Timestamp: 60th of Fall, 522 A.V.
It was Jaelis, in fact, who leaned close and raised an eyebrow when Tazrae had explained she wanted to expand The Protea and keep growing the business. The pair were at Garden Beach, lounging under the palapa, with parchment spread out on a small portable writing table in front of the cushions. Ixams lounged around, mostly asleep. While birds fluttered here and there, some after the insects that scampered around or plucked at the lush vegetation at the edge of the beach in search of seeds.
“Expand how, Tazrae? Don’t you already cook and clean enough having six room rentals?” The white-haired Kelvic asked, surprise on his face. Jaelis looked over her parchment sketch of the outline of The Protea’s outer walls. He half expected to see six more identical rooms sketched in the outline, but so far there were no more charcoal marks.
Taz took a slow breath, looked thoughtful for a moment, and then studied him as if trying to understand what he meant or how she was going to explain something a little difficult for her to vocalize. But she recognized too that Jaelis had come from Falyndar. The Moon Eagle was as much a part of the jungle as she was, more so in fact. He was from here, born and bred, while she had traveled and knew different people wanted different things. Born in Eyktol, raised in Riverfall and having only been in Syka a few years, Tazrae had more experience with society and its tiers of wealth than Jaelis did. Sometimes society demanded a lot… and Taz wanted Syka accommodating to even the upper class of Mizahar. She’d spent a year living emotionlessly in posh elegance waited on by servants. It had, despite the way she fought it, influenced her perception.
“I want to expand the Inn, yes, but not like you think. I’m not going to double the capacity of rooms for example by putting the same layout upstairs. Instead, I’m going to expand what we offer and make it higher end. I want to take the roof off, build up one more floor, and add three suites to the second story. Multiple people can stay in the suites, but they will have more space, a more luxurious experience, and it can cater to those that have more money and aren’t staying in Syka permanently but are just vacationing here.” She said, quickly sketching out the dimensions of the Protea as it was now… its basic footprint with the decking included. The upper story would be the same, with the decks the same footprint as the decks beneath.
Jaelis tilted his head, pursed his lips, and thought it over. He nodded, but Taz didn’t quite believe he was one board. The Kelvic Moon Eagle had no say in what she did, but they were friends and had been for a few seasons. In getting to know him, she had learned a few things about him… and one of his traits was that he picked his battles thoroughly. This, evidently, wasn’t a battle he was willing to fight. Instead, he joined in the planning, leaning over and picking up a few fallen leaves. He stripped the leaf part off, leaving just the spine of the leaves, and began laying the spines across the drawing – making clever temporary lines. “Something like this?” He asked, dividing the space neatly and logically in three equal parts.
