Elias didn't stick around long. He showed Andrew to a spare room, then excused himself. There were more promises to get him answers as soon as possible, but that was all he gave before rushing off. Andrew wondered if he could sense his sour mood and didn't want to be around until after he got some sleep.
Being left alone to rest in a fancy room helped cool him off. It had one of the most comfortable beds he had ever laid on, and its tall posts held up a dark, sheer fabric that had golden specs, almost like stars. The rest of the room didn't look interesting enough to gawk at, though he didn't expect much from a spare room for guests.
Andrew wondered for a moment what the prince's room might look like. Probably filled to the brim with nerdy collectables, since a lot of the rich people he dug up dirt on liked to do the same.
The thought left his mind almost as quickly as it came, Andrew not wanting to dwell on anything in the castle. Home had to be the only goal, or he'd get distracted and end up taking too long to get there.
Though he was stuck there. At least until he could figure out how to leave, anyway. So, at the very least, Andrew allowed himself rest. He needed it after his impromptu sprint. His body agreed, falling asleep the second he closed his eyes.
Meaningless dreams drifted in and out of his head, some in his apartment doing his usual daily routine, and some of the few things he had seen in the Aldoun. At one point, he imagined Elias sitting at his dining room table, tapping his finger on the table and humming a tune. When he tried to talk to the prince, he only got a smile in return. It frustrated him enough to wake up, but that only made things worse..
Still not home.
Sleep eased his aching body, but not his agitated nerves. Andrew sat up, stuffing his feet back into his slippers. As much as he liked the comfortable clothes he came in, it wouldn't be a bad idea to ask for some new shoes, and maybe some proper pants. Also, a bath. Running got him all sweaty, and sleeping in a warm bed didn't help.
Andrew licked his lips, realizing that a toothbrush wouldn't be so bad either. Some food might also make him more comfortable, though when he looked at the window, he realized he had woken up in the middle of the night.
Surely, the rich guy kept a massive kitchen stocked to the brim with food. And he did tell Andrew that he could make himself at home when he left him in the room.
More walking wasn't ideal. However, Andrew didn't know what else to do with himself. And if he didn't eat a snack, then he'd be miserable to deal with. So, he dragged his feet out of his temporary room, looking down the hall.
Not a soul in sight. Only winding, empty halls with no lighting aside from a few lit candles in the widely spaced sconces.
Andrew let out a sigh of relief. He walked over to one of the larger doors, debating on knocking. Elias had pointed the door out hurriedly before dropping him off, saying he would be close in case Andrew needed something. The way his stomach growled told him that food was enough of a need to bother the prince in the middle of the night.
Andrew knocked softly and waited. And waited some more. After a while, he gave a slightly harder knock, figuring that he would have to be loud enough to wake the prince up.
When no one answered, he huffed and threw his hands up.
"Fine, I'll go find the kitchen myself." Andrew stomped off, navigating the castle with nothing but determination to find a snack.
Door after door, hall after hall, Andrew marched through them all until he was tired all over again. Why would someone build a house so big and not put any signs around to tell people where to go? Did all of them just somehow know the place by heart? There was no way. And why make it all look the same? It must've been cheaper to buy stuff in bulk and just space it out rather than give each area its own pizzazz.
"I just want to find the kitchen," he groaned. Andrew stopped and leaned against a wall, covering his face with his hands. "I should have knocked harder on that damn door. It's Elias' fault for not breaking character and telling me how to get home, he should wake up and feed me at least."
Andrew slid down the wall until he was sitting on the floor. He wasn't sure how to find the kitchen, let alone get back to his room. He could keep walking through the boring halls, hoping to find someone to point him in the right direction, or something familiar to find his way back. Or, he could stay there and wait for someone to find him. Elias would look for him. Probably.
While trying to decide, blue specs floating up from the carpeted floors caught Andrew's eye. He jumped up, staying pressed against the wall to avoid stepping on them. Rather than cling to him like before, the glowing lights popped up and made a path.
"This is… not something I'm going to question right now." Andrew took a calming breath, then stepped over the light, following it down the hall and making sure not to let it touch his feet. "You better be leading me somewhere good, uh… whatever you are."
Much to his surprise, the lights weren't leading him to a random spot. A pair of gold and white double doors led into a massive kitchen where the trail stopped. Andrew looked back, not seeing a trace of blue.
"Huh. Thanks, I guess."
None of the kitchen's appliances were updated. Andrew had expected there to be some part of the castle that would break the rules of the game for comfort reasons, but apparently, Elias didn't care about that.
With no fridge to raid and no idea how to work the stove, which was more like a glorified fire pit, Andrew found himself at another loss.
"Maybe there's some hidden passage I have to find to get to the good stuff. No rich person is going to keep a castle this big and not have a snack reserve somewhere." Andrew began patting down the walls and looking through cabinets. All of it looked so old compared to the rest of the castle, he had to wonder why none of the money went to keeping some place so important in better shape.
"Oh, Andrew? What are you doing?"
A sleepy voice froze Andrew in his place, and he turned away from the wall he had been feeling up. The prince stood in the doorway, holding a small lamp with blue fire. Its color covered the entire room, reminding him of nights he would fall asleep on his couch with nothing but the light of his laptop.
"Elias, you're awake! I was just… I woke up, and I wanted food, and you told me to make myself at home, so I tried to wake you up to ask where the kitchen was, but you didn't answer your door, so I just came looking. And now I found it, and am more confused about your desire to stay so true to this role-playing thing. I figured someone like you would have a stash of sugary food somewhere in here, but it seems I was wrong."
Andrew rarely let awkward situations leave him rambling, but seeing the tired way Elias stared back at him had his jaw working on any excuse that would make it so he didn't look like the crazy one.
"I apologize for not answering my door," he yawned. "I wasn't in there, and I should have told you that, but I figured you would stay asleep for longer than you did." Elias made his way into the kitchen, opening one of the old cabinets. "We don't often keep the food in storage here, but there are a few things like dried meat and some fruit if you'd like those. When the fresh food comes in the morning, I will make sure you get a large breakfast, though."
"Uh, sure. Jerky is fine." Andrew moved closer to Elias with a raised brow. "Can I ask why you're up so late? Do you have some self-imposed, important prince duties you have to do at three in the morning or something?"
Elias handed him a burlap bag filled with dried meat and two small apples. "I often stay up like this, much to my mother's dismay. When there is a problem in this kingdom, I will stop at nothing to fix it." He paused and squeezed his eyes shut. "That's not to say that you're a problem, Andrew. I didn't mean it like that. I meant that your need for help is something I want to resolve quickly for your sake."
It had been a while since Andrew had eaten jerky. He didn't remember it being so tough and tasteless, though the people there likely made it some old-timey way that wasn't as good as the modern method. He couldn't respond to Elias right away with his mouth full, so he nodded along with what the prince said.
"This situation must be frustrating, so I'll do whatever I can to make your time here as comfortable as possible. I just hope that you can trust me when I say that. I can tell you have some… reservations about the things I say."
Andrew swallowed his mouthful of food, struggling for a few seconds to get the dry shards of meat down. "Listen, I'll believe you when you say that you're trying to help me, but I probably won't be super happy about this situation until you break the act, and I have a clear way home. I'm not a fan of boats, but I'll even get on one of those if I have to."
"If that's all that you believe of me, then I'm happy with that." Elias smiled and gestured to the door. "Would you like me to walk you back to your room so that you can get more rest?"
"Yeah, sounds good." With the food in his hand, Andrew didn't have it in him to say much more, stuffing his cheeks full of the meat and taking bites of the apple as they walked. Thankfully, the apples were juicy enough to make up for the fact that the jerky there sucked.
Elias walked stiffly, looking at Andrew as if he wanted to say something more. Ultimately, he kept to himself until they reached the guest room. If Andrew weren't so invested in his snacks, it would have made the walk awkward.
"I apologize again for not being where you needed me earlier, Andrew. I will do my best to stay close to you from here on out so that it doesn't happen again. It's hard to find your way around a new area, so I don't mind being your guide." Elias looked at Andrew's door, then down at him. "How did you manage to find the kitchen, anyway?"
Andrew shrugged. "The blue stuff showed me. Y'know, the stuff that nearly blinded us and that mage guy earlier? It popped out of the ground and showed me where to go. I don't know what it is, but whatever wild tech you've got here is pretty cool. I just wish you also had a big fridge filled with soda and sandwiches."
"The… Blue stuff? Do you mean magic? It…" Elias furrowed his brows, bringing a hand up to his face to rub his cheek. "That can be something we address tomorrow. For now…" His expression softened, and he grabbed Andrew's free hand. Gently, his thumb rubbed over Andrew's knuckles. "I want you to get some more rest. The stress of being lost can't be easy to deal with, and I don't know how long you journeyed before ending up here, so please do try to relax for now."
Goosebumps prickled up Andrew's arm, though he didn't move his hand away. Having someone acknowledge his stress levels brought a bit of relief, so he didn't want to turn the affection away too quickly.
"Alright, yeah, I can take more time to chill and all that. But in the morning, I'd definitely like more food. And a shower. And possibly new clothes, if that's not too much of a pain in the ass."
Elias chuckled, gently letting Andrew's hand fall away from his. "In the morning, I will do my best to get you all of those things. For now, I bid you good night, Andrew. Please come get me when you wake up."
Andrew gave a lazy salute, shuffling into the guest room. "G'night, Princey. See you in the morning." Once he set the nearly empty bag on the nightstand, Andrew threw himself onto the bed, able to fall asleep almost instantly again. Having food in his stomach helped him drift off into a much deeper slumber, one that would hopefully last until morning so that he didn't have to be lost in the dark halls again.