Kievr stuck close to Xavier as they wound their way through the city, up through the residential streets that were crowded with folks going about their own day, and out into the cultural district of the city. The walk was fairly long, but the transition between the two sections became clear when the tall, condensed complexes of apartments shrunk down to buildings no taller than four or five stories. The aged brick-and-mortar of the walls blended in with the dark wood that framed the architecture, and seeped into the rough-hewn cobblestone that had been smoothed over from decades of use. The streets were much more narrow here, almost turning into alleyways, save for the large boulevard that stretched down from Paradicio's center.
The Quilava tried not to let his eyes be distracted by the buildings around him and looked at Xavier. "So, your mentor," he asked. "What does he do? Is he an artisan?"
"No, not really," Xavier replied. "He's an archaeologist, and he's spent his life doing it. He loves his work more than anything, even when he stepped back from the dig sites. So instead of sitting at home enjoying retirement…"
The pair rounded a corner in the main street and came to a stop in front of the largest building in the district. Xavier smiled at Kievr. "My mentor took up helping to run this place."
A carved marble facade housed an otherwise square box of stone, taking up almost an entire city block's worth of space and overshadowing its neighbors in the process. A large sign stood outside the entry, and in bold letters stated, 'Grand Continental Museum of History. Preserving the past for the future.'
Kievr took his time to take in the architecture. It was much more understated than he would've thought. "It's quite grand. I hope the exhibits uphold that," he said.
He stepped forward through the arched doorway and into the main gallery. The first thing the Quilava would see as he lifted his head was the large statue of an ancient creature, flanked on both sides by curving staircases to a balcony. Past and under it was an exhibit of glass cases featuring stone tools and weapons from an age long since gone by. Tattered remains of clothes, broken pieces of outdated machinery, and antiquated artisanal goods such as pottery lined the display boxes at the walls, and above them hung priceless artworks of what appeared to be monumental moments in time. There were a good few dozen visitors milling about, marveling at the artifacts around them.
"This is… very impressive," Kiev muttered, taking it in. He'd never been inside something like this before. The closest he could compare it with were the tourist traps that littered his home, all espousing nonsense about Sasbara. None of those could ever hold a candle to this.
He felt Xavier brush past him and realized he had stopped in the doorway, taking the cue to keep moving. "Just how large is this museum?" he asked.
"Oh, this is just the east wing," Xavier replied. "This is where the evergreen exhibits are hosted. The north wing is where the special one-time stuff goes. And if we make a right down here…"
They turned to face a corridor with two doors on the right-hand side. "This is our lecture hall. Some of the university professors host meetings here, including my mentor. I think he's here today."
The Zoroark pushed into the room. The rows of seats on the left stretched back and up, all pointed towards a stage with a lectern and a Breloom standing behind that. The glasses-wearing grass-type looked to be very much up in their years, and were focusing on a stack of papers atop the lectern.
"Sir Garen?" Xavier called to them. "Do you have a moment?"
"For you, my boy, I always do," said the Breloom, smiling but not looking up from his pages. "What queries do you have today?"
Xavier moved in closer and stated, "Well, I brought a friend, and he wanted to-"
"I was hoping you may have a position of employment open, even if temporary," Kievr interrupted.
Sir Garen finally looked up from his notes, adjusting his gold-rimmed glasses to see the stranger with his protege. "Oh- You're a rather unfamiliar face," he said. He pulled the cane leaning on the lectern to him, and began to make way to the stage stairs. "I am Sir Garen Martinque, Museum Director and former field archaeologist. Whom do I have the pleasure of meeting?"
"Kievr Ryough,'' said the Quilava. "I just arrived in Paradicio the other day. I'm in need of work."
"Well, you certainly picked an interesting place to ask for it," Garen said. His warm smile emerged as he approached Kievr. "Why do you desire a position here? And what qualifications do you bring with you?"
Kievr pressed a paw to his face. It hadn't crossed his mind to prepare for an interview, much less an informal one. "I… bring a willingness to learn. And an interest in…"
"Making up an answer to appease me won't get you very far, I'm afraid," Sir Garen said gently. He leaned into his cane and looked down at Kievr with a stern eye. "I mean no offense when I say this, but you don't strike me as a historian. Matter of fact, you don't seem very sure why you're here at all."
Kievr was stunned. The old grass-type was clearly quite wise with people. It took him a second to gather himself and speak again. "That's… that's correct. I'm sorry."
Sir Garen waved him down. "No need to apologize. If Xavier has brought you here, then he has trust in you, and I have no reason to doubt your character. Why don't we start with a better question: what practical skills do you possess that you believe will help contribute to our organization?"
Kievr sat for a moment to really think about it. He had never had to sell his skillset before. The people he knew in Sasbara knew of his reputation as a reliable hand and never questioned him further.
Eventually he found his words and replied, "I have a knack for keeping items, small and large, organized. I worked for several years at a local library and I spent hours shuffling books around to make them easier to find."
He paused for a moment. "I have a keen eye for details and have been told I'm a quick learner because of it. And… I possess a penchant for making sure that tasks are not left incomplete or imprecisely done. It bothers me to no end when others refuse to finish their work, so I refuse to do the same."
The old Breloom smiled at Kievr. "Now that's a far better answer than trying to butter me up," he he praised. "With that in mind- shall we take a walk?"
He strolled to the door, the other two turning and following after him. They turned out of the lecture hall and back down the long gallery, past restored swords and shovels.
"This museum is wonderful, yes?" Garen asked. "To have the remnants of the old world within reach, and to witness how far we've come is truly a marvel. But what we do here is still delicate work. Every artifact and relic that comes to us is not a challenge, but a responsibility to preserve what came before with integrity. We question, and by questioning we learn and understand how precious our today is, and look towards the future."
"That's a rather grandiose speech," Kievr commented. To which Garen laughed, "I know. This place is a dream come true for me, and I'm happy that my life's work helped bring it to life. I apologize if I get caught up in the majesty of it."
"It really is incredible!" Xavier chimed in. "I remember the first time I came here; I got lost looking at everything for hours and nearly got locked inside with security. They still laugh at me for that…"
As they rounded a corner past a crowd, Garen spoke again. "What brings you to Paradicio, Kievr?"
"It's a long story," Kievr said with a bitter scoff. "I ended up moving out here with a very close friend of mine. We weren't nearly as prepared as we should have been. Frankly, I don't know why we left at all."
"Plenty of wanderers come to this city looking for change," Garen said. "It's quite renowned for being a bastion of opportunity. Perhaps your friend simply wanted something different from their life."
"I don't think that's it," Kievr disagreed. "He hadn't said anything about it before. To suddenly want to leave the town one night? To take nothing with us? It's all so… inexplicable."
Kievr looked down and away from the others. Tetris had a short attention span and flipped between motivations and wants every other hour, but moving halfway across the continent was on a new level. Kievr recalled that Tetris had always wanted to go traveling; perhaps this was the result of whimsy and stubbornness on his friend's part.
He was, at the very least, relieved that Tetris asked him to go as well. Kievr couldn't imagine his best and most trusted friend would just leave without telling him. Hindsight was simply proving to be much clearer than instinct right now.
Garen spoke softly, "Then maybe your friend isn't ready to tell you yet. You may need to give him time."
Kievr sighed. "At this point, time is all we have. But, thank you."
The old man smiled at Kievr with a bright warmth. "I'd hold on to that time, if I were you. Many folks here think they have all the time in the world to square things away. You'd be surprised just how quickly the sands run."
There was a brief flicker in his visage, and a faint sadness in his eyes. Kievr could see that much. He felt an urge to ask, but it wasn't his business to mind.
A moment passed and Garen came to a halt. Before the three of them sat a squat facade of a building with the word "Souvenirs" written in gold lettering across the glass above the door. Inside was an assortment of knickknacks, a handful of toys, a littering of informational books, and a bored employee that pretended to read something on a small piece of paper.
"Here we are. As much as I'd like it to, this museum cannot function off of good will alone," Garen admitted. "Thus the souvenirs. Since you don't have much experience handling artifacts, I'm willing to give you a position behind the counter at our gift shop."
"W-Wait!" Xavier piped up. "What about the archives? He could be pretty useful there!"
"I appreciate the recommendation, Xavier, I do," Garen said, "but I don't believe it would be a proper fit- for now, that is."
He turned back to Kievr. "The pay isn't phenomenal, and the benefits are slim, but it should be enough for you to get by, and find your footing in your new home. What say you?"
The Quilava nodded with no hesitation in his mind. Beggars can't be choosers, he needed a job and one was being offered to him. "I shall take it."
Garen smiled again. "Wonderful! Now, there are some forms we need to handle, but- oh dear, I just remembered."
The Breloom took a glance at the silver watch strapped to the side of his cane. "It appears I am now running late to the lecture I was supposed to give where we met. I'm terribly sorry. Why don't you drop by tomorrow and we can wrap this up then?"
He didn't wait for an answer and rushed off down the hall with an unexpected speed. Xavier opened his mouth to call after Garen, but quietly shut it and gave Kievr a sheepish smile. "Sorry you're getting stuck with the knickknacks. Everyone calls it the most boring thing you can do here. But hey- you've got a job now! I promise you won't regret it."
Kievr sighed again, a cold relief washing over him. "I have to thank you for bringing me along. I'm surprised I've made connections this soon, and I will be forever grateful for your help in that."
The Zoroark smiled back at his new friend. "T-That's really kind of you."
The pair began to walk again, headed to the exit just across from the gift shop. "Hey, since we've got time," Xavier said, "why don't I show you a few cool places I know?"
"I can't think of a reason why not," Kievr replied. But he quickly tuned out of Xavier's explanation of where they were going first. With his situation now settled, he wondered how Tetris was faring on the other side of the city.
A nagging idea sat in the back of his head in the form of a question: was Tetris not telling him the full story?