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</div></div><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua'"><div style="text-align: center">|| LOCATION ||<br/>
Darke Manor - Idris' Old Quarters<br/>
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|| TAGGING ||<br/>
<a class="link link--internal" data-proxy-href="/proxy.php?link=https%3A%2F%2Fblackdahliaroleplaying.com%2Fmembers%2Fcressray.9607%2F&amp;hash=e579978b8582d61c3826dda91e4bff9a" href="https://blackdahliaroleplaying.com/members/cressray.9607/">Veronica Sterling</a>​</div><br/>
Something within Auriella crumbled at the way Veronica presented herself. So beautiful, so strong and grown, yet there was an underlying sense of childish curiosity there, as if Veronica was doing her best to hold back the curiosity she had about Auriella herself. Brown eyes danced over Veronica's face and form as she spoke and finally, something within Auriella's posture seemed to relax. Tears had filled Veronica's eyes at the warm welcome she was given, and the elder woman's heart clenched painfully for her. Oh, the poor darling… Luckily for the ashen haired girl, Auriella was a master at picking up Vincent's broken pieces he'd left behind. <br/>
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When Veronica apologized for wrecking Idris' room, Auriella shook her head quickly, almost before the girl had even finished speaking. Of course, it was a shame to see her daughter's things destroyed, but… the truth of it was that Idris hadn't occupied the room in years and the need and desperation for some form of love behind Veronica's eyes was enough to chase Auriella's cares about the space away entirely. Idris would not have cared, she'd fled Darke Manor to escape her father's overbearing treacherous nature. It had been Auriella that had kept Idris' things as they were, a sort of comfort in her isolation before she herself had left as well. <br/>
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"No, do not apologize. They are just things, that is all. Things that can be replaced." Auriella smiled a soft smile and that was when she noticed Veronica's softness start to turn into something more cool, something more… Vincent. Desperate to know the girl in front of her, Auriella slowly reached for her gun in her holster once more, as she had noticed Veronica's eyes flicker to it. So that the woman wouldn't spook, Auriella gently moved the firearm down to the ground, straightening as she used the toe of her shoe to kick her favorite pistol towards Veronica. The weapon came to a halt at her feet and Auriella smiled, clearing her throat as she glanced back at the hallway. <br/>
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"I saw what you did back there… Guards will likely be alerted by now and on the way to our location. How about you come with me, to my home? There we can talk and get you cleaned up and maybe even a hot meal, I'm a decent cook. You've got a bit of blood on your cheek." Auriella tried her best to pour her emotions into her words, to make Veronica understand she offered the girl no harm, only a motherly hand to get her away from a situation that was going to have every one of the Houses of Six searching for Veronica, demanding her head. Auriella did not really give herself the time to think of those that Veronica had killed, to think about the fact that she was a murderer. Instead, she focused on the fact that Vincent had left a girl such as Veronica without a guiding hand – without someone to give her the care and attention she needed to morph her into something more, something… good. If that was even possible. If it was not, perhaps Auriella could at least offer her someone who cared. </span><br/>
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