Clockwork(Julius Monrey x OC)

♣Four♣

Arianell made her way back to the tower as soon as she woke up. She felt fortunate to have not been attacked in her sleep or anything, but part of her felt that Nightmare might've had something to do with that. When she found the tower, she moved and began to climb the stairs up to Julius' office. She knocked on the door and stood there, waiting. Julius pulled the door open and blinked when he found her standing there. 

"Arianell. What brings you back?"He asked. Arianell felt slightly relieved to be near Julius. She didn't feel any of the hatred or disgust she had felt from Ace. And she felt less sadness about Alice from him than anyone else. She sighed and reached up, rubbing her forehead. 

"Relief,"Arianell muttered. He blinked at her. 

"What?"

"Nothing. Listen, I had a question,"Arianell spoke. He stepped back and let her in. She noticed clocks scattered on the table that they had sat at earlier. "About the time changes of this world. Is there any way to predict them or anything?" He frowned. Not even Alice has asked that. He thought for a moment and hummed once. He turned and walked over to the table again, sitting down in his chair. 

"Some role-holders can change the time as we see fit. I'm not sure anyone else other than myself or Blood Dupre can do as such, but both of us really try not to meddle with it,"Julius replied. That name...Blood. I heard it from Elliot yester-time. Arianell hummed. She looked down. "Is that it?" She quickly looked up. 

"Uh...not really...listen, I was just wondering do you have another room in this tower? I don't find myself fit enough to stay in the castle as I ran into someone I'm sure is from it, and he freaked me out. And the mansion...and the amusement park...both of those are kind of..."Arianell trailed off. He sighed. 

"No, I don't. Sorry,"He told her. She frowned. Damn, she thought. She scratched the back of her neck. 

"Right then...I'll just find someplace, then, I guess,"She murmured. His eyes stayed locked on her. Part of him felt a little guilty at that. She dropped her hand and his eyes barely caught the skid marks from the rocks on her palm. 

"Arianell, what happened to your hand?"he asked. She blinked and looked down at it. 

"Oh...well yester-time, I fell,"She told him vaguely. He frowned. She laughed a little bit. "Apparently I got caught up in this knight from the castle's fight with a faceless person." Julius' eyes widened slightly. 

"Were you hurt?"He asked her suddenly, worried for her. He stood and walked over, grabbing her hand. She blinked. He ran his thumb over the scabbed up scratches and she sucked in a breath of air. His touch sent a weird sense of warmth throughout her. She sensed his emotions...general worry for her. That made her feel a little better than she had about not being liked by the people of this world. 

"No, I wasn't aside from this, the knight blocked a bullet heading for me." Arianell stared at her hand. Julius sighed, frowning hard. He released her and looked at her silently. Arianell moved and shifted. "W-well...I suppose I should be going." He rose an eyebrow. 

"Why?"Julius asked. She blinked in surprise. 

"Well, you're working right? I wouldn't want to needlessly bother you, and since you don't have another room...then I don't really want to overstay my welcome,"Arianell told him. She closed her eyes and smiled honestly at him. He felt a bit of warmth at seeing her face smiling brightly at him. It was strange to him. New. Foreign. He didn't mind it at all. This was different than he'd felt with Alice. With Alice, he'd felt annoyed most of the time she was around. With Arianell, he found himself wanting to tell her to stay. He frowned. He couldn't do that. Outsiders were supposed to pick and choose their own path, his influence wouldn't even work on her.