Douken's slight movements when he awoke were note enough to jar Mazerine from her slumber.  That happened a few moments after he had resigned to let himself lay there while she continued to sleep.  She did not open her eyes at first, instead making a soft sound as she shifted slightly, snuggling her naked body up closer to Douken's, her hand running across his chest and her head nuzzling into his neck.  She grew still, the only movement from her coming from her fingers lightly dragging back and forth across his skin - until she gained a bit more consciousness, however, and her hand seemed to freeze in place.

She slowly pulled her head back from the crook of his neck and looked up at him with a very confused look in her eyes, but did not say a word.  She drew the rest of her body away from him and slid out of the bed, her face turning a deep shade of red as the realization of what had happened washed over her.  The memories were cloudy, just like they had been the night she had (sort of) kissed him before passing out - but much more real in terms of what had occurred.  

As she got out of the bed and began to walk to where her clothes were laid out (not the dress that had been left discarded on the floor, among other things), she let out a sharp gasp of pain, walking ever more gingerly until she reached her destination.  She didn't say anything but moved rather quickly to pull on a tunic which fell to her mid-thigh.  Next on the agenda was a glass of water, which she poured and drank in a very fast motion.  Her head throbbed as she looked around the room at the remnants of their games from last night - including all of their underclothing scattered about the floor near the table.  The bed linens were in disarray as she wandered back over and sat on the edge of the bed, her back towards him.  Her hair was situated on top of her head in a big mess now, strands falling out of the tied up portion all over the place.

She hadn't intended for that to happen between them, but she did not necessarily regret it.   She was more curious about what was going through Douken's head, and a little concerned about the pain she was feeling between her legs - that must have been what all the older women at court had told her about, the pain having been worth it?  Either way, she could feel the bruising already coming up between her thighs, choosing to ignore it.  

Clearing her throat, she spoke to Douken in a dry, still tired voice, quietly and timidly.  "That was.. I, uh." She stopped, not sure of what to say about the situation.  "Good morning," she said, shifting about slightly.  She still held a cup of water in her hands and twisted to offer it to him, without really looking at him.  "We should… We should probably get some breakfast.  I need to get that artifact we found looked at," she said, chancing a look into his eyes, not sure of what sort of expression she would find when she did.

Douken kept still as Mazerine stirred, feeling her soft fingers glide across his chest as she came to. However, it was not until he heard her shuffling for some clothes did he show an attempt to waking up, letting out a bit of a yawn before pushing himself up. When she started to speak up (which was an overstatement), her words were unsure as she offered him a glass to drink. "Thank you," he told her, taking the cup in hand and downing it really fast, parching his throat just enough to not feel cracked.

He looked up at the mess of her hair as she tried to offer getting some breakfast. However, instead, Douken placed his hand on her hair. "How about before any of that, you get yourself cleaned up?" Before he even let her argue a case, Douken headed over to the basin and drew the fireball rune, focusing on its heat to get the tub heated up. "I will head to the streets and find the local apothecary for some medicine for us." Picking up the clothes he had taken away from him from last night, he got dressed simply before headed for the door. "I will take one after you," he stapled on before heading out the door.

The streets were still a bit messy from the sudden celebration last night as Douken walked through, asking around and getting lead to the apothecary, where he picked up a bit of medicine. However, it seemed today was quite active for the chemist. "Guess everyone was having fun celebrating," she chuckled as they talked before  telling her farewells before tending to the next customer in line. Hopefully they have enough, he thought as he looked at the line before taking his portion of the migraine medicine.

Heading back to the hotel, he unlocked the door, seeing Mazerine's silhouette rested upon the screen that hid her from the door. "I got the medicine," he told her, raising up the bag. "Do you want it now, or after you are done?"

It seemed that Douken, at least, was not feeling nearly as awkward as Mazerine was about what had taken place between the two of them.  He gladly accepted the water that Mazerine had offered him, making a comment about her cleaning herself up and gesturing to her hair.  She reached up and felt her hair just as Douken had, and her face turned a bit more red - it was clear, from what she could feel - an absolute disaster atop her head.  "Oh, okay, but-" she began, but Douken got up and got the bath heated for her.  She didn't get a chance to say anything else to him as he told her he would take one after her and walked out the door.

She frowned slightly, but still got up from the edge of the bed and walked toward the bath basin, which was now steaming from the warm water that resided within it.  With a sigh, she pulled the tunic back off and climbed into the wash basin, shivering slightly at the contrast between the temperature of the air and the temperature of the water.  It felt wonderful on the aching muscles in her legs, and she closed her eyes and sank down into the water, letting herself be fully submerged so the rat's nest of her hair was now down and soaked.

She washed quickly before, wincing slightly as she ran her hands over her chest which felt slightly bruised from their activities the night before,  same as with her thighs as she washed those.  After that, she washed her hair and proceeded to relax in the water, closing her eyes and nearly drifting off, only to be jarred back to full consciousness by the sound of Douken opening the door and coming back with the medicine he had gone to fetch.  "Oh… um, now please?" she called out to him and sank as far as she could into the water before he approached, just the tops of her breasts visible through the steam.  It was not as though she had anything to hide, but the two had yet to address the elephant in the room so to speak.  

As he walked around the screen to bring it to her as she requested, she glanced up at him from the water and reached out to take the medicine, swallowing what she could quickly.  "Disgusting," she muttered as she made a face at the taste of the concoction.  Her eyes rested on Douken for a moment before she cleared her throat.  "Last night was… fun," she said, her eyes falling from his face and looking anywhere but at him.  She wanted to ask him how he felt about what had happened, but there was a timidness in her that stopped her from such.  

After a moment, she got up from the tub, having decided there was no point in trying to hide her body from Douken - he had seen her unclothed in several different circumstances by this point.  She grabbed a towel from the nearby stand and proceeded to dry her hair with it.  "The uh… the water is still warm," she added, without looking at him.  "I tried not to take too long."  She bent over and picked up the tunic she had dropped on the floor and walked out from the area of the room shielded by the screen where the basin was, toweling off her body as she went before heading over to her bag of things, and began to search for her hairbrush.  She figured they could discuss their next plan after Douken was done bathing.

She could barely hold her eyes towards him. The closest she had gotten was towards his hand, and that was just so she can see where she was getting the medicine, quick to comment about his taste. "They do say the more bitter it is, the better it will help," he quipped lightly, though without much of a response back from it. Her eyes were quick to get away from him soon afterwards with her comment about last night, knowing both of them were a bit hazy about it before making a bit of a hasty retreat away from him, drying herself off before moving so the screen was between them once more.

While the water was still warm, he was still sure to recraft the fireball rune to hop off the heat a bit more before removing the simple street clothes he had one and stepping into the bath himself. It had felt like a long week since he last had a dip in, and it would had been more refreshing if the air between the two hadn't been so tense and strange. Dipping his white hair under, he let it soak for a little bit before pulling back out, scrubbing off whatever dirt and sweat that had built up from their time away.

"So… uh… Mazerine…" Douken told her as he pushed his fingers through his hair to smooth it through, "About last night… Sorry for pushing things that far…" Sure, he could blame the mead for numerous things, but it was still him who offered to bet their clothes and dignity at hands of poker, thinking it was the right incentive, and he was the one who helped set the mood for the things to move as they did, ending up with how things were in the morning. Sure, she also had the same number of chances to tell him no, but he still felt bad for having things escalated that far in the first place.

"At the very least… I am glad you were alright with it… at least as right as you thought it was…" Again, mead was not a helping factor. Though he dared not say it, he also felt glad that he had that last bit of control at the end…

Stepping out, he took the other towel and began to dry himself while heading for his adventure gear, making sure things were as straight as could be before looking down at the dress and dress suit that scattered the floor. "Right…. I guess we got to return these as well?"

Mazereine glanced up at the shade that separated the wash basin area from the main part of the room as Douken spoke to her, halfway through pulling the brush through her long hair.  She frowned.  He sounded apologetic - almost as if he regretted what had happened between the two of them.  She silently resigned herself to the fact that he had no real reason to be apologetic to her - even though the events that had led to what had happened between the two of them had originally been Douken's idea, he gave Mazerine ample opportunity to stop things from going any further.  She had willingly gone along with what happened, and had been perfectly okay with it - mead or not.  Granted, if the pair hadn't been drinking in such excess, she doubted that she would have had to courage to let anything go that far, whether or not she wanted it.

She didn't say anything back to him at first, continuing instead to brush her now only damp hair and pulling it into a long braid that fell off one of her shoulders.  She was at a loss for to say, as what was being said to her still offered her no insight as to what Douken really felt like.  Done fixing her hair, she tucked her brush back into her bag, kneeling on the floor.  She had gotten dressed in her usual attire (of course with a replacement shirt), and was fiddling with her gear.  When he finally stepped out from behind the screen, she glanced up at him.  "I don't regret it, if you're worried about that.  And I'm not upset with you.  Like I said, it was… well, nevermind," she said, her face turning red and her voice growing quiet.  She looked away from him and back down to her gear.

"Oh, well… I guess maybe?  I paid for them, but I've no use for that.  You can keep it if you want, I guess, or maybe I'll just tell one of the maids to hock them and keep the silver for profit," she said, shrugging her shoulders without looking at Douken. She did, however, glance at the attire as they spoke, and the memories of them watching one another slowly strip down to nothing flooded her mind.  She shifted uncomfortably on the floor before standing back up with a bit of a groan, her muscles still somewhat sore.  She pulled her boots on and looked at Douken, who also seemed to be ready.  "I'm hungry," she said simply, gathering her gear up. 

She walked out the door, at which Douken followed her and they went downstairs. The pair ate a quick breakfast, with Mazerine settling up for the room and telling one of the maids her plan about the clothing - she seemed rather excited at the prospect.  When they had finished eating, Mazerine briefly explained to Douken that she wanted to visit one of the artifact shops in the city and speak to one of the historians about what they had found at Occultatum.

It did not take them long to reach the small shop.  They ducked inside and Mazerine presented the item to the man at the counter, who seemed very interested in it.  They spent the better part of an hour in the shop before the man informed them they would need a specific text to be able to figure out the true purpose of the item, and the last known location of the text was in Iria.  

When they were back outside, Mazerine stuffed the item back in her gear bag and pulled the pack back onto her shoulder.  "Guess I'm going to Iria," she said.  "I've never been to Parvpora," she added, a silly grin coming to her face at the prospect of travelling.  The shopkeeper had suggested traveling to Iria via airship, as they were already in one of the ports and it would take much less time than traveling by boat.  The grin faded from her face, and she turned to look at Douken, her gaze locking with his for the first time that morning.  

"Do you want to come with me?" she asked, a hopeful tone to her voice.  After all, he had been a great exploration partner.  His skills were incredibly useful.  And, she had to admit to herself, she did have fun traveling with him, even when they were in down time and just relaxing.  She found him interesting enough.  Part of her was silently pleading and hoping that he would say yes, and that he would continue traveling with her, while another part of her hoped he didn't.  The prospect of sharing a cabin in a ship together, be it airship or boat, was a bit unnerving.  Sure, before last night they had slept in the same bed, but things would be different now, wouldn't they?

"I mean, I've never been to Parvpora, like I said… and I could still use the help.  Besides, don't you wanna know what this is all about?" she asked, clearly meaning the box they had found in the ruins.

Douken was not one to sit around as they studied the relics he had found. Most of the time, they would take it, give him payment, and do the research on their own. However, he was with the "business partner" in this project, meaning he had to sit around and listen to the talk about the ancient works and puzzles that came from it, before delving a point of origin that came from a base of text. Of course, while they knew WHAT the text was from, they lacked the books to translate it, offering them a lead to Iria and their massive library of magic studies.

Her spunk was high when the offer came up, though dropped when she asked if he still wanted to be by her side. Giving her a chuckle, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder, giving a bit of a shake before jokingly asking her, "You are how old, and you have still yet been across the ocean?" Before giving a quick pat. "I'd be glad to join you. After all, you are still my boss," giving her a silly wink, as if their initial business deal left them from being partners to an actual relationship (even if the state of that relationship was a bit complicated). "Not only that, but you will need some help getting around, right? I've been around Iria multiple times, so I am sure I can find the best shops and libraries to help us out."

With the deal set in stone, the pair made sure they had all their supplies at the ready, Douken sending the cart he used back into the realm while Mazerine returned the room key and visited the apothecary, picking up some "essentials" for the trip. For all Douken knew, she was picking up things for motion sickness for heights as a just in case, not anything else like more migraine medicine and a special potion in relation to what happened last night…

Once the pair were ready to depart, they headed to the airport, where everything was filled with buzz and commute, many races and characters passing in and out while in the back, the massive airships rested a couple were taking off and others were landing in. A sight he had not seen in a long time. It was when they got close were they greeted with a harpy, who gave the pair  a bow. "Greetings," she told them, her words rich with accent. "Where we be heading today?"

"Iria," he replied, before she nodded and digging through her pile pf pamphlets before laying them out.

"Here are times of departures and prices. Feel free to look through to see which ones suit your needs and your accommodations." She made sure the sooner flights were more on top.

With the two looking around, seeing the models and offers, Douken asked her, "So, which one do you like best?"

She couldn't help but smile as Douken shook her by the shoulders, winking at her and stating that he would, of course, join her.  "Okay," she said, making a good attempt to not tense up as his arm was around her.  "Just need to get a few things around town," she said, grinning at him before the pair split for a short while to do what they needed to do before leaving. 

Mazerine ducked into an apothecary with a few things on a list - a couple of different healing salves, some herbal remedies for muscle pain and headaches, and a tincture for altitude sickness - something she had heard about people getting when they flew on airships, particularly if it was their first time.  Making idle conversation with the alchemist at the counter, she gave Mazerine a thoughtful chuckle and tossed another small bottle into the crate that the elf purchased.  

Before long she had met back up with Douken and they headed to the airship port.  Mazerine had never really been around something as busy as this, except festivals and the like, and her eyes were wide with wonder as she took in the sights around her.  She got distracted for a bit of time, watching airships ascending and descending before she hurriedly caught up to Douken as they reached the area in which they would pay for passage on one of the massive vessels.  Mazerine eyed the harpy with interest as Douken explained to her that they were keen on traveling to Iria.  

At that point, Mazerine walked up next to Douken and began looking at the airship prices and times of departure, mostly paying attention to the time.  One particular parchment caught her eye, which departed about an hour from the current time.  "Oh, Douken, look!  It's a luxury ship," she said, pointing at a very intricately designed pamphlet.  Unlike more of the other economic choices, the luxury airship seemed to include several extra amenities, including a dining area and a tavern-like lounge (in which food and beverage were included with the price of one's ticket).  Mazerine began to rifle through her belongings to get her silver pouch.

As Mazerine searched through her bag for her silver, the harpy glanced at the pair of them, and then back down at the pamphlet.  "This is a very highly priced ship," she said.  "I may suggest one of the economy class travel fares on one of our smaller fleet?" she said, attempting to direct Mazerine's attention to a different pamphlet.

"No, we'll take a suite in the luxury one," she said, dumping the proper amount of silver onto the counter, much to the harpy's surprise.  She scooped the silver towards her and pushed two tickets towards Mazerine and Douken, along with cabin keys. 

"Dock four," the harpy instructed, and Mazerine scooped the keys and tickets up and turned to Douken with a grin.  

"It's my first time flying in an airship, why not do it the right way?" she said, looking over her shoulder at Douken as they walked towards the docks.  It didn't take them long to reach dock four - at which the largest of the airships was docked.  They showed their tickets and went inside and were quickly met by a man dressed in a very fine suit.  He took Mazerine's bags from her.  

"Madam.  Sir.  If you'll follow me," he said in a formal manner, before showing the two to their suite.  Once inside, he set Mazerine's bags down and addressed the pair.  "My name is Leonard.  I am at the station at the end of your hall.  Should you require anything at all, do not hesitate to ask."  He exited the room and shut the door behind him.

Mazerine turned to Douken.  "Do we have our own butler?  That is amazing!" she exclaimed, clearly excited about the prospect.  She turned and looked about the incredibly lavish room, complete with the largest bed she had seen outside of her home in Endapano.  The furtniture was exquisite, and there were several windows looking outside.  "This is incredible," she said, breathlessly, as she wandered inside to check things out.