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RESPITE MARKETPLACE - OUTSKIRTS - AFTERNOON
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Aelia walks through the Marketplace rather quickly today, seemingly bothered by something, she is searching for a few folks, Cavro foremost in her mind, but the badger seemed to be missing from the few places that Aelia knew him to hang out at the moment, resulting in her searching for the only other person who (sorta) knew what was going on with her, that 'Ninell' fellow.
Ninell is in the marketplace at the moment, a small box of sweets held in hand as he stands at a stall hosting a bunch of sweet, savory snacks on long sticks. A few seconds of chatting later, he steps away, two skewers of treats in hand that he immediately begins to munch on with a cheerful (if somewhat toothy) smile.
Aelia spots the rather hard-to-miss figure with two handfuls of treats, calling out as she runs up towards him as if he were rushing to escape her, "Ninell! Ninell, wait!"
Ninell hums curiously as he looks towards the voice calling out to him, a portion of the treat held between his teeth. He blinks upon seeing Aelia, then takes a few seconds to chew and swallow. As Aelia approaches, he waves the hand with the sticks held between his fingers. "Ah, Aelia? Is something amiss?"
Aelia huffs slightly, glancing around at the foot traffic around them. "Y-yes... I just... there's only a few people I can talk to about this... somewhere more private?"
Ninell tilts his head and nods. "Um... certainly. Wherever you might be comfortable talking, then?"
Aelia nods, pointing in a direction and leading Ninell forward. She sighs as they walk, looking for somewhere a little more secluded, "Sorry about this... I wouldn't normally have yelled out and such, so rude of me. And I know we uh, we don't... it's awkward. Sorry. Sorry..."
Ninell follows after Aelia, still noshing on one of the snack sticks. "No trouble, Aelia. Truth be told, I do not blame you one bit for reacting like that. It was surprising for both of us, and... well, I did wake up in your bed and room..."
Aelia sighs again, "Y-yeah. It's just the first time she'd ever..." She glances around again, the street being somewhat emptier now, "It's the first time Phoebe ever did anything like that. And you're one of the only people who knows about her and I."
Ninell hums and nods again. "Mmh... from what you said before, it is pretty clear you two keep your... thing close to your chest. Like I said, though, if you or Phoebe need anything from me to assist, please just let me know. It is the least I can do after, well... all that."
Aelia: "It's a curse... a-and I don't know the source, or the cause or, well, anything about it. Phoebe tells me I shouldn't talk about it with others in the notes she writes. It's the whole reason I'm here in Respite... she brought us here. I don't know why... but she gets money from somewhere, enough for me to live day by day. But then I saw someone else... a-and I think I need help."
Ninell gives Aelia a curious look as he listens, his ears shifting a bit as he hears her concerns, while also keeping his ears open for anyone that might be trying to listen in. "You saw... someone else? I am... not sure I understand. Someone else that... what, might be hunting you or Phoebe?"
Aelia shakes her head, "Not hunting... unless..." She shakes her head again, "I... I'm more afraid th-the curse might be... contagious." She swallows. "I met someone on the trip here, a waterfolk named Sammi. She was kind of strange, but she was very kind. Gave me a gift I can't explain, but that I treasure. And now I'm afraid she's suffered this same curse as me."
Ninell raises an eyebrow. "Contagious? Is it possible for a curse to be contagious like that?" He pauses, frowning just a little as he tries to connect the dots from what he has so far, to no avail, "So... this Sammi... you think she might be changing as you and Phoebe do?"
Aelia nods, "I met a cat in the bar the other day... she seemed a bit shy, a-and I can relate to that... but she was also nervous. Called herself Maxime, and said she'd been through a lot. But the more I thought about it, the more her movements, her actions, it all reminded me of Sammi..."
Ninell continues to listen to Aelia, still clearly missing something since he never met Sammi or Maxime. "So... this Maxime acts very similar to someone else you know... which makes you think your curse might be... contagious?"
Aelia ears drop back a bit, "It was beyond just acting similar it was... eerie. Beyond just the same... I... it sounds stupid when I say it aloud, doesn't it?" She turns away from Ninell. "I was hoping maybe you could give me some insight or help or something. I mean, you've met Phoebe. All I have are her notes. But she's still me, right?"
Ninell shrugs. "I wish I could say, Aelia. The way you two behave, if I did not know you two shared the same body, I would have assumed you were entirely separate people."
Aelia slumps a bit. "O-oh... Oh, I see. I guess I just assumed..." She sighs. "Maybe I'm just jumping at shadows. It just felt so... strange."
Ninell sighs a little and shakes his head, though when he looks at Aelia's slumped figure, he wordlessly offers her the untouched snack skewer. "I have no real words about this, but... I could perhaps inquire a little around town about such things like contagious curses. Though..." He pauses in thought, "...I am in the process of preparing to depart to the west. Any information I may discover is likely either to be limited in scope, or else delayed for however long it takes me to come back to Respite..."
Aelia blinks at the skewer of sweets, tenatively taking it from Ninell, "No no, gosh, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have even come to you about this. I just thought... It really doesn't matter what I thought. And I don't want you to worry about my overactive imagination too." She waits a moment, still staring at the snacks, then tenderly takes the top one off the stick to plop it in her mouth. "West? But... there's supposed to be nothing west of here?"
Ninell hums as he sticks the empty skewer into a fold on the box as a makeshift holder so he doesn't just drop the skewer on the ground. "I've heard that the people that attacked Respite before, the 'Saurs', originally came from that way. I have it on good word that their original home was destroyed by a dragon when it awoke." He pauses, "I believe that dragon is the same one currently flooding Eukune just by its mere presence."
Aelia shudders, recalling the caravan attack that nearly dragged her away. "Ah, r-right. Them. And... the dragon... I heard about it, but I wasn't uh, 'here'."
Ninell nods. "I do not know what to expect to find out that way, but... maybe something to help us figure out how to deal with it. But... that is something I shall deal with when the time comes." He treats Aelia to a small, kind smile, "I just wanted to tell you that I am fully willing to help you as I can."
Aelia manages a small smile, handing the skewer she'd been given back to Ninell, "Thank you. I'm sorry we got off on such a rough start. I... I don't know what Phoebe was thinking, but at least she found someone very kind."
Ninell chuckles and holds up a hand. "If you want to keep it, please, enjoy. I have more right here, after all." He hefts the box for a moment to draw attention to it, "I still feel awful about scaring you as I did, but... well, if you want to know what Phoebe was thinking... maybe you could ask her? She communicates with you through notes, so... maybe it might be worthwhile to communicate back in the same manner?"
Aelia sighs, "I... never know what to say. But I try. Most of her notes just tell me what to do... or how many days it's been. I... I try to give her the same information. It's disorienting no matter what."
Ninell nods at that. "Then... if it feels odd, why not try to write things like one would write letters to a friend? Inquire about her, see how she is doing, things of that manner? You two are stuck with one another, so perhaps you two should try to be friends instead of just acquaintances?"
Aelia glances away, silent for a moment. "I'm not stuck with her... there's an end to every curse, isn't there? It's just a matter of finding it. Even if I get dragged out to the middle of nowhere..."
Ninell shrugs at that. "I am... not really magically-inclined, so I cannot say. I mean in the interim, while you are searching for a cure. It would make things easier for both of you, perhaps."
Aelia sighs, "I guess so. I feel like if she wanted to make things easier, she'd..." She pauses, then closes her eyes, tightening her fists to her side, "I'm pretty sure she thinks I'm stupid. She's not my friend. She cost me all my friends back home! She... she just... ugh! S-sorry... you don't want to hear this."
Ninell shakes his head a little. "Please, it is fine, Aelia, no need to apologize. You are clearly in some trying circumstances."
Aelia shakes her head, pulling back the sweets closer to her. "I... feel like I've lost everything, and I'm trying to do what she's asking, cause she said she was looking for a solution! Said she was finding help... but golly... j-just feels like she's pulled me away from home, and I don't even know for what anymore." She gives Ninell a curious look, then shakes her head.
Ninell tilts his head at the look, but lets it pass for the moment. "Then... maybe it is time to be forthright and ask her as directly as you can? You are both sharing the same fate at the moment, so... there really should be no reason for any secrets?"
Aelia slumps a little, letting her breath out, in part relieved just to have vented. "Gosh, I'm so, so sorry for making you listen to all this. Maybe... maybe you're right. It's still not an easy thing to do."
Ninell chuckles and smiles a little. "As I said, Aelia, there is no need to apologize for your circumstances. I understand it is a very difficult time for you." He sighs a little and casts a glance up at the sky, "It may not be easy, but many, many things are not, and the more you want to do something, it feels all the more difficult."
Aelia clutches a hand against her chest, looking back towards the marketplace, at the makeshift setting where she's watched some of the townsfolk put on the play retelling the attack upon the Saur's city. "That's most certainly the truth."
Ninell looks back towards Aelia with a kind smile. "So... I shall help you however I can, be it information gathering or anything else you may need. I will offer Phoebe the same, too, since you two are... joined at the hip, so to speak."
Aelia blushes slightly at Ninell's choice of saying, considering what she presumes are his previous interactions with Phoebe. "S-so to speak, yeah. I... don't want to distract you, and I don't know what your intentions are... but I don't have a whole lot of choices for help right now, so, I appreciate it."
Ninell blinks and tilts his head, noting the blush on Aelia's face. It takes a moment, but he steps back a bit and waves his free hand. "A-ah! I, ah, my apologies, Aelia, I did not mean it like that! I just meant, er... you and Phoebe are inseparable at the moment, that is all." He pauses again, then coughs quietly, "Er... as for my own intentions? Nothing whatsoever. I am here on duty for my country, and that is my primary focus. But if my own foolishness causes problems, it is only right that I help mend things."
Aelia: "Well, you didn't cause this mess. You just gave me a bit of a scare and a little bit of embarrassment. And that's more Phoebe's fault than yours... so, don't feel obligated to me for any foolishness that you um... think you did?"
Ninell hums a bit. "Mmh, maybe so, but I still wish to help you and Phoebe if I can."
Aelia gives a fairly formal bow, dipping down while still keeping the sweets upon the stick pointed upwards, "Then I'll accept your help in the spirit it is offered, Sir."
Ninell dips into a bow in turn, well-practiced and precise. "Then, if anything arises, you and Phoebe need but ask. Though, I am afraid I will be away for a couple of weeks in the near future. Once I return, however, I will endeavor to help however you two may need me to."
Aelia rises back up and manages a short giggle at Ninell's form. "Oh, you can tell you're not from Sarn, with a bow like that. So precise! But a little stiff, don't you think? I'll head back to my room and.... and think through writing a letter. A real letter. And I guess I'll try not to worry about this new girl in town."
Ninell hums quietly and nods as he smiles. "Rigid by purpose, truth be told. I may yet grow out of the habit, one day." He chuckles a bit, "I will keep my eyes open for this person, and perhaps chat with them if I am able, but there is still a possibility that it is just a coincidence."
Aelia sighs, but a little more lightly. "It lacks grace, that's all I'm saying." She spins on her foot with a practiced manuever into another bow, with a very graceful movement, rishing back up quickly. "It... probably is. I'm probably just letting all my own stress color my thoughts."
Ninell smiles a bit as he watches Aelia's graceful twirl, only to nod in response. "That is possible. I hear there is a wonderful bathhouse that you could possibly visit, if you have not yet. Perhaps a relaxing soak may be enough to reduce that stress?"
Aelia shrugs, "Maybe? Maybe... might be nice?"
Ninell waves his free hand at the air vaguely. "It might be rather warm out, but there is something really nice about just spending some time soaking in a hot bath and tending to oneself, brushing out one's fur, washing up, and the like." He smiles again, "I consider it something of a personal treat."
Aelia: "I used to clean up after performances, a nice long soak in warm water to soothe my muscles..." She pauses, her expression dropping slightly. "I wish I could do a big performance again that would be worth rewarding myself with like that. I was a dancer, back in Sarn. I'm kinda between things now, because of everything."
Ninell 's expression drops a little at Aelia's comment. "Mmh... that is unfortunate, but you should not deny yourself the joy of a soothing soak. You may be able to think a bit more clearly if you do something you enjoyed in the past to relieve stress." He shrugs a little, "And... should you find gainful employment as a dancer again, then simply do something to make a bath a little more extravagant as a reward?"
Aelia hums, "Gainful employment... maybe... until then... maybe as a reward for writing Phoebe that letter?"
Ninell nods and smiles again. "If you wish to look at it that way, it would work nicely."
Aelia: "Thank you, Ninell. Just for lending me an ear, and giving some advice. You... take care on your trip, alright?"
Ninell: "I will, thank you, Aelia. Once I am back, I will seek you and Phoebe out to see how things are going."
Aelia nods, "I'll be here... unless Phoebe runs off again, I'll be here."