The Wayfarer's Inn

[Karis Ziranphel]

Thûllir Bregedŷr
Third Week of August
Behind the Wayfarer’s Inn - heading to the streets

Nodding his thanks to Alf and agreement with his thought process, Thûllir concurred with Kaylin’s statement. “Yes, let's go home.” He cleared his throat slightly before addressing the others in brief farewell. “Until next time. Cadil, Trastion.” Perhaps they could talk through whatever had led to this another time, but he didn’t want to stick around longer. Not with Kaylin almost silent beside him.

Thûllir snugged Kaylin against his side as he turned them away from the Wayfarers Inn and up the long road home. He had briefly considered staying there and making use of Alf and Hildy's hospitality and one of their rooms, but it was both too close to what had just occurred, and there wasn’t sufficient privacy for what he wanted. They needed their own space now, with no reminder of the traumatic events of the past hour.
The walk would do them both good, even if their steps were slow. He had every intention of carrying her if need be, but knew she would want to be seen walking away on her own two feet. His posture did not invite anyone else to walk along with them, even if they were going in the same direction.

He bent his head beside hers so that their conversation was entirely private, keeping his eyes enough on the street that he could direct their steps and watch for danger, but most of his attention focused on Kaylin. He could sense her continued unease, and wanted to cut it off. His voice was a low murmur when he spoke. “It's a good thing we are going to Linhir soon. I need time with you Kaylin. Just us. For a while at least.” It was more in his face here in Minas Tirith that almost all of her acquaintances were men, and this drinking with the guys could easily get out of hand with her competitive nature. He wasn’t exactly any better at saying no to her than the others, but also never spurred her into such mischiefs. The drinking worried him, but mostly what he felt was relief that she was there, with him, walking home by his side. That was the best part of living here with her instead of in Ithilien most of the year. They might have her attention for the day, but she came home to him each night. Eventually at least. “Tonight…tonight I want to take care of you, pamper you, and make you feel better.” Thûllir gave her a light squeeze with his hand at her waist to emphasize that he meant it. It would also help him feel better to be able to care for her after that scare.

His voice continued its low murmur. “Willow bark tea with honey to ease your head, and a steaming hot bath to ease the bumps and bruises. You let me wash you and comb out your hair and apply all the ointments, and then…” He dipped his head closer to her ear and his voice dropped lower. “If you want me to just hold you or leave you to sleep it all off I shall, but what I want to do…what I want to do is…” His voice dropped even quieter as he whispered his suggestions in her ear, paused briefly to let those words sink in, and then spoke again in his previous normal low murmur. “But I will do whatever you wish. I love you Kaylin, Melethril mine. I want to celebrate life together with you.”

[Arnyn]

Kaylin
Third week of August
Behind the Wayfarer's Inn - heading to the streets

Home. Home sounded good to her. If only... If only it weren't so bloody far away. And if only she did not have to dread the angry scolding she was likely - and justifiably- in for. After a moment's consideration she was suddenly glad for the distance to their house on the Sixth. For it was within their own home where Thûllir would feel most at ease to show his emotions. Kaylin knew he hated to make a spectacle of himself in public. He would wait to scold her… the distance gave her a stay of execution.

"Bye, guys," she said as she looked at Trastion and Cadil, her tone a mix of guilt and tension. What was she even supposed to say after all of this? "Sorry," she added quickly, fully intending to make a better apology at some later date. She wanted to add whether they could say goodbye to Mourgan, too, because she didn't have the heart to explain much to him at the moment. But she hesitated too long, and Thûllir seemed to have a plan.

[Post continued in the Streets of MT thread]

[Rillewen]

@Arnyn @Isolde Alarion @Pele Alarion @Karis Ziranphel

Recruit Trastion Leithor
Third Week of August

He wasn't very surprised to hear that Mourgan had taken care of the other guy, considering what he had seen of them both when he went outside to look for Kaylin. But, it was still good to hear it confirmed, after some time had passed in which he hadn't seen what was going on with the Mourgan. Especially, since this was Mourgan's first day being released from the houses of healing. It would've been terrible for him to have to go right back with fresh injuries!

The next moment, Alf asked whether he'd like him to check the knots he had tied, and then added a reminder that he had supposedly been drinking almost as much as Kaylin had been. Oh, right. Trastion had sort of forgotten about that momentarily, with all the stuff going on, and his worry for Kaylin had briefly driven the whole fake-drunk thing out of his mind. He hoped he hadn't blown it by now, but he gave a slow nod in reply to the innnkeeper. He figured it wouldn't be a bad idea even if he wasn't supposedly drunk, since he mostly only knew knots for climbing, not for restraining criminals. "Might be a good idea," He agreed quietly, almost in a mumble, in an effort to try and reclaim at least some of the drunken act.

It probably helped, in that regard, that he'd gotten a bit of Cadil's drink and Mourgan's drink splashed and dripped on his clothing. Which explained why he was feeling a little itchy, he realized. He'd ignored it so far, but there were definitely places on his arms, shoulders, and torso which had begun itching over the past couple of minutes, and he only hoped that it wouldn't be as severe as the last time he got alcohol on him... during the midsummer event. But he seriously doubted it would, since ale was a whole lot weaker than that stuff in Mourgan's flask, and it hadn't gotten soaked into his shirt and left on him for hours and hours. So, yes.. he'd be fine, just a little itchy for a while.

Glancing up as he heard both Thullir and Kaylin bidding he and Cadil goodbye, Trastion lifted a hand in a wave of farewell, but for the moment he couldn't quite think of anything to say. This whole evening had gotten very much out of hand, far too quickly, and he was more convinced than ever that nothing good ever came of alcohol, and even less good came from hanging around places where people go to drink it. Which made it all the more difficult for him, that it was necessary to pretend that he did drink, and to convince people of that.

With a sigh, Trastion tried to think how to pick up where he left off with the act, before the thugs started picking a fight. He stood up with the intention of moving out of the way so that Alf could check the ropes he had tied around Elmir's wrists. As he did, he staggered slightly and put out a hand to brace himself against the wall closest to him. "Whoa.." He mumbled, blinking a couple of times as if he was suddenly lightheaded. In actuality, he had just stood up a little too fast and had a brief moment of dizziness, but he decided to go with it, since it seemed to help with what he was trying to accomplish.

[Pele Alarion]

Cadil
Third Week of August

It felt good to have a task entrusted to him and to be able to focus on something useful instead of staring at these men who annoyed him to no end with their words.

"Right. Guards," Cadil stated matter-of-factly and waved his hand at Thûllir and Kaylin as he set off on his assignment and let the two walk past him first on their way home. He lingered only for a moment to look after them and hoped this situation would not turn into some family scandal. Then he resumed on his own way half running half walking. Surely, the guards at one of the gates should be able to direct him towards any out on the patrol.

It was no easy task to convince the gate guards that he was in serious need of a whole patrol to take four men into custody, and begrudgingly he ended up describing more details to them than he cared for, but eventually he received directions for the nearest patrol of three guards. When he finally found them, he was not pleased to have to repeat the whole story yet again to convince them to come along.

"But there are four of them. All like... proper mountains of muscle, bound though they be," he warned as he led them towards the inn as quickly as he could.

When they came to the location, the leader of the group talked with Alf to confirm the details Cadil had shared, and hear everything from someone who did not seem like a... someone who can easily get into trouble himself. The others took to herding the slightly or quite badly damaged thugs together for a march to the jail.

"Yeah," he sighed, turning to Trastion and Mourgan. "You, guys, going up to the barracks? I could join you for at least a bit on the way to my own home. Or are you staying or something?"

[Isolde Alarion]

Mourgan

Third week in August

Hearing the threat he intended for Trastion, Mourgan answered him. "Best thing you can do is forget he exist." The threat in his voice held a stern promise of retribution if anything were to happen to his friend. He would have punctuated his threat with a punch to the mouth but just then Alf interrupted him. He took the rope and quickly tied up the downed man. He nodded at Alfs threat because he did wish to return at some point.

"I got this." He added shortly after hearing something coming from the alley and watched Alf take off. He looked down at his charge but shortly he watched Cadil take off somewhere. He wanted to know what was happening, but he'd promised Alf. He looked at the guy again and was about to take him by his bound arms and drag him to the alley when a patrol arrived with Cadil.

Shortly his charge was being taken away and he made his way over to Trastion and Cadil. He looked for Kaylin. "Where's Kaylin? She alright?" There was concern in his voice seeing as she was nowhere to be seen. He waited for an explanation before answering Cadil. He motioned to Trastion. "I don't know about him, but I think I've had enough excitement for the night. Besides, I need to get cleaned up." He motioned to the sliced shirt with a few hints of blood on it. He held up a hand to stop Trastion from asking and being worried. "Nothing serious, just a couple scratches." He looked back to the fading scene of the patrol taking the men away. "Besides, we could use the time walking back to the barracks for Trastion to explain how he broke that guy's nose." He half grinned as he turned to look at his roomie with a curious upturn of his brow.

[Rillewen]

@Isolde Alarion @Pele Alarion

Recruit Trastion Leithor
Third Week of August

Though it was probably unnecessary, Trastion kept an eye on the other two while Alf was checking Elmir's bonds, and stayed close to the wall, leaning his shoulder against it, as if the wall were helping to keep him upright. It was disappointing that things had gone so far wrong. They'd been trying to celebrate a good thing.. two good things actually, and now that was ruined. He felt bad for Mourgan's first day out of the houses of healing having turned into this. But he felt even worst for how bad things had gotten for Kaylin. And now, it occurred to him, that with her gone, and no one to ask for advice about acting drunk, and he wasn't really sure how to continue this act. Yet, he couldn't just drop it, suddenly. Right?

Being unsure what to do, he kept quiet while he waited, hoping it would only seem as if he was not feeling so great. Kaylin had gone quiet, he recalled, so that seemed believable enough, anyway. Eventually, Cadil returned with several guards to haul away the thugs. Trastion was relieved that they did not seem to be the same guards who had taken custody of Elmir and Balthor before, and listened as Alf gave an account of the ordeal. He nodded here and there in the background, but there was really no need for him to speak up and before long, the guards were leaving with their prisoners.

Then Mourgan joined them, and Trastion was very glad to see him, although the cuts on his shirt made Trastion widen his eyes slightly. Before he could ask or express concern, his roommate had asked about Kaylin. "Thullir was here.. actually, he did most of the fighting," He explained, slightly sheepish that he hadn't done very much. "He took her home a little bit ago." He was preparing to ask if Mourgan was alright, but Mourgan apparently guessed what he was thinking, and assured Trastion he was fine, just a couple of scratches. Trastion nodded slightly, taking Mourgan's word for that. It was clearly nothing compared to the stabs he had endured not too long ago, anyway, and it seemed maybe the shirt had taken more damage than Mourgan, though some blood showed on the edges of the cuts. Those would definitely need to be cleaned, he figured, so it was no surprise that Mourgan wanted to go and get cleaned up.

"Yeah, I'm definitely going to the barracks now." Trastion agreed with him about that. "I want to get cleaned up and into some other clothes.. hope we can sneak by Lt Brian," He mentioned to Mourgan with a little amusement. His shirt smelled rather strong of alcohol now. It was getting a little difficult to resist the itching sensation under his shirt, but he somehow managed. Still, he figured if the lieutenant saw them, he'd have a few things to say about their condition. But he wasn't terribly worried about it, at the moment. He looked over at Cadil, remembering he had asked about walking with them. "You can join us 'til we get to your stop, sure. How far are you going?" He asked curiously. Turning to the innkeeper, he gave a little nod of gratitude. "Thanks for everything, sir. Sorry that this happened in your place, though."

Once it seemed that they were ready to set off toward the barracks, he stepped away from the wall, walking a bit unsteadily as he set off with the other two, and let out a little laugh when Mourgan asked about how he'd broken Dalloran's nose. "I actually didn't!" He insisted, putting his hands up as if in protest. "Really, that was his friend's doing." He nodded to Cadil. "That one you were wrestling with, Corgad or whatever, it was his fist that did that." Trastion smiled innocently. "All I did was duck."

[Pele Alarion]

@Rillewen , @Isolde Alarion
Cadil
Third Week of August

"Yeah, Thûllir swooped in like a furious eagle, tossed the thugs this way and that, and took Kaylin home," Cadil added his view of how things turned out to fill in Mourgan on how things had gone around the corner. "I'm sure Kaylin could not be in better hands, so she'll be just all right."

He rubbed his bruised torso where he had taken a heavy punch and winced. The whole drama had made his own wish for more time at the pub diminish rapidly, but neither did he look forward to possible explanations to his folks back home. He was only slightly tipsy, and his damage was not visible, so perhaps it would not be too bad.

"Not that far to go with you, only to the third circle," he said regretfully and for a moment considered taking a longer walk. But then again... why bother walking all the way up and then down again after - and that all alone. He was glad that Trastion got to telling the story of breaking the guy's nose right away, for he was wanting to hear that.

"Ha! Served 'm well, no doubt," he snorted. "They better learn their lesson and stop itching for more, now that there's even more of us against them."

[Rillewen]

Travelers from Afar
Dec. 20th

"Do you have any available rooms?" Gladhron inquired at the desk, hopeful. Having made inquiries at all the inns on the first level, the group had moved on to the next level with hopes of finding some sort of vacancy.

The innkeeper had to check, due to how many rooms had been books during the past few weeks. "Looks like we've got two left," He replied.

"We'll take them," The lady spoke up swiftly before anyone else could come along and snatch the rooms out from under them. She exchanged a relieved glance with the young man standing near her. They'd had a thankfully uneventful journey, though it was quite long, and they were more than glad to have reached their journey's end, at last. But finding somewhere to stay now that they had arrived.. was proving more difficult than they had anticipated.

"But there's only two," Gladhron protested, expecting disappointment from the ladies. There had, during the course of their trip, been talk of the two girls sharing one room while their aunt took one for herself. The brothers, of course, would share a room as they usually did.

"That's fine," Seri insisted. "The girls and I can share one room together, and you and your brother can have the other." With rooms being in short demand, they would just have to make do with what they had. A third room would have cost more money, anyway, she thought, seeking the silver lining in their situation.

"Alright then, two rooms it is." Gladhron declared, as if the innkeeper had not heard the lady who was, technically, old enough to be his mother, though only just. And, she still appeared young enough for this fact not to be terribly obvious, though her motherly sort of mannerisms might just give that away to the close observer.

Seri took out her coin purse and came forward to pay the innkeeper for the rooms.

"Wow, this is incredible. I knew the city had become more populated since the king's return, but I didn't expect to have such trouble getting a couple of rooms!" Gladhron commented in amazement.

"Ahh, well, you picked just about the worst time to be trying to get a room," The innkeeper's wife informed them, shaking her head a little. "People are coming from all over the country, you know. The ball's supposed to be quite grand, and many folks have been looking forward to it for weeks.. even months!"

"Ball?" Gladhron glanced from the lady to the innkeeper, and back to the lady, intrigued. "What ball?"

"What ball? The masquerade, of course." The innkeeper gave them all a curious look. "Isn't that why you've come?" He handed the bearded young man a flier, which announced the Midwinter Ball and all of the details concerning it.

"No, sir, must confess, that is not our purpose in visiting your city," Seri answered, as she curiously read the information on the flier from around Gladhron's arm, as he held it where they both could read it. She looked back up at the innkeeper once she had finished. "No, as it happens, I have some business here, and we've traveled a long way to get here. We didn't know anything about a ball, until this very moment."

"I see. Well, perhaps you'll be able to make it to the ball, while you're here." The innkeeper's wife suggested, smiling. "It promises to be quite an evening, and it would be a shame to miss it."

"Oh, I don't know," Seri laughed lightly as she glanced down at her travel-stained dress, and smiled a bit blushingly. "We didn't bring anything quite so fancy as that," She explained with a slight laugh.

"Oh," The lady of the inn interjected, "Well, if you are interested in going, you might try some of the clothing shops in the market. Some of them are renting out gowns and things, for those who are.. lower budget, or don't want to outright buy something just for one evening." She explained. "But you'd best go quickly, because I'd say most of the good dresses will be gone before the day grows much older. I can tell you where to find the better shops to look at, if you'd like. Three lovely ladies as yourselves would surely be a welcome addition to the ballroom," She added with a smile toward the ladies of the group.

"Well, thank you, we'll consider it." Seri glanced briefly out of the window, where the rest of their party waited. "Oh," She suddenly realized what she had forgotten. "Do you allow dogs?" She checked. Her own dog had been left behind, in Archet, under the care of her daughter, but the young lady she called her niece would not be separated from her own beloved canine. Especially not for such a length of time.

"So long as this dog is house broken," The innkeeper replied with slight hesitancy.

"Oh, he is," Seri assured him in relief. "He's very well behaved," Well, except for chewing on things...

"Well, then if he doesn't disturb the other guests, I have no problem with him. No barking at night, things like that."

Seri nodded. "We'll be sure that he won't," She promised on her niece's behalf. "I'll go and tell the others they can come inside," She declared, glad they wouldn't have to move on to the next inn and try again.

* * *

"Well, this looks very nice." Seri declared, as she took a look around the room that the innkeeper's wife had led them to. "Thank you," She smiled at the lady, who gave them all the information they'd need, such as where to find the washroom, and so forth. As well as giving the guests some instructions concerning the dog and when he would, inevitably, need to take a walk.

Gwestion followed behind the ladies, and set down what he had been able to carry of their luggage, just inside the room. "Gladhron is bringing the rest," He informed Seri, as the brothers had agreed the ladies ought not have to carry the luggage.

"Thank you," Seri smiled at him. "You didn't have to carry those, though. We could have carried some of it," She pointed out.

"It's fine, really." He answered insistently.

There were two, neatly made beds, which Brooke was fine with, since she rarely slept anyway, and would most likely end up curled up in the comfy looking couch situated by the window, rather than going to bed. Beside it was a low table. One of the beds had been claimed immediately by her sister, whom she had regrettably kept awake well into the early hours of the morning. Both girls had been too excited to sleep last night, after realizing how close they were to their destination, and although Brooke was not tired, her sister did not share her insomnia. Against another wall was a large chest of drawers, with plenty of drawers for all three of them to use.

"Is there anything else you need, before I go?" The lady asked, keeping her voice down upon seeing the youngest member of the group was so weary.

"Oh, um.. Ma'am?" Brooke spoke up timidly, hesitating until she saw that the innkeeper's wife had turned her attention toward her. "I just.. um, wondered." She bit her lip lightly, but couldn't resist asking, "Where would I find the library?" She fidgeted slightly with the worn leather bag that hung at her side, from a strap that crossed her torso, from shoulder to opposite hip. Her other hand rested lightly on her dog's head, absently rubbing around his ears. He stood calmly beside her, tail wagging lightly.

Seri laughed softly and put an arm around Brooke's shoulders, gently. "Let's get settled into our room, first, and unpack. Then, we'll see all the sights, including the library. Alright?" She smiled in amusement at the girl's insatiable appetite for books. In fact, her primary reason for choosing to come along on this trip at all, was to see the library of Minas Tirith, and that topic had filled a great portion of her conversation ever since they left home.

Brooke nodded, though with some reluctance and disappointment. She'd heard so much about this wonderful library, it seemed nearly impossible to wait a moment longer when she was already this close!

The innkeeper's wife smiled kindly, however. "You'll find it on the second level, miss." She informed the girl with a little smile.

This brought a little smile to Brooke's face. The library! It was so close! "The second level? That's... where we are now, right?" She glanced at Seri and then the innkeeper, who nodded.

"You can't miss it. Big place.. very grand. I doubt they'll let your dog in, though." She added with a glance to the large canine who had stationed himself at the girl's side.

Her brown eyes practically shone with excitement as she heard this. "I can't wait to see it!" Her enthusiasm then faded slightly when she heard the bit about her dog, though. "Aw. Well.. maybe Chewy could wait outside," She looked down at him with a little smile. He looked up at her and wagged his tail, almost as if he understood her words.

"I'm sure that would be better," The lady agreed, before wishing them well and taking her leave of them.

Gladhron joined them a moment later, with a similar load as his brother. "Wow! Did you bring every book you own, Brooke?" He asked with a little laugh, as if his share of the luggage were far heavier than any other.

This brought a swift 'shh' from Seri, and a quick glance toward the napping member of their party.

Blinking in brief confusion, Brooke debating how to answer that question. Technically.. yes, she did.. but she only had a few books, really. "Um.. you don't even have any of my bags," She pointed out quietly, after noticing this fact. She motioned to the others, which Gwestion had brought in. "Mine are there, with some of Aunt Seri's."

"I was only kidding," He rolled his eyes but smiled, carefully dropping his load down near the other, before catching the lady's 'shh'. Glancing over, he winced slightly upon seeing the sleeping girl. "Sorry." He whispered, and kept his voice down to a whisper, for the moment at least. "Alright, now... I think it's time we go and pick out what we're going to wear to this dance," He declared, glancing around eagerly. "Before all the good stuff is taken. Right?"

"Oh, I don't think I'm going to go to that." Seri shrugged. "You're free to go, of course.. but, I don't know about it, myself." She began picking out which bags were hers so she could begin putting her things away in one of the drawers in the room. "Do you have any interest in going?" She asked, with a glance to Brooke. She didn't want to bother Aislin with the question for the moment, but Brooke immediately shook her head. She had gone to look out of the window.. perhaps to see if she could spot the library from here.

"What?" Gladhron asked, a little amazed, and forgetting to keep his voice down for Aislin's sake. "Neither of you? But.. it's a ball! I've never been to a ball. It sounds like so much fun!"

"Dancing? With a bunch of strangers?" Brooke's voice was full of skepticism as she took a seat on one end of the couch. It took all of her willpower not to scrunch up her nose at the thought of it. Her reddish-brown dog hopped up with her and curled up so that he was mostly covering her lap, and sat there with his tongue hanging out, looking quite proud of himself for 'fitting' on her lap. "What could be fun about that?"

Rolling his eyes, Gladhron disregarded her input. "You wouldn't understand," He replied, aware that Brooke was entirely uninterested in any sort of romance whatsoever, despite being plenty old enough to have suitors of her own. "And, besides," He added, smiling. "If you all went along too, then there'd be at least four people there that I know." He pointed out.

"Count me out," Gwestion declared quietly. "And speaking of 'getting out'.. I believe it's about time we got out of here, and let the ladies unpack?" He added, as a not-so-subtle hint to his brother that they ought to go and get settled into their own room, and leave the ladies alone for now.

"Anyway, so what if they're strangers?" Gladhron shrugged, ignoring Gwestion's prompt in his mission to recruit fellow ball-goers. "Maybe I would meet a pretty girl there who really likes me." The idea of that was quite favorable to him, which was evident by the silly grin on his face. "Wouldn't it be just wonderful, to have arrived just in time for the dance, and then.. maybe I could end up falling in love with some beautiful young lady? Like a scene out of one of your storybooks, Brooke!"

"But you wouldn't be able to see her face," Seri laughed lightly. "How could you be sure how pretty she is?"

This brought a somewhat puzzled look to his face. "Why wouldn't I be able to see her face?" He asked, baffled by this.

"Um.. it's a masquerade." Brooke mentioned, picking up the flier which they'd brought to the room, to hold up as a reminder. Sure enough, it said big and bold 'masquerade'.

"So..?"

Brooke blinked at him. "Um. That means everyone's going to be wearing a mask.." She explained, trying not to sound too much like it should be obvious.

Gladhron blinked back. "Right, of course," He answered with just a second's pause. "Obviously, everyone knows that. But.. well..." he failed to come up with anything to explain how he knew that, yet expected to see faces.

"Do you even know how to dance, Gladhron?" Gwestion inquired, leaning his shoulder against the doorframe, while raising an eyebrow.

Gladhron hesitated. "Um.. well.." He paused, then shrugged with a little laugh. "How hard could it be?"

Seri bit her lip to keep from laughing at that, while Gwestion turned his eyes up to the ceiling.

After a brief pause, Brooke spoke up again, with what she thought was a very reasonable solution. "Maybe I could find a book about it, at the library?"

"A book? Of course you would find a book about it," Gladhron rolled his eyes, but, well it actually wasn't a bad suggestion, he realized. "Can you actually find a book about it?" He added with curiosity.

Seri did laugh, then. "Brooke can find a book about anything, Gladhron." She informed him, amused. Unlike him, Seri and Brooke had managed to keep their voices hushed all of this time, in hopes of not disturbing Aislin.

"Well, maybe it's worth a try, then," he mused thoughtfully.

"Come on," Gwestion tugged at his brother's arm. "Let's leave them alone now." He spoke softly, so not to disturb the napping girl.

Turning to his brother as he resisted the tug, Gladhron grinned at him as a sudden idea struck him. "Ohh, Gwestion! You should come to this thing too!" He declared excitedly, having stopped in the doorway. "It's so perfect for you!"

Gwestion blinked at him, wearing a blank expression that somehow also seemed to question whether Gladhron had suddenly lost his mind. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Really! Think about it, it's exactly the sort of stuff you love!" Gladhron tried to convince his brother with enthusiasm.

"Have you.. actually met me? Like..ever?" Gwestion wondered, incredulous. "Since when have I ever liked.. things like dancing, and meeting strangers, and.. parties?" He asked, baffled and a little stunned that his brother would even think those were the sort of things he was interested in.

"No, not that," Gladhron rolled his eyes. "I mean, you know.. wearing a mask, and being mysterious, trying to find out who other people might be.. that sort of stuff. You love that sort of thing!"

Gwestion folded his arms, one eyebrow slightly raised. He slowly shook his head. "I'm not interested, Gladhron. You go if you want to, but I'm not going." He wasn't going to budge on this.

Gladhron let out a sigh of defeat once he saw the stubborn, determined look on his brother's face. "Finnne." He pouted, but turned back toward the ladies' room, of which the door was still open, because he was blocking it. "What about you, Ms. Seri?" He asked hopefully. "Perhaps you'll consider coming along, so I know at least one person there?" He was really hoping not to go by himself, because it was more fun with someone you know!

Seri bit her lip lightly. "Oh, I don't know," She hesitated. "Maybe. But I've already got someone in whom I'm quite interested," She smiled softly, thinking of him, wherever he might be. "I'm certainly not looking to add any other men to my list of suitors," She added jokingly.

"Well, so what?" Gladhron shrugged. "It's just a dance, it's not very likely you're going to meet some stranger and suddenly fall in love," He pointed out.

"Do you ever actually listen to yourself, Gladhron?" Gwestion couldn't help asking, looking at his brother with quiet amusement from the hallway.

"What do you mean?" Gladhron turned, wondering what he meant with that.

Beyond Gladhron, Gwestion noticed Brooke bite her lip lightly in an attempt not to snicker, and he was inwardly pleased to note that she had caught on to what Gwestion was referring to, at least. "Nothing," He muttered in reply to Gladhron, shaking his head slightly in his own private amusement. "Come on. We'll unpack, then go to the market to look for you something to wear to the thing." He declared with a little sigh, refraining from an eyeroll. "And we'll see that Brooke gets to the library safely, so she can find a book to teach you to dance," He added as he cast a glance her way, before nodding in temporary farewell to the ladies. Taking his brother's arm, he firmly guided Gladhron out of the doorway and closed the door after them.

After the two young men had left, Brooke couldn't help a soft giggle escaping, while Seri laughed softly under her breath. The brothers were certainly entertaining, at least. Leaving Chewy on the couch, Brooke quietly got up to go get her bags from where Gwestion had left them, so she could begin to unpack as well. Glancing at her sleepy sister, the girl wondered if she ought to unpack Aislin's stuff for her, or leave them to let her do it later.


(Aislin's napping was pre-approved by @Pele Alarion )

[Pele Alarion]

@Rillewen
Aislin

She had taken in all the sights up to the inn they had finally been able to settle in, amazed at the hugeness of the city and its white stone, and lots of people. All the excitement of the travel and newness of the place seemed almost overwhelming.

Eventually they had been able to find rooms to stay in, and Aislin happily lay down on one of the beds as soon as she spotted it. She breathed in the scent of clean bed sheets and thought that perhaps she should at least change out of her travelworn clothing, but excitement and the sleepless night or two had taken its toll, and she found the bed so comfortable and the pillow so soft that she could not resist the weariness washing over her and closed her eyes with a contented smile.

She fully intended to listen in to the conversation about the ball, yet she soon found herself fast asleep and began snoring softly, missing out on most of the conversation and its outcome.