“Oh, thank you.” Charlotte smiled back gratefully as she accepted the freshly cleaned clothes. Even if she and Rodney stopped at every town, they might not have a lot of opportunities to wash their clothes like this.
Cyrus hashed out details a bit before waving goodbye and guiding Charlotte out. "Right, that's all taken care of."
“Yes. That's everything.” she nodded, letting Cyrus lead her back to the main room of the inn. “Thank you again. For your company.”
"Oh it was my pleasure, m'lady." Cyrus flashed a winning smile. "Charlotte, there you are." Rodney hummed as he walked up to the two. "I was wondering where you got off to."
Charlotte giggled, blushing a little at the term, when Rodney called her. “Oh, hi Rodney. We were just in the laundry room.” she explained. “Oh, Rodney, this is Cyrus. Cyrus, this is Rodney.” she said, introducing the men.
Rodney flashed a winning smile and held out a hand, which Cyrus took to shake with a polite nod. "So you do exist. I was starting to think she made you up just so she wouldn't have to talk to me." Rodney just laughed. "No, unfortunately not."
Charlotte gawked at Cyrus’s teasing but was unable to do anything since her arms were full. “Why would I make someone up? If it wasn't for Rodney, I probably never would have left my inn.”
Cyrus shrugged as he turned back to Charlotte. "I don't know. Like I said, if you didn't want to talk to me would be a good reason."
“Perhaps but that still seems rude.” she said with a shrug. “Besides, I liked talking with you.”
"Aw, thank you." Cyrus took a dramatic bow while made Rodney chuckle. "Reminds me of myself."
Charlotte giggled, both at Cyrus’s theatrics and Rodney’s response. “I had a feeling you two would get along. Now, if you’ll excuse me for a moment, I’m going to take our clothes up to our room.”
"Ah, so you did get them. Good, good. I think I'll get breakfast, I'll be waiting down here." Rodney hummed, moving aside so Charlotte could head upstairs.
“I did.” she nodded, gesturing to the bundle of clothes in her arms. “I’ll be right back.” she assured before heading up the stairs.
Rodney and Cyrus both waved before looking at each other and bursting out laughing. They really were one in the same.
Charlotte smiled at hearing their laughter. Even though they weren't going to stay in town long, she was glad that they had made a friend.
Rodney and Cyrus struck up a conversation, talking about their lives and experiences in both an in town position and an eternally out of town one.
Charlotte set Rodney's clothes on the bed but took off her bracelet to put hers in her bag, hopefully giving the boys plenty of time to talk before flying back downstairs with her bracelet in her pocket.
Rodney noticed when Charlotte came down, never breaking from his conversation as he patted his shoulder for her to land.
Charlotte giggled at the familiar, private, signal as she found it quite sweet and flew down to accept his offer.
Cyrus jumped a little when Charlotte landed, surprised. "Oh! Is that…?" "Yep, that's Charlotte. I don't want her to get too tired constantly flying on our journey so I let her sit on my shoulder."
“Hi. Sorry if I startled you.” Charlotte waved, giggling at Rodney’s comment. “Oh, yes. You're very accommodating and I appreciate you letting me ride along like this.”
"Of course. What kind of companion would I be if I let you get so tired on your first adventure." Rodney hummed with a chuckle. Cyrus sighed with a smile, shaking his head. "Scared the life out of me."
Charlotte giggled and flicked her wing against his neck. “I’ll get stronger the more I stretch my wings.” she reminded him, though she was truly grateful for the chance to rest when he offered. Plus, it was fun to tease him from here. “Sorry about that, Cyrus. I just… There are times when it's more of a benefit to appearing your size but I prefer to explore at mine.” she explained.
Cyrus smiled and just raised his hands. "No, I get it. Appearing at human size does a lot of good for a lot of people. Especially smaller races. It's just that I didn't know so it kinda startled me."
Charlotte nodded. “Yes, exactly. And I'm not ashamed of what I am. I just don't tell everyone when I don't need to.” she shrugged.