<span style="font-style: italic">Mustn't look, mustn't look, mustn't look...</span>The imperative mantra fills Alyssa's thoughts as she fusses over Chrrou; or rather, the parts of Chrrou to which she can attend without turning her vision towards the final judgment being administered behind her. The soothing words she whispers to the druid as she works are as much for her own sake as for his, blocking out all but the loudest of those terrible (and, if she were pressed to admit, intriguing) swallowing noises emitting from Auralia's direction. Despite a few tense moments, the act of caring for her saurian ally does calm Alyssa's nerves, enough at least to prevent a repeat of last night's display. Still, the air in her general vicinity does smell faintly of cinnamon by the time the task is done...<br/><br/>At the sound of the second group's arrival, Alyssa pauses her ministrations to offer greeting to her companions; however, the sight of Mindy and her incongruously large midsection quickly shifts her welcoming smile to a look of stunned amazement. To think that the elven telepath was a predator as well... even faced with overwhelming physical evidence, Alyssa finds the idea nearly irreconcilable with her prior image of Mindy. How could one so petite and soft spoken could ever accomplish such a task?<br/><br/>And... what might she do with a willing subject, under the right circumstances?<br/><br/>Forcing the knot in her throat to dispel, and with it the escalating fragrance of burnt spice, Alyssa offers the newly arrived group a quick bow and somewhat ragged "hello."<br/><br/><blockquote><div><cite>Mindy wrote:</cite>“Sorry for the delay. Has there been any news about Miss Sashi?”</div></blockquote><br/>"It's quite alright," Alyssa says. "Several of us were, ah... delayed, as well." The tiefling gives a meaningful glance in Auralia and Rihyan's direction, then back to Mindy's own bulging stomach. "Chrrou is attempting to pick out Sashi's trail, but I'm afraid it's been something of a strain- one of our assailants used some form of enchantment, and it seems to have had a lingering effect."<br/><br/>The mention of missing comrades stirs in Alyssa's mind a concern that's been troubling her since the party's arrival. Only now does the source of that concern finally occur to her, and it makes Mindy's newly acquired girth all the more troublesome. "Mindy... where is Soma?"