After an hour of cleaning they felt like they would never finish. They flopped down in the kitchen "Well never finish." Lori whined. Athena nodded to sore to even bother talking.

After a full hour, Yokou had finished his book and was ready for a drink. Standing up, he headed down to the kitchen for a glass of water, where he found the two girls flopped down, exhausted. "Tired, ladies? This old place is too big to finish in a single night. Go on to bed and you can pick up again tomorrow." He said with a smirk.

"What about supper?" Lori frowned

Yokou sighed. "If you're hungry enough to eat rather than go to bed right away, then that's fine. Honestly, I don't mind what you decide to do." He said with a shrug, downing his glass of water.

"You don't eat supper?" Lori frowned at him looking at Athena who shrugged slightly.

"I eat when I'm hungry. I'll admit, my eating schedule is rather erratic, as is my sleep schedule." He said with a chuckle.

"Oh." Lori grimaced "Your that kind of master."

Yokou raised an eyebrow. "And just exactly what kind of master is that kind, Miss Lori?" He asked. Though his voice was pleasant, his tone had the slightest warning in it. Don't fuck with me.

"The kind that will expect us to be at any hour making you food." Lori sighed "I had one before the cook nearly killed us all."

Yokou frowned. "You should check your facts before jumping to conclusions, Miss Lori. I'll have you know that I had no intention of bothering either of you at odd hours. Before you came here, I made my own food, and I am perfectly capable of feeding myself. I do not expect either of you to make me food. In fact, I never fully intended for Miss Athena to be a cook here at all. But since she seemed more comfortable with the idea of having things to do, I allowed her to do so." He scolded gently, insulted.

"Then why bother getting a servant at all?" Lori frowned "We're made to do things for are masters its all we know."

Yokou sighed. "Not that I owe you an explanation," He said, staring at the nosy girl pointedly, "But if you must know, I wanted a servant to help with the upkeep of the house. Also, I was..." He cleared his throat. "I simply wanted a bit of company. Another heartbeat in the house. It's such a large place, after all. Too big for just me." He said, deciding that now was the time to cut the conversation short. It was humiliating to him, admitting that he had been lonely. "I will retire to my bedroom now. Help yourself to anything you wish to eat. Goodnight, ladies." He said, leaving.

"Strange guy." Lori sighed "I guess." Athena shrugged "Let go to bed." she stood and went off.

((Skip to the next morning?))

Athena woke early and showered while Lori started breakfast.

They would be surprised to find that Yokou was already awake, and busy writing on a long scroll of parchment at the dining room table. The writing was the same sinister looking foreign language Athena had seen in his books the day before, and the quill he was using wrote in a suspiciously red ink.

'Is that BLOOD!" Lori dropped the plate she had been holding in shock. Hearing the crash Athena raced downstairs her hair still dripping wet and her servant outfit only half zipped. It was new one she had worked on it all not with Loris help. It looked more like a maids dress but it worked. "What's wrong?" Athena frowned at the broken plate. Lori hid behind her " Are master is writing in blood that's what's wrong."

Yokou looked up, startled, causing his hand to jerk and blot red ink all over the scross he was working on. He swore quietly and sighed, putting the quill down. "Good morning, Miss Lori, Miss Athena. May I ask why there is screaming so soon after dawn?" He asked calmly.

"it does look like blood." Athena said a little worried "Master is that ink blood?"

Yokou looked down at his ruined scroll and sighed. Granted, he was a good liar. He had an excellent poker face. But in this case, he had a feeling that it would just be too difficult to keep up the lie once it was told. "Yes, it is blood. A mixture of my own and that of my familiar. Painful and unfortunate, but not deadly, and it is the only way to ensure the safety of the documents and research that I am recording." He looked back up at the two women, a pleading look in his eyes. "I have a troubled past, ladies. For your own sake, for the sake of your sanity and safety, please do not ask any more questions. I can promise you that this will never effect you negatively, and that you will not be hurt by my work. But please, please do not pry any further." He begged them, seeming concerned for their well-being.

((........he she your avi is a he she.))

They both looked they were going to be sick. "You will not hurt us will you?" Lori asked backing towards the door so she could run if he said yes. " I mean one minute it's yourself then its us." she was beginning to babble and look pale.

Yokou raised his hands and backed up, showing that he meant no harm. "I will not hurt you. I promise you that both of you are perfectly safe. I am many things, but I have never broken a promise." He said, hoping the women didn't get sick. "If it would make you feel any better, I will confine my work to the library and my room,s o that you don't have to see it."

"Would you please?" Lori grimaced "The sight of blood makes me quesie...qwuese...queze...whatever."

"Queasy? I understand. I'll just move this, then." Yokou said, gathering up his things and hurrying out of the room. He never would have been in there if he had known that they would show up so early.

Athena cleaned up the mess while Lori finished breakfast. "Athena will you go get him?" Lori asked nervous "oh sure send me." Athena teased "When I die you stay away from my funeral. Now were did he go?"