[Welcome Center] A Child Alone (Fherasoone)

[Dusk]

"Yes," Aenysa laughed, "but as I said, he manages well enough."

She continued to lead her through the passageways of the castle, more than willing to let the little girl cuddle under her arm, and the time passed in comfortable silence.

Eventually, though, she turned a few corners and they stepped through an archway and out into bright, morning light again. They were in one of the rare parts of Syliras that was outside of Stormhold's hulking mass - the space between the citadel and the towering walls that surrounded the entirety of Syliras. Most of the "outdoor" space in the city were simply courtyards within the castle, but this was one of the few spaces that was truly outside.

They walked down the path, the castle to their left and the wall to their right, until they finally came upon The Welcome Home in all its cheerful hominess, all bright colors and wlecoming patios and comfortable benches. "Here we are," she chuckled, pointing.

StitchYour turn, hon! Thanks for joining

[Stitch]

The blind man had his back turned to both the woman and the young girl when they approached, and he was hunched down onto his knees, but they would still see him. He appeared to be painting, there was a bucket of dark brown next to his figure, and some of the very same liquid was covering most of his body in small little dots and splotches. He was whistling loudly, off-key, but was happily going along anyways. His entire body was even bobbing along to the horrible beat he had created, a little wobbling dance starting at his head, and traveling down the length of his body. The tall human was whistling, wiggling back and forth, and trying to paint, all at once. If the two females took their time to observe the little scene, it would only get better.

From all the wiggling and bobbing he was doing, it would appear as if one would have a hard time painting. That, combined with the fact that he was blind, would seemingly confirm that belief. If you listened, every now and then Stitch would pause his whistling, sit down, and stare at the door. Mumbling in a dis-satisfied way, the man would once again climb to his crouch, pick up his brush, and work at the door once more. He was using quite a large amount of paint, it seemed. As the two girls neared, Stitch suddenly put down his paint brush, and stood up. If they could see his front, they would see a small smile lighting his face, as if something had amused him.

The blind man was soon to prove how odd his handicap really was.

"Hello there, Aenysa!" Without even turning, he also acknowledged the small girl that the young woman had along with her. "And might this one ask who your lovely young friend would be, milady Aenysa?" Stitch slowly turned, and a wave of emotional warmth would gently touch to both of them, like a soft wind. Stitch himself was tall, a bit handsome, with one off-putting feature. Both of his eyes were covered, wrapped in white medical bandages, obscuring his sight, and obscuring them from sight. His smile was lovely, a great big beaming smile that held not a single emotion back.

The door behind him was horribly painted. The blue marks that one of the children had scrawled onto the wood had been missed in small areas, and the coating of brown paint was so thick that it was dripping off. Stitch didn't seem to notice, though.

"And how might this one be so lucky, to have two lovely ladies visiting him in one day?"

[Fherasoone]

She watched the strange man's movements, wondering what he was up to. Each one of his movements seemed a bit chaotic, and then the strange man moved around a bit. Aenysa started moving towards him and so she followed, slightly frightened by the strange motions of the man, and even more so when he turned around after having placed some tools down. She saw a great smile on his face, but was confused when she saw the bandages, wondering how he could tell they were there with his eyes covered like that.

A great curiousity overcame her. Was he able to see through the bandages? She then noticed the door, watching the paint drip off of it. He couldn't see. Which means that he didn't see us at all. Could he have heard us? Maybe he had a strong sense of smell? This only confused her more, and with this confusion, she felt even more shy, unsure what was going on with all of this. "Stitch?..." she said with a quiet voice almost questioning if this was the person. Perhaps this was what blind was though. For one to be without sight, blind.

However, even with that fact, and though the strange bandages were a weird sight for her, she slowly crept away from Aenysa towards Stitch, feeling a strong warmth coming from him. Within a few feets distance she paused, unsure how she should approach him. He probably already knew she was there, but she didn't want to surprise him, or hurt him. Her mind stopped her, casting her into confusion.

[Dusk]

Aenysa giggled and actually blushed at the compliment, pacing up to Fhera and patting her softly on the head before she continued on to Stitch and gave him a warm hug. "You're ruining the door, you know," she teased him, affection and respect clear in her voice - and how not, from an orphan grown to a man who'd made it his life's work to provide for orphans?

"You are very lucky," she chuckled, sneaking a kiss to his cheek before she backed away and beckoned Fhera closer. "For I've brought you a new friend who's just arrived in Stormhold. Stitch, this is Fherasoone, but she likes being called Fhera," she said, drawing the girl in front of her to present her to Stitch, though she kept her hands on Fai's shoulders in case the man's strangeness frightened her. "Fhera, this is my friend Stitch who I was telling you about."

[Fherasoone]

She saw her friend kiss him and suddenly lost all tension, realizing that the man wasn't going to do anything to harm her, and nor could she to him with her usual actions. With her usual quiet voice, she spoke, "Hello..." however, as soon as this word left her mouth, before anyone else was able to react, she rushed in, hugging Stitch with a smile easily visible to Aenysa. Whether Stitch was blind or not, she cared little, knowing he was just as human as Aenysa or herself. However she then spoke up once more, "Aenysa says your nice...so you must be nice..." she said though more of a comfort to herself then for either Stitch or Aenysa wary that Stitch was bound to react in one way or another. However, she didn't think too heavily about this afterward, simply staying there with a smile, as though without a concern in the world.

[Stitch]

Stitch took on a mock worried look as Aenysa mentioned his failures with the door. Spinning around quickly, in quite the over-exaggerated way, he gasped in mock horror at the paint-soaked door. "Oh my, this one really did do a number!" Sighing deeply, still over-acting quite a bit, he smacked one of his palms to his face. It just happened to be a palm that was soaked with fresh brown paint, and Stitch didn't particularly notice until it made contact with his face. Yelping, he hopped back a bit, yanking his hand from his face and then gingerly touching it back, checking for paint. Once again sighing deeply, he turned back to Aenysa and Fherasoone, presenting his face to them. "This one thinks he over-reacted a bit, in a vain attempt at humoring the lovely child." The right side of his face had a perfect brown hand print painted onto it, scarring his lovely white eye bandages as well. Shaking his head and shrugging his shoulders, chuckling at his own silliness, he realized the little girl was running toward him.

Lifting his arm to give her space, he smiled bright as the short little girl attempted to hug him, looking up at him with beautiful eyes. "You seem quite nice yourself, milady. Although, this one thinks you could learn some hugging tips." He squatted down to her height, and suddenly the girl would feel as if she had just made eye contact with him, even if his gaze was hidden. "If this one is taller than you, and you can't hug this one that well... Then make sure this one gets down to milady's height, so a proper hug can be given." Throwing his arms wide, he engulfed her in a massive bear hug, holding her tightly, safely, but gently.

He could sense her earlier fear, and a whisper that only she could hear would be given to assert her faith in him. "You are safe with me, milady. You are welcome in my home if you ever need a place to stay, and be assured... This one will protect you from all harm, as long as you protect this one as well. Perhaps this one assumes too much, but you feel lonely. Much like the other children of this home did, before they came to live with me."

Over the young girl's shoulder, he gave Aenysa a bright smile. "We have room for one more hug, milady!"

[Dusk]

Aenysa giggled, and crouched down to give them both a hug as well. Stitch was one of the few people she could always count on for hugs, and she was loathe to ever turn one down.

"I'm glad we've got that settled then," she murmured, pressing a quick kiss to the top of Fhera's head before she straightened up. "Now, why don't you get her settled and show her around, and I'll finish up the door. Don't you have a new girl to help you with these sorts of things?" she chuckled, playfully ruffling Stitch's hair. She'd heard that the inventor's lover had started coming by the home - well, they got all the gossip on jobs at the employment office.

[Fherasoone]

When Aensya joined the hug, she was truly at peace then. Feeling both of their warmth, it was as though she had both a mother and a father again. She loved the feeling, which caused so many happy memories to overcome her within just seconds. Suddenly she felt a kiss pressed into her head, causing her to look at Aensya with her large eyes which in combination to her soft face, displayed the overwhelming happiness. Even as Aensya spoke up to Stitch, saying something about doors and new things, her head was still filling with her happy memories, keeping her strongly attached to Stitch in the embrace. She felt like she was truly safe now, her head going slightly slack, eyes closing.

Since she originally left her home, she had traveled for days in hopes to find a place like this. For those days, she slept not another night, fearful of what may lay in wait in the shadows. It was only due to great luck that she had found her way here without running into any dangerous creatures, but now her fatigue was overtaking her. Feeling warmth and kindness of the others, as though in the home she once had, she felt safe enough to finally rest well once more, the dark closing in with the last slit of sight through her eyelids disappeared, her body going somewhat slack, the tight grip she had on Stitch lessening, her mind drifting off to the world of dreams.

[Stitch]

Stitch nodded at Aenysa, giving her another cheery smile. "This one does indeed! This one is lucky, first milady Malia was looking for a job, and now we happen to have Alistair's lover dropping by as well! This one is very blessed!" He chuckled, shaking his head, reflecting on the recent blessings. He was lucky to have such a gathering of friends, and such an abundance of people ready and willing to help him out. Malia had done amazing things since the very beginning, cleaning, cooking, and teaching the children. Fentya loved her to death, even if the girl wouldn't admit it, and Damien was smitten with her. The young lad was smitten with every girl he came across, though. From Lady Kamalia, to Lady Nya, to Lady Malia, the boy had flirted with each and every one of them. Chuckling lightly to himself, Stitch pulled his mind out of the memories and focused on the current situation at hand. A girl was in his arms, and he had to provide her with a home.

He felt the little girl's body going slack in his arms, and he chuckled once more, realizing the child was falling asleep. As she wandered into dream land, he let her fall comfortably into his arms, now cradling her close to his chest. Casting a wink at Aenysa, mouthing a heartfelt thank you, he slowly stood while gently holding the girl. Attempting to give Aenysa a wave while still holding Fhera, he tried to signal the woman that she was welcome to come in. Nudging open the still wet door with his foot, he allowed it to remain open so the woman could enter if she wanted. Turning to her, he mouthed that he was going to go put the little girl to bed, and he would be right back. Everything was mouthed or motioned, he didn't want to wake the girl. From the way she was sleeping though, he was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to. She looked pretty deeply involved in whatever nice little dreams she might be having.

As Stitch continued deeper into the house, taking her upstairs, he took a closer look at her aura. He had come to find out recently that he could check the aura of his children while they were sleeping, to see the kind of moods they were in. From their emotional state, he was usually able to tell if they were having a bad dream, and if they needed some kind of reassurance. Fhera appeared to be doing alright, but he decided to keep her close for her first night here. Her face showed signs of extreme exhaustion, so she likely needed every ounce of sleep she could get.

Heading to the playroom, he gently plopped her down on a couch sitting against the wall. The three children were playing in there, and only needed a small motion from Stitch to silently leave the room and head upstairs, while all the while staring at Fhera curiously. Fentya paused to pull a blanket from a nearby closet, tossing it at Stitch, and then followed the rest of the children quickly. Stitch caught the blanket, and gently settled it over Fhera, tucking her in. Sitting on the floor, he awaited to see if Aenysa was planning on staying a bit, while also keeping a close eye on Fhera. Her aura flowed with much emotional pain and stress, but currently was edged with a clearly peaceful vibe. He hoped it would stay that way.

[Dusk]

Aenysa gave a quick shake of her head when invited in, waving Stitch away - she was, after all, supposed to be working right now, and likely wouldn't be allowed more than a half-bell's time away from her duties. Instead she shoved her sleeves up over her elbows and picked up the discarded paintbrush, and with a few quick swipes she'd set the door to rights. There wasn't much she could do about the parts that were too-thick with paint... but maybe she could convince one of the Knights to come over and sand it down and repaint it. There'd been one who was eyeing her, and though she wasn't inclined to return his attentions she could probably wheedle him into volunteering to help out at the home for a bit.

And so while Stitch went about settling Fhera in, Aenysa put the door to rights, then set the paint and brush to the side so none of the children would knock it over. She gave a jaunty wave to the house in case Stitch was looking out the windows - realizing only afterwards what a stupid thing that was, and blushing her way back into the castle as she went back to work.

(I don't think you guys need me anymore, so have fun!)