Should she feel disappointed? Lydie decided the emotion certainly wasn't undeserved. The day had started out well enough after leaving the Lavenmore. Sufficient nell for a second week at the inn now sat in her pocket after selling her spare dresses. The hand-me-downs, however, had been a harder pawn. For those, Lydie only acquired two nell. Finding the store that took them used up the time she spent the previous day watching the military procession. Off to the Records Auxiliary Lydie went where an artist sketched her and Kenth before one of the younger workers relayed the information that another meeting with an official was not necessary as no new information arrived. And, from there...everything progressed as it had before, which meant it hadn't progressed at all. Each person she sought out for employment rejected her pleas. The hours passed, Lydie's soreness dominated her thoughts once more, and tears threatened to fall when lunch arrived. Her stomach rejoiced at the food provided, but the rest of her balked at the thought of continuing on as she was for the rest of the day. Another few hours were able to be withstood before Lydie gave in. Her feet trudged her back in the direction of the inn where a thousand long baths awaited.

"Excuse me, miss."

Forcing a smile onto her lips as she turned towards the source of the voice halting her, the smile faded instantly as several familiar faces looked down with the same lustful expressions hidden behind fake platitude as they had before. The tall one with his incredibly short, curly hair loomed the closest. The plump one with one of his back teeth missing stood to his right while the brown haired stocky one with cheeks sunburned hovered by his left elbow. The three men from her first night at the Lavenmore weren't any more appealing in the light of day, and even with the plethora of people walking up and down the sidewalk Lydie's heart beat faster.

"Can I help you?" she questioned unenthusiastically, straightening her shoulders as much as possible.

"We just wanted to introduce ourselves. There was no chance to talk the other night. I'm Daryn," the tall one spoke with his tilted grin, "This here is Fehnd, and over here is Ki'nar."

"Hello," Lydie replied dryly, "It was nice to meet you, but I have things I need to do."

With a fierce turn, she wrenched off the large hand placed on her shoulder the instant she shifted on her heel.

"Do not touch me." Lydie growled.

"Apologies, miss. Just wanted to get your name."

"That's not what you truly want. Forgive me, but I am not in the mood to indulge in fake pleasantries as you fail to procure your actual wishes from me." she snapped.

"Do we have such a low risk?" Ki'nar, the one with the sunburn, spoke, "From what we can see, you're struggling quite a bit. I can only imagine how difficult it is to find a job with a babe. We can offer you more than what you need though."

"We're simple men," Fehnd continued, "Don't need big fancy houses or piles of rist filling our pockets. Just a warm bed, good food, a bit to drink, and nice company. The money we make is plenty for the first three, but the last can be difficult to find. We'd be plenty willing to more than accommodate you for your help. All it would take is us writing up a contract and submitting it to the Records in order to make sure everything's above board. Daryn, Ki, and I aren't those kinds of lowlifes who would dare to try something without permission. You'd get plenty of coin, the work would certainly be steady, and you could have the whole day free to spend with your child."

"Fuck off."

Lydie quickly stomped away after refusing them again. Stopping for even a second to humor the men had been too much. She should have known better, especially since they easily caught up. Daryn walked far too closely on her left while the Fehnd took her right and Ki'nar wandered behind.

"I'll give you one more chance to leave me alone." she demanded intensely.

"Peace, my dear. We'll just leave you with one more proposition. If working with us exclusively is not to your liking, I recommend checking out Burden's Respite, the main brothel in the Respite Way area. It's one of the most glamorous businesses of its kind in the city. I'm sure they'd take a beauty like you in with no qualms, and because of the nature of the services they provide the brothel also features childcare for its employees. We'd love to be regular customers." Daryn spoke smoothly.

"Fuck off." Lydie's voice grew deep and dark as she snarled at him.

Immediately, Daryn held up his hands in defeat. The three men stopped walking, shrugged, and proceeded to travel back the other direction. Even after they disappeared from sight, she refused to slow her pace. The fountain whizzed by her as did the quillick stand. Only mere feet away from the inn did Lydie collect herself enough so she didn't burst through the door. The mid-afternoon Lavenmore presented an atmosphere much like it had on her first afternoon, if slightly less crowded. Comforting familiarity, a unique and pleasant feeling, washed deep down in her chest to prevent her from peeking over her corner to make sure no one followed. Vertinac, as always, stood behind the bar barking orders and dealing with requests. Lydie waited until he had a moment to approach.

"I'm returning this," she placed the wooden box onto the counter, "Thank you. It was delicious."

"Hanaliah is always reliable with the food. I'll let her know. Ya have any luck?" Vertinac replied.

"None at all, but perhaps I'll make a brief trip out once more in a bit. I need a rest right now." Lydie admitted with a small, weakly defeated grin.

"You'll find something, I'm sure. Just keep tryin'."

Lydie nodded, flashed him a more honest smile before leaving the bar, struggled only somewhat up the stairs, and made it to her room in one piece. Kenth found great entertainment in being wiggled out of the sling and onto the bed, and his excitement at escaping captivity grew apparent due to him rolling around in the pillows he yanked from the pile in which she'd neatly stacked them. Lydie let him play as she left the washroom door open in order to start filling the tub. It was both a ridiculously hilarious and sadly pitiful sight of her squirming and stretching her stiffly solid limbs enough in order to reach the knobs and prepare everything else for her soak. The enticing, swirling steam of the water nearly prompted her in as soon as it coated the bottom of the porcelain, yet beginning to undress brought a realization to the forefront. Having baths like this every day, while good for her muscles, would not be good for her skin. The amount of sweating she did scouting the city certainly helped. However, Lydie could not expect to stay smooth and un-cracked forever like that. Perhaps...perhaps a splurge on a bottle of lotion was fine. She'd earned that small luxury, right? How much could a cheap mixture cost anyway? Surely not more than a few kyne.

"...What?"

The horrified whisper fled her mouth when her hand touched nothing but the cloth of the inside of her pocket. Lydie's fingers dug deep until her whole fist crammed inside as she searched out a hole or extra space in the lining where her coins could have fallen. She found none. A hurried search of the other pocket showed she wasn't accidentally searching the wrong one. Her money was no longer anywhere to be found. Quickly shutting off the water, Lydie rushed to her bag and tossed everything out. She'd put her money in her right pocket, she had, but...but maybe she was simply more tired than she thought. It wasn't out of the question that it slipped her mind that she'd moved it somewhere else instead.

"No..." Lydie whined as her sorry hopes, for the millionth time, were destroyed. The contents of the bag were scattered across the bed, Kenth picking up one of his spare diapers curiously, and no money was to be found save for the small pouch given by Ti'pahn that contained her remaining original three nell. A long, wavering exhale quivered from her throat, "I'm so stupid. It had to have been them. This...damn it. Kenth, I'm sorry. Please give me a moment."

He huffed and squirmed upon being placed into the crib, but he would simply have to suffer through the torment for a moment. For the first time since she'd awoken in the healing ward, the child was completely out of her sight. Lydie excused herself after accidentally brushing past another woman on the stairs as she returned to the bar.

"Vertinac. Vertinac!" she called urgently.

"Yes, yes. What is it?" he frowned only lightly due to her interruption of him wandering to the back for some task.

"The one woman who works here, the one who brought my dinner to me last night, what's her name?"

"That'd be Mi'in. What about her?"

"Is she here right now?"

"I think so. Usually gets here for work about this time? Why?"

"Can I talk to her, please?"

"I suppose so. Is somethin' wrong?" Vertinac finally caught on.

"Can I just talk to her?" Lydie urged.

"Alright," he sighed lightly, "One moment."

"Thank you."

Vertinac vanished from sight picking up a box as he went. Curling spirals of nervous chill slunk up and down her arms while Lydie stood off to the side, fiddled with the sides of her dress, and painstakingly awaited his return.