"How much for a week-long stay?"
The lady at the desk flipped through a check-in book. Isel couldn't help but look around inside the comfortable building. The walls were made of dark wood, and the lobby was decorated with simple but well placed chairs and tables. He took any opportunity he could to distract himself from any troublesome thoughts.
The day had passed quickly since coming to Eutil. Charine went to the clinic to have her arm tended to as she said she would earlier, and now had a black cast instead of a tourniquet on her arm. After the clinic, she had pointed out an issue with Siphos wearing his armor in the settlement and went to a store to purchase him a bag to store the armaments in. Now the man was only clad with the thick black cloths that laid beneath the metal plates before and now carried a black bag that hung over his shoulder.
The night was something that had thrown Isel for a small loop as well. As the soft blue sky shifted to an ethereal midnight he felt a familiar dread well up inside him. His eyes itched as he remembered the awful stone tablet, but the sky never became darker. It remained a beautiful and illuminating blue, and Charine herself never took out the tablet. Isel once again had to remind himself he was no longer in Comeidlan, and sincerely hoped he wouldn't have to go again for a long time.
Charine continued to figure out rooms with the desk lady.
"Sorry, we've been a bit overbooked lately. A lot of department employees have been coming around so we only have two rooms left available."
"That's fine, how many beds?"
"Four between both rooms, ma'am."
"In that case, we'll just be staying in one room."
"I understand, thank you for choosing to stay with us."
Siphos had been gazing around the interior just as much as Isel had been, paying little to no attention to Charine's conversation. Eventually she pulled both of them away from their thoughts and led them into a hallway to the right of the lobby desk. As they walked Siphos seemed to remain full of enamor for the building, but Isel became steadily adjusted to it.
The taller man looked around with a large grin on his face.
"Wow, maybe I should become a department employee too. You get paid enough to stay at a place like this for so long?"
"Not quite, it's just that I don't want to be carrying any money on me by the time we're ready to leave. Since we're not staying in Loite I can't afford to have any left over by the time we're done here."
Isel attempted to think for himself as to why she didn't want to save her money. Perhaps keeping it would mean dwellers were more likely to try and steal with them? Rationally, this answer made sense to him. Isel still spoke anyway.
"But why is that?"
"Oh, I should've mentioned this before, sorry. This currency only applies to Aeshval. Manichae has too many separate currencies to allow another one into the economy."
Isel looked down as he nodded. The reality was far from what he imagined. Where was rationality going to get him in a place like this? Many of his logical ideas had been completely rejected by the world itself. So many of his instincts were all turned on their head. All he could do was learn and question. How long would he be stuck like this?
Isel almost tripped himself against a stand on the side of the hallway, lost in thought. Siphos looked back as Isel stumbled.
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah… just caught my leg."
Charine turned to look over her shoulder.
"Careful, we're not to Manichae yet, so don't get too hurt. Please."
Charine had reached her level of independence and knowledge in a matter of two months. With every one of his living days, he understood more just how abnormal his companion was. How was he going to do that, to be like her?
"-Isel? Hello?"
He snapped his head quickly and was met with Charine's worried face. It was subtle, but he could tell the emotion was there.
"Huh? Yes?"
"Are you going to come inside?"
"Oh, yeah."
He had missed the moment they had arrived at their room. His thoughts had started to feel scattered and loud.
Siphos was already lying on a decedent couch, sleeping as if he wasn't so energetic just a few minutes ago. His haste left two empty beds in the room. Isel sat on the one furthest from the door.
Was this okay? To sleep so peacefully? It's not as if he had rested with worry in Comeidlan. Other than the encounter with the figure, there was no trouble apparent when the two had to rest. Even still, something about this luxury felt wrong.
Charine sat on the bed opposite to him, facing the man with porcelain skin. His face had been the same ever since arriving in Eutil. Not sad, not upset, there was no such emotion on his face. It was something else. She sighed and stood from her bed.
"Hey, Isel."
"Yes?"
"How do you feel about a bath?"
Staring at the floor, Isel thought. It was irritating, typically he could understand the circumstances quickly. So many things in the world defied logic and ration, and he had taken that information as it was.
Except now there was also a town, a comfortable bed, and a bath. All of these were things ingrained in his instinct. A person should clean themselves, a person sleeps on a bed, a person can live in a civilization. In a world where so much of his knowledge was turned on its head and bastardized, there were still things that remained unchanged. What about this troubled him so much? He couldn't answer for himself, not at the moment.
"Yeah, I'd like one."
"Let's go, then."
Isel found himself sitting in hot water. He had undone all the black straps and left them in the previous room. He stared at the midnight sky while soaking in the heat. He could now appreciate the cool color of the sky. Whenever he used the tablet, the sky's of Comeidlan would turn to a familiar red, but now there was no reason to utilize the device.
Charine sat just a few meters away from him in the bath. Letting the steam hit her skin. She kept the arm with the small cast out of the water.
"Why did you ask to come with me?"
"You seemed troubled… and dirty."
"I see… but this feels like something you should do alone, bathing."
"Would you have been able to come here alone?"
Isel hesitated.
"I'm not sure."
His reflection in the water contorted as it swayed from his breathing. The bath was large, outdoors, and steaming. This kind of thing was something he was unfamiliar with. He had expected a simple and small tub, but once again his expectations were shattered.
"Charine."
"Yes?"
"Can I ask you something?"
"Have I ever said no?"
No, she had never refused to offer him her assistance. That's the kind of person she was. But what kind of person would he be to take her at face value? To trust what he's seen for just a few days?
"Can you tell me about yourself?"
Charine gazed at the same view as Isel, the beautiful and solid midnight blue. Neither turned to look at one another once since entering the bath. That wasn't the reason for coming here.
"What do you want to know?"
"As much as I can, really."
Charine spoke with a different tone than normal. Before the way she spoke was like a teacher; it was careful, knowledgeable, and completely confident. But now she sounded more like Isel. A person who found themselves in a world they didn't ask to be in. A person forced to grow in that world.
"Could I ask you a question first then?"
"Yeah."
"Why do you want to know?"
Isel pondered. Really, there were too many reasons. Thoughts he kept to himself. But there were simply some things that he knew he could not understand on his own.
"I want to understand my companion, I want to learn how to live like you, and I want to trust you more."
For the first time in the conversation, she hesitated. A soft smile came across her face.
"Alright, that's a good enough reason for me."
Charine sank into the bath ever so slightly, letting the water come up past her shoulders. Isel sat straight, a few meters to her left while staring at the sky.
"All I really am is a good pretender. I haven't been able to get used to this world since coming here. I've just been able to learn about it, and use that knowledge to live."
"I already know you're good at concealing what you really feel, I've seen you do it multiple times. Survival is the most important thing."
"Then I guess you've seen right through me this whole time."
Charine paused. Her usual confidence was now gone, and instead replaced with vulnerability.
"I'll tell you, then. About my life."
Charine took a deep breath.
"Two months ago, I was born in Lesvin — the fifth and largest land discovered by humanity."