M’traliel, having been relentless in her drive to tend to Jahrae and to her flat, found and embraced exhaustion. By the point of crashing, sleep locale mattered not; she chose the sofa, flopped upon it, and was out in minutes.

When she woke the next day, the sun was already trying to find its way past the defenders of the dark curtains. She rose to sitting, and as her mind flipped on, identified her first task as checking on the well being of Jahrae. She stammered by the coffee table, and once clear of that obstacle, set out for their… Jahrae’s… room.

Only to find she was gone. After checking each room within the flat, her stomach sank with the physical confirmation of one gone missing. And M’traliel had absolutely no inkling as to where Jahrae would go.

Jahrae loved that M’traliel was tending to her, that the practical one cared so. Yet Jahrae also hated the fact M’traliel was there, making her feel recognise how she felt. Somehow… connecting the two, having someone else recognise you are hurting rendered it all more real, more painful.

Thoughts of llhaesa came to her, as they always did. Was there a more beautiful soul on the planet? Oh, she had her faults, and she had her idiosyncrasies, but Jahrae knew she loved each one, she loved all there was about llhaesa. How could she forget the sweet smell of her skin, her gentle and explorative touch, her fierce embrace, the softness of her hair, the resilience of her mind, how she could stand in front of something threatening and still function.

As the hours worked onward through the night, Jahrae needed to run. Not run as she once did, around the park in homage to the upkeep of her body, but run away from this place, from M’traliel, from caring, from her world.

She silently moved around her room, grabbing clothing sufficient for a summer’s night in the capitol. And with that done, moved past the outstretched and far from awake M’traliel, down to the foyer and out the door.

Where she intended to go, well… that was not a matter to determine. Her feet would go where they wish.

M’traliel did not bother or wish to notify authorities; they were the cause of this whole sorry mess to begin with. And so she sat down and tried to make a list of places they had frequented in the past, and places where llhaesa personally liked to spend time.

Armed with this list, she set out to check all those within walking distance, leaving those more distant for later, and to public transport. Place after place came and went with no sign of Jahrae. M’traliel had been walking for hours at this point, and decided she would stop for a moment to collect her thoughts and sip on some fresh water.

One last place remained before she would have to start taking public transportation. Time would slow further at that point, fewer places could be checked due to the distance involved.

As she entered the last location, a small café on the outlying fringe of Old City, M’traliel had an eerie feeling that Jahrae had been here. Whether it was some residual smell, or something more intuitive, she did not know. Moving to the maitré d’, she inquired by way of name and presentation of 3d imagery.

M’traliel could see this man knew something, and could see he was hesitating. At last, he spoke, choosing his words carefully. “Yes. Yes, I saw her earlier today, shortly after we opened. All alone as I recall, did not look well. She ate little of her breakfast, left payment, and ran out the door.”

“Why did she run?” M’traliel asked as alarm welled up inside.

“I do not know. A man had entered through the rear of the establishment, and it seemed that as your friend became aware of his entry, she hurriedly left through the front entrance.”

“Thank you” M’traliel was grateful he at least knew something. Before she could fully turn to leave, the maitré d’ added to his last statement. “That man… the man who came in through the rear entrance and who seemed to inspire your friend to flight? He walked straight through the restaurant and turned the same way your friend was headed.”

M’traliel thanked him once again, headed out the door, and started calling for EREGS assistance. Fast.