Whatever the answer to that question would be, sitting on the shuttle bus waiting to embark on this life-changing adventure was not the place to think about it. This was especially true when two ladies also boarded, one of them looking rather young while the other seemed to be focused solely on helping her to her seat. When they came on, the driver turned down his radio show and greeted them with a small bow, the smaller lady curtseying in response and getting gently scolded by the other for doing so. They came towards the back of the bus but stopped a few rows ahead of where they were sitting, taking their seats on the same side of the aisle, so that the two of them and O'wain were on one side, and Kjelle was by herself on the other. After they'd sat down, the doors seemed to close and the bus began moving without anything being said to the passengers.
"Those are the special passengers?" O'wain asked under his breath, looking at the ladies as well as he could from being rows behind them. "Maybe they're young kids on a school trip? The one looks like she's maybe Severa's age, it's possible, don't you think?" That comparison clicked in Kjelle's head but she couldn't tell why that was, even though the idea of someone being referred to as being their friend's age felt familiar. "Not like we can ask them, we've got to pretend like we know who they are."
"Should be easy enough, they look like they'll keep to themselves." Now fiddling with how to recline her chair to make the ride more comfortable (something she quickly found she wasn't going to be able to do), Kjelle's eyes were focusing up towards the driver and not trying to pay the other passengers any attention. That changed when the bigger of the two got up from her seat and came back towards where they were sitting, carrying with her a large box of some sort. It seemed like a friendly gesture, but the woman that was standing in the aisle between them was standing there without saying a word, prompting Kjelle to take that leap and ask her if she needed anything.
"I don't need anything, but it doesn't look like the two of you brought anything to eat with you, and this ride's mighty long. You'll find yourself starving by the five-hour mark, and that's barely halfway!" The woman's laugh was harsh yet comforting, something that initially reminded Kjelle of her mother's laugh but she couldn't dwell on that when interacting with some stranger. "I've got an extra tray of food here if the two of you want it, since Elise and I have our own and it's better to share than gorge ourselves on the ride."
"We'll take it off your hands if you're really offering," O'wain said, extending a hand to take the box from the woman, which she was happy to pass off to him. "Thank you, I guess we must've forgotten how long this ride was. Took it overnight last time, you know, much more efficient with time that way." Based on how the woman blankly smiled at him, he couldn't tell if she'd bought what he'd just said or was mentally processing how to call out his bluff, but she didn't say a word so he figured he was in the good. "Thank you, and thanks to your friend Elise as well."
"Friend? Oh no, you've got it wrong, I'm working so she's my liege right now, if this wasn't during work time she'd be my friend." The woman turned her head to look up at where her companion was still sitting, her face pressed against the window looking out at the Nohrian landscape. "I suppose Elise isn't really in the news so you wouldn't know about her guard situation, which is a good thing, but I can't believe you'd say she's my friend."
At once, Kjelle realized why the comparison between the other woman and Severa had hit her so hard, and that was because it was a comparison that Subaki had made when talking about the children of the man in charge of the big corporation in Nohr. Her eyes went wide as she glanced over at O'wain, still unaware of who they were on the bus with, before she figured she needed to address the woman for herself. "What's such an important lady like Elise doing crossing the border into Hoshido? I get she has a guard with her, but wouldn't that cause trouble?"
"Not even a little bit, compared to her siblings Elise is like a breath of fresh air, and the Hoshidan people love her almost as much as they love their own royals." The woman laughed, her attention coming back to O'wain and Kjelle. "It's a shame that we have to come back today instead of tomorrow as planned, but events back home forced our hand. I wish we could've at least stayed until tonight for the judging of the food-making competition, and I know Elise wanted to see who won the awards for best flowers, but that's life."
"I hadn't known there was a flower festival of any sort happening while we were there for our own personal matters," Kjelle said, a true statement no matter how anyone looked at it. "Must've been a fun time to be there, even if you didn't see it to the end."
The woman nodded, before taking a seat in the chair directly in front of Kjelle, turning around backwards so she could face her without having to stand on the shakily-moving bus. "We've gone the past couple years, this is the first time Elise and I came without any of her siblings though, so it was a nice change of pace. I love that girl, I'm glad I get to be her partner on these sorts of things." Even with saying that, she seemed to have no qualms with abandoning Elise to come sit further back in the bus, something that Kjelle wanted to point out but thought better of simply because she now knew what this girl's role was in Nohr. If anything, she wanted to be on the good side of these people, because she and O'wain needed to get access to somewhere it seemed they lived.
Over the course of the next hour or so of their ride, they got into the middle of a rather serious conversation, just chatting about Nohr and what it was like compared to Hoshido. The woman, her name was Effie (something she said when she was recounting a thing Elise had said to her, otherwise she might have never let them know what her name was), she was definitely unaware that the people she was speaking with weren't actually Nohrian and were making things up as they went. She'd reference places by name and they'd act like they'd heard of them all their lives, when really her mentioning them was their first time hearing about them.
It seemed like she was really trying to get to know them even though they'd boarded the bus as complete strangers, and there had to be some reason for why she was so insistent on speaking to them rather than talking to the person she'd come on with. "You know, I've been doing a lot of the directing here," Effie admitted after wrapping up an in-depth analysis of some of her favorite restaurants in the capital city, with the others more or less just nodding along with slight interest. "Why don't the two of you get to telling me a thing or two about you? I don't even know what your names are, you know."
"That's an easy request," O'wain replied, before his follow-up words caught in the back of his throat. He had to cough to clear the lump that had formed before he spoke again, Effie watching him for what he had to say. "My name's Odin, it's kind of amazing you've never heard of me given that I'm working on starting a business model in the same vein as the company Elise's father runs. That's a huge inspiration for me, and I'd kill to be even half as successful as the company someday."
"I wouldn't let anyone hear you say that, from what I understand mister Garon is pretty insistent that his company be the best, any imitators beware." Shaking a finger at O'wain for what he'd said, Effie paused her movement and turned to make sure Elise wasn't paying attention to what was going on before she continued, her voice a gravelly low that was hard to hear over the sound of tires on the road. "But if I'm being honest, anyone running a big corporation would be better than that man. Good luck on your endeavor, maybe when Xander takes control he'll be more lenient on the competition side."
O'wain visibly looked panicked that he'd happened to make some claim that could've cost him his life had his audience been anyone else, but he accepted Effie's wishing of luck with a smile and all eyes turned to Kjelle. "I, uh, think it's pretty obvious what I do with my life," she said, flexing an arm to show some of her toned muscles, something she was thankful to have kept working on for so long. "I'm one of those wannabe wrestlers trying to make it into the big times, but it doesn't seem like Nohr's really the place for that, since I keep getting invited to tournaments in Hoshido."
"You play around on the underground circuit though, don't you?" Effie asked, mirroring what Kjelle had done by flexing her own arm and showing off even larger muscles without much effort. "Trust me, while there's not much in the way of organized wrestling, if you know where to look you can find it. In fact, there's a little dojo around the corner from the Complex that I could show you sometime, Arthur and I go there all the—oh dear, you don't know who Arthur is, do you?" Having distracted herself within her own statement, Effie broke into another explanation about something that was only building their understanding of the corner of Nohr they were entering more, and when she was finished she apologized for taking control again and offered the floor back up to Kjelle.
Instead of doing what she should have done and acted like nothing had happened, going right back to talking, Kjelle took a moment to look at Effie and the kindness in her eyes, thanking everything that this woman was being so open with them without any chance of suspicion. "Going to that dojo with you sounds like it'd be a good time, if we ever end up in that area of town. Windmere's a big place, and if you live in the most secluded part of town then there's probably little chance that our paths will cross, right?"
"I'll make sure it happens, if that's fine with you." Effie's eyes had brightened at the idea of actually getting to spend more time with one of these two people she'd just met, and she grinned at Kjelle. "It's not that hard to get out of my responsibilities when Elise does nothing to be concerned about. Arthur and I have it pretty easy having to watch her all the time." She reached to grab Kjelle's hand to hold it tightly, but when her fingers touched the back of her hand she awkwardly laughed, saying, "I, uh, might need a name to tell them to be on the lookout for. Can't give them Odin's name, they'll expect it to be him showing up, and a scrawny man like him doesn't have much of a place there."
"Right, I guess I never got around to that, did I? Silly me." This was what she'd been dreading, having to verbally acknowledge the stupid name Subaki had assigned her, but she couldn't keep ignoring it unless she wanted to give Effie a reason to be suspicious. Without making it obvious that this was a struggle for her to say, she told her, "When you go to tell them that I'm interested in joining, put it under Vani, will you?"
Effie's mouth curled up at hearing the name, as if she was trying to commit it to memory, but Kjelle had to take it a step further and spell it, just to make sure that the right name would be put down. "That's an interesting name," she said after spelling it back a few times. "Not that it's bad, I think it's just interesting. Maybe you should invest in a stage name, especially if you're trying to get serious in what little wrestling circuit we've got around."
The suggestion did not go unnoticed, but Kjelle couldn't come out and say that she had a stage name and it was the one that she'd just provided. "Heh, yeah maybe I'll do that if I ever get a call-up to something more than a friendly tournament. For now I just want the crowds knowing my name, maybe once they've got that I can switch it up."
"Nice perspective on things, maybe we'll both make it big together someday." That was when Effie properly grabbed Kjelle's hand and squeezed it, her grip nearly strong enough to break fingers. "You're still young, I can tell, so there might be a better chance of you making it big than me, but we'll see."
"Y-yeah, we'll see, totally." She was trying not to let it show that she was in pain from the squeeze, but when Effie let go of her she did give a loud sigh of relief that she had to play off as something different. "You've given me a chance that I didn't think I'd come into, even with coming to the big city to see what there is to offer. Thanks for that, Effie, it's super appreciated and you don't know how much it means to me."
"I'll see you around the circuit then, it's always nice to know there's more talent than what we've been working with." Standing up from her seat, Effie stretched before turning back to head towards where Elise was waiting. "There's still a long ride ahead of us, make sure you both eat what I gave you, and don't be afraid to come talk to us up there if you want some company. Until our paths cross again you guys, it's been nice to talk to you."
They both gave her generic farewells and watched as she went back up to where she'd originally been sitting, her immediately getting Elise's attention and beginning to talk to her about something. "What are the odds of us meeting someone who lives in Krakenburg while on the bus?" O'wain asked, making sure to keep his voice down so Effie didn't somehow overhear him. "Not just that, but someone who lives there that works with one of the siblings that we were told about. If Subaki knew our luck, he'd probably wonder why he hadn't sent anyone to do this sooner!"
"I'd agree, but something about this doesn't feel right to me. She seems too trusting, like she believed everything we said without question, which if Subaki was right and the Nohrian people aren't the greatest, shouldn't she have been more skeptical about what we said? We both talked about things she knew about personally and she didn't bat an eyelash at the weird things we said." Kjelle was going through all the possibilities of what this could mean for them once they got off the bus, especially since Effie was telling Elise all about what they'd been discussing. "I'm worried that there's going to be cops at the station waiting for us, and what do we do if there are?"
"Show them your Feroxi patch, they'll back off when they know you've got international police on your side." Laughing to himself, O'wain quickly stopped when Kjelle wound up a punch that she threatened to throw at him. "Okay, okay, not exactly appropriate when we're in a country where I don't think that association would be a good thing. I doubt there'll be cops waiting for us, though, not with how polite Effie was about everything. She really seemed like she meant what she said."
"You better be right on this one, O'wain."
"Please, we're in Nohr now, call me Odin." He winked at her and she sighed, knowing that he was right that she needed to call him the name he'd been given, but doing that would just mean that he was going to call her that name she already despised. Almost as if he could read her mind on the matter, he followed up with, "I'll call you Kay as often as I can, just because I know how you feel about certain things. Where'd that name even come from, anyway?"
She shrugged, even though she had a feeling that she knew the full answer. "Probably from someone, maybe Cordelia, giving Subaki ideas for what name to assign me and him mishearing her completely. I mean, Ella, that's pretty close to half my name, but the other part…" Explaining where the other part came from, or at least where she was convinced it had gotten its origin, wasn't something she wanted to dwell on in that moment. Not on a bus in unfamiliar territory, where people could overhear her or grow concerned if they saw that she was thinking back on something that was dear to her heart. "Like I said, it's probably from Subaki mishearing something that was said."
"Let's just hope you don't have to use it long, I can tell you don't care to hear it being used by anyone talking to you." That was an act of kindness that O'wain didn't have to do right there, and Kjelle wanted to thank him for it, but she wasn't sure how she could word that without sounding stupid. Thanking him for being an understanding person? Thanking him for not wanting to irritate her more than she already was? Perhaps no thanks would be needed and he already knew how much she appreciated the gesture.
They continued talking for a while, until the driver on the bus turned his radio show back up to full volume and drowned out any conversation that anyone might have been trying to have. Listening to what was coming through the speakers was useless, it made zero sense to them and their uneducated minds because Nohrian politics was worlds different from anything they'd witnessed before; ignoring the chatter was impossible, though, because of how loud and grating the voices were. The only option seemed to be drowning out the noise with something of their own, but between them they had nothing that could play music or video and even if they did, they didn't have any headphones to use. That meant finding something else to do, and because there were so few realistic options that meant trying to take a nap to get through most of the ride.
Unfortunately, it did not work because of the quality of the ride they were on, the bumps and swerves the bus would put them through too difficult to ignore with their eyes closed. So, for what felt like an infinitely longer ride than the initial flight to Hoshido from Ylisse had been, the two had to sit awake, unable to talk to each other beyond mouthing words, staring out the windows and looking around the vehicle on which they were trapped. They did break into the box of food Effie had given them and enjoyed what they had of it, and thanking her was something they'd have liked to have done, but because of the noise in the bus it wasn't happening until after they stopped.
Except when they pulled into the bus station that night, there was zero chance of getting to give that thanks to her. The driver got up from his seat and came to direct everyone off, but because there were literally four people on the bus it became letting the first two off, then holding the others where they were for nearly ten minutes before letting them leave as well. Their first introduction to the city of Windmere was in the dark, the dim streetlights illuminating their way into the slums from the station, and they could only guess that someone as high-profile as Elise would have been escorted away from the station by a means that wasn't by foot.
O'wain and Kjelle were not high-profile and didn't have the slightest of clues where they were meant to go, so following those lights was their only choice unless they wanted to sleep at the station for the night. Finding a hotel where they could get a room proved difficult, but thankfully there was one along the path into town that claimed to have a vacancy—even though their rates were atrocious, something that they attributed to its proximity to where the new visitors were coming in. If they were going to gouge anyone with their prices, it would be people new to the area, and O'wain felt slightly horrid about how he was spending a solid chunk of the Nohrian money that Subaki had given them just to have somewhere comfortable to sleep that first night.
Check-out in the morning came a lot quicker than they realized, with the housekeeping nearly banging down their door demanding they either pay for another night or get out. If they hadn't already been awake and getting ready to leave as it was, it might've ended worse, but they were able to leave the hotel with all their belongings that they still needed, the only thing left behind the remainder of the box of food from Effie, since it had served as dinner and breakfast. Now they had nowhere to stay and needed to know where to go, before another night came around and they were forced to cough up more money for another hotel to sleep in.
"I…think that's the place we stayed in last night," O'wain said with a pointed nod, after finding a nice park bench to sit on while walking around, him having pulled out his map of the city right after leaving the hotel to try and get some understanding of where they were. "Seems like it's right along the road from the station, so it adds up. Now we're looking for, uh, the Complex, aren't we?"
"I mean, yeah, I'd say that's what we're doing, if we're making this whole trip as short as possible." Sitting next to him, Kjelle was looking at the map and trying to make sense of the winding streets and maze-like parts of the city, her finger tracing along parts to connect them to where O'wain claimed they were. "This is stupid though, why does this city make no sense whatsoever? Why would anyone want to live here?"
He shrugged, his eyes following where her finger was moving across the paper. "I don't know, it doesn't seem like it's a very great place to end up. Maybe everyone who lives here was born here, so they don't know what good city design is like." Together they worked to find where the so-called Complex was, but after a lengthy search they'd come up with several places it could be, all of which looked vaguely like closed-off places but weren't labeled with anything. "Great, we aren't going to find this place if we don't know what street it's on or something like that, I don't think. What do we do now, ask someone for help?"
"We might have to, but there doesn't seem to be very many people we could ask." It was the truth, and Kjelle had noticed from when they'd left the hotel that she hadn't seen anyone casually walking the streets. Even though they were in a park, she hadn't seen or heard anyone come by, no children playing in the grass or parents out walking pets or anything. "I think we might have to figure this out on our own, which sucks but at least we have a map to help a little. We pick one of these places to start and go take a look around it?"
Since there wasn't much else they could do, O'wain nodded and went to stand up, but in the process of moving he let one of his hands drop off the map (so he could grab his suitcase and make sure he had it), and rather than stand rigid as it had been before the map bent over. He saw what was on the other side and let out a guffaw-like laugh, getting Kjelle to focus on what he'd noticed rather than getting her backpack situated. "Who would've guessed that this map has some kind of news articles on the back? And it looks kinda like they're about things we didn't hear in the bus yesterday at that, what are the odds?"
She didn't know how to answer, yet after they'd flipped the map around and had read the headline on the article—which was made difficult given that it was mirrored in appearance, but they managed to pick it apart—they had a lead to work with. "Arrests at the family compound?" he said, Kjelle nodding at his interpretation of the words. "Jeez, this is weird that they have it printed backwards on here, but maybe it's something they don't want people knowing about? Arrests for prostitution, it seems, so what kind of place is this that they're running?"
"I'm not sure, but we know your cousin's there so we should—" Kjelle's voice trailed off as she read through the body of the article, that specifically gave an intersection that at least the business office of what was officially known as the Krakenburg Complex, but the people regarded as just another compound in town. That was somewhere they could find on the other side of the map and go to, to get the answers and find the person they were looking for, but that seemed deceptively easy. That wasn't what was on her mind right then, though, as she shifted to looking at the picture next to the article, which depicted two people who looked about their ages, one with short, light hair and the other with long hair that was darker even in the grayscale. "—I'm going to guess that either those are the people who were arrested, or they're the people they worked for. They don't look like Elise or Effie so that's good, and it's definitely not Xander or your cousin, which is also good."
"At least we don't have to worry about who we're looking for not being there when we show up then, yeah," O'wain agreed, also looking at the picture. "But how do we know where we're going, this city's still a disaster and there's still no one around to ask for help."
"Don't worry, I know where we've got to go." She didn't actually know, but after flipping the map back over and finding the intersection mentioned in the article (conveniently located on the far opposite side of town, as was expected), they at least knew the general direction they needed to be heading in. That journey took most of the day due to the unreliability of the roads the map told them to follow, taking them down alleys that would hit vehicle-only roads that they couldn't cross, or snaking them around and spitting them out far away from where they intended to go. Two stops for meals had to be made, and it was nearing nighttime when they realized just how hopelessly lost they'd gotten themselves in Windmere while trying to follow what was obviously a propaganda map.
That meant another night in a seedy hotel, this one cheaper than the previous one but even more suspicious to stay in, but when morning came they weren't kicked out by impatient housekeepers. In fact, when they got around to leaving there didn't seem to be any employees in the building at all, very strange given that they were guests there, but there was no reason to question it. The lack of anyone being around when they left worked in their favor, as when they stepped outside there was a clear view of a street sign that was one of the two that they were looking for, but the road seemed to be vehicle-only, like so many others in that city. "There's no one to see us if we run across it," Kjelle noted after watching the street for several minutes to see zero cars come by. "If we go fast, we can get on the other side and we'll be that much closer to done with this already. What do you say, you ready to break more laws than we already have?"
"I'm not sure the daughter of two police officers should ever be so eager to break laws, but you know what? If you're down, I'm down." O'wain was bracing himself for whatever was going to happen, but Kjelle knew that nothing would happen at all, aside from them crossing a street they shouldn't have otherwise. Exactly as predicted, not a single car impeded their crossing and they were able to continue on their adventure on what they figured was the correct side of the street.
Within minutes the road was bustling with cars, whatever having kept the people away having let them out of its grasp, and that meant it became much more challenging to stay out of harm's way while walking the streets. By the time they felt like they needed to consider stopping for lunch, they'd walked countless city blocks and hadn't found the other cross-street they were looking for; at least, that was what they thought, until they were examining their surroundings for somewhere to eat and saw the signs labeling the intersection they were standing at. It was exactly where they believed they needed to be, and that meant that somewhere nearby was the office for the Complex, which would lead them to finding Inigo and bringing him home with them.
Finding exactly which of the identical-looking buildings was the one they wanted would have been more difficult if any of the others had been occupied, but with every locked door they got closer to where they needed to be. Walking inside the first door they could actually open brought them into what looked like a waiting room, with chairs covered in ripped upholstery lining two walls, while the third had a door and a reception desk. "Sorry, we don't do visitors here, damn snoops wanting to check the news for themselves," the lady behind the desk said, putting out the cigarette she had hanging from her mouth as she spoke. "Do yourselves a favor and get lost before I call security."
"It's kind of an important matter," O'wain started, before Kjelle nudged him, giving him the silent reminder that he needed to think before he spoke. "We aren't here for a visit, we're here to see someone."
"Same thing, all of you people have been in and out of these doors since the news broke looking for answers to what went on inside. Do as I say and get lost, security won't treat you nicely if they're brought in for another matter like this." She didn't seem to be moving too quickly, but they couldn't see either of her hands so it was possible she was hitting some invisible-to-them call button. "There's no one at Krakenburg that wants your company, if you're looking for business matters go to the HQ for the corporation itself, not to the family living quarters."
Telling her that they weren't there to talk business but rather to speak with someone that they were certain lived with the family wasn't an option, but turning back and recalculating what to do was just as impossible. "Look, we just want you to call someone out here and let us talk to them for like five minutes," Kjelle said, glancing at O'wain several times as she spoke to make sure that he wasn't doing anything to go against what words she used. He couldn't make their true intentions clear, not if she was trying to frame it as something else entirely. "Please, I get that you're having a rough time around here but we're not here about what's been in the news, promise."
"People like you are always looking for what's been in the news," the lady retorted, standing up to show that she was meaning business, one of her hands pointing towards the door while the other was still obscured by the desk. "Security is going to have a field day with you, hopefully you don't get stupid and try to press charges against them because they will wipe the floor with you. You are considered trespassing and—" She stopped talking and her face came alight with a smirk when the door on that wall opened, but when she saw that it was a woman with pale blonde hair coming out, rather than the security she was hyping up, her face fell. "—miss Effie, I didn't accidentally call you to take care of the garbage, did I?"
Both O'wain and Kjelle had turned their eyes to the door when it had opened, and seeing Effie come out had been a bit of a tense moment. She'd seemed so nice on the bus, was she going to turn on them once they'd met again? Her reaction was heavily delayed as she dropped the large bag she had draped over her shoulder, checking from head to toe to make sure her eyes weren't deceiving her about who'd wandered into that entry building. "I can't believe the two of you stumbled upon this place," she finally said, ignoring the woman at the desk completely. "What brings you in here? Looking for somewhere to stay?"
Once again they weren't exactly able to speak the truth on the matter, but as they tried coming up with some explanation for how they'd just happened to find their way there, she was jumping to her own conclusions. "Oh, don't worry, I've gotcha understood loud and clear. I'm gonna go see if I can find Elise or one of her siblings to see what strings can be pulled for you, since I think they're still looking to fill some positions." She kicked her bag out of the doorway and looked to the woman at the desk, giving her a warning to not do anything to the visitors until she came back with someone.
The woman grumbled something under her breath when Effie went back through the door, sitting down at the desk and gesturing to the chairs with a rather vulgar hand motion. "You're lucky she got here before the big guns did, you'd be out crying for your mommies if she hadn't taken mercy on you. Just sit there and be quiet until someone comes for you, if they ever do, anyway. I swear, if Effie's messing with me I'm going to…" Her threat became impossible to understand with how much she was talking at an inaudible level, but neither of the people sitting there particularly wanted to know what she was saying.
They were hesitant to say anything to each other, but the waiting room was just them and the lady at the desk, no sounds there to break them from how painfully awkward the situation was. O'wain spent the time looking around, trying to find something in the barren room to fixate on, while Kjelle's eyes were glued to Effie's bag, which was so big that she had to be carrying her own pads or something similar for some kind of fight practice. How lucky they really were, to come in before Effie had left for the day, or they'd be sitting somewhere different questioning what they'd be able to do in order to get into the Complex. But before that, how lucky they were that they'd been on that bus ride into Nohr with her in the first place, because without that they wouldn't have had this way to get inside!
When the door opened up again, it wasn't Effie who came in at first, although she was right behind, picking up her bag with a wave and leaving through the front of the building. The lady at the desk seemed to tense up at the presence of the new woman who'd come inside, and it took a moment for the pair sitting there to understand why that was; this was, without a doubt, one of the two people who had their picture there with that article on the map, which meant she had to be one of the other siblings of Nohr. "Elise said that if Effie could trust you both, I should be able to do it," she said, her voice sounding fake and sultry at the same time, and she came towards the two with a sweeping motion in every step. "Welcome to the next step of your lives, my darlings. Welcome to the family here at Krakenburg."
"To the…family?" Kjelle repeated, while O'wain was eyeing the woman suspiciously, especially as she came closer and closer to them, until they were able to be staring at her chest much easier than her face, as one required craning their heads back. "I don't think I understand what you mean, we're not here for anything like that."
"Oh? Elise did say that you two seemed like you needed somewhere to stay, or at least that was what she was told, she did mention not speaking to you herself." This woman's chest had a nasty habit of being bounced with every word she spoke, something that was most likely intentionally done but was distracting nonetheless. "You must excuse this mess then, if you're not looking for a place of residence then I'll take my leave."
"No, wait! We could use somewhere to stay, and if you're willing to take us in then we'll gladly do it!" Once again O'wain was speaking without thinking, but when their opportunity to get inside and find his cousin was about to turn and abandon them, he didn't have much of a choice to consider what he was saying. "We just got here to Windmere the other day and haven't had the best time so far, but if you're offering us a bed for the night then that's the best thing we've had happen this whole time!"
The woman stood tall for a moment, before bending back over, leaning in uncomfortably close to O'wain's face. "I believe you misunderstand me, cutie. I'm not offering you a place for the night, I am offering you both a job here with us, to replace to unfortunately-arrested people we've recently lost. Neither of you seem like you'd be breaking the law under our noses, so despite doing this blind I feel everyone will understand why I'm doing it." She reached out to stroke his jaw, but he could only tremble in her presence, not enjoying the closeness she was putting him through.
"You're offering us jobs without even telling us your name?" Kjelle asked, pointing out that it was slightly suspicious that they hadn't done any greeting of any sort and were already getting initiated into the fold. "How do we know you're not some impostor or something?"
"That's a valid point, but no one could pose as me and get away with it." Stepping to the side so that she was now far too much into Kjelle's personal space, the woman laughed as she gave a proper greeting that would have been better to start the conversation with. "As I am sure you've heard before, I am Camilla, eldest daughter of the children at Krakenburg, a lover of all things person-like and a caring heart to everyone who steps into our home. I believe Elise told me your names after returning home the other night, but with the arrests fresh in my mind I may have forgotten them. Care to share them with me, to make this meeting properly official?"
"I'm Odin, and the person you're trapping in her chair is Vani," O'wain replied, not making Kjelle acknowledge the name she still hadn't gotten used to. "It's a pleasure to meet you, miss Camilla, and thank you for giving us this opportunity here with your family. Are we going to go over the job details at any point?"
"We certainly will, but that would be something to do in the presence of my brothers, they're the ones who handle that part of the hiring business." Camilla was too busy talking to notice the side-eye Kjelle gave O'wain, but when she backed up a couple steps and saw that they were both still sitting there, looking vaguely traumatized about something that had happened, she put on the largest pout she could manage. "Are my new friends upset about anything I said or did? Do we need to hug to make it all better?"
There was no nice way to reject her offer of a hug, despite them both making it clear that she hadn't upset them at all, and so they were squeezed in against her, a situation that they hadn't expected this trip would put them in. After the hug broke Camilla turned to the lady at the desk and told her to reject any further applicants for the open positions and to lock the front door once all residents had returned for the day, but while she was leading the two towards the door inside the lady decided to speak up. "Ma'am, neither of them actually applied for this, are you sure you want to walk them right inside and give them your time of day? I think Effie's playing favorites with them, that woman there looks like she's one of her type and do you really need a second Effie around?"
"Hush now, they're recommended by word of my sister and I'll take precious Elise's word over any paper application every single time." Winking at the desk lady, Camilla opened the door and let the two bring their bags inside with them, the world on the other side of that building so much different than every part of Windmere they'd seen so far. While the city had been rundown in places and looked like it wasn't having the best of times, the exterior of all buildings inside of the Krakenburg Complex were modernized and looked to be kept pristine for anyone who was allowed in to see them. "Xander always tells us that we can't have guests inside these walls, but I sneak them in every way I know how. One of the perks of being second-oldest, I suppose."
Not sure how they were expected to reply, the two remained silent as they followed along, Camilla taking her time as she purposely swayed her hips side to side with every step, making the walk painful to watch as neither of them were really interested in what she was offering. "Before we can make this informal hiring an official deal, I suppose I should introduce you both to my brothers, one of which gets the final say on your employment and the other gets to help me decide which of you is his and which is mine." The concept of one of them having to work with her on a permanent basis was bothersome, especially with how flirtatious and pushy she was acting, but speaking up would have jeopardized everything.
Making a mental note to never let her friend live down this sacrifice he'd forced her to make in order for them to find his cousin, Kjelle tried focusing anywhere but where Camilla was walking, but her erratic movements made it impossible to do that. She was still talking, going on about some of the life standards within the walls of the Complex that they would now have to adhere to. "You're allowed to do what you want within reason, like leaving the area on occasion or taking trips of your own, but the moment your master, the person you're assigned to, decides you're needed, you better be there. And don't take what we've last been in the news about to heart, there's no prostitution rings around here to speak of."
"If there aren't, why was it in the news?" O'wain asked, finding his voice long enough to catch her off-guard with his question. He didn't think that was enough to leave it at, after giving it more thought, so he added, "Did someone lie about this place? It…seems like it's not that bad, so I don't think I understand why someone would do that."
"Dear Odin, if only you knew the full story to why they made those outrageous claims. It was a huge misunderstanding, but the people who were arrested were bordering on illicit activities, it was only necessary to have them removed before the activities grew even less wholesome than they already were." Camilla didn't seem bothered by having to answer, but she did sound slightly sad talking about it. "I'll miss my companion, but her leaving was what was best for all of us here."
"And now you're hiring more people because they're gone, makes perfect sense." It seemed like Camilla was purposely skewing the truth to make everything sound better than it really was, but Kjelle couldn't be certain about that and didn't want to say the wrong thing. "How convenient for us, walking in right when you need us."
Camilla gave a whistling laugh, which turned into something so body-shaking that she had to spin around and use the people she was with to support her so she didn't fall. "Convenient for you? Think about how the two of you showing up saved us all the trouble of searching for perfect people to fill those holes! I love the attitudes of you both and I can tell you'll be fitting right in soon enough, one of you with me and one with my brother."
Once they were walking again, she'd gone right back to telling them more about the area and what they'd be needing to do while living there, but she was intentionally staying away from talking too much about the job itself. All they'd gotten to know was that they'd be assistants of a sort and had to be available at a moment's notice, but beyond that all they'd been told was about the perks of living at Krakenburg. They didn't even know anything about this other person that one of them was expected to work for, other than that he was the final sibling whose name they hadn't even heard yet.
They came up to a long building that seemed to have many different gated areas jutting off of it, and Camilla opened the door to enter, letting it slip from her hand once she'd passed through it and nearly knocking the others over with its heavy force slamming into them. "I don't think she meant to do that," O'wain whispered to Kjelle once they'd gotten through the door for themselves and were back on Camilla's tail. "She's too nice to mean to hit us with a door, it must've been an accident."
"Or maybe she was expecting one of us to open it for her and wanted to punish us for not doing it," she replied, looking at O'wain with a side-eye that he returned in an instant. "I can't tell though, and that worries me. I'm starting to think she's a maniac or something."
"Naughty children, whispering behind my back, that's not very appropriate of you, don't you think?" They didn't know if she'd heard anything they'd said, but Camilla's warning was enough to scare them both into standing tall with their lips firmly closed. She brought them to a stop in front of another door, this one labeled with a numbered plaque on the wall, and held her hand up to knock on it. "I'm not sure if he's in right now, but there's no time like the present to find out," she said, before pounding her hand against the door, the sound nearly loud enough to shake everything around them.
It took a few moments, but the door opened and standing on the other side was the single most unamused man that either of them had seen in their lives, his hair a complete mess and his shirt thrown on in such a rush that it was backwards. "Excuse me, Camilla, but you know that it is inappropriate to interrupt me at this time of day, I was in the middle of something." His voice was snappish and he sounded like her knocking really was the worst interruption he'd ever experienced, but when his sister stepped aside and gestured to the people behind her, his angry expression softened and he seemed a little less annoyed. "You found people. Already. Call me impressed, but where did you pull them from?"
"They dragged themselves in, actually. They're the people Elise was telling us from the bus, the ones that her darling Effie fell in love with and wanted the best for. I'd consider us the best for anyone, wouldn't you, Leo?" Camilla reached to grab O'wain to pull him closer, but he panicked when he saw her hand and pushed Kjelle into her grasp instead. That meant that she was dragged forward, her cheek being pinched to show how supposedly great she was for the role she'd been selected for, while the man in the doorway shook his head.
"You're funny, but I'm not interested in that one. If you're serious about these being the replacements, I'd prefer the other one." He pointed towards O'wain, who had thought he was safe for the moment when he'd given Kjelle up as sacrifice but now realized he was not out of the danger zone. "You, what's your name?"
"Odin, my name is Odin, but what was that about you 'preferring' me?" O'wain was tongue-tied, something that didn't often happen when it came to him, but as he was being focused on he could feel himself growing embarrassed by the second. "Could you, uh, please tell me what you mean by that?"
"I mean that I want you to work with me, not your friend there. Camilla, she can be all yours, I'm sure you'd like that better anyway." Eyeing how his sister hadn't let go of the cheek she was pinching, Leo remained relatively stone-faced as O'wain came closer to him, directing him into the room despite his hesitance. "Thank you for this gift, sister. I'd tell you I appreciate it, but I can't say I do yet. Let me get to know Odin a bit before I make that call."
Camilla laughed, finally letting go of Kjelle so that she could clasp her hands together in front of her. "I wouldn't expect anything different from you, Leo. Go enjoy getting to know your new companion, I'm going to have the time of my life getting to know mine." The door closed without any other words exchanged, and she looked to Kjelle with a determined gaze. "I'm sorry that we've had to split you up like that, but I couldn't exactly rearrange how the open positions are. Beruka wouldn't mesh well with Leo, and I couldn't fathom taking his little friend away from him."
"That's okay, I'm sure Odin will be happy where he is, and your brother seemed fine with having him instead of me." Kjelle couldn't say that she wished she could switch places with O'wain, but she definitely wished that she didn't have to be with Camilla for a second longer than she already had been. This woman was nice enough, but she was rather hands-on and made her uncomfortable with how close she insisted on being. "So what are they going to do now that they're in there together?"
"Same thing we'll be doing once we're to my quarters, that is, getting to know each other as best as we can in a short period of time. I'm excited to have you partnered with me and Beruka from here on out, Vani, you're a sweetheart and you'll fit right in." Hearing the name used almost didn't register in Kjelle's mind that it was her being spoken of, but she managed to get her thoughts together and nod in understanding. "You'll meet Beruka soon enough, she's out for the moment running some errands but when she gets back I promise the two of you will become fast friends. Of course, she'll have to understand that she doesn't get to sleep in the bed tonight, but I think she'll forgive you."
That was a strange comment to make, and unlike so much else of what Camilla had said, Kjelle couldn't let that one go without a response. "Where's she going to sleep then, on the floor? The couch? Do you only have one bed in your room for some reason?"
"Naïve Vani, she's going to sleep in her own bed for the night." The answer led to just as much confusion as the original comment had, but Camilla didn't seem to see what was wrong with what she was saying, something made clear when she followed up with, "It's been a few nights since she had to and I'm sure she figured she'd have at least a week more before she did again, but things changed when you walked into my life."
Assuming this meant that this other person was going to have to sleep in her own bed because she was sharing a room with her and she would need the company, Kjelle decided it would be best to drop the subject where it was before she got more confused. "Okay, well, if she's going to forgive me then I guess she can't be that bad of a person, even if that's a silly thing to need to forgive me for."
When it came time to learn the truth, and find out that Beruka (who was a quiet and unnerving person to be in the same room with) was going to be sleeping in her own bed because she wasn't going to have room in Camilla's that night, Kjelle wished she'd allowed herself to learn that sooner. She'd never had to share a bed with a stranger before, and while she'd been sharing a bed with O'wain the past couple of nights that had really been the extent of her bed-sharing experience. She couldn't back out of needing to do it, because Camilla was super insistent that it happened, as an initiation of sorts into their little group, but it was her justification for it that was strangest of all. "We all learn to love each other in our pairs, some more than others naturally, but we do make sure that we give it our best with time spent close together, even if we're asleep. Now unpack your bag and change into your nightclothes, even if your sports top and shorts are adorable, because we need to find your perfect place in my bed."
That was the first night, as far as Kjelle could remember, that she had someone draped over her as she slept, and she hoped and prayed that it would be the last for a long time.
When morning came and she was still not alone in the bed, but her bedmate had traded cuddling with her for sitting upright brushing knots out of her long hair, Kjelle quickly shut her eyes once more and wished that she hadn't decided to help O'wain out after all. She hadn't slept well, given that she was used to sharing beds with people who minded their own space, not people that made sure they were touching her at all times, and when she tried to go back to sleep she knew she wasn't going to accomplish anything. "I know you're awake, dearie," Camilla said, setting her hairbrush in her lap and looking back over her shoulder at Kjelle as she faked sleeping to get out of conversation. "Your breathing changed when you woke up, I know that you didn't fall back asleep that quickly."
"I don't know how you'd know what I sound like when I'm sleeping, because I really didn't sleep at all," she replied, keeping her eyes closed so she didn't have to look at Camilla. "Next time you have me in your bed, can you please not be on top of me like that? I don't really do well when others are touching me in my sleep."
"My apologies that I'm such a touchy-feely person when I'm asleep, I'll make sure I don't let it happen again. I was just so excited to get to share a bed with my new best friend that I forgot to check with her about what her bedtime rules are." She sounded upset at what she'd just heard, but before Kjelle could say anything Camilla was right back to brushing her hair, acting like nothing had happened. "Maybe I'll hold off on inviting you back into the bed until you've gotten a bit more used to the way things work around here. I'm sure Beruka would be pleased to know that she gets her spot back."
That was a point that Kjelle wasn't completely sure of, because based on her limited interaction with the other woman working in the same role she was, she couldn't see Beruka as being someone who loved the smothering affection much either. "Or maybe you could not have to sleep with one of us in your bed? Wouldn't a teddy bear or something work if you really need to cuddle something?"
"Oh no, I don't think you quite understand my reason for needing someone in the bed with me if you think some plaything will suffice." Her brushing was picking up speed as she spoke, as if she was brushing faster just because she was getting a bit heated. "I crave the physical touch of another person, in a sensual matter, nothing dirty wanted from anyone. I get so lonely if I don't have someone right within my grasp at all times, and that includes when I'm sleeping."
It was becoming a regular thing for Kjelle to not know how to respond to anything Camilla said, and this was no exception. "Er, well, maybe I'll keep that in mind for the future, but I really can't do the whole 'sleep touching' thing without losing sleep for myself."
"Sometimes little quirks like that cannot be helped, I hope in the future that you can get over it though because you were so receptive of my cuddles." Camilla didn't say another word as she finished up brushing her hair, tying it back into a low ponytail once it was knot-free, and it was at that point that she got off the bed and moved to the closet, finding something to wear. While she was distracted with all of her clothes, Kjelle tried to make the move to escape the room, but the moment her feet hit the wood floor Camilla was looking at her, smiling as she held up two dresses. "Help me decide what to wear, darling Vani, I simply cannot choose for myself. Do you think the light dress or the dark dress would look better with my skin tone?"
"I think they'd both look fine, probably," Kjelle replied, not knowing the first thing about proper fashion despite having been taught many different times by many different people. "I think you should wear whatever you think is better for the day, because it's not like I know what you're doing today or anything."
Camilla's face erupted into a smile, as she tossed both dresses aside and went back to looking through her closet. "I love the sass you're willing to give me, it's so playful and it's very adorable hearing a girl like you try to be so rude to someone when I know you just can't do it. I'm having a meeting with Xander about you today, making sure that hiring you without his approval won't be too much of a problem." When she turned away from the closet once more, she was holding a different black dress, one that Kjelle immediately knew would be skin-tight and on the verge of ripping if she chose to wear it. "I think this will make the impression I need to make, that I mean serious business about getting to keep my new best friend here with me."
"It'll definitely make some kind of impression, that's for sure."
"More sass, I love it so much! Teach Beruka how to be that sassy, all she does is bluntly say things and I can never tell if she's joking or not when she does it." Without caring that she had an audience in the room with her, Camilla stripped down to her minimal underwear (which made Kjelle blush to see, out of the discomfort she felt being there) before putting the dress on, barely managing to get her chest into it but having the outfit stay in once piece as she paraded it around the room. "Beautiful as always, thank you for the advice and you have a great day getting to know my sweet Beruka better while I'm busy!"
"I'm doing what today?" It was Beruka's voice, her having heard Camilla's statement when she entered from the side bedroom. "I didn't volunteer to play chaperone for your new friend. That isn't my job."
"Don't think of it as chaperoning her, she has every right to be here, just as you do. Think of it as getting to know your new partner in crime!" Already sliding her feet into impossibly-high heels that would only make her swaying walk even more pronounced, Camilla didn't notice the death glare Beruka shot at her—but Kjelle did, and she gulped down hard when she realized that this wasn't going to be a fun way to spend her time.
Or maybe that was just how Camilla was supposed to be made to think it was, because the moment she was gone, Beruka's attitude changed completely. While she still looked unimpressed and wasn't eager to do anything, she was a lot kinder when she spoke. "I was hoping Camilla would leave soon enough," she said, sitting on the edge of the bed and grabbing the hairbrush that had been being used before, so she could run it through her own hair a few times. "I love when she has things of her own to do. She hates going to the places I enjoy spending my time."
"What kind of places are those?" Kjelle asked, her mind going back to the conversation she'd had with Effie about the dojo nearby and wondering if perhaps Beruka was also into that sort of thing. "I don't take you as the kind of lady to like clothes shopping or anything like that."
"You're right, and as I don't see you as one either, when Camilla wants to go out we might both be suffering. I was thinking more like shooting ranges, weapon collectors, places with a bit more violence to them." Even though she was talking about violent places, Beruka seemed to be the most excited Kjelle had seen her yet, which was concerning but as long as the violence wasn't being aimed at her she wasn't going to worry too much. "When Camilla brought me into the fold she kept me from having to serve time after a…crime I wish I had properly committed."
"I'd ask what kind of crime but that's not really important, I don't think." Biting her lip as she thought about how that might be the dumbest decision she'd ever make, not asking a criminal what she wished she'd done, Kjelle didn't know where she should go with the conversation but she did have something to ask that perhaps Beruka would be able to answer. "Do you guys have a gym or something around here? Krakenburg seems large enough to have at least a little fitness room for everyone to use."
"I should've known you'd be interested in that. Come with me and I'll show you our gym, but you have to be dressed appropriately. Nothing stupid, nothing dangerous, nothing that can be caught in equipment." Whatever it was that Beruka was expecting for Kjelle to wear, it most likely wasn't a tank top and short shorts (slightly more modest than she had been the day before, but still exposing her arms and midriff), and once she'd changed into that she was met with the corners of Beruka's mouth turned slightly upward. "I had assumed yesterday's choice in clothing had been done to be more appealing to someone trying to hire you. Maybe you are actually as athletic as you show yourself to be, and it isn't an act."
"Believe me when I say I could probably bench press you if I really wanted to." That wasn't a threat she should have made, she quickly realized, when Beruka looked interested in seeing it come to fruition, but they moved on and out of the little building without acting on it. As they walked, they talked about their favorite athletic endeavors, Beruka's being weapon-based and Kjelle's being more in terms of working her whole body out. Of course, her responses were oftentimes delayed by a few moments as Beruka would refer to her by her fake name and she'd have to remind herself that it was in fact her being spoken to.
The gym was in a large building a few minutes' walk away from where they'd been staying, and when they got to its double doors (after having taken a quick detour to the empty dining hall to grab some somewhat-fresh fruit for breakfast) Beruka reached into her pocket and pulled out a ring of keys. "Have to keep this place locked up at all times, don't need people who don't have access getting in and ruining equipment," she explained as she unlocked the door, pushing it open and locking it behind them once Kjelle had come inside. "It's probably the best gym in the whole city, but so few of us get to use it."
"Nicest gym in the city can't be that hard to manage." Thinking back to how run-down and poor most of Windmere looked, Kjelle had low expectations for what this gym was going to look like once Beruka turned on the lights, but she was shocked when she was able to see all of the high-quality equipment filling the room. Anything she could ask for in terms of a workout would be possible in that building, from weights to cardio to even swimming, with a large lap pool visible beyond a glass wall. "I stand corrected, this is better than nice, this is amazing! And no one uses this place?"
"There's a few of us who pop in from time to time, but for the most part it sits empty because no one wants to come in and actually work out. Camilla tries to hold pool parties sometimes but…" Beruka jingled the keys in her hand before she tucked them away. "Can't do that if you don't have permission to get inside."
"So even one of the big, scary siblings of Nohr is locked out of here? How does that work?" Up to that point, Kjelle had been under the impression that the four siblings had all the power they wanted there at the Complex, but hearing Beruka say that Camilla couldn't get into the gym to use the pool had her rethinking that. "Can any of them get in here?"
Beruka nodded, before taking the shirt she was wearing off, revealing her athletic bra underneath it that she flexed in to warm up some of her upper muscles. "Xander's the only one of them with a key, and occasionally he brings his partners in for some exercising. I have a key, Effie and Arthur should both have keys but usually only she does, and I believe the only other key that was given out is currently also in my possession."
"So this place is basically a private club, nice. Guess that means we don't have to worry about anyone intruding on us and making us feel bad for working out." Without waiting to see if Beruka had anything to correct her about, Kjelle began weaving her way through the different equipment, on the hunt for something that she wanted to use right then. She could hear Beruka tossing everything she had on her that she didn't need aside, the sound of the keys muffled by fabric as it hit a wall, and soon enough the other woman was right behind her also on a search. They settled on starting with some light running, the treadmills there more high-tech than anything Kjelle had seen or used before, but she was willing to learn how to make them work.
As they ran next to each other they were silent, Beruka focused on what she was doing to the point that she seemed to forget she had someone there with her, and Kjelle was completely lost in thought about what had been going on. She was hung up on the fact that she'd gotten involved in this place, somewhere between "unwilling employee" and "hostage" but managing to survive given the strange circumstances. Interacting with Camilla wasn't fun at all, but with Beruka around at least that could be tolerable; she could only wonder what it would've been like if there, in front of that open door, Leo hadn't decided that he wanted to take O'wain in with him.
Thinking about O'wain made her skip a step as she ran, nearly stumbling over her own feet and forcing her to take several seconds to regain the stride she'd been running with. Now that they were in this place, she didn't know how often she'd be able to see him, let alone how he was faring in his new position. For all she knew, he was just as miserable with which sibling had picked him as she was, and as long as they were separated they wouldn't be able to talk about that or the important matter that had brought them to Krakenburg in the first place. "Question for you, Beruka," she said as she started to slow down her pace, the machine registering that she'd run the equivalent of nearly two miles in not much time. "Do you ever get to mingle with everyone else's companions? Outside of the gym, since I guess this would be a 'you come when you want' sort of place."
"You might every once in a while, typically at mealtimes. But if Camilla wants us at her side we have to follow her rule, we don't have a say in whether or not we serve her." Beruka too was coming to a stop, her distance not quite as far as Kjelle's but she also hadn't initially started at as fast of a pace. "Why, is there someone you're interested in spending time with? I know that you met with Effie prior to entering our group, is she who you're asking about?"
"I wasn't asking about anyone in specific," she lied in response, not wanting to say yes because she didn't want to get pushed into conversations she wasn't looking for, but not wanting to tell the truth because she wasn't sure how she'd explain who O'wain was. "It was just a question so I know what's going to happen when it's not just us around."
"That's fair, I should have known you would want to talk to others." Jumping off her treadmill and walking towards where some of the free weights were, Beruka waved for Kjelle to follow her once more. "Come this way, I want to see how much you can lift."
Because she was not one to shy away from proving how inherently strong she was, Kjelle was happy to follow Beruka over to the weights, but when they got there that was when the fun was able to start. The heaviest weight they seemed to have wasn't very heavy at all, and there were so few of them that the challenge was more about finding some way to hold all of the assorted weights than it was actually lifting any of them. Beruka looked like she was slightly amused with every disk she was adding to the collection Kjelle was holding, but if it was genuine amusement or not she wasn't going to say. They were onto the third-heaviest weight when the sound of the gym door opening filled the air, and Beruka dropped the weight she was actively adding, hitting her own foot with it.
The string of curses she let out was done under her breath, but watching her go from cool and composed to cursing up a storm made Kjelle lose her focus on what she was holding, her dropping everything she had and thankfully missing hitting either of them, but making a loud crashing sound as the weights hit the floor. "Goodness, I wasn't expecting there to be people in here!" the person entering called out, breaking Beruka from her curses to glare in the direction the voice had spoken from. "Please, tell me that I haven't walked in on a circle-jerk or someone getting frisky on the equipment, I've done that before and let me tell you, it wasn't a sight anyone needed to see."
"How did he get in here, I have his key on the ring with mine," Beruka grumbled, still grabbing her toe and balancing on one foot as she massaged what had been hurt. "He must have begged to get a replacement after losing his last one, but…"
"Who's the guy that's here and why do you sound like you want nothing to do with him?" Based solely on what she'd heard him say, Kjelle wanted nothing to do with this guy either but she had no idea who he was. It wasn't a voice she'd heard before, so whoever he was, he was going to be someone new that she'd be meeting, but judging by how Beruka didn't want this guy around, this meeting wasn't going to be pleasant. Her question was ignored as Beruka decided to yell at him to get lost and go find somewhere else to hang around, and as badly as she wanted to ask her why that response was appropriate she knew she'd get ignored there too.
"Hello lovely ladies, what a surprise to see two people in here when usually I only see one." The man came from the doorway straight towards them, an eyepatch over one eye and a devious-looking smirk planted firmly on his lips. "Of course, the one I usually see looks just as pleased to have me here as she normally does. I'm not here to leer at you, Beruka, don't you worry your lovely head."
"You don't have a key to get in here with, Niles. Explain how you entered, before I—" Stepping down with her injured foot and bending over to grab the heaviest weight within reach, Beruka wound it back as if she was going to lob it in his direction, something he didn't flinch at. "—come on, you know I'll do it if you ask for it."
"I know you'll do many things if I ask for them."
"If those things involve smashing your face in or disemboweling you, you're correct." This was a violent side of Beruka coming through, even though she looked exactly as she usually did, not showing that she was angry or displeased with this Niles guy being present. Kjelle wanted to know where he came from, or at least who he worked for, but she didn't want to interrupt and have the hatred getting slung in her direction instead. "I want you to answer me, right now. How did you get in without your key?"
"Someone forgot to make sure the door was properly shut before locking it, so I was able to push right in without anyone knowing any better of it. What a shame, that someone trying so hard to keep me out but here I am anyway." Grinning as he saw Beruka's eyes narrow in his direction, Niles flipped his hair off of his shoulder before setting his sights on Kjelle, who was trying her best to stay out of their spat. "Might I be correct to assume that your special friend here is Camilla's new plaything? Or did you manage to break the rules and sneak someone of your own inside these walls?"
"I'm not going to speak for her, but she is here because of Camilla. What, are you jealous that I already have someone new to bond with and you don't?" Sounding even angrier than she previously had, Beruka set down the weight she was holding and reached for Kjelle's arm to pull her in closer to her, but she was unable to get a hand on her. "Please, Vani, step back from him before he tries to do something. Last time he got ahold of someone new, he decided to carve words into their skin."
"He consented to it, first of all, and secondly, I didn't do that with my new pal Odin so there's no need to worry that I'll do it to your sweet…Vani, you said her name was?" Walking closer, even with Beruka warning him several times to stay away, Niles got right next to Kjelle before giving a sweeping bow in front of her. "What a lovely name for a lovely woman, and someone I've heard of as recently as before I came to see what Beruka dearest was up to in here! Odin hasn't shut up about you all morning, I hope you know."
Without realizing she was doing it, Kjelle found herself smiling at the mention of her friend, not even making the mental correction of what his name actually was. "It doesn't surprise me, he sure loves talking about me as much as he can. What's he been saying this time, I'd be shocked if it wasn't something stupid or—"
She cut herself off with a shriek as Niles, still in the middle of his bow, grabbed one of her exposed thighs and pinched it between two fingers. "You disgusting perv, why are you introducing yourself to her this way?" Beruka asked, a very displeased tone to her voice, yet she wasn't taking any action against him beyond her scolding name for him. She was watching Kjelle smack at him, trying to get him to let go of her but he persisted for several moments until he stood tall with a pensive look on his face. "You didn't even tell her your name and you're already feeling her up."
"I was not feeling her up, Odin had told me and Leo a lovely story about her and something she possesses on her body and I was merely examining for myself." Niles sounded proud of what he'd done, or at least not like he'd done anything wrong. "Those are some uniquely-placed scars you have there, Vani. Would love to know how yours are so different from the ones Odin has on his arm, but he refused to get into too much detail about what had happened. Just that the two of you were in an accident once upon a time. A tragedy for two attractive people to be marred at once, but I understand that it happens to the best of us." He gestured to his eyepatch, implying that it was hiding an actual injury.
"Okay, first of all, no one gets to grab my legs and 'check' my scars without my permission. And secondly, if Odin told you so much about what happened and you can clearly see his scars so you know he isn't lying, why did you feel the need to check anyway?" The fact that her legs had a bunch of faint, yet still noticeable scars that had stretched and grown as she'd gotten older didn't ever bother Kjelle, but whenever someone pointed them out she did begin to feel defensive of them. It wasn't that she really knew about what had happened for her to get them, as that had occurred when she was months old and neither of her parents had been present for it so what they knew was a secondhand retelling as it was. It was because she had so much more to admire when it came to her legs that focusing on the little scars made her feel like her muscles weren't good enough. "He wouldn't lie about us both getting torn up in a pile of glass, that'd just be dumb."
"I've heard even dumber lies before, but forgive me for wanting to get to see the damage for myself." He bowed once more, but this time he did it with more of a sweeping motion, his arms coming back in close to his body as he stood straight back up. "Beruka is correct in that I neglected to introduce myself to you before that display of investigative skills, so let us take it from the top. I am Niles, the most interesting man you'll meet within this place, and you are the charming Vani, if I can take Odin's word on that to heart."
She twisted her mouth as she thought about how she was supposed to interpret that interpretation of herself, especially if it had come from her friend as he said it did. "You certainly can, I've known Odin for a long time and if there's one thing he'd never do, it's lie about me to anyone. Just like I'd never lie about him." Mentally Kjelle found it hilarious that she was saying she wouldn't lie about him while using a name that was nothing more than a lie itself, but as he'd accepted his new persona much more willingly than she had hers, it wasn't as much of a lie as her claiming to be someone else was. "Now do you mind telling me why the hell you were talking about the scars on my legs, out of everything else there is to talk about? You just met the guy and he's telling you his tragic backstory?"
"I assure you that it started from me getting curious about what tore up his arm, because those marks looked far more fresh than they actually are. He was the one who dragged you into things, and because you seemed so interesting I had to come check you out for myself. Thankfully for you, there's no need to worry about this progressing any further than this." Niles was watching Beruka as she glared at him, arms crossed over her chest with one finger tapping to show how she wanted him to stop talking. "Please, I am getting to the part that assures this poor girl that my groping of her thighs was merely inquisitive and that nothing more is to come of it."
"You're not getting there fast enough." The tapping slowed for a moment while Beruka waited for him to finish up, but when he stared back at her with his eyebrow raised over his visible eye, she picked up the pace once more. "Come on, Vani and I have things we need to do while we have the time. You're wasting our daylight with your drama."
He scoffed at her choice of words, glancing towards where Kjelle was still standing, watching him with slight wariness in her eyes as she waited to hear what he had to say. "Drama, she says, as if me making sure what my new friend says is true classifies as drama! I don't mean to cause anything of the sort with my appearance here, especially as I have zero interest in pursuing anything more with you. At all. No matter what Beruka might claim."
"That's something he tells everyone, and maybe this'll be the time he's actually speaking the truth about it." Uncrossing her arms, Beruka pointed towards the door with a snap, Niles backing away slowly a couple paces before she started stepping towards him. "Now get lost, you have no right to be in here as you still don't have a key for entry! Go find your loverboy or your new friend and bother them, not us!"
"Loverboy?" Kjelle repeated, barely finishing the word before Beruka was shushing her, so that Niles didn't get the impression to stay and explain that choice of wording. She got the hint and kept quiet until after they'd heard the door latch closed and there was no longer any sign of someone that wasn't them there in the gym. "Who were you talking about with that one, huh? You couldn't have been talking about someone important, could you?"
Beruka shrugged, bending down to start cleaning up the mess with the weights they'd made when Niles had entered. "I might have been, Niles knows who it was about and that's what matters here. You don't need to worry much about it, not for now anyway."
"Yeah, because that kind of cryptic message really helps with me feeling comfortable with hearing that." She knew it wasn't about her friend, but based on how creepy that encounter with Niles had been, Kjelle was slightly worried about O'wain's safety if he was forced into close quarters with the guy. "I get that I'm new around here and don't need to know all the secrets, but if it was important, you'd tell me about it, right?"
"Something like that, yes." Beruka didn't say another word as they cleaned up their mess, and after all of the weights were back where they belonged she was moving on to a different part of the gym, to use a different set of workout machines. Kjelle hung back and kept playing with the weights for a bit longer before she joined her, but they weren't at the gym for more than about an hour after that had all blown over so there wasn't much time to really talk about it then either. Once they left, anything they'd talked about there in the gym had to be pushed to the wayside as they were going to be in Camilla's company once more and she wasn't going to be bothered with their personal nonsense, so if anything was going to come of it they'd have to wait until the next time they went somewhere alone.
No one was going to make Beruka talk after that long of an intermission, so finding out what she'd meant with that pointed jab at Niles wasn't going to come from her mouth. But Kjelle wasn't going to let herself forget what she'd heard, even if it took an extended period of time to get answers. She might not have wanted to get involved in the Nohrian adventure in the first place, but she was there and she was committed to making sure it all went smoothly, and that meant making sure her companion was safe through it all.
A/N: man I love writing the krakenburg gang more than I should.