Rex shook his head frantically, coming out of the shadows a bit. "N-No, it's fine," he said. "You're our guest. M-Make yourself at home." Rex paused. "I can recommend books, if you'd like."

Allie grinned. "Thank you! I'd love to hear your recommendations. I've been looking for a really good book, but I want to make sure I'm not wasting my time with it. I want it to be an enjoyable experience, you know?"

"Well, it's nice to meet you all. I guess I'll just..." Ruko spoke quietly, but noticed that the room was emptying quite quickly. Both girls and boys were walking off elsewhere, probably to explore the house or speak with the others.

"...Did I even make an impression? Ah, well. I'll just wait for the others to leave." Sitting down in a chair in the corner, he thought a bit about Marlix, who had reappeared fully clothed sometime during the introductions, it would seem. He hope that his brother wasn't too embarrassed. Besides, the skirt was actually kind of a nice design...right?

Rex swung his legs off the side of the shelves. "Is there a certain genre you like?" he asked. "O-Or authors? We have many books from different parts of the world."

Marlix was currently in the kitchen, eating Rex's stash of snacks. Payback never tasted so good.

Rex was silent for a moment. "You know my name," he said. "And you're Allie, right?" He had never been good with names. Something swooped through his window: a falcon. The raptor landed on Rex's shoulder. "Oh, Allie, meet my friend Hayabusa."

"Oh, I love all kinds of books, really. Even scary ones!" Allie grinned shyly, scratching her head in embarrassment for getting so excited. "Yes, I am Allie." She gasped in surprise when the beautiful raptor landed on his shoulder. Resisting the urge to pet the bird, she spoke softly, "Wow. How gorgeous."

Rex didn't want to come down just yet. He was still quite shy. "We have everything from fantasy to horror," he said. "Plays by Shakespeare, and other writers." Hayabusa flew from Rex's shoulder to a small tree in a large pot. "He's my best friend. We had dogs once, but they died when I was younger. Good and faithful, each and every one."

He brought his legs up, tucking his knees to his chest. "I'm sorry you were chosen to come here."

Lies. The Voice snorted. Rex held his temple, closing his eyes.

Shut up. Go away for a bit.

"Go away"? The Voice laughed. Stupid boy. I can't leave you. I'm as much a part of you as your heart.

Allie's face fell for a moment as she remembered what they had been sent here for. But it soon changed back into her kind smile. "No, don't feel bad. It wasn't your doing. It was the townspeople, offering us up to you like princesses to dragons. Did they think that you'd do what you wanted with us and then all of their problems would go away? There's no way that you guys are murderers, or whatever they're blaming you for. Sure you guys seem different, but I just don't believe in all of those rumors."

Nina listened to Val as he spoke about how it paid off some days to take care of the rowdy bunch of boys. Nina didn't see it. If they weren't flirty, they were obnoxious. Much more like annoyances than someone a butler took care of. Nina doubted that they were usually this 'tame' from what Val said about them. Out of the frying pan and into the fire... Nina thought as she watched the group start to disperse. "Ah! Yes, the uniform..." she'd have to think quickly to make sure he didn't find out she'd been lying to him, but hopefully he wouldn't request to measure her. It sounded like they had uniforms already made on hand. When she caught up to Val, and she was out of the boy's earshot, "there's no way that they're stuck in this castle for no reason... why are they here?" Nina never did like to beat around the bush much, she was direct and would prefer answers quickly than trying to figure it out along the way.

"The young masters?" Val continued up the stairs to the next floor as he answered. "They're here for exactly the reason you think they are. In a way, it's not that different from why you are all here, I would say." Upon reaching the first landing, he turned down a long hallway. Various paintings hung from certain places on the walls, but plenty of space was still left empty between them. "Eventually, we may need to have something custom made, but I think that we are fortunate enough to still have some uniforms in your size in storage. Your frame, though... Hmm... Well, let's see how these work first, then we can make other plans. We still have other things to take care of, after all." Turning down another, less decorated hallway, the cheerful butler eventually found a plain-looking locked door. Producing the key, he opened it and walked into room with a few large cabinets. Opening one, he began to rummage through the various fabrics visible in there.

"Are there many servants here? So far I've only seen you working here." Nina asked, removing the jacket and laying in down carefully on the chair. "It is hard to fit me some days, but usually it's not difficult despite what you'd think. Even then, I can manage with unfitting clothes until we can do better. Tis better than staying in my current ones. I'm afraid that even if I were to mend them it would take time and these aren't acceptable right now." Nina still puzzled about his statement about why they were there. She didn't know anyone that could be that intentionally cryptic, but maybe there was more than that the boys were all murderers. "Ah, what were you planning on making for dinner?"

"There are some things," Rex murmured quietly, "that are beyond our control. For my brothers and I, it's what we are." His hand slipped to his shoulder blade, feeling the rose marking on his body.

After finishing off all of Rex's snacks, Max got up, stretching and decided to go find Val. He remembered something about getting the new butler a suit, so he head in the general direction of where they kept the extra clothes. He wondered if anyone else knew that the new "Butler" was a girl. He shrugged to himself, not really caring in general, but still curious

I spent all of this time watching the others, and wondering to myself how I could possibly escape this predicament. Such an odd one, too. The personalities of the boys were so horrifically unexpected that my composure withered away almost immediately, and I was left in a puzzled, albeit mildly curious state. As they all began to disperse, I pondered the purpose of my being here. The town had told us of ravenous beasts, not air-headed teenagers! Why were we even here if not to be served as sacrifices?! Not that I was disappointed, of course. Anything had to be better than bloodthirsty monsters, surely?

At the mention of a library, my head perked up, but I resisted following the girl. Allie.. was that her name? She seemed so sugary sweet.. she reminded me of Angelique, my little sister. To be frank, I did not get on all that well with Angelique.

Heh, I don't really get on that well with anyone.

My curiosity writhed inside me, and moments later, I decided to quench my thirst, choosing to explore. I wandered down the hallway, glancing left and right as I peered through doorways into different rooms. Suddenly, though, I reached the end of the hallway, and opened the great pair of oaken doors that stood there. A flood of colour washed into my vision, and, after descending the ivory steps, I found myself in a beautiful garden. The awe was clear on my face as I strode through the flowers. Statues were scattered throughout the scenery: nymphs adorned with ivy, lions stood at attention. I approached a little Cupid with a small smile, reaching out to touch its tiny, ivory fingers.

Only to break one off.

"Oh, sh-" I awkwardly tried to reattach the finger, but to no avail. "Come on, you stupid.."

"They're probably all in the kitchen or working on the grounds right now, if they're not cleaning up someone's mess somewhere else. I'm sure that you'll get to know them all in time." He eventually pulled out a new jacket and held it up in front of Nina for a moment before placing in back in the cabinet and continuing to search through it. "Dinner will be Lasagne Verdi al Forno with a vegetarian option of Cavatelli alla Pesto. We will also be offering Strawberry Panna Cotta for dessert." He smiled over his shoulder. "I felt that it would be nice as a welcome." Turning back to the clothes, he pulled out another jacket and a few more items. "Now, Nico, I noticed that you may require some very specific measures to be taken in your clothing options. Am I correct? I will ask no questions, but as your mentor for your time working here, it is of great importance to me that you do not end up in any undesirable situations as a result of carelessness."

Miss24601 said I approached a little Cupid with a small smile, reaching out to touch its tiny, ivory fingers.

Only to break one off.

"Oh, sh-" I awkwardly tried to reattach the finger, but to no avail. "Come on, you stupid.."

(Laughed so hard. Still laughing. xD)

Allie didn't ask what Rex meant. He seemed upset, and whatever was bothering him, it wasn't really her business anyway. She didn't want to intrude. She picked out a random book from the shelves, sitting criss cross beneath the shelve that he was still on top of. "How about this one?" she asked, holding the book above her head so he could see the title.

Marlix turned his head as he passed a window into the garden, and watched, amused, as one of the ladies tried and failed to reattach the broken finger. He let out a low, growling type of laugh for a few moments, deep but loud enough to be heard through the window.

Nina had been listening to Val talk about dinner and what he was gonna serve for dinner and for a moment, Nina relaxed. This was like home, she was safe here and could move more freely. Her eyes even softened for a moment as she remembered how to make each recipe as her former mentor had taught her. Her relaxed stance came crashing down around her when Val asked about the measurements. He knows. He needs to be silenced. He knows. Her first thoughts were to kill him there and then, strangle him with the jacket sleeve or stab him with the small knife she kept on her. No, he doesn't know for sure... but... as long as the boys don't know I'll be safe. They're dangerous, and they're impulsive. I can't let what happened before happen again. If Val's on my side he can keep them in order.

"... yes. In body I am female, but I would prefer to dress and be addressed as male. Please do not let the boys find out. While I did not set out to deceive them... I fear that they might be more of a danger if you don't know. But, please." Nina needed a moment to stop her voice from trembling. "Please don't stop me from working here. I loved being a butler back home... but now I can't ever go back. Please don't tell anyone."

Zack stepped back and studied his painting. It was perfect. Better than he had first envisioned it. He coukdnt wit for the others to see it. He could finish the second picture until the beast rose and the girls saw them. He hoped that he would remember the moment. He didn't always remember what happened when the beast took over. He pushed the thought to the back of his mind. It was better not to think about it. He took his picture off the easel. He headed out of his studio to she the others.