Anna
Abstral followed the Knight as she led him into the Respite, nodding as she wished him luck and remained outside herself.

He stepped inside noticing the sights and smells, a quite old and low-tech library but certainly very impressive was the massive collection of books inside such a small space, if he were more of a scholar he might have been tempted to stop and read one, but he hadn't the time anyway.

He headed towards what appeared as a living-quarters before the sound of yet another person made him stop. The voice of a white-haired man. ("Huh, guess we all fit in up here, huh?"), he mused to himself quickly before taking in the words of who was probably this "Ochre".

The man barely even gave him a glance, more so dismissing him and, as the Knight did, mistaking him for someone else. 

He paid attention to the man's words even still. There was mention of that Tvoktei again. It was clear this man had much distate for him by the way he spoke regarding him. Obsequies? **Fallen** Old enemy? Strategic meeting? Abstral knew not what this man was even talking about and the sarcasm and the man dismissive nature surely didn't help.

It even got on his nerves a bit... And reminded him somewhat of himself.

As the man finished with his prattling, Abstral spoke.

``"Greetings, Ochre is it? The Knight outside allowed me passage into what I assume is your abode, quite a lavish one, by the way. Let me assure you sir, as I did her, that I am not sent by this "Tvoktei" Or anyone from this Floor of yours. I am merely passing through on my journey up this strange place."`` Abstral gestured in a way that clearly indicated he meant more than just where they were standing.

``"Ah, forgive me, you do not even know to whom you are addressing nor who is addressing you. I am known as Abstral.``
Kathryn
```fix
"Can't say I know what the Hall of Audience is, but sure, let's go with that. And yeah, don't worry, I've got great control with this stuff! Ya needn't worry aboutta thing."```

Kuouo smiled, swiping his palm across the air and disappating the fire into nothingness, enveloping him in the warm light escaping from the open door. The bandit saw himself in, removing the hood attached to his horns and allowing it to fall to his shoulders, fully revealing his fluffy face. Upon entering, he was greeted with a familiar sense. Books and books neatly stacked and organized within this cozy little hole, bearing a calming scent that reminded Kuo of his younger days, spending hours at the Librarby reading manga. It was definitely no wonder the knight asked him to put away his fire, nearly everything within the respite was flammable save for the stone that made up its exterior. 

Though he arrived late to their conversation, the bandit's sense of hearing was greater than an average human's. Since he was somewhat distracted by the knight however, he could only gather bits and pieces of the snow-white boy's rant against Tvotkei, once again proving his disdain. The bandit smirked, seeing as their alleigence more or less aligned, he could use this as an advantage to gain Ochre's trust quicker despite being an outsider.

```fix
"Sorry t' intrude, but I was told y'might have interest in speakin' to me as well as Abstral 'ere. Seems he already let the cat outta the bag, that we're outsiders? Hope that doesn't change much, since I'm interested in learnin' more of how much of a shitstain this Tvotkei is. Like I told yer girl outside, I've only heard a bit... Was more interested in hearin' about the gate guardian of the First Floor and perhaps... Well let's jus' say I heard this Tvotkei sits his ass on a pile of gold, and I ain't hesitant to pull it right out from under 'im."```

The bandit made his intentions clear, as well as where he hailed from and finally the possibility that he was one of the outsiders to change the first floor — If such rumuors were floating around, that is.
Janie
His demeanor changed sharply as Abstral further explained himself. The youthful-appearing noble lifted a brow, softly laying the book which formerly captivated his attention atop the desk ahead of himself, slowly shifting into an upright stance within his chair. Ochre's silver eyes locked firmly on Abstral's form as he spoke, and further introduced himself, before the keeper of the respite finally stood, his long, robe-like garb descending floatily to his sides as he made himself upright. As the outsider concluded in his explanation, his eyes opened wide, and not only did his harsh and disdainful nature depart, he appeared almost astonished with what he had heard.

Now stood, Ochre's appearance was revealed in whole. He donned what at first glance seemed to be an oversized mantle — for he stood quite short, no taller than 165 in stature — but upon further analysis, it seemed that the loose and flowing garb was crafted specially for his size; his sleeves clutched close to his body, even though much else of the garb did not. The pure-white cloth of the free-flowing garb possessed lace motifs, and was accented with silver streaks of silk, fittingly suggesting — as with the rest of Ochre's nature — that the resident of the respite was none other than *Nobility.* Despite the garb's slightly strange appearance, it was otherwise quite elegant. Like a scholarly robe, of sorts.

Still, and appearances aside, Abstral had made himself someone quite of note in Ochre's eyes. 

```cpp
"𝙸 𝚜𝚎𝚎. 𝚈𝚘𝚞'𝚛𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚜... 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚞𝚒𝚗𝚐."```
_ _

With his arms hidden within his flowing robe and tucked behind his back, Ochre paced around the desk, standing just ahead of it and a comfortable distance from Abstral, so to properly converse with the man. A subtle gleam of pleasantness glimmered within the formerly-cold and angered silver eyes of Ochre, as he now gave him the courtesy he would *Never* Show to one of Tvoktei's dogs. Though he still had his suspicions, Ochre found courtesy and cordiality within one who, despite any other trait about them, did not blindly follow after Tvoktei, as so many others within the Second Floor did. And to boot, Abstral claimed to be an *Outsider* — perhaps one of the most fascinating and pivotal peculiarities that one could ever interact with on *Any* Floor of the *Ark.*

```cpp
"𝙵𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝, 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚖𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚖𝚢 𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚞𝚕𝚜𝚎𝚜. 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚃𝚟𝚘𝚔𝚝𝚎𝚒'𝚜 𝚍𝚘𝚐𝚜."
"𝙰𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚊𝚢, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚝, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚘 𝚖𝚢 𝚛𝚊𝚜𝚑𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚑𝚢 𝚘𝚏 𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚙𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚐𝚢. 𝙸𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚊𝚢 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚛𝚎."```

Ochre was not openly suspicious of Abstral, for he had no real reason to doubt what he said, but he still stayed on his toes. He granted him the courtesy of a proper conversation, and would not treat him worse than he would any other guest, yet still, Ochre was wise as he was cautious. Perhaps those two traits are one-in-the-same, so long as the latter stays within healthy measure; nonetheless, he sought further confirmation and further information through the conversation that was certain to follow their introductions.
_ _

```cpp
"𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚝. 𝙼𝚢 𝚗𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝙾𝚌𝚑𝚛𝚎. 𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝚊 𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙼𝚘𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚊𝚌𝚚𝚞𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎, 𝙰𝚋𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚕."
"𝙽𝚘𝚠,"```

He spoke, forward-mindedly, to push their conversation beyond mere greetings. He brought both of his hands front-and-center, intertwining his left and right fingers, folding them together, and resting both hands atop his lower breast. Ochre took a single step forward, a slow breath slipping into his lungs as he prepared to speak, before—

*`Creak.`*

*The door opened, and Kuouo, a second outsider, was revealed.*

Ochre was left blindsided for but a single moment, as he stared in slight confusion beyond Abstral and toward Kuouo, who had stepped in so suddenly. And as soon as Ochre had time to react to the outsider's sudden appearance, Kuouo had begun to explain himself. With both interest and surprise in his eyes, Ochre would take the information in stride, his glance shifting ever-subtly as he carefully concealed his emotions behind a motionless visage of stoic nature.

```cpp
"𝚆𝚎𝚕𝚕. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚞𝚎 𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚕𝚢, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝙸 𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚎𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝."```

The youthful noble's brow furrowed slightly, his head tilting back as his chin shifted slightly upward, and his fingers tightening slightly in their furled state. Ochre was adept at hiding his emotions, but these few subtleties in his appearance would reveal to a more careful observer his immediate, if quite unpronounced, reaction to Kuouo's statement.

The words that were now to flow forth would retain Ochre's characteristic subtlety and elegance, but so too were engrained with the delicate shades of emotion which remained invisible on his face.
_ _

```cpp
"𝙲𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚢..."
"𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚕𝚊𝚟𝚘𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚎𝚌𝚑."```

He spoke, shifting his gaze away from Kuouo, as he folded his hands again behind his back, and paced sternly to the side of his desk, staring off toward one of the many bookshelves that line the walls of the respite.

```cpp
"𝙳𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚐. 𝙸'𝚖 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚕𝚔 𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚑 𝚏𝚘𝚘𝚕𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚕 𝚙𝚊𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚍𝚘 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚎 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜, 𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚋𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚌 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚎𝚌𝚑 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚍 𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕."

"𝙸 𝚍𝚘 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚍𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚞𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚘𝚏 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚌 𝚎𝚕𝚘𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚛 𝚍𝚘 𝙸 𝚋𝚕𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗 𝚞𝚗𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚘𝚏 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚎𝚌𝚑."

"𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞, 𝚖𝚢 𝚐𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝... 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜 𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚗𝚞𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎, 𝚜𝚞𝚋𝚝𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚢, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚊 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎."```

Ochre paused, turned at about a ninety-degree angle from Kuouo, glancing at him from the very corner of his eye. His speech was meticulous, and slightly scornful, yet not utterly disdaining of Kuouo's very being. Indeed, it felt like Ochre was taking the position of some sort of teacher, correcting a student's ill behavior. A tad condescending, but characteristic of Ochre's nature, and not without foundation.
_ _

```cpp
"'𝚈𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕'..."
"𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚔𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊 𝚗𝚊𝚖𝚎. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚎, 𝚎𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚃𝚊𝚊𝚜𝚑, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚛𝚎𝚎; 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚘 𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚎, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗 𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚊𝚕."

"𝚃𝚟𝚘𝚔𝚝𝚎𝚒 𝚒𝚜, 𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚎𝚍, 𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚑. 𝙰𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚕𝚢 𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚑. 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚊𝚏𝚏𝚕𝚞𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚖𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚝, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚗𝚎𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚜 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚒𝚗. 𝙷𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊 𝚝𝚢𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚝, 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚏 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚜𝚞𝚋𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚘𝚛, 𝚢𝚎𝚝 𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚒𝚖."

"𝙸 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚌𝚑 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚕𝚎𝚍𝚐𝚎, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚏 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚏𝚘𝚘𝚝 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚘𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚙𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛, 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐."```

He folded his arms, glanced briefly at Abstral, and then toward Kuouo, allowing a brief pause for his words to settle in, before concluding.

```cpp
"𝙽𝚘𝚠, 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚙."
"𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚗𝚊𝚖𝚎, 𝚖𝚢 𝚐𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝?" —he spoke, motioning toward Kuouo.
"𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚑𝚢 𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚝," He spoke, his eyes shifting toward Abstral, as he motioned too toward him.
"𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞?"```