As soon as we hopped out of that hole, S burst through the door to the inn at blistering speeds. Whatever it was that Catface put on that note, it clearly had quite the effect on S. Personally, I'm just excited to see him acting like an action hero.

Immediately, S began to rapidly scan the room, with a fierce look on his face. I had to stop myself from smiling. I know I should probably be more concerned about this, but... S just looks so cool! 

Ultimately, no matter how cool he looked while looking, his search was in vain. It seemed that Catface wasn't here, at least, not yet. There weren't that many people in here at all, actually. There were a few people who seemed to just be grabbing quick dinners, and some guards who were still in uniform, drinking away at the bar. I wager they're supposed to be on the clock right now. Oh, and the innkeeper lady was there too, naturally. She was holding glass and a rag. I assume she was cleaning the glass with the rag, but was interrupted when S threw the door open so dramatically. She seemed quite shocked at the sudden entry, but everyone else seemed to drunk, bored, or depressed to care. 

"Oh," The innkeeper lady began, coming back to reality. "Something wrong, S?" She asked, a little concerned.

"Not here yet..." S whispered to himself. "Have you seen anyone that resembles a cat recently?" He asked in a very serious way.

She thought about that, for a moment. "Think I saw someone wearing one of those cat ear headbands earlier, if that's what you're asking." Wait, they have those here?... I wanna see S in cat ears. 

"Right, so they haven't come yet..." S said to himself.

"Well... What brings you two in today?" She asked. Oh yeah, dinner. Almost forgot about that. Dang, I wish I had a cola with me.

"Nothing yet. We're... Expecting someone." S said. Ooh. That was good. 

"Alright, well, you're free to sit down anywhere." She said, looking out at all the open tables, a clearly little dejected. 

We sat over at the nearest table, which happened to be a booth, just to the right of the door. S sat on side facing the door and just... Stared at it. He looked like he was ready to kill whoever came into that door next. Maybe he was.

"So, uh, what did that note say, anyway?" I asked S.

"Not much, actually... She just said that she'd be here, that she was 'looking forward to meeting us there,' and that we shouldn't keep her waiting."

"Maybe they were just inviting us to dinner? Catface is kinda weird." I attempted to rationalize.

"... Maybe you're right, but... There was something sinister about it. I can't really explain, but... I mean, after what Baldy told us..." 

Yeah, I guess I can forgive him for being a little on edge, after that. I'll change the subject. "Funny that they told us not to keep them waiting, since, y'know, we're the ones waiting." 

"Right. Though, actually, I should have assumed that from the start..."

"Why?" 

"'Cus she's the one that gave you the note. With your holes, obviously we'd get here first."

Phrasing, maybe? "Wait, that was them?" They looked nothing like Catface! Plus, they were way shorter!

"Right. It took me a while to figure it out, think their scent was masked by something."

... Their scent? Wait, was it masked because of the dirt on their clothes? But that already doesn't... Y'know what, best not to think about it too hard.

We weren't kept waiting all that long, fortunately. After a few minutes, the door swung open once again. Predictably, the door swinger was Catface, wearing a simple, kind of loose teal green shirt, and simple equally simple light brown woolen pants. Basically this world's equivalent of jeans and a t-shirt. Oh, and they were also wearing a cat ear headband.

"Sorry! Did I keep you waiting long?" Catface asked like a character from a B tier romantic comedy, as they jogged over to our booth. They sat down next to me, probably because my seat was the closest to the door. I had to scoot over a bit.

S was glaring daggers at them. Catface didn't seem to mind. "What's your game, Cat?" S said, threateningly.

"And where did you get those?" I asked, pointing to the cat ears. 

"Asking things like that already? C'mon, the least you could do is buy me dinner first." Catface said mischievously. 

"Or I could make you talk while you bleed like a dog." S said. Oh, shoot. Yikes. Wow.

"Oh, but we both know you wouldn't do that. Not here, anyway." Catface said, looking smug. 

A pained look appeared on S's face, for a moment. I guess Catface was right.

Catface turned to me, and pointed at the cat ears. "And I got these at a stall in the shopping district on the way here." Then they turned back to S. 

Crap! We should've walked!

At that point, I noticed that the innkeeper lady was standing at the end of the table, looking a little confused and horrified, probably from the whole 'bleed like a dog' thing. She and I made eye contact. I just shrugged. I don't think it helped. She just put 3 menus on the table and quickly shuffled away.

I grabbed one. Obviously, I can't read it, but I'm hoping that the others will take the hint and grab menus of their own so we can move things along. 

They did, but their weird, vaguely threatening staring contest showed no signs of stopping any time soon. Actually, there was nothing vague about it. It was just threatening. 

"Right... Fine. I'll buy."

"Ever the gentleman, aren't you?"

Hooh boy, these two... "S-so, Catface, what did you do after you left yesterday?" I asked, in an attempt to ease the tension.

"Little ol' me? Well, I came straight here. I tend to do better when I read the whole script, not just my own lines, y'know?" 

"...And that means?" 

"Well, based off the fact that you lot were travelling with Baldy, I assumed you were from here." I wonder, does anyone actually know that guys name, or is he just forever known as 'Baldy'? "So, I came to learn about you guys. See what people know, what they think, get some ideas. Sadly, I wasn't able to find much. Still, You're quite popular, aren't you, S? I must say, I'm impressed." 

S just grunted angrily.

Catface continued. "Eventually, I did find out about this place. You're a regular here, aren't you, S? Say, did you know that you're the reason anyone even bothers coming here? Well, that, and the fact that the innkeeper's hot." 

Ah! So vulgar! 

The innkeeper lady happened to be walking by, and I noticed that her face went beet red, and she almost dropped a plate. 

S seemed to writhe with anger. 

Catface continued. "I figured this'd be a good place for us to have a chat. I mean, a fight here would be real bad for business. Heck, it might even cause the place to go under. And you'd hate to harm the last remaining familial connection you have, wouldn't you?" 

"H-How much do you know!?" S asked, barely maintaining enough composure to not scream at the top of his lungs.

"Reeelax, tough guy. Only what random city-goers know, plus a little bit of intuition. Call it a lucky guess."

S had an indescribable look on his face. It was terrible. 

I don't know what possessed him to make that face, but I couldn't stand to see him make it for another second. 

I needed to change the subject.

Fortunately, it was about to be changed for me. 

Catface turned to me. "Speaking of lucky guesses, Beyes, you wanna know something strange? It seems that nobody in town knows who you are. I mean, plenty of people have seen you, and have a lot of colorful opinions about your... Well, y'know." Yeah, I know. "Oh, nice robe by the way. Is it new?" Catface concluded.

"Oh, uh, yeah. Got it today." I said.

"Really? It suits you. Looks good."

"Thanks. To tell ya the truth, I prefer my normal outfit, but this is quite nice."

"Yeah, I get that. Anyways, back on topic, the only person that had much to say about you was one of those guild attendants, and... Uh... Actually, forget I brought them up."

Huh? The guild attendant lady? What could she have had to say? Oh, and "Wait, what does any of that have to do with a 'lucky guess'?"

Catface smiled. "Just means there's merit to my initial guess."

Eh? And what was that?

Before I could ask them what they meant, the innkeeper lady walked up to our table.

"A-are you guys ready to place your orders?" They said, hesitantly.

"I'll have the grilled lizard." S said, simply. It seems that the change in topic was able to calm him down a good deal. That's good.

They wordlessly noted that down, and looked over at me. 

"I'll have the... Uhh..." I began. Oh, right, I kinda forgot to pick something... "Tomato soup, if you have it." I said. That's my default. 

Once agin, she wordlessly noted that down.

"Two nights in a row, huh?" Catface joked.

"Oh, yeah, I guess so." I said, laughing a little, in an attempt to lighten the mood a bit more. 

"I'll have the... I dunno, tuna." Catface said, I guess leaning in to the cat thing. "And also one of these." They said, pointing to something on the menu. Dunno what.

"Certainly. I'll be right back with your orders." The innkeeper lady said, and quickly walked off. 

"Anyways, where was I..." Catface began. "Ah, anyways, I dug up some information on the two of you, and-" They paused for a moment, for some reason. "Well, that's enough about me. What about you, Beyes? What's with the bandages?" 

"Oh, uh... Bit of a fight. Nothing too bad, though." I explained.

"Really? Looks to me like you got cut up pretty bad. I mean, you've got bandages in several places, and the affected area seems quite large. Even if nothing important was cut, which by itself would be surprising, most people would be bedridden from blood loss alone." 

S seemed to listen in closer as Catface said that. I guess he's been thinking about that as well. 

"W-well, the cuts weren't that deep. The bleeding stopped pretty quickly."

"Really?" Catface seemed skeptical. "Tell me...

Do you really believe that's the answer?"

Huh?

What... What? I mean, they'd have to be shallow cuts. That's the only way to explain why I'm still fine... Right? 

"What do you mean by that?" I asked.

Catface smiled. "Nothing." They said. I don't believe them for a second. "Who knows. Maybe you're just lucky."

I mean... Yeah. Obviously. Surely. That's gotta be it. 

...

It didn't take long for our food to arrive.