Handing over four keys with a number 2 inscribed on a wooden attached tag to Normont the halfling man nodded to Dev, " Very well, Sir....Dev.  I am Manfred Halliwell. I do hope you enjoy your stay."

Heading upstairs the group soon found the suite to the far left of the landing at the top of the stairs and entered....

The suite consisted of a central living area and two large adjoining bedrooms, there was a smaller bedroom off to one side.....the additional bed has not been delivered as yet.   The view out the living room windows showed the park across the street beyond a series of low buildings on the other side but the light was fading so it was hard to make anything out.

"Wow!," gasps Dev as he enters the room, a smile curling the corners of his mouth. The teenager drops his pack in the middle of the floor and flops onto a rug in the corner and is asleep in a few moments, although the group knows he'll likely soon be awakened by his own growling stomach.

Normont enters the room and nods in approval even as Dev gasps. He hadn't pressed Quinn about his past, merely accepted his unwillingness to speak of it.

"This will do nicely", he says , obviously impressed as he looks around. When he comes back into the central living area and spots Dev curled up on the rug, he is about to suggest the young Tiefling takes a bed, but his friend seems content enough. Maybe after dinner he can move to a more comfortable spot.

"I am happy to take the temporary bed when it arrives, or the smaller room, but first of all I am going to find a bath", he says to Lokilia and Quinn as he finds a spot for all his stuff. Amber flies around and finds a perch on the back of a chair in the living area.

(OOC: Normont will look to have a bath and finally change from his cold weather clothing and armour. Although he doesn't have any fine clothes, and is aware there might be a dress code, in which case perhaps he would go and ask Manfred and see if he could hook them all up somehow)

Quote from VolcanoLair >>

Normont enters the room and nods in approval even as Dev gasps. He hadn't pressed Quinn about his past, merely accepted his unwillingness to speak of it.

"This will do nicely", he says , obviously impressed as he looks around. When he comes back into the central living area and spots Dev curled up on the rug, he is about to suggest the young Tiefling takes a bed, but his friend seems content enough. Maybe after dinner he can move to a more comfortable spot.

"I am happy to take the temporary bed when it arrives, or the smaller room, but first of all I am going to find a bath", he says to Lokilia and Quinn as he finds a spot for all his stuff. Amber flies around and finds a perch on the back of a chair in the living area.

---

(OOC: Normont will look to have a bath and finally change from his cold weather clothing and armour. Although he doesn't have any fine clothes, and is aware there might be a dress code, in which case perhaps he would go and ask Manfred and see if he could hook them all up somehow)

Normont finds the bathing area with supplied dressing robes, toiletries and other accoutrements, somewhat reluctantly Manfred does offer the possibility of going through the ( laundered) Lost property wardrobe...he regrets that tailors and clothing stores are all closed currently and the Lost Property stores are the best he can do.

"Hmm, I think there are two bedrooms, plus the third where they'll bring the extra bed," Lokilia says. "But aren't there four of us? I mean, if you are taking the temporary bed Normont, Dev and Quinn can take the normal bedrooms. I'll just find a spot in the living area to rest. I don't mind really."  She glances over at Dev, who seems content with sleeping on the floor. "And Dev deserves a nice bed. I'd like him to have one of them. It's good he's sleeping, because he'd probably be objecting how he's fine sleeping on the floor. But I won't hear of it." She then spends some time looking about the place, especially making a point to find the flower box to see the lilacs and lavender. 

As Normont asks about dress codes and finding clothes, she scrunches up her nose at the thought of all this bother over clothes. Though she does take a look at what she's wearing, the travelers gear worn and grimy from, well, traveling. "I guess a change of clothes might be advisable. Umm, and perhaps is there some way to get a proper cleaning for the things we are wearing now?" 

(OOC: I made the assumption all three bedrooms had beds in, including the small one, and the temporary bed was going to be set up in the living area. DM will need to confirm what the correct situation is)

 After bathing, during which he will shave, Normont returns to the room in one of the robes looking and smelling a whole lot cleaner.

"I am not sure I have ever been this clean", he states happily. His blond hair is styled although still spiky, and his beard is very neatly trimmed back into the goatee they would first remember. Without the fuzz that had grown around his face, he once again looks very much like the young gnome he is.

"Good idea", he replies to Lokilia as she suggests they request their clothes be laundered. "With any luck they will be able to launder our clothes ready for the morning".

He does indeed take up Manfred's reluctant offer of checking the lost property, looking for the basics for each of them and delivering them back to the room.

(OOC - Normont, your explanation makes sense. I perhaps misconstrued where the extra bed was needed!  If you are right, then presume Lokilia suggested she take the smaller room.) 

"If you are done with the bath, perhaps I will take a turn then?" Assuming Quinn does not jump in with an immediate need to bathe before her, she heads to the bathing area.  In short time, though maybe a touch longer than it had taken the gnome, she returns wrapped in one of the robes. She is also much cleaner and her nicely brushed.  She's probably better smelling as well, if anyone wished to take a whiff!  

"Alright! I miss anything while I was away?" she asks with a little giggle, seemingly in a good mood.  She did hope that Balaran had replied to the dinner invitation.  And was curious if any clothing had been found for them. 

( Normonts reckoning is the intended one.)

Dev awakens, hair an unkempt dark mop, and seeing everyone cleaning up, heads to the bathing area too. When there, he takes an interest in every brush, comb, shampoo and perfume, not to mention the wonder of plumbing (if plumbing there is) and the room’s design, and then sets to getting clean. He moans in pleasure when he settles into the very hot bath. A few minutes later, his mind at ease, he starts to notice the myriad nicks and cuts he has accumulated during his journeying, and his mind searches for the cause and circumstances of each one.

The room is billowing with stream by the time  he wipes the condensation off of a mirror and looks at himself for the first time in many weeks. Different. Leaner. Not more muscular, but the baby fat that has remained in his cheeks throughout his teens has almost disappeared. He looks at his horns, comparing them to his memory of Balaran’s. Why?, he asks, aloud, and he rolls his eyes in exasperation, turning away from his reflection in defeat. But then he stops and looks again, an idea brewing.

Following this impulse, he opens his disguise kit. Using makeup, he adds accents to his horns that he thinks lend more character, and then, eyeliner to keep people looking at them instead of his horns because his eyes aren’t terrible, he thinks.

He had removed his set of Fine Clothes from his backpack, a crumpled ball after all these weeks, and hung them up while he bathed. He is delighted to discover that they have slightly unwrinkled in the steamy air. How long have I been in here?

He throws them on, and returns to the others after an excessively long absence.

Lokilia gives Dev a grin when he returns. "Hey Dev, was a little worried with some of the odd sounds from in there. Then I thought perhaps you'd got lost! Almost had to go in there to see." She stands taking a look at his fine clothing. "You look really good in those clothes though. Where did you get those? You had those nice clothes with you all this time?" Still wrapped up in a robe, she glances to the door. "Hopefully Manfred will locate something for the rest of us. Though doubt it will be as good as what you're wearing." 

It is only then that she notices something different with Dev's horns. She almost says something when she then notices the eye liner. "Well Dev, you do look very nice. Trying to look good when you see Balaran are you?" she adds in a lightly teasing voice. 

Quinn will just hunker down and sleep.

Dev, who had slunk into the suite, his mind elsewhere, stops in his tracks at Lokilia’s words, a deer caught in magelights, and turns a crimson so dark that his friend can practically feel the heat from across the room. But when he sees the friendship behind Lokilia’s teasing, Dev relaxes and joins in her smile.

“Is it that obvious?,” he asks, his eerie voice carrying an unaccustomed note of excitement. “I mean, yeah. Yes. But… he’s obviously above my station, you know? But even more… this will be the first time I’ve ever spent a whole meal with… with someone like me. And…,” he trails off, skipping over a private thought, but picks up again. “I’m terrified. What if… what if I can’t be what I’m supposed to be.”

He models his outfit for Lokilia modestly, a form-fitting black turtleneck shirt with delicate golden swirls on its forearms over black pantaloons and a brick red sash. His old red sequined shoes peek out below the billowy pants like an octogenarian at a rave.

Lokilia watches Dev as he models his outfit. "Yes, very very nice Dev."  She notes the red shoes, but elects to say nothing of them. In her mind, that's just a part of him. "Dev! What are you talking about? As far as I'm concerned, you already are what you're supposed to be. Look at what an important part of our group you've been. And before that, think of how you cared for your parents. How could you want to be anything else? He is not above your station." 

Normont returns laden down with a number of mostly mismatched items of clothing, but at least they are clean and of good quality, and he hopes there are items that fit everyone.

"Very dapper, Dev", he says approvingly at the young tiefling's outfit from behind the pile of clothes in his arms. "Manfred let me look through lost property, and although it was slim pickings I did manage to find some things that I hope fit everyone. We will have to return them tomorrow of course". With that he places the clothes down on one of the larger beds, and rummages through for the ones that would fit himself.

He gets himself dressed into a pair of slightly too large trousers, having to roll up the legs and wear a belt to keep from falling down. They looked a little baggy but not too bad. Likely owned by a particularly slender dwarf, or large gnome or halfling. The shirt he found for himself was the opposite, the sleeves were an inch or so too short, and it was quite the slim fit. And it was a mustard yellow that borderline clashed with the trousers. He could find no shoes, and so had to clean his own. His magic boots cleaning up particularly well. Not at all fancy but he hoped no-one would notice.

"Ok", he says once he is done, "We should probably wake Quinn, I don't think he will want to miss dinner, right?".

Quote from Culuril >>

Lokilia watches Dev as he models his outfit. "Yes, very very nice Dev."  She notes the red shoes, but elects to say nothing of them. In her mind, that's just a part of him. "Dev! What are you talking about? As far as I'm concerned, you already are what you're supposed to be. Look at what an important part of our group you've been. And before that, think of how you cared for your parents. How could you want to be anything else? He is not above your station." 

Dev smiles with the compliment and doesn't argue with Lokilia, but his expression says that he's not convinced. Yet, Lokilia can also see that he is grateful to her for keeping him from losing himself in his insecurities. Suddenly his stomach growls loudly, and he bulges his eyes humorously. "I wonder what kind of food they serve here? I could eat an entire river trout, scales and all."

Lokilia takes a bit more time sifting through the clothes than Normont did. She picks up a number of shirts, holds them up, then places them aside. Finally, she takes up a burnt orange dress of a light, billowy material.  It almost seems too big, but it does seem about right. "I'll try this," she says, and almost seems ready to change right there. But at the last moment she adds, "Probably should take this to my room."  She nods towards the smaller of the three. "Oh! Not sure if Normont filled you in, but sorry Dev, you and Quinn will each have to put up with the big beds."  She grins as she rushes into the room.  

She steps back out a few minutes later in the dress. It gives her a far more feminine look than her traveling clothes. There is a bit of a similarity to the loose-fitting look of her top, though it's just a minimum resemblance. It does seem like it could be too big and might any moment slip and reveal more than would be decent.  But with a couple of layers, this never actually happens.  The bottom flows down to her ankles.  She has cinched it at the waist with a navy-blue tie she must have snatched from the pile. It provides an interesting contrast and also seems to accentuate her curves. Her hands fidget a bit at her sides as fine light material seems to continually flutter as though there's a breeze. 

"Do you guys like it?" she asks as she slowly twirls. Her eyes fall on Dev for a moment before she adds, "I know it doesn't quite match Dev of course." 

She looks about for Quinn. "Did anyone ever wake him?"  She also glances towards the door. "And did Manfred ever let us know what time we're dining? And bring word of Balaran?" 

When Lokilia returns to the room, Normont is busily polishing Amber, getting the dust of the road off her and repairing any minor dents and scratches.

"I do, it's very fetching", he says looking up as she models her new dress. He scratches the back of his neck, wondering if he should say any more, but ends by simply adding, "Right, Dev? I mean, you both look very elegant".

With regards the question of Quinn, he smiles, "Dev's stomach did a good job trying to wake him a moment ago, and the dead too". He chuckles at his own joke.

"Oh, you asked what they will be serving, Dev. I am not sure, but there is likely to be fish and game and vegetables. Manfred didn't give us a time, I guess we just wander down when we are ready. We can always send a message to this Balaran when we are in the dining room".

With that he wanders across to nudge Quinn if he hasn't already stirred.

Quinn loudly snores then stirs from Normont's nudge and then wakes with blade in hand ready to attack. "What is happening? Who is hurt?" He has a bewilder expression on his face and is breathing heavily. 

The group came downstairs and Manfred greeted them with a satisfied air as he regarded their fashion choices; Pleasantly surprised when it came to Dev and Lokilia, expected satisfaction with Normont and the slightest hint of disappointment with Quinn.

" I am afraid your other party member expressed they had a previous engagement at the Castle and would be unable to attend."

" Head on through the maitre de is expecting you."

Indeed the moment they entered, after noting some of the other diners were folks they had passed during their ablutions, they were greeted by a young human woman in a tight lilac blazer and cravat and a huge shock of sable hair barely contained by a band.

" Welcome, Masters Quinn, Normont and Dev and Ms Lokilia.", she said with the barest hint of slight uncertainty that Manfred had relayed the names correctly.

She led them over to a window table and seated them.

" Here are your menus. Drinks to start?"

Dev, who already thinks Lokilia is beautiful, even in her muddy travelling garb, smiles in surprise at her wardrobe change. “Wow,” his eerie voice floats, “You just, like, did that from other people’s left-behind things?” He stands up and beams at his friend for a moment, enjoying seeing this side of her that wears colorful clothing. But he also accepts it almost without a thought and hums happily as the quartet leaves for dinner.

His humming stops when Manfred relays the news that Balaran would not join them, and his light mood is supplanted by the icy grip of disappointment that he is so accustomed to. But surprising himself, he shakes it off before the waitress approaches. “Well, that’s okay.” He turns to Lokilia, who he knows will be concerned, and says honestly, already imagining future possibilities, “Maybe another time," and when he smiles, it is genuine. Looking around the table, he knows he has much to be happy for. 

He orders the kind of clear wine he’d been offered in the wineries near Drynna, and raises a modest toast “To friendship!,” and begins recounting moments from their journey in fits and starts.