Back to ze past

"I wont." Evelyn asked. "But don't worry, I'm not going to go all crazy and kill myself or anyone else. I'm fine." She nudged him playfully.

"You're insane." He responded with spomething of a grin, before looking a llittle worried again. "It gets a little quiet up here, is all. And well, you've been stuck up here every single day since we moved here. It's a little... I don't know. I worry."

"Well don't." Evelyn told him. "If you need to worry about someone, worry about Mori. The man is going mad stuck in the simple life."

"Yes. Yes he is. You know, he's going to just be gone one morning and nobody will know where he went. He'll be off chasing chickens with a sword out or something." Rhun smiled slightly. "I can't blame him though, what was he before? Soldier? I mean, even back in, you know, Japan, village life wasn't exactly... Like this." He said and gestured out. It was ridiculously serene and calm, and the most horrifying thing that had happened thus far was probably a storm.

"I quite like it." Evelyn said. "I like that I don't feel like I may die every day."

"Which is what he misses." Rhun supplied. "I'm... I don't know. I don't mind it. It's a little boring after everything though, like we could be doing so much other stuff, and we're here instead. In a nice fancy house with big walls."

"What would you rather do?" Evelyn asked him.

"I don't know, just we're in the middle of nowhere, and everything is exactly the same as it was the day before, and it's a little... Tedious." He shrugged. "I know I'm kind of hopeless with, well, things that aren't in books, but I still wonder about things going diffferently."

Evelyn sighed. "I guess and it does seem to have had a funny reaction to Alexander..."

"Really does. Have you seen him today?" He asked, glancing over his shoulder. "I don't even know what he's up to half of the time now."

"He sort of just walks around, staring at people." Evelyn said with a small sigh.

By now Elizabeth had grasped most of Mori's moods. She knew when he got angry or irritated his hand would grasp and imaginary sword at his side as he rubbed his forehead, or how when he was tired he tended to mutter rather than raise his voice. When he was sad he tended to hide or how when his daughter was near he got a small skip on his step. She loved nothing more than seeing him around Victoria. They had both given up much for this life. Mori, his beloved land and need to fight . She had given up her adventure and the rest. As much as it was comforting to know that the next meal would always be there and the clothes would never not fit, she knew that everyone old enough to remember missed the sense of mystery and danger that came with each day. Living the fancy life had changed them all, but none quite so much as her youngest son.
Alexander had become withdrawn almost to the point of hauntingly so. He bearly spoke but always listened. He would do what he was told without so much as a complaint. He never hung around one person too long, preferring his own company. At night, however it was said voices could be heard coming from his room. This prompted the staff to begin rumours that maybe this giant old house was the cafe for one old and vengeful spirit, perhaps more.
The lords and ladies of the house dismissed this. They had seen hauntings, as well as possessions and this just did not seem so.

Mori, having been the Lord of the Kurohyou's right hand man, was more than used to the life of luxury. Last time he had been in this kind of living situation it had been during countless wars and battles and he had been dealing with the duties of bodyguard to the royal family and the time-consuming task of training the warriors. Now, though, he had little else to do than occasionally talk to the villagers that lived around them and deal with incredibly petty problems, maybe a little paperwork, send some letters. And that was it. This meant he had far more time to dedicate to shadow-sparring (even if it was sorely lacking in comparison to a real fight) and simply paying attention to the people around him.

Elizabeth, he knew, was happy. Even if it wasn't quite the adventure of a life she had set out for to begin with. Victoria was a constant delight for him, and he could go from furious to entirely calmed in seconds if he had some time to spend with his daughter. He had sworn to himself that this time he would get it right, that he wouldn't lose her to anyone, and he was going to make good on that if it killed him. Rhun had settled in and all but lost the problematic attitude that had been developing during the constantly threatened lifestyle they had been faced with, and Evelyn... Well, she could definitely be doing worse. His failure to protect someone in his own family grated on his nerves constantly, and Alexander only made him more concerned.

He was quiet and subdued, and devoid of, well, anything. He never acted up, never argued, never set a toe out of line, but he never sprang to any activity either. It was like he was on autopilot, and that was just as alarming to Mori as any possesion could have been. Not that he gave the rumors even a moment's care. He was a demon himself - he figured he would know if there was a demonic intruder in their house.

Still, he couldn't help but watch Alexander carefully as they sat around the dinner table - Natalie talking animatedly with the other serving staff as she walked around, putting out food and pouring wine into glasses - which Mori conssistantly refused every night. "What were you doing today, I didn't see you around the house." He asked the boy, reaching for a piece of bread and absently tearing it in half. "You shouldn't spend every day shut up in your room."

Alexander reached over and took some bread, which he took care and time to butter. He looked at Mori as he took a calculated bite put of the right corner. He had been watching the gardener a tend to the rose bushes outside. But he wouldn't tell Mori that. The man held enough suspicions and worries as it was. "I played with my shoulders." He told him simply as he reached for some peas.

On the other end of the table, Evelyn was enduring another of her mothers lectures about not writing at the table. The girl had taken to writing in her note pad whenever the mood struck. This annoyed her mother to no end, especially when it happened at the dinner table. 'Dinner is a family affair.' She would say. 'Not a time to be engrossed in another word. Wait till after our meal.'
Victoria found this amusing, even though she had yet to learn what the noises coming from the adults mouths ment. Whenever she witnessed this argument she would laugh out loud, spitting whatever was in her mouth all over her mothers dress. This in turn caused the maids to have mild heart attacks, but Elizabeth would just sigh. Living in the conditions she had been in for so long had caused a little smudge on her dress to be the least of her worries. Thus the maids had taken to checking their ladies clothes before she took company or left the house.

"Maybe you should start studying with Rhun." He suggested casually, "You're at an age where you should start paying more attention to these kinds of things. You're starting up lessons when the tutor is back." He added as he took a drink from his glass of water, trying to keep the smile of his face when he heard Victoria's delighted giggles (and Elizabeth's sigh) meaning that a good portion of peas and potato were now on her dress. He'd probably get told off for encouraging it, but really, whatever made her laugh like that was worth it. She was such a happy child.

"If she's going to write here, I should be able to read here." Rhun said, adding to the discussion-gone-light-argument. "I've got a whole four more volumes to cover before Selwyn is back, and it's not like dinner is important or anything, I mean, it's just us." He pointed out lightly, pushing some peas around his plate and focusing intently on that instead of his mother's face. "It's not like there's anyone to impress or anything and frankly, it's productive to be writing and reading. I thought you'd be all for that."

Alexander began to eat slowly, his eyes never leaving Mori but never adding anything to the conversation either. This man who he held no true relation too used his relationship with Alex's mother as a way of controlling the rest of them. He even appeared to take delight in it. His father had spoken to him about this. His father had pointed out the mans flaws and his overbearing need to be apart of the larger family. His father had warned him away from showing any anger but to still hold onto it. His father said that anger was the most powerful emotion and should never be let go.

Elizabeth turned and pointed the spoon she was using to feed Victoria at her eldest son. "You are not reading." She warned. "You will leave your literacy cravings till food is no longer present. I will not have you staining those beautiful books with your sloppy eating." She now moved the spoon between the two if them. "You will be social. You will speak with your family and Lord help me, you will enjoy it." She turned back to her daughter to try and add more food to her mouth. Her task was doomed for failure as Victoria was now laughing madly, so madly in fact that she was wriggling in her chair.

Rhun snorted inelegantly and shrugged, resigning himself to the monotony of being so far away from the library - food was standing between him and study, and that, that was infuriating. He'd eat in the library if he could get away with it, but both his mother and his tutor - Selwyn - would lose their collective composure. Mori probably wouldn't care though, the man had about as much care for books as he did for gardening. It just was the furthest thing away from his interests.

"Technically, we are talking right now. It's not exactly the most enjoyable, but-" He cut himself off when Victoria's squeals of glee seemed to win out his mother's concentration, and he shot a bemused smile at his sister.

Sighing, Mori turned back to his meal. He just didn't know what to do with Alex. it'd be easier if he had some kind of emotional indicator, but he was a completely blank slate, and as good as Mori was at picking up subconscious actions and behaviors aand all kinds of indicators from a lifetime of vigilance, he couldn't get a single thing out of Alexander's face, posture, anything. He'd have to have another talk with Elizabeth, it was getting way out of hand.

Elizabeth looked over at Mori was a sad and knowing smile. She soon turned back to her young daughter, who had currently found amusement in pulling faces at her brother from across a few seats. Elizabeth gave up feeding the young girl, instead letting the girl gave control over her plate. Most of the food would end up on the floor, but at least Victoria would try eating it.

Evelyn used this distraction to place her notebook on her lap and begin scribbling again.

The moment he was done with dinner, Mori rose from the table, glanced for a moment at Elizabeth with something of a worried frown, and then muttered something about 'work to finish', like that explained his sudden change in demenour, and headed directly up the stairs. The sound of a door closing was audible overhead. Rhun raised an eyebrow and pointedly stood up himself. "On that note, I'm going to go to the library, see if I can get at least one volume finished tonight. It's so close." He said thoughtfully, and wandered off, mind already completely refocused on the book he was heading towards.

Natalie was chatting away, animatedly as ever, as she started tidying up the table, the other kitchen maid only giving her the vaguest of responses - clearly trying to listen in for any gossip - and was growing steadily more irritated when Natalie's endless chatter covered up everything that Mori has said.

Upstairs, Mori had dropped down into the lounge in their private rooms, fingers tapping an inaudible tune on the arm of the chair as he fixed a stare at the curtained window across the room. It was bugging him more than he had been letting on, and the worst part was that he couldn't even put a finger on just what it was about the way Alexander was acting that had him so overly concerned. Something was wrong though, seriously... And he just couldn't figure it out.

Evelyn smiled at her mother, who knew what was coming. She excused her daughter with a wave of her hand and watched as the girl ran off with a grin in place. Her notebook was already on her hand. It never failed to surprise the lady of the house how her daughter managed to write while on the move, twisting btween servants and furniture with ease.

Elizabeth looked back at her youngest while she waited for her to stop eating. Behind her she could hear Charles quietly berating Natilie for her chattering during the masters meal.
It wasn't long before Victoria decided that her meal was well and truly done. Elizabeth cast an apologetic smile at the staff as she removed the child from her chair and carried her from the room, fully intent on cleaning her up before bedtime.

Once his family had all left the table, Alexander stayed back and tidied up the plates before leaving to return to his room without so much as a look behind him. He generally did this. He was always first to arrive and last to leave. He would always collect the plates and leave them in a neat pile on the right corner at the head of the table before leaving. He would never say a word unless prompted and for the most part would just stare as he either waited or left the room.

---------

Later that night, right after getting her now clean indent to sleep did Elizabeth allow herself to go to Mori's side. She noticed him sitting in his chair and walked over to him instinctively. One thing she knew for sure is that he was worried. That he was concerned and she only needed one guess to know who it was.
Slowly, so not to scare him Elizabeth reached over the back of his chair and hugged his shoulders. She placed her head beside his and placed a gentle kiss to his neck. "It's just a phase." She told him quietly. "He never did handle change well and he has been through so much..."

"He's not the first kid I've seen go through a 'phase'." Mori said, words just pointed enough to make sure the message got across as he sighed, a hand reaching up to his face, fingers pinching the bridge of his nose. Etsuko hasn't just snapped; something had gone wrong, and he just hadn't seen it fast enough. He wasn't going to let a shift in behavior, in attitude, go without mention again, not after that.

"She had gone through a lot, too." He said slowly. "And-" He stopped, fingers tapping incessantly again at the arm of the chair, eyes drifting back to the wall. "Well. It didn't take much, and I thought it was just a difficult period of time, and..."

Climbing up the pipe Tosh paused on a small landing and gave the air a tentative sniff before stopping to resecure his bundle. Mice were tiny, but dexterious, so tying knots even in this form was easy. Safe in the knowledge that his cargo wouldn't be lost, he climbed the rest of the distance before slipping in through the last window.

Safely inside, he felt safe enough to switch forms, scuttling to the door to check the coast was clear, before crossing the hall and slipping inside the dark room where Alex was.
Without a word he set his bundle beside the other and sat on the floor at his feet, he was still covered in dirt from his little adventure, but he had plenty of time to clean up later, when Alexander no longer required him.

---

With matching looks of glee the twins happily stepped onto the doorstep and raised their hands in sync, knocking twice and stepping back.

Elizabeth moved quickly as she moved around the chair to face him now. She placed her hands on his legs as she tried to meet his eyes. "What ever happened back then was not your fault." She told him. "You mustn't let it haunt you so. We must make mistakes to learn from them, but you were not the only one at fault. As I recall your child had two parents, did she not? And if the man I see before me was even half the father I know him to be then no matter what he had done to help, it wouldn't have changed much." She spoke softly.

---

Alexander just looked at the boy, his face giving nothing away. He had no use of a shadow. His father had told him so. Though, the father had also told him that a shadow could come in handy when hiding away from suspicious eyes.

"I just worry that it's happening again. Elizabeth, something just... Maybe it's just me. Maybe you're right, but... Well, something just feels really off. I don't like it. I don't want to be responsible for the same kind of thing happening twice. He's so distant all the time, and it's just not right." He said wearily, glancing at her and grimacing lightly, "I'm not sure what to do now."

---

"Isn't it getting a little late for-- Oh, oh, I'm so sorry." Natalie exclaimed when the reason for the knock at the door didn't turn out to be the larder servant. "But, you know, I mean, it's after dinner, and the Lord and Lady have already retired to their rooms, and maybe it's not the best... The best time for... Can I help you?"

Charles cleared his throat in all politeness from behind the maid. He was tasked with the job of answering the doors and really, this woman did get away with far more than should be allowed.

---

"Well, what can we do?" Elizabeth asked. "I mean, any idea will be welcome. The boy accepts nothing. Not praise, not affection he barely accepts a good scolding."