Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Uh..."
Lorey's head shot up from the sink. Just the tips of her hair dripped with the warm water, but she still felt the need to make a show of trying to dry it off. He wasn't even in the room yet...
"Come in, I'm just... in the bathroom..." A part of her wanted to do this herself, while the other, more reasonable part barked at her or her stubbornness. She may have been alone and on her own for ten years, but that didn't mean she wouldn't have ever asked for help had there been someone to give it.


Damian cocked his head. He had definitely heard the thing say her name, but... what was he asking?
Well, he thought, goodness knew he could go on and on at the drop of a hat. Why not say something to this furry thing that seemed to be civil enough?
"I... Raquel left, and I do miss her. But now, I just want answers. I want to know why she left me here, bleeding and falling apart and claimed to love me."

There, he thought. Let's see if it understood that much.

Did she need help?
Lorey's cobalt eyes looked up at the mirror in the bathroom. Her hair was mussed, her eyes, tired. There were dark circles underneath. There usually were, but they never seemed to bother Richard. Such a dear, dear man, and she had made him upset by trying to understand his grief that he couldn't possibly share at that point in time. She had pried, Lorey felt. Did she need help?
Very, very softly, she whispered to herself, "yes."
In a moment, she opened the bathroom door with her fingertips, to see Richard there. "I'm sorry," she said softly. "Richard, I'm so sorry."

This thing is bloody mad.
"Er... you saw her running?" he assumed, not really knowing anything else that was going on. If only Richard was there. At least the man could serve as an interpreter when he wasn't drunk.

Lorey brought her arms around him awkwardly. It still hurt here and there, but she would be alright.
"It's alright. I know you're stressed, and I shouldn't have kept digging... I'm sorry, I just want to help so much and I feel like I can't."
She hoped they could both come to some sort of compromise, but for now, saying they were sorry was the next best thing. It made her feel better in the blink of an eye, so much so that she nearly forgot the water in the sink and her original plan to wash her hair.
"But I can barely wash my own hair right now," she joked. "Guess everything is just hard."

Now that he could understand!
"Raquel was running?" he pressed, moving forward bad foot first. Damian swore like the most seasoned sailors of the cosmos before managing to get down on one knee to be level with Enty.
"But she didn't go back to the slums? Where did she go?"

Lorey looked up at him, and just... smiled. He always made her smile in times like this, when she felt much smaller than she was and not quite so strong.
"This should be interesting..." she said, taking his hand and walking back to the sink. "I... I can't get these wet, so I was trying to figure out how to wash my hair in the sink. It wasn't going well."
There was a small cup on the side, and a shampoo bottle, and a brush. But, Lorey couldn't pick anything up, and so she had achieved nothing.
"You're going to get wet." And with that, she dipped her fingertips in the water, flicking some at his face with a laugh.

Damian looked from the bracelet to Enty, and nodded.
"She gave it to me, before she left. Why, what is wrong?"
If Enty knew something about Raquel, Damian had found an ally. that is, if they could communicate at all.

Lorey looked down and away, blushing and laughing. She'd seen him without his shirt a few times, but somehow it was so wonderfully awkward that time around.
"I love you, I swear," she mumbled through her laughter. It hurt her side, but she didn't care. Lorey could just bend to her left in a silly fashion to stop them from pulling a bit.


"I... alright then." Damian's head was swimming. How did he know Raquel? Where? And for how long? Was that why Raquel had run, because she knew Richard and Enty? All of these questions couldn't be answered just then, and it frustrated him to no end. Already he was feeling dizzy.
"Do you think you could help me find Raquel? Do you think you know maybe where she went?" he asked as he took a seat carefully.

"Here..." Lorey dipped her head over the sink, and the washing began.
Or, at least, the near hour of sputtering, laughing, giggling, and fighting with a mop of white hair began. They had bonded before, but never over something as seemingly simple as washing hair.
Once it was all over and done with, Lorey stood upright stiffly with a sharp pain in her side, but it was more from the near constant laughter they had been giving into. Her hair was a tangle and a sight to see.
"Alright, now that you've done such a good job getting us both wet, could you brush it?"
Thankfully her night gown wasn't too soaked, but her face was practically dripping.


"Whoever!" Damian said, throwing his hands up in the air. "But please find someone. You can have all the wretched fruit in the house if you can tell me anything about Raquel!"
Though, what he would do upon finding out, he wasn't sure. Drag her right back to the house, that's what he wanted to do. Chew her out, make her cry... and then he wanted to hug her and kiss her and never let her out of his sight again. Hell, Damian thought. He just wanted her back.

Lorey tried her best not to wince as the brush went through her tangles. He was being so careful, though. Always so careful...
It was only when he was done that she turned slightly, as much as her side would allow, to look at him.
"I love you," she said simply. Little droplets hung on her bangs and at the tips of her mid-length hair, falling as she shook her head slowly. "You're going to have to bend down to kiss me, because I can't jump on you right now." Once more her laugh broke through all the sadness she had within her as she tilted her face up to give him a kiss.

Damian took his little, slightly sticky paw in his hand and gave it a shake. He would find Raquel. He would find her, and never let her go. It was a maddening idea, but he was too hurt both inside and out to care.

Lorey returned every kiss that came her way before adding her own. It was a sweet interaction, until she twisted her body more to meet him, making her suddenly stop with a little painful gasp.
The stitches at her side really were not going to let her be comfortable.
"Sorry," she whispered. "My fault... shouldn't have moved so quickly." But even then, she smiled up at him. It was funny and sad all at once.
"Will you stay in here tonight? I missed you..."

"Unta... of course." With great indignation, Damian rose from his chair and hobbled after the furry thing. "Unta... I wonder how you say 'there is no way in hell I am walking for the rest of the day' while still being polite..."