The Art of Mingling Who: Paziter and Desdemona, then Elanna When: Anesus 1, 9pm Where: Lounge
After his first encounter with one of the compounds host of residents, Paziter's gleaming enthusiasm for socialization had all but guttered out. The Vrykola was feeling down-trodden. His feelings and what little ego he possessed were hurt and it hadn't even been a full night, yet. He'd spent the rest of the evening confined to solitary quarters, moving his belongings around until he had enough space to get between the door and his bed, with a make-shift bench set over one of his trunks, a complicated looking contraption of glass and metal balanced atop that, and a locked box of tools nearby. Candles had been placed over ceramic tiles, glued to their spots with dabs of wax (though now most of them were melted down, having seen use right through dawn and into the day.)
Paziter had sulked over his less than perfect overcoat for a full ten minutes before burying the ornamental garment into the back of his wardrobe. The snags all along the front, near the buttons that held it together, had completely ruined its appearance, as far as he was concerned.
Unable to sleep, the Vrykola had spent most of the early morning tinkering, reading, or laying in his bed with his arms folded behind his head as he glared up at the ceiling. He was an idiot: he should have known better than to go wandering around. He should have heeded age-old advice and dodged the Lykos when he'd first run into her. He definitely should have called an end to the conversation he'd had before it had gotten so out of hand.
And yet he was better prepared, he felt, for future encounters. At least a little bit. He had lied a little when he told Raven Zalaron that he wouldn't base other Lykos' behavior off of her own. He'd be wary for it, he'd know how to tell the warning signs.
That's what he thought, anyways. In truth, Paziter hadn't so much as seen a Lykos until he got here. His bloodline took up its opulent housing in the southwest of the mountain range and Lykos-kind rarely (if ever) got that far into the territory that he called home. Maybe he'd be able to tell if a stranger were raising its hackles as a bad sign, but the Vrykola was still as dense as ever when it came to the nuances of interaction.
Eventually the pale young man slept, only waking well after the sun had set. At this point, he had decided (if only begrudgingly, after an hour or so of continued solitary lurking) that he would simply have to go out. He was beginning to feel hungry, and if he didn't forge some kind of connections, he was going to have to resort to some ugly behavior to get his fill.
So the Vrykola dressed to socialize: dark green trousers tucked loosely into high, polished boots, an off-white silk tunic tucked into said trousers, and fastened by his belt and scabbards, as well as a black vest and a length of silk scarf wrapped about his neck to help conceal a long-faded scar there. He prinked before his mirror nervously, certain that he wasn't dressed well enough to be seen by others but at the same time unable to get the obscenely under-dressed vision of his first encounter out of his head. Once he was relatively certain that he looked presentable, he left his room, locking his door and venturing out into the hall. He kept a stern ear out for others, and a nose open for Lykos scent, and made his way all the way to the stairwell before the inner recluse in him balked. The very thought of going up into the Main Hall made him a little nauseous. What if Raven were up there, waiting for him? Ready to fight him -- worse, ready to embarrass him in public with lewd little remarks like she'd been making last night?
Paziter shuddered and made a turn for the lounge. Hopefully he'd find someone a little more friendly within the long common room. He didn't know what he'd do if he had to confront another self proclaimed nemesis!
After snagging a book from the upstairs sitting room, Desdemona had headed back down to the basement lounge to read. She knew she wasn't being particularly sociable, but she wasn't entirely sure what she was expected to do just yet. Some of the humans had been running around the kitchen, preparing evening meals, but that only made her sour, wondering just how long it would be before she needed one of those herself. Hunting, at least the anonymous sort she preferred, would be far more difficult within the walls of the compound. The number of human-like food substances were limited, and though she could have her pick of animal-prey, she still wasn't fond of such tactics.
Without warm blood running through her veins, she was feeling a bit more cold than usual, and took up a place by the fire to open her book. Her silk, crimson dress fell to the floor, the bodice tight across her chest. If she had been required to breathe, it might have been a discomfort, but Desdemona didn't notice. Instead she read quietly, her long fingers flipping the pages, nails neatly trimmed and filed. As she finished the first chapter, she set the book aside, looking up to see a man enter the lounge, pale as she was. "Good evening," she said, unconsciously sitting up straighter. He was well dressed, clean, and she immediately felt more comfortable around him than she had around most of the others she'd run into. Perhaps that was due to his lack of heartbeat, allowing her to focus on him rather than her instinctual desire to feed. She'd need to learn to ignore the heartbeat, but that would take a bit of practice. She was used to the silence.
When Desdemona greeted him, Paziter gave a little sigh of relief. It was probably the first time that he'd felt more at ease around a strange Vrykola female in... forever, really. Compared to the rest of the compounds residents, the sight of the woman in red was a welcome relief. Paziter put on a nervous grin, refusing to reveal teeth to avoid any misconceptions. "Good evening," he replied, moving toward her chair with all the poise that he could conjure on short notice. 'Am I ever glad to see you,' he didn't add, though it was definitely the truth. "I'm Paziter Ingret -- I'm new here. To whom do I owe the pleasure of meeting?" a light bow, an extended hand. All protocol. All suddenly comforting in a way that the pale young man wouldn't have thought possible before tonight!
At the offering of a hand, Desdemona rose from her seat, taking his hand with her own, gloved in black satin. "Desdemona Dox," she said with a smile. "I'm new here myself, as of last night." The protocol was refreshing, something familiar in the midst of a world in which she now felt lost. It was a comfort to know how to begin, as her meetings with the other species seemed to turn quickly into an altercation of some sort, rather than a greeting. "Would you care to join me?" she asked, offering the seat beside her. At the moment, they had the corner of the lounge to themselves, the warmth of the fire providing light and a coziness that the castle needed. It didn't feel like home, but Desdemona figured it would take far longer to attain that feeling when half the occupants still felt like enemies.
Paziter brought his head down and brushed his lips faintly against her glove, also protocol, though it felt strange to be doing all of this in the middle of a deserted lounge. "I would be delighted, Miss Dox," he replied, though now that that greeting was mostly behind him, the ages-old worry began to set in. "It's a bit odd to lack a chaperone," he attempted to joke, settling himself in a seat next to her and half-rising again as he pulled a fur-coated blanket out from under him. Ugh. Just another reminder that their kind were not alone... He dropped the blanket over the side of the chair, disdain plain on his face.
"Have you had as many... interesting experiences as I've had?" he asked, still attempting a humorous bent to the conversation. One 'experience' was more than enough, as far as Pazzie was concerned.
If she had fed recently, she might have blushed, but instead she just smiled, feeling her heart beat silently in her chest. Until now, she'd never been left alone with a man, but some traditions would have to be thrown out the window. Who was to play chaperone in a place like this? The last thing she wanted was to call up her brother for permanent company.
"Hopefully we can manage ourselves," she teased lightly. The embarrassing part was that she really didn't understand why chaperones might be necessary in the first place. What were men expected to do if they weren't there? It was a tradition she accepted, but didn't necessarily understand. "A few," Desdemona nodded. "There's one in particular that stands out. I find I'm having a difficult time accepting the... the coarseness of some of our companions. They are far less polished than I could have ever imagined."
Paziter brought a hand up to his mouth, covering a sardonic laugh that was trying to get out. 'Coarseness' was a good way to put it. "Agreed," he replied, both to the first teasing and the opinion that Desdamona put forward. "I'm not sure how but I'm fairly certain that I've made an enemy already; it doesn't seem to take much to get some people going." Instincts. Hmph.
"They're ready to be insulted, so they hear insults regardless. I also believe they're out to prove something, but I'm not entirely sure what that is. It's a complicated little dance, if you ask me," she said, setting her book aside, her full attention on him. This was far more normal, in her opinion, and normal was what she needed right now. "It's been better, meeting more of our kind, though there are still some concerns to be answered." Feeding was at the top of her list. Today she could go without, but tomorrow she'd start to feel the hunger. Another day after that and she'd have to give in to something. "Did you get settled in last night?"
"I don't understand," Paziter commiserated, shifting uncomfortably, glad to put that particular train of thought to rest for now. "And yes, more or less. In block twenty-three, right in the middle down the hall... I couldn't sleep, but then again, it's hard to sleep on an empty stomach." Another area of discomfort. Paziter was about a day ahead of Desdemona on his own feeding schedule. "You wouldn't by chance happen to know how that works... would you?" Hope was in his voice, in his eyes as he briefly attempted to catch her gaze. For the most part, Paziter was usually content to look into his lap where his hands were neatly folded, but on a matter that was so pressing, he was unusually bold.
"I'm down in block eighteen," she answered, then paused to laugh softly. It seemed wrong to tell him where her bedroom was, highly inappropriate in fact, but she'd spoken for the comfort in having someone know where to look for her. So long as she had a lock, it couldn't hurt for him to know. "I spoke with Churat about it, for a bit, but the answers he could give weren't particularly comforting. He suggested asking, and there's always the animals in the forest, but... I have to admit that neither option sounds appealing." She didn't see the need to mention that Churat rarely fed first hand, but instead fed from other Vrykolas. That wouldn't be of much help, unless Paziter had someone close to him who'd already solved the feeding dilemma.
"Asking, hmm." He tilted his head. He had more important things to think about than the appropriateness of which bedroom belonged to whom; besides, Paziter was probably the last person on Trivald who would make a nuisance of himself anywhere in the vicinity of Desdamona's door! If he'd had a chance to think about it, he'd be curling away in horrified embarrassment.
"From what little experience I've had," he admitted, "people here don't seem amiable to using manners. At least, I don't take having a knife pulled on me as being prone to using them." He wrinkled his nose. "Animals... really? Animals? Would our leaders really lock us up for six years and expect us to subsist off of animals? I just. Ugh." He shook out his fingers, curled them between his knees again. "Sorry. Back at home we kept servants. They were very nice. There wasn't any problem with awkward asking, and definitely no animals."
Then he paused, name clicking over as he scanned over Desdamona's words again. "Is Churat an older Vrykola here?" He looked past the young woman, almost hoping to see the compound-mate entering the lounge. He would desperately like to hear some confirmation from the horse's mouth, as it were.
"You had a knife pulled on you?" Desdemona asked, her eyes widening in shock, one gloved hand rising to cover her open mouth. They'd barely been there a full day and he was being threatened! If that was the way things were going to go, she'd end up starving to death or killing off every rabbit in the forest... well, maybe not. Luckily, rabbits seemed to repopulate extremely fast.
"That's awful!" she said. "We shouldn't be expected to survive off forest mammals. I don't think we were ever meant to. I don't know what they intended, but..." Desdemona shook her head as she tucked a dark curl behind her ear. She was flustered at the thought, now concerned about the threat that may come with asking for a meal. "At home, I hunted. We had no servants, but we didn't kill either. Here, they seem to expect some bloody mess."
It was the expectations of the other species that were so difficult to fight. She'd only dealt with a few so far, and she was starting to understand exactly what they were up against. "He's an older Vrykola. Dark hair, kind of curly. He's a bit odd, but kind enough. He helped me with my trunk and has a room here in the basement as well."
"It was..." Paziter searched for words to describe the disconcerting encounter, and struggled to say anything at all for a moment. He wrinkled his brow as he scratched at the back of his head. "I don't really know how to describe it. It was like she was playing with me? Like she kept saying that she wanted to fight? But it's ridiculous. I, uh, I kind of made mention of animals and I think that maybe triggered some hair-line reaction?" He shrugged, his grin awkward as he plucked at one thumb. He was obviously feeling out of sorts, or he wouldn't be admitting all of this to a young Vrykola lady whom he'd just met! "Zalaron... I mean, if you meet her, Raven Zalaron? Keep an eye out. She's 'a bit odd' but not in the nice way."
He sighed, the gesture a half conscious one. "I suppose it pays for our kind to stick together," he mused. "At least we don't delight in making messes and causing harm." Was that a sour note in his voice?
Considering a large part of the war had been due to the Vrykola's refusal to recognize the Lykos as a third Human-like species, Desdemona could understand how a comment about 'animals' might get under a Lykos' skin. In fact, she'd purposefully aimed below the belt with such a remark when arguing with Tabrika. Bringing up that little instance wouldn't be in good form.
"I think everyone's just on edge, especially those of us that are new. We don't know what to expect and we're thrown against each other," she said. Though they'd been discussing the difficulties in living with the Lykos, she was fairly certain there would come a time when the other species would feel the same about the Vrykolas. Or maybe they already did. "I'll watch for her," Desdemona said. "Was there harm caused? Did she hurt you?" She wasn't entirely sure what had transpired, but he made it sound like a fairly bad encounter, even if she didn't think that a female Lykos could overpower a male Vrykola.
"No no," Paziter assured, "just... I've never seen a Lykos before. Let alone... interacted with one. Just, she startled me? I'm sure she and the rest of them aren't as bad as all that. I hope, anyways." He turned his gaze towards the fire, thinking for a while. "I wish that we'd been given some kind of instructions. I don't like not knowing what's next." It was less like a dislike and more like a loathing fear... but he didn't really want to admit that. "Have you met any other Vrykolas here, yet?"
The more he talked about it, the more Desdemona wondered just what had transpired. Tabrika had been rude, but the meeting itself hadn't been unsettling. It sounded like things had been quite different for Paziter. "Just Churat, so far, but my brother's here. He's new as well." Meaning that he knew just as little as she did. For now, they were running in different directions, trying to get a hold on their new environment. Afterwards, maybe they'd get together and exchange notes. "I keep hoping someone will tell me how things work around here, but I get the impression there's a lot of chaos and... it's very informal. Different than what I'm used to." She wanted a schedule, expectations, and things were still too fuzzy to determine. "It won't be long before I'll have to do something about the hunger. Hopefully before then I can work something out," she sighed, then shifted forward in the seat, rising to her feet. "Would you like to join me for a walk? I'd like to get some fresh air." With the sun dominating the hours of the day, it seemed necessary to get out while they could.
With Desdamona as backup, Paziter felt that he could probably confront the possibility of intermingling with crowds of strangers, both human and otherwise. At least, that's what he told himself. He rose to his feet and offered a hand for her to take, to help her rise from her own chair. "I'd be pleased to," he nodded. "Perhaps we could find someone who knows exactly how things work here... I wouldn't mind doing the asking for you, if you don't mind keeping me in your company." He wasn't going to take Raven's evil little game as the norm, especially not where humans were concerned! "Shall we?" he asked, hand folding out to indicate the stair case. He, as always in the past, was inclined to follow in the footsteps of others.
Cautiously, Elanna opened the door of her room and peered out into the hallway, checking to see how much newcomer activity still remained. She could still see a few people roaming the halls confusedly, but for the most part people seemed to have settled in. Up until now, she had been content to mostly sit in her room and avoid the commotion, but at this point she was rested and ready to attempt meeting a few new people. Or at least, she didn't feel like staying by herself in her room for most of another night.
Stepping out into the basement hallway, she wondered where she should go. The upstairs sitting room was always nice, but she had just been there before she went to sleep. Besides, she was looking to see who some of the new people were, not to read books. Perhaps, then, the lounge on this floor was the better option (and much less likely to surprise her with open windows). Having made her decision, she walked down the hallway, her eyes cast toward the ground and tried to brace herself for whoever she might find.
Unfortunately, she had put more effort into bracing than into watching where she was going, and crashed directly into someone stepping out of the lounge at the same time she was stepping in.
"Oh!" she squeaked. "I'm so sorry, please forgive me!" She glanced briefly up at the other's face before looking back down at her feet in embarassment. At least the boy she had run into seemed to be one of her own kind, which didn't help much but at least reduced the awkwardness. She chided herself for not paying more attention. Heading out to try to meet people, and here she was rudely crashing into them!
It was only because Elanna was a Vrykolas that Paziter didn't hear or think to smell her coming; a human he would have recognized right away and paused for. A Lykos... he would probably have done well to try to avoid. As it was, he was distracted by Desdamona and in following her up the stairs, so when another person collided softly with him, he was up in apologetic arms about the sudden shock.
"I'm sorry--" he was saying, automatically contrite even before he realized who it was who he'd run into. He caught sight of long red hair -- too long to be a humans and probably too long for a Lykos to feel comfortable with -- and a black, conservative dress. She definitely looked like a Vrykola to him, though he was surprised by her discomposure. Most Vrykola women that he knew were in possession of their egos just as were the men... the pureblooded ones, anyways. "No, it was my fault," he added when Elanna came to a squeaking halt. "Are you hurt?" Considering that they hadn't really done much damage to one another to begin with, and no Vrykola was a lightweight, the question was rooted more in formality than in genuine concern... though of course Paziter was worried about that, too.
"Are you new here, too? I'm Paziter Ingret. This is Desdamona Dox," he introduced hurriedly, looking to his present companion and then swinging his gaze somewhere near the floor again. Stuck between two young women, he was quickly getting out of his element.
Desdemona had been focused on Paziter, leaving her unprepared when Elanna came crashing through. She stepped back, catching her footing as she caught herself on the wall, yet sunk into the shadows as she tried to reassess the situation. Elanna addressed Paziter, giving her a moment to recompose herself, and then she was standing in the light again, smoothing her gloved hands over the front of her dress. "How do you do?" she said in greeting, her smile pleasant as she observed the girl. Vrykola, most definitely, but dressed more casually than Desdemona would choose for socializing. To each their own, she thought, wondering if her clothing choices would change over the course of time in the compound. Unless she could request new materials, her dresses would eventually tire out.
None of which had anything to do with the current situation. Desdemona waited, unsure if they should invite the new girl along or let her be on her way. The least they could do was continue the greeting. Meeting another of their kind could only be helpful at this point.
"I'm fine," Elanna replied to Paziter meekly, still too mortified to look up from her shoes. "And no need for you to apologise, it was I who wasn't watching where I was going." She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, working up enough composure to look again at the boy she had collided with.
"I'm Elanna Evegalle," she told him, "and to answer your question, I'm not new here. I've been here four years already." She turned to face the girl who had accompanied him and gave a polite nod. "Desdemona, was it?" She glanced back at the blonde boy, "And your name was Paziter?" She gave a very slight kind of a courtsey as she addressed both of them. "Nice to meet both of you." Having finished greeting them, she wasn't at all certain what else she should say. From the look of it, they had been going somewhere, and given that it had just been the two of them... "I hope I'm not interrupting something?"
If the other Vrykola was intent on letting the blame rest on her shoulders, Paziter wasn't going to get into a battle of 'blame me' with her... even though he was certain that it couldn't be Elanna's fault. Fine motor control he possessed in spades, but he was known to be a klutz when it came to dancing or fighting... and he could just as easily see the fault in simply addressing a hall and staircase that was occupied by others!
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Elanna," Paziter told the (surprisingly!) older member of the compound. He stalled out for a minute, trying to think of something witty, failing... no, wait! "I mean, girls don't ram into me every d--" he thought about what he was saying even as it left his mouth, stopped. Looked up and stared at Elanna for a reaction, hoping that perhaps that had just gone through his head and not his lips. No? He'd said it? Paziter cleared his throat and gave an obviously nervous laugh to cover up his embarrassment. "So."
He cleared his throat again, looked at Desdamona as if to gauge her reaction. Was Elanna interrupting something? He'd rather that the other Vrykola answer for him, right now. If he were any good at shadowmancy he would probably be sinking into a corner and running away by now. As it was, he felt about as awkward and clumsy right this moment as he had when dealing with that terrible Lykos out in the courtyard. At least these two wouldn't taunt him... he hoped.
Desdemona laughed silently at the words Paziter let slip, certain it hadn't been on purpose by the way he cut himself off abruptly. It was slightly endearing, if the words weren't misdirected, leaving Desdemona unsure about how to proceed from this point on. The polite thing to do was say that Elanna hadn't interrupted and invite her along for the walk. Desdemona was curious to know what the older girl might say about the castle and it's inhabitants, but she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to find out in Paziter's company. Why, she couldn't say. She'd been enjoying her time with him in private. Perhaps it was selfishness that made her want to walk with him alone, a wholly inappropriate thought.
"Not at all," she said with a soft smile, falling back into what she knew to be right. It changed her actions slightly, but she ignored the stab of disappointment that resulted. She had a good six years to get to know Paziter and Elanna on whatever terms she desired. It didn't have to be right this moment, so she might as well remove the awkwardness between them. "I was just going to step outside and get some fresh air. If you'll excuse me," she said, curtsying to the both of them before heading up the stairs.
As Desdemona disappeared up the stairs, Elanna couldn't help but think that her prescence had bothered the other girl somehow, though she couldn't put a finger on it. In all likelyhood, it was her imagination playing with her because she was nervous about meeting the new arrivals. Once she had mentally sorted that out, she turned again to Paziter.
"Are we to follow?" she asked, a little confused. She had thought the two of them had been going somewhere together when she had arrived, but then Desdemona had walked off by herself. Then again, she could have easily misread the situation, in a number of ways. Glancing at the stairs again, she added, "Or maybe just you should follow." If the statement come off with any negativity, she hadn't meant it to. She was just feeling out of place and a bit perplexed.
Paziter was just as surprised and confused by Desdamona's reaction as Elanna was. Did he do something wrong? Was it something he'd said? He really should have thought everything that he was going to say over more thoroughly... but what was said and done was said and done.
"Ah..." he watched the retreating red dress for only a moment or two before fixing his attention on Elanna. "We were just going to go upstairs to see about meeting other people. Humans, maybe. I was, uh, going to ask around for the both of us. We were -- I am, anyways -- wondering about asking for food." Paziter scratched behind his ear, brow knotted up in awkward embarrassment. "I'm a little hungry, is all, please forgive me if I'm, um, going on."
"No, it's alright," Elanna told him, thinking back to how confused she had been about food the first few days she had been at this place. It was confusing for any Vrykola that lived here, since most were used to having someone around that they could drink from freely, or at the very least access to human cities where they could hunt for better blood than animals. Having been here this long, it didn't seem odd to her to make a diet mostly of animal blood, but even among her year, there were those who always made an effort to find a willing human.
"I usually just use animals," she admitted meekly, knowing how some Vrykolas would feel about that, "but that doesn't mean that you have to. The humans are pretty nice about it, usually. At least, when you find one that's been here a little while."
Again with the mention of animals... the word was coming to have some bad associations for Paziter. He hoped that he wouldn't have to go hunting for a meal, stumbling around in the shadows and trying to pounce a horse or a deer or who knew what was out there. Truth be told, he hadn't really hunted for blood in his life. His sire had been odd in that he'd managed to maintain a pool of human servants who were willing to stick around even after the treaty of seventeen or so years past, and enough of them had been willing to let Paziter sup from them that the Vrykola had never wanted for terribly long. It was difficult to stop obsessing about the likely change of plans now that he was here; the situation might not be as dire as no blood to sustain him at all, but morals were important to Paziter, and he worried that they'd be put in to question just as Raven had suggested last night.
He grabbed onto Elanna's reassurance, trying his best to ignore her own demure admittance. "I don't suppose that you'd know any of them by name, would you?" The older humans, he meant. "I'm not bad with tools, and I don't think that I'd mind chores for the most part." Remembering that he was still standing at the base of the stairs, he added, "were you going upstairs as well? I was... I mean, if you're going, I wouldn't mind accompanying you...?"
"Of course, I mean, I didn't have any plans, so wherever you want to go is fine," Elanna stumbled over her reply. "And I know a few humans who might be willing to help you out." She glanced around the hallway, trying to see if anyone she knew was out and about in the basement. No such luck. "If we can find any of them, that is," she added in a mumble, moving toward the staircase and nodding for Paziter to follow.
"If," she began, and paused briefly before venturing on, "if not, I'd be happy to go out hunting with you." She wasn't feeling terribly hungry for the moment, but she was enjoying the younger Vrykola's company and she never really minded walking around the grounds as long as there was someone with her. Of course, he might be thoroughly disgusted by such an idea, but it didn't hurt to offer. Besides, sometimes it was just difficult to find a cooperative human, even for the ones that made a point of asking. "I know where we can find animals here, you know, if you need one."
Oh dear. Paziter wasn't certain that he could make a 'kill' on his own, let alone in front of another Vrykola. While Elanna didn't seem the kind to laugh, he never the less had visions of horror and embarrassment tramping through his head. "Let's, uh, let's just go upstairs for now? I'm not starving." Not tonight, not quite enough to want to lower himself to stalk with awkward reservation about the grounds!
The blonde put out his elbow, the gesture born half out of drilled in manners and half for the comfort of company. Gods, the pair of them... but there was strength in numbers! Any uppity Lykos like Raven would be less likely to taunt two Vrykolas than just one!
Elanna was a bit taken aback when the other offered his arm. Not that she was completely unaccustomed to the gesture, but it wasn't quite so common among other species and among Vrykola who had been in the Compound a while, such formalities tended to fall out of use to an extent. Even so, she took his arm, giving him a slight smile also. She was likewise happy for the company.
At his comment, she nodded understandingly. "I think we should be able to find someone, anyway," she assured him, and began walking with him up the stairs.