Nina’s posture didn’t change as she lay back against the seat, her demeanour casual as she examined the man who sat before her. Alan’s features were rather feminine, now that she had the opportunity to take a good look, and it was probably why he looked so similar to his sister. Appearance wouldn’t fool her though; she knew that it would be dangerous to assume he was anything like Julia behind the mask of his carefree smile. Trim told her once before that Alan was a world above his sister, and if she was perfectly honest, Julia’s influence was already enough to scare her.

“Why are you here?” she eventually asked. The room was quiet besides the occasional clattering of dishes from the kitchen now, and the resulting tension caused her to instinctively raise a front. Not a confrontational one, but more of an unconcerned façade. She was worried about why he was here, but letting it show was the last thing she wanted to do. No use in throwing scraps to a potential predator.

Alan didn’t respond immediately, instead studying her with a thin smile on his lips. She knew that he would be used to these games much like his sister was, and while Nina wasn’t a bad negotiator herself, she had no illusions as to who had the upper hand. Negotiation only worked when there was a desired result and a bottom line to work with. Probing of a more social nature with no specific frame for the picture, however, was something that she found a little more difficult.

“To meet with Reina,” he finally said, stating the obvious. How he had turned up on the island wasn’t something that she was going to ask about as Reina could have contacted him for all she knew, but the fact that he was on Areinis itself was a different story. If Julia was anything to go by, Alan was a busy man that didn’t have time to just drop in when it was required, especially if he had to move through the plates to do so. Why he wasn’t sitting in a cushy office somewhere high above where they operated in Luem was more what she had been aiming for, but he probably knew that and decided to answer how he did anyway.

“This, however, was coincidental,” he continued as he motioned to the table between them with a hand gesture. “A welcome coincidence, I’ll admit, because my curiosity was piqued when I heard that Reina had picked up a new pet.”

Ignoring the comment, Nina’s attention turned to the woman who had appeared with her breakfast. Setting Nina’s plate down, the woman then gave her a quizzical glance to see if Alan’s presence was acceptable, serving him only after Nina nodded in reply. The two plates were quickly followed by mugs of coffee, and Nina didn’t bother with any formalities before turning her attention to the meal before her. It was heavier than what she had been expecting - red rice that was topped with thin slices of fried meat, but despite her initial concern she found that she was quite happy with the subtle but spicy flavour.

Alan’s presence, however, annoyed her. Not only had he thrown her morning of peace out the window, he had also stomped on it by following up with a lazy effort to bait a reaction out of her. To label someone as a pet only moments after meeting them wasn’t particularly polite, but she knew that he could do it because she couldn’t afford to offend him. Reina needed his help if her earlier statements were anything to go by, but if he was also this sour with her then she might just consider sticking her foot in it when the opportunity arose.

“You’re quite talkative,” he said after taking a few mouthfuls of the rice before him with a practiced manner. If it was low-class fare for him, he didn’t show it, although Nina had already marked him as someone who ate meals that were more expensive than her monthly salary. At least there was a small win for her, that the woman had made it clear that Alan was seated at Nina’s permission, but if it had irked him he didn’t show it. She’d have to thank her later, both through a polite word or two and by being a repeat customer.

“I’m eating,” she replied without looking up, deciding not to bite at his earlier bait. Despite his appearance and standing, her initial opinion of him was that he was rather petty. Nothing good would come from their conversation if it kept going in the direction it was, so the easiest thing to do was just move on. If he decided to have a change of heart in how he was acting or not, the jury was still out. She wouldn’t, however, play his current game. She was hungry, and someone waltzing in and taking the seat across from her wasn’t going to change that.

His decision to forgo a reply surprised her, instead shrugging before focusing on the plate in front of him. The tension at the table began to ease with the rhythm of cutlery on ceramic, but Nina had already found that she was slowing down. To finish her plate was to end the brief respite, and while it was an unfortunate inevitability that the conversation would continue, she still wanted time to refocus.

“Your fuse isn’t as short as the last one,” Alan finally said as he finished his plate before she finished hers, wiping his mouth with a practiced motion before setting the cloth aside. “Which means you aren’t from the lower floors, are you? You haven’t fallen from the higher floors either. Your etiquette isn’t right.”

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Guessing where I’m from, huh? Nina thought to herself. The urge to smirk was something that she quickly stifled, no point in giving away any hints now. He could easily chalk off a few plates just judging by her appearance, but if he would be able to guess Caecus was a different story.

“You don’t look like someone from Terminus,” he continued, “so… you’re from Caecus.”

“Huh?”

“Reina told me,” he replied with a wink. “Sorry, couldn’t help myself. It’s a poor habit, I’ll admit, but I don’t get the opportunity to have a little fun very often. Rop over there tells me that it’s unprofessional.”

Nina’s eyes flicked over to the man who was leaning against the wall by the door, his hands stuffed into the pockets of a neat navy suit. A bodyguard, she guessed, judging by muscular frame and hard grey eyes that were partially hidden behind a blonde fringe. Being tidy enough to be in Alan’s retinue while still looking mean must have been a difficult line to tread, although he managed it somehow. Props to him, she thought, as he certainly did it a lot better than Svanda did.

“It’s not entirely coincidental that you’re here though, is it?” she finally asked him as she tapped a finger on the table, setting her fork down before reaching for what was left of her coffee. Being on the island to meet Reina was feasible enough, but running into her over breakfast were odds that she wasn’t fooled by considering how many places were scattered along the street. He could have been somewhere busier or somewhere more expensive, but instead he had come here, and the only thing that was in it for him was Nina herself.

“Alright,” he replied as he raised his hands in surrender. “I saw you heading out and thought that it would be a good chance to join you. I never get to meet with anyone from your team outside of a working environment, so it’s a nice change of pace, especially when it’s the newest member.”

“Maybe so,” Nina said nonchalantly. Whatever tension she had felt earlier had dissipated, although if Alan had done it intentionally or not, she didn’t know. She didn’t particularly care either, because she was certainly a lot more comfortable now than she had been five minutes ago. “I think you’ll be disappointed though, I’m not very interesting.”

Her recent history had been very interesting by her standards, although she wasn’t about to tell him that. Reina would have a much better grip on what he could and couldn’t know, so remaining tight-lipped until then was just common sense. She was painfully aware that her label as the newest member in The Cloud Orchestra might be something that he was angling for, and leveraging information out of her that the rest of the group wouldn’t have given up was a clever strategy. Until she was back under Reina’s wing, she wasn’t going to risk it. She didn’t want to compromise anything, and she certainly didn’t want to be scolded either.

“Shame,” he said with a smile, although she didn’t know if he was sincere or not. “But surely you have some interesting opinions on The Cloud Orchestra, being new and all. What’s it like to work for Reina?”

“Good, I guess,” Nina replied, mulling over what other details she could reveal without saying too much. “She’s both smart and full of ideas with the confidence to back it up too. Dependable, which I think is important for a leader, although I can’t tell what is going on in her head sometimes. Maybe that’s for the best though.”

“And?” he probed.

“And… I don’t think I’m going to say much else about that until I know what I should and shouldn’t be saying.”

The comment deflated Alan’s previously upbeat expression, a wry smile appearing at the corner of his lips before he signalled to the woman in the kitchen for more coffee. Nina hadn’t particularly wanted more, but she wasn’t against it either. The conversation had mellowed out somewhat and she was feeling a little more comfortable now, so now she wondered if she could learn a little about the man who sat across from her. Jade hadn’t had a good impression of him, apparently, and his comment about her fuse being longer than ‘the last one’ led her to believe that Saela felt similarly. What was someone who was apparently so powerful doing here, and could she glean anything from him without giving up anything in return?

“Oh, come on,” he said before pausing for a moment as their second mugs of coffee were served. “Consider it a trade. I’m sure there’s plenty of things that you want to know about, and I’ve got answers. Perhaps something you want to know about Reina, or information on what Julia’s planning. I could even tell you where your SuTSU friends are right now… or maybe you would like to know the details on the new group from Zaffre that have appeared?”

Nina felt a chill run through her, and she was pretty sure that Alan could see it as his smile grew just a little bit wider.

“Oh, that struck something,” he said with a smile as he idly ran a finger around the rim of his mug. “I was curious about a link between your group and the people that arrived from Zaffre. It’s been a few hundred years since it happened, as far as I’m aware, and they dropped through straight after you. I’m onto something, right?”

She’s here, Nina thought to herself, realizing that a hand had subconsciously moved up to the centre of her chest. She had thought that it was over, that Rucille was a bad dream that she wouldn’t have to face again unless she decided to drop into Zaffre once more on her own terms. Apparently, however, she had been wrong. She couldn’t know for certain if Rucille would even be in the group that had dropped down, but at the same time she just knew that she was. Ormain had already been enough of a headache, but now she had two, and as much as she didn’t want to admit it she was terrified by the second.

Ignoring the smile on Alan’s face and the steaming mug of fresh coffee which sat before her, Nina pushed herself out of her chair and bolted for the door.