[b]Evelynn Joshi

8:37 AM[/b]

[i]Beep beep beep.
Beep beep beep.[/i]

Evelynn was not a particularly good person at remembering things. Safe to say, her weekend alarm from back home was still on. And instead of the 'latest at any given circumstance' 10:30, she had, though remembering to change the time on her watch, forgotten to change the time zone on her phone. Germany being two hours behind her local time, the alarm had been beeping for about two minutes before a pair of hands fumbled for the phone in the light and squashed down the 'snooze' button with a vengeance. Unfortunately, the snooze only lasted five minutes, courtesy of her being notorious for abusing it until seven or eight snoozes later, she'd actually get up.
Perhaps it was a mixture of jet lag and a sudden self awareness, but she grabbed the phone and squinted at the screen.

[i]Damn.[/i]

She fumbled around the nightstand for her spectacles and once she had them on, looked at the screen again. It read "10:37" but Lynn could have sworn it wasn't. She sat up, cross legged, a little groggy still. She had, at least, had the energy to trail back to her room after her 'midnight semi-sleepover' with Kim, throw off the heavy gown that was bothering her so much, and grab a shirt at random from the pile she'd set aside for lounging around in.
She happened to wake up in a pair of underwear, and a long Sonic the Hedgehog shirt that was baggy enough to wrap around her like a bag. And the night's events flooded back to her as she blinked at the room's decor, the graffiti wall and otherwise elegant cream walls, the marble floor with the shag rug, and the wide glass windows that fell from the ceiling to the floor, and the door to the balcony. And then she remembered.

[i]Oh. Oh god.[/i]

A million thoughts pounced on her helpless realisation that she was miles and miles from home, and double the miles away from her family, back with Royce in India. As soon as they'd come to know their calling her was futile, they would definitely begin to panic. Ria or not, they would have already dialled her a million times. Staring at her phone and the "No new  notifications" glowing on the screen made her uneasy, with the memory that there was no signal making it worse.

[I]Oh well. Might as well make the best of it.[/i]

Lynn crawled out of bed begrudgingly, and over to the bathroom. The face that she saw in the mirror would have shocked her on any other occasion, but not here. There was more to worry about than haphazard mascara and smudged lipstick.
Nothing a quick shower couldn't fix, however. She grabbed her phone and set it on a ledge close to the sink, allowing an album by [i]The Reign of Kindo[/i] to play. It was soothing music, and good to actually wake up to.

---

When she had stepped out, she noticed a little piece of paper under her door. She walked over and scooped it up to read:

[hider=The note]

[i]Good Morning!
After last night, we thought we’d treat you to a lazy morning/afternoon and leave you to explore and relax as you please throughout the day. If you need anything, just let one of us know. Call Félix if you’d like breakfast in your rooms.

[right]Sol[/right][/i]

[/hider]

The note was definitely different from the last one. The most notable difference was, not so much the handwriting, but the formal tone of the note. And no smiley face by Sol's name. Evelynn panicked, and cursed under her breath. If it had anything to do with her sneaking out of the party last night, and that was why Sol was being cold to her...
Well, at least they had a day off. She thought to make the most of it despite Sol being possibly mad at her.

Lynn had changed into a [url=http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0229/0897/products/1950s_blue_and_white_marbled_cotton_sundress-007_1024x1024.JPG?v=1429651457]light blue and white sundress[/url] and actually stepped up onto her balcony as she waited for her hair to dry, brushing it out as she stood against the railing and breathed in the fresh, European air. It was therapeutic as opposed to the big city smog, and the green expanse was easy on her eyes as compared to the sand and concrete from earlier. As much as she loved the city at night, the daytime there always left her a little wistful.
She decided she wanted to be closer, and so her plans for the day were made. Today, she was going to explore the grounds, and maybe if she could, even sketch down some of her favourite scenes.
With those thoughts in mind, back inside, she grabbed the [url=http://cdn1.notonthehighstreet.com/system/product_images/images/001/272/110/original_take-me-with-you-big-canvas-bag.jpg]canvas tote bag she had brought with[/url], and soon enough it was stuffed with a sketchpad, pencils, a pen, a tiny sharpener, her phone (out of habit?) among other things, and last but not least a pretty sunhat.

And so, she checked herself in the mirror one more time, wearing a nice, nude palette of make-up today, and made her way out the door, locking the room, and down the stairs. She'd rather eat wherever the family normally did, for sake of getting to know the manor a little better.


[center][b]French for Breakfast
9:10 AM[/b][/center]

Downstairs, Evelynn hesitantly stepped through the large doors that led into the dining hall, though sighed in relief when she found it was actually the correct door; she didn't quite trust her super bad memory. Perhaps it was pure luck, or strategic elimination of the only rooms it most certainly couldn't have been - lounge or ballroom - and Klara's little tour happened to stick subconsciously, after all. Though as she entered, she saw nothing and nobody inside, except the beautiful dining room itself. It didn't have much in the way of clutter, but the dining table that stretched end to end definitely made up for it. And in the centre, was a delicate vase with what looked like fresh flowers. They gave the room an interesting scent, among the smell of not dust, but [i]age[/i] it gave off. It wasn't unwelcome, however. Lynn stood, admiring the room from just the doorway at first, before stepping inside and gingerly stroking the expensive looking tablecloth, when-

“Good morning, Evelynn.” she was most definitely startled at the voice, deep and accented and familiar though only vaguely, evidently jumping and spinning around to face the door from where the greeting came. There she saw a very spent, though still very professional Félix in his now more casual attire, who was [i]amused[/i]? Lynn swore she could see his lips quirk, though knowing it was him, the [i]least expressive person in the world[/i], it could have been a hallucination all the same. “Don’t panic! It’s only me. I was just wondering whether you were looking for something to eat?”


"F-Félix. You scared me." Lynn instinctively grabbed the strap of her tote bag and hiked it higher up on her shoulder, before using the same hand to nervously brush through her hair. "Whew. It's like you appear out of thin air, almost like you're a ghost!" she laughed briefly at the thought. Straight faced and lacking presence, he might as well have been [i]the statue[/i] of a ghost. "I was...I got a little hungry, since I haven't eaten in like, forever. Since yesterday afternoon, actually.  So I thought I'd find some way to hunt down my own breakfast, or you, since there was a note left in my room from Sol that said we could find you for breakfast." 

And at the mention of his note, there was definitely a smile from Félix. It was a tiny bit smug, no, 'knowing'. Though Lynn didn't catch on why he would be...amused by something like that. Maybe he knew Sol was upset with her? Oh god oh god- she got snapped out of her thoughts again when he spoke, “That’s fine. What would you like?”

Lynn's eyebrow quirked the way it does. Though his amusement was definitely a curious thought to her, she dropped it fast enough. Sighing, she shook her head and smiled at him, one hand at the edge of the tote bag and rubbing the fabric between her fingers in the way she absently fiddles, with the other balled into a gentle fist at her side since she had nothing better to do with it, "I dunno. I..." she lost herself in thought for a moment or two, face contorting into one of brier concentration in recollection, "Oh! I remember, we're in Germany, right? When I was really little, we flew down and...my favourite part was breakfast, because there was this bread...uh. I think it had some kind of nut. Cashew...no, almonds! But that's me getting ahead of myself, I-"
She looked embarrassed at the little gushing at the memory, face flushing and her turning a little away with a little splutter in place of what should have been a casual faked cough. Safe to say, she wasn't as composed a young lady as she normally would and should have been, especially in front of cute guys. Félix was definitely no exception. "...erm. Bread, please...if there's any, of course, Félix. Please. Thank you." 

“I’ll see what I can do. I’m afraid the Wolfs aren’t up yet,” he stifled a yawn himself and it made Lynn's previously excited demeanour change into a slightly downtrodden one. Well, at least 'boring' is better than 'crazy', she thought to herself. Though maybe it wasn't all her after all; it was a wild night the night before and he must have been working the entirety of it, unlike her and the other guests who were presumably having a good time, except for thought hehe early retirement of Kim and Jonas. She looked him over again. He was quite obviously pretty shattered. “Where would you prefer to eat? I can bring something here, take it up to your room, or anywhere really.”

"Huh..." Lynn found herself covering her face with her hand as the contagious yawn reached her, too, with her gazing blankly at Félix with heavy eyes right after, "I...you work too hard, you know that? I can go get it myself, if you just tell me where it is. I'll just eat here - this room is breathtaking. And...it's pretty early, and I'm sure you were serving drinks to everyone all night last night. Think the Wolfs will come after you if you grab some last minutes of shut-eye?"

Completely, deftly, ignoring the latter half of her conversation, or perhaps just missing it in his tired state, he replied straightforwardly, “I don’t mind, so, uhh, no, don’t worry. To drink?”

"Just water will do." Lynn gave him a nod, a little disappointed that he refused to say much about the Wolfs at all, before he took his leave quite hastily.

“Okay. I’ll be back in a moment.”

And so leaving her to admire the room and its build some more. The paintings in particular caught her eye. The last thing she saw of him was him vanishing into a separate section of the room, and the light sound of footsteps against metal in a fashion that implied either jogging or, more likely, climbing.

Lynn took the time to also set down her bag where she'd chosen to sit, two seats off the head of the table closest to the door, and was standing by the paintings when a movement at the corner of her eye caught her attention. 
Perhaps it had been about five minutes, though Félix had returned, with a tray that glistened as it caught the light of the room, and Lynn could have sworn it glinted like silver. Maybe it even was, knowing this place. Her eyes, however, were drawn to the contents of it. More than one kind of bread sat in a little basket and along with that, there were little pots of some jams that looked exotic and in all the hues of pink to red to orange to even a dark blue-purple, a stick of what looked to be butter and assorted cheeses as well. It even had a jug of iced water with a lemon wheel in it. Oddly, that was just the way she liked her water. Cold and with a refreshing taste, and still rather than sparkling. The fact that it was eerily just as she'd liked it didn't strike her as odd just yet. If they got the room perfect down to the letter, nobody was to say they tracked other habits. 
Something, if she had paid more attention to, would be decided to be a tiny bit creepy.

Safe to say, the whole spread made her jaw drop.

"Félix! This is incredible!" she clapped her hands together delightedly, though still a little in awe, her eyes feasting on the delicious goodies indeed. "Goodness, there's so much, how did you, in..." He was gone five minutes maximum. How could he have gathered so much in a time that seemed so short? It amazed Evelynn. These people really might have been [i]Fey-like[/i] as Kim called them.

Félix stood, hanging onto her words and waiting for her to finish the sentence. His eyes were half lidded, in a more tired manner than anything else, though Lynn couldn't help but feel the thought was lost on him. Strictly business and barely anything but meant he came off as almost cold, or...bad with people? It definitely was difficult to hold a conversation with this man, that was for sure.
An awkward silence hung for a tiny bit that made her bit her bottom lip.
[i]He's probably just tired. That's it.[/i]
She had decided that was what it was indeed, with no room for doubt. That idea sounded much better to her than the fact that he was giving her the cold shoulder.

She walked up to him to actually fetch the platter from him with a warm smile, and with her new self-assurance, it wasn't hard. Sympathy came naturally to her. "Here. Goodness. You really look out of it. Why don't I take this, mm? Don't worry about it, hah."

He instinctively clutched at the tray initially, though it wasn't difficult for Lynn to coax it from him, to which he smiled awkwardly, the way he did when upstairs in her room. His professional air disappeared for just that handful of seconds and Lynn felt her heart turn to mush. He really did have such a cute smile. “Uhh, thanks. Is there anything else I can get for you?”

"No, no. This should be perfect." Lynn happily accepted the tray, almost humming a delighted tune in anticipation of all the delicious treats there were. Although, she paused, not actually taking it back to where she left her bag (which was pretty close actually), but instead putting it on the nearest flat surface of the table she could find.
She turned to face him again, tapping her foot with crossed arms and a tiny smirk at her own lips, much like his when he first stepped in. Her cheeks had a light flush, indicating not embarrassment but some internal excitement. Perhaps at being in his proximity like that. 
"You can get yourself in bed for another half an hour and stop worrying about everything if you really want to do something for me, eh?" 

She paused, pondering something for just a handful of seconds. His tired eyes made the decision for her. They drew her closer to him so she was leaning in, and without warning, got on her tiptoes just a tiny bit to kiss his cheek in greeting fashion of the Wolfs. It was more a light peck than anything else. 
Her pale lipstick didn't show up much against his skin, but there was a tiny little mark leftover when she pulled away and gave him another smile, her own cheeks and even the tips of her ears a brighter pink as she uses one of her hands to push her spectacles back up on her nose and some of her dark brown tufts behind her ear. "Hey. Thank you, Félix. I realise you probably work yourself to the bone, especially when there are so many guests to tend to, but I really appreciate it. And hey, you call me Evelynn now too. It's heaps better than stuffy old Miss Joshi, isn't it?"

“Yes, Evelynn,” The words came out weightless and unsure. He appeared ever so slightly shaken, her actions being rewarded with a gentle blush. It was so odd seeing him anything but professional, though Lynn sure as hell loved it, “I’ll just go and uhh lie down, then?”

"Yeah. Just take a load off, relax for a while. Maybe take a thirty minute nap. What time's it now..."

“9:40,” Felix responded, instantly.

"Ah! So A half hour nap would be just fine, then" Lynn chirped, glowing at the thought that he would actually consider her suggestion.

“Uuuh, okay. Thanks.” His voice gave way to an uncertain tone on the ‘thanks’, “When you’re finished, pull the rope” he pointed it out casually. It hung in a corner of the room and Lynn couldn't help but feel she'd seen it somewhere before. Wait, it was the same one as in her bedroom! And it felt like the only thing actually connecting her room's odd choice of furniture and style to the rest of the house. “And I’ll clear up. Is there anything else I can get you?”

"Oh, so that's..." the words were more to herself than him when she made the connection. She made a mental note to herself that she would be fully able to call for him in her room if ever [i]she needed him.[/i]
"I see. Ah, don't worry, I'll call for you when I'm done. Everything'll be fine." She nodded quickly in confirmation. "I think I'm done for the moment." And then gave the gentleman a cheeky wink. His green eyes stared back. There was an indiscernible emotion about them, though not negative, for sure. Lynn couldn't place it."Thanks again, Félix. Perhaps...next time I ring for you, might be from my bedroom, huh?"

“There should be a service rope in all of the rooms, so, if you need me upstairs, yes,” And here, Lynn could have sworn he caught her drift. He smirked. “Bon appetit.”

"Oh, I think I can see myself needing you upstairs in the very, very near future." Lynn only just resisted doing more than punctuating her sentence by running a dainty finger down his shirt, eyes taking their time to linger and drink him in from just how close she was still standing. [i]He even smelled foreign. Fresh like the grass outside.[/i] It made her bite her lip again when she finally met his eyes, a nervous laugh leaving her lips not long after as she blushed again. "See you, Félix."

And with that, he was off, leaving a swooning Lynn to totter back to her seat and sigh contently as she absently spread some raspberry jam on a slice of almond bread.