@Ome:  Breakfast is still being served but they probably would if it were dinnertime.  Not that there was an OHOP or a Kenny's anywhere nearby, rather it was the belt you hoisted around over your shoulder.  Not everybody was familiar with your face, but enough people certainly were.  And you did look like you just got out of the hospital.  There was, however, the Corner Diner, one of those serve-anything American places with a rotating cabinet of daily desserts and a "we're never packed but we're always open" atmosphere.  Just outside of that, of course, there's two girls, maybe in their late teens - they look, no less, like biker girls.  Human, perhaps, though the eyes of one are amber and her pupils are catlike.  They stare, dazzled, at the gold, and start to follow.<br/>"Hey, it's her!" The cat-eyed one says.<br/>"It was impressive, but I've done better.  Saw it all last night.  I also lost a lot of money on you, girl." The other says.  Not that they're mad or nasty, so much as almost... challenging.  "To think you beat the Firin' Oziran... you know, I go to the pits too.  Maybe I should try for that gold.  How about it, Stella, right?  Wanna come for me in the pits?" The other, with short blonde hair, fixes on some black leather knuckle gloves to go with her outfit.<br/><br/>@Chiro:  The professor barrels down the stairs now, panting in shallow breaths.  "She's not here anymore.  We need to stick together.  Get Baron... get Baron..." He races down the steps and searches around the kitchen, calling out aloud.  "Chiro, do you know where he went?  He has to be around."<br/><br/>Baron, however, would find himself quite comforted, none of his senses disturbed by the cool, silent air.  Not even by the waters flowing around the little circular stone isle he sat upon in that plush chair.  Without realizing it, he could very well have finished half the book!  The professor's distant calls aren't even irritating him now, the cool dry air and sweet musty book scent weaving their spell to keep his mind focused.<br/><br/>@KavenBach:  ((Coming next!))