Day 43: Library (4th Shift)

[quickdrawbkiddo]

Beatrix glanced briefly at the bulletin board before she headed into the library. It wasn't as if she had any interests in the book, but there was something about browsing book shelves that gave a person time to think while reducing the odds that someone would bother her

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[blood_and_pocky]

Interrupting his work just to introduce his foot to a person who didn’t know where to step with theirs would’ve been a pain. Lucky for them, they realized beforehand.

‘They’ was a female, Aidou noted when he cast a veiled glance at the body that passed him by. Normally, a girl of her physical age would’ve been stumbling over herself to rectify whatever mistake she’d made, imagined or otherwise, once she’d gotten a look at him, and there probably would have been a commotion to rival the typical shift changes. But this was Landel’s Institute. More often than not, things were not as they should be.

When she spoke to him, he deliberately turned his head in order to look up at her, but kept the position from becoming ungainly. When so few seemingly cared about his nobility whether they were smart enough to recognize it or not, he, in turn, had less of a care in making people know it. But it was those eyes of hers, of course. They didn’t belong to anything human. Knowing that from the beginning put interaction on a different level from the get-go.

“Good afternoon,” echoed Aidou, pleasant to a T. As for what he was writing, it was mostly blocked by the way his free arm had been resting across the opposite page… but although the full content of his journal was out of bounds, he didn’t overly mind telling her the truth. “A transcript of sorts, to be honest. And you?”

[chainsaw_royal]

"Of the intercom? I see," she murmured. She had seen some discussion on the bulletin about this I.R.I.S. thing; apparently it was a new phenomenon, though Hime would never know otherwise had no one said so. If no one knew what it was, then taking down notes on its exact words would have high value in deciphering what veiled clues and half-said truths were in its mechanical dialogue. Perhaps once she had affirmed the more basic truths of this place she might look into such matters.

"I'm actually just familiarizing myself with the area. I only arrived... no, I only woke up last shift," she corrected herself. In truth, she couldn't say when she'd arrived since she could not affirm how long she had been unconscious before awakening. A worried frown passed across her lips as she considered Hiro and what may have happened to the boy if it had been many days already, but was quickly brushed aside. She had confidence in her servant yet.

"You may call me Hime," she said formally. For a moment, she stood there, perhaps regally, perhaps condescendingly, but then it passed as she knelt down and seated herself on the floor besides the young man. It would be rude to stay standing above him, and she was willing to risk being stepped on for the sake of manners. Besides, she was not above retribution for such inattentiveness, should it come to it. "And what is your name?"

[blood_and_pocky]

Aidou was awareness of her newness without having to be told; when he caught a glimpse of most people at least once, a completely unfamiliar face gave itself away. But to have awoken only so recently… The flicker in her expression didn’t ring of hollowness, but it also didn’t remain for long.

“You seem quite calm about it,” he commented neutrally, saying nothing as to her choice of introduction. ‘Hime’, was it? Like hell he was going to go around prostrating himself in front of other’s delusions of nobility and grant them a title they still wouldn’t deserve after a thousand lifetimes, but in this case… Although Aidou wouldn’t entertain such nicknames or have his own station impugned, he wasn’t blind to genuine prominence, which deserved a different kind of respect even if he didn’t regard it as highly he did vampire rank. Her eyes and her bearing earned her another question. “You are a princess, then?”

This one, though, could easily go either way… He watched her, gently closing his journal when she chose to sit next to him.

Madly Blooming Princess… When the true title has been cast aside for my own people, why would I..?

“My name is Aidou Hanabusa.”

[chainsaw_royal]

He was watchful, but not edgy or fearful. Simply observant and attentive. Now that they were on an equal level, it was a little easier to tell how he bore himself, sitting on the floor though he may be. And his words were carefully chosen, much as hers were.

"I see no point in panicking; that kind of reaction can only make the situation worse," she explained rationally. Nothing was ever solved by running around screaming. Countless were the number of times such poor conduct would have spelled death for her. And though it was obviously a moot point here, how could she expect any of her servants to function if she did not act with composure? Still, to those who didn't know her she might have seem without a care, but the lack of her usual smug confidence was a sure sign of her underlying worry. This was still an unknown situation that she was feeling out carefully.

"Yes, I am a Royal, one of the sons and daughters of the King who stands above all monsters," she replied to his question. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Aidou. And you? Your bearing is not the same as those rabble spouting their boisterous talk on that bulletin board. Or are you just naturally so composed?"

[blood_and_pocky]

It was true, of course… Reacting without thinking was a poor way to handle an exceedingly abnormal situation such as this one, and the fact that she knew well enough to keep her cool said something about her. A dumb prisoner was easier to predict. And on top of that, the female proclaimed herself a kind of royalty in her own right. He couldn’t taste the lie, or see it in those blood-red eyes.

Aidou was stubborn about acknowledging the presence of other creatures he couldn’t pigeonhole away, but when he was faced with one of Landel‘s oddities, he couldn’t deny it. That was the worst kind of blindness. But dealing with an unknown noble meant he had to be circumspect--aristocracy wasn’t so meaninglessly titular to a vampire as it was for a human, no doubt like it had been for the boy Larsa. It implied power in body, as well as in name. But that was to his kind.

“Monsters,” he repeated in echo of her words. There was a mixed response in him--a part that scoffed, a part that disbelieved, a part that grudgingly acknowledged. To him, there was no king for the world to recognize. Not now, at least. But there was her, sitting beside him, in so strangely informal a way. “And you have no name to go with ‘princess’?” Aidou’s reason for his asking became clear when he added, “Perhaps you’ve already begun to suspect this is a world unlike any you might’ve seen before.” A world where no authority--his, or hers, or Wolfram’s, or anyone else’s--stood higher than Landel’s.

To say as much stung every single time.

When it came to answering for himself, the vampire let his eyelashes shadow some of his eyes. It was not really modesty that colored his short response, but the result of having been caged for weeks already. “I wonder. I belong to a circle that serves a different primacy.”

It seemed pointless to equivocate on that. ‘Composure’ was not what made him stand out, he knew.

[chainsaw_royal]

"Yes, be they werewolf or giant, vampire or ghost," Hime replied in a matter-of-fact tone. There were so many kinds, too many to name... though, of course, there were the other royalty, those which the Kingdom had no authority over, but that was a different matter. "All the manner of creatures and peoples that live both within the Kingdom and without."

"I do, but it is not one I would choose to go by," she replied with a vague wave. One of many things she would never be able to forgive Severin for, even with his death. "Even should the title behind it hold no sway here, 'Hime' is the name I would prefer."

She could not begin to guess why he was reluctant to elaborate on his station, whether it was modesty, secrecy, or simply a sense of defeat from imprisonment here - after all, titles that worked well in the outside world held little value in prison, as that was what Hime was beginning to suspect this place was really like. At least it seemed to have better decor than the one she had been kept in before that farce of a trial.

"Then, if our stations are not directly comparable and as it seems it would mean little in any case in this situation, I shall simply have to judge upon merit."

[blood_and_pocky]

“I see,” was all he said.

Who knew what would come out of this meeting--if they would ever speak in person again, if the female would soon disappear, if she would make an enemy of him in the long run. (Thinking in terms of ‘allies’ seemed the option most out of reach for a variety of reasons.)

In the end, she decided fairly, as Aidou had. Merit…

He had merit, but so much of it had been stolen from him by the Head Doctor… the power enough to defeat the enemies he’d been encountering each night, among other things. His true ‘merit’ would have stopped those stinking corpses in their tracks during the previous night. But at the same time, merit was not merely physical prowess. Weakened or not, nobility remained nobility based on the other factors that made them what they were.

Aidou looked away from her with a sense of finality, a touch of the ancient in his youthful features. “I don’t disagree. You are not a princess of mine, and it is not a name I would choose to address you by, but by merit, I would concede to it.” Whatever the case, he’d be principled on that regard, as he’d been for so many other prisoners who, in another situation, might not have deserved such treatment. Like the ex-humans, creatures he should have rightfully slaughtered on sight.

When everything else was manipulated beyond recognition, the vampire would at least live up to his blood by not dishonouring it. Through foolishness or otherwise.

[chainsaw_royal]

"Thank you, then," Hime said carefully. It seemed the implicit status in the nickname her sister had given her did not sit well with him, but he was willing to bear with her, at least for now.

She began to open her mouth to ask, as she had the previous shift, just what manner of man he was before coming here, working under her theory that they were drawn here for their special talents, but closed her mouth, pursing her lips in thought. Aidou seemed reticent to talk about himself openly, and it wouldn't do to pry. Besides, should she end up staying here for any duration, she could always find him again, perhaps when he was more talkative. After all, hadn't she almost stumbled over him because he had been hiding back here for privacy?

"Well, it has been a pleasure talking with you," said Hime with a slight smile, getting to her feet. "I suppose I should leave you to your transcript that I interrupted. And perhaps we can meet again; I would be interested in reading it, if it is available for others, and also just with talking with you again when you're not busy." She nodded her head and bowed slightly before turning to go. "Until we meet again, Aido Hanabusa."

[blood_and_pocky]

Strange. He’d come to expect the yappity yap of prisoners who talked for the sake of talking, and asked questions without forethought, but she was obviously considering herself. And him. So rare in this dump. Would it last?

It was a good characteristic, and at the same time… something he might have to watch out for. Wasn’t that how it went?

The vampire lifted his head to watch her straighten, the most diverted he’d been from thoughts of last night and its lasting effects since the previous day’s twilight. One couldn’t predict these kinds of encounters. “It was not an unfortunate meeting,” Aidou said honestly. When all things were considered… not quite that, though he had no need to stop her from leaving. “You may find me more occupied than not, but I would talk to you again. Don’t hesitate.” In the same vein, he lowered his head to her, as well, as she made to leave. “Come sundown, expect nothing and suspect everything.”

Without an abundance of time, there was nothing he could say to fully prepare her for a nightshift in Landel’s--because no new arrival came prepared--to ensure they met a second time. That would have to do.

His words were meant as a warning, but one could never be sure if it would be a final farewell, at that.