The next day, Dew is awoken at 10 AM, which is a huge improvement from the 8 that Rowan has been plaguing him with.

He gets shaken awake, and finds a sweaty Rowan standing over him, clad in gym clothes. Guess this hotel has a gym?

Dew blinks awake, stretching. "We're going to breakfast," Rowan notifies him, before turning around and walking to the other side of the room. Dew groans, and rolls off the side of the bed.

He is immediately hit with a two foot drop, and he's reminded that this bed actually has a frame on it. Great job, Dew. Now your back is going to hurt the rest of the day.

He sits up and glances around the room, finding Rowan staring at him with raised eyebrows. Dew ignores him, grabbing some of his clothes from his suitcase and walking into their shared bathroom. He takes a shower and brushes his teeth, getting dressed. When he exits the room, he finds Rowan flipping through the little pad he'd been doodling on all night. At Dew's entrance, Rowan looks up.

"These are really good."

Dew walks up to him, and sees that Rowan is watching the little flip book animation Dew did. "Thank you," Dew responds, vaguely aware he's standing too close.

Rowan nods, and sets it back on Dew's night stand. Dew spots his compression sleeves, and reaches over to grab them, making sure that he keeps his arms hidden. He turns away from Rowan as he rolls them on.

"You ready to go?" Rowan inquires, ten minutes later after having his own shower. Dew nods, and the two begin to make their way out of the room.

There is a government vehicle waiting outside for them, and once the two are inside, it pulls onto the freeway. Dew can't seem to take his eyes off the window, as he examines all the buildings they pass. They all look very old, and just about every single person Dew sees appears to be up to no good.

They don't talk the entire ride, and finally they reach an area where the buildings start to look a bit better, more like the Westhem. Not long after that and the vehicle pulls onto a separate road. A guard goes up to the window and talks to the driver for a moment before letting them pass. They pull into a parking lot at the very front of... a castle.

Dew has never seen Nocona Palace, but he's pretty sure that it looks more like a mansion than a castle. This one, though? This is absolutely a castle. It has marble pillars, as well as steps made of the same material. It all frames a large oak door at the very front, which is guarded. In all, it looks nothing like the rest of the Easthem.

The driver parks the car, then walks around and opens the door for Rowan and Dew to exit. They do so, and before he knows it Dew is being lead into the castle by a guard, down a hallway, and into a dining room. It's all marble and wood, and the place is generally beautiful. Dew should have expected it from royalty, but he's still a bit shocked. He and Rowan sit across from each other, on either side of the chair that sits at the head of the table. Dew is absolutely astonished by all the food on the table.

There is a fruit platter, as well as a plate of scrambled eggs and some bacon. There are also hash browns and pancakes and waffles and it takes everything in Dew not to eat it all right there.

Five minutes go by of the two of them sitting there quietly while servers walk around and ready the food, before the doors open.

Dew looks up to find who it is, and in walks a woman. She has skin a few shades darker than Dew's, and light pink hair with yellow eyes. She's wearing a purple and yellow dress, with purple high heels. She makes her way to the head of the table, and a server pulls out the seat for her. She then sits down, and smiles at both Dew and Rowan.

This is Queen Aliah.

"Hello! Dewey Price and Captain Rowan Lux, correct?" Rowan gives a simple nod, while Dew just smiles. "Welcome to the Easthem!"

There is nothing but excitement radiating from her, which means she must be very happy to see them. Yeah, she probably doesn't come across people from the Westhem very much, since their whole kingdom thinks they're alone.

"Thank you, Queen Aliah," Rowan replies, while Dew just nods and smiles, unsure what to do here. When can he start eating? That's about everything on his to-do list right now.

"I know that you have been here, Captain," She addresses Rowan, before turning her gaze to Dew. "I don't believe I've met you before, Darling."

Dew nods, generally freaked out because he's speaking to royalty. He feels like he's already messed up—oh shit, was he supposed to kiss her hands?!

Feeling nervous, Dew responds, "No, um, this is my first time out of the Westhem."

She nods, and a server begins putting food on her plate. Two more servers do the same to Rowan and Dew, and he's honestly so ready. This stuff looks delicious. He's sort of sad that he couldn't do it himself, because he definitely wants more eggs than he's been given, but he decides to just deal with it.

Once everyone has food and the servers walk away, the queen starts eating. Dew decides to begin as well, and after a few moments she asks;

"So, what brings you to the Easthem?"

Dew glances up at Rowan, whose eyes are on the queen. Since Dew has no idea how to answer that, Rowan speaks up. "We are currently searching for the Origin of the Abnormalities. We have reason to believe that there may be clues in the Easthem that would be of aid."

Aliah nods, taking a bite of some melon balls.

"Because it originated here, hm?" She responds. Dew can't help but to feel like he should leave them alone. Like the adults are talking and he needs to mind his business. He begins to look around the room while the two chatter about their whole mission with the Origin.

There is a huge painting on the far wall, behind Rowan. It's very colorful, somewhat out of place in the castle dining room. There is such a monotone, boring color scheme in here, the painting is quite refreshing. It appears to be some sort of landscape, and typically when you think of landscapes you don't picture such bright colors. It gives Dew an idea for a paining when he gets home. If only they could hurry this up.

"What about you, Dewey?" The queen's voice rings out, and Dew's orange eyes snap to her. Wow, could she not call him by his full name? Thanks.

"I'm sorry, what?" Dew responds, feeling a bit embarrassed from not paying attention.

The queen simply smiles, though. "Do you believe that finding the Origin will restore peace?"

Dew blinks, thinking about it. Honestly, he's not even sure that he has enough information to answer that accurately. He doesn't know who this Origin person is, let alone if they could—or even want to—restore peace.

"I don't really know enough about them to be able to tell. I think that they... could. They would be the only thing that all four nations have in common, so they could unite us if they wanted to."

Dew's eyes wander to Rowan, who he finds is already looking at him. Not only that, but he appears to be studying the empath. Dew can't help but to feel like he made a Big Decision just now, though he doesn't know how.

"Okay, that makes sense." Aliah breaks the silence. Five minutes go by of the occasional remark, before the woman finally stands up.

"Well, this was nice but I'm afraid I have a meeting to get to. Enjoy yourselves in the Easthem, I do hope you visit again." Then she nods at them, and exits the room. Rowan responds somehow, but Dew isn't paying much attention to him. Not long after that, someone comes into the room.

It's a woman in a pantsuit, with her hair up in a bun. She makes her way into the room and stands by where Aliah had been sitting.

"Hello, gentlemen. My name is Marge, and I will escort you to your vehicle."

Rowan and Dew stand up, each of them following after her. Dew can't stop thinking about how Rowan was looking at him before. Seriously, what was that about? Did Dew say something wrong or what?

Marge leads them out the front door and down the stairs, then finally into a separate parking lot from the one they'd arrived in. It's nearly empty, aside from what looks to be a Jeep in the middle, one that seems military owned (judging by its dark green color).

"You two may borrow this for the duration of your stay, but make sure to return it to the airport when you're finished. Any questions?"

"No, Ma'am," Rowan responds. Dew just blinks, staring at the thing. Sorry, but it looks really freaking cool. His license is expired, so he assumes that Rowan will be the one driving this thing.

Marge nods, then turns and makes her way out of the parking lot. Dew walks around and jumps in the passenger seat, watching as Rowan gets into the drivers seat. Yeah, he probably has to drive military vehicles all the time, so this isn't new territory to him.

"Okay, the place where the Origin was first recorded is two hours away. That's where we're going."

Then, he puts the vehicle into drive, and the two are on their way.

Dew realizes pretty early on that this car ride is going to drag on, boring beyond belief. One, this thing doesn't have any music. So it's just dead silence. Also, Rowan hasn't looked away from the road, and he hasn't spoken to Dew, either. It's dragging on so much that Dew feels on the brink of insanity, and it's hardly been thirty minutes! It's not like he can play games on his phone, either, because he gets carsick wicked easily so that won't end well.

Dew decides, fuck it. He doesn't even care about coming across as rude.

"Do you have a personality?"

Rowan doesn't even look at him. "I believe so, yes."

Dew hums, "you don't act like it."

Rowan doesn't answer, and Dew rolls his eyes. This guy has the personality of a dead roach. Dew would like to go to the store and buy him a new one, maybe then he'd be more fun. Captain Rowan is the definition of boring. The only interesting thing about him so far is the fact that Dew's abnormality doesn't work on him. Without that, this guy would be less exciting than a semi-crooked floorboard.

The thing that Dew can't shake, though, is the suspicious side of him. The side that's using his empathy abnormality against Rowan. The side that's putting himself in Rowan's shoes.

What would I do if I had something to hide? Yeah, I'd make myself the least interesting thing on the planet.

Dew sighs, deciding to give it up. Come on, there's no way Rowan is hiding anything that big. Sure, there is a good chance he's not human, but...

Dew, let it go!

Dew sighs, and they spend the rest of the ride in silence.