Chapter 5. A change of plans.
Hans finishes the upkeep needed on his property borders, wiping some of the grime and splintered pieces of fence from his hands. He takes a moment to look down the old fence line, noticing the patches of discolored replacement wood peppering throughout it. He looks up to see a dark grey sky, with the light becoming more and more bare by the minute as he realizes he has been outside for more hours than he thought. As he heads to his home to rest, he takes a peek inside the barn once more to see if Nathiqe needed anything else. He walks through the ruined entrance once more and turns the corner to see she has hardly moved from her original spot, her body breathing lightly as she rests.
"Well goodnight then." He says quietly as he leaves back for the house. What Hans didn't see is that her ears twitched, showing that she was listening and in fact still awake. She had heard the man wish her a sound sleep, making her feel a little more relaxed as she realized she would be alone without interruption. She lets out a long breath of air as she sits upright, being careful of her side. She looks around to find something to do with the little amount of time she has feeling awake and stands up to go find her feathered friend. As she passes by the stalls, she sees that the animals don't react to her as poorly as they have before. They did not back away in fear, but still kept a distance from her.
She looks into the bird's pen, but sees it is asleep with the rest of its brood, snuggled away warmly with its little eyes closed. She would like to bring it back with her, but it would probably be for the best if she didn't wake it up. As she sits back into her stall, she decides to pass some time by carving into the lower wall with her nails. It shouldn't be seen by Hans hopefully, and it should be easy enough to miss with the scale she is doing it at. She starts simple and carves what she remembers from various maps. She starts with little houses to represent the towns, then roads connecting them, rivers and streams, all the little things that make a province.
Once she connects several of the little homes, she decides to try some more familiar symbols. She starts with the mark of chaos, scratching in its several pointed sides, her claw getting stuck while drawing the last one, leaving it fittingly gashed and gnarly looking. She pulls away her finger and reflects some, wondering what she has actually gained from chaos. She did get quite a magnificent body to perform their deeds with. But she wonders what could have been if she had not been born as a beast. Maybe if she was born as a human her life would have clearer meaning. The thought frustrates her, making her wonder if chaos is the reason she finds herself in her current situation. Maybe she could have had a normal life in one of the cities if they had not influenced her birth.
The normal life of a person might have been what she wanted to fill this lack of better purpose. Without thinking, she carved it in a couple more times, now wondering if chaos even cared for her at all. When she was left bleeding out, they were nowhere to be found to aid her in what she thought were her last moments. No whispers of an afterlife, no promise of power for overcoming it. Only a silence that left her to die. Her thoughts of what purpose she has is interrupted by a yawn. Even though she has worked herself up, she knows she won't be up for much longer. Maybe she was just looking for someone or something to blame. She settles back in with the blanket and pillow given to her. Despite being on a wooden floor, these amenities made it some of the most comfortable rest she has had in a long time. She closes her eyes, knowing tomorrow she will wake up to Hans again most likely. A now pleasant thought she looked forward to.
Hans shot out of bed and readied himself, looking to make some progress in figuring out how to handle Nathiqe. He heads downstairs and stuffs his gob with bread and jam as he makes his way outside with fresh clothes on. He opens the door to see that today is mostly clear skies above, a good sign of what's to come he hopes. He enters through the ruined doors of the barn and makes it to Nathiqe's stall. He arrives to see she is already propped up and awake for today. She waves a hand at him and gestures for him to sit by her. As Hans crosses his legs, he gets ready to have some more conversations of interest with her.
"Morning, I see you woke yourself up today." "i don't always sleep so heavily. I was plagued with exhaustion that night." "Seemed like it."
They begin to pass the time with idle talk, but Nathiqe asked him something unexpected. "Could you help me to the river outside?" Hans was a little confused by this and asks quickly. "Whys that?" she began propping herself up as she answered. "I need to bathe. I don't like having my fur stick like this and the mud is making it worse." His mind does a double take. Does that mean she will be naked? Out in the open? The thought makes his mind jump. Before she can ask why his face looks so strange, he blurts out his answer. "Yeah sure, but let's make it quick, so that way no one will see you." he hopes she will accept that. "Don't worry about that. I can smell if anyone's coming from far away."
He agrees as he helps her make her way to the water, grabbing the bottle of cleaning gel he uses for the furred animals. As they make it to the river, he lets her go. She can stand now, with a slight struggle, however. "So do all beastmen bathe?" "Not really, most take pride in the smells they make, but I prefer this." She says as she readies herself. Before Hans can ask any other questions, she is stripping down entirely. He turns around quickly to avoid seeing anything. A part of Hans was hoping that she bathed with her armor on, like in the rumors of how dwarves do it.
After hearing the last piece fall to the ground, he could hear her joints cracking and she let out a satisfied sigh, along with aching groans. She must be stretching, he thought. Every fiber of his being was telling him not to, that he should not turn around no matter what. But the part of his brain he wish didn't exist told him one peak wouldn't hurt, while the other side screamed how he would be chewed out literally if he did. In the end, the sensible part of his mind kept him staring away from her, no matter how curious he got.
As Nathiqe finally let her limbs extend to their full length, despite her wounds protest, she let off a satisfied sigh. As the cracking ceased, she stepped into the cool water. Before she got any deeper, she put her armor in the water to hopefully wash off some of the grime and blood. She went deeper into the water but stopped to turn around to look at Hans. She expected him to stare like any from the herd would if they caught her here. She would have to sneak away from those animals around her to bathe, because if anyone saw her, they would spend the whole time watching, leaving her annoyed and having to make it quick.
The one time an ungor snuck up and actually put a hand on her nude form, she drowned him then and there, not letting go till the bubbles stopped and his neck was mangled. She expected the staring from Hans, and she felt like she would have to put up with it in exchange for the hospitality given. She didn't even mind as much since Hans has shown her generosity, but it would still bug her on some level. But when she looked back, he was looking away fully, not even so much as a creeping stare. Was he averting his gaze because he knew she wouldn't like it? maybe it was a societal thing. A part of her wondered if he thought she was disgusting, which made her feel an unknown discomfort she didn't understand. She wanted to know, so she asked.
"Why are you looking away? Is my form not appealing?" she said with little joy in the question. The man seemed to flinch a little. despite not seeing his face, she could tell he was uncomfortable. "No, it's uh, not that. I just thought you wouldn't, you know, want someone staring. That you might want um, privacy? I'm only staying nearby to help you back into the barn." He said while still turned around. She was surprised, surprised to know that he was trying to be respectful to her. But one thing she noticed was that he said her form was not a problem. She decided to have a little fun with him on this. "Oh? so you are saying you like my body?" she could see him tense up and had to keep her laughter inside as the man responded nervously. "Look, just bathe will ya? I don't think now is the time." She wanted to go further by asking when the right time for this would be, but she decided to just drop it and enjoy the somewhat privacy he is offering.
Overall, her mood was swell. She had someone giving her enough respect to give some privacy, even though she suspected he wants to look, and she had this strange gel to clean her fur with. it made her smell strangely sweet, and she was quite pleased with that. This was shaping up to be a great day for her as she soaks in the cool water. As she continued her washing, she made her way from top to bottom as she sat in the riverbed. She cleaned the mane of fur on her head, then made her way down her chest as she scrubs the various layers of muck off her body. She could see chunks of dirt falling into the water, making her feel more and more satisfied as the filth came off.
As she brushed over her nethers and down her muscled legs, she tried to get her back next. But as she reached for her it, she found a problem. She couldn't reach it without putting great strain on her stitches. Her stretch from earlier already put them in tense shape, but now she couldn't scrub the layer of mud off her back. She only had one idea on how to fix this, but she had a feeling it might not work. "Hans?" she said somewhat plainly. "What now?" he said sounding somewhat stressed. "I need your help. I can't get my back. Could you scrub it for me?" "Good one, just tell me when you're done." "I'm serious, my stitches feel like their gonna pop every time I reach for it." She said in an awkward tone.
He was having trouble processing this. She really needed help washing herself? It made sense to some extent, since she is injured, but he didn't want to believe it. He already had enough strange and conflicting thoughts for now, and this might be what pushes him over. He swallows hard and decides it's for the best. "fine" he says with little merit. "Thank you, your help is appreciated." The praise from her made it feel somewhat more worthwhile to do this. He turns around and makes his way over with a small bucket in hand from nearby. She has her back to him and he can see that her it is a mix of the colored fur and dry mud.
As he steps in the water and gets closer, he can see the curves of her breasts peaking around torso, making his body heat up in a way he wish it was not. He sits behind her, and as he sits, he realizes he was so absorbed that he soaked his clothes from sitting behind her. once he realized the alternative was being naked with her, he decided this was fine for now. "Hand me the gel please." He spoke quickly, wanting to get this done. She handed it to him over the shoulder somewhat slowly. "I thank you; I know this is strange." He waves a hand dismissively as he prepares. "Its fine, just didn't expect it is all." Inwardly though he was panicking. He had at most held hands with a woman, now he was washing the naked body of a beast woman. For the first time he actually wondered what his parents would say.
He fills the bucket and pours it down her back a few times. He runs his hand through her fur to help remove some of the chunks of mud and dirt from her frame. As he starts to rub the gel in, he can feel her shiver slightly as he starts to rub it in deeper. "You okay?" he asks with concern in his voice. "F-fine, just the cold water is all." She said hoping he would believe her. What made her shiver however was the feeling of his hands on her. Feeling a pair of soft hands run through her fur and rub into her muscles was perhaps one of the greatest feelings she has had. Never has someone touched her so gently with good intent. It was so nice she couldn't hide the shiver it caused, making her inwardly scold herself for not concealing it better.
In truth, every time his hands went through was utter bliss as they cleaned her. his nimble fingers working her fur down to the roots made her eyes close from sheer relaxation. She was glad he couldn't see her face, as it might look undignified in her current state. The way his hands worked her tensed back made her want to lay down then and there. "Alright, all the dirt's off. I'll go grab you something to dry off with. Just wait here for me." He said as he made his way out of the water. Internally she was disappointed it was over so quick but understood. "Thank you Hans. I'm glad you have helped me with this much already." She couldn't see it, but she could tell from his voice that his mood had been lifted. "It's no problem. Just don't ask me to wash your front next and we should be fine. "
She gave off a short laugh at the mans jest. As he got out of the water, he started taking deep breaths, trying to calm himself down both mentally and physically. Things felt like they were moving fast for him as he enters his house. He didn't think he would have to get that close to her so soon, but it happened. He didn't hate it either, which he found strange. He felt awkward and tense sure, but he also felt happy to help her, even at the cost of his own comfort. Maybe it was from being on his own for so long, but he felt himself being more excepting than he could have ever expected. He sees a spare towel in the kitchen and whisks it away back outside. As he makes his way back towards the river, he can see she has already donned her armor again, letting him sigh mentally at her now clothed form. He steps into the water and lets her rest her weight against him as he helps her back inside. The short journey there was comprised of mostly small grunts and words of encouragement to make it into the building.
Suddenly, Nathiqe starts to snort and sniff violently, her eyes locking onto the main path leading to Hans is property. Her ears are flared, and her face is aggressively scrunched. "what's wrong?" "I smell someone coming on horseback. I give it a few minutes before they arrive." Oh what the hell? Of all the times it had to be now he gets a visitor? He shudders to imagine if they had arrived a few minutes earlier to see his unholy acts of assistance. "Get in there and hide!" "Where?" she asks annoyed, not knowing the optimal strategy for such a sudden task. "Somewhere at the back, ill try to get them to leave, now get in there!" He inwardly cringes as he realizes he raised his voice harshly. But if she is seen, its gonna be a death sentence for the both of them. Her face hardens and she seems to not take well to being yelled at, but heads to the barns rear, intent on telling him off after. As she disappears into the building, he looks for something to do to look non conspicuous. He settles on trying to mend a hole in the side of his tool shed he somehow missed, probably from the storm.
After a minute of genuine thought on how to fix it, he hears the clopping of hooves rushing towards him. he looks up to observe the approaching form of a man atop a grim looking steed. Hans can feel himself going pale, realizing he recognizes the bald head atop that horse is none other than Jurgen, with a familiar crate on the back of the horse. If sigmar was watching over Hans, then he must despise his existence to send Jurgen here. As he pretends to be actually mending the wall, he does not even have to fake a surprised look when Jurgen parks his horse near Hans. As the priest dismounts, he grabs the abandoned egg crate as he walks over to Hans, his face surprisingly not angry. "Well good morning their sir, what can I help you with this fine day?" He says, hoping to get off on the right foot now that he is in such a precarious situation.
Jurgen only continues to stare with an almost blank expression. Suddenly the crate is tossed to the side, landing with a thud and small toss of dirt when it lands. Hans looks over to the crate, and back to the priest. "Ah, I see you found my lost egg crate. Thanks for bringing it back I suppose." His smile is barely on as he anxiously waits for Jurgen to actually say something. His best bet was just that he would scream at Hans about his sins and be on his way, but this silence was somehow worse. The visiting face seemed to be still thinking of what to say as his features seemed to only grow more bored. "I am… sorry." "Ehh?" what? The angriest soul he had ever met, who he had PAID to get covered in yoke, was apologizing? Hans is waiting for the punchline here, if any exist. "For what sir?" He asks hoping to gleam some light on this strange occurrence.
"For the words I said on that day." Jurgen says with a hint of annoyance. This felt a little surreal, hearing someone who he thought could never change, admitting fault on something he has seen them being completely unchanged by before. "I have been doing some thinking lately. About your family." (Aw hell) The young man thinks loudly. "As I sat in my chamber, cleaning your mess, I wondered what your family would think." "I think they would tell you to piss off is what would be said." He could see the preachers face stay still, but his hands clenched with great frustration. "Admittedly… that was what I thought would be said as well." "What are you getting at?" He asks as his patience is becoming thinner by the word, almost like the personalities are being switched. "After "calming down" from the incident, I was left with lots of time to think. They wouldn't let me leave the church till the next day, worried what might happen if I tried to find you."
That was ominous. "But it was the first time in a long time I was able to sit and… think about how things used to be." The man's face softened slightly, dawning a look of almost sympathy. "I remembered seeing everyone at the church, the sense of community." His gaze focuses on Hans, making the young man slightly uncomfortable. "And you, as a small child, most likely sleeping during my sermons. But I have a fond feeling of those memories." "What's this got to do with my missing crate?" "WILL YOU SHUT UP AND LISTEN?!" The yelling he had been familiar with had returned, not that he wanted it to. Jurgen takes another deep breath, trying to compose himself enough to get this message forced out. "What I'm saying Hans, is that I hold a good deal of respect for your family. I'm only apologizing for my words because I feel it does right by them. Don't think I have forgotten your stunt with those eggs."
His older face now scowling. "Your father was a good man, and your mothers' souls was kind. That is all. I feel it's the least I could do for them to make peace with their…subpar kin. If I catch you trying to pull another stunt like that, well…" He look back towards Hans is home. "It would take a long time for them to come check in if you didn't come to town. But it would be too late by then to find anything." Han's blood felt cold, his posture tensing was seen by the priest. "Is that a threat Mr man of sigmar?" "it's only an observation, one I hope you take to heart. Now if you don't mind, I must…" Jurgen's attention is focused on the destroyed barn doors, his face looking confused. "What happened to your barn?" He says as he makes his way over there.
Shit, need to think fast to keep him away from there! "It was that storm the other night, falling tree broke right through. Got rid of the tree and just need to patch her up." He was worried about pulling the, its nothing, get off my property card, because it may lead to further suspicion and could lead to Jurgen calling the guards out here for investigation if he tries hard enough. "I don't think a tree did this Hans." As Jurgen stood at the broken entrance, he notices the red splats dotting the doors. Han's heart starts to pound as he realizes he forgot to clean them off. While he cleared the mess off the floor, the door part completely slipped his mind. "What is the meaning of this?" the priests voice taking a tone of caution rather than assumed anger. What to say, what to do? He needs to think of something fast. "Look Jurgen, I have not been completely honest with you."
As he finishes the sentence, he sees Jurgen reaching for something in his cloak, making him panic. "What I mean is… I was drunk alright?" His gaze becomes agitated as he looks at Hans like a village fool. "What is that supposed to mean?" Hoo boy, time to see if this works. "Well, I got drunk the night of the storm you see. I sort of passed out in the middle of the day, and left my poor cow outside, getting soaked. Poor girl got scared by the thunder and barged her way right in, leaving that little mess behind." He gestures to the door and the splats of dried blood on it. Jurgen raises a brow of skepticism as he walks inside of the damaged structure. As they walk by several of the stalls, Hans looks around worriedly, trying to see if Nathiqe is in eyesight. But as he looks at all the stalls and peers at the upper level of the barn, he sees no sign of her.
He inwardly sighs as he continues walking down the isle with Jurgen. They arrive at the second to last stall and see the bovine in question. The large beast of burden is munching on the scattered hay in her stall, paying them little mind. Her brown fur is a close match to the dusty environment around her as she sits and eats all day. The pastor examines her, noting how she does have some scar damage scattered on her side, a jagged looking cut must have struck her there more than once.
Hans loved that cow, she is a real sweetheart, but by the gods is she dopey sometimes. He has tended to many wounds like that, leaving behind numerous scars from her simply bumping into things too hard. He lucks out as the priest seems to make this connection that she could have actually broken down the doors. "I see. You should take better care of your animals." While Hans would rather tell off the man, he needs him out of here ASAP. "Yeah, I've been trying too." He says casually as he leans against the wall of the stall previously holding Nathiqe. As he watches Jurgen leave, he looks into the stall, taking an extra look to make sure she is still not in there somehow.
The mental sigh of relief he would normally feel at seeing nothing, dies in his throat as he sees small carving in the lower wall he has no memories of being there. As he narrows his eyes to get a better look, his mind fills with one feeling as he realizes what those carved symbols are. Fear. Knowing how close Jurgen was to seeing chaos symbols of any kind on his property filled him with fear. Even if he could convince the old man that he had no part with them, it would still bring an investigation by the authorities. He knew his odds would be poor against them as his ability to lie was awful at best, the fact he has gotten this far with it shocks him. He follows the exiting priest, glad he turned around when he did to leave. Hans also sees some small map like drawings around it, which give him random thoughts of Nathiqe planning some kind of grand corruption scheme, using his property as a base of operations.
Would she actually do that? He ignores it for now and follows Jurgen out, trying to keep his shaking to a minimum and trying to figure what the hell Nathiqe is trying to do. Jurgen quickly straddles the horse, more than intent on leaving this place he holds in great distaste. "Have a safe ride back sir." Hans says weakly as he tries to force out his last bit of hospitality to the uninvited guest. "Yes yes, and a pleasant day to you as well, Hans." He says his name venomously as he grabs the reins and guides his horse away. With a kick and a whinny, the man and his steed are speeding off into the forested path back to town, leaving Hans to slump against the wall of his barn. He lets off a frustrated sigh as he tries to ease his nerves for the next confrontation he must have with Nathiqe.
As the older man of sigmar rides off back to town, he ponders what he has seen today. He has never seen Hans so stressed about something before, and to be embarrassed about being drunk would be rich considering some of the things he has seen the man do in his youth. He wonders what it is he missed, or if he even missed anything at all. What he knows for sure however, is to keep an eye on that outcast. A man in isolation away from the population has never led to anything good in his life. He pauses his pondering to lash the horse once more, making him pick up greater speed for his journey back.
"Nathiqe? You still in here? Its safe to come out now" once he is sure the priest is gone, he calls into the echoing building to try and find the beast hidden inside. He walks back into her stall, and before he can call for her again, he sees the hay pile rustle. He sees it rustle further, and out pokes Nathiqe's head, her now revealed eyes scanning to make sure its safe. "It's clear?" She asks in a dead serious tone. "Yeah, our guest is gone now." She sighs and let's off a relieved grunt as she emerges from the hay pile. Standing back at her full height, she looks down at Hans is worried face, and is wondering why he would look gloom if they avoided the danger already. She wanted to scold him for raising his voice, but she felt this was more urgent, to make sure he was fine.
"What's wrong?" He rubs his arm nervously, before looking up to stare at her directly with a stressed look on his face. Before he can ask questions, he is distracted by the glimmer in her eyes. They looked… calming to him. He quickly shakes it off when he realizes she is still waiting for an answer. "Care to explain those?" he gestures to the poorly made chaos symbols on the wall, her eyes widening once she sees them. She can tell this distresses Hans, but she does not know why. "I was scrawling to help distract myself. Is that a problem?" she asked warily. "A problem?! Yes they are a problem! If that windbag had seen this, they would have burnt this place to the ground!" He all but shouted at her. She wanted to recoil at the sudden outburst, but her demeanor stayed still as she tried to stay stern. But inwardly, she was getting worried. "I didn't know you could get in trouble for that!" she all but yelled back, a natural reaction she had learned when being challenged vocally that she hopes still works now.
"Oh, you didn't know? Well let me tell you!" He walks over to her wall art, rearing his leg back as he swings it forward. Nathiqe winces a little as the mans foot lodges itself in the wall with a loud snap of the planks. He withdraws his foot and walks outside frustrated. He returns with some small planks and a hammer to fix the damage. As he hurriedly covers the spot with the impromptu repair. They both sit in silence, thinking to themselves of what to say next. Nathiqe wonders if she should apologize for her actions. Even though she had no way of knowing, maybe it would just make it easier to admit fault.
Hans was in a similar boat. As he nails in the replacement planks, he realizes that she had no real way of knowing. Maybe the yelling was just, because it could have ended their lives, and he needed to stress that point. He couldn't feel just telling himself it was necessary, realizing that he has been in that situation before, and it really was no fun when you were being blamed for something you had no real awareness of. His anger and fear got the better of him here, and now all he is left with is a creeping feeling of regret. He can't remember the last time he yelled at someone, and it felt off to do so in general.
They both sigh, not noticing the other preparing to speak. "I'm sorr- ""it was my mis- "They both stop when they realize they are talking over each other. Hans gestures for her to go first. "I'm sorry Hans, I didn't realize it would be a problem." "Its not your fault, I shouldn't have shouted." He says dismissively as he nears the end of his repair. "Is it really that much of an issue here?" He turns around with an exaggeratedly raised brow. "Really?" she shows no sign of joking, so he tries to explain it. "People are scared of chaos. So much so, that its considered heresy to own things related to it usually. That man who was just here was with the church. If he saw so much as one of those, this place would be crawling with witch hunters, and I would probably never been seen again."
That surprised her, considering her previous home was littered with the corrupted imagery of the gods she fought for previously. It made sense; she guesses. If someone came in with one of the banners of the empire, they would probably get eaten alive in the herd. "I didn't realize." "I know you didn't." With a sympathetic tone. "what's the deal with the map you scribbled on there? You're not… trying to plot some course are you?" He really didn't have the mental energy to ask that one carefully at this point. "Like I said, I was just scribbling stuff I remember. Maps where one of the few things I could read without a disturbance." "What do you mean by that?" "If it wasn't something that could help the herd, it would usually get stolen, or thrown into a fire." "That's strange. So, what, like books and stuff similar to that?" "Mostly, yeah." "Strange."
Before he can question further, he realizes that the repair is finished. It looks shoddy, but at least it won't get him thrown in jail. A poor patch job is much less illegal than the previous drawings. But now Hans had another dilemma he needed to sort. Jurgen was mere feet away from Nathiqe, only a moment away from accidentally stumbling upon her. He couldn't keep her in the barn, it was literally wide open. He needed to think of somewhere else to hide her. His first thought is of the tool shed. He realizes quickly that that might actually be worse, seeing as how he has had thieves break into there in the past. Who knows what would happen if petty thieves were to break in and find a beastwoman being harbored inside? Before long, he comes to one dreaded conclusion. The safest thing in terms of keeping her hidden, would be to offer her refuge in his home.
He turns to her, trying to figure out how to put this as normally as possible. "Nathiqe. If you stay in here, I'm worried that if you stay here, you might get caught. Which is a death sentence for both of us." Nathiqe listened to his words attentively, jumping to a conclusion that was obvious for her. She feels a twinge of grief as she assumes this is where they will separate. She was hoping to stay longer and learn more of the world outside the herd. She also wanted to spend more time with Hans, the one who saved her life, and let her gleam into the world she had been interested in for so long. She tries to shake off these feelings, forcing them out as best she can as she grabs what few things she brought with her. "I think I understand." "You do?"
In truth, Hans is glad she was so open to the idea. She slouches down slightly to give the man a hug, tightening it as much as she can without hurting him. "You have been a savoir till this point, and I won't forget that ever. I hope we may meet again under better conditions." The young mans brow furrows in confusion at these words. "What do you mean?" She withdraws from the hug to look down at him, with a similar expression of confusion. "I thought you were telling me to leave, as to not get you into any further trouble." His eyes widen with realization. "What? No, no, no, I was offering you to come live in one of the spare rooms at the house. I wouldn't force someone out who is injured and needs help!"
It takes a moment for her to process this information. Then another moment, and one more before she realizes what is happening. "OH!" The young man can't help but to laugh at the sudden realization. "Man, you were getting ready to leave and everything! Do you really hate it here that much?" He says in jest. Nathiqe is feeling a little more than embarrassed right now. But also incredibly relived that she is being offered even further hospitality and further chances to learn more of this new environment she finds herself in. "I just thought that you had done enough for me. I never would have expected such… generosity." The awkward feeling of misinterpreting the situation and having to admit that showed as she grabs her arm nervously. As the man's short burst of laughter ends, he gestures for her to follow. "Need my help this time?" "No, I think I'm warmed up enough to walk for now."
As they exit the Barn, she takes time to actually analyze the environment she is in. The canopy above her was thicker than she was used to, letting only patches of the clear sky come through. She does not get long to admire as they reach the front door, which Hans opens after a short struggle with his keys. As the door opens, he gestures widely to the contents within. "Hope it isn't too cramped for you." Her head nearly hits the door frame, forcing her to crouch slightly to enter inside. She immediately notices its warmer in here, which she guesses is from the fire burning at center of the room, with various metal containers resting above it. She spots a great many things she normally wouldn't notice when entering a house under… more intense circumstances. She sees the kitchen at the back and makes her way over before Hans notices she stopped following. As she stands amongst the appliances, she sees several different colored and sized plants hanging around the place.
She grabs a small oddly shaped white one. She gives it a test sniff, liking the odd scent it gives off. She takes a bite and starts to chew. Hans quickly follows her in to see what she's doing. "What you got there?" She turns around with the now munched plant in her hand, taking more bites as she realizes it's a taste she enjoys. "I'm not sure, but it tastes good." The young man's eyes are wincing in concern, and slight disgust. "That's a clove of garlic." "Garlic huh?" "You're supposed to chop it up and mix it with stuff, not just…" As she finishes it with a final bite, she seems unfazed by the information given. "You do you, I suppose." She reaches for another random spice before Hans stops her with a hand on her arm. "Before you raid my entire pantry, lets get you settled in upstairs, yeah?"
She nods affirmatively before putting the spice back, intent on tasting it when Hans was not looking. "Are you sure you have somewhere I can sleep?" "I believe I do, actually." As they go upstairs, Nathiqe must crouch once more to fit. Before ascending, she notices a large amounts of weapon and armor mounted on the wall, reminding her of her previous home. Some of the banners and insignia she recognized before disappearing upstairs with Hans. As they move down the hall, she is left perplexed by the various landscape she sees in the mounted paintings. "This here is my room." He gestures to the first door on the left. She reaches for the handle to peek inside but is stopped once more by the man.
"I'll give you a full tour later but let's get you to yours first." She wanted to see what his living situation was like, but she could wait a little longer she supposed. There was three doors on the right side of the hall, and two on the left, one being Hans is room. He guides her to the second one on the left past his, and ushers her in before him. The room was rather large both in height and width. In the left corner rested a large bed, big enough for her she realized. It had a desk and window against the middle of the back wall, shining down on it ever so subtly. She saw various other things like a chest, a mounted metal helmet, and the one that caught her attention the most was of the bookcase full of different colored book spines. There was also a small dusty dresser in the corner.
This room seems like a luxury to her, but it begs the question of why this one isn't Hans is room. "This room seems grand, why don't you live in here?" Hans eyes shift away slightly, a personal sign of discomfort for him. "This was my parents' room." He pauses the explanation to continue gazing at the various objects around the room, bringing back many memories of his. "I never felt like taking it. Besides, just means I have a bed available for someone of your stature." "Why did they have such a big bed?" "My father was a big man, almost as big as you I'd say." "Really?!" She was shocked to hear a statement like that. It was rare for humans to grow larger than someone of even Hans is stature. The thought of meeting such a large human gave her a strange sense of dread, knowing that her physical advantage couldn't even be guaranteed against humans if this was true.
Hans looks at her with concern, worried that she didn't get that it was joke. True, his father was massive, but Nathiqe would still put the man to shame in comparison. "Anyway, I'll let you get settled in. Once you finish putting things how you want, come to my room and I'll show you some of the other things in this house." Before she can respond, he is already out the door in a hurry. She sits there, ears drooped slightly at the abrupt cut off. She can hear him in the hall and hears him mutter something quietly. "Hate it in there." She wonders what reason he could have to hate, in her opinion, a wonderful room. Right now, however, she should settle in like he said, and get her things sorted. She sits on the bed, savoring the soft feeling of it against her. Truly, she lucked out in finding this place, she thinks to herself as she unintentionally begins to nap on the new addicting surface.