They traveled in companionable silence. While she knew there was something on his mind, Rayleigh's eagerness to escape the House of Cards eclipsed just about everything else. Weeks had passed since she had experienced anything worth calling an "adventure," and Vincent had seemed oddly distracted himself. Or, at the very least, too busy to be entertaining her. That's fine, Ray assured herself for the umpteenth time. She did not need to wait around for anyone, especially some uppity, work crazed magician... no matter how cute he was.

Only when they reached the tavern did Rayleigh finally turn to her companion to smile and shatter the cone of quiet around them. "It's a bit of a dump," she informed him, yanking the wooden door open with a blast of warm, foul-smelling air. "But it's cheap, and it's nearby, which are really the most important requirements." Slipping past him, the woman led the way into the Three-Legged Dog.

There were some who felt a dog should be put down for missing a leg. They might even see such thing as an act of mercy. Realistically, the same thing could be said for the tavern itself, with it's shady characters, terrible service, and tendency to burst into spontaneous bar-brawls. If the place were to catch fire at that exact moment, and be reduced to cinders, Ray supposed the universe would be doing them a favor.

Still, while it remained standing, she figured they might as well make the best of it. The mouse of a woman shouldered her way between a pair of muscled men who wore a startling cologne of dead fish and body odor, and made a beeline for a tiny table by a cracked window. For some odd reason, a fire crackled in the hearth despite the sticky heat. She put her back to it, plopped down in the chair, and gave her shoulders a small roll.

"I vote we give it a couple of minutes, and if that barmaid doesn't notice us by then, we fight our way up to the bar." Pausing to survey the line of bodies already seated there, she pursed her lips disapprovingly. Their broad, hairy backs formed a sort of wall, and as eager as she was to see action, attempting to crawl over seemed less than savory. Instead, she crossed her arms atop the table, and leaned forward toward John. "So how you been?" she inquired. "Somehow I don't see much of you, even though we basically live together."