Creeped out

[Lazey Winde]

Liadan rushed from the cellar and into the kitchens- and found that the kitchen was working as usual. Though one or two helpers gave her surprised looks. For a change Liadan left the kitchen without taking food. She thought that Nelek might be annoyed with her for not getting Difyr, but Liadan suspected she needed a healer herself after that odd episode. She went up the stairs and to Aron's room, only to find it empty. She went back downstairs and to Aislyn's cottage. At least there she would be safe.

Liadan let herself in without bothering to knock.

[Muffin Puffin]

Aislyn pulled her knees up and wrapped her arms around them, tears streaking down her cheeks. Nothing was not as it should be and life seemed to be upside down. This should have been the happiest time of her life and she wasn't. She couldn't be.

[Lazey Winde]

"Liadan! You're okay!" Nelek exclaimed.

"I guess so." Liadan said, unsure.

Nelek threw his head into the main room. "Aislyn! Liadan is back."

[Muffin Puffin]

Aislyn leapt off of the sofa. She wobbled as the room spun, but she ignored it and plodded ahead toward the kitchen. She prayed she wouldn't pass out again. "Lia!"

[Lazey Winde]

"Ais!" Liadan shouted back. "I was gonna get Difyr for you but I dunno what happened."

[Cindy]

Aislyn wobbily crossed the distance. "What do you mean you don't' know what happened?"

[Lazey Winde]

"I don't know what happened. I was on my way to the healers, then I'm in this place.. I don't know where I was or how I got there. It was just dark and not much light. Then I had a..." Liadan didn't want to talk about the flashback. "I was there for a while, then the next thing I know I'm in the cellar at the inn.I don't know how I got there either."

[Muffin Puffin]

Aislyn blinked slowly at Lia. Her story made no sense whatsoever.

[Lazey Winde]

Difyr did not think Liadan's story made any sense either.

"Did you hit your head?" Difyr asked.

"I don't think so."

[Muffin Puffin]

Aislyn frowned. "Perhaps you should sit down and let Difyr examine you."

[Lazey Winde]

Difyr uncomfortably sat down and Difyr started poking at her head.

"How long was I gone?" Liadan asked, half expecting it to be days. "And where's Yehudit?"

[Cindy]

"Yehudit is in the main room in her basket." Aislyn glanced at Brie and Nelek. "How long was she gone?"

[Lazey Winde]

"Maybe  two hours." Nelek shrugged.

"Yehudit must be hungry." Liadan fussed, shrugging Difyr away and going directly to her daughter.

[Muffin Puffin]

"That long?" Aislyn asked Nelek. "How long was I out?"

[Lazey Winde]

"Not long." Nelek said. "Maybe I should try to find Aron and let him know Liadan's here."

[Muffin Puffin]

"Be careful!" Aislyn implored.

[Lazey Winde]

"I will." Nelek assured Aislyn, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "I'll be back as soon as I find him."

[Muffin Puffin]

Aislyn looked at him with worry, her fingers curled around his hands. "I love you."

[Lazey Winde]

"I love you too." Nelek said, kissing Aislyn's other cheek. With that he went outside and began looking for Aron.

Meanwhile, i nthe other room, Liadan was fussing over Yehudit.

[Muffin Puffin]

Aislyn trembled and sank down on the chair, intending to sit vigil until Nelek returned to her, safe and sound.

[Lazey Winde]

Difyr wondered if she could go home for lunch, or if she should just stay here. If Liadan wasn't hurt she probably would wind up injured soon.

[Muffin Puffin]

Aislyn placed her hands together and prayed for the safety of Nelek and Aron.

[Lazey Winde]

A loud burp sounded from the next room.

[Muffin Puffin]

Aislyn couldn't help it. She smiled.

[Lazey Winde]

"A healthy little girl." Difyr observed.

Yehudit babbled baby talk.

[Muffin Puffin]

Brie giggled and sat down on a chair to watch the baby. Her face grew serious as that long felt pain made itself known in her heart. She turned her head then stood up to leave the room. "I'm going to help Nelek look for Aron."

[Lazey Winde]

"Aron? Where is Aron?" Liadan asked worriedly.

[Muffin Puffin]

"I believe he went searching for you," Brie replied. "I'll help Nelek find him."

[Lazey Winde]

"Aron is my husband, maybe I should look for him." Liadan said.

[Muffin Puffin]

"You just returned from a weird experience. Stay here and relax," Brie replied, then before Lia could protest again, Brie was gone.

[Lazey Winde]

"Darn her." Liadan muttered.

"Ahyah!" Yehudit shouted.

[Muffin Puffin]

Aislyn went back to her prayer after silently watching Brighid leave. She did see a tear in her old friend's eye though.

[Lazey Winde]

"I hope Brie, Aron and Nelek come back all right." Liadan fretted to Ais, absently looking for sticky buns. "Brie had just returned, I missed having her around."

[Muffin Puffin]

"I have as well. There's something different as well, and..." she eyed Lia. "Do you know why she left here witha  tear in her eye?"

[Lazey Winde]

Liadan felt guilty for not noticing that Brie was teary-eyed, but she could guess why.

"She lost Eden and her and Kegan never had any children." Liadan said quietly. "She doesn't have that girl with her anymore either, Sap I think her name was."

[Muffin Puffin]

"Scrap. Yes, I know she never did, but didn't Ertzel tell her she couldn't? Yehudit. She misses not having a little one of her own. Or at the very least, not having happiness."

[Lazey Winde]

Liadan nodded sadly.

"Before I left breakfast Brie said something about how she'd be jealous of me if she had not taken another path." Liadan sighed. "Brie ought to have kids."

[Muffin Puffin]

Aislyn nodded in agreement. "And everyone should have the life they want. I wonder if there was any chance Ertzel might have been wrong? And who do we know that we could fix Brighid up with?"

[Lazey Winde]

Liadan did not know too much about that sort of stuff. She shrugged.

"It would be nice if Ertzel was wrong about that."

[Cindy]

"It would be very nice," Aislyn agreed.

[Lazey Winde]

Liadan anxiously eyed the door.

"I hope Aron hasn't gotten himself into trouble over me."

[Muffin Puffin]

"Aron would do whatever it takes to bring you home. But of course, he doesn't know you already are home."

[Lazey Winde]

"I know." Liadan sighed. "I wish there were these small boxes that people could carry around and use them to send messages to each other."

[Cindy]

"I know but you know how some people would abuse them. They  would be talking to each other on them constantly and not work, nor would they be polite to those they run into."

[Lazey Winde]

Liadan could tell this was another bright idea that seemed really smart before she spoke it aloud. Like those carts that don't need horses to move. She nodded regretfully. "People are rude enough as it is."

[Muffin Puffin]

"True enough. Why give them the opportunity to be ruder," Aislyn agreed. "But then, in times like these...." she gazed out the window.

[Lazey Winde]

"I wish I had a weapon that could like... shoot bits of metal into these momzers' hearts." Liadan said angrily.

[Muffin Puffin]

"Brie has that. And according to Nelek and our past experiences with her, she can do just that. But honestly...you think momzers have hearts?"

[Lazey Winde]

"Probably not." Liadan said. "But they have a lot of blood in them."

[Muffin Puffin]

"Then all she has to do is make them bleed," Aislyn added.

[Lazey Winde]

Liadan stared moodily at the ovens. "If Aron's not here in five minutes I think I'll go looking for him."

[Muffin Puffin]

"And leave me here alone." Aislyn frowned. "It;'s always nice to feel loved and protected.

[Lazey Winde]

"Hey!" Difyr had the feeling that she had been forgotten.

Liadan blinked, she had forgotten that the young healer was there.

[Muffin Puffin]

Aislyn glanced over at Difyr. "I don't want to put you in danger," she said.

[Lazey Winde]

Difyr shrugged. "Healing is dangerous sometimes."

[Muffin Puffin]

"But you don't need your patients putting you in potential danger."

[Lazey Winde]

"True." Difyr said, "But I can't exactly leave. Even if I get home all right Ertzel will be very upset about me being out and about alone."

[Muffin Puffin]

Aislyn sat down in the chair. "How is Ertzel doing, Difyr? Please. Be honest."

[Lazey Winde]

"She gets tired a lot." Difyr worriedly chewed on her lower lip. "She rests as often as she can."

[Muffin Puffin]

"That's good, I was hoping she wasn't overdoing things." she looked down at her lap. "I'm a fine one to talk about overdoing."

[Lazey Winde]

"Indeed." Difyr said. "Have you eaten yet?"

[Muffin Puffin]

"No, I haven't had the energy to make anything. Nelek was going to, but he of course went off to find Aron, as did Brighid." Aislyn sighed softly.

[Lazey Winde]

"I'll cook you something." Difyr said and moved to the pantry to see what Aislyn had to cook.

Liadan wistfully thought of sticky buns.

[Muffin Puffin]

Aislyn's stomach growled loudly, she would be happy with anything to put in her stomach.

[Lazey Winde]

Difyr found some eggs, she cracked a few in a bowl, then began heating up some butter.

Liadan sighed, everyone made cooking look so easy.

[Muffin Puffin]

Aislyn leaned back in the chair, enjoying being taken care of.

[Lazey Winde]

"Ahahahahhhhhh!" Yehudit babbled happily.

Liadan looked out the window, wishing Aron would appear.

[Muffin Puffin]

Aislyn glanced out the window again, praying for Nelek to return home.

[Lazey Winde]

Difyr tossed an omlette on a plate and offered it to Aislyn.

[Muffin Puffin]

Aislyn accepted the plate and dug in, as if she hadn't eaten for days. Thinking back, she may not have.

[Lazey Winde]

Liadan's stomach growled with hunger.She wished she could cook without wasting food.

[Muffin Puffin]

Aislyn ate slowly, letting the food layer her stomach. "Difyr, you are quite the cook. Thank you."

[Lazey Winde]

"You're welcome." Difyr said. "Remember, you're eating for two now."

[Muffin Puffin]

"It seems to be a matter of time now as opposed to just forgetting to eat now," Aislyn explained.

[Lazey Winde]

Difyr gave Aislyn a severe look.

Liadan meandered over to the door and looked outside.

[Muffin Puffin]

"I did have all of the ingredients for sticky buns out this morning...in fact...previous to that, Nelek and I had gone to the Inn for breakfast. Life just doesn't seem to be working today."

[Lazey Winde]

"You have to sit down and eat." Difyr scolded.

"Ais?" Liadan called..

[Cindy]

"I know. I tried," Aislyn wailed, her eyes tearing up. "But everything seems to be conspiring....Yes, Lia?"

[Lazey Winde]

Difyr felt terrible, she didn't want to make Aislyn cry.

"Can you watch Yehudit for me?" Liadan asked Aislyn.

[Muffin Puffin]

She glanced at Difyr helplessly. "See what I mean? Of course I can, Lia, but where are you going?

[Lazey Winde]

"I'm going to find Aron." Liadan said, as if it should be obvious.

[Muffin Puffin]

"And then it will be a vicious cycle. He' ll have to go look for you again, you'll have a weird experience that you can't explain and then you'll go look for him. It will never end."

--
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[Lazey Winde]

Now Liadan burst into tears.

"Something's going on, I'm worried about him."

[Muffin Puffin]

"But don't you see. He's out there because he's worried about you. If he comes home without finding you and doesn't find you here, or hears you've gone out again, he'll be out there looking for you again."

[Lazey Winde]

"I know." Liadan sniffled and hiccuped. "But I want to see him now."

[Muffin Puffin]

"I know you do. I mean, Nelek's been gone mere minutes and I want him here, home, safe."

[Lazey Winde]

Liadan nodded, her face mournful.

"I want him here now." Liadan whispered.

[Muffin Puffin]

Aislyn nodded. "I want Nelek here. Now. Too."

[Lazey Winde]

Yehudit joined in on the crying and weeping. Liadan sniffled some more. Difyr wished she were home.

[Muffin Puffin]

Aislyn pushed her half eaten plate away and curled into a ball on the
sofa. She closed her eyes, willing herself not to cry.

[Lazey Winde]

Difyr frowned. "Please eat some more."

[Muffin Puffin]

"I feel like my stomach is a big knot, I'm so worried about Nelek."

[Lazey Winde]

"I really want to look for Aron." Liadan said wistfully.

[Muffin Puffin]

Aislyn sniffled softly, her fingers clutching the edge of the blanket covering her lap.

[Lazey Winde]

Yehudit was still fussing, Liadan guessed that she needed changing. Liadan loved Yehudit but some things were less fun than others.

"Ais, wouldja like to change Yehudit?"