[ P ] Miss Daisy

His right shoulder still bore the signs of a still-healing wound, as did the left side of his neck. There were two long scratches beneath his right eye, their length following along his cheek bone. While it was the most minor it stung the most due to his tendency to smile at those he passed. It was an avoidable reaction but an instinctive one nonetheless. Each time, he'd squint as the raw skin was pulled taut. He'd admonish himself, promise he wouldn't grin at the next soldier he passed that waved, then forget himself and repeat the cycle. In truth, it was a welcome relief when the barracks faded behind him. Engrossed in the soon-to-be budding forest, Victorian quickly bounded along the path to the dungeon. Personally, he disliked the looming structure that hid its horrors underground. It was a loveless, soulless place that he wouldn't wish on anyone. The protestors had endangered lives and some might have even killed them if they'd had the chance but Victorian struggled to find the dungeon to be a deserving punishment. But it wasn't his choice. ... He arrived and was greeted by the two jailers that stood outside. They'd been briefed on his arrival. An important guest was here today and needed an escourt home to Khepri Tiamat—Ismailia's father according to the rumors. It had him intrigued although he would keep his questions to himself. When he entered, he approached the only young woman in the lobby. "Aurora Helvig?" Victorian asked, ears flicking back out of deference as he inclined his head in a minor bow. "Victorian Coax. I was assigned to escourt you home to Khepri Tiamat today." "If the accident will."

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@Aurora

The young woman was frazzled, feeling her mother’s pelt leave her as swiftly as it came as she was told to wait for someone to arrive, someone she had never heard of before at that. Her mind was hardly on that, however, spinning from seeing Gwydion and Orlaith in the dungeons, two she thought were good wolves but now she wasn’t entirely sure. She wanted to believe them more than anything, trust that not all Highlanders were bad but it was harder than she ever thought it could be. Gwydion seemed especially nice, the boy full of tears and a desire for her forgiveness but how much could she forgive? Who might he have hurt that could possibly matter to her? The questions were like a rollercoaster ride she couldn’t get off of and suddenly stopped on a dim nearly flinging her off.

Her head would perk up abruptly at the sound of her name, staring doe eyed at the owner of the voice, surprised to see a dark handsome young man and for a moment it took her a second to realize why he knew her name. Ah yes, Victorian, her new servant. Well maybe servant wasn’t the right word but would he not hold the same effect? He was here to do what the maids and butlers did, keep her out of trouble and attended to. Her ears would fall back, wondering if he was even worth the time to get to know, chances were she’d just get him in trouble and fired at the best of times. Though, wasn’t this one specifically hired by her mother?

A soldier? His scent only confirmed that more, everything about him sang of the Barracks.

Perhaps he wouldn’t be so easy to fool and run under his nose but as he stated his purpose, her thoughts were already starting to unravel. Going to Khepri was such an odd thing to hear, she had only met him once before and she still couldn’t believe he was who her mother trusted her with more than their own family. “I a-am, Ser Coax. It is a p-pleasure, truly,” she confirmed with a voice as soft as a petal and her disposition equally so. She’d take in a breath and slowly move toward him but keeping a healthy distance. “Were y-y-you in the protests?” she asked with concern, glancing at him subtly, looking for any dire wounds.

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Sif must have carved Aurora from thick-veined marble before lovingly painting her in soft blues. Her frame was delicate, so much so that Victorian could better understand the jailer's concerns. Every parent cared about their children, but some children were better equipped to endure the harsh seasons than others. Had Aurora been his sister, he would have struggled to let her out of his sight, even with Nassar's tutelage in self-defense. There was only so much that one could gain from skill before strength became a requirement. Especially in dire times such as these. “I a-am, Ser Coax. It is a p-pleasure, truly." Her gaze was demure, her voice soft. While some soldiers might have savored her deference, Victorian felt out of place. His ears flicked back, bright gaze warm and gentle. "Victorian is fine, Lady Helvig." So long as he was on Aurora's detail, he'd do his best to keep her safe and to help her feel comfortable. It was his first time being assigned to such a task but he was going to do his best. She moved into step beside him, all the while careful to maintain a polite distance. Victorian abided by this, his steps a fraction ahead of hers so that if any wolf approached from the street, he'd be the first to get there. “Were y-y-you in the protests?” Ah. He understood her concern and he nodded as he walked toward the dungeon's exit. "I was. I am glad that you were not there," he said with a wane smile. Victorian still bore the puncture wounds of various wolves' teeth. None had harmed him irrepairably, but that didn't mean that he was free of scratches, scabs, and still-healing wounds. It'd be some time before he was perfectly healthy again, but thankfully none of the wounds he'd sustained had harmed his paws, shoulders, or muzzle substantially. Being one of the least wounded, he'd been one of the few able to answer Sif's request for Aurora's protection. "Are you nervous to enter the city now?" He asked in turn. "I promise to bring you to Sir Tiamat safely, you need not worry." With that said, he brightened his smile in hopes of inspiring her confidence. "If the accident will."

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@Aurora

Her head would tilt just a little as he corrected her attempt to keep manners up, making her just a little comfortable but she wasn’t going to argue if he preferred it. They were just strangers, it felt wrong to approach him with such familiarity as using one's given name alone but not everyone held the same culture, she had to remind herself. “Yes, of course Mister Victorian,” she said gently, trying to find a happy middle ground of meeting both their preferred matters of address. It still captured what he wanted to be called while staying comfortable in her own little bubble of what she was used to, like she did with Gwydion. “Then… you can call me Lady Aurora, hmm?” offered, trying to put them on the same footing with a delicate smile on her lips. She never really felt comfortable being called by her surname anyway, especially when the parent she had alive didn’t carry it. She had the name of someone she never even met due to his death before she was born, it was a sad reminder even if it draped her in luxury.

Each step she took was dainty, passing demure glances in his direction as he pranced a little ways ahead of her, causing her to look behind her as the domain started to get smaller. She might have not liked this place full of danger and impure members of society yet she felt no wish to toddle off. Her ears would pin on her head till his voice came to answer her question, causing her attention to shift back to him with her ears back to focus on him. “And I’m glad it a-appears as though you haven’t sustained any dire w-wounds. It would be a shame if anything had happened to your dashing features,” she cooed, having seen enough disfigured denizens from the throes of battle that any spared was a relief.

“Aren’t we a-all afraid of the impending? It is my mother t-that worries more,” she mused just a little, taking each step in stride, offering a bit of banter. Captain and Executioner, two intimidating titles in her own eyes and yet all she ever saw was warmth and worry behind closed doors from the one that wore them. “But it is easier to worry for others than it i-i-is to think yourself in danger, don’t you think?“ she added after a small pause, her own mind for instance far more concerned about her friends than if she got to where she was supposed to be.

The name Tiamat once again would cause her paws to lose some traction for a second, leaving her all the more curious what the man was to her mother, but chances were Victorian wouldn’t have the answers either.

Thinking of that, an idea would spark a light in mind as she drew a bit more away. “I hope y-you don’t mind we take a little detour so I can acquire some of my things? I would very much like to c-continue some of my reading before I might lose m-my page, though I’m afraid I left them at annnothers,” ear twitching just a little, knowing there had to be a book or two she may have forgotten with Elias. A perfect reason that wouldn’t seem like a lie and even if she was wrong, surely, he wouldn’t have a qualm in lending one in exchange for information he had been yearning for. That they both have. She had to keep focus, curious if he would follow her lead or try to redirect her like the maids often did as she started to pull away from his side and head toward the wealthy city rather than the peaceful fields of the lowlands.

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"Lady Aurora it is," Victorian mused in answer, acquiescing to her compromise without complaint. It would suit them well, he imagined. Enough formality so as to keep an appropriate distance but not so stiff as to make for too much awkwardness. Overtime, these titles would likely flow off of the tongue. Until then, he would do his best not to slip and use her surname as a reflex. Given that she was his charge, and that he'd been asked to watch over her by her mother no less, Victorian felt a particularly strong dedication to his role. He'd see it through, protecting her as he would Florence or Ferox. Although, he imagined she'd behave far better than the latter. Victorian inclined his head in thanks as she remarked upon his lack of egregious wounds. However, his eyes widened slightly and his ears flicked at the mention of dashing features. He coughed, suddenly feeling oddly... seen. "... Thank you," came his stilted reply as he focused on the road ahead. He was thankful for his fur as it kept the creeping flush of embarassment invisible. “Aren’t we a-all afraid of the impending? It is my mother t-that worries more." He blinked again, not expecting this kind of mild nihilism. In truth, he'd been told that she had an interest in reading, so his expectations had drifted more toward fiction than philosophy. “But it is easier to worry for others than it i-i-is to think yourself in danger, don’t you think?“ "Ah—I suppose for most, yes," he began, brow creasing slightly in thought. Soldiers weren't known for their casual philosophical discussions on a walk. As a result, he found himself floundering for a proper response. "But those with a selfish streak might stand as exceptions that." He did hope that they were few and far between but, then again, he was a soldier for a reason. She seemed to pause slightly at the mention of Tiamat. After a beat, she then asked to seek some of her things. It was a perfectly reasonable request and yet... mmm... Victorian's expression became visibly conflicted. He could see two ways that this could end. One in which he marched Aurora straight to Khepri and heard later that he'd been overly strict. Another in which he accompanied her elsewhere, she got hurt, and he was roasted over the coals of his own guilt and Sif's anger. The latter was far worse but also highly unlikely. "Is it far? Or perhaps on the way to Sir Tiamat's residence?" He asked, hoping that he could find some compromise between flexibility and the strict tenants of his duty. "If the accident will."

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@Aurora

A smile and delicate sway of her tail would be hard to miss at his willingness to accommodate her, a rarity among men in her experience, feeling as though most just did as they pleased unless they were younger than her. Most older seemed to be set in their ways and though it seemed like he wasn’t too different thus far, he was different enough to make her feel comfortable. As they walked and he didn’t loom intimidatingly over her, she realized he also was no giant, his shadow not engulfing her as the sun gently played along her smoky blues where trees made little breaks in the sky. A welcome addition to such a chilly day, not shivering in her little ink boots like she had been doing so much as of recently. She loved the look of snow but never cared to touch it, finding it far more beautiful left alone and away from her dainty paws. It also was horrible for her books, probably the biggest thorn in her side from all forms of weather.

As she noticed his reaction to her compliment, she let out a soft giggle as his eyes widened and he acted a little flustered, not fully sure why it seemed to affect him as much as it did but hopefully it was more positive than negative for his heart. The thank you would make her assume he liked it but maybe he was just being a gentleman. She didn’t think too much about it further, not about to tease him or see if he would stumble worse if she did it again. There was a side of her that may have wanted to but she didn’t know him well enough to feel right doing so. He was her employee; not her friend, kin or lover. It would be rather inappropriate to behave in such a way toward him.

It seemed he wasn’t one to hide his emotions much at all, which was refreshing in a way. An easy-to-read book so long as the cover wasn’t deceiving, like many of the fiction ones were. Dearly hoping his cover wasn’t a deterrent for a monster underneath, trying not to allow paranoia to get the best of her in trying to accept that as a possibility. Those thoughts would be tossed to the side as he divulged his own views, thinking for a moment. “Hopefully you a-a-aren’t one of those exceptions or this job isn’t tailor made for you. Though it may help you live l-longer to hold a little more self-preservation,” she humored, feeling like many soldiers cared little for themselves. Though she’d grow a bit more serious as her gaze fluttered over him, taking in his features a little. “Please do protect yourself if so-so-something does arise, I really don’t wish for you to g-get hurt over me. My life is no more valuable ttth-than your own.”

Moving more and more away from the designated path, she would stop as questions were posed, feeling like if she kept pushing physically it would certainly become a no. Instead, she would draw back to him some. “Well..no. It is quite out of the w-way, at Lord Vanadium’s estate. With the increase in s-security on the castle, it’s probably one of the safest places r-r-right now. Besides, I h-have you, right Mister Victorian?” she cooed with a gentle smile, stopping to look up at him with hopeful eyes that he would agree. “So long as I….we get to our destination safely, th-that’s what matters most, even if we are a little late. I w-won’t let you take any blame for it if she does get upset, I promise.”

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“Hopefully you a-a-aren’t one of those exceptions or this job isn’t tailor made for you. Though it may help you live l-longer to hold a little more self-preservation.” Victorian blinked, surprised by her casual mention of him hopefully not being a selfish bastard—bastard being a scientific term. He'd never walked alongside someone who so easily slipped into morbid or worrisome topics with the air of one mentioning a most interesting cloud. Perhaps it was due to the literature she consumed? Authors could quite casually waltz from macabre massacres to bread selections of the era. Granted, he chose to stay away from dryer, nonfiction texts. In the end, he found that he had less appreciation for how the world worked. What he longed for was a glimpse into a fantasy that toyed with what their world could be. It left more to the imagination and was richly layered in plot devices that helped guide the reader along more gingerly from plagues to grains. “Please do protect yourself if so-so-something does arise, I really don’t wish for you to g-get hurt over me. My life is no more valuable ttth-than your own.” At this, Victorian's brow furrowed. "A life given is not worth less," he answered in response. "I don't think it's about worth really. It's more about honor and service." A dark ear flicked as he considered his point more carefully. "I serve by protecting, you serve by collecting knowledge." His shoulders then lifted in a shrug. The conversation turned to Aurora's request and his expression soured some as she mentioned the Vanadium estate being quite out of the way. She mentioned that he'd be there to protect her and while he did appreciate her vote of confidence, he knew his limits. He was a safeguard, not a failsafe. "The blame would still be on me, I'm afraid," he answered gently. "Although I appreciate the sentiment." Glancing away, he stared at the buildings around them. They did not look particularly menacing but, then again, neither had the castle walls right before the protest. There had even been a brief moment where the protest had looked peaceful. "I am not sure this is the best of ideas but I do not wish to restrain you—I still think going to Sir Khepri's home is the best course of action." At the end of the day, he would not force his will on her. But, if he was unable to keep her safe from herself, he may have to apologize to Sif and resign. The result of this all would be up to both luck and Aurora herself. "If the accident will."

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@Aurora

Her steps would pause as he went on to talk about the worth of a life, her ears flicking forward before bashfully falling back, a small smile that was a little more genuine than the priors forming upon her lips. “I see why m-m-mother hired you,” she said softly, moving toward him a little bit more, looking at him curiously for a moment before looking down toward the ground coyly. Apart from the obvious that he didn’t seem abrasive, a little gentlemen, she knew her mother preferred men that carried plenty of respect but that wasn’t the primary thought that played on her mind in the moment as she stopped thinking of running off if only for the time being. “One that dies a warrior’s death is the most honorable death i-in her culture. You wear it well on your sleeve, Mister Victorian,” she felt a touch of gloom then. For one of the only Asgauts left, she felt like her mother must be disappointed she did not birth a warrior, they could never share a place in Valhalla.

“I’m only an acolyte of knowledge, it’s not a pr-profession for me, even if sometimes I w-w-wish it was,” adding that to his last comment, she stopped herself from saying anything negative. It was unbecoming. Most of her hobbies had to remain a secret, knowing they would be frowned upon. Once upon a time, she even wanted to be a combat medic and though she had taken private lessons, she had become neither a warrior nor a doctor. She was just a nobleman that was supposed to sit pretty and find a husband to lavish the family in riches.

Yet, the Helvigs had become far more corrupt in their old blood money, they would just see this young man as fodder, a mere toy to toss to the side due to carrying nothing of a prized name or wealth to flaunt. If he died doing his job, they’d give him no regard in the matter. She’d prefer to choose in mother’s view in this case. Where her Lowlander and Mainlander bloods collided, she was often torn but not this time. She deemed he was worth far more.

A sigh escaped her as he combatted her attempts to put any blame on herself, feeling like that wasn’t entirely true, feeling like she could harbor some of the blame. Unless, of course, she got yelled at then she had a bad habit of becoming a mouse instead of standing up and deflecting. Not that she got yelled at a lot, at least, not by her. Thinking about it, a maid or two had gotten fired for failing and that made her tense a touch. Maybe he wouldn’t be safe, and he was very much right. She didn’t want to accept that as the truth, however.

“I know. It’s just the b-b-books are about the young Lord’s ailment, I wish to relieve it for him i-if I can. He might not voice it, but I think h-he feels a little disoriented from it all,” her eyes half lidded, remembering all his questions one after another. She could fill him in on everything as best she could but it wasn’t as nice as having the actual memories he once did. “Maybe he might r-r-remember me,” she murmured to herself quietly, feeling a little broken hearted from her face not causing him any recognition at all. It only made her feel more cold in his presence and yet she wasn’t sure if she wanted him to remember. It was such a horrible loop.

Her head would lift as she snapped from her thoughts, realizing she said it out loud, giggling awkwardly. “Sorry_-I talk to myself sometimes. I-I mean, oh goodness,” she said sheepishly and abruptly, embarrassment creeping. It wasn’t the first time she talked to herself, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last.

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He offered her a small smile that, similarly, was more genuine than the simple, polite ones he'd been offering her. It was a kind compliment, one that helped soothe his concerns that perhaps he'd taken on this role a but foolishly. While he liked the notion of "protector" in theory, and he had some practice with it what with Ferox and Florence, he wasn't so confident as to say that no harm would ever befall Aurora. He'd try, truly, to make it be so but... well, he needed only to recall that white direwolf of a woman to remember the seconds before he'd lost conciousness in the protests. She'd been bleeding so heavily despite her feral behavior that Victorian hadn't wanted to touch her for fear of killing her. He would never know if he had made the right choice—of course it felt like he'd made the wrong one. She had gone on to knock him out and others, one being a citizen. If only he'd gone for her... maybe that all could have been avoided. But maybe her blood would have been on his paws. And could he have gotten over that? Even if he believed that she had brought it on herself by attacking with such unbridled ferocity, would he really be able to wash her blood off of his paws? Would others, like Nimue, have looked at him differently? His stomach twisted at the thought but he pushed it away, focusing on Aurora instead. “One that dies a warrior’s death is the most honorable death i-in her culture. You wear it well on your sleeve, Mister Victorian,” Aurora chimed in and he offered a small laugh. "I'm sure that's not the only honorable way to die," was his response, unknowingly touching on her personal doubt which she hid from him quite well. When she mentioned that seeking knowledge was not a profession of hers, he couldn't help but lift his brow in surprise. "Why is that?" He was no noble nor had ever been very fascinated by wealth. As a result, he didn't stop to consider that she might have social pressures to not pursue a career, even one that made her happy. ... Back to the present, of course. Victorian listened as she mentioned the lord Vanadium's alleged illness and the value that her books held in healing him. While he got the sense that she was still trying to convince him to wholeheartedly agree to her plan, or at least relent with less resistance, Victorian's heart did soften somewhat. She looked so... somber... mentioning the lord's lack of recognition. Perhaps a crush? A past lover? A betrothed? Again, he didn't know this noble world, but he'd gotten some approximate sense of the way in which they lived. "No worries at all," he offered with a laugh as she became bashful over her musings. "I talk to myself too, mostly on patrols. It's nothing to be ashamed of." Victorian's expression was bright to counteract her nervousness—or at least, he hoped that by him being cheerful, she would follow suit. "We can go where you wish but we must be quick, I don't want to make Lord Khepri worry in case your mother sent a raven to him." Just as with the rogue Highlander fighter in the streets, Victorian couldn't help but pick the path where he was sacrificed in the end. Of course, he hoped that all would be well and that Aurora would just be healthier and happier by going to the Vanadium estate. And he would just mentally wring his hands and pray that Sif did not raise an eyebrow at him for it. "If the accident will."

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@Aurora

Her gaze fell on him as he brushed off what she had to say about honor by death and though she wasn’t sure if she believed it herself, she couldn’t help feeling a little downtrodden. “It depends where you wish to end up after you die, i-i-if you believe in an afterlife,” she said gently, trying to be defensive but failing at keeping her voice from deflating to what would eventually be uncertainty. Just because she didn’t follow the same things didn’t mean she liked to stomp on others' beliefs. Studying the fae alone had opened her eyes to many things and her visitation into the Highlands recently had only increased a comfort she didn’t have with many in her homelands. They seemed far more accepting and less judgmental. Lorelei and Gwydion being prime examples of the friendly folk up there, having helped her plenty despite her initial fear of them.

Ears bent back at his question, quickly realizing in that moment he likely wasn’t anyone of status, making probably everything she was saying weird to him. “Fates tend to be decided for us, t-t-to adventure away from what is expected of you could be the fall of your family. Nobles: it is a m-m-matter of keeping everything up, your position in society positive. To defect is t-to risk everything generations had accumulated,” she answered to the best of her abilities without divulging too much information. “It’s like… being put in a cage to be displayed, always w-w-watched,” she added cautiously, revealing how she felt about it but only at a surface level. She hated it. It wasn’t the perfect life like so many commoners believed. Her life didn’t carry any freedom but would she even know what to do if she had such a thing?

Probably not.

…

A small smile would pull along her maw as he tried to soothe her, looking away bashfully as her tail swayed behind her some even if she wasn’t sure how true it was or if he was just solely trying to ease the flush underneath. It was shameful when she was in the presence of another, it looked like she was on the verge of losing her sanity when she thought of everything she had learned in courtesies and manners. To speak without being spoken to was a rule she had lived by up until recently, having allowed herself to have a voice. Feeling silence might be alluring to some but many she had met seemed more interested in the knowledge she had to share than just a doll to stare at. It was a tightrope act on when to be bold and when to wear a glass of water on her head to keep herself perfectly balanced.

“Thank you, thank you, Mister Victorian! It won't be long at a-a-all,” she chimed, happy he came around as she moved closer to him for a second to give his cheek a little gentle thankful nuzzle before moving to guide them toward their first destination. It was always easier when they agreed instead of having to run off from their side. Though, to do so with him felt like a death wish if she tried. Not in the sense he was scary, but she felt like he wouldn’t try to cover it up and they both get a lecture. She hadn't a clue if her mother would send Khepri a bird, feeling she was more the type to check it herself later. As for Khepri, well the little bit she had interacted with him he seemed even more docile than her somehow which just made this whole situation odd.

"I do promise it w-will be fine," she tried to assure him one last time, looking over her shoulder at him, eagerly ready to move a little quicker if only to dust away some of his worries and to get the weight off her chest faster.
[Exit via guiding Vic to Castle Stuart]

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