A stroll inside the heart of the city (Intro Story - continued)

Viktor observed her quietly, admiring her feelings towards the city. His on the other hand was something of discomfort, seeming to be out of his element more than anything. However, his senses of direction and perception of his environment were not lacking in the city. He knew that they had gone through a maze of sorts, doubling before winding.

Noticing the same cats along their path, his mind wandered and pondered. “My mind is either painting me false images or I am seeing the same cat everywhere we go.”, he said in a both concerned and interested tone of voice. His concerns remained as he received no answer, stepping forward towards the prestigious building before them. “Hm.”, he simply said as he thought to himself – “Nobility.”. He assumed he would feel uneasy inside, however, he was strangely comfortable in his new environment.

As they proceeded in, his eyes looked over the sign, a pondering thought caressing his mind. Another as they passed the guards, that seemed to eye him in a manner that didn’t rest well within him. However, he was in no place to be picky of him. He did look like a bum, afterall.

Once on the Duchy's grounds, Rulon became chatty again. To a sort.

“There are a few that look similar, but that one was the same.” Harking, perhaps, back to his cat musings, which she'd neglected to respond to at the time.

She led him up the step and inside, around the tactful décor of the entry way, down a hall- one serving man paused to let her pass at a cross-roads (Ru ignored him) and gave Viktor an arched-brow review as he passed- and through another hall until they were in the little seen working side of the estate.

“There wasn't anything you recognized, in the city.” It wasn't a question, more of a 'confirm my observation' statement.

Where she stopped was the kitchen. Specifically, the medium sized serving table for the waitstaff. She touched a hand to the back of one of the chairs, locking eyes to him briefly, then busied herself in scrounging through the produce along the counters.

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Viktor pondered at the thought of the cat that had been following, wondering if it was some form of sorcery or coincindence. He was prepared to believe the latter rather then the former at this point. His thoughts returned to the here and now, his eyes observing and watching as his mouth remained shut - deciding it better to not speak for the moment.

Her question seemed to stem a thought in his mind: "Had I been here before?". The idea floated for a moment with no great result. "No. I did notice our several change of courses, however.", he said in a curious tone. "Someone we don't want sniffing about our trail?", he asked, his eyes seeming to casually rest on her own as the mind wandered. "I don't know here. I don't know this place. But I remember how to survive, that gut feelings may not be just coincidence.". The thought was crushed as he asked politely - "I saw the sign outside - what exaclty is this place?", he asked with a thoughtful tone.

There was little warning, aside from the rather quiet padding of feet on the turf, when what might best be described as a streak of skin tones hued with blue, and trailed by chestnut tresses hurtled past the small window in a decidedly inverted position, passing the verdant framing of the two bushes just outside the window overlooking the inner courtyard. This is soon followed by absolute silence and no sign of motion outside of the narrow window. The courtyard is fairly large, and viewing outside would require actively moving around the window to get an angle that made anything but the narrow space between the bushes visible.

Viktor heard the paddling of feet within the court yard before anything else, and curiosity began to play at his mind. "What was that?", he asked aloud in an alarmed tone. It did not seem to scare him, but rather put him on alert as his apparent lack of comfortability within the city walls spiked. As did his curious nature.

Stepping towards the window, his eyes looked out about carefully, his ears perking at the slightest of sounds - though trying to hear anything through the bustle of the building was rather difficult. His dark brown eyes peered, prodding for someone or something to showthemselves or allow themselves to be seen. He swayed his body slightly as he tried to see outside the window from all angles.

While craning to the side to get the best angle he might, Viktor would notice movement off to the left. A woman, who appears to be in her early twenties, stands balanced on her hands, with her legs pointed straight upward, as still as a statue. She's garbed in two-piece blue clothing, which is form-fitting, and certainly revealing, but this is likely for ease of mobility rather than show. While her hands remain planted on the ground, her legs move until pointed directly to either side, forming a near-perfect 'T' shape. She doesn't seem to realize there's anyone watching, and has a look of intense concentration on her face as she holds her balance.

Viktor looked at the woman with a raised eyebrow, obviously curious as to what exactly she was doing. "I do believe you should be standing on your feet rather then your hands. Most of us do.", he said aloud, as if speaking to himself or thinking the woman could hear him. He knocked on the window to get her attention, less then startle her at best - it wasn't as if he wanted to see her tumble to the court yard.

“I thought perhaps you would see something you recognized.” Was the woman's reply to his questioning about their path. She piled an assortment of fruit, and a few vegetables, on a plate and bore it back to the table.

“This is home, though temporary.”

The place where she had touched upon the chair was granted the vegetarian meal, even as the man moved towards the window. The alarm in his voice changed nothing- or perhaps she hadn't heard him. She claimed one of the plums from the bowl, watching him- and the window- in curious silence.

Upon hearing the rapping at the window pane, the young woman looked toward the sound. Seeing the man inside, she teetered over to her right, supporting herself briefly on one hand and waving, before setting her left hand firmly on the ground once more. After this, she tucked into a forward roll, and gracefully righted herself once more. She vanished from view as she stepped closer to the building, but a mere moment later the servants' entrance opened and she was standing in the doorway, looking over the pair in the kitchen.

A smile blossomed briefly as he looked over the woman before turning away from the window as she disappeared – instinctively stepping out of view of the window. “Ah so I see. I appreciate the show – but I do not really remember much. Subtle things, though. Such as the smells, the wind, greater points of view among the scenery of the city. Ambush points.”. His peering eyes looked away from her, a peering thought striking at his adjusting mind. " You can say my mind is fighting with its self as I think a few things - such as: Who was I? What did I do before for me to find 'striking points' or being so keen of the elements. I feel more comfortable in the forest then the city, here - I feel a bit of unease."

Just as he thought of who he was, the woman from outside stepped into the kitchen. He overlooked her once more: Some may see this as ogling, but to him he was looking for certain objects of interest, specifically: Weapons, perhaps signs of class or any amounts of identifiers. As if the display of talent wasn’t enough to get his attention. “Hello there. Quite the talent you have.”, he said as he motioned around the corner to the window.

“Mm. Ambush points. Perhaps you were a paranoid man. Or a hermit. A paranoid hermit would not be too far from plausible.”

Why it wouldn't be too far from plausible waits for another time, as the woman comes in to the kitchen and causes the speaker to end her self-musing prematurely in favor of a warm smile.

She looks at Viktor with a subtle smile, and nods her gratitude for the compliment.

"Thank you. I'm duchess Mealla Aislin, welcome to my home. I trust Ru is making you feel comfortable?"

She glances at Ru, one hand on her hip as she then looks about the kitchen. She sets eyes on a ewer of water on the counter, and strides across the room, poking through a cupboard to find a cup as soon as she gets there. Finding a simple pewter cup, she fills it and takes a long drink, possibly having worked up a bit of thirst in her exercise.

Viktor looked a bit surprised at her title - he would not have taken her for nobality. It not only made him more intrigued, but also made him admire her more already. "Ah well in thet case - the pleasure is mine. My name is Viktor . . . to say the least, I do not remember exactly who I am. It would seem to be a long story, but one that I am completely unfamiliar with. If it were not for your friend here, I would be wandering the forest for hours trying to find my way to something - 'more'.". The last word settled a moment, his own mind even pondering it "More? More what? More people? More lighting? Fool.". "Though I do feel rather hungry - would it be too much to ask for some bread or something else to eat?"

He looked about the room quietly a moment, taking in his surroundings a bit more. It had seemed that with the entrance of the Duchess he sensed the environment change somehow - a feeling of comfort. That startled him.

At the man's comment about his hunger, Ru made a surprised sound, turning her eyes away from the Duchess in order to gesture him at the bowl of fruit and vegetables she had foraged from the counters.

"I would not have placed it to be cruel. I will find the bread."

Ru gave no explanation on the stranger, and the Duchess didn't seem concerned that she had brought him home. Perhaps there was something to be said in that, the blind acceptance of circumstance. She drifted to the pantry and disappeared inside, presumably after the bread.

After a moment, her voice wanders out again, as if remembering something important:

"He is concussed."

He peered towards the pantry, nodding in silent agreement at Ru's comment. "I honestly do not remember much. Things seem to be coming back . . . Slowly.", he said hesitently. "However, I know that it is not correct of me to simply eat food and give nothing in return. I admit to not knowing exactly what I am good at, however - I am willing to aid this house in anyway that you find suitable. If only you allow me.", he said with a final note, bowing his head lowly towards the Duchess. "Her presence is comforting - why. I do not know. However, it is welcomed in this stone prison.", the thought brisking his mind quietly as he awaited an answer.

Upon finishing her cup of water, the Duchess looked at Viktor and simply nodded, "If you wish to earn the help we offer, that is your choice. This food is offered freely for one who needs it, but we may have use for an extra hand in many ways." She looked to Rulon, "I trust you can find out what our friend's talents are, so we might find him a place to use them?"

The smirk she gave Ru was friendly, but certainly holding a hint of humour at the free license to learn more about Viktor's abilities. Likely she was aware just how creative the woman dressed in the garrish combination of colours could be, and the smirk might have been partly out of pity for what would come next for Victor, if Rulon was feeling touched by the muses today.

Rulon smiled blithely back to the duchess as she slipped out from the pantry again, a large loaf in both hands. This she presented to Viktor as it was- the full loaf, no butter, no knife, and carried that smile to the hapless man's face as she spoke a single, heavily laden word of a churning mind:

"Certainly."

" I would much enjoy figuring out what used to be my trade of coice - as you could imagine, there are many questions and very few answers.", he said as he rubbed his hands together in anticipation - his stomach ached and his mouth watered at the sight of food. "Thank you.", he said in a respectful tone as he took the bread - he didn't need any butter or otherwise. He was completely content with having something to eat.

As he began to cram tears of bread into his lips, his mind pondered at the intentions of his new company. "So what did you have in mind?", viktor asked Ru simply. Adjusting his shirt quietly, he tried to cover up any creeping thoughts of being 'inferior' - even in dress. In an uncomfortable quirk, he adjusted the cuffs of his ravaged shirt - exposing the blue tri-angle tattoo scarred onto his left wrist only briefly.

The woman was watching him curiously, chin inclined at a thoughtful cant, the Duchess-aimed cheer vanishing behind a visage of concentration. His question broke the passing revery, and dredged up her usual off-kilter smile.

"Everything." She answered, just as simply as he'd asked it. His discomfort seemed to go unnoticed as she flitted towards the door, leaving the Duchess and Viktor without so much as an 'excuse me'.

A smile crossed his face at the thought of challenge, the race of competition - of something or someone to overcome. That made him feel more - complete. "Very well", he said as she strolled out of the room without a goodbye or otherwise. Looking towards the Duchess, he bowed his head in a respectful. "It would be my honor to serve those that helped me in my time of need. Until perhaps Ru is ready to 'test' me - I may observe the grounds, if you do not object? I need some time to think clearly in order to prepare.", he said in a very direct tone. He had finished the bread within only minutes a seemed and his stomach was thankful for it. His skin seemed to become more of a natural color as the flushed look in his cheeks began to dissipate in time.

The duchess nodded her approval at his request to look around the grounds, setting the empty cup on the counter.

"The garden in the courtyard is quite peaceful. You may find it relaxing before Ru has you do whatever it is she has in mind." She folded her arms and leaned against the counter, certainly not the sort of stance one might expect of a noble woman, but she wasn't exactly making an effort to keep up appearances in her acrobat's garb.

"Also, feel free to drink your fill," she touched the ewer of water; condensation began to form on the silver body almost immediately, and where her fingers had grazed it there was a trail of frost, "I assure you it's quite cold and refreshing."

Thoughts began begging for his attention, both basic things and complex. From "What did I once do?" to "Did I have a house? Was I a noble?". He flushed them out with a small smile and another nod of thanks. "Very well, then I will go for a walk for the moment to ponder over a few things. Perhaps with some time I can get some thoughts straight.", he said in an optimistic tone of voice. His eyes looked over where she had ran her finger along - specifically as the condensation froze. He didn't much understand how exactly that occured, as he knew that ice only happened in intense cold. It was only another thing for Vik to think about.

"I would like to thank you for your hospitality.", the words floating as he bowed his head. Leaning up to his full height once more, his eyes looked to the door that led to the courtyard. A small smile draped along his lips before looking back to the duchess. "If you would exscuse me - I will explore the garden. If you or anyone else needs anything of me, I will be there.", he said with another nod of his head before stepping towards the doorway - he was looking forward to getting into the fresh air once more. Stepping out, thoughts began plaguing his mind once more.

The ideas taster did not leave Viktor alone for long, to the chagrin of the cook she hurriedly instructed in abstract.

That initial task done- one that would affect the entire household with the approaching meal- Rulon gathered things from here and there with no real sense of 'personal belonging' and stockpiled this testing equipment in the parlor. Thankfully, a maid noticed the woman's stash and initiated the viral instruction that the pile Was Not To Be Touched.

Ru found Viktor, without question or comment on his relocation, with a pair of men's gloves and a wicked looking pair of pruning shears, extended for him to take.

Vik had been looking over the garden, a small smile blossoming across his face. Nature seemed to be where he felt most at home. Without a moments notice to bear, his eyes looked down to the gloves and the pruning shears before taking them into his hands. He looked at Ru with a questioning look: "Interesting atire - what am I using these on?", he asked simply as he brushed some black locks from his eyelids.