Family business [Private/Plot, Avieh and Lloyd]

It was rather early in the morning, Lloyd had the weirdest dreams all night along with the feeling someone was talking and staring at him, but each time he would look around in his room to find himself alone. It was rather unsettling to feel a presence in the same room you are without seeing anything. He decided to simply spent the rest of the time awake, waiting for time to pass until he'd have to take an airship back to Vale for a couple of days. He had obtained permission form the Headmistress to go before the Summer break as the reason he had to go was to solve some important family matters and apparently in the letter his father wrote, he had to be there. So he basically spent a few hours working on his lance, adjusting a few more things for when the time for the second form would come.

About just 15 minutes before the take off of the airship, Lloyd was standing near the landing zone and waited. He wouldn't see the school for a couple of days and for him it was weird as he had spent so much time there. He couldn't even remember when was the last time he even went in town for any matters. Lloyd looked towards the sky before sighing loudly. "I have a bad feeling about all of this..." The wind started to blow and one of his luggage fell down, which was the case for his lance that was standing on the smallest side of the box. Lloyd turned around to pick it back up as he was hearing foot steps.

Donned in her all-black combat attire, Avery scrolled through the list of songs in her phone looking for a particular one to play while casually making her way to the landing zone. With earphones on and enjoying a lollipop, she appeared to only be having a nice morning walk, except her golden guns were visible on her waist and thigh holsters. Avery was out in another search and destroy mission involving Nevermores and she was on her way to take the ship to the Skylight Woods.

From a distance Avy saw a familiar figure and immediately recognised him as she got nearer. It was a face she hadn't seen in a while which naturally got her enthusiastic. Removing one of her earphones and taking out her lollipop, she stopped to help him pick up the luggage.

"Well look who it is~ Wow. Been a while since went on a hunt together," Avery said with a smile, assuming he was taking the airship to the skylight woods as well. However, upon noticing all his luggage, she looked at him in confusion. "You.. are taking all these in your hunt?" she asked and raised an eyebrow at how ridiculous that sounded. That or I was about to take the wrong airship. Regardless, the luggage sparked her curiosity as she waited for him to respond.

Lloyd looked up when the person approaching helped him with his luggage that had fallen, seeing the familiar face of the blonde he hadn't seen in a while, giving him quite the smile. "Oh hey there, yeah long time no see. It's kinda my fault too, being nearly barricaded in my room all alone isn't giving me the best chances of meeting you on sudden hunts, right? Maybe we should hunt together again sometime, I'd sure be glad about it." His recent hermit condition had changed most of his speech pattern, while usually he would have been way more eloquent now he was just open and friendly, maybe too much? Well, she'd probably tell him if there was a problem and she was being familiar as well so...

As she asked him why he was bringing so much for a hunt, Lloyd looked confused for a second before realizing that she might thought he was going on a one. The pilot did told him earlier that he was picking up someone that he would drop in the Skylight Woods before bringing him to Vale, which is why Lloyd had to wait for the departure because if there wasn't that hunt, he would have already left. "Oh no, I'm not gonna hunt with all this. I can carry a lot of weight with my armor and my lance, but there's a limit. I'm going back home to Vale for a couple of days. Apparently there are a couple of things that my father needs to talk to me about the family business." His face changed from his cheerful smile from her presence to a darker one as he continued. "I don't like the idea of going back home summoned like that though, gives me a real bad feeling about all of it, but I guess I have no choice..."

"Of course. Though I've grown to have become quite picky of my type of grimms since the last time we had a hunt," Avery said with a chuckle. She also noticed his change of speech pattern; it was refreshing and informal and felt like he was speaking to a friend than an acquaintance.

Nevertheless, the blonde listened silently as she explained he was going to Vale for a few days. Now that got her even more curious. Avery was aware of his family background and anything associated with the VFI was usually... not the best of news. His change of mood also didn't help the situation. "I see," Avy said, her eyebrows lowering. She found everything suspicious.

"He wanted you to to fly to an entirely different continent on an airship just so he can talk to you regarding family business - something that can be done over a private video call?" she asked to make a point about the sudden summon being fishy.

Avy sighed and flipped her hair back. "But it's none of my business, really. I just thought you should take more caution."

Lloyd wondered why she became picky in her hunt for a moment but he didn't think about it long enough to get any conclusion out of it. He noticed that she lost the same cheerful expression he had when seeing her from his gloomy look and felt bad for it. Sure all of this was fishy, but his father wasn't the kind to use video calls. "My father is kinda old school... he even sent me a letter to summon me, which is not unusual. Even our home is an old timey manor with vines growing all over the walls. That may be the only thing me and my father have in common, the love for old things..." Lloyd had what looked like a sorry smile on his face, as if he was wishing he simply had nothing in common with his dad.

He then looked back at her, giving her a smile that wasn't as dark and depressing as the other one. "But thanks anyway, for worrying like that. I'll be sure to be careful, but you have to do the same in your hunt, alright? Wouldn't want to come back and hear that something bad happened to you. Anyway, how have you been? Anything interesting happened lately?" Lloyd decided that why not strike a friendly conversation to change the subject. He was also curious to simply learn more about her as they barely had talk to simply talk since they mostly met on hunt, even if only a few.

"Oh. Really?" Avery couldn't help a small laugh hearing him explain that his father was one who didn't use video call. She wasn't poking fun; she simply find it ironic that the owner of a large weapon company like VFI was apparently old-school. The blonde folded her arms and nodded. "Well, despite of everything, he's still your blood relative."

It wasn't everyday that Avery saw him as dark as this and she realised he must really have some serious issues with his father. Not wanting to drag the depressing mood longer, she decided to along with the change of subject.

"I appreciate your concern, but really, I'm the last person you should be worrying about," Avery stated with a soft chuckle. She refrained from telling him the reason she became picky was because hunting grimms had started to bore her.

"As for anything interesting lately... hmm." She cocked her head to the side. "None that I can think of. I'm as lifeless as you, doing the same boring routines everyday," she added with a small laugh.

Lloyd found refreshing to hear the blonde laugh as he explained how old school his father was. Sure using video calls for business matters nowadays was the best way to proceed, but Lloyd's father preferred a more physical approach in his meeting. Anyway, the laugh felt good to his ear as it has been a while since he heard anyone laugh, the girl even longer. Lloyd then chuckled himself when she said that she should be the last one to worry about. "I know that you can handle yourself, but usually those who say that are the ones we need to worry about the most. I wouldn't want to come back and learn that something bad happened to you." He gave her a snarky smile to tease her before continuing. "And as lifeless as me, huh? What about being lifeless together at one point then? Should be a nice change of pace, right? How about a little stroll in town, it could be different."

At that moment, Lloyd began to hear footsteps again, this time coming from all around them, from the landing zone to the way to the school, men wearing shady outfits were slowly approaching and ended up surrounding them in no time. Lloyd opened his weapon case and picked his lance as most of them were armed and seemed to mean business, and not the good kind. One of them exited the airship while laughing. His outfit seemed more complex than the others' so he was probably leading them.

Lloyd whispered to the blonde with a slight smirk on his face. "How many times will we have to meet and immediately fight something? Is it so hard to have a nice chat together? So, what do you think, diplomacy or we beat them up until we know what's going on?"

The supposed leader looked at his men and pointed the two hunters before shouting an order. "We need the boy alive, the girl wasn't part of the plan, do whatever you want with her..." At that, the goons began their attack.

"Hmm~ Your speech has changed but you still say the same cheesy things," Avery teased back with smile. "A stroll in town wouldn't be too bad. Your treat and I call shotgun! Ha! What, you really think I'd walk?" she chuckled.

Their conversation was cut short by several random men popping out of nowhere and surrounding the two. Avy glanced at them nonchalantly as she removed her earphones and let it hang around her neck. Clearly these men meant business. Her eyes shifted to the leader of the troop and his theatrically boisterous laugh. She let out a soft sigh as she found all these unnecessarily stupid.

"So many rude people always interrupting us, be it grimms or men. But these seem to be more mindless than those beasts. Like if I were to kidnap you, I'd just hire snipers and men with tranquiliser guns, not an overbearing amount of pawns. Props to their idea of an ambush too; how greatly planned," Avy stated, tone rolling with much sarcasm. "And you know what's funny?"

Avery unsheathed her gun and pressed the barrel at Lloyd's temple. "If I were to kill this guy now, you'd all fail your mission..." she said to the rest of the men. She stared at the leader of the pack. "Tell me who you work for or I'll blow his head off. Ah but wait.." Without a moment's pause she pointed the gun at the leader instead and fired a lone piercing bullet to his thigh. "..I actually don't care."

With that, the blonde took out her other gun and proceeded to open fire at anyone who got too close. One bullet per person, avoiding their vital parts and only aiming at their legs to incapacitate them.

"Hey, I may be cheesy, but I'm not hearing you complain. I may even think you like it." did Lloyd reply to the teasing blonde before continuing when she said he'd be the one treating. "So you want me to drive you around town, huh? Well I hope you're ready for my bike because it wasn't really design for more than one person. Unless you planned on using your own bike which then there'd be no real need to call shotgun." He gave her a small smile before returning his focus on the problem.

Lloyd simply nodded as she was saying that the assailants' plan was faulty from the start and that the other options she came up with were far better and way more simple than their current one. He was also agree about the fact that they were always interrupted as he wished that sometimes they could just enjoy so good times without anything bothering them.

Lloyd then felt the girl's gun right against his temple, which seriously surprised him but he decided not to move and keep his cool as she would probably not do it... right? "Woah there, I'm pretty sure that even if those guys want me alive there are probably many people that would want me dead, so how about we just avoid them taking me away so no bad guy wins?" He was relieved when she redirected her guns toward the leader and went for a shot in his thigh, but the guy was prepared and unfolded a tower shield from his left arm that blocked the bullet just in time.

But the other goons weren't so lucky or well equipped as many who approached were shot in their legs while the others back up a little bit. "I don't think that'll really stop them... I know you could simply shoot higher but I get that you may be trying to give them a chance to leave? Maybe you go something more intimidating up your sleeves?"

At that moment three goons came charging at Lloyd as he decided to use his Semblance to launch the guy the furthest right into the two others so they would fall on the ground. He then noticed that the ones the girl shot were bleeding from their wounds. "No aura huh... so either they're stupid to take on hunters or they weren't informed... which still makes them stupid to take a job without knowing their target..."

"Hmm. I don't know about you, but I kill grimms, not people," Avery explained as to why she only shot them in their legs. The blonde glanced at Lloyd for a second then to the bullet wounds on the men's thighs as he noted they didn't have aura. That made her sigh. All the more reason this was pointless. She found no pleasure fighting weaklings.

"What a boring bunch of people. I'll try this thing you call diplomacy." Avery placed her guns back to their holsters and started to walk towards the leader of the bunch. A circular insignia glowed on the ground beneath the girl before countless ice shards spawned and circled rapidly around her. Anyone who attempted to get close would find their arms or legs shredded by the shards.

Avery continued to walk until she stopped in front of the leader. Lazily, she raised a hand forward, materialising a giant fist made of ice which quickly grabbed the entirety of the leader's body including his shield and trapped him in its icy grasp.

"Let's stop wasting our time and order your men to stand down. We all know you're nothing but pests in front of a hunter." Avy stated in boredom. The ice trapping him started to emit visible vapor as its temperature was getting even lower. "You have 10 seconds before hypothermia sinks in, another 20 seconds for frostbite and who knows what'll happen after a minute. You'd be a popsicle maybe. The longer you make me wait, the more you suffer. Now do as I ask so we can move on with our lives."

Lloyd simply stared at the girl as she walked towards the leader with ice shrapnel surrounding her before grasping the man with a giant ice hand and threatening him. Lloyd couldn't help but chuckle at all this. "Well, not quite the diplomacy I had in mind, but that works I guess. I wouldn't mess with her if I were you, I saw her less serious than that while killing Grimms, so you're in for a ride. I'd suggest listening to her, and quick." The man simply looked at his man and nodded, his troops retreating immediately. Even the wounded seemed to escape quickly...

He then looked back at her with a glare that was probably not even close to what she was probably giving him before talking. "Will you let me go as well? You said you didn't killed people... will I be the first?" His gaze then switched to Lloyd with a grin. "I know it wouldn't be the first time he'd watch someone die without doing anything!" The man then started to laugh while awaiting his fate. Lloyd, on his end looked the other way at the man's comment. "He's not worth it, you should let him go..."

Avery stared at the men as they retreated. Well that was easy, she thought as she turned to Lloyd and gave him a proud grin as though thanking him for his idea of using diplomacy... even though it was apparently not what he had in mind. Regardless, Avy turned her attention back to the man still entrapped in her ice. Like promised, she was about to let him go. But then he started speaking.

The blonde gazed at her acquaintance from the corner of her eyes and noticed his immediate change in demeanour after hearing this person's words. Avery wasn't ignorant enough not to realise it had something to do with his past and she was clearly not happy. She poked Lloyd on his side to get his attention. "Don't let it get to you," she whispered.

Thereafter, Avery turned towards the man, moving the ice so that he was lying on the ground on his front. With a snap of her fingers, the ice dispersed into nothing and she casually kicked his shield away.

"You know, I would've let you go unscathed, but now that you say that..." Avery took out her gun and fired on both his legs, the bullets piercing through. "Crawl like the worm that you are~" She said with a warm smile. She crouched down to his level, spinning her gun in hand.  "You have ten fingers and I have ten bullets. Let's do this so that none are expended. Three questions: who do you work for? What do they want from Lloydie? And why is your face annoying?"

Lloyd began to squirm as she poked his side, mainly because he was ticklish. It still had the expected effect and took him out of his lone bubble as he watched her doing an interrogation on the now downed man. As the man got shot in both his legs, he didn't flinched nor shouted in pain, he simply let himself fall to the ground and watch the blonde directly into her eyes with a big smile on his face before answering. "None of your business, Something you wouldn't understand and I don't like your face either!" The guy then laughed before continuing. "Do whatever you want to me miss, you'll see me again anyway..."

Lloyd knew exactly the answers for all three of her questions, even why she hated his dumb face. Wasn't hard to hate a face like his to be honest. He wouldn't tell her who and why he was the target of those men though, as he would probably just put her in more trouble and didn't want that to happen. He then realized that she referred to him as "Lloydie", which he found weird yet smiled from it. Maybe because he never really had a nickname before, even though the nickname was longer than his actual name.

Lloyd simply looked at Avy before placing a hand on her shoulder. "Leave him crawl, whoever sent him should get the message like that..." All that he wanted now was to things to end without any unnecessary actions.

Avery's eyebrow twitched at the annoying man's words. "Oi, may I remind you that you referred to me like I'm a piece of equipment earlier? So of course it's my business. Also, your comeback is as good as a 'your mum' joke, so ha! I win." She grinned victoriously, suddenly reverting to her immature side.

The blonde stopped spinning her gun and was already prepared to fire a single bullet on one of his fingers when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Gingerly, she looked at Lloyd and stood up just as she heard he wanted to let him go.

"But but.." Avery frowned in disappointment and glanced at the guy. "Can't we send him back with fingerless hands, tongueless mouth and maybe an eyeless face? I think that should send the message pretty well." she said with a huff.

"Besides," The blonde turned back to his two-tone haired companion and started poking him in the sides again. "Don't you wanna know who did this and what their intentions are? Cmooon~ Aren't you in the least bit curious?"

Lloyd sighed as the blonde and the bad guy looked like two children arguing, although one of them was a little bit more dangerous than you average kid. When she stood up and looked disappointed, she reminded him of a little girl that you'd refuse to give her a candy or something like that. If she would have been pouting it would have been perfect and just the thought made Lloyd chuckled a little bit.

He then felt her fingers poking his sides once again causing him to squirm as he tried not to laugh. "W-would you stop that please? And besides I don't need to know why all this is happening..." Lloyd then swiftly grabbed her hands to stop her from poking him. "Now please don't poke my sides, I'm ticklish and it's not the time to mess around like that. Now, you sir..." As Lloyd looked in the direction of the man, he had vanished, completely evaporated. Even his blood was nowhere, as well as the blood of the other goons from earlier. "...where'd you go? That's weird..."

Avery being Avery continued poking his side despite his claims and only stopped when he got a hold of her hands. Chuckling, she turned to the leader of the pack but frowned as she realised he vanished. "Hologram? Or something similar." That would explain why he didn't feel pain when Avy shot him in the legs, nor did he show any type of fear when he was threatened. There was also his parting words of seeing him again.

The blonde girl's eyebrow twitched at the fact that these people actually managed to trick her. She turned to Lloyd and stared at him suspiciously before rolling her eyes. "Whatever. It's really none of my business. If you don't wanna tell me anything then blah. Good luck and have fun taking care of it yourself~" She said with a smile. It was genuine statement and not a sarcasm. As much as she liked his acquaintance, Avery wasn't the type to keep offering her assistance to people who don't want them.

Avy then proceeded to walk to the ship, reloading her guns in preparation for her hunt.

Lloyd couldn't help but chuckle along as he stopped her from poking him. It felt nice for once that, even if something bad just happened and that something worse would probably happen in the near future, there was a nice peaceful moment just laughing at something completely ridicule like tickles.

He kinda appreciated the fact that she didn't pry about everything that just happened, showing that she respected his private life but at the same time it was weird. Wasn't she the one wanting to interrogate the leader because she was a little bit curious? Why now would she just not ask Lloyd anything even if he obviously knew what was going on? This curiosity inconsistency wasn't normal, at least to him. But hey, at least he didn't have to explain anything if she didn't want to know. It's not like he would have been really bothered to tell her anyway. She knew who he was and a bit about his past from everything she probably heard, so having someone that would be interested in his point of view would be nice, but he didn't want her to get into trouble by helping him. Less people involved meant less people in trouble, which was for the best.

Lloyd slowly boarded all his luggage before stepping in the airship, sitting across the blonde for the time they would travel together. After a while, the pilot, who missed everything that happened, climbed on board and and took off. Direction the Skylight Woods before heading to Vale.

Avery flopped down on an empty seat and secured her seatbelt. Glancing up, she smiled as she saw Lloyd take a seat in front of her. "Did you really have to bring luggages? How long are you staying there anyway?" she asked as she leaned back and folded her legs.

The gunslinger clasped her hands together by her knee and stared at him deep in thought. She only ever knew this guy by his name and the fact that he's a Vanheim. The rest was a mystery. It's true that she wanted answers; she was the curious type who wanted to know everything. Yet she'd already asked him before and got no response so she dismissed it as something he didn't want to talk about - how ever dangerous it was.

Nevertheless, Avery decided she'd have to focus on her hunt for now. Looking at her watch, she realised she had plenty of time to rest before arriving in Skylight. "I'll just take a nap for a bit. Wake me up when we're there?" Avy asked with a smile. She shifted in her seat, stretching her legs and placing it on his lap to make herself comfortable."Muwehehe. Goodnight~" She beamed. She folded her arms and leaned her head back before closing her eyes to take a brief nap... completely forgetting the fact that she's a heavy sleeper.

"I don't know actually how long I'll be there. I prefer bringing too much than not enough to be honest, you know just in case." did Lloyd answered to her question. Surely anyone that would go for an undetermined amount of time would want to be ready for anything, or at least he was like that. He didn't know if she was... actually, Lloyd knew nothing about her. Just a name, that's all he had ever gotten from her aside the things he had observed like that she liked tea. But hey, maybe he'd learn more about her one day, who knows.

As she made herself comfortable by placing her feet on his lap while smiling and saying she'd take a nap, Lloyd smiled back and shrugged while staring at her feet for a moment. "Sure go ahead, make yourself at home I guess..." He didn't bother removing her feet from his lap and instead simply reclined himself while picking his pocket-watch out of the pocket of his coat. The watch contained a picture of his late mother, the only momento he had of her besides fond memories. Whenever he felt like something was wrong, he just thought about her trying to feel better.

As they reached Skylight Woods, Lloyd finally pushed the blonde's feet to the side and shook her a little bit to wake her up. "Hey, Avery, we're here, Skylight Woods. You got your hunt to do... wake up!" Lloyd tried many tricks to wake her up, speaking loudly, hitting the wall next to her, snapping his fingers, clapping his hands, even pinching her. Nothing seemed to work as she didn't even flinch a bit. After a whole 20 minutes of hovering, the pilot decided that he'd drop her on the trip back as he knew that Lloyd had to be in Vale as soon as possible. At least it wasn't that far... just a couple of hours... she'd be back by night... maybe...

It indeed took hours to get to Vale, the little nap of the girl had gone for way longer that she probably thought. The airship was now getting close to Lloyd's old home's private helipad, closing in for landing.

"Hmn..."

Avery woke up as she opened her eyes groggily and was quick to frown when she felt her cheeks aching, as though someone had pinched them. She massaged them sleepily in her half-awake state and casually panned her head to the side. Only then when she saw the unfamiliar sight of a manor's helipad did her eyes shot open and she bolted up quite quickly, only to be pulled back down by the seatbelt of course.

"Oh my god! Where am I? What time is it?!" Avy asked exasperated, struggling to remove the freaking seatbelt. Once free, the gunslinger glanced at her watch and almost choked as she realised she overslept. She bolted quickly to the cabin, asking for details.

So Avery missed her destination, no surprises there, but what made her sulk even more was the fact that the return trip was scheduled the next day due to useless details like refilling gas and letting the pilots sleep. She could take another return trip with a different airship but... they needed identification. And she had none. She didn't bring her scroll with her. She didn't bring anything other than her battle equipment and a mobile phone which was only good for calling and texting. And she was in a foreign country.

Storming back, Avery gave the two-tone haired guy a swift kick to the shin. "I told you to wake me up!" she growled and stomped the floor in frustration. She sighed and placed a hand on her forehead. "Crap. I have no  money, no clothes, no food. And I have to survive until tomorrow?" She gave another heavy sigh and simply looked out the window, to the Vanheim's Manor.

Lloyd stayed at his seat when Avy suddenly woke up and began to freak out since she was nowhere near where she was supposed to be at the time. Sure he had to wake her up, but he tried in vain. He would had better chances to wake up a log than her. Looking at the window to see the manor he grew up in, he gripped his pocket watch before he got a glance of some of his personal servants as they were waiting next to the helipad. He smiled at the sight of them before he felt a short sharp pain at his shin as he was kicked. "Hey, I tried to I swear, but it seems like you're a very heavy sleeper. I think a bomb would have exploded next to you and you would still be sleeping."

Not knowing if her plea was to get him to help or not, Lloyd didn't want to leave her in the airship all night. "Listen, I'll have a room prepared for you so you can stay the night. Clothes and food will be provided as well, so don't panic. See this as a stay at a hotel, to my own expenses." The airship slowly made it's way to the helipad, landing smoothly before the door opened for the two hunters to exit. Lloyd stepped out first, carrying his luggage before a servant came to help him with those. The servants that were there were mostly girls, with just the guy that help with Lloyd's weapon case but all shared one thing in common, they were all faunus. "Young lord, it's a pleasure to see you safe. Your room is ready and..." The one that spoke, a rabbit faunus named Marissa, noticed Avy before continuing. "...but it seems like we'll have to prepare another one for your guest. That is if she's staying overnight.""Thanks Marissa, it's appreciated and yes, she'll be staying. It's my fault in a way if she's here so it's my way to repay her. She might need clothes for the night too.""Of course. Also, the dinner's ready. Jasmine will guide both of you to the dinning hall while I'll make the preparation for the young lady.

Lloyd looked at the other servants, giving them salutations and thanks while Marissa walked closer to Avy and inspected her real quick. "Your physic will fit perfectly. I'll have clothes ready for you shortly. Would you care for a bath milady? And if so would you prefer before or after dinner?"

Avery blinked and frowned at his words knowing he had a point. Regardless, that didn't help her current dilemma. Still glowering, the blonde suddenly perked up as she heard him offer her a place to stay. Of course that made her eyes glimmer in delight. No more hobo life for a day!

As the ship landed, Avy followed behind him and was surprised at his welcoming committee composed of all faunus servants. The idea somehow made her uncomfortable. As much as they were cute with the bunny ears and all, the discrimination was too blatant to ignore. Nonetheless, she stayed silent and listened to their conversation, flushing lightly as the bunny faunus maid acknowledged her presence. She honestly didn't want to bother them but she was left without a choice. As the woman walked to her, Avery flustered even more. And that all so familiar word made her smile sheepishly.

"Avy. Just call me Avy," she said. "And you don’t have to prepare the bath, I'll just take a shower after dinner… if that’s okay with Lloyd?" Avy asked as she glanced at the person beside her. She leaned towards him and lowered her voice so only they could hear. "Your dad will be there right? Is he the type to want people to be prepped up for dinner?"

Lloyd couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of Avy being flustered by Marissa referring to her as "milady". He had also noticed the way she looked at his personnel and had a good idea of what was going on in her head. As the blonde questioned him to know if he was alright that she'd have a shower after dinner, the guy nodded slowly. "Yeah of course, the guess room has its own personal bathroom so don't worry about it. Also, even though the manor looks big, my room won't be far. I'll be literally next door if anything. Also I'd be surprise if my father was to show up. He hasn't set foot in the manor for years now. He has a room at the industries HQ and rarely leaves, so no need to be all fancy tonight, just enjoy your time here."

Giving her a smile, Lloyd began to walk towards the door that lead inside of the mansion, followed by Francis, the only male servant of the group while Jasmine was in front, leading everyone. Those two were siblings, sharing green hair and purple eyes as well as ram horns on the sides of their heads. Marissa walked right besides Avy, not leaving the group yet to prepare the blonde's room. "Miss Avy, I couldn't help but notice the way you looked at us earlier..." "Marissa, it's alright, no need to explain her." "No young lord, I will not leave it at that, she has the right to know the reason of our employment." Sighing yet smiling, Lloyd gave the bunny maid a nod. "Fine, just don't exaggerate on the facts" "I'll try not to~" Marissa looked at Avy while walking, giving her a warm smile as she began to explain. "See, the Vanheim family always had a rule about servants. Each member of the family has their own and they are responsible of them for everything. They are also the only one to punish them if they deem it necessary, but no other family member could punish them, only their own master. So, by choosing us as his own servants, Master Lloyd was protecting us from his father. We've always been happy to work for him, and today, even if our young lord dismissed us, we all decided to stay here and take care of the manor for him while he follows his dreams."

Lloyd remained silent while Marissa explained the situation before she bowed and turned the corner leading to the section where the rooms were, followed by other servants, among them Francis, will all the luggage, leaving the two hunters with Jasmine still heading towards the dining hall. The hallway was simple. Dark maple doors and wood accents all around with a slightly lighter brown for the wall while the beige floor was covered with a red carpet that matched with the curtains at the windows that they passed, each looking directly outside the mansion towards the helipad they just came from.

Memories were flooding Lloyd's mind right now, so he was a little out of it when they reached the dining room where a huge table was in the middle of the room, yet no plates were on it. Jasmine gestured towards the fireplace in the corner of the room where a much more smaller table was set close to the flames with two chairs around it and a single plate of food on it. "I won't be long, I'll bring another plate right away." did Jasmine say before leaving for the kitchen that was at the other end of the room. Lloyd pointed the seat where food was already there to Avy before he sat on the other chair. "I never understood the need of a giant table when you're either alone or with only one person. It's just stupid..." did he comment before gazing into the fireplace.

"Hmm. I... see?" Avery trailed off in confusion at Lloyd's response particularly with regards to his father. From what she knew, the guy flew all the way here to meet his father so she assumed they'd be meeting right away. That wasn't the case it seemed.

As the group began to walk inside the manor with Marissa by her side, Avery was surprised by the maid's sudden statement."Ah, it wasn't my intention to offend," the blonde clarified almost as quickly. She didn't think she was that transparent with the way she looked at them but nonetheless. listened to the explanation the faunus gave. She still found it weird though opted to stay silent and give a simple nod. The important thing was Lloyd did it for their sake.

Inside the manor was equally beautiful, sporting a vintage feel of accentuating wood design and elegant interiors. The vastness of the place made Avery feel a pang of nostalgia and sudden discomfort as she couldn't help but be reminded of something. Shaking the feeling aside, she glanced at the long table and to the other one near the fireplace as they reached the dining area.

Avery settled on the chair opposite that of Lloyd's. With a chuckle, she brushed her hair to the side languidly and shrugged. "With a room this big, it would look weirder to have a tiny table, no?" she responded to his comment. Her eyes dropped on the food by her plate but decided to wait until his dish was served as well.

"So, this is what the Vanheim manor looks like. Fancy," Avery muttered with a nod as she wandered her gaze. "It makes me think you're too gullible for your own good. With how much money you and your family have, are you sure you should be inviting strangers like me inside? Look, your guards didn't even take away my guns." Avery pointed to her thigh and waist holsters. "How sure are you I wasn't hired to plot your death or something? At least, that's what I see in movies." She chuckled and took a sip of water from her glass.

As they sat across the small table next to the fireplace, Avy commented on the look of the manor, which made Lloyd's gaze shift across the room with a faint smile. The dining hall looked similar to the hallway, with the walls covered in diverse tapestry and portraits, one for each of the family members. Lloyd's, although clearly younger on the painting, was easily recognizable besides the painting of a woman with long white hair and red eyes with a warm smile on her face. The two other portraits were one of a white haired boy and a black haired man. All four of them were smiling. with his eyes still on the paintings, Lloyd replied to the girl's earlier comment. "I mean, yeah sure... it's just with its size, this room could have been anything else but this delusionaly large dinning room. I think a ballroom would have been better..."

Then Avy went on to say that Lloyd was too trusting and that she could have been an assassin sent to kill him. At that he laughed. "Please come on, if your goal was to get rid of me the best moment would have been in the airship. You kill me, kill the pilot and escape while leaving the airship crash in the forest. And if what you wanted a way to get to my father, I won't be the one stopping you."

Jasmine then arrived with Lloyd's plate, bowing lightly after leaving him the plate before leaving the room. The meal was something very simple for the fancy environment, a medium rare steak with a side of mashed potato. The guy nodded to his guest as thanks for waiting for him before digging in. "Bon appetit" Lloyd then remained silent while eating. To him it wasn't an awkward silence, but more of a relaxing and nostalgic one as he hadn't set foot in the mansion ever since he left for Beacon. His gaze was shifting in between his food, the flames and Avy, to which he smiled, happy to share a meal with someone for the first time in ages.