What Would You Give?

Ajax nodded thoughtfully and held out his left arm, fingers extended and close together. The bird on his shoulder hopped down and curled its talons around Ajax's fingertips. The man and the bird exchanged a brief glance, which the bird seemed to gain some instruction from, and it flew over to Rook and alighted on his shoulder. "Take Epimelís with you. He'll let me know when you're finished with the watch and the typewriter, and I'll come join you then. Thank you again for your time, Rook. Ευχαριστώ πολύ." He turned away abruptly, refilled his fountain pen from the inkwell on the corner of the desk, and resumed his paperwork.

Louis nudged Rook gently and jerked his head toward the open doorway, indicating that it was time to leave. "He takes his work very seriously. I'm actually surprised he took as long as he did to speak to you. He must think you're charming. Now, the fourth floor study is right this way..."

"By all means, lead the way" Rook smiled, throwing one last smile Ajax's way as he followed Louis out. He kept a firm hold on the watch, not wanting to damage it further.

As they walked Rook continued to look around, admiring the halls, though now minding the bird on this shoulder as he did so.

"This is an old Cathedral isn't it?" Rook asked suddenly. "I was trying to place why it looked so intimidating when I walked up and it just hit me."

"It is, indeed. How astute of you to notice! We're none of us quite sure why, exactly, someone built a cathedral out here, when it was built, who attended service here, or when they stopped doing so. I'm not sure Ajax even knows how it came into his family's possession. We've done quite a lot of renovations to it over the years, but at Ajax's insistence we have tried our best to preserve the look and feel of the original building as best we could. In fact, the main chapel is still intact. Ajax uses it as an art studio."

Louis spoke of the cathedral with a quiet reverence; he had a lot of love and respect for the old building which had become his home many years ago, just as he had much love and respect for the man who had invited him so generously into his home and life.

They arrived quickly at the door of the third floor study, and Louis swept the door open with the same inviting bow that he'd welcomed Rook into the building with. The room was brightly lit, both by sconces on the wall and the large skylights set into the ceiling, but the walls, carpet, and immense wooden tables which took up most of the floor space were deep, dark colors which made the fairly expansive room seem small, close, and personal.

"This is where you'll be working this morning, Rook. Will it suit your purposes?"

"Sure will!" Rook grinned, stepping over to the nearest table and gently setting down the watch and his backpack on its surface. "And where is the typewriter?" he asked, looking to Louis once more before spotting it himself. "Ah, nevermind, I see it. When I finish both I'll send this pretty guy like Ajax said, but like, you guys don't have to tiptoe around me or go out of your way to try and give me space to work. I come from a loud and rowdy family to begin with but having an audience doesn't bother me. In fact sometimes it even drives me to work harder." Rook shrugged "Though I do prefer when people don't hover, what you guys do is your prerogative and I'm just the hired help"

"You may, as you say, just be 'hired help', mon ami, but we treat our help very well here," Louis replied. "Which reminds me! If you've got nothing else going on ce soir, would you like to have dinner with us aujourd'hui?"

Rook laughed. "Sure! I mean, if that's okay with everyone and I'm not imposing" He gave a crooked smile that seemed to just light up the room. "I'm not going anywhere 'till I call one of my friends to pick me up anyway." He unzipped his backpack and started pulling out various items and small cases form the main pocket, setting them on the table around the watch. From a smaller pocket he pulled out a pair of thin wire-frame glasses, which his slipped on as he slid into the chair.

"You can keep me company if you want" Rook turned that crooked smile back on Louis once he was settled in the chair. "Not sure if I posses the correct skill set for this guy-" at this he gestured to the crow "-to make a good conversational partner"

"As much as I would adore keeping you company, mon beau ami, I unfortunately have some errands to run. I don't think you'll want for company, though. Once word gets around le maison that there is a stranger chez nous, you will probably have more company than you want."

"I can deal with that, though if you can hold off on your errands for five minutes or so..." Rook turned his attention to the watch in his hands and pulled a small tool out of one of the cases to open it. "You can bring Ajax his watch."

He hummed as he pulled another tool out, flipping open a second container filled with gears and parts and selecting a few parts that would be going into the watch. "Watches like this are easy to fix, it generally only takes a few minutes, and the hardest bit it always taking it apart to get at the old pieces."

Within a matter of moments, old worn down parts came out and the new ones went in. "This one is really old and in such great shape" Rook grinned as he slipped the cover back on and turned to hand it to Louis. "It must have been in his family for generations!"

On a whim that would probably get him into trouble later, Louis leaned in close to Rook's ear, grinning in a way that showed his fangs, and said in a darkly playful tone, "It was brand new when he got it, actually. Il est beaucoup plus que vous ne savez pas." Then he whirled around with a flourish and disappeared down the stairs, watch in hand.

Rook pursed his lips and watched the man go. There were several things that his parting statement could have meant, but the simple fact that he chose to give the second half of it in french was agitating. Rolling his eyes at the other man's back as he left the room, he turned to the crow. "You don't have anything you want to drop on me, do ya buddy?"

The crow cocked his head from side to side for a moment before flapping his way onto Rook's shoulder and settling in for a nap.

"I think he like you," said a heavily accented voice from the doorway. "Birds very good judge of character."

A dark-haired young man leaned against the doorframe, wearing a dark tshirt and cargo shorts, his knees dirty like he'd been roughhousing out in the dirt.

"You friend of Ajax? Or just here for fix things?"

"I fix things" Rook replied with a pleased smile as he lifted a hand to stroke the bird's feathers gently. He was careful as he got up, he still had to fix the typewriter across the room. "You could say its a talent of mine, but I'm here to fix the typewriter and look at some antique cars. And a gun I think..." Rook paused. "Let's just go with I'm here to fix whatever needs fixed."

"You one of those tenants Ajax was talking about getting underfoot while I work?" Rook asked playfully "Cause I'll have you know, I'm a complete and total push over. Like, I'd give up my lunch money, but I forgot it at home."

"Ronnie and I, we get underfoot sometime, but we not bad guys. We not beat people up for lunch money, at least," he laughed. "Name is Viktor. You say you fix cars? Ajax very much trust you, then. He not let anybody touch cars. That why they need fixing in first place. You have name, stranger?"

"Nice to meet you Viktor, I was joking before. But I do have a name. Rook, like the chess piece, or the bird." Rook smiled. "And I think I'm only looking at the cars today. I'll probably have to get parts for them"

"Ronnie and I not even allowed to breathe on those cars. Still impressive. Ajax must see something in you."

He took a seat over by the typewriter, so he could watch Rook work. He was curious to see what was so special about this normal-looking little human boy that Ajax would pick him, of all people.

"Ajax see many things in many people. Always right, though. If he let you in, there must be reason. Don't let him fool you, though. He is kind, yes. And he is generous, yes. But he is not a gentle man."

"The more I listen to you guys the more I'm inclined to believe that Ajax is some kind of immortal overlord or something" Rook stated lightly, hard to tell if he was joking or not. "But live and let live. Don't mess with immortals or elementals."

He was careful as he started dismantling the casing to the typewriter, both so he didn't break anything and that he didn't disturb his perched friend.

"I doubt I'm in any real danger here anyway. Someone would have warned me already." Rook stated cryptically. Once the casing was off, Rook leaned in to take a closer look. "Huh, this guy isn't even really broken, a few of the connections just loosened. Not surprising considering how old the machine is. Wouldn't surprise me if its even older than it looks, Ajax keeps his antiques in mint condition!"

"Well, I can at least assure you he is not an overlord," Viktor replied, just as cryptically. "Further than that, even I am not sure."

He watched the newcomer; how careful he was with his work, how quickly the birds had taken to him. Viktor was... intrigued, to say the least. He suspected that there would be a new housemate joining them soon, if his new friend here wasn't careful.

"He is very particular about his things. He appreciates technology... from afar, but is too set in his ways to really welcome it into his life. He leaves the internet and such to the younger generation. Speaking of which..."

There was a loud clatter from somewhere below them, and it echoed up the stairwell.

"I think you will be making new friend, sir Rook."

"I have a friend of the same sort." Rook admitted "We only just recently taught him how to text and all he ever does is bitch about it." He moved over to his tools and selected one with a long delicate looking tip before moving back to the typewriter and sliding the tool into the spaces between the keys. "Me on the other hand, I love any and all technology. If it is non-organic and performs a function, I am interested to the nines man. Knowledge is power, and power is not letting your toaster take over the world."

"Your toaster tried to take over the world? Dude, that's radical!"

"I am pretty sure is metaphor, Ronnie. Why you get so excited?"

"There's a stranger in the house! That's always a reason to be excited!" A suntanned blonde bounded into the room and nearly barreled into Rook, only stopped by Viktor quite casually standing up and shoving him across the room.

"Rook is working, дурак. Sit down!" Ronnie immediately, almost automatically, did exactly as he was told. "Rook, this is Ronnie. He is an idiot. Pay him no mind."

"Hey!"

"Hi Ronnie, I have a delicate tool in my hand, inserted in a delicate part of this typewriter with a largish bird sleeping on my shoulder. You are free to tackle or manhandle me once those criteria have been eliminated, but until then, I'm on both Ajax's and the bird's good side and would prefer to keep it that way till the sun goes gown at least." Rook smiled at him.

"And not, my toaster did not try and take over the world, but I am a slave to my coffee pot. Tis a cruel sovereign it is, no matter how good I treat it, all the wonderful gifts of fancy coffee I give it, it keeps me at its beck and call, hissing and spitting that toxic, addicting elixir to keep me close." Rook laughed "Kidding, I don't drink coffee, but that perfectly describes my brother."

Ronnie slunk across the room to sit on the floor by Rook's side, watching him work. The crow on Rook's shoulder lifted one wing away from its face, giving Ronnie a distrustful, disapproving look, just as Viktor was giving him the same look. The blonde was making an effort to behave himself, but it was obvious that he was practically vibrating with excitement.

"You stay there, Ronnie. Do not bother our friend."

"I'm not doing anything! I promise! I just wanna watch!"

"Rook, if he bother you, you tell me. I will remove him."

Rook laughed warmly. "So long as he doesn't disrupt the bird or make me break something he's not bothering me. I don't mind curious people watching me work. Half the fun is explaining how to fix things to people." He removed the tool carefully and reinserted it at another place to fix a different set of keys.

"If you are sure, then," Viktor replied with a shrug. "I do not know that Ronnie counts as a 'people', curious or otherwise, though."

"Hey! I resent that!"

"Is more like you 'resemble' that."

"Don't make me come over there."

"And do what? I am stronger than you. That I am smarter is too obvious to need to be stated. But for the sake of your feeble mind, I will state it anyway."

"Those're fighting words, buster!"

They glared at each other, both ready to pounce at the slightest move from the other. They would have leapt at each other and wound up rolling around the floor under Rook's feet, had another member of the household not chosen that moment to speak up.

"Gentlemen, please. If you cannot contain yourselves, I will do it for you."

They both froze simultaneously and resumed their previous positions nonchalantly, as though nothing had ever happened, smiling very calmly and politely at the newcomer.

The voice had come from a delicate-looking young woman with long locks of dark hair framing her face. Her eyes were equally dark, but partially obscured behind the frames of her glasses. She strode into the room, completely ignoring the two feuding boys.

"You're Rook, yes? Ajax asked me to come check on you. It's lucky that I came when I did. I doubt you'd be able to get any work done at all, with those two roughhousing around in here." She paused, looking thoughtful. "How rude of me. I haven't even introduced myself. I am Demetria, or Tria, if you wish."

"Nice to meet you! Man, he wasn't kidding, word does travel fast" Rook smiled, wiggling the took a little more before removing it. "And they're totally fine, Pretty amusing if I may admit. So long as they leave me space to do what I need, I don't mind them."

He turned to face her. "In fact, if everything keeps up, I'll have this sucker done really quick. The only thing that may be an issue is it looks like one of the keys actually needs replaced. That'll be easy enough once I order the part. Which in turn translates to, I'll probably have to buy it off ebay."

Tria smiled a little, knowingly. "I certainly don't think Signore Nikitas would mind you coming back to finish the job. In fact, I suspect that he'll be able to find you plenty of work to do around the house. And, if not, he certainly has friends with other delicate machinery to be tinkered with. You definitely won't want for steady work."