The younger bat led the pair to over to a bedroom up the stairs and far down the hall. The door was a solid lacquered oak with brushed copper knobs. Everything inside was coated in a thin film of dust. A window-door within was slightly opened, letting in the cold storm air from the stone veranda. It seemed the room was approximately over the kitchen area near the cave they entered by. The room was equipped with a fire place, a vanety table, a wardrobe, a closed closet, a few chairs, a velvety chaise lounge by the veranda, and a canopied king-sized bed in the center of the room fitted with sheets, blankets, and two pillows.

Oh ye gods, just one bed, was Feliph's first thought as she walked into the room with Tath and Hamilton. Generally speaking, sleeping with a cat snuggled up to her was awesome, and with Tath the idea sounded even more awesome (if not at all relaxing), but Feliph was sure it would be a bad idea to say so. She wasn't about to offer to flip a coin for the bed either though, just in case Tath was game... but as a result she really had no idea what to say. Finally she said weakly "It's cold in here, should we shut that window and start a fire?"

Tath's first order of business once they were safely inside the room was to offer the bat her thanks before shutting the door gently. The adventurer quickly glanced around the room, opening the closet, wardrobe, anything that could contain danger. Of course, hospitality was always appreciated, and if something shiny were to surface she'd have no qualms about procuring it, but on the whole Tath had learned to be wary of niceties from strangers. Even strangers they had just saved.

It was only then did the Catfolk realize Feliph's question, and she smiled brightly at her. "Aww," She mewed, "And here I thought you wanted to cuddle under the blankets for warmth."

Even as she protested, she closed the windows and latched them, taking a moment to gaze out into the night, before turning back to Feliph and unbuckling her sword belt, setting her rapier and her pack next to the bed as she strode over to the fireplace, beckoning Feliph closer as she fiddled with some flint and tinder.

"...They seem like nice folk, these bats." She whispered, "But you travel long as I have, you learn to be careful."

As Feliph watched Tath search the room, it occurred to her that she was kind of spoiled by having Hamilton for a companion. If he'd caught any untoward scents in here, he would have snuffled them out in a hurry. And she could sleep soundly knowing his keen ears were right next to her.

She colored all over again at Tath's question, but even with her social inexperience it was starting to dawn on her that the catgirl was teasing her. It didn't change that Tath's comment had hit the mark, though. "Well, I figured you might not want to cuddle with Hamilton," she mumbled.

She stepped closer at Tath's invitation, and nodded a little to her comment. "I understand," she whispered back. She really liked the little bats, but it was true that dealing with sentient creatures rather than true animals brought a lot more uncertainty to life. Feliph tended to avoid it. After that, though, she decided to get a little more direct; Tath had opened the door, so it didn't seem like she would seem too forward, and it might help her figure out just how much she was being teased here. "So, do you want to cuddle under the blankets for warmth?"

It's a good thing 'ear to ear' was a figure of speech, otherwise Tath would have channeled the Cheshire cat as she winked at Feliph, an ear twitching to the side. Playfully teasing though she was, if Feliph were comfortable with the idea Tath wouldn't hesitate to take her up on it. A few quick rings of the flint, and the fireplace crackled lowly, before the accumulated dust in the fireplace caught fire and helped the flames set to burning the logs lodged within.

Under normal circumstances, they'd set up watch or convince Zigor to watch over them while they slept, but Tath was a creature of impulse first. Besides, she reasoned with herself, Zigor would likely be prowling the place all night, and with the Pup's hearing and Tath's senses, they were more than safe. "Of course I do, cutie. Why d'you think I wanted you to bunk with me tonight, instead of anyone else?" She said, reaching up to gently tap at the girl's nose, if allowed. Of course, Tath really was trying to look out for the girl, but that didn't mean she couldn't dress it up with a bit of teasing and flattery.

As soon as the flames flared up, Hamilton trundled over to the fireplace and flopped over in front of it, watching his mistress and the catgirl with a tongue-lolling smile.

Feliph had half expected that Tath would back down with her bluff called, but either she wasn't bluffing at all or she was doubling down on it. Feliph wasn't really insightful enough to know which, but at this point she was willing to take Tath at her word. She colored again and giggled when Tath tapped her nose, the sound at once happy and excited and nervous. She wasn't self-confident enough to think this might go smoothly from here, when she might still screw it up. "O-okay, sounds good then," she said with a smile, before deciding to finally return Tath's compliment. "Um, I think you're really cute, too."

Hopefully it wouldn't sound like Feliph was just trying to return the compliment to be polite. She'd thought from first seeing her that Tath was really cute, but lacking her bravery hadn't dared say so outright.

The flames warmed the room slowly but surely, and luckily the logs weren't a bit wet form what was now a downpour. Perhaps the winds of fate finally smiled upon the group, or more likely the chimneys in the castle had weak runic enchantments placed on them.

The periodic booms and rumbles of the storm masked a more important sound that occured several yards down the hallway. Everything seemed peaceful for once, light and shadow flickered and danced around the room to the calming symphony of rain and thunder. Beside the mantle-framed fire, the closet seemed to be slightly ajar; was it always like that? Though perhaps it was just a trick of the lighting.

The Catfolk returned Feliph's giggle with one of her own, a low, pleased purr emanating from her throat as she did so. Wrapping an arm about Feliph's shoulders, Tath squeezed affectionately. "You know just the things to say to make a woman blush." She all but whispered into Feliph's ear, though whether or not she was blushing was another matter entirely. The film of fur covering her face seemed to mask it pretty well, if indeed she was telling the truth.

Tath's eyes did wander to the closet, and she quirked a brow in curiosity. She'd just finished double-checking the place from top to bottom, and had made sure to close everything she'd opened. If something had agitated it, Feliph's pet surely would have noticed something. The thief kept an eye on the door, though she didn't move from her spot near Feliph just yet.

Considering Tath's proximity to her and the nice squeeze she was getting, "O-oh," was all the weak reply that Feliph could manage to Tath's latest comment. She likely wouldn't have noticed the closet door, save that her senses were all hyperalert at the moment, mostly due to stress. She felt, apropos of the situation, like she had a tiger by the tail, and had little idea of how to proceed safely.

The problem was that Feliph had no idea if that stress, what with her pounding heartbeat and flushed face and all, was making her imagine something that wasn't actually amiss. The last thing she wanted was to make it sound like she was just making up excuses not to cuddle up with Tath, when in fact that was what she wanted very much! Thankfully, since her attention was mostly focused on Tath herself, she didn't miss the sideways glance and the quirked brow, and Feliph more openly looked that direction as well. "Um... something does seem off there, doesn't it?" she mumbled.

The closet did not give any indication of activity. The light of the fire did not reach within from that angle, and the gap was too small to be illuminated by the lightning, so there was not way of telling what, if anything was within. The rain pelted the window a loud torrent of white noise; uncountable drops without pattern, then every few second a boom like a cannon firing. There was still no way of hearing what transpired from beyond that room while the doors and window remained closed.