Naomi still watched the two warily, but nodded. Then she held out a hand to help Osanna to her feet.

I figured you weren't asleep, she said to her friend. Feel any better?

Osanna took her help and then shrugged. A bit. Still tired, but it'll pass. I'll manage.

Niko waited patiently for them to be ready to go. He didn't want to talk any longer than he had to, after all.

We'll find somewhere to crash for the night, Naomi promised. Somewhere that doesn't involve man-eating mud. Once she was sure Osanna would be alright moving under her own power, she turned to the two guys.

"May as well go, then," she said.

Niko nodded, looking faintly amused. He didn't feel the need to tell them yet that he could indeed read sign language.

He started walking with Cal, leading the way towards Robin's apartment. Then they could figure out where the girls would stay, or if the brothers would even continue to care about them at all.

Naomi followed them with Osanna. She wasn't entirely certain they were doing the right thing by trusting them, especially when one of them wasn't completely human, but the alternative was staying in the park with the boggle-things.

Cal kept pace with his brother, glancing at the girls every so often. He would ask later what his brother thought of them, once they got the puck's input.

Niko walked calmly all the way to Robin's apartment. Then he knocked on the door and waited a moment. He knew Cal wouldn't be nearly so patient, so he figured it was best to give the puck some warning.

Osanna blinked at the faint smell coming from Robin's apartment. That was... different. She shifted a little closer, rather perplexed.

Niko was right. Cal wasn't that patient. He waited the requisite few seconds, and then shouldered past his brother to pound on the door. Was it obnoxious? Yes. Did Cal care? Not at all.

Naomi glanced at Osanna when her friend moved a bit closer to the door. She nudged her friend's shoulder and raised an eyebrow.

Smell anything interesting? she asked.

The door jerked open a few moments later to show a very ruffled-looking Robin, almost naked but for a loose robe. A few feathers sat in his hair.

"What?" he growled, glaring at the two brothers. "Can't a man get some peace around here?"

Osanna nodded. Odd, interesting, kind of... I dunno. I can't identify it.

Then the door opened and she stopped when she actually got a whiff of Robin. Oh. That was it.

"Oh honestly," Cal said, gesturing to the feathers. "Really?"

Naomi blinked, and then looked at Osanna.

Good description, she said.

Robin glowered at Cal. "Not that you would know how this feels, but I was about to get laid. Now either go away or figure it out your own damn selves."

Osanna looked at Naomi, rather amused. Well. That would explain part of the smell.

Naomi bit her lip, trying to cover her snickers. It still failed.

Thankfully, I wouldn't know, she replied to her friend. Kind of grateful to have human-level senses right now, actually.

"Yeah, too bad," Cal replied. "We found something interesting." He glanced at his brother, away from the puck, and let Niko explain things.

Niko stepped to the side so Robin could see the two girls. Suddenly Robin was more interested.

"So you brought me presents?"

Osanna's eye twitched. Just a little. If she hadn't been so tired already... But there was a strangled sound from the bedroom, and Robin rolled his eyes.

"Okay, I get it. But why did you bring them here?"

"Because they're just as perplexed as we are," Naomi spoke up, one hand on Osanna's shoulder to keep her from trying to strangle the other person. She decided very quickly that she did NOT want to know what was going on inside the apartment. "Not that I know why we were brought here, but there it is."

Cal couldn't help but twitch a bit when he heard the sound from inside. God, he wouldn't be able to look at his boss for a week after this...

"They say they're from a different world," Niko said calmly. "Have you heard anything similar?"

"Of course," Robin said with a snort, though he suddenly looked more interested. "You humans wouldn't know, but there are people from other worlds and dimensions almost constantly. Like the Auphe."

Osanna blinked and looked at Naomi. What's an 'off'?

Naomi had the same puzzled look as Osanna.

I have no idea, she replied. It was pronounced weird, though. A little, I don't know... different.

"Well, we've been bouncing through them for the last week or so," she added aloud to the others.

Robin looked at the two girls. "It's not 'off', it's 'Auphe'."

Osanna blinked, her eyes widening just a little. Oops. She managed a sheepish grin. Niko merely smirked faintly, knowing that Cal would be the only one left out now.

Cal looked between all of them, a bit confused. Where had that come from? Okay, he was definitely missing something, here.

Naomi wasn't quite as sheepish.

"I knew there was something different about the word," she said. "It's still just a word, but still."

Robin shook his head, not bothering to correct her. They didn't have to worry about the Auphe anymore, after all. Which was fine by him.

"So I suppose you want to know what I know." He sighed.

"If we didn't, I can guarantee we wouldn't be here," Cal replied.

Naomi glanced at Osanna. Maybe now they could get a little information about this place. A little is all they wanted, really, unless there was something in there about how and why they were being bounced around in the first place. That wouldn't hurt, either.

Robin rolled his eyes and moved aside so they could come in. Might as well be comfortable since they were going to be here for a little while.

He arranged himself on the couch, putting his feet up on the table. Niko stayed by the door, and Osanna stayed next to Naomi.

"There are lots of things that can jump dimensions and worlds. Most of them do it voluntarily, by ripping holes between worlds." He looked at Cal. "But not all of them."

Naomi was slightly hesitant to sit anywhere, and stayed close to Osanna. The room was just this side of disgustingly expensive-looking, and she really didn't want to touch anything... just in case.

"How does it work?" she piped up. Translation: how do we make it stop?

Robin shrugged. "LIke I said, normally someone has to be making rips in reality," he said, looking at them. "If you're not doing it, someone else is. Can't help you with that." He leaned back against the couch, watching the two of them intently.

That was probably one of the least helpful answers that Naomi had heard lately, although she didn't expressly say it aloud. Hey, it was an answer, at least.

"I wouldn't know the first place to start looking for whoever is doing it," she mused instead. "We couldn't find any information in the last world, either, and that was with a professional wizard and his magic talking skull-buddy. There was even less information before that, because everyone THERE was really crazy science-oriented, and the one before that was just like home, pretty much." And really, that was the extent of their little adventure so far.

"And what is home like?" Robin asked, raising his eyebrows at her. He was curious, after all.

Not like this. Osanna sighed. Much less crazy. We don't have walking mud monsters that try to eat people.

"Seriously," Naomi muttered in agreement. She thought for a moment, trying to figure out the most efficient way to explain things. "Okay, let's get this out of the way now, then," she said. She held out one of her hands, palm-up, and focused for a moment. A sparkling gemstone made of ice formed in her hand, reflecting light all over the place.

Cal blinked. That was something new.

"Did you just make that out of nothing?" he asked. "What is it, glass?"

"Ice," Naomi replied. "And kind of, I guess. It'll evaporate fairly soon on its own."