With a rather puzzled look on her face, she opened her eyes and glanced around. A quick peek served to provide SOME degree of reassurance. There was that cute doctor fellow Louis over there. for some reason, she felt as if there was a bond between them now. This must then be HIS room. But how had she gotten HERE ? And (much more importantly) what had she DONE ?
Everything was all muddled up in her head, as Kay tried to piece together the events of the previous evening. There had been that fancy ball. She'd gone expecting trouble, despite the fact that everyone else had told her it was just a party. And just as she'd been starting to believe they might be right, something bad had happenned --- something that she REALLY very much didn't want to think about right now.
Turning puzzled hazel eyes towards Louis, Kay said softly "I had the strangest dream last night ... ", she began hesitantly. Bits and pieces of memory fragments floated through her mind. Absentmindedly, she lifted a hand to rub at her aching head. As far as she could recall, it had been only ONE mug of firi. So why did it feel as though she'd just drunk herself senseless at a wake ?
Then it dawned on her that her friend was wearing a house-robe over what looked like a pair of pajamas. Kay's fingers tightened on the blanket covering her. Feeling hesitant to peek and see what SHE was (or wasn't) currently wearing, she instead inquired tentatively, a deep blush spreading across her face.
"This may sound like a very *odd* sort of question, but .... ummm... what did we ... ummm... ", Kay began. Her voice trailed off for a few moments, embarassment tangling her tongue before she continued "DO last night ?".
Louis grinned. "Nothing that you didn't want.", he said, offering her a mug of coffee. "I'd say we talked, or rather, you did, then you drank a glass of firi and...fell asleep. Or perhaps I should say fainted."
Tossing the blanket aside, Kay exclaimed in dismay when she saw the wrinkled state of her dress. It has been so pretty when she'd borrowed it from Melissa, and NOW look at it. She sighed at its sorry state and tried brushing at it once she was upright again, then shrugged. Ironing was NOT a particularly enjoyable task, but the dress would need it before it was returned.
She considered Louis' words while gladly sipping at the coffee. "There is one thing I would ask of you, in the name of friendship ...", Kay began. Her head ached to the point where she had to temporarily push aside all of the various memory-fragments in order to get any relief. And there would surely be time enough later to sort things out.
Her large green-brown eyes were wide and hopeful as she requested "I'm not yet sure how much of my memories of last night are real -- so I'd like for us to speak of this again later. I also ask that you NOT speak of ANY of it to anyone else".
Louis' normal reaction would be to grin and change the subject. Instead, his face was serious as he walked to where Kay was standing. She lifted an eyebrow questioningly at him, wondering if perhaps he was being too polite to say that she had indeed made a fool of herself. But what kind of a fool ? Unsure of what to say, she said nothing and let her inquisitive stare speak for her.
He looked right into her eyes for a long time before speaking again. "In fact, I lied to you. I'm sorry about that. Something _did_ happen last night", he said, "... something that surprised me and it seems to have surprised you too. You're right, we have to talk about it. Can't you ... stay some more? I mean, so that we can talk?".
At Louis' words, a certain memory fragment swam up from Kay's mind to tease her again. In response, she immediately turned a deathly pale. Did he know that she was partially-fey? Did he know that HE was too ? "So THAT part may have been no dream ...", she exclaimed, deliberately not being specific. This complicated matters immensely. If he were an ordinary Terranan with no fey talent, then she might have been able to explain it all away as if he'd dreamed it. But she now suspected that he was indeed another of the hidden fey, so it would be tricky to know what to tell him. Much would depend on what Louis already knew (and believed) about such things.
"If you experienced it as well ...", she continued, blushed brightly, the redness blooming in stark contrast against her paleness, " ... then I believe I owe you some kind of explanation ... such shared ... intimacy ... I've never ... like THAT .. with anyone ... ". Feeling somewhat at a loss, Kay then gently shook her head, and said firmly "But for now, I need some time to think upon it".
There was a pause, then she asked him hopefully "Will you be content with that much and hold your tongue, at least until we can speak more of it tonight ? There is much that I don't yet understand about what may or may not have happenned last night. And there's a few confidential things I need to ask my sister about it ... but I'll not make any mention of you without your permission ... "
"Of course. I'll wait for you tonight, then", Louis answered.
Kay sighed with relief. "Thank you ... and remember, not a word to anyone about last night", she said softly, "I wouldn't want the local gossips to hear anything of this". Some impulse then caused her to add, "I don't believe that either of us is insane -- so there must be another explanation, however odd it might turn out to sound. I should have more information by tonight".
And with that, Kay departed and made her somewhat unsteady way back to her own quarters. As much as it made her uncomfortable to admit it, she had to admit that it was time to ask her new kin for help with her fey talents. She suspected that Louis knew what she was, so therefore she must have used her fey talent on him. *But what did I do?*, she wondered to herself, half-afraid to even guess. He didn't seem angry or hurt or offended, so it couldn't have been anything too bad. But he also hadn't seem too pleased about it either.
After she left, he laid on the bed and fell asleep again.