Thankfully for the boy known as Ethan, upon falling asleep the night before his body was in such a position that no muscles could become twisted or otherwise angry. At some point he rolled over onto his side which lifted his draped leg onto the bed, subsequently solving the blood flow issue his poor calf and foot were experiencing. If he had suffered any nightmares, or perhaps indulged in any pleasant dreams, his state of deep sleep certainly wouldn’t have allowed him to remember it. The events of the previous day had been much more taxing for him then he realized, both physically and mentally, thus his mind and body had all but shut down completely to recuperate. In fact, he was so tired that he slept passed the rising of the sun, something he hadn’t done in years, though he did begin to stir. Of course, not waking up with the sun would never be something he would admit, especially to the headmistress of the orphanage. It was actually the loud thumping against his door that finally caused him to sit straight up in his bed with wide eyes and messy hair.

“Oi! I don’t make morning calls but breakfast is almost over.” There was a pause before Badger continued. “It’s too early to hear whining so hurry it up!”

Ethan was confused at first, being as this was the first morning in over 10 years that he had woken up in a place other than the orphanage or out under the stars when camping. Despite his confusion, the once full stomach was scratched, followed by the unkept mass of hair atop his head. Yawning once more he swung his legs out over the edge of the bed and stumbled across the room to the water left from last night.

Another thump upon the door made him jump.

“Oi!”

“Sorry! I’m awake.” He was actually sorry as he had forgotten to respond in his stupor.

“Hmph, good. Hurry it up!”

After downing a cup of water the boy began to move more quickly and was soon dressed, his hair a bit less sloppy, and his clothes somewhat presentable. Grabbing the keys to his room and chest he opened the door and made his way downstairs, though he did hold onto the wooden railing to steady himself once or twice. Upon reaching the bottom of the stairs he quickly began to smell the scents of bread, eggs, bacon, and coffee and once all the aromas registered his body suddenly let him know he had to use the bathroom. Thankfully, Badger appeared from the kitchen at that very moment and Ethan was able to ask where he could go... pun intended. After being shown a hallway that lead to the back he quickly disappeared to take care of his morning needs. It didn’t take long and when he returned to the main area his shirt, around the waist, was a bit damp from using it to dry his cleaned hands.

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Unlike the night before, which had been a mixture of those staying with the inn and those of the town looking for a meal, this morning was much less busy. In fact only about half of the tables had anyone sitting at them and even less than half of those were full. Ethan had just taken a seat at a table near the bottom of the stairs when Badger walked up to it and placed a plate of everything he smelled earlier, though instead of coffee she gave him a large cup of milk.

“First cup of milk is on the house, after that it’s water or you have to pay.” To the point but not nasty could explain the tone the no nonsense Badger used.

“Thank you very much!”

Badger watched him dig in for a second before noting the raised hand of one of the other customers. Ethan was dabbing the slightly runny eggs with the freshly baked bread with such intensity that he didn’t even see her walk away. A big smile spread across his mouth after swallowing a piece of bacon and some eggs. If he wasn’t careful he would get fat and live only to eat at this rate. Thankfully, for the sake of his health and story neither happened, though in time he would come to be known as a foodie who always wanted to try something new.

“Oh! So creamy!”

Milkstache! It was clear as day after the boy lowered the cup with a satisfied sigh. His upper lip twitched when the clinging liquid lightly tickled the nearly invisible hairs below his nose. Of course he didn’t want to waste such a tasty drink and quickly went to town on the mustache of milk with his tongue. After about 20 minutes he was finally finished and sat back in his chair to let everything settle. After a bit longer Ms. Badger returned with a medium sized bowl of water and a wash cloth draped over her arm. After setting it down she picked up his dishes and explained the reasoning behind what she dropped off.

“That’s for you to freshen up with upstairs. Be sure to bring it down with you when you leave for the day.”

While Ethan knew the purpose of the bowl and washcloth, having used something similar at the orphanage, he nodded thankfully with a smile.

“Thank you!”

He had been afraid to ask where he could go to get ready as he figured the bathroom he used earlier wasn’t meant for morning care like the bowl was. After getting up from the table he carefully took the bowl and washcloth up to his room where he cleaned his face, brushed his teeth, and straightened out his hair, though not in that particular order. After putting away the frayed stick of mintleaf he ran his tongue over his teeth to make sure they were as clean as could be. Thankfully for him mintleaf was easily found and rather effective in its use for cleaning teeth. Secretly he also infused his mintleaf sticks with Nel’ Ina making it even more helpful at keeping his mouth smelling clean. His tongue didn’t always thank him for the rough treatment though, it is so hard to please everyone!