"A new foreigner!" Elliot repeated in disbelief to which Blood simply nodded.
"Yes, it's been little over two years since she left. I can't help but wonder if Peter was so desperate that he felt he must bring the girl here." Blood mused as he glared out of the window at the driving rain. 'Didn't it rain that day as well?'
"Doubtful, the prime minister took Alice's departure pretty hard. Even if he was desperate, I don't think he has quite let go yet."
"The question of how she came here still stands." Blood mused softly, "It's too soon for her to have simply come here on her own accord."
Elliot folded his arms and leaned against the desk. For awhile both men were silent.
"Right now it doesn't matter how she came here. She will be staying here until her leg has healed enough to walk on after which she will leave. I'd rather not repeat our mistake again." Blood said finally to which Elliot grunted in agreement.
Orin sat in the wide comfortable bed with her good leg tucked into her and her other propped on a pillow. It had only been a few days since she had been allowed to stay at the estate and she was growing restless. The servants seemed to always be busy with their daily tasks and only came into the room when they absolutely had to. Blood also seemed to be endlessly busy as did whoever else may be living with him.
Flopping back onto the bed, Orin growled in frustration. "Screw this, they probably won't even notice if I explored a little."
Nevertheless, the girl slid off the bed and carefully slipped out the room. An air of lifelessness choked the empty hall and, no doubt, the rest of the mansion. Despite this bright golden sunlight lit the hall warmly, stretching languidly across the floor and reaching up the walls. Only a few doors lined the opposite wall before the hall turned sharply. Curious, Orin peeked around the corner only to discover another hallway. From down aways the delicious smell of cooking food wafted out of a small elevator lift.
'I wonder if that means Blood's office is nearby.' the girl thought as her ears twitched in amusement. A large nicely carved door stood at the end of the hall, beckoning Orin closer. 'What a strange name for a man of his status. It would be more understandable if he was part of the Russian mafia or something. Dupre Blood sounds even weirder though.'
Smirking at her train of thought Orin leaned closer to the door. There wasn't even a peep from the other side. Turning away in disappointment Orin almost bumped into a man with scruffy looking rabbit ears.
'Smells like a hare though' Orin noted looking up at him.
"Better not be trying to snoop." the man warned dangerously.
"I wasn't snooping I was exploring." When the hare looked at her dubiously Orin quickly changed the subject. "I'm O-"
"Orin, I know. Look we're busy right now so if you would run along back to your room, that would be wonderful." the hare dismissed, brushing past her.
"Maybe I could help?" Orin asked hopefully. Even paperwork would be better then sitting around all day.
"No, you'll just get in the way."
"And how can you be so sure? You don't even know what I can and can't do." Orin retorted angrily as she glared up at the man.
"Quite frankly I don't care what you can and can't do, nor do I need to know because either way you'll be in the way. You're proving my point right now." the hare stated pointedly.
Orin opened her mouth but closed it again, "Fine, let me get out from under your feet. Thanks for everything!" with that she turned on her heel and made her way back to the stairs. If it could even be considered possible, the descent was even harder and more life threatening then the accent. Gravity seemed to want to tug the girl forward onto her head. Finally though she reached the bottom of the stairs and leaned against the side rail gratefully.
"Oh, are you leaving already?" a servant asked, noticing the girl.
"Yeah, I think I've overstayed my welcome. Say you wouldn't happen to know where my original clothes are, would you?" Orin looked up at the man; something oddly familiar struck her about him. The servant was silent for a moment before nodding.
"If you wait here a moment I can retrieve them for you."
"'Kay." Orin sat down on the bottom stair with a nod and stretched her leg out. As she waited, her thoughts drifted back to the hair, anger boiling up again she growled silently.
'Who is he to talk about being in the way? Rabbits are good for nothing but eating, breeding, and food. I used to eat rabbits like him all the time, should've just eaten him too.'
"Here are your clothes," the servant's voice cut through Orin's thoughts, bringing her back to reality, "If you'd like a room to change in then follow me."
Without waiting for a response the servant turned and walked towards the opposite set of doors. Not having much of a choice Orin followed after the man. Unlike the set of doors on the right side of the entryway the doors on the left led into another long hallway. Windows dotted the wall at irregular intervals but still let enough light to make the hall warm and welcoming.
"There is a changing room through here. Just leave the dress on the bench, and also, you can keep the crutches." The servant gave a small smile and suddenly Orin remembered.
"You're the guy who first let me into the mansion!" she breathed deeply through her nose, confirming his scent.
"Yes I am, how did you know?" he asked, taken by surprise.
"Your scent mostly but it was also the fact that you were actually being nice to me." Orin shrugged casually before adding, "Thanks for letting me in by the way... and for being nice to me."
"Think nothing of it. You're different from so maybe you won't leave." the servant smiled softly for a moment and turned.
"Wait, what do you mean by that?" Orin asked quickly catching the servant's shoulder.
"You'll have to excuse me but there are some things that I must attend to." he shook his head, slipping out from beneath Orin's hand like it wasn't there. Then he was gone.
Orin glared at the wall for a moment, silently cursing the servant's lack of response, and turned to walk into the changing room. It turned out to look more like a locker room than anything else. Square cubbied shelves formed a comfortably private area to change straighten one self up. A wooden bench stretched through the middle while a full mirror stood next to one of the shelves. From somewhere else the smell soap and cleaner indicated that there was a bathroom nearby.
Orin quickly stripped off the scratchy dress and pulled on her own clothes, the fabric felt soft in comparison. As Orin pulled her tank top over her head she slowed, a melancholy feeling ebbing into her thoughts.
'How did any of this even happen?' she thought, walking over to the mirror.
"And when did I last look in the mirror..." Orin ran a hand through her short blonde hair, moving her bangs to study her face. It had barely changed since the last time she looked. With a sudden feeling of indifference she let her hair fall back and finished dressing.
