Ah, still no words for now it seemed. That was fine for now. So long as he could understand her and vice versa. He moves to stand beside her, squinting at where she had previously pointed. The dull light of the lamps combined with the dark distance made it impossible for Ilian to see what she was referring to. He glanced back at the painting she had pointed to and put it together with the barking.

“The dogs are back, I take it. I wonder if they are simply passing through or if they found the rabbit den. At least I think it’s still there…” he says, still futility looking out the window, “Though it is a wonder you are able to see anything at all.”

The grounds of the manor did contain a few lamps along certain paths around the property, all of them unlit and nothing more than decoration now, even before he had moved back in. It made strays and other sorts of animals more comfortable traversing in and around the grounds, the overgrown grass and weeds making for a perfect hunting ground for small game or sometimes safe cover to pass through or hide. Some took the animals as another sign of the sorry state the manor had fallen into, while he viewed it as the emptiness being filled.

He rarely walked down the paths anymore, the had garden long since vanished into the weeds, but at least it was still appreciated by something else.

“There is a cat that drops by as well. If he ever brings any guests over, however, I’ve not seen it .” He gestures over his shoulder to a painting of a grey short haired cat stalking a mouse, “He looks similar to that, though he has a white patch over his left eye.”

Maybe they would run into the frequent feline visitor when he inevitably took her out to explore the property. He wonders if she would be as enthusiastic about them as she was with the dogs.

He looks down the hall towards their destination, but decides not to press on too quickly, pausing to allow his creation to take in more of the paintings if she wished or stop to observe whatever caught their attention outside.