Hide and Seek

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Cage nodded. "He got there before me," he said. "He pretended to be Jack..."

Dom closed his eyes for a moment, taking a breath. "We were with each other the entire time. We... fled, while he was busy..." He opened his eyes again, his shame apparent. "I can vouch for these two," he said. "I figured there was nowhere else to go but here..."

The inn was better. Much better. The place was small, barely two stories, and the inside had a comfortable, homey feel, with a few old chairs by the entrance and the small desk the owner sat behind. Off to the side of the entrance hall looked like an opening to a smaller bar - with few travelers, certainly they needed some other form of business. At this hour, the bar was empty, the owner the only person in the shop, and Laura almost relaxed. Less people was good.

She appeared to be a middle-aged woman, maybe a little older, with horn rimmed glasses framing a narrow face and straw-blonde hair pulled back in a half-pony, out of her eyes. She slammed the journal shut as they entered, looking up with a smile.

"Certainly!" she said. She flipped open a book, checking the rooms. "No one else is staying yet, so you got free choice of rooms. Room 29 upstairs is a king-sized bed, nicest room we got if you'd like," she said, looking between the two of them. Laura started shaking her head quickly.

"We're not- no, he's a friend," she interjected, and the woman blinked, embarrassed.

"I'm so sorry, so you'll want two across from each other then? You can take your pick, we'll negotiate a deal once you know what you want," she said, sliding them the book. "Good day to come to town," she said to change the subject.

Laura followed him up, choosing the room next to him - also with a nice window outside. In case he tried to sneak out on her.

But even as she wandered around upstairs, she knew she'd probably be sleeping below his window that night. In the pack she'd brought with she only had some food that had run out long ago, and her weapons. Nothing to trade for a nights stay.

She followed him back down with a sigh as the woman - Rosalind, she presumed - inspected the lighter.

"Very nice," she said appreciatively. "Miss?"

Laura shook her head. "I have nothing. I'll find another place to sleep."

The woman blinked. "That won't do," she said, "especially not today, it's the Equinox! I can't leave you in the street - how about you help me out as payment? We could always use another pair of hands to set things up for the festival."

Laura blinked, uncertain. Did that mean going back out into the town? "I'm not sure I have the skills you're looking for," she started nervously.

"We can find something, it's not that hard," Rosalind said dismissively.

Rosalind laughed. "We'll find something that works. How's that sound?"

Laura cut a glare at Raziel. The street was tempting, but then, she'd have to deal with people there too. "Yeah, sure," she said, trying to sound calm and not as nervous as she felt.

Laura glared at him as he left, but it wasn't long before Rosalind shooed her out with bundles of grasses woven into streamers. "You can help Warden with finishing decorations," she said, and dragged her outside, waving at a younger man sporting the beginnings of a beard.

Laura took a breath, trying not to panic as she glanced around. Warden gave a small smile as they approached and Rosalind passed her off to him. 

He held out his hand to shake. "Passing through?" he asked. "I'm sure Rosalind already told you my name when she roped you into this, but yours?"

Laura stiffened, and finally grasped his hand. "Laura," she said. "Just... tell me what I have to do." The climbing would help, if she could get off the ground maybe she wouldn't feel so crowded.

Even now she could tell she was being ridiculous. The small, logical part at the back of her mind told her there was nothing threatening about him or any of the others there. But that didn't matter.

Things were going decidedly less smoothly for Laura. Thankfully she didn't really HAVE to interact with them, but just being surrounded by the mass was... stressful. The panic came and went in bursts, her fear and suspicions climaxing until she nearly passed out at one point. She managed to fumble out some excuse about heatstroke which really wasn't that believable since it was the fucking fall equinox.

Still, her humiliating fainting spell got her out of helping duty and back into a chair in Rosalind's inn. "So, do you have anything to wear for tonight?" Rosalind said, making small talk as she cleaned her counters down.

"I - hm?"

"You're travelers, right? So I'd guess you don't. You'll have to borrow a dress of my daughters, I think, you're about her size - "

Laura blinked and shrank back in her chair. "I'm not a dress person - "

"Nonsense, it's the festival, don't worry it's no bother to us..."

Talking to her is like trying to stop a train with your bare hands. God, she hadn't worn a dress since things had been nicer in the city. She'd told Raziel once she'd stopped dressing girly when she was five, but that wasn't... entirely true. That stopped altogether after the... incident, with the rape gang...

Fuck. "I'm really alright," she said. "I'd rather not."

"Just take a look at them first before you turn me down, eh?"

"I - no," she said. "It's not... me."

Laura looked up as he walked away, and looked back away at the smug tone in his voice. Her hands clenched. I made a mistake. A huge, huge mistake. "Yes," she said. "I'm going upstairs," she said, standing up.

"Can I bring the dresses up to you then?" Rosalind said, and Laura took the stairs two at a time.

Rosalind sighed, then shrugged as she got no response. "She's a bit distant, isn't she?" she commented to Raziel.

"Aye," she said, wiping down her countertop for what might have been the thousandth time. "Festival tonight everyone's gonna be a bit dressed up. You should be too," she said, pointing one finger at him sternly. "We need to find something for you. I was gonna find some of my daughters old dresses for the young lady up there."

"Practical, yes, but when have festivals ever been practical?" she said, waving her hand in the air. "I'm sure a scholar could give you a slew of reasons why they're 'practical' but there's nothing practical about it. So you're getting out of those traveling rags and into something decent if you want to stay in my place for the night."

"You two are not giving me a bad rep showing up as vagabonds," she insisted. "Non-negotiable. This is part of your price for staying." She had an amused twinkle in her eye. "Now come on, I'll find something for you and we can look for something for the lady," she said, stepping out behind the counter and grabbing his collar to haul him off.

She ignored him, dragging him into the back of the inn where her own family lived. She went into a room and came back out with a pair of nicer brown pants, a white shirt, and a green vest. "Put those on, they were my husband's but he's too dead to care anymore." Before he could even comment she was gone again, and this time came out with several dresses over her arm. "Hurry up now, we'll see your friend once you're ready."

"Oh hush," she said. "Less whining, come on!"

She led the way up the stairs, plodding up determinedly before she reached Laura's room. She rapped on the door.

"Can we come in, miss?" There was a pause before her grunt of affirmation, and Rosalind swept in. "Do you like any of these?" she asked, as Laura, sitting on her bed, went pale.

"Dresses aren't my thing," she said again.

"Nonsense," she said. "Let's call this part of the deal. You help with the festival and go to it in decent dress as payment for the night. So do you like any of them?"

Laura crossed her legs. "I wasn't planning on going to the festival," she said. "I... I did your work."

"I insist," she said. "Please. If it's modesty that's the problem, this one is fairly modest?"

She held out a kneelength cream dress, with black designs down it. "Consider it part of your payment. I got him all dressed up," she said, jerking her head over to Raziel pouting like a child. But not even that made this seem less... stressful.

"I'll just leave it here then, we'll grab you before the festival," she said, setting the dress down on the bed. "You'll wear it if you want a place to sleep tonight!" she joked, before she dragged Raziel out of the room with her and closed the door.