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((Yes, let's skip. Yurp. Noelle's an 'oomph'er.))

Noelle gripped her throat and narrowed her eyes, but she refused to cry out or make any other sign of being in pain. If she had cried out, it would have hurt even worse. See? If talking did this sort of damage to you, she didn't think she wanted to do it any more. It was going to be a bit hard on Jiro to try and get her to sit still and learn...language. Ick.

Her hand slid away from her neck after a minute, and she looked to Aneko. She was really trying not to look as exhausted as she felt -- as if a part of her had been sucked out in moving the earth about. Her eyes rested upon her fellow female momentarily, before she slowly turned away. They were done, right? She'd honestly never been so eager to get home. She could take a nap under the sun there, and that sounded appealing. They could follow her, because she was liable to collapse on the way.

She turned back towards them, arching a brow curiously. Now, why would they want to speak with Talis? Whatever it was, it was really none of her business... but she'd be eavesdropping; there was no doubt about that. What if they told him that she was doing bad? Not that she thought they would. It was quite clear that she wasn't scared of any criticism about power that should be shot her way, because she secretly liked to think to herself that she'd done rather well. Someone that full of themselves was bound to make sure they had something to brag about, right?

Noelle eventually nodded her head, confirming that she would indeed take them to Talis. She wouldn't be able to stop them if they came along anyways, but it made her feel a little better that she was able to give some sort of consent. Turning away from them, Noelle sank her teeth softly into her lower lip and took one slow step after the other towards the apartment.

It was amazing that she'd gotten up the stairs, but she'd sucked up the last of her strength and climbed them with a death-grip on the railing. She pretty much slumped against the door, her head lolling over to knock lightly against the door. It soon opened, but instead of the black-haired owner there stood instead a child with light green hair. His yellow eyes studied Noelle's company with intelligence, before they rested on her.

"Welcome home, Noelle!" He smiled to her, reaching out to take her hand. Clever little child, really, because he normally wouldn't have done so. Noelle would have snapped his fingers off, most likely, but at the moment she was too tired. He knew it. "Hello!" He smiled pleasantly at the other two, bobbing his head. Cute kid.

"Dionaea, if you bite another girl-scout, they're going to sue..." Ah, there was the man of the moment, sliding up behind the children with a rather eerie quiet. His darkened form loomed over them, but still cast no shadow over them. Once his scarlet eyes caught sight of the tutors, his lips tightened. "Go ahead and take Noelle inside and make her lay down, D." His pale fingers wrapped around the side of the door as he stepped aside and held it open just enough for the two children to fit through. Then his slender form filled the spot.

"Good evening." He drawled blandly, pressing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "May I ask who you are? We failed to be properly introduced last time." There was a bit of venom in that last one. He remembered them; remembered how they ignored him, that is. Wasn't he going to offer them in? Nope. He wasn't /that/ polite.

"What is there to talk about?" He studied her momentarily, before the corners of his lips twitched again. A smirk. "Ah, you think I don't offer her any sort of education at all, is that right? With all due respect -Aneko, was it?- Noelle is going to do what she very well pleases, like most women. Or is this about not letting her throw a tantrum in a public area?" Of course, he might have been jumping ahead on that. Perhaps she was just about to give him pointers. He knew that could be a possibility, but with the look she was giving him he wasn't feeling very inclined to be nice about it.

"Hm?" Talis' eyes rested on Jiro almost boredly, but much more friendly in the way than the gaze he'd given Aneko. "Proud of her? She's yet to make something of herself, or show any great progress. Why? Do you have something to report that could help me believe pride wouldn't be a misplaced feeling towards her?" Another brow was cocked, but he was quite curious to hear about his little girl. And now that he was sure enough they weren't here to charge him with some sort of damage-control bill, the chance of him shutting the door on the both of them steadily began to decline.

Talis watched them both quietly, noting each reaction with some sort of pleasure. No, he did not take kindly to strangers, but they wouldn't be that way for long. Still, one would really have to live with him if they wanted to witness more emotion than distain or distaste. For Aneko? Distaste. For Jiro? Distain.

"Slack off?" Talis leaned forward in the direction of dear Aneko, staring down his nose at her in a familiar way. "Madame, I work over twelve hours a day. Before your little Shy chose to drop one of his science projects in my lap, it was eighteen hours on weekdays and twenty on weekends. Please refrain from accusing me of being a poor guardian, because you are in no position to judge. It may be quite alright for you -who will be taken care of so long as that lab runs unnoticed by the government- to play around and pretend you're useful, but some of us have to work for a living. You know what that call humans who don't work? Bums. And they're out on the streets, not here." How was that for ice? His tone, however, was so deep and purring one could have assumed he was whispering sweet nothings to her. He was quite amused by the woman and yet not amused at all.

"I will hire her a private tutor, though I was under the impression that that was what you two were around for." He leaned back into the doorway again and, more frankly, out of Aneko's slapping range. Kyo wouldn't mind teaching Noelle for him while he was at work in the evenings and, because she was female, she might connect better with the girl. His eyes finally glanced to Jiro and it was obvious he was holding back a cocky smirk. Noelle had got to him then? Well, he didn't feel inclined to rain on her parade quite yet. He did like her himself, though he had seen her at her ugliest. "Oh, special indeed. She's quite the character. And I'm sure she's much more interested in watching the home-shopping network rather than reading a book."