The Reincarnated King (ManxManxMan)

Chapter Six: A Normal Note - Part Two

~Chapter Six: A Normal Note~

Tom's persistent jet lag hits him shortly after we return to the hotel, and he decides to take a nap, but he fortunately does not seem as tired as he was yesterday since he does not just crash on his bed, out like a light the moment his head hits the sheets regardless of what he is wearing. Instead, he takes a moment to let me know that I definitely should wake him before going to dinner, if he is not already awake by that time. Only then does he vanish into his room and close the door, though I also hear the shower start up a minute later, so he apparently does not dive straight into his bed.

Now, at this point, I probably could stay in the hotel room and do what I did yesterday to pass the time, which is mess around with my phone and check my work emails, but...the castle did not wear me out as much as the outdoor museum did, so the thought of sitting in a hotel room for the next hour or two just seems like a really big waste of my vacation. I don't exactly want to go on some long, grand adventure, the likes of which only Tom could plan and thus should only be enacted with him, but I would at least like to find something interesting for us to do or somewhere for us to eat a meal that is not the hotel restaurant.

It only seems fair after he planned so much of the trip.

Might still want to have dinner here tonight, though, because Ari might be present.

The hope of meeting Ari again aside, I could probably find somewhere that has good food or, barring that, good shopping opportunities. It is the end of November, after all; Christmas is just around the corner, which means preparing presents. Plus, I know Tom is going to want a million and one souvenirs of our trip, so I might as well try to find a good place to do that.

So, figuring that I have at least an hour, I step into my room to retrieve my backpack since I did not bring it with me to the castle and refill my water bottle in the mini kitchen's sink before pack it into the bag. I also grab a second jacket in case the temperature drops too much as the sun goes down and stuff it next to the water bottle.

Just as I am about to leave the room and head out, I remember The Note, and I fish it out of my pocket after a moment of debating over if I should just pretend it is not there. Since I do not want to lose it, however, even if just so I can later show Tom proof that I really was handed some fake secret agent note, I find one of the small, unused pockets in my suitcase and tuck it away.

Once it is safely hidden away so I can show it off to Tom whenever I next remember its existence - probably when I finally unpack my suitcase back home, after leaving it to grow mildew for a couple months in my closet - I write out a quick note to let Tom know what I plan to be doing for the next hour in case he wakes up sooner than expected. After that, I head downstairs to ask whoever is working the front desk about the local attractions as well as about the best restaurants and shops within walking distance.

"Prynhawn da," the dark-haired woman at the front desk presumably greets in Welsh, while she waves me forward from the unofficial line - 'unofficial' because there is no one else waiting to be helped, just another guest being helped further down the counter by a blond man; I simply don't want to assume that she is not busy with something else. "How can I help you?"

"Hi," I greet, just the slightest bit awkward since I did not really plan what I wanted to ask before getting here, only what I want to do. "So, I kind of want to explore the area, but I, uh, don't really know where to start. Any suggestions?"

Her expression brightens, and based on this, I should probably not be surprised that this leads to me winding up with two different maps - one probably intended more for families with young children since it has cartoon drawings on it with little icons for interesting stores and local attractions, and one that is an actual map that the woman at the front desk drew little exclamation marks on to signify good places to check out. She had offered me QR codes for both maps to decrease the clutter and to make it easier to actually interact with the maps, but my phone can be as unpredictable as a raccoon when it comes to scanning codes, so I try to avoid them.