Callisto would have been lying to himself if he said he hadn’t been frantically fixating on the last words that Xevon had birthed the entire time they were walking. He had messed that one up for sure, the sharp look that he had received from his friend made his skin run ice cold with dread of having said the wrong thing. He hadn’t meant it like that at all, he simply wanted Xevon to look forward to his new opportunities. Instead of trying to reconcile what he had meant, Callisto kept quiet until he saw the blur of Finn rushing his way up to the door of the cottage. Without warning, smacking his knuckles on the front door.

His eye carried towards Lily whose shoulders were raised and barely moving, he could clearly see she wasn’t so sure about this approach as her companion was. Either way, she was up there with him.

“She is quite literally a weapon, I think they should be fine..” He mumbled, trailing his sentence off as the door creaked open. Menacing in its slow pace to finally swing open and reveal - no one. The door had opened to show nothing but the warm glow of a fireplace within the old building.

Lily’s lips pressed into a thin line as the door opened, preparing herself to smack a claws paw at whatever came out and threatened Finntello. Alas, there was nothing. She was sure there was nothing, there were no fresh scents leaking out of the doorway after it had opened. Only the warm, enticing scent of a fireplace and spices. It was enough to make her step forwards through the threshold almost immediately, leaving Finn to drag after her as she made her way inside.

“There’s no one here…” She spoke softly, as though someone could over hear her. Her neck craned from side to side as she tried to see any dark shadows lurking in the corners. There was nothing. A cozy, well decorated cottage. It looked like something you would see in a happy, romantic village-life TV show.

Callisto cast the two others a side long glance after watching Lily slip her way into the building. “Well, they are not dead yet.”

Lily’s eyebrows creased together gently before she turned to look at Finn with a questioning gaze. “Wrong?” She repeated. There was evidence of someone being here, but they certainly had not been here recently. In fact, she couldn’t smell anyone other than themselves and the distance waft of the other three outside. “I don’t think it’s dangerous.” She kept her voice soft, peeking around to see two doors leading off to somewhere else in the house. It looked pleasant enough to her, then again this could be a trap. But..who was here to lay a trap like this? They hadn’t seen another deity, the only person they had seen was Florence as she was nowhere near. Her scent had left Lily hours ago.

Callisto kept close to the other two as they approached the cottage, his eyes skimming over the area carefully. Looking for a flicker of illusion, perhaps this place was akin to an illusionary oasis that people saw in deserts. He lingered in the doorway, watching the three inside but keeping within proximity to Xevon as he peered into the home. It was warm and inviting, making the feline part of his soul purr with comfort. But his human side was stark, why was there nobody here?

Lily paused as Alma stepped inside and she turned her attention towards her. “What do you think?” She pressed, cocking her head to one side ever so slightly. She was content enough with this place, there was food outside and the building wasn’t in ruins.

Callisto eventually peeled away from Xevon and headed deeper into the home, scanning the walls. There were shelves with books scattered across it. Most were normal, gardening, teas, recipes. But then there were oddities, how to conjure a melon. Mortal spices explained. Fertility Runes. His eyes narrowed as he stared up at them, his hands slack at his sides. Whose house were they in?

"Take a look at these." Callisto threw his invitation over his shoulder at no one in particular, he only wanted someone else to voice their opinion before he started to divulge his own.

Callisto frowned lightly and took a step back so that the others could get a better look at the shelves. “Whatever it is, I hope it is not hostile.” He grumbled under his breath and stepped back into the main living room. Letting his pale eyes slip up and down the walls for anything out of place. There was dust and clutter, little things that comforted him. It wasn’t some sterile thing stuck in a time loop. It wasn’t the hotel. It seemed like a home, at least outwardly. He could be completely wrong and they were about to be sucked into another version of the hotel hell. He would take his chances, there was little else for them to venture onto out there. Everything they came across was going to be suspicious.

“Xevon.” He called out softly, making his way over to him. Callisto poked his head back out of the front door and peered up at the other man. “Do you want to come inside and see? It seems safe enough..” He kept his tone level, giving nothing away as to his internal thoughts that were sent into a tangle upon meeting Xevon’s eyes.

Lily had hopped over with everyone else to look at the books, they were certainly interesting. Her eyes followed the one that Finn plucked down to read, how to conjure melons? Well. That was an intriguing title. She gave them a moment to figure out their own feelings on this place before joining in.

“I don’t feel..trapped in here. Maybe it’s safe?” She questioned, looking to Finntello first for assurance before locking onto Alma for a definitive answer. “It’s warm, it’s not destroyed and there’s food.” She tried to justify her thinking just in case the others thought she was crazy for voicing her thoughts.

Lily looked between Alma and Finntello carefully as they set about making themselves at home, the soft clattering of metal pots came from where Alma stood and Finn had started to talk. He did seem to have this incessant need to absorb whatever information he could from books, which was endearing. She padded towards him and sat down on the plush, heavily patterned couch and looked up at him.

“How do you conjure them?” Her head tilted to the side with a small laugh. Of course she was aware of the occult before all this but the extensive nature of what she was uncovering as they continued their adventure together was baffling. Magic, runes, realms, powers. It was almost overwhelming.

Callisto’s eyebrows scrunched down, his pale eyes cast in shadow. Without a word he vanished back into the house, slipping past the people inside swiftly and plucking a crocheted blanket from the back of one of the arm chairs. In a few seconds, he was back outside and marched up to stand in front of Xevon.

“If you are going to be silly and stay out here, at least be warm.” He huffed, lifting a hand up which was clutching the muted earth toned blanket tightly. He wasn’t happy that Xevon wanted to stay out here on guard but there probably should be someone. If Xevon was going to insist he stay out there all night, then Callisto would stand there with him. Half to prove a point that standing there all night wasn’t expected of Xevon, but also so that the tugging on Callisto’s brain would stop. The worry that if he went inside and enjoyed whatever meal Alma was going to magic up, that Xevon would fade into the mist.

“Well?” Callisto cocked an eyebrow and gently shook the blanket up at Xevon. He wasn’t sure how it would fit over the wings, but he was going to make him wear it.

Callisto’s hand remained where it was after the blanket had been snatched from his fingers. He stared at Xevon, noting the harsh look he was receiving. Despite that, he was shrugging the blanket onto his shoulders. He was tense tonight. In fact, since that morning after their incident with Florence he had been short tempered. Pretending he knew what was going on in Xevon’s brain was pointless, he never truly knew what the other man was thinking.

“Sorry.” He let out with a sigh and finally looked away, turning his head to look out across the surrounding grassy banks past the garden. Callisto’s hand returned to his side and he rotated his body to lean his spine against the crooked stale stones of the cottage door.

“I meant that it was silly for only you to be expected to be on guard all night. Not that keeping watch was a bad idea.” He kept his gaze trained straight, still looking out across the horizon. The sun was still in the sky but certainly nearing its descent. They stood there in silence for a long minute, each second dragged out and felt like a lifetime before he eventually turned his head to give Xevon a glance from the corner of his eye.

“Is it comfortable?” Callisto kept his voice calm as his arms raised to cross over his chest, aiding in his resting position against the cottage wall. He could feel the sharp corners jutting into his muscles but ignored the sting.

Lily listened intently, amused by the enthusiasm that was being thrown around in regards to something as trivial as melons. However, she reared back in her chair and shook her head with a quick laugh at the mention of the next book’s content.

“Eternal youth? You’d end up an old man in a young body like the grumpy one out there.” She grinned widely, giving a flick of her wrist towards the front door in reference to Callisto. “I think the truth one would be safer.” Lily leaned back into the couch with a soft hum, it was enveloping her closely and felt very comfortable. “Not that I’d ever play truth or dare again, I think I was…16 the last time I played that.” Her eyes turned to look up at Finn, gleaming with her contentment.

It felt nice to be inside, away from the scary open landscape, it was far less daunting. Leaving Lily to feel a little more relaxed, a strange creature couldn’t appear on her blink side in here, they’d hear it come through the doors or windows first.