74th of Ymiden 721
"So, then the captain goes down to the Akktava breeding pools, in the middle of Deori... and..."
Gloom was unusually upbeat as he regaled his friend with the details of the books of Bastion Ufnaji'ihab. Woe attempted to follow along with Gloom's explanation of the stories he'd read, which it appeared were all of the volumes by Bastion and even some of his unpublished works, which he'd somehow finagled a gander at. Probably his legendary sneaking skills had helped in that effort.
Yet even as he listened, he couldn't help tuning out the parts that were seemingly unimportant. He was waiting for something substantive to pop up through the din. Deori factored in, the Akktava Breeding pools did. Even the mention of a Merlady named Sot seemed intriguing. Yet in the end, he still had trouble maintaining attention as Gloom went into details that had no seeming significance at all.
"Then, there's always and often this mention of the Gray Lady, who appears in a lot in the background of the stories. She never makes an appearance in the front of it though... but there are lots of mentions of her." Woe took note of that and tucked it away as another thing to ask Qairona about.
In time, as Gloom continued to pontificate about the wonders of Bastion's writing and how intricate and realistic his characters were, they came to the North End Lodge. Through the entrance, and into the rooms where the Bath House was, they went. As they arrived, they saw only one single person in there. It was a category one mermaid. Woe approached the pool, and Gloom beside him, however, Gloom complained loudly, "I can't get in. Saltwater is no good for tunawa... Guess I'll just wait in the corner then." He glumly sighed and shuffled off to read the latest Bastion novel.
Woe meanwhile, glanced with an apologetic expression toward Qairona. "Apologies, Miss... Qairona I presume?"
The mermaid glanced up at him. She appeared to have bluish skin with a pink underbelly. Her tentacles were as those of an octopus, and her upper body appeared more humanoid than most, with arms and hands as such, albeit scaled skin of the same color as the rest. Her head tails were gathered into a mess of small tentacles, which fell to neck length. Her eyes were red. She waved a hand at the cold salty water and nodded to him. She sent a telepathic signal that he should lose the clothes and hop in.
So he did just that.
Once in the water, he felt no trepidation about sharing it with her. Despite Bastion's constant fantasizing, he didn't believe Mer had any connection or interactions of that sort with land-dwellers. For one thing, their reproductive capabilities were entirely different, weren't they? Perhaps that was a question he'd ask her. But one doesn't skip to that after just meeting.
"So..." Woe began, awkwardly grasping for a conversational opener. Although he was fairly good once he got going, he had trouble starting off conversations in a way that was unsubstantive. He liked getting to the business at hand. So for a few moments Woe floundered there, in the saltwater bath, the sound of Gloom turning pages of his book sounding in the background.
It occurred to him that he was possibly being a scofflaw about the bathhouse rules, taking a dip with a member of the opposite sex, even if they were a mer. Yet no alarms were raised. In all honesty, this sort of thing probably happened far more often than people were willing to admit. So long as their patrons didn't complain, Woe supposed there was no fuss raised.
It did make him feel slightly out of sorts when her tail tentacles grazed his shin, though, and the look she gave him like he was a bag of meat. Or maybe that was just his prejudice toward the merfolk talking.
Sod made an unexpected appearance then, wrapping his arms around from behind Woe's neck. Mmmhmm... ask her about... Salt buoys." He said in an uncharacteristically swift diction.
Woe sent a telepathic signal that he would, but first, he had his own questions.
"So," Woe began, unsure of how to begin his line of questions. "How do you like it in Egilrun?" He decided to start with a relatively anodyne question, one that wasn't likely to rustle negative feelings, like her inhospitable attitude toward her own people.
She sighed, and breathed in the air of the salt waters, then surprisingly answered in a voice. So she could speak with a voice? "Egilrun is nice enough. People stick to their own business and leave well enough alone. I like it."
Having said this, she slipped one of her longer tentacles around Woe's foot, gently signaling that he should edge closer to her.
Woe gave her a skeptical look, "I'm sure."
So saying, he didn't deny her request to sidle up to her in the waters. He could still hear Gloom in the background, flipping through the pages of his latest book.
As he got closer in the water, one of her larger tail tentacles grazed his thigh, and she leaned her head into his shoulder. Her hair was wet, but soft and feathery in quality. She was warm to the touch, despite appearances. "You don't strike me as a mer that enjoys being left alone, however." It then occurred to Woe, something Gloom had mentioned. So he asked her directly in the off chance that it would get him somewhere, "They say the Gray Lady enjoys being left alone, however. Very standoffish one, that."
Qairona lifted her chin off his shoulder, and then stared into his eyes with her red eyes. "Oh I can tell you all manner of things about the Gray Lady. But there's no fun in upsetting the mystery. I can tell you where to begin to learn more..."
So the bargain began, and Woe was pulled into an embrace with the mer woman. She bubbled laughter as they leaned up against the far wall of the saltwater bath...
About a half break later, Woe was buttoning his shirt once more, and Gloom was looking absolutely horrified for some reason. Woe had truly never seen his friend so disturbed. But he didn't ask.
After they left the Lodge, Woe made his way toward the stables, where Opal was housed. Gloom finally spoke up, as he began to gear his mount. "So... uhm... Where..."
"You're a good friend to put up with my shenanigans, Gloom. How would you like to be the manager of an Inn?" Woe smiled at him, as he led Opal out into the road. "I hear the Hearth and Home is for sale."
"Really? You're going to buy me an entire Inn? The finest in all of Scalvoris, perhaps all of Idalos?!"
Woe shook his head as he leapt into the saddle, then offering a hand up for his friend. Gloom took it, and lightly jumped into the saddle in front of Woe. "I'd prefer to own it, for security purposes, but I know of no better potential manager than you, Gloom. You're one of the finest cooks in Egilrun, to my knowledge. They'd be lucky to have you run that kitchen."
Gloom's head drooped, as did his leafy ears. He thought on it for a moment, or seemed to before speaking again. By then, Woe was kicking his mount into a slow gait toward the exit from the town, to the southwest. "I'll give it some thought."
Woe nodded, as they rode out of Egilrun, and through the exit of the village. Before long, they were making speed along the path to the south west. Woe held onto Gloom with one hand while guiding his destiar with the other. "Let's go then, to Gunvorton. Qairona gave me a lead. Let's hope it brings us closer to where we need to be, when it comes to contacting these mer."
He didn't have the total confidence of the female mer, given her acrimonious history with her own kind, but he felt it was worth investigating all the same.
So they rode southwest, toward Gunvorton. It'd take them some time to reach the town, and so they stayed at many Inns along the way. During those stops, Woe made it a point to show Gloom why it'd be so great to run one for himself. All the while, he pondered at the true value of the Hearth and Home, wondering if its reputation was all it was cracked up to be.
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