Settling In

**Date Started:** November 3rd, 2021
 **Date Completed**: November 13th, 2021
**Previous Role-Play** Black Pearl
**Next Role-Play:** TBA
**Users Involved:** User:Blackdagger01 & User:HoloArc
**Setting:** Lubbock
**Characters Involved:** Carwen Nox, Frieda Langley, Irena Vroman, Alistair Vroman.

The day was slowly fading away, giving way to the late afternoon light. Carwen was in the midst of cleaning away the remains of the cooking session in the Servant's Lodge after a mass cooking session for their meals. Carwen and a few others had been left behind to clean after the rest of the servants had been called off to tend to the mansion. Carwen had been the first to be declared to work. When she protested to the absurdity of taking care of it all herself, only then had she been given additonal help. *Fucking bitch. I **will** kill her some day.* She hissed in her own mind as she continued her work. It was soon over, and by then she would be free to take a break.

Just as she was about to be finished, she heard a certain cough to get her attention coming from behind. She already knew who it was and she had to bite her tongue to not snap at her. "What do you want?" She asked in as soft a tone as she could.

With the same stoic expression she always wore on duty Freida looked down at a piece of paper in her hand, a note of some kind. She ignored the tone of the short, pale skinned woman not because she didn't notice but because she figured it infuriated the woman all the more to be ignored over being fought with. Clearing her throat she looked back up to Carwen. "I see the cleaning is almost finished, the few remaining can handle it well enough. You'll be taking this to the Lady of the house." She explained as she motioned toward the cart behind her containing a tea set, "And before you say anything about this or that being unfair let me assure you I did not select you for this task. You were chosen by Lady Irena herself for some reason, brave woman to have you be the deliverer of something she intends to consume. Which is why I've already prepared the tea, take care not to tamper with it."

*I would have spit in it if it was for you.* She mentally hissed, not willing to let go of the woman's opening words to her. Carwen bit her tongue all the same and gave a nod before wheeling off with the tea set. Chafeuring it through the hallways, she eventually came to the door to the room of Alistair's mom. Not knocking, as she had been told, she instead started by calling out to the woman. "Lady Irena, your tea has been prepared for you." She said sweetly with barely held back bile. She hated to act like the sweet meek maid. *Can't the years be over soon?* She almost pleaded. Once given the go ahead, she opened the door and pulled it in, smile still on her face. Putting up the cups and tea brewer on the table, she poured up a bit of tea for the woman, leaving sugar, milk, honey and whatever else she might want on its own. 'Do not tamper with it' after all. Standing back, with a small curtsy she asked: "Would there be anything else, M'lady?"

The woman sat in a chair located in a small nook in the corner of the room where three green clothed chairs sat seated around a small wooden table on which now sat the cup of tea. She took notice of Carwen's rush, but more than that she noted how exhausted the woman seemed to be. She smiled, deep laugh-lines on her face as she did so. "It seems you've been being run ragged today... I apologize if this has been hard on you." She spoke in a kind tone as she began to add things to her tea. "I certainly hope you don't blame me for that, it's Alistair's doing after all." she joked with a soft chuckle before she motioned for Carwen to sit down across from her.

"I don't suppose you'd mind keeping an old crow like me company for a bit would you? Surely a cup of tea is better than whatever it is the young Frieda has in store for you, yes?"

Carwen pondered it for but a moment before giving her response. "An old crow? Hell no," She said as she began to walk over to the seat which Irena had presented to her. Sitting down, she continued; "But with such a radiant Canary, how could I not say yes?" she said with a good smile before starting to pour a cup for herself. She gave the drink a sip, realized it wasn't exactly her favored taste, and thus proceeded to half-drown the cup with honey. Taking a sip again, she looked over to the woman and felt a bit uncomfortable. As if something or someone was about to jump her at any moment. She did not favor meetings like this. For but a second she began to ponder if the tea had been corrupted somehow. Calming down, she looked to the lady and said: "Thank you, it... I-It's good."

Irena had laughed at her comment, "Oh my, aren't you sweet? I'm sorry to inform you that I'm a married woman but your words are much appreciated." She'd responded as Carwen sat down, watching the girl drink her tea. "I'm glad you enjoy it, it's my favorite brand." She said before raising the cup to her lips and taking a sip of the tea. Closing her eyes for a moment as she enjoyed the flavor and letting out a quiet sigh when she'd lowered it from her lips. "Tell me, Carwen, how have you been enjoying your time in our home? It's been nearly a week now, surely you've seen enough for form an opinion?"

"Seen enough? ...Yeah, well... I've seen enough just not... experienced enough, if that makes sense?" She said with a sense of uncertainty. "I am just not used to this kind of work. I've done it before but have had rough experiences with it. So, I am not quite sure what to make of all this. All of you. No offense meant." Carwen sighed, slowly calming down. "I kind of feel like I am gonna get jumped at any moment." She said with her chin against her knuckles when she suddnely realized what she had just said and flinched. "Again, no offense. I've just had bad things happen in similar circumstances. I am... Just not that comfortable yet."

She sipped again at her tea as she listened to Carwen speak, holding the cup there even as she no longer drank from it until the raven-haired maid had finished speaking. "Yes, that's understable. Before you arrived Alistair had warned us that life had not been kind to you, he'd asked us all to hold off on judging you until we'd gotten to meet you in person. As I'm sure you can tell, some stuck to that more than others."

"While I cannot condone your actions or the things you've done, I hesitate to condemn you for them either. Though I once thought differently in my younger years I've come to believe that everyone willing to change deserves a second chance and more importantly, that not everything legal is right and vice versa." The woman spoke in a more serious manner than before though it was masked under her soft tone. "In that same way, I ask you not to think ill of Alice or my husband. I know they can seem cold, jaded, and bitter at times... But I assure you that too have their reasons, none of which involving you I should add."

"Glad to hear it. I doubt that Alistair could have convinced anyone to take me in if I had." She tried to awkwardly joke. "But do not worry ma'am, I hold no grudge against them for being hesitant, judging or even if they were to be aggressive. I've been through worse and I haven't been treated in such a way where I can say that I am offended. I also don't know if you should ponder right and wrong to much. Blurs the lines and makes everything ever so confusing. I like to keep it simple. Life is complicated enough. Condemn me if you like, M'lady. It isn't exactly like I don't deserve it." Carwen said solemnly.

"I see no point in that, at least, not from what I've seen. You're a hard worker, even if that may be the young Freida's tedency to pile the work onto you. She's a harsh woman, truly, but she's only giving you a hard time because you're new. Give it some few more weeks and I'm sure the both of you will be thick as theives." She finished with a warm smile before finishing up her cup of tea.

Sitting the porcelain cup back down onto the saucer she looked back up to Carwen. "I don't know why, can't figure it out for the life of me, but Alistair has taken a shine to you for one reason or another. I can only hope his intetions are pure, I care not to speak ill of my children but Alistair's history with women is... Well, it's been some years since he's left that lifestyle behind and he's matured a lot since then. I'm merely saying, I hope you can be a good influence rather than someone who brings out the worst in him. I apologize if it sounds as though I'm laying a burden upon you, I don't mean it that way."

An uncomfortable tingle ran up her spine at that remark. Alistair? Really? She looked over to her, at first with a concerned look but quickly gave way to a half-hearted smug smirk. "Alistair? Really? That prude boy had a history like that with women? Huh. I never would have guessed. Well, if it brings any comfort, I don't intend to be another woman in the panty collection for him. I can't promise that I will be a good influence, all things considered, but I certainly won't be the reason he regresses if that happens... But I must ask, m'lady... Why tell me all of this? He has a shine for me? His history... I suppose that I don't quite... Understand. There is so much that I don't understand. Your and Alistair's kindness being among them, I suppose."

Irena seemd almost confused by the question, "What reason do I have to keep it hidden? Frankly, I'm more surprised the gossip had yet to reach your ears. As well as they work I'm afraid I care little for how much our staff seem to gossip amongst themselves. As for why Alistair has taken a shine to you only the man himself can answer that, I merely told you of his past exploits in hopes that you would not allow him to fall back into them. As a beautiful young woman, I felt it only right to share with you that knowledge."

Pursing her lips she thought for a moment, "As for why I chose kindness... What good would anything else do, deary? Would scorn change what has already happen? Would spitting at your feet bring back the dead? Would treating you poorly make you believe you were being punished by the Gods? No... sins cannot be punished by sin, hate cannot be overcome with more hate. The fact of the matter is rather simple when you really think about it, you were wronged by the world, what good would it do to wrong you further but to prove you right?"

Carwen remained still, but inside she felt a strange kind of warmth that she was not sure she liked. "That... That is an interesting way to view things. I see the reason one could think that. Yeah, no good would come from more cruelty I guess... I am just kind of fearing that you might be wasting your time. I'm pretty far gone. I've been shaped by that lifestyle so thoroghly. Don't you also wonder that? That maybe the jungle can't be taken out of the cat?"

At Carwen's question a look of saddness entered the woman's eyes, a deep and unrelenting sadness boarding on the hopeless, and at that the older woman looked away from Carwen as subtle as she'd tried to make it seem it was an obvious move. She lifted her empty cup to her lips again as though she'd forgotten about emptying it only a few moments ago, lowering it the moment it touched her lips. "One can only hope that what they say about time healing all wounds is true, for all our sakes."

"The wounds are healed. It is the memory I am regretful still lingers." Carwen said as she reached forward and poured another cup for the Lady while also sipping up her own. "I can promise that I will give it my all to become a tame house cat. We'll see if new memories can blot out the old ones." She said with a bit of a smile, trying to cheer the woman up a bit. "My, I feel like I've ruined the mood. Maybe I should just have kept to talking about musicals and crap like that, right?" She spoke with a half-hearted chuckle.

She thanked her for the tea, beginning to mix in her sugar and honey as she listened to Carwen speak. "No, no, far too much goes unsaid when people think like that. It's better to speak of them than to bottle them up even if it can be difficult. At least, that's what I would like to believe, there are some if not many who do not subscribe to such ideas. We can speak of pleasantries at any time but it is only in moments like this, two people sitting alone at a table sipping tea, that we can speak about the things most important to us." She explained to Carwen, looking toward the wall at a portrait of her family, all of which much younger than they were now. Osmund still but a small child, Alistair and Alice barely teens, and her own hair void of gray.

A knock on the door interrupted to momentary silence, a familiar voice calling out from the door. "There's a call for Carwen on the line, Lady Vroman. It's lord Alistair, might she be stolen away for but a moment?" Rosa asked through the wooden door.

Irena turned to look toward Carwen with a crooked smile to her face, "My how time seems to fly. Thank you for keeping me company, Carwen, it does me a great deal of good to simply sit down and speak to someone like this every now and again." She said before sipping her tea again. "Best for you to get going now, don't want to keep him waiting do you?"

"Y-Yes, I suppose I don't. Thank you for inviting me to tea, m'lady. And, uh, sorry for ruining the mood." She said with a curtious bow and headed out. Offering un-reasoned thanks to Rosa, she went off to the phone to answer Alistair. She was both grateful to be removed from that area, while also a bit saddened. She couldn't tell quite why, and that is why she instinctively hated it. Just the uncertainty of it all.

Carwen stood waiting by the entrance for Alistair to arrive in ordinary fashion. Seeing him near the porch, she opened the door for him in a near-mocking manner as she bowed to the man. "Welcome home, Master Alistair." She said, knowing full well how much he hated it when she used honorifics.

"It's good to see you as well, Lady Carwen." He responded in a mocking tone as loosened his tie and let out a quiet sigh befor holding up the bags, he'd gotten what she'd asked for, having let her choose the place today. "All joking aside, it's good to be home."

"Even better to be greeted at the door, I think I'm starting to get used to it." He continued with a chuckle, looking her up and down to see that she was still in her uniform meaning that in all likelihood she'd been working until the moment he'd called. "Let's eat, I'm sure we're both exhausted." He'd said with a motion toward the dining room, entering it just in time to see some of the other staff finishing their cleaning. He knew they wouldnt exactly make a mess but part of him felt bad about the idea of sitting down and eating immediately after they'd finished cleaning everything up from those who had last eaten here.

Turning back to Carwen he got an idea, "I think we should eat elsewhere, lest we garner the ire of the staff..." He explained with an awakward look on his face before he walked from the room and down the hall, descending some stairs into a white brick room with stylized black carpeting. In the middle of the room was a billards table, off the right was a fully stocked bar, and a little further back was a table that looked as though it was used for poker or some other card game. "You okay with eating here? Feel free to get something from the bar if it strikes your fancy, no one other than father and his friends drink it anyhow."

"Lady Carwen? I think I like that." She said, not even a tease, just a statement. Looking around the room she had been escorted to, she took a look around in familiar awe. "Man... This reminds me of my old hideout. Just... A bit fancier." She said as she walked over to the bar. Looking over the alcohol arrangements, she passed by many labels until she came across one which 'struck her fancy'. "40%, 51, 62, 32, Alcohol free, no no no... Aha!" She cried out after having muttered to herself. Picking up a bottle of powerful liqor she took it and two glasses with her. "Khane Absinthe, 77%. I have no idea how he got this, but I approve." She said as she aligned the drink and glasses opposite of eachother. Pouring a drink for both of them, the odour of alcohol was heavy in the air as she began to sip. "This is the strong stuff, so be cautious. Five cups of this and I was stuck having a heated argument about piecrusts with a snake which was actually just a rock. Man was I disappointed when my men pointed that out. I had a lot to say about the baked goods apparently." She said with a laugh.

"I'm sure the hangover was hell." He said with a half-hearted chuckle though his eyes stared down at the glass, a look of hesitation bordering on disgust overcame his features. "I appreciate the sentiment, more than you know. But I've been abstinent for some years now... Don't let me keep you from enjoying it though, can't let the stick in the mud ruin the party after all." He said as he gently pushed the glass back toward her, trying his best not to be rude. Sitting the bags down on the table he passed the containers between the two of them, separating what each of them had gotten. Having gotten Carwen a main dish of salmon and lobster tail with buttered shrimp on the side. His own being an order of his own order being similar if not for the salmon being replaced with crab legs. A box of rolls between the two. "You have good taste though, in food and alcohol. If you'd only caught me a few years ago..." He started before shaking his head.

"Honestly, you probably would have hated my guts. More than you do now of course." He added the last bit, trying to play it off as a joke.

"So I've heard. You would have been just the kind of person I would have detested. Not worst of the worst, but still very, very bad." SHe said without a care in the world, looking as casual on the matter as when she talked about the piecrusts she mentioned just a few moments ago. She dug into her meal, no thanks, just eating. She took a few bites, took a sip of the drink, burning nicely in her throat as she did. "I figure I would rather not have met you then. Heartbreaker and all that. But I am a bit curious here." She continued with a lobster tail sticking out her mouth as she continued to speak. "What makes you think I hate you? Have I given that impression to you?"

At her confirmation he didn't even have it in him to be surprised that she somehow knew about the things he'd done, rather, he looked down at his food with a lightless look in his eyes. He didn't feel sorry for himself, no, he only felt shame. He hadn't even reached out to eat anything, seeming to only be there still in body until the moment she spoke up again. He looked back up to her, the sight of the lobster tail sticking out from her mouth bringing a small smile to his face.

"Frankly, I'd just assumed you hated all of us to some degree or another. Or rather, that you hated anyone like us. You know, rich, prim and prissy, all of that. Am I wrong in that assumption?"

"I hate people with titles like yours, yes. They have never been kind to me and have never raised a finger to help me and mine. Just exploited. I bet the reason most of them were freaked is because they started to wonder what they themselves had done that might invite this 'Black Pearl's' ire." She said with a shrug as she kept on eating. "I hate people with such status. I don't necessarily hate the individual. You were fun to play with back in the day. You have been kind since, even if I can't really discern why you are doing this, your mother is a sweetheart. And while your dear old pops and sister haven't been very nice, they are part of the process of allowing me a chance. Your little brother is also coming around to me a bit I think. So no, I don't hate you. I still hate that bloody title of yours, but I don't hate the person who wears it." She said with a soft smile and took another bite.

He leaned back a bit in his seat, sitting up straighter. The small smile on his face gaining a bit more warmth to it, becoming more real to him. "I'm glad to hear that, more than you know. Besides, it isn't like I haven't told you not to use honorifics with me." He responded before reaching up and taking his utensils in his hands, beginning to eat now before his food became cold. After a few bites something she'd said finally registered with him. Swallowing his food he looked up to her again.

"As for why, well..." He started with confidence that quickly faded, his eyes staring down at his plate for a moment as he considered his words. "In my mind, I think it's pretty simple but I understand why you might find it hard to believe." He started again, looking back up at the woman across from him. "I don't think you're evil, Carwen. As easy as it is to throw around a label like that, as easy as it might be to believe that someone who kills people is evil... I know that isn't the case in every situation." He continued again before stopping for a moment.

"I just don't think its fair... they wanted to kill you but nothing you did would have happened if we, the knights, the government, Lubbock itself, if they hadn't failed you first. At the very least, I couldn't let them wrong you again... And if all goes well, I want you to find yourself here. In this place where, maybe for the first time in your life, you'll be treated like a human being. I have hope for you, Carwen, I do."

She stopped mid-bite. Again there was that confusing feeling which she had to fight back against and force down into a dark little corner. She looked to the man, lowering her shrimp with a bit of a shake, grabbing her own hand after to keep it steady against the table. "That's... Thanks. I do appreciate your efforts." She said with a half-smile. "As said, I will do my best to adjust. I just cannot help but still feel that my life is over. Even if I am 'redeemed' and allowed to step onto the streets again as a free woman, I don't think it will be that much different. People will still reject me for what I have done and I can't blame them really. I would too if I stood before a person whom had gone about killing people. I don't know how I can accomplish anything out there save for maybe pulling a pen name." She lamented on what she perceived as her lack of a future. Still, she maintained her quasi-smile. "But being treated like a human being? I think I would like that at the very least." She said, raising her half-drunk glass in cheer.

Though he had no drink to raise he held up a crab leg, raising up to meet her glass with a similar clink in cheers. "You say you feel your life is over even now, you worry others will never be able to forgive you for what you've done but even if that's the case I'd dare say your life is far from over. You're a fighter, Carwen, the very fact that you're still alive and sitting across from me now is proof of that. So long as you draw breath, so long as blood moves through your veins, you'll always find a way, something worth striving for. Besides, you speak as though you expect me to abandon you the moment you leave this place? Should all go well I still have a play to sponsor, and should that go well then perhaps I may even have a business partner to look forward to, so long as you'll have me that is?"

She made a sound that appeared a mixture between a scoff and a chuckle. "You really are an interesting one. I suppose you are right. I'll keep up the fighter's attitude a bit longer then I guess. If for no other reason than to see my dream become realized." She spoke before sweeping down the last of her drink and pouring her next glass. "Damn this is a good drink."

Chowing down on what remained of her meal, she simply say opposite of Alistair while awaiting him to finish his own food. "It is still only the matter of finishing those plays though. That and see if the music holds up. I am working hard on it, but I don't have an official education in music. Could prove a bit tricky." She joked.

Alistair went about his finished off his lobster tail as she spoke of her progress. Swallowing hard and wiping his hands as she mentioned having no education in music. "Yeah? I wish I could claim to be an expert myself but I'd be nothing but a liar if I did. Could talk to Osmund? The boy takes music at his school... I don't recall the instrument though I'm afraid. I've heard some of the staff have bonfires somenights near the staff quarters, I've heard music coming from there before. Worse comes to worse... you could check out the library, as many books as are in there I'd be hard pressed to believe theres nothing on music in there somewhere." He said before popping in the last few of his shrimp into his mouth.

"Osmund? Well, if he is up for it, I wouldn't mind it. Mutually beneficial work is often the best kind." she nodded as she took her garbage with her to the nearest trashcan. "I don't know what I can offer him to compensate for his assistance, however. I could teach him that Ki stuff he seemed a bit interested in, but that would require him to want to work with me at all... We'll see how it all works out, I guess."

"Agreed, we'll work something out i'm sure." He said as he finished off his last bit of food, packing up the rolls for later before washing his hands in the sink at the bar. "He's a good kid, I'm sure he'll help you out if you ask him to, if he can that is." He continued as he threw away his trash and stood beside Carwen, looking back toward the bar, or more accurately, the clock above it. "It's getting late and I still have some files to look over before bed. Unless Freida has you working the night shift too I imagine you'll be turning in soon too... Goodnight, Carwen."