wingedhatchlingPiper flinched at Giddy's touch and instantly moved forward, she nodded at the mention of her name and began to walk. She glanced back, looking between the mother and Gideon. She could sense something although she definitely felt it was none of her business to sense. So she looked back forward her eyes following the long row of stairs. Then she noticed a pair of fancy shoes standing at the top of the stairs. She looked up and looked into a face that was very similar to her middle brother when he was enraged. Her body language immediately once again became submissive and her gaze dropped to the floor.
SwissArmySpork"What precisely do you mean by this?" The man asked, each word like a dagger-hard and sharp. Gideon jerked to a standstill, doing his best to avoid the imperious gaze of his father, "I hired her to do me a service, and now I have to pay her, nothing more." He answered, his voice similarly cold. His father stepped down the stairs to be right in front of them, "You hired her, did you? So the servants are no longer good enough for the likes of you, is that so, Gideon?" Giddy was silent, staring darkly at the banner on the wall opposite. He wouldn't give him the satisfaction of an answer. "Hmph. I do not care if you scorn what I provide for you," His father sneered, all the while examining Piper as if she were some trinket for sale, "I only ask that you do not embarrass me with your poor taste." With that he turned away, again ascending the stairs. "It was Eldon's fault!" Giddy piped up suddenly, stepping up onto the next step as if to follow his father, who turned around slowly, a barely perceptible smile on his lips, "Is that so?"
wingedhatchlingPiper had been taking the ridicule, but as soon as Gideon spoke her had snapped up and she stared at Giddy. The way he had been acting...she thought that he would be protective of his brother at the very least. Or...could Giddy yearn for his father's affection or something so much that he would slip up and say something like this? Or was Piper reading way too much of her philosophy book? Her stomach clenched at the father's smile and words. Giddy had made a mistake. She wanted to step in and help him or correct his words, but...but she just wasn't brave enough. Piper's gaze slid back to the floor and she waited for the disaster that was about to strike.
SwissArmySporkGideon nodded, not daring to look back to where he knew Eldon was watching, listening. "Y-yes. It was he who forced me to go to the market. He had made sure that the servants would not be present, and that we would have to do a job degrading even to them. You know his tendencies, Father, how he is always attempting to be like the peasants." he sounded more plaintive than anything now. His father nodded to him to continue, "I-I sought only to preserve our honour in hiring her. I would not dare drag our name through the dirt like my brother would." He finished, looking down as if he were a naughty child about to be hit. His father seemed to consider the explanation before speaking, "Yet you did not resist him. It would have been the height of simplicity to call the servants to you before you leave, as is the custom " he paused, "Although, I suppose your 'condition' considered, such forceful action would be too much to expect." Giddy clenched his fists at this, but otherwise did not respond. "Very well, do what you must." His father resumed with a dismissive gesture, beginning past them down the stairs, "I will take care of this situation. Now get out of my sight." Giddy did not wait for further encouragement, and hurriedly climbed the stairs to the second floor, dragging Piper behind him, and led her into the first hall he caught sight of. Glancing over his shoulder, he caught a glance of his family; his mother and brother stood side by side, his mother resolute and straight-backed, his brother looking betrayed and shocked, as if not believing what was happening. And his father, walking languidly toward them, as if on a relaxing after-noon stroll.
wingedhatchlingPiper glanced back as well, suddenly filled with a feeling of wanting to somehow make everything better, to fix the misunderstanding. She ignored it and continued to follow Gideon. She concentrated on the back of his head as she continued to think. What had his father meant his 'condition'. Was he...like her? No, he was certainly often provoked, but not forced to fight. Not with those manicured nails. She thought some more and then decided it must be out of her knowledge. After all she didn't often run into Giddy and Eldon's species that often, in fact she had never run into their species before. She was going to ask Giddy more about this, but then took note that he was probably upset, so she kept her mouth shut and made sure to not drag him behind.
wingedhatchlingShe glanced to her bag and then glanced at Giddy. She made a brief decision for when they reached their destination.
SwissArmySporkGiddy walked in silence, not even acknowledging Piper's presence. He had been technically telling the truth, so he had actually done the right thing...right? Besides, it was really Eldon's fault they were in this mess to begin with, so it wouldn't have been fair for him to take the blame. Feeling somewhat better about what he had done, he looked around to get his bearings. They were in the eastern wing. Giddy had planned on letting her nick something from the family library, but that was on the other side of the manor. Besides, he didn't feel like risking an encounter with his family at the moment. They'd just have to go to his private library. Stopping at a door at the end of the hall, he opened it and ushered her inside. Tall windows took up the spaces left bare of book-shelves, looking out on the forest. Being situation in the corner of the building, the room was shaped like a lop-sided triangle, tapering into a corner which was taken up by a large, dusty telescope, its large lens cracked and grimy. Giddy walked over to a chair, yanking on a rope in an alcove of the wall as he passed, before collapsing into a large arm-chair in the corner. Somewhere in the distance could be heard the faint sound of bells, increasingly faint. "Well, help yourself. Most of these are replaceable."
wingedhatchlingPiper looked around amazed, She bent her head so far back to gaze that she nearly tumbled backwards and her hood fell down. She blushed a little, embarrassed and pulled her hood back up, covering most of her dark hair and the green ribbon her eldest brother had given to her. She remembered her decision about Giddy and her bag. She walked over to him, searching through the bag on her hip as she did so. She took out a piece of neatly wrapped pie, along with a fork, paper plate, and napkin. She heated it in her hand and then set it on the arm of the chair. She then turned her attention back to the books, walking around the bookshelves like she had just come upon the holy grail.
SwissArmySporkGiddy looked at the pie in confusion, then to Piper, then back to the pie. It was a pie, clearly, but was there more to it? Then he smiled, shaking his head. Just this one time, he wouldn't read too much into it. Just as he picked up the fork, the door opened and the servant he had called bowed in, already holding a bottle and glass. By now the servants knew they were only called into Gideon's library for one reason. Silently the servant set the glass and bottle on a small table beside Giddy, carefully pouring the wine into a glass. "Bring us a second glass, if you will." Gideon muttered, not even looking at her. The treatment was not uncommon, and with a bow she set the bottle down and hurried back out to get the second glass. "Would you care for a glass?" Giddy called, picking up his glass and idly swirling the whine around, the fork still in his other hand.
wingedhatchlingPiper looked at the glass curiously. Some of her family loved alcoholic drinks and were a joy to be around when they drank, but some of them were also...not so pleasant to be around. She was curious (and a complete glutton) she nodded slowly, "O-only one glass, thank you."
SwissArmySporkAlmost as if on cue, the door again opened and a second glass was brought and poured. Gideon nodded toward Piper, and the servant brought her the glass, then again left, leaving them alone. It was one of the finer wines, well aged. His father was incredibly picky about the wines they kept around the house, and Giddy never thought twice about taking any bottle he pleased for personal use. "Have you chosen a book yet?" He asked, taking a delicate sip from his glass.
wingedhatchlingShe took a sip, blanched and quickly covered her mouth. It was awful. She forced herself to swallow, gave Giddy a shaky smile and set the glass down politely. "W-well I noticed a book on a-ancient mythology. It s-seems interesting, I've only ever heard about m-mew and arceus from talkative t-travelers."
SwissArmySpork"Ah, yes, fascinating characters, both." He said contemptuously, teasing the pie with his fork, before breaking off a piece and lifting it up for examination with the fork, "It is quite ridiculous how often they are mentioned in the books."
wingedhatchlingPiper looked at him in curiosity. If they were mentioned so many times then perhaps they could be...No that was a ridiculous idea. Piper noticed Giddy playing with his food, did he suspect poison or something of that nature? Piper smiled lightly, amused at her own thoughts. If she had poisoned her pies, then her youngest brother would probably be dead by now. The way he scarfed down things. She went back to the book shelf and gently coaxed her chosen book out of it's cozy shelf. It was rather large with a rather cool title page. She found the page of contents, double checking on the content. Then she walked back over to Giddy with her mythology book.
SwissArmySporkHe finally put a piece in his mouth as she came over, so she was forced to stand in silence for a moment while he chewed, as he refused to speak with his mouth full. That being complete, he looked curiously at the book she had chosen, starting a little to see which one it was. It was not that he minded her taking it, in fact he was glad for it, but the thing's acquisition had a slightly uneasy history. "Ah, I see I am finally rid of that behemoth." He said with a somewhat forced laugh, quickly returning to the pie for an excuse to not say anything more for the moment.
wingedhatchlingPiper looked at him in confusion, was there something wrong with it. She opened it, flipping through the pages, checking for scribbles or mouth-eaten pages. She found none and glanced back up in confusion at Giddy. She glanced down and up a few more times and then asked, "I-Is there something wrong with it?"
SwissArmySporkHe held up the fork as a sign for her to wait, chewing unusually slowly. The time having dragged out to almost awkward lengths, he finally answered, "No, no. Not at all. It's simply so bulky and takes up so much space. " He did his best not to look at the row of empty shelves along one of the walls. He again picked up the glass, "And besides, it has a...complicated history." He muttered into the rim of the wine-glass before drinking from it. If she'd heard that, then he supposed he'd have to tell. It was nothing too bad anyways. If she didn't, all the better, he'd just say 'nothing' and move on with it.
wingedhatchlingShe stared at him for a very long time, why was he lying? Why was he acting like he was...afraid to tell her? "Umm...w-well if you don't want to tell me if it's personal..." She looked down at the book again. Now she just really wanted to read it.

SwissArmySpork"Eh, I suppose it's not too personal." He answered. The smell and taste of the wine had calmed him down after the little encounter with his father, and in hind-sight the whole incident seemed somewhat ridiculous. As for the story...well, it really wasn't anything too bad, and besides, she'd be gone for good soon, never to be seen again, so what did it matter? And it was quite the interesting story, besides. "Feel free to find a chair." He said, gesturing around the room to the chairs he knew were somewhere around.
wingedhatchlingPiper glanced around, turning in a couple of circles. She grabbed a simple wooden stool that had been hidden away in a nook of the room. She picked it up easily and set it a respectful distance in front of Giddy. She then hopped up on it, sitting with her legs crossed and hands clasped together. She loved stories and was interested in this one especially. Although what time was it? She glanced to a window, she still had a little light left. Her brothers wouldn't be ready to leave until dusk after all and if they didn't find her maybe they would simply leave her to find her own way home.
SwissArmySpork"Now then, let us start. This was...oh, two years ago, maybe? Or was it four...I can't remember." He shrugged, giving up trying to remember, "It's been a couple years. Anyhow, my father got me engaged to this girl. A very frail, delicate thing, classic aristocracy. I didn't really give a two-pence about the girl, but what can you do? That's how things worked." He laughed, shaking his head at the memory, "So I went along with it for a while. Then we actually got introduced." He paused to take another sip from his glass.
wingedhatchlingPiper listened with more interest. Something about arranged marriages always interested her. Probably simply the 'what would you do' situation that it created, that or her female side coming out. She waited patiently for the story to continue. Glancing at her own glass, wondering if she should have a sip. It did create a pleasant burning sensation, yet did she really want that taste...no that smell under her nose again?
SwissArmySpork"She was positively the most pathetic, maddeningly timid creature I have ever seen. I swear, you'd think she didn't know how to speak above a whisper. Ugh, her company was simply infuriating. I couldn't understand a word she mumbled." He growled, sitting back in his arm-chair, the wine which he still held in his hand nearly touching the lip of the glass. " Ah, and then there were all those little 'accidental encounters.' If she wasn't so meek you'd think I was the one being courted here. But noooo, she couldn't just directly spend time with me, it had to be an accidental run-in here, or her property magical appearing in my path, and then later her whining about how she'd lost this or that." He sighed, taking an unusually large drink, then lapsing into a brief silence in an attempt to recall exactly what had happened next. He had become a little more animated, speaking louder and faster, really getting into the story.
wingedhatchlingPiper nodded, that would be annoying. Then the thought of her own stutter came to her mind and she suddenly felt a little ashamed. At least others could hear her though. What kind of pokemon had the fiancée been? And why had she found Giddy so attractive? Well, that wasn't really a fair question to ask, everyone had their own type. For example her mother preferred physically strong men. The cyndaquil smiled slightly at the thought of her mother's opinion on Giddy's father and how she would probably tell Giddy's mother about a few other 'options' that she could hook her up with. Oh heaven forbid that they ever met each other.
SwissArmySpork"I managed to tolerate it for a while, but the idea of being in wedlock with the foolish girl… My apologies, but I had rather be married to a corpse." Giddy scowled, "I knew my father wouldn't call it off, so I did my best to graciously convey to her my distaste. Naturally, none of it got through her thick skull. If anything, it seemed to encourage the fool." He remembered that part well. Everywhere he went, she'd either happen to be there, or beg to accompany him. Saying no would simply infuriate her family, and there seemed to never be an excuse she would accept. "My best efforts did not seem to yield any fruit, and I admit I was a bit desperate when my father invited her and her family to a dinner to celebrate the engagement...three days before the wedding, I think it was." He remembered that night well too, a lavish affair even by his standards.
wingedhatchlingPiper felt a little sympathy for both of them. The girl had obviously had her heart broken, or something like that, and Giddy had probably gotten in major trouble. After all, he obviously wasn't married. Unless of course she was locked away in a tower, but Piper highly doubted something like that would be allowed by her family. She leaned in a little as the climax of the story seemed to near.
SwissArmySpork"Well, I dare-say the evening began splendidly," he resumed sarcastically. He was on his third glass of wine by now, "when it was discovered that she was a music student who but Eldon to suggest we do a duet at the piano?" He leaned on the arm of the chair, propping his head up in his hand as he spoke, "after that there was no way she'd leave me alone. The whole dinner she clung to my arm unless she was other-wise occupied. I did my best to divert her to Eldon, figuring he'd keep her occupied with all his silly prattle, but that was a dream at best." He snorted. Yeah, to get her to let go of him for a moment, let alone for long enough to get into a conversation with his brother was a thing of fantasy. "Thankfully she got distracted by my parents near the end of the dinner, and I managed to slip away and hide in here." He gestured around, leaning back to look at the ceiling, a mosaic made to represent the globe, "Of course it isn't long before I hear a knock, and one of the servants asking permission to enter with the soon-to-be Lady Avoltaine. I would've sent her away, but apparently the girl had brought a book as a gift." He pointed to the book in Piper's hands, "You can guess which one it was. As my collection at the time was quite sparse, I couldn't refuse."
wingedhatchlingPiper looked and stared at the cover in surprise. So then, it was a gift of one-sided love. She briefly thumbed the edge of the pages in thought. Could she still take it? Well that really depended, Piper supposed, on how Giddy and the girl's relationship ended. Piper looked back up at Giddy and (making sure it was loud and clear) in her curious voice asked "How did you get out of the r-relationship."
SwissArmySporkHe leaned toward her suddenly, putting up a finger as if to shush her, "Shh, don't interrupt. Do you think I'd leave that out?" He asked, then with a pat on her head as if she were some dog he slowly relaxed back into his chair, "Now then, you made me lose my place...oh yes. So, I allowed her in, and sure enough she gave me the book, bookmarked with a rose to the back page where she'd scribbled some silly love poem." he rolled his eyes, looking disdainfully at the book, "I thought of tearing the page out, but it made for a nice laugh every once in a while so I left it. Really, it's brilliantly awful. Anyhow, it turns out she's not so timid when we're alone. We spent a good ten minutes in an odd little dance as I did my best to keep as far away from her as I could, a lot of circling around chairs and accidentally knocked over books. I do believe I finally managed to wear her out as she eventually excused herself and left. Later than night I drafted a little love poem of my own." He grinned widely, remembering the writing of it. Perhaps it was a bit harsh, but after that night he felt it justified. "I then made her a gift similar to her own, a book about the embalming of bodies, very detailed, I almost regret giving it up, the page book-marked by a branch of nettle, and my most eloquent poem wedged between two rather lovely pictures in the book. Her family called off the wedding the next morning." He sat back with a satisfied smile, and rewarded himself with another glass of wine.

wingedhatchlingPiper hunched her shoulders, a little uncomfortable with being pat on the head. She nodded in agreement, it had been a very intelligent plan as well as a harsh one. She herself could imagine the girl reading the letter and bursting into enraged tears. In fact from the sound of the girl, Giddy should probably be careful where he went. Who knew how determined the girl would be to get or even get rid off Giddy now. Yet it had been a few years, so hopefully he was in no danger from the ex-fiancée. Piper looked down at the book and flipped to the back to glance over the poem. Her face turned red as she read. She shut the book after the fourth line, the girl had by no means been innocent. Now Piper faced the problem of whether to keep the book or not. She really did want to, the pictures were beautiful and the writing style beckoned her eyes along the page. The cyndaquil continued to think, looking at the wonderful cover of the book.
SwissArmySporkGiddy watched her silently for a while, then turned his attention to the wine bottle, frowning to find it empty, "Oh, I didn't realize..." He trailed of with a shrug, getting up and walking somewhat unsteadily to a nearby bookshelf, using it both for support and occupation, pulling a random book of poetry down and flipping through it, "As I said, you're welcome to take the thing. But if you chose not to..." he slipped the book back into its place, pulling another one haphazardly down, "There are plenty of others."
wingedhatchlingPiper gave the book another nervous glance. She doubted there would be another one with the same quality as this book. She could always cover the poem and try to put it's background out of her mind..."If you have another one on mythology," She questioned doubtfully and looked back up noting Giddy's wobblyness and unsteady motions. If he wasn't careful he might pull a bookshelf down on himself. "B-be careful." She quickly rose and went to Giddy's side. She put out both of her hands, as if prepared to catch the bookshelf.
SwissArmySpork"What are you doing?" He asked, taking a step away and standing still, watching her suspiciously. Why did this situation seem so familiar? That is, familiar in the bad, uncomfortable way.
wingedhatchling"The bookshelf. I-It looked like it it was going to fall," Piper responded and she herself took a respectful step back. She didn't want him to get the wrong idea or anything, it wasn't like she was bloodthirsty...at least not in her present state.
SwissArmySporkHe looked the book-shelf up and down, folding his arms, "Mhm, I wouldn't say so. And I do believe my bookshelf would agree with me. Yes, seems perfectly stable to me." Finishing his inspection of the bookshelf, he turned back to keep an eye on his guest, "Didn't you ask me a question earlier? I could've sworn you did." He asked with a frown, looking to the bookshelf as if for confirmation.
wingedhatchlingPiper looked at the bookshelf. What would it say if it could speak? It would probably complain about dust. "Hmm? Oh I-I was just wondering if there were any other books on mythology." However now Piper simply wanted to head back home and read the book she had. She glanced outside once again and gasped. It was dusk outside, "Oh no, I have to go. Th-this book will do fine. Thank you!" She looked around very nervously, what would her brothers do if she didn't meet them? She shuddered a little and put a hand on her shoulder self-consciously?
SwissArmySporkGiddy nodded, striding back to his chair and sitting down again "Splendid. Have a good night and all that." He called, opening the book he was still holding, and burying his nose in it.
wingedhatchlingPiper slipped the book into her bag and rushed for the door. "G-goodbye! Thank you!" She called back to Giddy as she ran. She ran through the mansion, running past Eldon. Once she was out of the house she activated her quick attack and sped into the road. Her high agility allowing her to swivel onto the sidewalk and run straight into a very large man. The large man turned around sharply and glared down at the cyndaquil. "H-hello, b-brother," Piper greeted her eldest brother, shaking. "Your late," He stated as a simple fact. Then he hoisted her over his shoulder and carried her back to their family. Piper was carried all the way. She covered her face with her book so she couldn't see the townspeople's expressions as they watched her go by.