Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Thank you."

He hadn't freaked out, well more than the oddity that WAS a very quiet Nines, so she dropped her foot back down off the chair. Picking up the second glass, she sipped at her own drink, instead of leaving him feeling like an invalid taking medicine.

"This is my home, and yours too for the moment. This is the west wing, which I don't use very often. You can do whatever you want to this room, and you're welcome to wander the house and grounds wherever you like. There's only one place you cant go, and that's through the door downstairs with my family crest on it.
If you need anything, and I'm not about, ask my butler, Jan. You'll remember him from the bar... Make yourself as at home as you can, anything you want, ask and someone will see to it. Jan is in charge of the house staff, but anyone you bump into will try to help, or pass messages to the right people to see to it for you. Alright?"

"Well, Ice said he told you about why he'd singled you out, so I assume you mean why am I being so nice? Simply, its my only way of apologising. It might not be my direct fault Ice nabbed you, but if I hadn't come to Gaia, he wouldn't have followed. On top of that, I owe you for our last meeting. And... I appreciate the situation your in, and I am so very sorry."

Sighing, she brushed her bangs out of her face and slid off the bed, back to the chair, picking up the jug to refill her own glass, and gesturing towards his to do the same if he desired.

"All I can do is promise to be a much better prospect than Ice and Bailey. I don;t want to hurt you, or anything of the kind. Quite the opposite. As I say... I'll try and negotiate on your behalf. Chances are even though Ice is telling me you have something to do with the scythe, he's really just using you to guilt trip me into being compliant. As soon as I agree to play their game, chances are they'll lose interest in you... I hope."

"Heal up, explore, go swimming if the mood takes you. Once you're fully well again, I'll schedule in study sessions with you. Kindred lore, all that sort of thing.

There's a VR simulation suite on the ground floor for combat drill, I would suggest you make use of it to get used to trying to use your skills at will. Healing first. As and when it's suitable, Corbin will be sitting in too, seeing as I've ended up properly stuck with him.

....speaking of... if a Lucas Blazeheart turns up, you come here and lock yourself in and don't come out, alright?

Anyway. Basically, think of yourself as a student at a private school. The grounds are as much part of acclimating yourself as the lessons. We have time, don't rush, thing'll work out."

She was as reassuring as she could be, and compassion for his situation did reside in her face... a stark contrast to the anger and frustration she'd been showing in private last night, not least of which because she was being manipulated as much as Nines was. Still, it wasn't his fault, and she DID owe him.

"At least you got to go to school... didn't really have proper learning when I was young. What school did you go to? Was it the teachers that made it bad?"

Sensing the topic change and recognising it for being healthier than dwelling on the current situation, she seized on it easily enough, genuinely thinking about what he'd said. School had been a nurse to keep her from under her mothers feet as a kid, followed by the school of hard knocks and real life.
Admittedly she'd gone looking for these things, being the daughter of nobility, it would have been acceptable to just sit around swooning over potential suitors, but trouble had always seemed much more interesting....

"Eh, homework beats being struck with a birch for spending time with the boys, I assure you. I'd have PAID to be busy.
So what was it like? Hell, what's fast food like? And popcorn? And dentists? I missed out on a LOT, believe me..."

A subtle invitation to talk to her about his life, but only the things he wanted to, under the guise of teaching her about things she'd not been living for.
She poured him another drink, passing it over, knowing he'd been pretty injured when he'd arrived the previous night, and one drink wasn't going to be enough to rectify things.

"...WOW that's bitter....."

Popcorn was tasty and nice to share on dates to the cinema, right? School was the best time of your life, cos you got to meet so many people and find out what interested you... right? Fast food was greasy deliciousness to look forward to on nights mum didn't want to cook.... wasn't it? One of them was clearly misinformed, and she was fairly certain it wasn't all her....

"...I was under the impression teenagers enjoyed those things, as well as stupidly loud music.... wasn't there anything you enjoyed?"

"You worked through the end of high school huh? Guess I would have had a weekend job too, if I'd been born the right time... being able to buy my own stuff, and whatever I wanted woulda been nice. I mean, I had everything I needed, and could get whatever I wanted, but earning it would have made it... more real, I suppose.
Then again, no CD's or DVD's in my day."

Yup, no context, and thus the blundering bull in the china stop carried right on. It certainly didn't help that she was both out of time synch with his life AND out of culture synch. England was different to the States after all, and her expierances tended to be based on British ideals.

"Touched on a sore spot... it's alright. I won't ask, and I didn't mean to dredge up bad memories.
I'm afraid my past isn't much of a relatable story though, so the topic is really up to you. Unless you'd like some time to get up, dressed and wander about? Just let me know when you want me to go and I will."

It was only now she realised Nines had issues with his upbringing. No wonder he was such a ornery character... seemed life had dealt him a raw deal so far. Current circumstance wasn't exactly changing matters around for him either.