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Talia wasn't entirely sure what had happened, but ever since Lucifer's visit, the atmosphere at the hotel had shifted in a way which she wasn't entirely comfortable with. Alastor had been, well, different — his visits to the library had become shorter and shorter, and while he still made sure to at least show face daily, like he had once promised to her, the visits were stretched thin, seemingly prolonged.
Had she done something?
Thoughts riddled with doubt had begun to formulate within the doe's mind as she stood alone in the library, placing stacks of books upon their rightful shelves. Was it because I got mad at Mimzy? she wondered to herself, frown deepening as she recalled last week's events, This is what happens when you voice your opinion, stupid fucking whore—
The sound of the library doors opening reluctantly pulled Talia from her thoughts; leaning forward and peeking out from her spot behind the wooden shelves, she felt her face instinctively flush at the sight of Alastor closing the doors behind him.
"Hi, Al!" she greeted happily, ignoring the way that she felt her heart sink into her stomach at the sight of what she assumed was his irritation. She had spent a long time by his side — after all, it had been a little over four months since she had arrived at the hotel — and she had come to learn to read his micro-expressions. And she could tell that, for some reason, he was thrown off by something.
"Hello, dear," Alastor murmured in reply, hands clasped behind his back and his cane resting idly in his grasp. "I have a strange question for you."
"Hm?" Talia hummed lightly, still somewhat focused on her current task.
"What can you do?" he questioned, and upon Talia's confused glance, he elaborated. "I mean abilities-wise. You've seen, well, what I can do, Vaggie has her little spear act," the latter portion of the sentence was spat out with distaste, "Everyone has their own, shall we say, talents, once they descend. And I just realized that I have yet to see yours."
He only came down here to get information?
Talia felt her ears droop slightly, forcing a nervous laugh out of her throat. "Haha, that's, uh, random..." she muttered out, but upon glancing up and seeing the intensity of his gaze, she wilted. "I'm just as powerless as I was the day I fell," she replied with a light shrug, claws tightly gripping the leather book in her hands, "Even after nearly fifty years, I'm still not entirely sure how... how that whole system works. But, beats me, I guess. Why do you ask?"
Alastor seemed almost confused at her response, as if hoping to elicit something different; his smile remained almost stagnant, but his posture tensed, as if unsettled. "Is everything okay?" Talia dared to ask, face scrunching up with innocent concern.
He huffed softly, a strange emotion that Talia couldn't place etched onto his features. "Just fine, darling, everything's just fine."
