A Bothersome Transfer [Closed]

As she stopped, his body slowed to a stop as well as he turned to look at her with a concerned expression. She was looking down at the ground there, and he realized that she must be getting tired. They had, as far as he could tell, been travelling for a few days now. That trek through the jungle alone took them at least two days--the first day had been quiet, the second one was the day of anger and raging. And now, here they were, in Iserlohn. Yet, for what? He placed his hands on his hips and continued to watch her without speaking. He was tired as well--hungry, too. At least they'd be able to get a warm meal while they were here. "Well... What do we do now?" He went to open his mouth in expectation of making a bit of a remark about her being the one with the plan, but he quickly shut it when she lifted her head. She looked like a puppy that didn't get her treat. He swallowed, letting out a breath and waiting for her to continue speaking. Obviously not looking for an answer, she started up pretty quickly afterwards, "I can't just show up at the palace... I realize now... that just because I met the Emperor and was helped by the Emperor, does not mean that I am a special guest of the Emperor. Let's just... find your shrine..." He sighed, shaking his head. She wasn't even looking at him--was she that embarrassed? Did she feel that she'd left things completely out of her mind when she had been rescued? She was probably kicking herself mentally. He let out another breath and walked up to her, when she finally turned towards him, "Do you know where we are supposed to go to find it?" He stopped short of being right next to her.

"I haven't a clue," he laughed bitterly, "It's literally just somewhere in Zakat. You have more of a chance of seeing the Emperor than I do of finding this shrine by just looking. It's well-hidden, but there's supposedly someone in Zakat who knows about it... a friend of the family. I just don't know where he lives. It's part of the challenge, you see... There are both puzzles in finding the place, and actually getting the item within. So... that's kind of why I accompanied you. Partly out of duty... partly because we both had really hard goals to get to." He winked at her, before reaching out and lightly cupping his fingers underneath her chin. His smile grew soft, and he looked directly into her eyes for a second, trying to gather anything of her emotions from them. She looked a little surprised and blushed. He found himself blushing too, for some reason, but he needed to keep it down so he could actually talk. "We came to this town to do two things, and unless neither of those things can be done from this place, then we're not going anywhere until we've done them both. I may have saved you, but you've already saved me twice. Call this repayment." He moved his hand away before she broke his wrist and placed his hands in his pockets, whistling and looking around. "First thing's first, however. We need a place to stay for tonight. I'd like to sleep in a bed tonight, as opposed to a tree root. Any ideas?" He looked back at her and gave her his best smile.

"Yep." Well, that was a relief. He really didn't want to sleep somewhere dingy--maybe they'd find a nice inn, or a tavern. He'd never really been to Zakat before, so he didn't exactly know what they had around here that would be the same. Maybe they had secret torture devices for outsiders, or something of that ilk. Obviously these were scare-stories, but that didn't make them any less plausible in his mind. She went to step past him, and he suddenly felt warm fingers slip into his own. His face reddened again, but he assumed that it was because she wanted to lead him along, so he allowed himself to be lead, continuing to hold her soft hand with a grip that was none-too-tight. He wasn't sure what he was looking for, only that she knew herself. "We can stay here for the night."

He looked up and saw the building, his eyes widening a little. "What is... that?" He honestly wanted to know: It looked far too nice for someone like him to be able to stay at. That said, at least the stares were dying down around them. She still had his hand as they were lead into the building. Was this really what Zakatians lived like? It was so... disconnected. "One room, please." Suffice to say, he wasn't actually paying much attention when Amelia said that, so he didn't notice. Instead, he simply noticed that he was being nudged towards the desk. Apparently, he needed to pay. "One room for one night is xxx gold." Blinking, he noticed there that she'd said 'one room'. However, one of his hands was still locked with Amelia's--and for some reason, he didn't really care right now. Instead, he reached into the bag with a semi-awkward gait and produced enough gold to cover the night. She handed Amelia the key, and pointed in a direction that he assumed their room was in.

Amelia, of course, decided to continue to hold his hand, and he wasn't exactly complaining. It felt nice and soft; something that he could hold for as long as he felt like. When they finally entered the room, she let go and his immediate reaction was to let out a really long breath of air. "One room, really? I don't mind, and I guess it is cheaper..." His words faded away as Amelia shouted something about it being her turn first. He looked over to see that she was in the bathroom, smiling out at him while carrying a robe and a towel. "I'm taking my shower now." The door was closed, and Adrian let out another long breath. "Alright then." Shaking his head and laughing, he went over to a table at the side of the room and put both his bag and the twin swords upon its surface. "It's about time I did maintenance, isn't it?" He would reach into the bag and produce a well-used whetstone, before putting said bag on the ground and sitting at the table with a smile. He was glad that Amelia wasn't here to see this--this was kind of his own little personal ritual. He could get this done before she was out of the shower, he was sure.

Unsheathing the black blade first, he started to carefully and measuredly run the whetstone down the edge of the sword. Each stroke was timed and slow, keeping to a simple rhythm as he continued to re-sharpen the blade. After about two minutes, he would move on to the next edge, and the next one. Once he had finished that sword, he lightly pressed a finger against the weapon's edge to feel its sharpness and nodded in satisfaction, re-sheathing the sword and producing the blue one. This one he took a little longer on, taking his time to savor the small lines and places on the weapon. It hummed with a satisfying power that he could feel in his fingertips and through the stone. Eventually, however, that weapon would be sharpened as well. After testing its fidelity, he returned the blade to its sheath and turned to see if Amelia had come through that door yet.

Almost a good hour after he'd finally finished sharpening the edges of his swords, Adrian heard the sounds of someone leaving the bathroom. Turning around to see that which he knew was on its way, he couldn't help but give a small smile as he watched Amelia leave the bathroom. She looked refreshed and relaxed--he had to admit, it had been some time since he'd last actually had a chance to bathe. He might have to savor this while he can. With a long stretch, he stood up from the desk and slid the long black cloak off of his shoulders, hooking it over the back of his chair. He then proceeded to quickly take off his undershirt, letting it fall to the ground and revealing his pale torso to anyone who could see. Amelia would be able to see both old scars and new wounds that were healing. "Your turn!" She had already flopped onto the bed, looking quite comfortable indeed. "The shower is great, water is warm. I haven't been this comfortable in such a long time." He returned her bright smile.

"I guess I'll have to go and test it out, then." He walked towards the door of the bathroom and stepped inside, feeling the damp warmth of a recently-used bathroom. He stood there for a second, before realizing something and turning around to look back out at her, "Try think of how we could get in touch with the Emperor. Tomorrow, I'll follow your lead." He smiled at her and closed the door between them, finally getting rid of the rest of his clothes and turning on the water. The door was locked behind him, and he would climb into the tub once it was sufficiently full, letting the water build up around him and envelop his body. Once he had decided that it was full enough, he'd begin slowly washing himself, leaning back and relaxing in the hot water. Each movement was deliberate, partly out of cleanliness and partly because he suddenly realized how exhausted he was. Tiredness washed over his body as the water in the tub, and every second that passed caused him to get closer and closer to sleepiness. Noticing that this could be problematic, he sat up and tried to finish scrubbing his body meticulously, concentrating hard on getting himself clean enough to get out of this bath and get into the next room.

It was then that it hit him--there was only one bed in that room. Which meant one of two things: they were either going to share a bed, or Adrian was sleeping on the floor tonight. As someone who was used to sleeping on hard surfaces, he wouldn't exactly complain about it, but he kind of wanted to feel how soft that bed was. Finally getting out of the tub and stepping back onto the tiling, Adrian emptied it and wrapped a towel around himself to get steady, before rubbing every part he needed to dry and picking out a robe to swing around his body. He opened the door and released a torrent of steam into the bedroom, stepping out and smiling brightly at her. "You're right, it was a lovely shower." Laughing, he closed the bathroom door behind him and meandered over towards the bed, quickly stealing a look at his sword to make sure he was in range of it as he sat down beside Amelia, looking back down at her. "So, am I sleeping up here, or down there?" He motioned towards the floor with his head.

Apparently, Adrian's words had fallen upon deaf--nay, sleeping ears. Smiling softly at the head poking just out of the blanket, he walked over to her side of the bed first, looking down at her and chuckling. "Yeah, we both need this sleep. You get your rest, 'kay, Amelia?" He chuckled again, leaning in and planting his lips lightly against her forehead, holding them there for half a second before standing up straight. "I'm kind of tired myself, actu--" His words were interrupted by a giant yawn, as he recognized the symptoms of needing bedtime and wandered around to the other side of the bed, looking down at it and sighing. His face was slightly red, whether from the warm shower or the feelings inside his mind he was not sure. Sitting down on the mattress, he clambered underneath the covers and pulled his side up over his body, resting his head on the pillow and closing his eyes. Within seconds, he was asleep, back-to-back with this woman whom he had met barely five days previous. How Bothersome.