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By their odd glances she could tell that they probably weren't expecting that response from her. "I have a sort of understanding with animals." She shrugged, "So, it's best to know about them for later encounters". She grinned, but it turned to a frown when she followed the others' eyes.

Her smile drooped to an unsure, lopsided frown, which for some reason looked oddly out of place on her calm features.
She watched the subtle signs of comfort, not sure what to do, and gently leant her forehead on Reticence's knee from where she sat on the ground.

Her actions seemed a bit animalistic, but that was not uncommon for her.
Putting the forehead on someone's knee was something she'd had animals do to her back home when she was upset. An adult once told her that they did it because they were putting themselves in a position of vulnerability (Because they are blind of any attacks and have their head on something hard and possibly mobile) and it gave a subtle sense of strength to that who was receiving.

Reticence didn't even move when Maxy placed her forehead against his knee, which was very strange behaviour for such a distant boy. Indeed, it might have been thought that he hadn't even noticed if it hadn't been for the subtle movement of his eyes. That dead stare flickered down to her and then back up, staring straight ahead at some distant point that only he could see.

Neither of the other two asked any questions for a very long time, and the little courtyard was as silent as a tomb.

Finally, Curiosity's hand tightened a little on Reticence's shoulder and he asked quietly, "Are you...okay?"

Reticence didn't speak for a long time. When he did, it was rusty and hoarse, as though he hadn't spoken in a long time - or else as though he had been screaming. "I'll be leaving soon."

The non sequitur seemed to throw Curiosity, but Naïveté picked up the slack with a whispered, "What?"

That pale, awful grimacing expression on the dark-haired boy's face was supposed to be a smile. "Master has learned all he cares to about me. I'm no longer useful." His eyes closed all the way, a look of something like fragility on his face. "I'll be leaving soon."

The dead silence fell again, full of emptiness and pain.

~

Marcelius gazed moodily into the orb, watching the colours slowly swirl and darken to reflect the temper that was building under his ever-calm exterior.

He did not want to get rid of the boy. The slave, he calmly corrected himself. There was more to be learned from that boy, especially due to his...unique...physiology. But one of those Keshval that he considered as close to a friend as he had had warned him, privately, that some people felt he had had that slave too long. His people rarely kept their slaves longer than a few years; they outlived their usefulness quickly, and he had had the boy almost three times as long as a slave was generally kept. If he had been able to wave it off by saying the boy worked around the place, and if he had specific requirements for his home, he might have been able to keep the boy. But everyone knew what he used his slaves for.

And so there was pressure - not very heavy yet, but growing stronger all the time - for him to rid himself of the boy. It frustrated him, infuriated him, that he had to get rid of the slave when the boy had several more years' worth of interesting information to give him.

Part of him, a very small, meek part, wondered how he was going to explain this to the child, who had just found out who he really was. But Marcelius shut that down with no further ado - he was Master, the child was a slave, he did not have to explain himself to the boy. There was nothing else to think about.

In the meantime, he had to track down a new owner for the boy - preferably one that would allow him to borrow the slave from time to time in order to continue his experiments, ideally one that would also keep quiet about that. And he had to deal with the new slave.

He'd get to all that.

For the moment, he just stared into the orb and wondered why there was something like sorrow beneath the frustration.

Reticence's shoulders lifted and fell once, defeat apparent in every move he made.

"Soon," was his only, dull reply. "He didn't say."

The other two had moved to either side of him. Naïveté was pressed against his side, and Curiosity had shifted so that he was touching shoulders with his friend.

The pets crowded around the bench, their chitters and squeals an unwelcome counterpoint to the silence of the slaves.

Naïveté and Curiosity exchanged glances one more time, and then they looked to Maxy with identical, panic-stricken, slightly wary looks on their faces. The sort of look that asked, Can we trust you?

Curiosity looked up at the house. "The master wants you, Maxy," he said quietly. "Just go in. He doesn't want us to accompany you, so he'll be somewhere easily accessible."

((OOC: D8 D8 D8 I'm sorry! I know I promised Wednesday but then...s**t happened. And real life. And hideous arguments that left me kind of emotionally drained and I am STILL emotionally drained.))

Maxy's feet would eventually lead her into one of the open main rooms, where Marc was seated already. He did not look up as she approached; he was silently entering something into the small, chirping silver thing that lay on the table.

Only once she was fully in the room did he glance up. As usual, the power of his eyes was arresting - like his son's. Giving her a quick once-over with that unsettlingly calm stare, he said calmly, "Come find a seat." Then he went back to doing whatever he was doing.

Now that the secret was out, the resemblance between Marcelius and Reticence was undeniable. Reticence had his eyes, his facial structure, his body type. Marcelius had the unnatural beauty of the Keshval, of course, but he had passed some of that on to his son as well.

And yet none of that would save the boy. It seemed a shame.

On Marc's other side there was a folded piece of white that looked similar to the paper-like stuff that was kept in the art room. But this one looked old, faded, dirty, with worn edges; it sat beside Marc's free hand, and occasionally one of his fingers would brush it as though looking for something.

He seemed to be waiting for her to move before he spoke again.

BUMP

((yay! lol))

Maxy's eyes narrowed. She didn't miss a beat. She didn't act on noticing the paper just yet, though.

"Would you look at me!? Seriously. In all logic, you spent money on me, means until I'm of further use to you I'm spending your time. Assuming that you are the smart keshval you've made yourself out to be, you wouldn't waste your time with beating around the bush. Not beating around the bush includes eye-contact and blunt honesty. Neither of which you have provided upon certain times and subjects. You're his father!"

Maxine breathed heavily, suddenly taking back her angry thoughtlessness. She sat up more straightly and stuck out her chin, pulling her best impression on Reticence. It wasn't too hard. She didn't know how strong she was.

On terms of her name, she actually rather liked it, but 'Maxine Strongwill' was her identity. She'd find a way not to forget it.
As for experimenting. She couldn't wait.