Goaded into it.

[Guest]

Seleen had gotten so many things for doing hair and nails for Christmas. That was what happened when you learned a skill out of boredom. But now she had to have somewhere to put this stuff and a way to put it to good use. It would be a shame to waste such gifts. So Seleen needed a Salon.

Well, her only logical course of action would be to talk to the people of the Inn and see what the possibilities were. So she went down to the front desk to see if anyone was there who could help her out.

[Armandeus]

At the moment nobody was near the front desk, but that did not mean there was nobody around. Behind the bar the kitchen door had been propped open wide, allowing the lone occupant to hear into the outer room.

From the kitchen came a humming melody accompanied with a wet swishing sound. With all the cooking finally caught up for the moment, Armandeus was taking the opportunity to catch up on the cleaning. It was when he and his mop passed near the door that he caught a glimpse of the woman standing in front of the desk.

Popping his head out the door, he called out to her. "I'll be with you in just a moment." That said he disappeared back into the kitchen to wring out the mop.

True to his word, it was minutes later when the Elf reappeared, drying his hands on a towel. Approaching the desk he spoke, "Suilaid. Can I help you with something?"

[Guest]

Seleen smiled. She had not expected one of the men come to her aide. But she welcomed the help none the less. "Suilaid. You are ... Armandeus, right? I'm Seleen, we've never officially met before." Her right arm was extended towards the elf and accompanied by a very pleasant and sincere smile.

She bit her bottom lip for a moment. "I'm not sure if anyone can help me, but I'm willing to let you try. I got a whole bunch of stuff for Christmas that would go in a salon. I don't have one, and I kinda need one. But I don't want to have to get up and go to work every day. So, I was thinking maybe I could use an empty room, I could do people's hair and nails when they wanted." She wasn't exactly looking to open a shop in town where she had to be open every day. Just something by appointment only.

[Armandeus]

"Mae govannen Seleen," Her smile was met with one of his own as he extended his hand to shake hers. "I am afraid I am not terribly familiar with a salon, but you are in luck, for there are several rooms still empty."

Since they were standing at the desk, he reached out and picked up the ledger. "There's an empty room on the third floor that might be suited to your needs. It's the next to the last at the end of the hall. If I remember correctly it also has a large window in the back. What do you think?"

[Guest]

She thought about it for a moment. "The third floor is wonderful, but I'm a little worried about the smell from the chemicals. When I'm doing nails, the acrylic has a rather strong odor. Same with hair dye. I'm not exactly sure how we could work around that." She was trying to make it to where no one was inconvenienced. And something on the third floor, or even the second, would send that odor throughout the entire Inn.

So she gave it some thought. "Is there a room on the first floor with a private bath and maybe some big windows, or even a door leading outside, so I can maintain a constant air flow in the room when I'm working." Yes, she needed an airy room to keep from filling the Inn with that smell.

[Armandeus]

As Seleen spoke, Armandeus listened while flipping through the ledger. There were several rooms around the Inn currently empty, but none seemed to fit what she was describing.

Finally he looked up, a thoughtful expression on his face. "I think perhaps Epiphany would be a greater help to you than I. She has rather unique ideas on rooms. I'll get her for you."

[Guest]

Seleen seemed a little startled. She had a feeling that she had been right. She was asking for too much, asking for the impossible. But perhaps Epiphany could help. Though, she had her doubts, it wasn't Epiphany she was doubting, it was herself.

So she smiled and nodded to Armandeus. "Merry met Armandeus, and thank you." Now she would wait.

[Armandeus]

Nothing was impossible, at least it seemed that way in Armandeus' opinion. In the past months since the Inn opened he had seen, and heard, many things he had thought impossible. That had a way of changing ones perspective on things. "Don't thank me yet," He called back to Seleen as he headed up the stairs.

The Elf had confidence that if anyone could find a room it would be Epiphany. After all, she had several rooms built onto the Inn already. Reaching Epiphany's room he knocked on the door.

[Epiphany]

"Keep on knockin' but'cha can't come in!" That little ditty was sung from somewhere inside the door.. It came from here, there, and everywhere inside the wooden frame. The sound from the creature that lived in the door. Company was here and it was time to have a bit of fun! How it loved when people knocked! Sometimes. Sometime it was tired of all the knocking and searching for the person behind the door and so it took a vacation. That was not the case this time!

The sound of a spinning coin, and then a scurring against the wood before that small 2x3 slit opened at the top and a pair of silver pin-needle eyes peeked out to look at the person on the other side.

"Oh. Feh. It's you." Certainly sounded happy to see Ar didn't it!

[Armandeus]

Oh joy, the door was still alive! Armandeus had already been a round or two with the door before, so he knew what would be coming. Still though, you couldn't blame a guy for hoping that the next time would be different. Didn't it ever take vacations?

"It is you as well. I'm here to see Epiphany. Let me in." Yes, he was just as happy to see the door as well!

[Epiphany]

A very audible and uppity huff was heard from the door and you could only imagine that whatever was in the door had their arms folded and chin up in the air in a very snobbish way. Who did he think he was talking too? Did he not realize that this was the Door? The Door? The Door that went to so many obscure and wonderful places that it could bedazzle the mind with brightly colored gems and stickers? No. Well he was going to learn!

The door began to shake and with it came a great echo and a rumble. It was all an illusion, and merely existed only 3 feet beyond the door, but it was enough. "I am the great and powerful Door!b You don't give order to me you you..." such a dramatic, and uncalled for, pause. Quickly followed by a rustling of papers. "Ah! You Armandeus Va-lan-dil? Valandil! Haha!" Clearly the Door hadn't read his name in a very long time, or it hadn't ever read his name at all! "I have your name! It is I who ask the questions around here!"

Rumbling stopped, the echo ceased, and all was as it should be and was before the door had it's tantrum.

"Ahem. Besides. She's not here." Was it lying? Quite possibly!

[Armandeus]

It seemed Armandeus had touched a bit of a nerve there with the door, hadn't he? The shaking and rumbling was taken with a bored look, he had seen it all before! Did the great and powerful door forget that he had seen its tricks before? It was going to have to do better than a bit of rumbling!

He had to give the door some credit, it remembered his name, even if it couldn't pronounce it correctly. So, the door thought it was the one in charge. Two could play that game. "How do you know the name you speak is my true name? It may be false and then where would you be? A fake name is useless, is it not?"

As for the question of Where's Epiphany? "If she is not here, where is she? She must be somewhere and I am not leaving until I find out where."

[Epiphany]

This man, this Elf, what did he know anyway? Fake name, it wasn't a fake name now was it? If it were then he wouldn't care if she used it or not. Right? Anyway . . . The Door took what was said into consideration and Ar could even hear that paper rustling and all that nonsense. What was it doing but reading the paper again. "It's still good for me! You signed it and that's all that maaah-hey!"

The Door didn't even get a chance to finish what it as saying, for when it had loudly proclaimed Ar's name and had it's fit Epiphany had been altered and now had opened the door. It was pushed open and whatever was inside had gotten jostled around from being taken unaware. "Ar! Hello!" What was Epiphany up to in that room of hers and why did she look like a pirate with a leather tri-corned hat, waistcoat and drawers? Other accessories as well, like a sash, scarf, braids and bracelets, but the clothing stood out the most due to the flamboyant colors.

Yes, she was defiantly a pirate and his ears may even pick out the sound of a rolling sea behind him as she stepped out from behind the door, it slowly closing behind her. "What's up?"

[Armandeus]

Unfortunately for Armandeus the door was suddenly opened before he could start demanding his name back from it. That was probably a good thing considering the sight it would have made for a grown Elf to be arguing with a talking door.

Ar was lucky though because the door opened to reveal Epiphany, who was wearing pirate clothes? One eyebrow raised as he looked her over, only to be followed by the other as his ears caught the sounds of crashing waves. "Going sailing in your room, Elvellon?"

[Epiphany]

Going sailing, in her room. If it were any room but Epiphany's that statement might not have made a lot of sense - neither would have the sound of the sea - but Ar knew Epiphany and therefore it make perfect sense for him to ask what he had. What else could she do but nod her head?

"That's right! Wanna come? We could use another guy on the rig-lines. John's saying that he sees a storm coming in off the port." The words just rolled off her tongue as natural as anything. Clearly she didn't think anything was out of the ordinary at all in holding this conversation. "Extra hands are always a welcome, especially if someone gets knocked off into the seas by a wave." She slouched a bit, leaning to the right with most of her weight on her left leg, and scratched the side of her neck.

"Hmm. So yeah! You game?" Did she just offer him a chance to get swept away out to sea in a storm?

[Armandeus]

It wasn't everyday one got invited to join a ship on a stormy sea, and if he hadn't left Seleen waiting downstairs, Armandeus might have taken Epiphany up on the offer.

But he had, so he chuckled and shook his head. "I would enjoy joining you on scouting the seas, but for the moment you are needed downstairs. There is a woman named Seleen inquiring about opening something called a salon. I checked our ledger and it seems we do not currently have a room to suit her needs. It was my hope you would be able to help her."

[Epiphany]

It was a shame that Ar came with a task for Epiphany to do for it appeared that he genuinely was interested in entering into the room. If he was a sailor Next time. There was always a next time, he simply had to remember to knock upon her door.

A salon, at the Inn? She knew what one was, even saw them during an adventure or two, but she had never actually done and had services done. This could be interesting, especially considering the amount of females at the Inn. Maybe it could even turn into one of those spa places...hmm. Yes, Epiphany was thinking on someone elses idea.

"Oh! Seleen!" If she was waiting downstairs she might have been there for a while - there was no telling how long Ar had been talking to the door. She opened her door, "Stay away from the squalls!" she shouted into the room. "I'll be back!" With that she closed the door and grinned at Armandeus.

"Well, time to go see about this salon." Was he going to follow? She wasn't too sure, he might, so she didn't rush ahead like a crazy person, but she did make her way downstairs.

When she was two steps away, Epiphany simply jumped down over the railing and landed on her feet, making a *thud* on the floors. She saw Seleen and grinned, waving to her as she approached the desk.

"Hey Seleen. So you wanna open a Salon?"

[Guest]

Seleen looked up to see Epiphany coming from the stairs after hearing her jump down and thud upon the floor. "Hey Epiphany." If Armandeus were coming along behind her she would thank him for going to get Epiphany to help her, and thank him for the help he gave. "Well, I got all that stuff for Christmas. I never should have told Venis I was bored all those hundred or so years ago. She sent me to beautician's school." Yes, Venis' cure for boredom is school.

She shook her head. "So I've been rather goaded into opening a salon. I mean, I would hate for the stuff to go to waste. So I need a well ventilated room, preferably on the bottom floor. Because I don't want to open one in town if I don't have to. That would mean getting up and going to work all the time." Getting up and going to work was not exactly Seleen's cup of tea. Not at all.

But if the salon was here in the Inn ... "I could be rather exclusive if it were here at the Inn. You know, only open up when someone sets an appointment. I can do hair and nails and have like an aroma therapy room or something, I don't know like a spa or something. I don't know, kinda just playing it by ear here." Seleen knew what she needed and how to set things up in a general sense, but for specifics she would need to see the room first.

[Epiphany]

An exclusive spot, ventilated, and somewhere on the ground floor. Epiphany listened to all that Seleen was saying as she pulled her tri-cornered hat off her head and ran her fingers through her hair, shaking out the braids and colored threads. She was thinking and running through the list of rooms in her head. Off the top of her head, she didn't think they had any rooms like that free on the first floor.

Sitting the hat on the desk she pulled out the ledger and looked through it, knowing that Ar had probably already done this, but she was looking for space. "Um.. well.. looks like we may have to build you a room." she said slowly as she considered the options. "Yeah. A good place would be the Meeting Hall. Now," closing the book she looked up at her.

"With the help of my guys we can one of the hallway closets, next to the Hall, into a fairly good sized salon for you to use." Yes a closet. Don't question it, just go with the flow. "And it's turned to the side of the Inn, at the back, so you can have windows to help with air flow. Maybe even a back door." The gears were turning. "You could get clients who are not in the Inn from that way or.. what not."

[Guest]

Seleen was got this look of shock on her face. "Oh, no, no, no, that's too much trouble. I don't want to put anyone out. If there's no room than it's fine." She chuckled, she didn't want to make more work for someone. "It's not that important that people have to build me a room. I'm sure that there are more important things to worry about building." Clients that are not from the Inn? Turning a closet into a salon? Seleen's head was swimming now. Epiphany was full of idea's. Wow, it was almost as if the thought had crossed her mind before.

[Epiphany]

As soon as Seleen started to say no and back out of the ordeal - it seemed like she was trying to back out of it - Epiphany started to laugh and waved her hand in a dismissive manner. Something was funny.

"Oh no, no, no." She said as she started to calm down, Epiphany even moved out from behind the desk. "You're not putting anyone out. You're moving in! It'll be fabulous! Marvelous even!" She didn't know if Seleen was a touch person or not, and being the she was a Vampire that Epiphany didn't know that well, she wasn't too willing to risk any unforeseen complications. But she did approach her side and turned to face the same direction she was in and held her hands out towards the general direction of the meeting hall, and made a box with her fingers. Eyes squinting as she looked through her fingers.

Once you get Epiphany talking about a project idea . . . She continued. "We can attach it to the Meeting Hall because, come on, it's not like it's one of the most popular rooms and if you need a place for people to wait or what not, then they can do so there and not clutter up business." She took her hands down then and fixed Seleen with a smile.

"Just let me know what you want and we'll start work. If you want, that is."

[Guest]

Seleen chuckled. Yes, something was funny. And oddly enough, it wasn't Epiphany's outfit. That was way cute. So she listened and she watched. For a moment she had thought Epiphany was going to hug her or something. Funny thing is, Epiphany was one of the few people in the world who could get away with touching Seleen. She wasn't a touch person with everyone. But some people she didn't mind touching her. For some unknown reason, Epiphany was one of them. "By the way, love the outfit, really, it's cute."

She leaned to the side and down as she peered through Epiphany's finger box with her. And as Epiphany spoke, Sel had some idea's running through her own head. Off the Meeting Hall could be good. When she used words like fabulous and marvelous, how could Sel not get a little excited about the project. She would need the pluming done, because she had to have running water. She would need the floors done, hardwood wouldn't work because chemical spills would ruin it. There were fixtures to install. This was a lot of work, and in order to know exactly how much, Seleen needed to see the space. "Can we go look at it and I can figure it out better from there?" That should work.

[Epiphany]

"Go....look at it?" Well wasn't that enough to make Epiphany pause in her train of thought. "You want to go look at the closet? Now?" She could go and look at it, but she wouldn't be able to see too much yet, but they could at least get an idea. Besides, maybe Seleen had a really good imagination and she would be able to see past the small space, hangers, shelves and what not, to see what the room could be.

An elaborate shrug of her shoulders that was then accompanied with a smile. "All right, let's go then!" to the Meeting Hall they went! "Oh, thanks. I'm sailing the rough seas in my room." She almost forgot about the comment on her attire. Again, the mention of what she had been doing said in a very natural manner. "Left one of the older kids in charge to steer while I was gone." Hopefully she wouldn't get back and see the boat floating in splinters over the waters.

Seleen had been there before, the meeting hall, for other things - most recently Christmas - so the place wasn't entirely new to her. Off to the side, at the back was a medium size storage closet. Very neat on the inside thanks to De'Ryanna and her freakishly neat habit. Inside were the usually things that you'd expect to see in a closet, cleaning supplies, extra bulbs, papers, mats, very ordinary things.

"Now, you have to really use your imagination here. But once I get done with this, this, will be a pretty good sized room."

[Guest]

She nodded when Epiphany asked her if she wanted to go see the closet, and Seleen was one of Venis' vampires. If Epiphany thought that Seleen hearing that she was sailing rough sea's in her room would shock the vampire, she should spend more time with Venis when she's in the mood for adventure. "Well, I hope no one gets washed overboard." She chuckled as they walked to the Meeting Hall.

Seleen walked into the closet that Epiphany was showing her. She walked around in the closet for a moment. She looked around in circles and then looked up and down. Yes, this could work. She walked over to one of the walls. "Can we move this wall back about ten feet maybe? Or this wall, about six or seven feet? Because then we can put a door in this wall. A window here. We could put the sink over here." She was walking around the closet laying out the floor plan in her mind.

She stopped for a moment. She started going over the list in her head. She needed so many things. She looked down at the floors, work from the ground up. "Well, let's see, the floors, we need something other than hard wood. Something that can stand up to the chemicals in case they get spilled. Then the walls, they need moved and that outside door an some windows, yes, more than one. I need lots of fresh air." That was one of her main concerns.

She moved on. "I need a hand washing sink over here, and a hair washing sink over here. I can place my chair here, and I can put the mirrors up over here and there's the perfect spot for my table where I can do nails. Yes, yes, this can work. I can put a fan up there above the door, and colors, oh let's talk colors, well maybe later we can talk colors. I like how you think Epiphany." And here she had been thinking of backing out of all this salon business.

[Epiphany]

If she had thought that the tale of sailing in her room would have been shocking then she would have said something different. Or not. Didn't much matter to her if people thought the things she did odd or not.

While Seleen was going on her tour of the closet, Epiphany took the time to snag a piece of paper and a pen from there - it was a supply closet - so she could jot down the ideas. This meant drawing. If looking at what she was doing on the paper anyone would see that she was sketching out the room and made notes in various spots. Listening she nodded as Seleen spoke, adding "Uh-huh," "Yeah," and "Okay" in various spots to show that she was listening and understood what was being said.

"It's not to awfully big a project, I don't see why it would take longer than a week to get done." that was her rough estimated time frame. "The hardest thing will probably be finding the equipment." Epiphany even laughed at that. A small bit of laughter, but laughter all the same.

"Color can always come after the walls and floors are in. Though.. you'd have to let me know what type of floor, unless you want marble or granite like what I use for alchemy. That can work." Were the chemicals in Salons that dangerous? "And colors for any equipment. If you want a special color..."

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