Frustration setting in

[Guest]

Dalia had been back from her trip for some time now. She had seen her dearest Zephyr at a holy place of rest shortly after she had returned. But she had not seen him since. She was starting to worry. He had not come to her room that night, or any night since. And she had wanted to talk to him. She had tried several times to check for him in his room, but alas, he was not there either. It was getting to be rather frustrating. She was a worrier at heart, and now she was getting very seriously worried about Zephyr.

She felt she needed a distraction to keep her mind off of worry for a bit. So she headed downstairs to the Lounge. She found a nice comfortable position on the couch, and grabbed up the remote to the big screen television. She hit the button to turn it on and immediately turned down the volume. She didn't need it that loud. She went to the menu to scroll down and see what was on. But the reading was giving her a headache. So she opted to flip through the channels the old fashioned way instead.

[Ailylaeli]

((Cadmon-mun said I could post this as to why I was absent so unexpectedly.))

Ailylaeli had been feeling under the weather since she had woke up the morning after that party in the bar. Cadmon had told her that it was probably the effects of the alcohol on her delicate system combined with the Rhy'Din weather. She had spent so man years on Earth, that sometimes the climate changes took some getting used to here.

It all sounded a little silly to her. But he had been coming by every day to check on her. Even bringing her soup and juice. He said that some people had taken care of him while he was sick and so he wanted to take care of her. She had remembered him talking about being sick that day in the bar when they had met. So she thought that he would know how to make her feel better.

And look at that, she did feel better

But now it was time to get back to work. She had a tab to work off. His word. He called it a tab. Said it meant a bill, like a line of credit. She still hadn't understood completely, but she figured she would eventually. In the mean time, there was work to be done. There was always work to be done, even if it was just dusting the furniture.

So she got up and showered. She got dressed in her green shirt and her pants. She still had not found time to go shopping. Though, with the gift Cad had given her at the party, she could go shopping now. And Cad even offered to take her. She liked having a friend. Even if he was human. Maybe if she had met people like him on Earth, she would have enjoyed her time there more.

But seriously, work to be done, somewhere.

She headed down to the Lounge. She figured she would do some housekeeping to start off her day. She had retrieved some cleaning supplies from the closet in the hall and went into the Lounge to clean up. She figured she would dust, then sweep. Or would the sweeping make it so that she would have to re-dust? But if she swept first, then wouldn't the dusting make it so that she had to re-sweep?

Before she could figure out the answer to her dilemma, she noticed that the big box of sounds and colors was on. And the picture was slowly rotating from one thing to the next. It would stop one one thing now and again, but it would soon flip to another picture again. So she moved closer and that was when she saw the lady on the couch. She was making the box change.

She didn't look very happy staring at that thing.

She moved over so she could be caught out of the corner of the woman's eye before she spoke. "Hello, my name is Ailylaeli, you can call me Ail. Are you ok? Should I get the Doctor?" She remembered meeting the Doctor. She would have to look him up soon anyway, he said he would teach her to read. But for now, if he was needed, it wasn't for teaching her to read.

She wasn't sure how else to handle the situation of this lady looking the way she did. She hadn't had much experience dealing with people given most of her life had been spent in a cage. It's kind of hard to become a people person when you live like an animal. But she was willing to try to help this woman. How could she not? After all, aren't the Inn employees supposed to be helpful?

And she was pretty sure she would not be in trouble for this.

[Guest]

Dalia was rather shocked when she heard someone speaking to her. She had been rather engrossed in the TV. "Oh, hi. I am Princess Dalia. You may call me Princess, or Dalia, I will answer to either. Pleasure to meet you Ail. I am sorry, I did not hear you come in." She smiled and even chuckled slightly. "I am fine thank you. I do not need a doctor. But thank you. I am just sad. I am missing someone who is special to me. I cannot find him." She saw the cleaning supplies in the ladies hand. "Do you need for me to leave while you clean?"

[Ailylaeli]

Ailylaeli was a little taken back by the woman's cander. She seemed to have no problem sharing things with strangers. Which is essentially what Ail was. But the woman, Princess Dalia, seemed so sad. She wasn't sure what she could do to help, but she would sure try. "No, you don't have to go. I can work with you in here. If you want, we can talk while I clean up." Now wasn't that the polite thing to do? Ail figured she might be able to at least listen to the woman, even if she had no idea what advice to give her.

She walked over to the fireplace and began to dust it. "This person you're missing. Does he know you miss him when he's not around. Oh, I'm sorry Princess, I didn't mean to jump to conclusions. Is it a he?" That was her best guess given how sad the woman seemed to be. Most people didn't get this sad over people who were just friends. Ail had seen behavior like this before. It usually stemmed from a relationship. But then again. That relationship could have been with a woman just as easily.

After all, in this day and age ...

[Guest]

Dalia smiled a small sincere smile. "You have not offended me Ail, but yes, it is a man that I miss so terribly. You are quite wise to have figured that out." She muted the television and turned in her seat to better see the young woman. After all, she was dusting things that were behind the couch and across the room. And it was rude to keep your back turned to someone while speaking to them. Dalia did not want to be rude to this young lady who had been so kind in offering to lend an ear.

She watched Ail work for the span of a brief moment. "Is there something I can help with?" She was sure that there had to be something she could do while they talked. She did not want to sit there and watch her work like she was a servant or something. Even when she was at home, in the castle, she did not watch the servants work. She either helped or simply did not allow them to work around her.

[Ailylaeli]

Ailylaeli was happy to hear that she had not offended the woman. She worried about offending people a lot. "I'm glad I didn't offend you Princess. Um, I have an extra feather thingy, if you would like to help me dust." She picked up the pink feathery thing and offered it to her. She was thankful for the offer of help while they talked.

She started using the orange feathery thingy on the bottles that were on the shelves. She figured that the Princess would open up to her if she wanted to, but that she wouldn't push. But she also figured that she would try to get the ball rolling on the conversation. "This man, do you? I mean, is he your boyfriend" She wasn't sure if that was the right word for what she was thinking, but if it wasn't, the Princess would correct her, right?

And either way, it was a good ice breaker question, right?

[Guest]

Dalia got up from her seat and walked around the couch. She took the offered duster and walked over to a section that had not been done. She began to dust as she spoke. Girl talk might end up being just what the doctor ordered. "Thank you, I did not want to sit and watch you work." She smiled over at Ail as she dusted, making sure to get all the dust up and swept away to the floor.

Dalia was a little caught off guard by the boyfriend question. "I am not quite sure if boyfriend is correct. We have not discussed titles for what we have yet. But, I do care of him as if he were my boyfriend. I have honestly never felt this way of another. And when he's not here ..." She trailed off there. She was not sure that she knew how to explain what she was trying to say.

[Ailylaeli]

Ailylaeli smiled at the Princess. "Thank you, but you know, as a guest, you're welcome to sit and watch me work. I'm actually kinda used to it." And she had been, after all, that was her childhood. But she continued to dust as she listened for the Princess to speak.

She understood how the Princess felt. She had been there before. Only Ail had never had the chance to be close to the man she had fallen in love with. And before she knew it, he was gone. He had plummeted to his death from atop the tight rope. Even now it made Ail's heart hurt to think about it.

But life moved on.

She understood what the Princess meant about when he was gone. She knew that feeling all too well. "It's like he is your every thought and nothing else in life feels right." Maybe someday, Ail would know that feeling again. She doubted it, but she was young. Stranger things have happened.

She was glad that the Princess felt comfortable enough to talk to her. Sometimes, a little girl talk is exactly what is needed. "I remember love like that. Though, sadly, I lost my love before he even knew I existed. So, your boyfriend, does he reside within the Inn?" Perhaps there was a way to help.

Like maybe she could check the book to see if he was still there?

[Guest]

Dalia was shocked by what Ail had said. She had known love and yet it had been lost to her before it could blossom. That was very sad to hear. "I am sorry to hear of your lost love." She was not sure of what else to say about it. "Yes, Zephyr is staying here at the Inn. His room is ... Was on the first floor. I went there before I came here, he was no longer there." She was upset about this fact, more than even she herself knew

Ailylaeli knew from the Princess' tone that she was very distraught over not being able to find her boyfriend. "Well, come on, let's see if he checked out or if he switched rooms and forgot to mention it." She put her duster down and headed for the door of the Lounge. She would have the Princess help her look and see.

She sat her duster down as well. "That is very sweet of you Ail. Thank you." She followed her from the Lounge to the front desk.

When the two women got to the front desk, Ail opened the book up to the first page. How was she ever going to figure out if this guy of the Princess' was still within the Inn if she couldn't read? But then she got an idea. "Um, would you know his mark if you saw it? I am not sure which one would be his." That should do the trick.

Dalia seemed suspicious for a moment. She was not quite sure why Ail would not just look for his name herself. But she had said she wouldn't know his mark. Perhaps that was it exactly. Because why would she lie about such a thing? "Um, let me see." She looked at the book. She saw the doodles upon the pages. It made her smile. But she saw his name, she also saw that his account had been settled. Her heart sank. Why would he leave and not tell her?

Ailylaeli saw the look on the Princess' face change when she saw his mark. He must have checked out. "I am sorry if it seems he has checked out Princess. Perhaps someone he knew could tell you what happened?" The look on the Princess' face made Ail want to cry. She looked that sad.

"I know he had a friend he called 'Kitty Kat.' But I do not think she would tell me, even if I could find her." Dalia was heart broken. She should have taken the time to get to know his friends better. It was too late now.

Ailylaeli felt very bad for her. She wanted to help her any way she could. "Maybe we could go look for him later, together?" She hoped that the Princess would take her up on the offer. She liked the idea of making a new friend. And what better way to do so than this?

Dalia was a little shocked by the offer. "That would be lovely. Thank you Ail. Come, let us finish the housekeeping first." She moved from the book and the desk to head back to the Lounge, where the two ladies shared small talk and finished cleaning before they went to go see what they could find out about her dearest Zephyr.

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