[Surya Plaza] A Song to the Night (Haeli)

by **Julian** on March 22nd, 2011, 4:57 am

Day 39 of Spring, 511AV

It had not taken long for Julian to adjust to the city's night life. Since acquiring a temporary lodging arrangement at a local inn, he'd grown quite used to lying in his bed throughout the day, watching the mountain winds play at the thin white curtains as the sun arced through the sky. Of course, the novel idea of sleep had occurred to him, but that was a quaint fantasy lost to the tides. Insomnia lingered after spending weeks in the cargo hold of that trading vessel from the Sylira region, protecting his pockets and trying to switch off his sense of smell: Julian reminded himself not to let anyone convince him that boatmen were hygienic by any standard. In time, he was certain the insomnia would pass. Until then, he would enjoy his quiet afternoons waiting for the sun to set. It would be a while before the breathtaking view of the Misty Peaks would lose its wonder.

He had learned quickly that Lhavit operated slowly in the daylight, a stark contrast to the customs in Syliras. It was a relief, more than anything. It had been change he'd ached for, and he'd got what he wanted and then some. The overall sense of purpose escaped him, but that was nothing new. Even before returning from Zeltiva, he was possessed by a sense of wanting. It only seemed too convenient that his only reasons for staying in his native city had... slipped through his fingers. Fate, he decided, was an insistent mistress, and she would sacrifice anything and everything to see that her needs were met.

It was fate - it must have been - that brought him to a street corner here in Lhavit, drawing his bow gently across the strings of his only companion: a large, lacquered wooden cello. All around him in the warm glow of the city's lights, throngs of people coursed through the busy streets, flooding into shops and the nearby gardens. The evening breeze was choked by the sheer mass of people who stood around another, conversation Julian paid no attention to drowned out most other noises. The aromatic smells of freshly prepared food wafted through the air, bringing an empty feeling to his stomach. He ignored it staunchly, and continued to play his music to drown out the crowd.

Julian's cello nestled gently in his lap, his gray-blue eyes watched only the manipulations of the chords and the almost sensual massage of his bow. Its deep, humming vibrato filled the street corner with its impassioned song. Summer Evening Flight was a sonata composed by a Syliran violinist, but the cello's resonant voice brought new power to the quick and uplifting melody. Julian himself wasn't much of a songwriter, and in actuality was not a particular fan of that certain violinist, but it was one of the first songs he knew.

Besides, it was these faster, happier songs that drew the crowds. A wide brimmed hat sat upside-down near Julian's feet, welcoming donations. The slower, more melancholy trademark of the cello seemed to depress passersby and drew no coin. He wasn't having much luck either with the Summer compositions, but at least a few people stopped momentarily to watch him. He wasn't particularly hard up for money - not yet - but he didn't want to be interrupted if some cretin wanted to ask him where to give his donation. Not that it had happened yet, but it was a painful disruption he recalled from Syliras.

Though much of it was tucked back in a loose ponytail, a waterfall of his soft, raven hair rested over the side of his face as he watched his hands. His head barely moved, but his eyes were alive and animated, flicking back and forth in deep concentration. It was as if he drew more pleasure from the playing itself than the attention he garnered with the public. Occasionally his eyes would close momentarily as he enjoyed a minor fall in the melody. He was fixated, but his song slowed as it began to draw to a close.

by **Haeli** on March 22nd, 2011, 8:14 am

At first she thought it was the low singing of a manatee. It vibrated something in her sternum and drew her from all the way across the Surya where she was on an errand from the potters whom she often took orders to. Herbs in exchange for pots for them was a good deal, but one Haeli had to go to the potter for rather than let them come to her.

But a sea cow in Lhavit? How would one survive long enough to sing its low haunting song? Haeli drew herself quietly across the plaza, feet bare since the paving stones were dry the bright spring day. It drew her like a moth was drawn to a flame, helplessly drawn by her curiosity and astonishment.

She was even more astonished to find someone, a man, not a manatee, dragging a wand of animal hair across a deep throated wooden behemoth. People were listening too, some leaving coin, and others simply turning to walk away. The man made music, but it was like nothing she'd heard before. There'd been singing and musicians at the festival she'd attended in the Winter, but Haeli couldn't remember ever seeing something like the wooden thing he clutched in his lap and wrapped around from behind.

Haeli stood a long time, fascinated, before she drew forward and laid a gold rimmed miza in the place where everyone else had left coin. The swamp witch watched so long that she finally took a seat a little ways away from the musican and continued to listen even as the sun started to set. She knew the kelvic, Brig, would be worried about her if she was gone too long. But lately Haeli had been missing the Gyvaka swamp and it was like this man, this musician, had captured a piece of it in his instrument in the form of a sea cow singing.

When he paused for a break, he'd still find her there, watching. She'd offer him a smile, but her eyes would be only for the cello. "Is it a sea cow? Did you somehow steal one's voice for your wood? I did not know wood could sing like a manatee, sir. It is the most beautiful thing I think I've ever heard." The witch said, not caring if the man heard or not. It was almost as if she said the words for herself, rather than for him. Her words were in common, not Lhavitan, for she only spoke the local language poorly but had a true mastery of Common.

by **Julian** on March 22nd, 2011, 9:06 am

Julian heard the questions, but for the most part ignored them. They were all the usual inquiries - where did you learn to play, what kind of instrument is that, can you play this one song, do you sing as well - dreary white noise if anything. Perhaps Julian was a bit cynical, but few people knew how to connect with music properly. They were too obsessed with coin, war, love, and their own personal advancements. Music was a happy addition to an already cluttered life, to them. For Julian, music spoke of the underlying truth in all things. It stirred emotions that people never knew they had. It uncovered secrets, it brought about epiphanies.

Still, he wasn't playing necessarily to impress anyone. It was about expression - this was the most comfortable way Julian could share himself with others. Perhaps the melodies were not his own, but he could identify with them. Even the more jovial tunes that it made his hands feel sluggish and torpid spoke of things he'd once known years ago. Some people might understand and sympathize. Others would leave coin and say nice things. And others - specifically golden-eyed young girl - would claim that it sounded like... a manatee?

The bow in Julian's hand halted: the music stopped abruptly. He took a moment to replay the girl's words in his head, staring at his cello. He wasn't sure whether to be amused or insulted.

"A manatee?" Bewildered, Julian looked up at the girl, even as his bothersome hair fell over one eye as it so often insisted on doing. "Really? That's what you think of?" If he recalled right from his tutoring in Syliras, manatees were large, rotund creatures covered in rolls of fat that slowly grazed on seagrass. If anything the cello was... a swan or... actually, he'd never really put an image to the music. The wordgraceful however did not conjure images of large marine mammals.

Julian chuckled suddenly, looking down at his cello. "That's not a very flattering image. I think you hurt her feelings." He patted the instrument indicatively. "Have you not heard a cello before?"

by **Haeli** on March 22nd, 2011, 4:32 pm

Haeli looked startled when the man stopped playing his instrument abruptly. She stiffened and wondered if it wasn't time to leave - swiftly. The music itself is what drew her, not exactly the man, for men to her looked all the same, especially in Lhavit with their dark hair and almond eyes. Often, she had trouble telling them apart. This one, however, drew her attention not for his long hair- for it wasn't uncommon in Lhavit either, but for his ... cello. The thing in his hands, it seemed, had a name. And he was talking to her, which was strange in and of itself, since no one ever really saw her other than to note her dress wasn't appropriate or her hair color didn't fit in, or especially that she spoke no Lhavitian at all.

"Yes... truthfully it sounds like a manatee. If you gathered more of them, they'd sound just like a herd of them. They sing so beautifully and are such gentle graceful animals. People don't know them, at least not well, for they live beneath the waves. But I can hear them and know them through their song. Your cello sounds like you stole one of their voices and trapped it inside wood. It seems only to escape through that hair you rub against it. I cannot decide if the hair has the voice or the wood has the voice. It's such an odd thing. No, I have not heard a cello before." Haeli said softly.

"I left a gold coin. Is that why yous it out here to play? To earn coin? It seemed odd to me at first, but I have seen other musicians here do the same thing." She had an odd accent. It was Common but it was flavored with something exotic, as if she'd been raised in a land far away where they blurred their s's a little and slightly trilled their verbs. Truth be told, if he ever heard a Dhani speaking common, her accent would have perfectly matched it.

"I did not mean to hurt her feelings." She was truthfully surprised the device had any, to be honest. "If you have ever heard sea cows sing you would be pleased with the compliment. She should be too. It was meant as one. People never look past ugly to see the beauty within. Sometimes they are the same with fat. They see only a gentle creature easy to kill to make lamp oil with. I was horrified the one time I saw sailors harvesting them. I would not trade with them that trip, and they were angry for it. But I told them they killed the sacred and silenced voices that should never go quiet. It was fair not to trade." Haeli said gently. She looked strickened at the memory, even now, so many years after.

by **Julian** on March 23rd, 2011, 5:27 am

Julian watched the girl curiously as she spoke, cradling his cello in one arm. She certainly was a talker, an endearing quality that brought a faint smirk to the corner of his lips. He couldn't quite place her accent - she wasn't Lhavitian clearly, that was apparent from the start - but it was intriguing, if not charmingly exotic. At least she spoke Common. Being in Lhavit only by chance, himself, Julian had yet to pick up a single word of the local language.

"I'll have to take your word for it," Julian responded with a placid smile. What could he say? The girl knew her manatees. He himself had only ever seen drawings and read brief descriptions, so he wasn't surprised to learn there was a great deal he didn't understand about the animals. If she considered a manatee's song a beautiful thing, he might as well take it as the compliment she intended.

With a glance down to his hat, Julian took notice of the meager amount of coin that some people had offered for his music. Now that he'd stopped playing, the small crowd he'd gathered dispersed and melted back into the teaming plaza streets. Only the young woman lingered in Julian's corner now.

He leaned forward and picked up the hat, shuffling the coins inside. As he emptied the hat into his purse, he spoke up at the kind stranger. "And I'm glad for your donation, miss. Money isn't why I'm out here to play, but it's a nice byproduct of a two-part effort."

Julian stood up from his borrowed stool, placing the hat on his head. He was by no means a hat-person, but it seemed to be the most appropriate place to put the article for now. Balancing his cello up right next to him, he threaded his bow through the strings. That was all the effort he needed to pack up. He had already been out for some hours now, and his back was beginning to cramp from the demanding posture of the instrument.

"I'm new to Lhavit, and I thought it best to immerse myself into the populace by playing my music in public." Julian rested both his arms on the neck of his cello. Something about the girl was interesting to him - perhaps her youthful naivete or her calm, pleasant nature. Perhaps it was because she was as much out of place in Lhavit as he was. "The second reason is that this cello is recently crafted. It and I are still getting fully acquainted. I can't truly play music on an instrument until we both have a deep understanding of each other." He paused. "I suppose that sounds mildly insane, but there you have it."

Julian offered his hand, still leaning on his cello. "I'm Julian. And by the way, don't worry about my cello's feelings, I was only making a terrible joke. The way you speak of animals and traders, you must not be from around here. Personally I'm from Syliras. I'm only visiting."

by **Haeli** on March 28th, 2011, 4:42 am

She hadn't meant to talk to him, a stranger, as if they were friends. It was just in Lhavit she so rarely found a friendly face. She ran her business, went through her daily routine, and tried very hard to fit in where she did not belong. Often, daily, the swamp called to her. It called with a longing that struck her as passionate and seductive even from the dizzying heights of Lhavit so far to the north of where her beloved lowlands were.

The girl quieted then, when he said he'd take her word for it. It occurred to her that maybe what she spoke of was something he cared nothing for and that perhaps she was bothering him. The girl rose to her feet from where she was leaning and took a step back, watching him intently. Her feet were bare, even in the coldness of spring. Even her clothes were not as fine as the ones other Lhavitian's wore. And it just wasn't her appearance that didn't fit in. Her eyes were like that of a wild creatures, gold and out of place. And she watched him with them carefully, as if trying to understand more about him. Had he been a gator, she could have judged his mood. Even a swamp jaguar or a simple snake was easier to read for the girl than people were. The mark on her granted from the Wild Lady saw to that.

She nodded to his thanks. Money she was starting to understand. Everyone here was paid for everything. No one did anything for friendship or out of friendliness as far as she'd seen. If you had a family name, that was one thing, but if you were no one you were nothing here in the city of stars. Haeli didn't mind being nothing. She liked it that way. There were no eyes on her, no expectations, and no large scale public humiliation when one made a mistake with language or custom.

Haeli was surprised at how much he revealed about the cello and his doings when she finally stopped talking, feeling the need to fill the silence between them. He volunteered that the cello was new to his possession and he was indeed new to Lhavit. She took another look at his facial features and clothing, but there was nothing that really stuck out to tell her that he was not part of the community. But then Haeli often missed nuisances of clothing style, accent, and mannerisms. She was learning a few things, but more often than naught she missed them. But the witch didn't miss that he was new in the city, for he said it plainly enough.

Haeli nodded, reluctant now to speak. She looked at his outstretched hand and wondered what he wanted or needed. Was it more coin? Was the information he gave her for sale? Or perhaps it was a greeting, as she'd seen someone else do. Haeli hesitated, not sure, then realized he offered his name. "It is nice to meet you, Julian." She replied, reaching her hand out to touch his with her own. She didn't shake it, not knowing the custom, nor did she touch it long - only enough to brush her knuckles with his. "I am Haeli. I am from... a place south of here, on the coast. It has no city or people, but is instead a great swamp. It is called the Gyvaka, but almost no one here has heard of it. I came here to ... learn about people. I know about animals and plants already. I do not know about music though. Music turned out to be a pleasant surprise." She admitted softly, and reached out tentatively to touch the wood of his cello just once. There was something admiring in her touch, and it was so delicate that Julian might have wondered if it had even happened.

"Thank you for letting me hear a cello. I will not long forget it." She added, taking a step back, knowing if she was supposed to have given him money he would have asked for it once more.

by **Julian** on March 31st, 2011, 12:45 pm

With an awkward and muted laugh, Julian pulled his hand back uncertainly. It was hard to say whether it was the girl who was unfamiliar with the custom, or if it simply never happened among Lhavitians. Off the top of his head, he couldn't actually recall at this specific moment whether he'd shaken anyone else's hand in the last few weeks. It had all flown by so quickly.

It didn't really matter, ultimately. Clearly, she was out of her element here. The Gyvaka Swamps? He didn't even know there were any marshes in the area. It hadn't struck him until now how unfamiliar he was with the local geography. A stop by the library might cure that, and there might be literature on other things he could stand to learn, as well. Was there any point to traveling at all if he wasn't learning about the places he visited?

Julian studied the girl as she spoke, keeping a placid smile fixed on his face as he watched her intently through narrowed eyes. He wasn't sure exactly what it was, but he felt drawn to her. She was young, that was very clear, and in this city she didn't seem to look as though she really belonged - she wasn't even wearing shoes. Yet, he didn't want to say it was her obvious vulnerability that piqued his intrigue. It may have been more that he sensed a kindred spirit, someone who'd found themselves in an entirely different world with entirely different customs. They were both strangers here, or so he gathered, which put them on more even ground than anyone else Julian had met in Lhavit so far.

As she took a step back, she looked as though she might be about to leave. The idea of her departure stirred a mild, unexplainable sense of alarm in him, but he didn't understand why. Something made Julian speak up at that moment.

"Wait. Haeli," he spoke her name - perhaps a little too quickly to be polite. He'd recently learned that Lhavitians had an interesting policy considering first and second names within their city's culture. But that was how she'd introduced herself, after all. Even so, a quiet shadow of his conscience felt heavy suddenly as he gave into the compulsion to keep her attention. He told himself it was the loneliness - he'd left all his friends behind in Syliras. However, it didn't seem like that was the entire truth. "Forgive me if this sounds forward and don't take this the wrong way, I beg of you, but... Well, I haven't made many friends here in Lhavit, yet. None, in fact, so... Would you be troubled if I asked you to have dinner with me? Or..." He cringed. No, that came out all wrong. "Or tea, just tea would be fine, honestly. I hear there's a place nearby that sells a cup for a kina. My treat of course."

Out of a peripheral memory, Julian glanced at the neck of his cello. Haeli had touched it out of a natural human curiosity. Why did it interest him so? It was almost as if he could feel her thoughts. "If you're busy tonight, we can arrange for a later date. If you want to at all. No tricks, I assure you, I just like to avoid spending too much time in brooding seclusion."

by **Haeli** on April 2nd, 2011, 8:38 am

The wood was smooth under her touch and she was momentarily distracted trying to decide how someone - a craftsman perhaps - had made the piece so flat and smooth. The instrument was beautiful, but in such a way that it looked far to fine for someone with no knowledge to recreate.

So many things in Lhavit were like that - beautiful and untouchable - with an otherworldly aspect to them. For Haeli, the cello's voice was its true mystery for she had no idea how such an awkward looking thing made of such beautiful wood could sing so deeply that it vibrated her ribs and made her heart lift.

The girl stepped back and studied the man holding the instrument. He seemed to be worried about something suddenly and she paused, glancing around in alarm. There was nothing unusual that the scene around them so Haeli relaxed and went back to gazing at Julian. "I met someone here. A kelvic. He's perhaps the most interesting person I've ever met. Perhaps you should meet one as well. They are the best of company, Julian, far better than I would be. But I'd gladly go with you to ease our hunger. Tea is fine as well, though it is so formal here you'll likely starve or fall dead of thirst waiting for tea. But either is fine. I'm not sure where to recommend though. I make all my food myself. I haven't gotten brave enough for a restaurant or tea house yet." The way she said it didn't exactly imply that she was a good cook. It rather implied that she wasn't used to eating outside of her own home.

"I was leaving... because I'm not very good with people. I apologize but I'm never... really sure how to even talk to them. Everyone seems to know when it is correct to say hello and linger for conversation and when is the exactly right time to depart. I... if I go eat with you, you should know this. Because I might do something that makes you feel uncomfortable even though I won't mean it in that regard at all." The witch said softly, honestly. "And if you take me for food, some might see you as 'different' like they see me. The city is strange to strangers. Every motion you make, every word, every movement you take here can have a meaning. Its... difficult to understand sometimes." She said, sighing softly and looking around.

"But I'm not afraid of you. Your eyes are kind, though there is a sort of sadness in them - a loss. I'm not sure I can explain it.." She said suddenly, finding that the truth suddenly. Some of the most dangerous animals in the world were nothing to be feared. Toxic bites, powerful jaws, each and every one of them harmless if you respected their boundaries. Human boundaries, however, were harder to know.

by **Julian** on April 2nd, 2011, 10:23 am

"Your eyes are kind, though there is a sort of sadness in them - a loss. I'm not sure I can explain it..."

How curious. Julian lifted an inquisitive eyebrow. Wasn't she insightful? Then again, Liara had only died this last winter. While he'd been shouldering the shock of her passing, perhaps it was more apparent on his features than he guessed. There was a birdlike quality to her eyes as she studied him, as if she were trying to know everything about him just by looking at him. He was getting the feeling that she preferred this sort of observation to interaction - for the very reasons she'd pointed out. Though shy, she was eager to learn. Her mind was open and listening. Perfect.

"Surely you're imagining things." He smirked, quirking his head at her. His eyes were kind? Liara had said that once, a long time ago. It must have been true. He decided to take it as a compliment. "Not that I haven't experienced loss, but I'm certain we all have in some context. Now, you sound so frightened, Miss Haeli. Trust me, you are not the only one who's lost here. I'm from a large city, and this place daunts even me. You have no idea how many times I've made a fool of myself since I've come here."

The hat was beginning to feel awkward on his head, and an incredibly conceited fragment of himself was becoming annoyed at the way it was tangling his hair as it shifted around. Adding to a list of inconveniences, lugging his cello over to the Mhakula Tea House was not an attractive prospect. Given his discomforts, he came up with a perfect idea of where to go.

Picking up his cello and anchoring it under his arm, he gestured with his head toward the central Plaza. The hat wobbled a bit on his head unpleasantly. "Come, I know a place. I'm staying at the Shooting Star, but they have a restaurant area on the main floor. The cooks there prepare a chili-spiced Yatani salad that completely redefined my palette."

Something about this felt almost wrong. Yes, he had considered using Hypnotism on the girl, but of course he wouldn't. Never mind that he would never get anywhere with the practice if he didn't start trying to use it on other people, but without their consent, it was a breach of privacy. Even if he just tried to induce a simple suggestion, whether to smile, or look over her shoulder, or blink. All completely harmless notions that weren't aimed at further Julian's own goals. But of course he wouldn't. He had more honor than that. More integrity. He'd never take advantage of her or anyone.

He was only trying to pursue a friendship. Was there anything so wrong with that? The gods knew Julian could stand to make a few friends. All this time spent alone was liable to drive him batty.

The way Haeli spoke, she seemed to imply that she wasn't actually human herself. She said she was from the swamps - but that was such a fantastic concept. She couldn't be a hermit, or at least she didn't fit the description of any hermit Julian had heard of. And he couldn't fathom that one would want to do business within a city. Perhaps she was the daughter of some gnarled old hag out of a children's story. It sounded ridiculous, but she did seem genuinely clueless about even basic human etiquette.

"Don't worry too much about how the others look at you." Julian smiled again, a slight, half-hearted smirk. "Honestly, you're a breath of fresh air. To tell you the truth, aside from their colored wardrobe, I can hardly tell one Lhavitian from another. And my grandmother was Lhavitian, too. It's all rather humiliating." He chuckled to himself. "I've never known a Kelvic, not very closely. Tell me about your friend a bit on the way. What makes him so interesting?"

Fake. He felt so fake. Why? He wasn't trying to be. It was as if he'd forgotten how to be a real person.

by **Haeli** on April 2nd, 2011, 8:27 pm

Haeli nodded, willing to agree with him. At her gesture, the length of her unadorned blond hair swirled around her. It wasn't the dark of the rest of the Lhavitians, but a rich dark blond like honey. She brushed it out of her eyes as if annoyed with it, and met his gaze. "Yes, I probably am. Human eyes hold so many things. But you do not hide yours like many here do. I find animals more honest, like you they don't look away, but then I understand what I see in them. People are harder. I'm often wrong like you say 'imagining things'. The more I am here though, the easier it is to understand them. Where I lived before, traders used to stop and it was so hard to know if they were trading fairly. It's not easy here. But Lhavit is good in that it is a daily lesson." She said softly, smiling slightly sheepishly.

The girl rocked back on her bare heels and then forward on her toes. She glanced around, her eyes constantly moving, as if she really looked at everyone that passed and took note of folks as they came into her line of vision. Haeli was used to living in a dangerous place and falling somewhere on the pecking order above prey animals but below predators. It made her wary but confident in standing out in the open in the plaza talking with a stranger. No one was paying them any attention anyhow, so she made the most of it.

"I am not frightened. I am cautious. My mother, who was the woman that raised me rather than the one that birthed me, used to say that life merits caution not fear. Fear invites failure. Caution invites success. I don't know much about Lhavitian food. Is the salad good?" Haeli said thoughtfully, her eyes growing distant for a moment before they darted around the plaza again.

Haeli nodded about his words to not worry. She understood that. At first it had been hard, coming to Lhavit, though now she just mostly ignored people having decided along the way that she would not ever fit in, not in the way that the lithe dark-haired people did. A smile fleeted across her face. "I have trouble a bit as well. But not with them only, with everyone. There are so many people here." She added, eyes moving once more after meeting his briefly. And as he started moving, she followed him, companionably though a little like a stray deciding the person who stopped to pat it might be talked out of a good meal after all. As she walked, she moved like a dancer, on the balls of her feet with a light airy stride that seemed to be able to carry her long distances. There was nothing soft about her, for all that she was young. Perhaps it was her thin frame, as if she didn't eat enough, though she didn't actually look poor. It was more that she looked feral, unconcerned by the typical constraints of Lhavit, and decidedly curious to hear more about Julian.

"I met Brig fishing. He was chasing crayfish in the shallows of one of the streams. I was just coming to the city and stopped to watch him. He was a raccoon, but I've never had trouble with them and stopped to talk. I was very surprised that he talked back and could move his form between human and raccoon. They are fierce you know, clever, and inventive. They take a great deal of care in terms of details. And hes funny, always fighting with the neighboring cat or sniffing out mischief." She added, a smile darting across her face. "He's better in Lhavit than I am. He knows people. He had a real family growing up with a sister and everything. I always wanted one too. But Ozantha was an outcast from the other Dhani. She worshiped the wrong Goddess. They never gave her a chance to have children. So she only had me." Haeli nodded to herself, sadness falling into her gaze. The girl actually forgot that she probably should explain she was raised Dhani and that Ozantha was her mother. She'd talked so often about her - missing her - to Brig that for some reason she figured Julian would know or understand without an explanation needed.

"What about you? Where were you born?" She asked, curious again. There were safe topics to mention to other humans. Friends, family, and work always seemed a little safer to her than the normal questions everyone generally liked to ask. Haeli had no idea where they were actually going. She'd never heard of the place Julian was staying or knew anything about it. It wasn't surprising since she rarely ate out and slept only in her home.