[ one on one; adoraтιon and espedιna ]

[espedina]

((Adding in spaces is no bother to me. :] And do whatever you like concerning the color- it honestly hasn't bothered me, haha.))
((I accidentally hit submit instead of preview a second ago panicmodeactivated. o3o ))

||Daniel Luveau||

Although he made efforts to remember her name, it was more due to a sense of obligation than a true involvement in the current situation. Just how was he supposed to treat her? Who knew if his mannerisms would be considered archaic to the outside world by now, and then, why even go through the effort of faking it all? As long as she knew nothing about their condition, and left in good health, Daniel supposed there was nothing dictating the need for his rigid composure. Well, Lionel maybe.

Hearing Lionel's snide remark, Daniel immediately wanted to throw back some retort, but was cut off as his brother was drawn into speaking with guest number two. Slowly, a smug look began to creep onto his face. To think, Lionel had wanted him to close the door so quickly, thinking it foolish for him to even consider glancing behind. Now he was the one who had to deal with yet another twist in the days events.

From where he was, he heard the outside voice mention the name that the woman beside him had just given: Cerise Lesune. How convenient! To think, her connections had arrived this quickly to search for her, how good for Cerise. Now they could all leave together and be content without him even having to lift a finger.

Letting his focus return to Cerise, he peered towards her though his long ebony bangs. Originally they had only been a few shades darker than his brothers, but his hair had darkened a severe degree since the changes first occurred. Under the right lighting, it'd maybe reflect a slight brown sheen- the one last remaining tribute to the color it once was. "Do you know this woman?" Daniel asked her softly, lest he irritate Lionel further by blabbering loudly from inside.


||Evanthia Lombardi||

Eva was surprised by the promptness of an answer. What had they been doing, waiting in the main foyer? How peculiar. This man didn't appear too thrilled to see her either. To think, she was getting that expression before she'd even spoken- usually it was the other way around. Regardless, she put a charming grin onto her face as she peeked out from the hood of her cloak, apparently not dazed in the slightest by her rather sudden entrance. If you ignored all the horrid issues that would have to be sorted out sooner or later, this was actually rather fun.

"Yes, actually," She began smoothly, terribly tempted to have her gaze peek around him and into the depths of the house. Keeping in good standing with this stranger would probably be in her best interest, however, so she restrained her bustling curiosity. "There is the chance that you may have encountered someone I am looking for, a Cerise Lesune." Eva eagerly scanned his face, searching for any sign that her words were getting somewhere.

One benefit of trying to read a blank wall, she supposed, was that you'd easily notice a sudden change in expression. "Unless, of course, the recent events occurring in your front yard have managed to elude you?" She tacked on as she motioned slightly to the woods behind her, not really intending to be as teasing as she may seem.

[adoration]

{ Alright. c: And I know how that is-- a lot of times I'll accidentally go back a page while or after writing a reply, and then I'll freak out for a second because I completely forget that I just need to go back and there it is. u w u ; }



It wasn't hard for Lionel to notice the smug look rising it's way up onto his brother's face; and, saying that it wasn't at all distracting while talking to the redhead standing at the doorstep would've been a lie. Really, he had been able to keep up his facade to this point, but after one captious remark, he was already letting it all go to waste.

Forcing himself to keep his focus on Evanthia as he spoke, he couldn't help the sense of relief that made it's way into his thoughts. So, the black haired girl was important enough to have someone come rushing after her if she was just a hair late? He couldn't care less about the thought though-- this was just their opening to get the girl off of their hands. Whether or not the two made it back wouldn't be their problem. At least, he hoped it wouldn't have to be.

"As a matter of fact, there does happen to be a Cerise Lesune here," he said, as he kept his eyes lowered down onto the girl. He was quite a length taller than her; at least, not to the point where he looked like some giant freak. Though, he had to admit; he hated the way he had to crane his neck down just the slightest when looking at the two.

While Lionel was speaking to the girl, Cerise had taken a step into her cousin's sight, before she gave Daniel a small nod, the smallest hint of felicity making it's way into her eyes. Before Leon had time to step back to let the redhead see the other girl, she had already made her way forward, to the point where she was standing in the doorway a feet away from him and could engulf her cousin in a hug.

"Evanthia! Are you alright?" she asked, an alleviated smile pulling at the corner of the lips. Despite her messy appearance, it actually managed to brighten up her bedraggled appearance, for a change. Giving her cousin no chance to reply, she went on, practically bombarding her redheaded cousin with questions.

"I didn't worry you or anyone else, right? I would have never thought for one second that the carriage would've rolled right off of the pathway. And the men-- oh, it was horrid." Remembering that the two weren't alone, she shut her mouth before she could say anything more. It wasn't like she was bawling on the ground or something, but going off blabbering about everything that had happened wasn't too great of a thing to do either.

So, changing the topic as the back of her neck heated up just the slightest, she glanced past her cousin, out at the bare lawn of the manor. Blinking, she questioned, "How'd you even get here? There's not even a horse in sight-- you couldn't possibly have walked here."

As much as Lionel was 'glad' to see the two reunite, he tore his eyes from the two as they spoke, and instead gave his brother a glance. No, it wasn't some 'oh, it's so good that someone's here to get her' look, but was instead one that held promises of contemptuous remarks for him later. This was, after all, his fault.

[espedina]

||Evanthia Lombardi||

Eva visibly perked at Lionel's answer, hardly able to contain her interest now. Her eyes only widened, but before she even had a chance to request entrance inside to reunite with Cerise, her cousin had moved into her view. Splendid! "Cerise, my lord, are you-" .... well. Eva was only able to get part of the question out of her mouth before the embrace stopped her in her tracks, Cerise asking essentially the same question of her. Such a silly girl, acting as if anyone's wait could hold a candle to what she'd went through- wasn't she just the one who survived a torpedoing carriage?

A flurry of thoughts bombarded her mind as she returned the hug, listening to her cousin briefly recount the rather grim experience she'd just lived through. Normally words came swiftly to her, but right now Eva knew to exercise moderation and not just delve into chatty conversation as if they weren't in the presence of people she scarcely knew.

When Cerise asked a question of her, and purposefully set aside a silent moment for her to respond in, Eva had to pull away slightly with a slight chuckle. This was going to be a fun little story to somehow word correctly. Slowly, now that the giddy joy of discovering Cerise in good health was allowed to die down, Eva was realized something. Simple math. Carriage destroyed plus horse gone equaled being stuck in their current surroundings. After all, all respectfulness aside from the suddenness of their arrival, Eva wouldn't tolerate Cerise and herself being shoved out into the cold when a perfectly good house was a foot away. If they didn't want to get involved, they should've pretended to not be home.

Laughing dryly, Eva crossed her arms before dishing out a response. "To put things in simple terms- the horse and I had a bit of a discrepancy on when we would be leaving." She exhaled in one, controlled breath, "I apologize for the unfortunate circumstances, but they are what they are, I suppose." Eva was clearly frustrated by not being able to offer them a means towards civilization, but she didn't let the thought wrack her with guilt.

||Daniel Luveau||

Blinking a moment, Daniel returned Lionel's gaze with as deadpan a look as he could muster. Couldn't this blaming business wait for later? Revving up each others tempers while the two woman were around had no possibility of ending well. Not that that foresight stuck in this mind well, since moments later he put a slight grin onto his face.

After all, now that this 'Evanthia,' as she'd been addressed, had shown up to fetch Cerise, things should simmer down quite nicely given a few more minutes to wrap things up. If anything, they should be feeling relieved, now that their portion of the ordeal was over. Just how out of perspective their thoughts would seem to people? Cerise just narrowly evaded deaths arrow, and here they were griping mentally about having to assist with the aftermath.

His joviality was tragically short lived, however, as Eva's words inadvertently dashed them into pieces. Narrowing his eyes with suspicion, he thought certainly that he'd heard wrong. Somehow, someway, his hearing had chosen now as the opportune moment to act out. The odds of this actually happening had to be infinitely small. Once again, he found his gaze returning to Lionel, but for an entirely different reason; he searched his brothers face desperately for the sign that he'd misheard. For once, a mistake on his part would be welcomed.

[adoration]

Cerise took a moment longer to glance out behind Evanthia in search of any kind of transportation her cousin could've used to get out into the forest. Though, when she saw nothing, her eyes drifted back over to her cousin, a questioning look starting to gather in them as she listened to her answer.

"The horse ran off?" she said, her voice quieting down quite a bit after her earlier stream of comments. She shouldn't have been talking so casually at such a time-- she was still standing in the doorway of some stranger's house, in the first place. Still, she couldn't help the small sense of disappointment that settled down in the pit of her stomach. It seemed like they were really stuck here, after all. And, since the two brothers seemed to have no way of contacting any nearby town or village, what were they supposed to do?

After hearing Evanthia's comment about her horse's departure, Lionel's eyes instantly flickered over to the two. This day just got better and better, didn't it? Paying no mind to return his brother's look, he contemplated the situation at hand for a while longer. The carriage had been destroyed, the horse ran off; it was also Winter, for gosh sake! They had no way to be able to send some telegram to any nearby village about the recent course of events, but what they did happen to have was some colossal manor too large for two people alone. They couldn't just send them out into the middle of the forest-- it would be sending them straight to their death.

This had to be Lady Luck's cruel game of fortune.
Tensing up his jaw to hold back a frustrated sigh, he gave his brother a cold glance. He would definitely be getting the cold shoulder from him for the rest of the week-- no, make that the rest of the month.

"Well, this seems like quite the predicament we've gotten stuck in," was all he managed to say without letting an ounce of insolence into it. He did, however, have the audacity to say 'we've' instead of 'you've,' because truthfully, this was also their problem. They had no means of letting these two women stay in their chateau, but if they didn't, they'd be the cause of their deaths.

Glancing over at his brother, he said no more. He didn't want to be the one to tell them they couldn't stay here, nor did he want to be the one to have to tell them that they could. So, he left the duty to his younger brother, as he exhaled and adjusted the hat on his head, which probably seemed ridiculous for him to wear inside.

[espedina]

||Daniel Luveau||

Afflicted by the same unsettling exasperation as Lionel, Daniel didn't find himself too fond of words at the moment either. Well, actually, that was a lie- he had quite a lot of responses to this jumbling about his mind, but nothing that was appropriate to voice currently. The longer the silence lasted however, the more it began to prod and poke at him to spit something out, even if he had to censor his true thoughts.

Stepping forward a pace to make sure he'd be heard by all without having to raise his voice and just invite in his anger, Daniel uttered a simple, indirect request for them to come inside. "Let's stop dawdling around the doorway, we can sort everything out just as well inside." Still reeling from the breech of their long standing solitude, Daniel couldn't help but wonder how things would have progressed if Lionel had been the one to go outside, in place of him.

Although he presumed they looked rather odd in the two woman's eyes, Daniel couldn't help but feel as if this whole coincidence was abnormal as well. Clearly Eva had been waiting nearby to meet up with Cerise- that was evident enough with the prompt way she managed to track her family member here. But why was she completely alone? It was utterly reckless if it was just on a whim, so there must be an ulterior, more important, motive to their otherwise simple little 'meet up.'

||Evanthia Lombardi||

Eva was perhaps acting a bit offhandedly, but she'd had quite enough of handing out cookie cutter formalities for the day, or investing too much energy in a flawless lady-like image. Interacting with the organization earlier had been quite enough, thank you very much. About that... The officials would probably be just clamoring to give her an earful once they got back. Any hopes to retain even a somewhat timely schedule was fantasy, at this point.

Hearing one of the brothers speak from inside the house, she lifted her eyes, but otherwise made no movement. She wasn't about to just go waltzing inside past them, after all, even with her current attitude. She owed it to Cerise, at the very least, to maintain a civil wavelength.

((I apologize for the lack of length. x__x ))

[adoration]

{ Ah, it's fine! c: Don't worry about the length-- I'm having a bit of low muse today myself, so this post's probably going to be a little bit short as well at the moment. }



Cerise blinked as she looked from her cousin to Daniel, having fallen silent after listening to Evanthia's news. The world just seemed to be against them today-- at least, except for when it came to the two brothers. At least, she thought so. She still wasn't completely sure of what to think about the two though; it was a simple act of courtesy to house someone, but being out in the middle of nowhere wasn't all that typical.

"Ah-- sorry," she said in return to his remark about discussing matters inside. Taking a step back out of the doorway, she returned her gaze over to her redheaded cousin, as she wondered if she would come inside as well. They had said 'let's', anyways.

Lionel didn't say anything to counter his brother's request, but he didn't say anything to suggest that he approved of it, either. Telling them to come inside just meant that they'd probably be here for a while; and a while could go on for a lot longer than either of them wanted it to. For all they knew, 'a while' could end up being days; weeks, even. Getting a message to any nearby village or town wouldn't be an easy feat, anyways.

"Daniel's right," Leon said, as he took a step forward and headed over to the doorway. Waiting for the redhead to take a step inside, he set one hand on the cold handle of the door. "The frigid air won't hold back; it'll easy give any of us a sickness. That's not another problem we need at the time."

Staying rather reticent as she listened to Lionel, Cerise soon tore her gaze from the blonde beast and looked over at Daniel. They hadn't apologized or thanked them, yet, had they? Reaching up and pushing back behind her ear a wavy strand of her black hair that fell down in front of her face, she glanced over at her redheaded cousin. They'd have to mention a word or two of gratitude sometime soon. At least, if they had the time to while sorting out this whole predicament.

[espedina]

[[Evanthia Lombardi]]

Once a path before her opened up, Eva was quick to oblige Daniel's request, carefully stepping over the threshold of the door to allow herself inside. Eva would rather take her chances with them at the moment than Jack Frost. "Many thanks." She mused simply as she strode by, meeting each mans gaze in turn before looking to the surroundings. Although the lighting was different and she still needed to let her eyes adjust, she could already tell the inside of the manor matched the sculpted outside- a bit worn, of course, as they clearly didn't have many people around to tend to it, but it still held aesthetic charm.

Orienting herself purposefully aside Cerise, Eva then allowed herself to finally be able to look at the two men beside each other. Brothers, clearly- that much was evident from some of their familiar facial features. Siblings living together was a normal occurrence, that was not drew her interest. What did, however, was a sort of mustiness about this place. It was as silent as the woods she'd just left, the things at the entrance in such order that Eva was beginning to wonder exactly how long it'd been since someone had visited. Who would purposefully put themselves in a position of such utter isolation? After traveling most of her life, the sheer notion of holing yourself up between stone walls seemed more a punishment then way of life.

Reaching a hand up to the edge of her hood, her long fingers curled around the hem in order to pull it off her head. Not graced with a mirror to guide herself by, she simply ran a hand through her hair briefly to make sure it was in order. "Pardon the sudden intrusion, not that words alleviate the matter." She said lightly, noticing a semi-irritated look drifting through Daniel's eyes.

||Daniel Luveau||

Daniel allowed everyone to shuffle inside in their own time, trusting Lionel would shut the door promptly. His immediate action or words were needed currently, so he allowed himself to phase into a semi-passive role of observance for a few moments. During that time his thoughts attempted to sort themselves out, not that you could make much leeway in the span of five seconds.

As Eva's voice graced his ears, he looked up with a slight grunt of acknowledgement. "There's nothing to be done about it now," He stated, as if in a slight attempt to reassure the duo. As soon as the front door closed, that would be the silent sealing of the deal, the wordless promise that they'd let them stay here and, dare he admit it, be of assistance. The time was past, if they were to be the ones cruel enough to shut the door in the faces of individuals whose lives depended on their rare kindness. They couldn't very well shoo them away now, for better or worse.

[adoration]

Lionel nodded in return to Evanthia's thanks as he exhaled out through his nose, keeping his anger in check. Pulling the wide doors of their manor shut, he watched as his last cloudy breath drifted off into the cold air, only to be sealed out of the dismal home. Afterwards, he turned around on his heel, returning his gaze to the other three in the corridor.

The deal was done; the doors were closed. Now, there was really nothing they could do. They had to give solace to the two women, or else they'd be seen as humane, and most likely called upon later if the two were found dead. Oh, but having to put a roof above the heads of the two was such an unpleasant and drab thought; he didn't want to give up his life of solitude anytime soon. And if it wasn't for the two, it wouldn't have been like he had to. He held perpetuity in the palms of his hands, and it was confirmed by the horns that embellished his head.

Now that he actually took it into consideration though, their house was probably anything but homely upon entering the place. The air was stale and stuffy in a way; dust had probably gathered in a few places from hasty placing. It wasn't like they hadn't already given off an aberrant first impression though, so it probably didn't matter much. They weren't letting the two into their home to be some sublime hosts anyways. Whether the two thought eminently around them or not didn't matter much to him-- and he was sure his brother thought the same way.

While Lionel took a few steps away from the door, Cerise took a moment or two to take one glance around the main entryway of the place. It was musty, to say the least, but in a way it was still rather ravishing. It had an old charm to it. Still-- she had no right to be making any commentary about their home, so she didn't say anything about it. She was lucky just to be alive at this very moment.

A realization finally occurred to her, as she let her gaze return to her cousin. "Did my father give you any kind of message before you set off from Faroe?" she asked. Her father-- what must he be doing at the moment? What would he be doing only hours later from now? He'd be finding no cousin or daughter arriving; his reaction definitely wouldn't be anything pleasant.

Coming to a halt, Leon turned his gaze back onto the two women standing side by side. Now that they'd already decided that they were going to help them, there was an obvious problem not standing out in front of their faces; what were they going to do? There was no doubt that whatever solution they got wouldn't be easy, but they still hadn't even gotten a solution.

"I'm sure we'll be able to get something sorted out," he said, though he wasn't too sure himself. The only option they really had would be to make their way to one of the nearest towns to send a telegram or get help, but Winter stood in front of that possibility. "We'll just have to find a way to send out a message to the closest town."

[espedina]

[[Evanthia Lombardi]]

Eva couldn't help but watch as the door swung close, the thin sliver of natural light visible through it soon disappearing. Out there, it was much more bright, thought she supposed she was just in a less lit section of the home. Somehow, despite the noticeable warmth that emanated from the hallways, it felt more like winter in here than outside. That observation wasn't so much Eva purposefully trying to find fault, as much as a random comparison her mind made.

For some reason, it simply felt darker in here, more closed off, as if an invisible ice had settled over everything around them. Rather than getting carried off by her imagination, however, Eva allowed herself to simply write off this fact. Two minutes was hardly enough time to form an accurate image of a place, much less a creature with unseen depth, a person.

Her eyes moved immediately off of whatever inanimate object they'd been hovering on the moment Cerise's words interjected into her thoughts, and she fought off the desire to have her expression be dominated by a grimace. Such a nasty expression that really was, in her eyes- she'd rather have the full brunt of someone's irritation than some small glimpse of a possibly hidden grudge. "Not anything that would be applicable now. Simply to keep the time in mind," She nearly chuckled out of sarcasm. Lewis would probably simply think the two were dawdling about in town, or chatting, at first. As the hours drug on, and the day slowly eased away, then the worry would set in. In the summer it'd be totally permissible to strut around, no matter how late it got, but this season simply did not permit such freedom of activity.

"And that important matters were to be discussed once you arrived." Eva left it at that, her discretion keeping it vague. Cerise knew about her planned marriage, so she'd be able to gleam that aspect from her words, but Eva wasn't about to start discussing the other reason Cerise was being relocated.

||Daniel Luveau||

Partially listening to the personal words the two women were exchanging, Daniel didn't reinsert himself into the situation until after Lionel spoke again. As far as he was concerned, the two hadn't said anything of particular relevance or interest to them anyways. Only once something applicable came up did he want to actually bother himself to reply.

Mulling over the few ideas he had, Daniel spoke up: "The cold will probably break, to a tolerable degree, soon. Then one of the neighboring farms will be able to do more help than we can if you go to them." Daniel tried to make it very clear to them that this little 'arrangement,' or whatever it was, was completely and utterly temporary. There wasn't even a faint, half starved thought otherwise. As far as he could tell, Lionel would be in agreement with him over that topic, if nothing else.

Fidgeting with one end of his scarf in thought, Daniel wondered exactly what kind of traffic the road out front of them got. Would it be insane to consider braving the temperature for a few minutes, to stand out there in hopes that someone would pass by? These two had obviously traveled the same path in such short a time, it couldn't possibly take too long before some one else wandered by the area. Innately, Daniel knew that few chose this route to travel along- that had been one of the pivotal reasons Lionel and him choose to situate themselves here. He was just grappling for any comforting thought at the moment.

[adoration]

The glum look that flickered into Evanthia's eyes after Cerise's comment didn't go unnoticed to the black haired girl, though she made no comment about it. It did cause a flutter of curiosity to disrupt her thoughts momentarily; she knew her father must've changed over the years, but had it been for the worst? Or, was she just over thinking it? There could have always been a different reason for her abhorred look.

Even with that thought in mind, a look of dismay seemed to seep it's way into Cerise's expression at Evanthia's next comment. She knew that her redheaded cousin was staying deliberate with all that she mentioned, but it was still obvious what she meant, nonetheless. She could've only been talking about her arranged marriage-- well, for what she knew. The other reason that she had been scouring over to the new village wasn't anything that ever crossed her mind; it hadn't once been mentioned within earshot of the young woman. Miles, even.

Slowly turning her gaze from her cousin to the wide array of antiques in the chateau, she softly said, "I guess that shouldn't be of much surprise..." And in all honesty, it wasn't. Maybe she had just been imprudently hoping that Eva would've had something to lighten her shallow mood during the move. It hadn't been her decision to come to the new village, after all, so the least he could've done was send a small message for her awaiting arrival.
Then again, it wasn't like her father had been expecting the pinch they were in now.

Lionel had to cross his arms to keep himself from making any spiteful remarks as the two conversed; on the other hand, he couldn't help the faint outline of a grimace that managed to creep it's way up onto his face. Though, he probably only seemed as if he were pitying the small amount of choices they had.

As he listened to his brother interjecting into their conversation, he had to put some massive effort into holding back a tch of pique. It was good to know that the cold would probably melt down soon enough, but 'soon' and 'probably' weren't enough to bring the beast to content. Even if their stay would be temporary, it didn't settle well with him.

"Until then, staying here will just be inevitable," he said, as much as it distressed him to. He and his brother would only have to face the fact sometime soon, anyways, so it'd better be now than anytime later. At least it wasn't like they were all crowded into some small space, which was good. They had more room than needed in their manor.

The thought brought up others though; neither of the two women seemed to have any of their stuff. He could only guess Cerise's luggage had been destroyed during her topple, while Evanthia's must've been carried off with the horse. And for a second, he inwardly swore to himself that he'd scorn horses for the rest of his everlasting life.

"Well, problems aside, it'd be best to introduce ourselves once again." Since Evanthia had only shown up after the brief introduction shared between the three, he had no clue as to who the redhead was. It was probably only the same way for her. Gesturing to his brother, he repeated himself, "My brother here is Daniel; I myself am Lionel."