[Introduction] This isn't Quite the Adventure I Signed Up For

[hismothersson]

Albert Herrera, formerly the Viscount de Morcerf--it was hard not to remind himself that with almost every step he took--heard the boarding call for the shuttle to Luna. He gave the attendant his ticket and passport with his new, and entirely legal now, name. It had been his mother's name, and after she'd retired back to Marseilles, he'd been

Comments

[villageson]

11-12 was wandering around too. He was still unsettled by the magical events that had recently occured but at least now the mirrors were quiet and the doors stayed still until you opened or closed them yourself.

He sees the young man and, not knowing him, simply gives him a smile.

[hismothersson]

Relieved of the burden of his satchel, Albert is looking from room to room, trying to get himself used to it. He grew up in a large house, but it was so very different there. There were no visible servants here, but he still knew that things got done anyway. It was very strange, and kind of made him suspicious and worried.

But all that falls away easily when someone smiles at him. He lifts his chin and smiles back, almost childishly happy. "Hello!" He waved too, just in case his greeting wasn't clear. "Do you live here too?"

[villageson]

"Yes, I do. Are you new here?" 11-12 looks at him curiously.

[hismothersson]

His face falls a little. "Is it that obvious? Is there a sign over my head or something?" He glances up just to make sure. "I'm Albert, and yeah, I just got here today. I was supposed to be taking a shuttle to Luna." And he could almost hear Franz calling him an idiot. If Franz couldn't be around to tell him how stupid he was being, he'd just have to remember his friend's words.

[villageson]

"No, it's not obvious. It's just that I haven't seen you around before," he explains. "It's nice to meet you. I'm 11-12."

[hismothersson]

He seems a bit puzzled at that name, but he won't remark on it. "Do people just show up here like that?"

[villageson]

"Yes, it's all very mysterious and I don't understand it. Has somebody shown you around?"

[hismothersson]

"Mostly," Albert says. "I haven't seen everywhere. Is there anything fun to do here?" He's not abandoning the idea of learning, but it doesn't seem so urgent now.

[villageson]

"That depends what you like to do for fun. There's chess, and books and there's a lake where you can swim."

[hismothersson]

"Well, I used to ride my motorcycle and spend time with my friends." He doesn't suppose there will be much of that here. "I'm not very good at chess." But he doesn't hate it.

[villageson]

"I'm sure not everyone is great at it either. My father usualy beat me in a game," 11-12 replies.

"I had a music player but it doesn't seem to work here. I wish it did."

[hismothersson]

There must be something to do other than play chess and listen to music! Those all sound so adult to Albert. "Are there outdoor things?" he asks. "My father taught me to shoot and ride." He ducked his chin to hide his embarrassment. "They were noble things to do, but I'm not really noble." Neither had his parents been. That was the whole problem.

[villageson]

11-12 blinks, remembering something. "Oh! I think there is a.. stable... with... horses? I think that's what they're called."

[hismothersson]

"Horses, really?" Albert brightens at that. At home, he'd preferred his motorcycle to horses, but it wasn't that he hated them. "Do you know where it is?"

[villageson]

"I'm not sure if I can find it again. I was only shown once and it was a while ago. You may be better off asking somebody else about that."

[hismothersson]

"Oh."

Albert has to think fast to hide his disappointment. "That's okay," he says. "Have you been here long?"