ataraxion | 002 ♕ video

[ The camera comes on and here is Alayne Stone (yes, the same Alayne Stone that supposedly bled all over her bedroom floor when demons still ran amok on the Tranquility). To her credit, she's looking much better (much more healthy than she probably has any right to be). But that's the beside the point.

The camera comes on and here is Alayne Stone and she dips, giving the same perfunctory bow that she is known to give upon greeting. Though an effort has made to make herself look tidy, her brow is pinched with worry. Her words are quick and, often, she looks off camera at something out of sight. ]

My good Tranquility, [ she says in greeting, her clip not terse per say, but approaching it. ] I am looking for a man. I— I do not know his name, but should he see my face he will remember our acquaintance.

Twice now he has come to my aid. [ He avenged my death. He gave me a terrible knife. ] And— and I find myself in need of his aid once again. [ A pause and then, squaring her shoulders, she looks into the camera and says simply (as if it were directly to the man in question). ] It is a matter of wolves. Please— [ She is about to entreat him, but thinks better of it. (He does not seem the type to be swayed by begging.) ] —do not remain silent. I know you watch and listen.

I will eagerly await your word. [ A pause and then Alayne dips again, more awkwardly this time (she wishes she could say more). ] —thank you.

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[ A hesitation now. Normally, she would say without so much as a pause. But Jaye's message has set Alayne to worry. ]

She is not nearly as large as her brothers. But— but if she frightened, I cannot say. There is something that set her afright, and an animal will act to protect itself.

Who could blame them for it? [Says the animal.]

But brothers-- is there a pack on the ship? [She may not be speaking of actual werewolves, but if there are any on the ship... what better cover for them?]

Some try, [ she hazards and then wonders if it is wrong to speak so freely. ] To blame them. An animal may wound a man's pride by besting him. And so a man calls for the animal's hide to see the wrong answered for. [ A pause, then carefully. ] It is perhaps not right, but it is the way of the world. And animals have no voices with which to speak their case.

[ Again, a pause, but there is no use in hiding the Stark wolves. They hardly hid themselves; they were too large and always at their masters' sides. ] There are six to the pack, but only three aboard. Lady, Grey Wind, and Summer.

Are you familiar with wolves, stranger?

[There's a slight shift in his tone, the faintest hint of aggression behind it.] Men will wield their pride like a weapon, most are incapable of seeing it for the weakness that it is.

[Her words stuck him a little deeper than expected, and so Klaus moves the conversation back to the wolves. This time his voice sounds almost amused.]

A little. Perhaps you could teach me more about them-- after your friend has been found and returned to you, of course.

[ The man's words make her think of Joffrey. Joffrey Baratheon, the King on the Iron Throne, the First of his Name. He'd thought his pride was a weapon, and he'd brandished it like so much steel — at Sansa, her family, at anyone who dared come near. Brandished it until the world thought to turn it back upon him and he'd died having swallowed the breadth of his own bloody sword, having choked on his own hubris.

And so maybe something shows in her expression, something brief and sharp in her eyes. (Joffrey had always said Sansa had the blood of a wolf, and for the Starks it was more than true.) ]

They're not like regular hounds. When they obey it is not because they're afraid or fear the choke of the chain. When they obey, it is because they want to.

Most men are frightened of them. [ A pause. Curiously: ] You're not.

[The slight shift in her expression doesn't go unnoticed, but Klaus makes no comment on it. He doesn't know what it betrays, but it's something to file away for later use. For now his interest in her begins and ends with how useful she might be to him.

To the last part, he ducks his head and says with a smile:]

We have that in common then.

[With only that. The wolves are a piece to a larger picture, he feels little affection for them.]

What is your name?

[ His comment gives her pause as does her question, her politeness taking on the faintest sheen of wariness (not fear, but caution, a heightened awareness). Father tells her that knowledge is power and already there is one man who aboard the ship who knows her name and whose name she cannot return. It is with him in mind that she dips her head in apology and asks instead: ]

Will I be given a name in return? I find it is best to converse with acquaintances than with strangers.

[There's no discernible hesitation in his reply, he offers it freely.]

My name is Niklaus. But you may call me Klaus.

[He could use a false name, but he won't. If anyone recognizes his name, he'll know why.]

Klaus, [ she repeats the word as if doing so seals some unspoken bargain. It is true, he could lie and Alayne could hope — perhaps foolishly, perhaps correctly — that she would be able to discern its falsity, but 'Klaus' does not seem untrue and so, she dips in a bow. ] Klaus, my name is Alayne— Alayne Stone.

And the direwolf I seek is Lady.

[No noticeable reaction to his name. Perhaps the Mystic Falls contingent is keeping to their promises. Fantastic.]

I will be sure to give you a call if I run into your companion, Alayne.

[ She dips again, this time a thank you. ]

I thank you for all your offer to help, and— and when Lady and I are once together, perhaps then I may better acquaint you.

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