Soul Cycle

Chapter 5

Lestav had managed to navigate his way to a mediocre hotel known as Wayra Dreams Hotel, not far from the airport they landed at. It was a decent hotel. It was neither lavish enough to be a top notch, five star hotel, but not small or cheap enough to have undesirable qualities or be a motel. Although Lestav preferred a motel, for it had more privacy and just didn't eat away at his money, he didn't want to drive around any longer than he already had to when there was something that shouldn't be a problem right here. So, Lestav was forced to suck up his own preferences and try something different for once.

This hotel was built like a traditional one. All the rooms were inside a larger building and it even contained other sections like a pool and a sauna for its visitors' enjoyment. However, the pool didn't seem to be open at the moment. There were boxes and construction material stacked in the pool room visible through its clear glass doors. Lestav listened on as he listened to a small child cry in disappointment due to the inconvenience. This child was probably promised with the opportunity to swim while away on a nice trip only to be let down with the realization that the pool would not open for a while. The child's parents had probably forgotten to check beforehand if they were really going to get all the opportunities the hotel had promised, or the hotel didn't see it to their best interest to update their website that the pool was under maintenance, now forcing a little kid to have a swimless trip for however long that family was going to be here. The cries of the child soon faded away as his mother took him up in her arms, patting him gently in an effort to pacify him, and soon the lobby went quiet as the elevator doors shut closed.

Lestav ignored the child after a moment, turning his attention to the empty desk in front of him. He leaned against it, elbows on the counter and chin resting in his hand. He stared blankly ahead, eyes floating lazily around for some kind of hint of an employee. Isradriel, on the other hand, had made his way to Lestav's side, smiling prettily as he scanned the hotel's lobby, observing every little detail and flaw. When Isradriel was no longer interested in the lobby, he looked down toward Lestav, inquiring as to what the man could be thinking about. It was either a lot or nothing at all. But, through Isradriel's own observations, he noticed that Lestav tends to do a lot of thinking, but through facial features alone, he couldn't tell if there was actually something going on in Lestav's head or if it was just as simple as staring off into space. But, If Lestav was thinking about anything at all, it was that he was interested in. He was about to inquire, but was interrupted by a young desk clerk, tired and looking like a nervous mess.

"Lo siento." The man, no older than twenty, sighed as he shuffled around some papers on his desk and brought back to life the computer on his desk. He was focused on typing in a few things before turning his attention toward Lestav and Isradriel. That unwavering cycle of years and years of working in customer service and tending to people's needs flipped on like a lightswitch, but the bulb to this one was running a little dim, for everything the man said was tired and monotone, even if he tried to sound welcoming and friendly. But Lestav couldn't blame the kid, he was just having a bad day.

"¿Cómo puedo ayudarte hoy?" The employee questioned, looking up at Lestav ready to fill in and get anything he would need. But Lestav simply froze in place, tapping his fingers a couple times on the counter as he tried to collect his thoughts. This was the one thing Lestav was not prepared for, language barriers. While Lestav was bilingual, the second language he spoke wasn't really useful anywhere except a few select islands and maybe some places in Europe. He spoke Maltese alongside with English, in fact, Maltese was actually his native language. But it didn't really do him any good, for most probably haven't ever heard of the Maltese language, or Malta in general. He grew up speaking both English and the island's native language, for his parents both spoke the two as well and wanted their son to be connected to his heritage as well as know one of the most spoken languages in the world. But due to growing up in a smaller town he is at the disadvantage of never getting much other cultural exposure to know a lick of any other language. The closest thing he had to knowing anything other than English was Italian as some small dialects of Arabic thanks to Malta's descending ties to both languages. But that wouldn't help him in this situation, he doesn't even remember the last time he heard a word in Spanish.