Another visit: (Paige)

" ... remind me. Why are we doing this again?" Twelve said.
"It's a thank-you for letting me out last time. And I thought it looked interesting. So... quiet." Takeru said. In his hand, he held a little shopping bag with a small present for the attendant. He didn't know if she would like it or not, but otherwise... well...
"Yeah... feel free to let me know when you decide to quit lying to yourself. For gods sake... get ahold of yourself!" Twelve said.
"Yeah... wait... no! I'm. Not. Lying!" Takeru said as he opened the door into the velvet room.
"Um... Paige? Are you there? I have something for you." Takeru said, poking his head through the door.

    Paige looked up from her embroidery, blinking in surprise at the greeting. Goodness, not too long ago she'd said goodbye to one guest. Now here was another? Peering into the darkness of the cell, she made out a face that she'd seen not too long ago. Or, well, what felt like not too long ago.

    "Takeru? My, have you more questions?" She stood, placing her project on her chair, then crossed to the cell, opening it with ease. She'd already unlocked it before, after all. "I didn't expect you back so soon."

"Neither did I. Did I interrupt anything?" He said, asking politely.
"Anyway, I have something for you as a thank-you for last time ." He said, holding up the package.

The sound of footsteps walking down the hallway could be heard approaching the two, in the distance he saw his dear sister Paige interacting with a dear guest. One who he had not met yet!? An opportunity, but wait....was he...giving her something!? Was he witnessing some stranger giving a gift to attempt to court, his dear sister!? One guest that he had not yet had any interactions with whatsoever!? What if they were some sort of scoundrel? Some conman after his dear sister's heart!? This could not stand! Not on his watch!

Alexander rushed over, before pausing just a few steps before to regain some degree of composure. "Ah, I do hope I'm not intruding on anything." He said as he approached the two of them, with a smile on his face, and got a better look at Takeru. Hmmm, it was hard to say if he was impressed or not, but then he peered at the object being given. He feigned surprise and took a step back. "Oh....I beg your pardon, did I walk in on an attempt to court you, my dear sister?" He asked shooting Paige a curious glance, raising an eyebrow, trying to get a read off his dear sister to see what she thought about the whole thing. In other words, he was silently asking if she needed a hand, explaining the situation to the young lad.

"Hm? Oh. Hello. I'm Takeru Kagemaru. Judging from your words, you must be her brother." He said calmly.
"... how are you not rattled? How?" Twelve said.
"Because I've learned to mentally scream over the years." Takeru snarked.
"And no, I am not trying to court your sister. Although I can see why you might think that." He said.
"I was about to show her something.... before you so rudely interrupted." Takeru said, giving him a mental death glare.
"I was about to give her something to take a look at... care to join us? That is... after you introduce yourself." He said calmly without breaking a sweat.

    Paige blinked in surprise at the bag being held out to her. A thank you...? But all she'd done was her job, nothing more. Heavens, she hadn't even been very helpful in the end; he'd merely asked about personas, the scar on her face, then went about his day. "Oh, but I-"

    She would've gone on to protesting the need for a gift, offering it graciously all the same, of course. But a familiar voice rang out, and Paige turned, smiling at the man walking towards her and their new guest. "Oh, brother-"

    She watched the exchange between Takeru and Alexander quietly, eyes shifting back and forth between the two, sighing. She couldn't tell what exactly sparked this, but male guests always seemed to have this effect on her sibling. On occasion, he did have a right to be on guard, angry, even, but this was getting a bit ridiculous. Takeru was a child, and yet here Alexander was, speaking of courting? The idea.

    Seeing her chance, Paige cut into the conversation gently, smiling at the two. "Pardon me, Takeru. My brother was absent earlier and I could not introduce you. Takeru, please meet my brother Alexander. Alexander, this is one of our guests, Takeru"

    After smling at them one last time, Paige turned to Takeru, gesturing towards the bag. "I do hope you realize a gift is not necessary. My brother and I are here to serve you; your growth and contentment are really the only gifts we need."

"Nice to meet, you, then, Alexander." Said Takeru before he turned to face Paige.
"And I regret my earlier poor choice of words. Gift is... not quite the right word, then." Takers said.
"Regardless... I still have something to show you both." He added, reaching into the bag, and as he did so, pulled out a journal. It read on the cover:
Pathos speaks: A Collection Of Poems. By: Takeru Kagemaru.
"Would you care to take a look? I assure you, they are 100% original material." He asked the two of them.

Alexander winked at Paige a bit, when she addressed him, before turning back to Telos who seemed less than pleased at his intrusion. "I did beg your pardon, I did not meant to interrupt, but now that I am invited I would love to see what gift you are giving my dear sister." He said offering a humble bow, and he maintained it till his sister introduced them, and then he rose to his full height. "It is always a pleasure to meet a dear guest to our humble abode." He said offering a smile toward the guest, perhaps he wasn't all that bad.

He nodded as his sister spoke, they were here to aid their guests with their struggles and aid them in finding the path to their full potential. Alexander knew they were limited in their ability to help in several ways, but they always found a way to help. When the object was given to his dear sister, he looked over it curiously, a book of poems. Oh, he knew his dear sister would love that since she liked to read a lot, and she'd remember every single line too. "Ah, you're a poet, fascinating, I'm not sure we've had a guest share their poetic works with us yet....let alone one that had a whole collection of them written."

He eyed the journal curiously, observing it, and wondering if it was full of romantic poems. If so, then he might have to be on guard once more as this young man, who he barely knew, could still be trying to court his dear sister.

"Alright. Well, looks like i'm the first. In that case... I promise not to disappoint you. I'll read you... this one." Takeru said, opening it, briefly riffling through the pages until he settled on one, cleared his throat. and in a voice perfect for this sort of thing, began to read. (Note: The Italics here represent what he's reading).
Unwound Future:
If time is but a tapestry,
The past is fully woven,
but the future remains unwound.
Always changing, forever in time.
Fate's needles are forever weaving.
Weaving this tapestry

And while he read, a faint vworp could be heard, so faint, only the attendants would have been able to hear it. And there was another, fainter sound, that only the master of the room would be able to hear:
The tolling of Cloister bells.
"So... how was that?" Takeru asked them.

    As Takeru pulled the item from the bag, Paige tilted her head, waiting for him to show her exactly what it was. Yet he made no move to turn it in her direction, even after offering to read it to her. Confused, Paige used her height to her advantage and leaned over just slightly, glancing at the cover of what she realized was a book in the boy's hands. A...journal? Of poetry?

    She listened quietly to the boy's reading, offering a polite clap and a sweet smile once he was finished. "Impressive. Piano, poetry...we should count ourselves fortunate to have such an artistic guest." Looking over to Alexander, she added, "Ah, Takeru mentioned that he plays piano. Perhaps you could procure one the next time you travel out, brother?"

Alexander listened to the first poem, it seems as though it was not a book full of romantic poetry, but rather full of regular but detailed poems. It seems as though perhaps he was wrong, and that it appears that this was not at all an act of courtship as he had expected. The male attendant nodded his head in agreement with his sister's compliments. "Yes, skilled with both words and music, his talents are rare. Most of the time, the arts are usually exclusive talents, you usually do not get more than one. Though perhaps that has changed after so many years." He said, before hearing his dear sister's suggestion.

"I could have sworn that we had one at some point, but for whatever reason it appears to have gone missing. I will inquire with Master Igor about it, but until then our dear guest Takeru will have to make do without it." He replied before also adding, "Also pray tell me, dear sister, how on earth I'm supposed to bring a piano into this room? I cannot get anyone to help me with this, and it would be...rather conspicuous."

"Thank you." He said, graciously accepting the praise. He would have said that, in truth, he had many others, having both gifted hands and a gifted mind, but he decided to be polite and not do so. As he listened to their conversation, he couldn't help but chuckle a bit at what Paige had said, and how Alexander had summed it up. He knew, of course, that there was a music store not too far from here. Now as for carrying it...

"I could help Alexander carry it. I may not look like it, but i'm 15. I'm stronger than I look, too." he chimed in, knowing that they would probably be looking at him with some measure of disbelief and curiosity.
"I personally attribute it to being, I suppose, either blessed or cursed with a body that seems to... age slowly with time. It depends on the situation, honestly. I hope i'll grow, though." He added.

    Paige turned to Takeru with a small smile, shaking her head. "No, Takeru. Enjoy your childhood while it lasts. Many men long for the simple pleasures they ignored in their youth and feel regret. Do not become like them." She would then reach out and run her hand through her guest's hair for a moment in a gentle, careful manner before speaking again. "As for the piano, I am sure my dear brother can handle it on his own. He is quite strong and capable. I have the utmost faith in him." Her gold eyes fixed on Alexander and her smile widened. "You know this, do you not, Alexander?"

Paige's brother turned to their dear guest, who offered to aid him in finding and carrying a piano to the Velvet Room. It was a kind gesture, but even with the two of them carrying something as large and obtuse as a piano would prove to be quite difficult. "While I appreciate the offer, I'm sure I can rouse some of our siblings to help. You have far more important things to be doing than helping us move a piano." He said before looking at the fifteen year old lad.

"I'm fairly certain that human males start to grow around 16 or 18 if I recall what I have learned in my previous encounters among humans...in fact..." He trailed off when Paige seemed to be raising a far more important point that he nodded his head in agreement. However, when the matter turned to his strength and his ability to lift a piano and handle it on his own. He gave his dear sister a look that asked if she was crazy, but in the end he sighed. "I will find a way to deal with it, your big and stronger younger brother will find some way to get a piano in here or find the piano we had last time."

Takeru nodded at their words, understanding them well. It was part of the real reason why he wasn't sure wether to consider it a blessing and a curse. On one hand, it meant he could live his childhood longer, on the other, though, it made him dread the thought of growing up even more, and even harder to get used to no longer having the luxuries of a child when that time came.

He couldn't help but try not to laugh after seeing Alexander look at his sister with that look that seemed to ask her if she was crazy, then sigh in resignation.
He certainly had his sympathies. Lugging a piano by himself, potentially, he would certainly have a hard time. He then briefly checked his watch before speaking once more.

"And with that... i'll be seeing you later. I do have other things to do, sadly, so I can't talk much longer.. Books don't write themselves, you know. Maybe next time i'll be able to play you something." he said, chuckling to himself as he cheerfully waved goodbye as he opened the door out of the room.

The second he did so, he checked his watch.
"Hm. Interesting. This watch stopped when I was in here, and yet once I step out... it resumes ticking.... does time in the outside world not pass for me when i'm in there?" He wondered to himself as he walked off...
Mission Complete. Grade: A. Nice work.

Soundtrack:
Opening (s-links): In Link

Paige's theme/ Velvet Room Theme: Aria of the Serene

Alexander's theme: The Charming Attendant