways, it's not like I want to be here, but there's been an... issue."

She choked on the word 'issue,' as if she didn't even want to think the word. She hated not being in control of things, and she was very much not in control of things at the moment. She glared at him, as if daring him to make some sort of smarmy comment about it.

Robin paled at that threat. He knew she would do it, since she had before. And he was really not in a hurry to repeat that experience. So he tuned his leer down to just a smile, although his eyebrows shot up at the last word.

"Issue, hmm? Well, come in. I'll make tea." He moved aside, leaving the door open for them as he moved inside. Still leaving his robe unbelted, he went to the kitchen, putting water on to boil. "Any preference in tea?"

Jeane edged into the apartment after Khalid, looking around curiously. She could see a few things just out laying around that she was very curious about, being the history person that she was, but she didn't go look.

"Jasmine," Khalid replied after a moment, when she was asked about the tea. The answer was reluctant, and she had been tempted to say something else, like Chai or Darjeeling, but she liked Jasmine tea. Secretly. A little.

She glanced over at Jeane as she sat down on the arm of the couch. Always the arm of the couch, so she would be able to get to her feet faster.

"Don't touch anything," she said when she saw Jeane starting to inspect some of the artifacts on display. "You don't know where those might have been. Come sit."

Robin smirked faintly as he put the tea in to steep for a little while. "Oh I can show you where they've been," he said, though he didn't turn to leer at them again. He knew better than that. For now.

Jeane paled slightly but scurried over to the couch to perch next to Khalid, still looking around anyway. She nearly started drooling when she saw an original Spartan shield on the wall. She almost got up to go investigate it anyway, despite Khalid's warnings. Almost.

But not quite.

"You had better not," Khalid replied promptly. She didn't reiterate her earlier threat, though, not yet. She was sure she'd have another, better reason to do so later. With Robin Goodfellow, that was practically a guarantee. The puck was always providing reasons to threaten his manhood or gouge out one's own eyes, one of the two. She watched as Jeane looked around the room. It really was like a historian's paradise, Khalid had to admit. Jeane could have a lot of fun looking at everything. Not that Khalid would let her until she was sure everything was clean and safe, but still.

Robin returned with three cups of tea, handing one to Khalid and one to Jeane before taking a seat in the chair across from the two. He put his feet up on the coffee table, so his robe parted even more.

And what do you know? Robin Goodfellow does go commando to bed.

Jeane just about squeaked when she noticed that, putting her tea down rather hurriedly and mumbling something about finding a bathroom. She made a beeline for the door, jerking to a brief halt when it opened before she even got to it. Cal came marching in, forcing Jeane to careen around him, nearly bounce off the doorframe, and slink off down the hall to find some shred of dignity somewhere.

Cal blinked. "The hell, Goodfellow? You taking in more strays now? Salome wasn't enough?"

Khalid didn't react to the 'revelation.' She already knew what Goodfellow didn't wear to bed, so it didn't surprise her.

"Did you have to startle her like that?" she asked as Jeane bolted from her seat. She didn't get the chance to say anything else, though, because her attention was captured when the door opened. It took her a split second to see that someone walked in, and a split second longer than that for what, rather than who, that person was. She set her teacup down. "No. I don't know why you're keeping that kind of company, puck, but I'm not going to deal with my problems and THAT." She pointed at the young man in the doorway. "We're leaving."

Semi-immortal creature or not, she remembered the Auphe, and she wasn't going to get involved with them in any way, shape, or form. Ever.

Niko nudged his brother out of the door, subtly jabbing at one of his pressure points.

"You do, in fact, made a half-way decent door, little brother," he said. "Now kindly continue through the doorway."

Robin got up as well. "He's not bad. A constant pain in my glorious ass, but he's not bad. Now sit down." He looked at Niko and quirked an eyebrow, getting the "yes? I was in the middle of something" look. And then he looked Niko up and down, because he could.

Cal rolled his eyes but moved out of the way with only minimal grumbling. He did glower quite impressively at Khalid, though. He did not appreciate being lumped in with the rest of the Auphe. At all.

"Told you we should have come later." He yawned briefly. Niko was keeping him up all night. Again.

"It would have taken much more effort to get you and your lazy ass moving later than it does keeping you and your lazy ass moving now," Niko replied as he followed his brother through the door. He did, however, catch the conversation, and his eyes narrowed as well. Whoever this woman was, he didn't care for her attitude.

Khalid just returned the glower. Nothing good ever came of dealing with the Auphe, everyone knew that. There were things wrong with this situation on multiple levels. She didn't sit down again, though, instead going towards the door. "I need to see if Jeanie is alright again." She shouldered past the two newcomers, although she stayed as far away from the Auphe-spawn as she could while still actually going through the door. Then she looked for Jeane. She didn't want to get separated yet, not when there was still the very high chance of being found.

Robin sighed and shook his head before motioning the boys in. "Well, seems I've got a minute before my audience returns. What did you need this time?" He didn't bother putting his feet down on the floor, either.

Cal glowered at Robin for a minute before giving up and practically throwing himself onto the couch. Hey, Robin might be a dick, but at least he had comfy couches. And did occasionally pay for things. Like his snarky t-shirts.

Jeane hadn't gone far, just to the entry of the building. She was currently sitting on the steps leading up to the building, watching snowflakes starting to drift down towards the ground. She'd prefer to be out in the snow than in with those men. She hadn't had many dealings with men in general, and now she was dealing with men who had been around longer than most people could comprehend. Too much for one poor ancient studies researcher.

Khalid went and nudged Jeane.

"He's mostly harmless," she said. She didn't ask if Jeane was alright or anything; it was a stupid question and she hated to ask stupid questions. She also didn't quite speak up and apologize for not warning Jeane about Goodfellow's... 'quirks' beforehand. It was something that she didn't think about, really, since whenever she reluctantly thought about Goodfellow, everything got lumped into the heading of 'puck.' "He'll try to flirt, but he's mostly harmless."

The two others, on the other hand... One was human, she knew that, but the other... She suppressed a shudder. Even though the Auphe as a race seemed to have vanished inexplicably lately, she still didn't want to take the chance, and there was something about the energy that drifted around the pale one that made her want to run in the opposite direction. He wasn't completely Auphe, that much was clear, but he was at least partially, and that was enough. Still... As much as she hated to admit it, they were going to need Goodfellow's help. So they had to go back inside.

"Come on," she said. "Back inside where it isn't so damnably cold. I still need to take you out to a proper desert when this is over."

"Yeah, so you can watch me melt?" Jeane sighed and got to her feet, brushing some snow off her pants. "Alright. I suppose it's fair though, since you did go skating with me." She smiled briefly before heading for the door. "I guess I know what you meant by 'puck' now, though."

Sure, she'd read about them. But there was a big difference between reading about pucks and actually experiencing them.

She preferred keeping them in her books.

But as that was not likely to happen, she mentally steeled herself and headed for Robin's apartment again. Hopefully she'd cope better this time.

"You would enjoy the desert," Khalid replied, walking with her into the building again. "More than that, I know exactly where to take you that you would never want to leave." She'd never shown Jeane her personal stash of riches, just because she never showed it to anyone ever, but she had a couple of places where she had artifacts and just old possessions hidden away. Those, she could part with if she had to.

Niko just raised an eyebrow when Robin switched his attention from the woman to them.

"An old friend of yours, I assume?" he said. He knew the woman wasn't human, even though the one who ran out first probably was, but he didn't know exactly what kind of non-human the woman was. He sat down on an empty chair, not going near the couch while Cal was sprawled all over it.

"Now now, let's not get too far into spiriting me away somewhere." Jeane managed to smile at her friend to show she was teasing. "Besides, I'll make a decision on the desert once I get there. I'm just too used to snow and ice."

She hesitated outside the door before pushing it open slowly, glancing at the two new males before edging into the room. She didn't bolt again, but she didn't look comfortable, either.

"Old friend." Robin grinned briefly. "Very fun old friend." He shook himself after a moment. "But yes, she's a friend. Although I don't know the girl with her." He shrugged. Hey, he couldn't know everyone, although sometimes he did try.

"Ah, there you are. I'd offer you a seat, but Cal has taken over my couch."

Cal rolled his eyes but didn't move, calmly flipping Robin off. They could find somewhere else to sit.

Khalid didn't even bother to glance at the couch. Instead, she just leaned against the wall with her arms crossed. She did, however, glance at Jeane. While Khalid herself was okay with standing, she wasn't sure what Jeane would want, and that made her look at the couch and the other chair for a moment before looking away.

Without a word, Niko got up from the chair and gave a vague gesture to it. Never let it be said that he wasn't enough of a gentleman to offer a lady his seat.

Khalid's eyebrow went up a bit, but she glanced at Jeane again to see what her friend would do. There hadn't been a word during this exchange, but that would most likely change soon. After all, Goodfellow was in the room.

Jeane wavered for a moment, glancing at Niko before dipping her head to him and taking his seat. At least she was close to Khalid in case she had to hide for whatever reason.

"Alright. Now that everyone's settled..." Robin looked back at Khalid, the teasing gone from his expression. "What do you need, Khalid?" He didn't say anything else, but he knew that Khalid hated asking favors. And never let it be said that Robin Goodfellow could not be accomodating. "You know, I do still owe you for that party we threw. Well. I threw and you crashed and told us all to get lost."

"The party you threw in my apartments," Khalid grumbled. Damn right he owed her for that. She glanced at Jeane and sighed. It took her a few moments to actually spit out what they needed.

"We seem to have run afoul of Mercury," she said shortly. "I'm not sure how, but he's pissed off, and it takes a hell of a lot of work to lose him, even temporarily." She didn't pin the blame on Jeane or on herself, splitting in equally between them, but she knew that it was probably something Jeane did, poking her nose into things best left undisturbed.

Niko's expression didn't quite change, but he was intrigued nonetheless. After their last run-in with a 'goddess,' this sounded like it could be similar. He glanced between Robin and this Khalid woman.

Robin's eyebrows shot up. "Mercury, huh? Always knew that little bastard would cause trouble." He sighed, keeping himself forcefully from going on a tangent, and looked over at Niko and Cal. "It would seem you two need a place to stay to keep low for a while, hmm?"

Cal caught on to his meaning and sat up, looking furious. "Hell no. I am not living with them!" He made a vague gesture at Khalid. Jeane was included, but only peripherally. She was a sheep, he could deal with her.

Jeane looked positively sheepish. She was 99% sure it was her fault, but she wasn't going to say it first. It really wasn't her fault that she got to go look at old tomes and things all the time...

At Cal's outburst, though, she looked startled. Stay? With those two? Oh no. She was not doing that.

"We might be better off taking our chances," Khalid said, unwittingly agreeing with Cal. While the half-Auphe hadn't caused any trouble for her and Jeane yet, that didn't mean that things would stay trouble-free, and really, what was Goodfellow doing, keeping company with one of those, anyways?

"If they need help, perhaps we could assist," Niko said reasonably to his brother, putting a hand on Cal's shoulder. It was more than just to tell him to calm down, he was also making sure Cal didn't jump up and cause any problems.

Cal glowered at his brother before rolling some of the beads of his bracelet between his fingers. He was still not pleased, but Niko usually had a plan. And also usually got his way, no matter how much Cal objected. Damn older brother powers.

Robin smiled approvingly at the two before looking at Khalid. "You won't find anywhere better to stay in town. Unless, of course, you want to stay with me. Which I doubt. Really, they're the better option."

Mostly because he did not want two females living in his apartment. Visiting females, yes. Living with him, no. Salome was bad enough.

Jeane had stopped paying attention, since Salome had decided to go see what was going on in her kingdom. The mummy cat stopped and stared at Khalid before going to investigate Jeane. New people had higher priority than terrorizing Cal, anyway. Jeane held out a hand, and Salome sniffed imperiously before jumping up on the arm of the couch, purring like a mix between a gator and a chainsaw.

The undead cat sufficiently distracted Khalid, too. She watched it with a kind of detached fascination as the cat decided that yes, she liked Jeane.

"What is it?" she asked finally. "And why does it smell like the best spices from home?" It almost didn't matter HOW the cat was still moving, it was still fascinating, and it was clearly something that could hold its own in a fight, if the teeth and glowing eyes were any indication. After a moment of watching the undead cat, she shook her head a bit and turned her attention back to the matter at hand.

"I refuse," she said. She wasn't going to stay in this apartment, never.

"It would take a little rearranging," Niko said calmly, still keeping an eye on his brother, "but I'm sure that we can make space for two more people in our apartment, temporarily." He glanced at Cal, giving him a look that clearly said 'clean up your shit or I'll strangle you with the first sock I find.'