Chapter 3

He had not been obeyed, he walked into his small apartment and saw what he saw everyday. The rooms were cleaned, Noishe seemed content, yet a quick glance told him Anna was not in her room. She lay on the couch and was now oblivious to the world in the way that only those who needed sleep were. She muttered something, rolled over, and as she moved her hair fell around her face. Grunting in disgust at the woman's lack of shame for sleeping out in the open he pulled off his gloves, tried to ignore the stickiness that lingered between his fingers and weighed down his tunic. He walked to the kitchen, went to the sink and turned the water on. At that sound she did not wake up, even as he noisily washed his hands and tried to clean up the mess his duties of "Cardinal" thrust on him.

Blood though did not come out with just water, his garments would need to be scrubbed.

Well that wasn't his job, his slave could deal with it. Even though he thought this, deliberately reminded himself that he had someone else to do it, his old instincts nagged him that he'd best be the one to do the job. It seemed a shame to have to expose a mere child to blood. But then she had seen worse, she had probably watched relatives and friends die from the first time she entered the steel gates of the Iselian compound.

Before this afternoon he would have shrugged it off, but her comments earlier on in their little spat had nagged at him. He decided to see if he really was living with his head up his ass, if he really was seeing the realities around him. Even thinking of that vulgar statement, of the woman who had dared to say that to him roused his anger, but that anger was tempered now. It was tempered with remorse, with disgust, and with the knowledge that she was probably right.

Well at least the rapes were going to stop, he had set out orders that such practices were to not be pursued while he was head of the ranch. His orders had been flouted and he had to make several demonstrations to fix that.

The demonstrations had been rather messy, hence the condition of his clothes.

He fished his gloves out of the sink, tossed them on the counter. They slapped wetly against the cheap material -plastic he thought- and lay there pooling red water. He took a few steps back, peered into the small study he had made, and a quick glance inside told him the woman was still asleep.

It was as safe as it ever was he supposed.

He went back to the sink, pealed off his tunic, and tossed it in the sink. He allowed the water to run over it, in an attempt to loosen up the blood, then despite how his instincts cried out he left the mess in the sink. She could think him the slob if that was her will, not that he cared, so long as she did something about it...

A fuzzy lump rubbed against his foot, and brown eyes looked up at him in hope. Noishe whined, wagged his fluffy tail, and lead him to the small dinning table he had set out to tend to appearances. A small covered plat was laid out on the center of the table, and for a moment anger towards the woman rose in him. Didn't she have the foresight to put the dog's food on the floor? If she didn't he was going to get her replaced, no matter Noishe's protests. He sighed, considered waking her, but he wasn't that cruel.

Well that's what he told himself, he was still as body shy as ever and the thought of him half naked with a woman staring at him made his face turn red.

To mask that discomfort he pulled the plate over to him. Noishe whined, trotted off, and came back to him with a smaller empty bowl in his jaws. The silver and green puppy put the bowl down by his feet.

"You're too damn smart to be mistaken for a dog you know. You need to learn to act dumb sometimes so that no one suspects." Kratos scolded affectionately, then he knelt, covered plate in hand. Noishe went berserk, started hopping up and down, his very essence screaming feed me at the top of it's lungs. It was when Kratos had trouble unfastening the cunningly placed lid that the first suspicion came into place. The second was when he managed to get the lid off and saw that the plate was filled with human food. The third came when Noishe hopped up and upset the plate in his hands and the meat and potato heavy meal spilled to the floor. Unable to save the food he grasped at the plate and watched in frustration as gravity and the floor broke it in half.

The sound seemed to echo in the room, and a few muttered words from the other room told him that he was going to have company in a bit.

"Damn it Noishe that was my food, not yours!"

Noishe did n't respond he was busy stuffing his face with mashed potato and gravy that was now smeared all over the tile floor.

"Wha-... Noishe, bad dog!"

He hopped, cursed the thick carpet that muffled sound and had allowed her to sneak up on him like that while he was half dressed. Anna was ignoring him however, focused on yelling at his dog.

"Noishe, you stop this right now!"

A sizable chunk of meet disappeared into the protozoan's mouth.

"If you take one more bite I'll spank you!"

Another bite was taken, then another.

"That's it I warned you now you're in deep trouble!"

Noishe seemed intent on finishing his meal, seemed oblivious to the danger fast approaching. Her face mask like in anger Anna grabbed the protozoan's hind legs and gave him a small shove. Noishe landed in the potatoes, half of him seemed smeared in it. He was firmly taken, held by the paws like a animal tied to the split, and carried out of the room. A trail of gravy left and a series of pathetic whines marked the path. Whines turned to howls as Kratos' keen hearing picked out the sound of running water and a loud splash.

It seemed as good a time as any to make a retreat. Leaving the howling protozoan and the vindictive human to their sport Kratos went to his rooms and closed the door behind him. To feel more safe he threw the lock, and considered the food stains on his pants.

Great more laundry. He worked off the belts, threw them on the strictly ornamental bed, and stripped fully. He went to his closet, considered his other uniforms, and decided his formals were more suitable for his late night meeting anyways. It was hectic, belts and straps, yet though the process was a pain the overall effect was what he strived for. It took him a full ten minuets to work the last of it on, and when he was done he ran a hand over his silver tunic. Fierce, stern, and utterly lifeless, the clothes said that, but what made it a lie was the sounds of his companions yalps and his human servant's laughter. What was the most damning though was the slight tolerant smile on his lips.

Xxx xxx xxx xxx

"How goes your duties?"

"They come and go as all the other tasks." Kratos shrugged, moved a human paladin on his board to counter Yuan's human rouge.

"You don't find it distasteful?" Yuan put a weight on the scales, put a bar on the board, and then handed Kratos a card. Cursing his fate, or rather the Card of Ill Fates Kratos took his paladin out of play.

"Lately all my tasks have been distasteful."

"The same here."

Yuan pulled a strand of blue hair out of same colored eyes. His angular half elven visage scrunched up as he considered the placement of his scouts and the Timeless Mist effect Kratos had over a segment of his army. He could break the spell by sacrificing half of his scouts, or he could just let things stand. Yuan seemed torn, and was scowling so fiercely at his fellow seraphim's pieces Kratos wondered when they'd catch flame.

"Why do you always get the Sylvarant side, you have more natural resources then I do!"

"Because you favor the fact you can start with multiple classes where all I initially get are novice swordsman and youth magi." Kratos countered, then to pour salt over his "foes" injuries he used a bowman to assassinate Yuan's elf magi.

"You fight dirty." Yuan grinned, then seemed to hesitate. "How was your meting with..."

"You know how he is, tedious, grating, I feel like a recorder. 'The world is of importance despite it's contamination my Lord. Martel would wish for life itself to continue. A single one specie world would not please your sister.' Gods!" Kratos shook his head. "Every day I feel more and more like we are chasing a non existent hope, that all this..." Kratos swept his hand to indicate the room and so much more. "Was a waste..." Kratos sighed, lowered his head into his hands and looked at his oldest friend with something not quite hopelessness resignation, but something much like it.

Yuan nodded, he had no answers, not solutions, they never did. Picking up a card from his mana pool the blue haired seraph considered it and made his next move.

Xxx

Yuan of course teleported into the room and out of the room so not to invoke Anna's suspicions. He was taking many pains to hide what he was from her for the sake of getting back into practice for acting human for the next regeneration. She was talking to the Protozoan now, baby talk he thought. Since while he could hear every word, vaguely understand the language, and hear a lot of 'who's a cute little fluff-ball you are!' he figured Anna to be fooled by Noishe's act as well. He sighed, dwelt upon the fact that his whole life was no an act, his humanity an act, everything was a performance. And how he hated that fact most of all.