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It's rather stuffy in these stables, and the kind of mood it creates shows right well in both the animals and the singular woman attending to one of them.

"Caligula- slapper av-" the woman says to her irate charge, trying to get the little horse to stop being so irritable without touching him (it's hot, and she's trying to wean him off of the comfort of physical contact). Since other animals had been introduced to the stables, he has been more disagreeable than usual. This is likely to the chagrin of both Alva and Moreau- though the surgeon's likely frustration helps to calm the woman's own.

Her cropwhip keeps trying to slide out of her sweaty grip, and as such, her hand is constantly flexing. There is little to no change in the air of the room as the door is opened.

Judging by this man's sway and the bottle he's holding, he most likely isn't in his best state of mind. Which leads to an understandable enough question: "...Are you lost?"

Alva honestly doesn't know what to think of this man, or why Alphonse would want a man who partakes of alcohol in mid-morning on this blasted island. However, he doesn't seem all too awful- but then again, he seems a bit on the irresponsible side.

Turning fully away from Caligula so she can more fully survey this stranger, she replies, "I suppose that I may be, though it's somewhat curious that you would 'continually hear' about me from a man like Alphonse." A curious frown passes her features for a couple of seconds. Surely he isn't the type to gloat...

This man is probably more cheerful than everyone else on the island combined- something that is slightly irking. "That's nice," Alva replies. "Good luck picking out which one is yours; I obviously wouldn't know." A direct blow to his intelligence.

"My name is Alva Borghild, I suppose I should say."

Cheerful, charmingly polite... wow. This man is probably Alva's polar opposite in Alphonse's opinion.

A curious little smile manages to get a grip on the Norsewoman's face as the fomalities are met. "There is no need to call me Miss this or Miss that, Barnabas. But it's a pleasure to meet you, too."

The fact that he isn't fazed by her insult makes her respect for him go up a notch. "Hmm, of course," she smirks.

As Barnabas approaches the quagga, the woman finds herself thinking that Alphonse made quite a good assignment here. She quickly puts out the fuse of that thought, and, humming in interest, says, "Oh, you have that one? He's quite the creature- always wants to see what you're doing, or what something is. In fact, he almost managed to undo my hair a few days ago with his teeth..." She chuckles a bit at that recollection. "I think this one will be an easy transition from beast to man."

For some reason, Alva sees similarities between the quagga and the chubby man before her- perhaps because they're both a little on the odd side, but in an irritatingly charming way? This causes a crinkling smirk to wither away her dour expression. "Well, I can't chastise politeness- that would be impolite," she jokes.

And the woman can only make a thrumming laugh as the animal makes a display of his curiosity to the tipsy man who shall be caring for him.

"I think it will be at least a bit difficult if you take into account the man that's going to be the main hand in the transition," she quips devilishly. "Though beyond that, I can see this one being successful for the most part."

It's clear that Barnabas's smile is very infectious, even to this dour woman. This must be the most cheerful she's been in a very long time- Alphonse would probably have an aneurism from pure shock if he discovered that "Alva" and "cheerful" were being used in the same line of thought.

"You're quite a charming man, Barnabas," Alva says, honest as she is with anyone else. Though inwardly she wonders if he's still that charming when he isn't tipsy. "Maybe you can counter the effects that Alphonse will surely have on this animal outside of surgery. He's the most dour, stubborn man I've ever come to know," she adds with a malicious smirk. Could she be hinting at something here?

Didn't seem to have much of an ego, either- yet another trait on Barnabas's increasingly long "Redeeming Qualities" list. In fact, the only thing that is on the list of bad qualities so far is the man's drinking habit. Surely this man is a living defiance of some sort of cosmic law if one such as Alva can find little fault in him!

As he begins to tip tobacco into his pipe, she says, "Oh, if you're a smoker, could I persuade you to take care of that outside? The smell can bother the animals, you see." And this is the truth; the only time she saw her father without some sort of smoking implement was when he was either sleeping or taking care of some animal or another. "And Caligula here is easily bothered, I'm afraid to say... though I'm working to fix that."

The woman chuckles slightly at the striped equine's seemingly neverending curiosity. It would definitely be quite a man, indeed. "Ah, well, I wouldn't have expected you to know about such a thing," she replies. "It's something you learn when you're around animals." Flicking imaginary dust off of her skirt with her free hand, she continues. "It's interesting... beasts do have what may be called personality, but there's things that always seem to affect them in the same way." Her other hand twirls around the cropwhip she's always holding to emphasize her point. "I can't help but wonder if Alphonse's work will erase such tendencies..."

Alva gives a self-satisfied smirk at Barnabas's comment. "Yes... he's rather spoiled, I'm afraid." Patting said horse's neck, she adds, "Though it does make things rather amusing sometimes. It was only a few days ago that he would allow Alphonse to touch him! Honestly, I was surprised that he didn't kick the man off of the docking ramp."