> Roll our eyes.
> "Tell you what. You can have the rest of my story if I survive it. Which is less and less likely by the minute, largely thanks to you."
>"Oh, a few hours isn't going to make much difference one way or the other, now is it?" she asks. "Although..." She idly taps the pen against the side of her chin as she appears to mull something over.
>At this point, another pair of tengu swoop down onto the deck, each holding one arm of a diminutive figure that danges between them. She is garbed in a stylish vest atop a breezy white shirt, with a bright red bandanna covering her head. The floppy white ears poking through it suggest she is a rabbit. Aya looks up in their direction as they arrive.
>"I was beginning to think Sotsu was ignoring me," she says.
>"Eh?" the rabbit asks, raising an eyebrow.
>Aya shakes her head. "Nevermind that now; the faster we can find what we came for, the faster we can be on our way. You know the drill, people!"
>The rabbit sketches a impish salute. "On the job, boss." The others give their own more formal acknowledgments and the group of them head towards the stairs.
