Doge RP with Leg, majority being talking;mats mentioned.

Arryn was occupied working on typical things, for a machinist.

The workbench before her is home to a myriad of tools and components - but for now, it seems she wasn't working on anything terribly powerful. In fact, she was making simple busywork! Income had to flow from somewhere, and carefully crafted trinkets like cameras and music boxes saw plenty of coin flow into this 'factory' or sorts, though it was a lot less than what the Phoenix Manufactorum made in its heyday.

That was a long time ago, however - as unfortunate as it was. Alloces' approach is, as always, heard by Arryn, but she allows the small child to think she has the element of surprise. It made things more fun. When she pops up beside the sitting woman - Arryn peers down at the girl, and smiles.

"You want to learn about guns?" The elder chortles, placing a hand atop her daughter's head to ruffle her hair quite playfully, tousling it with affection. "Well, I suppose since you've taken to that wooden sword, I would do best to teach you about the family art. Machinism, and marksmanship, run in our family's blood. I am a marksman, and so was my aunt, and my father, to an extent - though he used bows when he hunted in the woods. They are elegant, and precise weapons, compared to the brutal savagery of a sword."

Lifting her arm, holstered underneath it - slung in a shoulder holster is a small handgun. Grasping the hilt, she withdraws it - the cylinder of the revolver glows dimly with power, runes etched across the surface humming as Arryn's mana fuels the device. "Guns are very complicated pieces of machinery - I make them myself, of course. The big one I always carry about was one that I built, personally!"
(Arryn Roh'hi'tin)
He didn't know what he just walked into. Barging into someone's house was never a good thing to do, but Hendrix had learned from experience that no one fucking cared about doors anyway, and so he did it. In a fashion similar to how many bombarded his own door- the manor's now broken, misused, and not even closing properly; pressed against, and blah-blah- kicked open!

In one hand there's a surprise, in the other- a baby. Materials; bundles of Mithril, Steel, and small deposits of Tempestine are present in a brown, and not-see through bag that he lets hangs at his side. Balancing Kesi, and them- he had returned for three reasons today: His leg needed to be fixed, a question/request to pose towards the Silver-blessed, and to introduce her to his bountiful, and buyoant mistake that was Kesi Este.

"Arryn. Your door's broken." Came the call up, climbing steps, and... finding the Mother, and her daughter. Bits, and pieces of conversation overheard -- guns. Not a field of expertise, and so he stays quiet there, a hood pulled over his head, and his face concealed. He had forgot to remove it!
(Hendrix Este)
Oooolala.

She watched, with interest, as her mother showcased the handgun to the smaller Alloces, whom was placed nicely upon her lap. Things glow, items to be seen - but no words were available to be used to describe the item. Nothing in fact, that Alloces knew, could be used in terms with the gun displayed. Sure, it looked cool, and it glowed - but other than that, nothing. But, something! Someone approached! A voice she hadn't heard before, and with a croon of her neck, she'd find herself staring at a man and a child - two she hadn't seen before neither. A squint came over her jade gaze, before shrugging it off and returning to eating berries.

Besides, he called her mother by name.

But then it was seen! A flash of purple, eyes of sorts to catch the attention of the not much older girl. With a snap up to look towards the man, whom, she couldn't make out the facial features of, she'd talk with a rather overbearingly loud voice - almost shouting, as to inquire on why the baby had weird eyes. Hypocritical, sure, Alloces had a weird way of talking. But, she was a child, and a child that was curious nonetheless. She wanted to know why the baby had purple eyes!

" WHY YA'KID GOT'S'EM WEIRD EYES? "
(Alloces Roh'hi'tin)
Kesi Este: <*There is yelling, there is door breaking, and now there is crying bebble*>
God damn it.

Her door getting thrown open is hard to miss, but what is even more hard to ignore is Hendrix' arrival; the Marshal of Nostvale was always here on serious business, and so with Alloces sat on her lap as she was, her lips part, to speak - this baby... was disturbing to her, solely because it looked so much like Hendrix. Either his parents, if they were still alive, had given him a baby brother - or he had made a quite idiotic mistake as a teenager.

He can see the metaphorical cogs turning in her mind as she stares at him and his sobbing baby, papping her own daughter lightly on the head for shouting. Hefting her off her lap, she sets her down on her feet and gives her a swat to the butt, saying, "Run along and play, Alloces. We need to talk about adult things. I'll come and find you to show you how to use guns soon, okay?" A small smile is directed at her daughter - it was genuine, of course. The small Ooker would learn to wield the weapons of her family soon enough. "I love you, sweetheart. Play safe, okay?"

After Alloces departs, she holsters her handgun and rises from the stool, eying the boy carefully. "I certainly hope the child you're holding is your brother, and not your son." She says, slowly. Eyes drift to the weighted bag at his side - jagged chunks of ore pressing against fabric. To the trained eye - one that has seen the same thing for decades, now, she can easily recognise what it is. Her hands fold over her belly, fingers interlocked - steam hisses from her prosthetic, and hopefully, Hendrix can quiet his child. "...How are you, Hendrix?"
(Arryn Roh'hi'tin)
Attempts to stifle Kesi were made! The bag is dropped there, and for Alloces' question there was a brief response as he sets to the task of rocking Kesi back into calmness, and stuff. "Why is your face built like a crellus?"

He didn't want a answer for that. The Father maybe taking some offense, and deciding to unleash on the unsuspecting Pup. It doesn't last long though, with Arryn speaking to him, and ushering the little one along!

There was some concern there, from Arryn. Not him- Kesi his child, and while that terrified him still; mistakes made that he could not take back. Shouldering it all on his own- it provided him with a new lease on life, and more consideration for her words from last time.

"I'm fine, Arryn. How are you?" He was not fine. Between running around the world to retrieve Kesi from a over-protective aunt, and there even further news that this might be public knowledge to some. He couldn't think straight, even if he seemed composed on the surface.

Looking to Kesi -- taking after his father, neglecting to mention the darker complexion of skin tone though; violet eyes that easily distinguished him as his own. "..He might be." He answers her worries. It probably wasn't what she wanted to hear, but it was the truth. Never known fo lying, and so even now- he digs himself a hole.
(Hendrix Este)
Kesi Este: <*quiets down after awhile, hiccuping likely*>
HMPH.

In fact, double 'hmph'! Alloces raised her head, standing straight backed and firm stanced - her father wouldn't let someone say that to him, so why should she let him say that to her!? Her pride was struck, she was the cute pup, not a Crellus-pup! With a quick glance to her mother, the young Alloces would make smooth steps around the male, being sure to keep a rather wide distance: he was older than her, he could beat her up! But if she kept her distance, he couldn't do a thing to her... She'd work off of this, hugging the right-side wall rather closely.

" 'Least I's not a stupid-face-no-g'rlfr'end TEN-PLY "

And with that, her words were done. The stupid teenager could do as he wished as she stomped her way down the stairs - stupid friends her mother had! Bringing babies around, calling her UGLY for just asking why the baby had weird eyes: she was MAD. The idea of her mothers' words, of playing safe, were out the window. She was going to play DANGEROUSLY. Live life on the EDGE, and play outside the walls!

Take that, rules!
(Alloces Roh'hi'tin)
"I'd advise you to be careful how you talk to my daughter, Hendrix."

Arryn is, quite clearly, unimpressed with him comparing Alloces to a Crellus - but there were more important things to address, here; namely, the fact he was terrible at lying and that it was quite utterly obvious that this child was his. A seventeen year old boy toting around a kid, when he himself was too immature to even handle his own issues?

It was a recipe for disaster, and her chest swells; like a mother bearing down on her boy when he's done something to supremely agitate her, she idly wipes her hands down with a rag and smears grease on the fabric, cleaning her fingers while she glowers at the young Este. "...'Might' be? Hendrix Este, do you think I was born yesterday?"

There's an exasperated sigh. The jangling of metal comes from his satchel as he drops it, and she stoops to lift it, opening the flap to peeri nside at the cavalcade of rare metals therein. These would do well to construct a prosthetic for him, but that was at the back of her mind in this current moment; she dumps the ore in the bag on her workbench and turns back to him, folding her arms. Ah, he's in trouble, now.

"What on Earth were you thinking, Hendrix? A baby boy? At your age? Having sex at your age? You're not even eighteen, an adult - do you know how dangerous it is to have a baby this young - do you know how dangerous to have a baby it is when you're surrounded by homicidal maniacs? I heard what Judas did to his own child!" Yes, the rumors from the Crimson Gate, of Carmen Hirano being eaten by Marrowit - murmurs of dark magicks at work had spread far, and she seems exasperated as she regards the boy.

"...That is no place for a child, surrounded by murder and death. They'll grow up to be scarred, and irrevocably tainted by darkness. Who is the mother, anyway? I wasn't aware you even - even had a lover!"
(Arryn Roh'hi'tin)
A shrug.

He had taken some offense with her daughter's words. Raring to return them, he didn't think what he said was that bad. Alloces wasn't that ugly in truth. One of the many ways in which one could tell Hendrix was still childish though, even if he had said he'd attempt to grow. A learning process, and one that he thought he was taking too pretty well! Counting a slip up, or two along the way of course.

"I can explain this." Last time he was here, he didn't have a child. A surprise that had been prepared for him, and ready for his return to Nostvale. It had caught Hendrix off-guard at first, and for all Arryn had said- he already knew.

"I'm not going to pretend that this was intended, or that I planned it. That doesn't mean I was oblivious though- I just didn't know this might actually happen the first time.." The first offense, and he already had a life sentence!

For all of Arryn's worry, and her questions, and concern, and the reprimanding she gave- he rubs at his neck, at the blemished flesh there, where that brand existed still. "I'm to blame though. The mother is not to fault for my urges, and my inability to control them..." A mother he wouldn't name. Nefertari, the agreement would have him abandon her, and the memory -- her named engraved on a bracelet though- worn by Kesi even now. He had not removed it from his son yet.

"I'm aware of the danger, and there is a reason he is travelling with me, Arryn... I would not leave him there without me present- I won't let him go through what Judas has done to his own child." This wasn't to say Belial would not be apsrt of their life though if such continued as it did in Nostvale with the Este, and his faith, as well as that of his sister's.

A religion followed before the re-emergence of the cult; he found no problem with it until it was actively, and aggressively practiced. Even then- concerns he had adopted from Arryn, and Hilde.

"And it's not what you think- really. The Mother is. . ." He wanted to say indisposed, or reference Ashura. Someone else, Nefertari's personal concerns had him angry still. Something to correct, he goes  quiet instead in the end. No answer at all as he does not move to lower his hood- face hidden as teeth are grinded against one another, and there in his eye- rage found.

Hidden from her, yet she might noticed the tensing of shoulders. "His name is Kesi." Something to shift. Speaking of the baby-Este, he takes steps forwards; to lend the boy to her to hold. Assuming such might be acceptable.
(Hendrix Este)
I can explain this.

Arryn is completely nonplussed; she remains where she is, arms crossed, resting against the rim of her workbench with furrowed brow as he talks and talks. Yeah, he didn't plan it - she hadn't been in the situation of a teenage mother - her children were well into her twenties, so she couldn't exactly empathize, but her reprimanding, authoritative demeanor dissipates, and she ends up shrugging her shoulders, sighing.

If she had known she had impacted his 'faith' in Belial, it would have eased her mind - but nevertheless, she tries to show him some support in what could only have been a very stressful situation for the Este. "Yes, but then you cart him back to Nostvale, with the stench of death and murder in the air - bodies in the streets, cultists worshipping their murderous, untrue god... that is no life for a child, Hendrix."

He doesn't give her an answer about Kesi's mother, and she doesn't pry - at least, not now. When he offers the child to her, she takes hold of him, cradling him in her arms quite expertly. This woman had seen more than ten children in her lifetime, of course, so she rocks the boy in her embrace warmly and leans down to kiss his forehead, smiling sweetly at the baby despite the verbal whalloping she was about to give Hendrix.

Soon, her eyes are back on his face. "...I'm not going to ask you who the mother is, and I don't really care. Given how you look, I'm sure it was anything but a positive thing between you too. But you are a child yourself, who has barely grown up - and now, you've one who depends on you. This is where you make a choice, Hendrix."

Kesi is afforded her fingers to play with, and she gently tickles at him while she converses with his father. "...You know you always have a place here, with me, in Frostvale. Even if you are still adamant about not abandoning your... unholy cause, this child is innocent, and he should not be tainted by that city. If need be, he can stay here with us, whenever you need him to - I will keep him safe, this I promise of you. But he depends on you for love and so much more, Hendrix. He needs his father, and you dying in some war for a heathen, false-god demon... or exposed to the cannibalism and the sight of yokai feasting on people that the East seems shrouded in..."

Her words are quite serious. "...This is your blood, Hendrix, more than whatever familial tie you think you have with Ariadne. Don't risk this child."
(Arryn Roh'hi'tin)
Kesi Este: <*coos, touching at strange new faces, fascinated*>
Dependence


She summed it up pretty well for Hendrix what he should do. What would be best not just for him, but for his child. He didn't want a life like his own for him - away from Nostvale now, from that flow of Lunar mana that would cloud, and permeate publicly in the streets. What she thought was the worst part of the city was only the surface; mana that influenced, and doomed.

While her opinions were her own though- that 'false' God did represent his own personal beliefs. To do what one wanted, freedom through actions, and while he did not require doping effect that Belial offered- it was never  reliquinshed when given. He didn't take kindly to it, yet didn't show that as his expression remain hidden.

As she takes expert care of his son, something he had trouble doing still- he honestly considers her offer. Remembering Hilde as well come to think of it, the Green-Eyed Scion expression concern, and a want to remain here even as he goaded otherwise.

"I would like it if he knew you atleast. Hilde, and you are people I want in his life, but..." Of course, there remained the issue of Ariadne, and beyond that- Marciel. Some of his true flesh, and blood in the Sin Bard. To not have him know them as he hadn't until his teenager years... He didn't want that.

"I think for now, Arryn- Kesi is fine with me. Even if I spend some time in Nostvale, I've taken to travel as well. I can not remain in the city, it's not healthy for me." For more reasons than he'd let on. The mana's effects on him riled curses, and compelled him -- the spirits would speak, and the Apostle would attempt to impart it's will on him.

"I am trying to be that for him. His father. My own way though- You are apart of that, but please- do not question me on this, Arryn." He was determined. To keep Kesi with him. To be the father, and provide him with the life he wanted.

Willing to consider, to throw away if need be- those personal desires. To consider more than just what he wanted, and not go for it as he often would. "Consider your knowing he exist a privilege. I've told no one, spared no expense to have them think me nothing better than a fool who has stolen a child from some forsaken warrior. Not many know Kesi is my true flesh, and blood, and I'd like for it to stay that way for now, Arryn."

Problems there that might arise. Moral. Relations. They could all be tarnished if ruined, if word ever slipped out, and even more than that -- the boy targetted. What he did not want, and what he wanted to oppose.

"...I've brought the materials." Moving to take a seat on stool; Kesi is left in her care, the young father extending a arm, his hand finding Kesi, and letting an index stretch out for him to grab as he sits there.

Thinking too much, as he always did when he came here- the Este had a lot on his mind, and worries that were much too great for someone his age. As Arryn had said- he was not prepared. No amount of maturing would prep him for life's true, and most arduous task.

Raising a child was going to be hell. One that he thought Belial's vision might even be better than if he had been the same as he was some years ago.



(Hendrix Este)
Hilde.

Hendrix speaks of her, and she spoke of him. This... made her uncomfortable, for reasons she didn't quite understand. Nevertheless, she listens as he speaks, and she nods her head. If that was his choice, she would stand by it. "You are his father, Hendrix, and in the end you will do as you think best. I merely offer my aid, and my advice, should you need it."

"At seventeen, with no mother and a baby boy, I scarcely think you'll be in your full faculties to deal with him - I am an experienced parent, and if you need anything, you can ask me. My offer to watch over the boy does indeed still stand. I know you travel, but the East is a cesspool, and that will never change. It is a land of strife and death. I would want no child to grow up in that realm. He needs love, not Belial. Not the false promises of a demon."

Kesi is hugged close to her body, and she peers at him when he sits beside her, playing lightly with the baby as he seems to sink deep into thought. She had pegged him wrong, at first - she thought him a guiltless, irredeemable killer, but he had proved her wrong in more ways than one, and she was glad he had, for underneath what many saw as the free, independent Marshal of Nostvale was someone she would call a good person.

"Well, I scarcely have contact with anyone you consider friends, because I would kill all of them," she says, half-jokingly in response to the secret that was shared, "but you needn't worry of me doing anything to reveal the true nature of your parenthood. You cannot run from your mistakes forever, though, Hendrix. I only hope the woman you chose as his mother will keep it equally quiet."

Yes, materials. Arryn pays the sack only a little bit of attention; she was more concerned about... why he was involved with her daughter. "Tempestine is good for speediness - it will let you move a lot faster than a standard limb. I do, however, have a question to ask of you, Hendrix... you talk of my daughter, Hilde, and she spoke of you as well. I wasn't aware you knew her - and you... want her in your child's life?" Her brows knit again, and she settles an intense gaze upon his single eye. "...Is there something I am missing, here?"
(Arryn Roh'hi'tin)
"I... Uh..."

Fuck.

There was a hiccup there. Hilde's mention- he had offered to speak to Arryn, yet so soon? Originally such was the plan, but now faced with Kesi, and caring for him- things took an unforeseen change. "I... Wouldn't say that in such a way, Arryn."

While he had spoken in length with Hilde upon meeting her here now. Even going as far as to map a plan with both Arryn, and her involved in Kesi's life. The roles they played left unknown for the moment, but surely- Hendrix might have need of another optimal figure to represent both sides of parenthood, if only emulated by a friend.

"It was something I thought of only after speaking to her. About travelling with her- at the time, Kesi was not something I knew of, and now. . ." As Hilde had said before- the idea of traveling, and leaving all behind seemed too drastic a thing.

Something he would have done with her if not for Kesi, there now came his son to worry of, and cae for as well as offering that protection to Hilde as he had promised. "Now... I think I'd like if Hilde, and you helped me along is all- She's closer to my age, and I've known her since I was a child, so I just meant to say- she's a good friend to have in pocket."

Of course, that might not have been all. The young man in a way did think Hilde was suitable in many regards to what he envisioned; Ashura, or Viola... Not to think of the actual mother, were probably not the best to introduce Kesi to.

"That aside though." He stretches, standing partially if he had to- in hopes of reaching over to the materials he had brought. Tempestine had been mentioned, and it was something he would not neglect if it meant avoiding this topic that would have blood flow to his cheeks underneath hood!

"You've noticed what I planned to use it for then- the tempestine. Speed is the goal, and the other materials; Mithril, and Steel are the obvious supports, and bases for the make." Getting into this instead, hoping he didn't have to speak of it yet. Those things with Hilde. . .

He wasn't prepared when faced with his fatherly role now, and what he had promised her then. "Do you want to take measurements now then?"
(Hendrix Este)
Hendrix' stuttering doesn't do well to lead her to believe things were normal.

But she had little reason to doubt the truthfulness of his denial of anything serious with the girl - and perhaps she was merely jumping the gun. After all, having slept with another woman and been gifted with a child, she knew he was smarter than to presume she'd allow such promiscuity to take hold of her daughter. "Hilde is a very sweet girl, Hendrix." The woman says quietly, rising with Kesi and carrying him over to Alloces' old crib - it was garbed in the pink of a lady, but it would do for now. He is laid to rest so she can focus on the job, and a hand spins the mobile above his head, dangling baubles wriggling and catching the light to entertain the babe as she turns back to the Nostvalian soldier. There's a certain sorrow, in her eyes. "...She's also all I really have left,  now. Friedrich is in Nostvale, with... Eredis, my... undead son."

A shakey exhale. Clearly, this still inflicted great pain on her. "...And Mattias, as Judas' squire... my family, twisted and tainted by dark magic. I want very much to accept that my son is... 'alive', again, but his flesh will rot off his bones until he is nothing but a skeleton, and every waking moment he spends in pain as his body decomposes. He wants this life, but I... he is better off not suffering as he is. Hilde... is all I have left. Hamen is gone - the Hastings children are adults, now, and have little need for me, as evidenced when they left... Hilde, Sidriel, Alloces... this is the only family I have left - and, well, you, I suppose."

A small smile is offered, but there is little mirth behind it. It is time to take measurements. Approaching the youth, she fiddles with the pouches on her toolbelt, aiming to remove a cloth tape measure from within one. "I need you to take off your armor and strip down to your smallclothes." The Ookami says. "I need to take measurements of your shoulders and your height, as well as your limbs, unimpeded by armor or other articles of clothing that would schew my measurements. It is very important I match height and weight-bearing load capacity so your limb is both comfortable and operable." Of course. she'd have to wait for him to disrobe, but as he does so, she continues speaking.

"...Hilde is innocent, and... she is untouched by war, or the misery I have known. She tries so hard to put on a brave face. I love her very much - someone with a pure soul such as her is a good friend to have, and I'm glad you have her to confide in. Perhaps you don't trust me enough, given our... differences, but she is a good person, and would never do anything to hurt you. Why, she wouldn't even hurt a fly. Without... my Hilde, my Alloces... I don't know what I'd do. It's why I fight this war. My daughters... growing up where sacrifice is common, where Yokai feast freely on the weak..."

"...In a world like that, how can I protect them? How can I make sure they don't... lose their precious lives? It's scary, Hendrix."

"...I'm scared."
(Arryn Roh'hi'tin)
Brienne whispers: god is watching you
Shifting to the task at hand, Kesi deposited into the no-longer used crib of Alloces. Arryn taking the time to let Hendrix know how sweet Hilde was, and speaking of her children still in Nostvale now.

All of them were known to him- Friedrich the one considered most neutral of the bunch. Eredis an unfortunate tool in the grand scheme of Nostvale; ressurected, and misused- his cousin largely the same as he was prior to it, and yet -- so different now...

Mattias, the odd one out. The boy truly there of his own earnest volition, and for all her fear- he had nothing good to say of him. His problems with a blood line shared with Erik, even if he were an adopted portion as he were to be with Falcos.

"Your kids aren't as gone as you think they are, Arryn." Speaking from knowledge he did have. As a High Acolyte, and the leader of those forces that operated in the shadows of Nostvale; information gathering was key, and with it- he knew just about where most people stood on Belial.

"Mattias would be the only one to worry over, but he's young- wanting to prove himself." Not blaming him, the Este knew the boy well himself. Having wounded him even for his intolerant behavior, and had begrudgingly formed some bond with him in a way.

"Hilde is precious though..." In what context, he didn't say, or whether that was even what he meant, or if it were him making sense of Arryn's words! As she approaches, and with instruction- very critical, and definitely unnerving instructions that would require that he strip.

"..Okay." With a nod though. His reluctant not due to Arryn's gender, or anything of that sort. What lie underneath- an issue he rather keep masked if possible. As his hands pull the hood from overneath his head; hair falls in large strands -- untied, and billowed out to fall past shoulders.

For the sake of measurements, he turns- from Arryn, and begins the very awkward process of disrobing. Coat first, under shirt following, greaves painstakingly fiddled with as he gets caught in them!

In the end after all is said, and done and he turns back around? A paled, and scarred body; muscular, incredibly so- toned through the fires of the forge, and war. He was fit for his age, that definitely true. The left side of his neck housing that brand- visible for the first time now; the red, and black symbolism that bore the eye of Belial at it's center.

His right shoulder a host to a terrible scar that over the years-had healed-, but still the flesh was patchy, and blotched in some regards even now. Minor cuts, and bruises; bite marks, stab wounds, bandages wrapped around his chest, and lending to left of shoulder.

"I.. Want to tell you not to be scared. That you have me as well as Hilde, and your family- Kesi as well." He meant it. The youth's thoughts of her at some point were vile, and rude. From there shifting after the departure, and return of Eredis- he having desired her; so much placed into Arryn, and so it had led him to reconsider, if only for his cousin's sake.

"I hated you once. When you broke up that fight so many years ago. When Eredis would mention you, and I felt alone without my own true mother- Elena busy with work, and my family shattered. I couldn't stand you then." Looking to her, his eye patch even removed- laid with his other wares. The Este's eye closed, a scar running down it; "I think that's changed though. Not just with this. I've considered your words, Arryn, and that's why I continue to come, why I show you my son, and tell you the truth where everyone else receives a lie that I can't bare to hear spoken myself."

He had grown attached in some ways. His previous feelings uprooted. Easier to do than tearing Belial out of his life- he ingrained in that business too deeply still.
(Hendrix Este)
Hilde was precious. Oh, yes. Hendrix would soon find out.

She treats him with the dignity of a mother regarding her son in his smallclothes - nothing she hadn't seen before, and nothing that greatly affected her. She was professional, of course, and teenagers held no interest for her. "Hold your arms out." The command is quiet, and she takes her measurements - around is waist, his shoulder length, around his thigh and foreleg, knee as well - taking the inches and size of his good leg to determine how to properly sculpt a limb to match the size of his body properly. Too small, or too long, and it would mess with his ability to walk. Her attention is split between him and her duty, but that mark - it draws her attention, and she stares at it, agitated at the sight of it.

But to hear what he says - it touches her. She pauses in her movements, half-knelt with the measuring tape around his ankle, and she gazes up at him. "...I'm glad that you can be so honest with me." The elder Ookami murmurs. "...I maintain that I know somewhere within you is a good soul. Not, perhaps, as innocent and pure as Hilde... but you can be redeemed. This mark on your body, from the Cult? Your destiny is not pre-determined. The beauty of man, the gift to us from Kraus is freedom. You are free, free to make your own choices, to forge your own path in life - you need not be bound by this symbol. It does not define you. Your actions do, Hendrix, and you showing up here is a good omen."

Finally, she rises, her tape reeled back into a wheel and then stuffed back into her pouch. She motions to his clothes, a wordless nod to prepare himself to get dressed anew. "...But I would appreciate a little more honesty." Arryn says, flatly. "My daughter and I talk quite regularly, Hendrix, and she tells me that you asked her to go with you on some sort of adventure. I scarcely hope that you won't take her out of the West - she is too innocent for the horrors of the East. I made a point to tell you how special she is to me, because apparently, you've taken interest in her. She also told me she asked you to speak to me - but of what, I'm not sure. Are you... smitten with her, or something? The way she blushed, and stammered - it is typical of her, but not of you. When I brought her up..."

Her hand settle on her hips.

"...Are you looking to court my daughter?"
(Arryn Roh'hi'tin)
Doing as instructed, his arms are held out- elevated they remain as such until Arryn would have him replace them. Going along his body. The measurements took needing to be as accurate as possible for the sake of the replacement limb.

"I've tried to be honest with you since we've met, Arryn." Not just in Frostvale, but even then -- Aedan, and his fight in the front of the rose-court; his rude behavior, and other wise attempted biting words. Not even then did he know restraint, worse off than he was now with it- the price to pay surely seen in Kesi.

The mention of Hilde again.. Another time- peculiar, every time  her name came up there was the image of the Green-Haired, and green eyed woman. Nerve-racking, the Este unsure of what to make of it. "I'm not going to pretend my soul is good, but my actions are my own." There something more than this easily presumed baseless statement though. What he still didn't tell her, what he feared to let her know.

"The mark is from Belial, but not the cult." He says- confusion maybe found there. His hands still raised, and as he speaks of the brand, tingles, and signals; sent through out him as there came the subtle nudge that reminded him of the mental force, and astral body that had taken him under it's hold.

Then there came the silly stuff. With her raising, and again- Hilde the topic. His arms lowered, one to the brand as he remains in his underroos for the moment, caught off guard now!

"That was something else I wanted to speak with you about." He had every intention to let her know- as he had told Hilde he would. The Este never meaning to hide it, and yet- it was unnerving.

"It was about the travelling though! Not the smitten part, honest." Protesting too much probably, he did adopt a blush again now. The young man was really not expecting that, and as the Silver-Blessed continued, he just felt himself wanting to shrink away more, and more in that moment.

"I.. That's too much to assume, Arryn... I just... Missed her company.." Looking off to the side, and not at her- he couldn't manage it. The Mother of Hilde had caught him there in his slip-up. Naked, and pretty much at her mercy, the Este really wishes she had not brought it up right then, and there.
(Hendrix Este)
Tried to be honest. Maybe he had been - but her impression of him in the fight with Aedan was less than stellar. It seems they both had grown past their misconceptions, however, and had come to appreciate the company of the other despite all that had happened to predispose them to hatred.

But then, the mark - not from the cult, but from Belial. Arryn was  awise woman, and she needn't put two and two together to understand where he was coming from. Perhaps given to him by an Apostle, as she had heard stories of Judas doing terrible things to his children. That was far scarier. The dark magic of the manifestations of darkness were a realm beyond her understanding, yet she was terrified of the repercussions it might have on Hendrix. Depraved lunar mana, and the magic of a demon - these were things that shouldn't be trifled with. She does not pry, knowing it would put them at odds. Instead, he moves to explain himself and Hilde, and she listens attently, given that it concerned her blood.

Yet, surprised as though he might be, she merely laughs. "Go on, get dressed already." The elder says, carrying her notebook and measurements to her workbench. They're set atop the ore, and she puts her back to him to give him privacy. "The blush and the stuttering tell me you missed her company for a specific reason. I'm not mad, of course - why should I be? Young love is a wonderful thing. I am merely wary, of course. I mean no sleight to you, Hendrix, but you have already accidentally sired a child. You are impulsive, and do not seem to know many limits. Hilde is innocent - boys never looked at her, before, and though I know... you would be good for her, and she for you, I am hesitant to let her travel with you. Hesitant..."

"...Where would you take her?" The question, perhaps innocent, is posed; enough time has passed, as she translates inches and mathematical equations to blueprints, where she peers over her shoulder at the male, assuming he had ample time to dress himself. If not, she'd look back. "You know just how important Hilde is to me, Hendrix. If you seek to take her away, to show her how to have fun, then I gave you my blessing - if you seek to do more, to test the waters for feelings you quite obviously have... unless my old eyes deceive me... don't get her involved with Nostvale, nor the cult. Don't put my baby at risk, Hendrix. She's my daughter. I love her - my blood or not, I cared for her, and i watched her grow up."

"...She is more precious to me than any treasure."
(Arryn Roh'hi'tin)
Doing as he was told. His body turned from her, as her own was to him- A very strange situaiton filled with laughter, the Silver-blessed finding something funny about what had been said. Or perhaps how he acted now, and how he carried himself in the near-complete nude.

Hendrix sparing no moment, as he tries to slip back into greaves, and finds himself faltering as she continues. "Love?" A strange term to him. He had never used it- not for Viola, nor Ashura. Those feelings he had; childish, and while not unshaped- had never warranted he use such terms with either of them.

"I.. I think you're thinking way too much, Arryn.. I don't know if I would have the right to say that I love Hilde..." Hesistance, and feelings of one's self-worth not being good enough. As Arryn had said, and what he himself knew- Hilde was a pure being, while he himself remained tainted, and tarnished. With room for redemption- he still didn't feel he held right to poison the Scion with himself.

"When I asked her to travel. It was partly due to my wanting her to leave here- thinking if she would go, you and the others would as well." Not the whole reason, but part of it- Arryn's safety was still a concern of his, and the ritual that would take place soon that they would expect him there for would place them all in danger...

"It was before knowing of Kesi, as I said before. Had I know, I might hav-" Seeking to defend himself. His greaves fastened tightly, and moving onto undershirt now as he spoke to her still. He didn't know why it was important, why he was making excuses now.

Was she right? Did the Este harbor feelings for Hilde that he would rather not air?

"I.. I wanted to take her to the east. Danarium is not some place I can go to freely afterall, but I never intended for Nostvale; I promised her that myself- that I would not force her there, and that I would protect her, Arryn." Where they would do, the answer being anywhere. The Marshal having no true aim, other than having her there, and that would have been enough.

"I don't think your eyes are wrong, but I don't know if it's alright for me to be the one she has, Arryn. I'm not good for her, despite what you might tell me."
(Hendrix Este)
"Ah, you're reading too much into what I'm saying. Young love is a catch-all term; but surely, you must feel something for her, else you wouldn't be so defensive."

But, he continues to speak - and she shakes her head, the amusement in her tone subsiding to seriousness. Ore is taken from his satchel and counted, and the grim certainty in her expression ensures he knows she isn't joking. "Even if she left, I would remain. Nowhere else is safe for me to go, and I would rather remain here and await the inevitable than allow myself and my children to witness the murder and death in Nostvale and Tilandre, or the Yokai free-for-all in Byson. The East is wretched, no matter where you go. All the major cities of the Scarlet Alliance slaughter innocents with wanton bloodlust, and no matter where you would think to hide us away, it will not change. I am not going to allow them to win."

"I will die for this fight if I have to."

Ah, but love. Arryn knows love better than others, and the troubles that come with it. Whereas she was hardy before, she turns to Hendrix now, with a decisive softness t oher features. "...Hendrix, if it was about being right, we'd live in a story book. Giselle... left Bernardt to marry Uther - you do not know them, perhaps, but I did well. I have had much experience in matters of the heart in my life, and I can tell you firsthand... if you feel for her, anything, large or small - and she does the same, it can blossom into something wonderful. It isn't about being deserving. If she cares, she cares because it is you - not as a knight in shining armor in some fable, but as Hendrix Este. And if that is the case, it is not my place to deny her."

She offers a shrug. If it as innocent as he claims, then there is no issue. "It took me several years to find Sidriel, and many tries. Don't let something slip away because you deem yourself unworthy. You aren't, and... if it is indeed true, you would be a good boyfriend to Hilde, I know - and that you would do anything to protect her. But the East is dangerous, and you have obligations. Would you give them up, or what? What's your plan, Hendrix?"
(Arryn Roh'hi'tin)