No Title Set

    WHen it comes to Lacrima's manor, Alex often tends to come around on his own without much of an announcement beforehand. The vampire herself has made it clear enough for him that he is free to come along as he wishes, especially if he needs a place ot hide in.

    Mostly he just uses it as an excuse to come make surprise visits on his dear adopted sister alongside his pet corgi. Much like today. Without any announcement or even a ring given to the doorbell, the german boy has walked inside the manor, initially with Hope the Corgi held in his arms but afterwards let down onto the floor in the hall. The corgi is well behaved enough that she doesn't run off all the way on her own, but does pad along just shortly ahead of Alexis himself. Though... this alone does bemuse him slightly.

    Usually she's running to see 'Auntie Norie' right away... Maybe she doesn't think she's here right now?

    Meanwhile, it looks like the manor has another visitor today.
    Not too long after Alexis arrives, the door opens again and--
    "Ah?"
    That's a familiar voice. And it certainly belongs to a familiar face, as Ariel pokes her head in through the door. It's not out of the ordinary for her, of all people, to show up to Lacrima's manor, after all. She's not alone, either, with Lucky on his leash at her side as she lets herself in with the giant hound.
    "Hello, Alexis~." She pipes, chipper and sweet, Lucky already sitting on his haunches and lifting one paw for a shake.

    "Oh?"
    Alexis reacts immediately to this, by turning casually around over to look to the door, with dark brows slightly raised up while he takes in the sight of Ariel and Lucky moving in through the door.
    "Hello, Ariel," he offers in greeting, thus, as he turns over fully and comes stepping over. "And hello, Lucky." Bending over, he draws his hand over to take the lifted paw, giving a quick shake before letting go and reaching up to give some scritches over the dog's scalp and base of his ears. "Good boy."
    Hope comes bounding over right after, then, stopping in front of Ariel and Lucky to rapidly turn around over a few times over before turning to properly face them, looking up at them with her tongue hanging out in an excited, goofy corgi smile while her feet go all tappytappytap along the floor in a happy dance.

    Once Lucky gets his shake and Ariel unclips his leash, and greetings are properly given, the two settle in pretty easily. Tongue lolls right out as Alex goes for that spot behind the ears, and Ariel scoots down to knee-level to give Hope a good ruffle and pet, before she stands herself up.
    "Did you come to visit Norie, too? It looks like we caught her out of the house though. Oops." Just a case of bad timing is all. Or fortuitous timing, in another way, anyway. "How have you been, though?"

    Hope is equally happy for the attentions, and even gives a few laps of her tongue over Ariel's hands when she gets the chance. Alexis just looks on at this with some vague amusement while he straghtens up from having given Lucky some scritching.
    "So it seems," he agrees with Ariel's assessment easily enough, before he turns over around to continue stepping further into the manor-- evidently the lack of a Norie isn't too much of a big deal for him.
    "I'm usually pretty busy," he offers over his shoulder back to the unicorn girl, though his tone doesn't speak much of being bothered or anything. "A lot of work to do in my field, if you get what I mean."

    "Eheh heh~." Ariel is used to dogs licking all over her. She has a giant one after all. So a relatively small tongue like that of a corgi isn't going to bother her in the least, as she pulls out her handkechief to dry her fingers off once Hope is done.
    "I thought I'd stop by and see her, but if she's not here I can always come back another time." She muses before her head tilts to a slight angle. "Your field? You mean where you fight yakuza and don't afraid of anything?"
    Alexis Raskoph is a pretty cool guy.

    "... Did you just..." This is apparently enough to warrant stopping and looking back fully to Ariel, for Alexis. He blinks his eyes slowly while he processes what she just said, before he just relents with a murmued "...kind of," and turns to continue walking down the hall again. "Except I fight most things. Yakuza is more of an Alex thing. Everything else is a Stahlritter thing. Even more so with the situation with my parents."

    Yes. Yes she just did.
    Though Ariel is beaming pretty brightly when Alex turns back to her. She stands herself up, as well now, content to leave the two dogs to their own devices. Lucky being fairly docile when Ariel's not in danger means that he can get along with Hope perfectly fine, as she moves to follow.
    "I just remember that one time."
    She means the time she had to summon a dream penguin with a sack of money, of course, but that was a while back. "Mm." Though she does hush up on the topic of his parents.

    "I suppose I don't know how much Norie has told you about my affairs," murmurs ALexis without looking back to Ariel this time around. "I am a Knight. A Warrior. I have... responsibilites. I haven't gone a day without a fight for many years now."
    He slips into the dining room there, and from there into the kitchen-- surely his sister should have some things for sandwiches around at least, right? "SO... that pretty much sums up how I have been. WHat about you? You been doing okay with Norie?"

    "She hasn't told me much, but. I know." Ariel says with a gravity that far outweighs her age. Even if she did turn another year older just a few days recently.
    "My mom is a knight. One of them anyway. And I am, too." She says. "There isn't a single night that goes by without a Nightmare that needs to be purified, not a single night where someone isn't scared by what haunts them in their dreams. I know full well the duties of a knight." Murmured as she follows him right into the kitchen.
    "I know about responsibilities. And I know about the time Georgios-- Ryo- called you a black knight. I know you're more of a knight than he could ever claim to be."
    A pause.
    Then she realizes just how heavy that all might have come out. "Well. --I mean things are well between she and I, since Poderoso went away."
    Went away. Yes that's one way to put it.

    "Went away," Alexis repeats after her, with a quiet sigh. THe stuff regarding Ryo doesn't get much of a comment-- but there is a slight twitch in his face, hidden by the fact that his back is turned to her for now.
    In the kitchen, he briefly considers going to rifling through the cupboards and fridge right away-- but instead, he turns a faint, but sincere smile back over to Ariel.
    "...You are a good person, Ariel, you know that?" He murmurs. "A much better person than I could hope to be. And much better for her, too."
    A step, two, taken to carry him over to Ariel, and he looks down at her with... a vaguely conflicted expression for a moment, before his hand turns, slowly, to brush over the hair on the top of her head.
    "You'll keep looking after her, right?"

    Went away, yes. More like Poderoso was banished to Actual Chinese Hell, but Ariel still puts it in a very gentle way in spite of the circumstances. But when Alex turns back to her, the smile she meets him with is far softer.
    "Mm-mm." She says with a shake of her head. "Don't forget, you're a good man yourself." She counters. "I wouldn't have felt the need to stand up for you against Ryo, if I didn't believe that and-"
    And her hair gets brushed. There's a tiny, awkward little bleat at the contact, but she doesn't shy away from it. It just took her a little by surprise.
    "Mn. Of course I will."

    "I wouldn't know about that," Alex whispers with a slow shake of his head while his fingers stroke over the unicorn's hair a bit more before pulling his hand away.
    "She's a good person. She just... has things in her nature that require her to be guided along a bit. ANd I won't be around forever. So big brother's counting on you, alright?"

    "I know about her nature." Ariel says. "And that's where you do come in."
    "She looks up to you, you know." She points out. "You wouldn't be her big brother if she didn't." Being around forever notwithstanding, as an immortal creature, Ariel does have an opinion on that too: "And that's why you should make the time you are around for her special, and help her every way you can."

    "I try," Alexis offers with a low, quiet sigh let out, though he remains standing nearby Ariel still, and he at least attempts to keep a small smile offered for her benefit. "But I don't know I'm good enough for that. And... maybe I'm just even more worried, because... Like I said. I'm a warrior. I have lived as one my whole life. There's a very common early end for people like me."

    And that is when two small hands take one of Alex's. The grip is gentle but warm and soft as Ariel clasps his hand in her own, shaking her head slowly. "You'll be fine. And that's why you'll be around for her as long as you can. Warrior or not. Not every battle is one that gets fought with fist or blade." She does point out.
    "... Besides, my mom retired at like six-hundred. I'm sure when you're that old you'll definitely have earned some peace for yourself, too."
    Right. Because all people live that long, Ariel.