Apologies (Philomena)

[Kulau]

Unsurprisingly, after the events that had unfolded, Zelda was incredibly busy meeting with diplomats like himself. Of course there was a proverbial waiting list. However, Kulau needed to take careof something that had been bothering him as well.

He really needed to talk to Philomena.

After asking around a bit, he managed to ascertain the location of the air mail service. Walking around town, people seemed to be in a panic, rushing by trying to help any injured or attempting to assist in any way they can. But Kulau had his mission, whether or not he was looking forward to it.

He reached the door that supposedly belonged to Philomena and knocked a couple times, standing a couple feet back so as not to be intimidating. However, he felt the noble's regalia may throw her off, but he didn't want to change since he could be in Hyrule Castle any moment.

[philomena]

From the other side of the door, a scraping could be heard. Philomena had been in the middle of sorting papers and her chair squeaked when she pushed back from the table. No way was she going to miss out on a potential customer, even now. People that had been here before to send mail knew to just walk right in if the hour was reasonable, and knocking meant someone new!

She tried her best to make her desk look presentable, and managed to get all of the papers in a stack in just a few seconds. "I'll be right there!" She made a point to always be polite to customers, always. Even if the customer is the biggest jerk in castle town.

When she finally opened the door, it was someone entirely different. It really threw her off of her groove for a bit, seeing Kulau show up here so suddenly. She did her best to get back on it. She wouldn't let him see her all flustered. "Oh, sorry. I had forgotten that you said that you where coming. I didn't really get to clean up beforehand, but come in!"

Whew,take a deep breath.

Philomena held the door open so Kulau would know that it really was okay to come in. The room was small, and her place was receiving customers was even smaller. It was separated from her living quarters by a curtain that was split down the middle. The only things in the sectioned-off space was her desk, and an extra chair for customers. It was lit by a small window. Her birds where housed on the roof of the building, and she had access to a little staircase to reach it herself. She was extremely glad of that, it was better for her and the birds. They didn't want to be shut in all the time.

Philomena stood in the middle of the space, unsure of what she wanted to do. Kulau looked extremely formal compared t her plainness. She had to wonder if he dressed that way all the time. "Um.... you can sit down if you wish."

[Kulau]

Kulau entered the room, giving her a respectful nod of his head as he passed. Thank you. Sorry I couldn't give you more warning, but with some of the events at Lake Hylia, I had to get to Hyrule Castle, but Zelda couldn't be seen, as she was other meetings." He could and would have continued on for hours, but caught himself when he realized she probably didn't want to let him into her place just to hear him ramble.

Sorry milady, I didn't mean to go on about my duties." He looked around her place of residence. It wasn't particularly large, but it was in a good area of Hyrule. Anyone with a place to live in the market was lucky.

"If this is a bad time for you, I can come back. I get a feeling it will be a few days before I can meet with Zelda." Most of all, he didn't want to intrude on her business.

[philomena]

"Oh" Philomena had heard a little bit about what had been going on, but she didn't know the details or what it meant. It wasn't affecting her all that much, but important people like Kulau would probably be involved. "It's fine, I promise. Today has been a slow day anyway,..." Not for the first time, Mena found herself struggling with what to call him. He seemed like such a formal individual, so calling him by his first name seemed wrong. And for that matter, him calling her 'milady' seemed wrong as well. It was backwards. Why should he treat her that way, when she wasn't half as important as he was?

"No, stay! I mean, if you want to..." Oh, why did she have to seem so enthusiastic about the idea? She was probably just confusing him now.

Philomena decided to swallow her insecurity and ask him what she had been wondering about. "I... this might seem like a stupid thing to ask but I really don't know. What do you want me to call you? I usually just call people by their first name but..."

[Kulau]

Kulau could sense her level of discomfort. For her to be around him must have been a hard thing for her. He always was so formal with everyone, and he could tell she wasn't used to being called milady. He couldn't help but laugh at a little at all of it. It reminded him of his first few meetings with Rutela, the way she stuttered and didn't finish sentences.

He relaxed his shoulders a bit and loosened some of his clothing. Noble's regalia wasn't very comfortable for him, he still preferred the trunks that he wore underneath it all. Part of him just wanted to take it all off and store it somewhere, but that would be terrible manners, stripping in front of a lady.

"Sorry, I'll try and tone down the formalities. If it makes you feel better, I can just call you Philomena. As for me, just call me Kulau, my official title is still up in the...I'm talking about work again. He scratched his head fin. If his body had a way to, he'd be blushing right about now. I guess my training has been working a little too well." That was an understatement. He had trouble remembering how he used to speak, with all the mannerisms and speech training they pounded into his head.

[philomena]

Philomena expected a lot of things, such as Kulau getting offended or upset. She didn't expect to see him to a complete turnaround in how he actad bust because she mentioned it. Oh, now she was feeling selfish and guilty. Why should she feel this? Was it possible to feel guilty and relieved at the same time?

"Oh, yes, that would be fine, Kulau." She couldn't help but smile a bit. "Or, of you want to get really informan, just Mena. All of my friends call me that." All of her friends.... so what did that make him?

It was quite perplexing. Philomena sat at the chair behind her desk. "I don't know how long you where planning on staying, but you are free to sit, you know! Just because we're less formal now doesn't mean I have to me impolite."

[Kulau]

Kulau pondered for a moment how to proceed. Mena, it sounded so strange to him, he rarely used half-names or nicknames with people, but at the same time, he did want to be her friend.

He decided it would be wise to sit down, take a load off. Hiking from Zora's Domain to Hyrule Castle wasn't exactly easy on the legs. He sat in the closest available seat and took a deep breath.

"That does feel a lot better. Thanks...Mena." He sounded so unsure saying the last half of her name. Maybe he'd be more comfortable after a while with it. "I don't know why you're worried about impoliteness. You invited me to sit when I came in, I'd say that was excellent manners." He then strongly considered another option, but he quickly dismissed it. However, it kept crawling back into his mind. It got to a point where he couldn't resist anymore.

"I'm going to go into the next room for a moment. I'll be right back." He then stood up and temporarily departed.

[philomena]

Oh

Had she done something wrong? Why should he leave so suddenly? He didn't seem like the kind of person to lie about it when he was upset, but she could be wrong. She had to wonder if he was going to come back at all...

It didn't occur to her at all that she might not be at fault for this. She was worrying about this too much, but she couldn't do anything about that. Where had she gone wrong?

She would wait, just in case he was coming back.

[Kulau]

Kulau was disrobing down to his trunks. As he was doing so, he realized just how impolite it was, but at the same time he felt like if they were going to be friends he should probably not look like a foppish idiot.

"I apologize in advance Philomena, I mean no disrespect." When he was done neatly folding up his uniform he packed it all on his left arm and walked back inside. He was worried she'd be upset at him but there were a number of factors that led to his decision. It was a risky one in his mind, but how she responded to it would be important.

He laid the clothes down on an empty table, looking worried about how she would take it. He looked down to the floor before addressing her again. "Sorry, my noble's regalia was becoming uncomfortable and I don't really have anything you could consider street clothes. Many Zoras are minimalists when it comes to clothing, and I am one of them. If it bothers you, I can always put them back on." He didn't think much about the fact that he was shirtless, or how she would react to his build. Zoras were typically pretty lanky, he exceptionally so, but even with that he maintained an athletic look through exercise.