"..."

"...well, I have no idea what you're talkin' about! I've never even heard..."

"...just the other day! C'mon Cirno, we both know that..."

Hours pass by in an instant as Renko's body takes its time to heal. Though, as the moon & stars tell her while she's slowly roused by idle conversation, the girl seems to have been able to sleep until about 4 in the morning. The curtain had been mostly pulled over her by Cirno sometime during her rest, but just enough space was left near her head for the Physicist to make out two distinct silhouettes standing just outside the Igloo.

"I'll spend my weekdays how I'd like, thank you very much! What's it to you in the first place if I even am harboring someone? W-Which I'm not! Obviously..."
"I'm just following orders. Lady Remilia has Miss Izayoi scanning the Forest of Magic and Lady Patchouli is still unconscious, so I'm stuck with the local area. You'd be the first place to go to around here, there's no way I can't check."
"A-And why would I even care about some lousy human anyway? You know me Meiling..."
"I do, which is why I wouldn't be surprised if she was in there after all. She just wants the girl, Cirno. That's all."
"I...I-I'm not gonna let you in here..."

This could get ugly fast...that gatekeeper was already looking far more serious about having her way than Cirno seemed to be.

They want her that badly, do they?
"Hey, Cirno."

Both the Fairy and the Guard turn to face Renko in surprise at the sight of the college girl sitting on the edge of her makeshift bed, upper half poking out of what was still a tightly-wrapped blanket. Despite Meiling's readiness for a duel, she eased her battle stance and was willing to approach more amicably.
"It's alright." The Ice Fairy steps aside to let Meiling in, her practically 6ft. frame barely being able to stand fully upright within the center of Cirno's Igloo.
"Hey...is that one of my napping blankets?"
"I was planning to give it back, eventually..."
"Spare her the trouble, I was the one who needed a little more than snow to sleep on after all."

Meiling had no intention of immediately seizing the college girl, though stood firmly in Renko's way in an attempt to uphold some amount of commitment to her directives. It would've been nice to get her typical rest in after Tai Chi practice like usual, but Remilia was in enough of a temper already without having to deal with impudent underlings.

"You've antagonized some very powerful people, I hope you realize that."
"Well I didn't exactly intend on ending my stay here at that Mansion, it wasn't even my idea to initiate the raid in the first place."
"No, it wouldn't be. A scheme like that reeks of Kirisame, but she was bound to run out of luck one of these days anyways."
"You mean, she didn't actually..."
"Oh no, she held her own for a good ten minutes or so but everyone has their limits. They overwhelmed her eventually and we've decided to hold onto her for the time being."
"I'm guessing until I turn myself over to you, right?"
"Honestly, if you're askin' me, I think Lady Remilia just wants to make an example out of both 'a you. Publicly. I've never seen her more freaked out over Lady Patchouli than she is now, whatever you did to her with that device must've really set the Mistress off."
"That's one way to put it, that Patchouli girl though—she's a Youkai, isn't she?"
"Well, I guess...practically all of us are, anyways."
"Then there's no way a simple taser would be able to kill her. You all know that, right?"
"That /is/ what Miss Izayoi keeps saying, but Lady Remilia doesn't seem to be in the right state of mind anyways..." Part of Meiling did somewhat doubt that bringing this human in now really would do much to satiate the Vampire's temper but that isn't something that could've been easily said in the moment before she was sent off.
"If it'll even hold weight here at all, I can cut you a deal: if that woman doesn't wake up safely within the next 24 hours then you can come right back here and get me. No strings attached."
"And how do I know you're not just leading me on like you did with Lady Flandre?"

"Well, if we are all being honest here, then I suppose you'll just have to take me in now if you'll refuse to believe me."
Even with the fact that Renko barely came up to the Guard's chest, her choice to stand and physically offer herself that much more overtly carried a sizeable amount of resolve well-felt within the others. For a moment, Meiling was nearly unsure of where to go from here.

"Miss Renko, wait! Don't do it! There's so much more for you to see in Gensokyo, you said so yourself!" Cirno runs over to begin tugging against Meiling's open dress in protest, fists impudently smacking against hardened thighs.
"If you take her away, then you might as well take me down right now because I'll never forgive you!"
Meiling really could care less over the ultimate fate of this Outsider, but it was nice finally having someone to regularly talk to while she was on duty...