[C] deer hunting

"Just don't tell anyone that I was the one to teach it you."

The Elf pouted as he began swinging his legs gently in the air. "Rick would get a kick out of that." He didn't want to give Rick any more artillery to use against him.

"Just find Lycus and he'll help you through life here."

Lycus was a know-all here. It was him he always went to when he needed to know something.

"Your secret is safe with me," he promised, placing a finger against his lips to demonstrate how he would keep quiet.

"I'll find him. Otherwise I could see things getting quite dull around here. Are there bedrooms at the house? What's it like? Does it look nice?"

Bian nodded.

"There are two wings in the mansion that people stay in."

The Elf ran his fingers through his perfectly straight blond hair as the chains in his ears jingled together quietly.

"They're nice enough when you get around having to live with three other people." Luckily, he didnt room with anyone he didn't like so everything was absolutely fine with his living arrangements.

"What's the difference between the two wings? Is it just that they're on different sides of the house?"

The sleeping arrangements made his face fall in dismay. "Oh. I think that would take a little getting used to."

Fabian shrugged.

"No idea." He wouldn't be able to tell you anything that happened in the house outside of what happened when he was with Rick. He didnt know how the house worked. He was blissfully unaware of anything important happening in the house.

"There's a free spot in my room, though. You could probably bunk with me."

The Elf grinned a little. "At least then you can have a friend close."

"I'm sure Lycus can tell me more later," he assured him. "So it's okay that you don't know." He felt the need to say it, just in case Fabian felt bad about not being able to inform him of much - not that he looked bothered.

"A friend close." He mused over that, giving the other elf an assessing look. "Yes, I suppose that's what you are."

Fabian wasn't bothered in the slightest.

As long as he could plug in his hair dryer and straighteners and could sleep comfortably for a solid eight hours every day, he was happy. He didn't care about what he didn't know.

Unless it was the newest tip on how to apply mascara.

"Of course we're friends."

The Elf grinned widely as he tilted his head to the side.

"If you say so, but we barely know each other. How are you supposed to know I'm not a bad guy? I could be here for any reason, couldn't I?" He blinked at Fabian.

The man shrugged carelessly.

"Are you a bad guy?" he asked pointedly, arching how brow for the second time.

He was certain the answer would be no.

The boy seemed... He just didn't seem to be up for being a bad guy. Fabian just didn't get that vibe from him.

"No, I'm not. At least, I don't think so. I'm sure the definition of 'bad guy' is different for everyone. But I mean no one here harm, and I don't want disturb the peace, so to speak."

He smiled innocently. "But I'm sure a 'bad guy' would say the same thing."

"Well there you go."

Atlas wasn't a bad guy. That was all it took for Fabian. He trusted that the boy wasn't a 'bad guy.'

"But if you were a bad guy, wouldn't you try to hide the fact that you were bad so you wouldn't draw suspicion to yourself?"

Bian smirked triumphantly. "Therefore you cannot be a bad guy."

"But I am hiding the fact. I just told you I wasn't one - I easily could be lying."
As laid-back as Atlas knew he could be, Fabian was comically unconcerned. Maybe that was a good sign - that the mansion didn't have to worry about in the way of 'bad guys'.

"But if you were one, why would you have told me at all? Telling me you are a bad guy then saying just kidding and now telling me that you could be lying about the just kidding part is a real stupid thing to do. It could create suspicion."

The Elf hummed softly.

"But you're obviously not a bad guy."

He ran his fingers through his hair again.

"So I have nothing to worry about."

"If you say so, but it convinced you, didn't it? Hence it really wasn't such an awful idea. Then again, I only have your word that you're a good guy too. Maybe you don't even live at the house. You could be from anywhere."

He pursed his lips as he considered that. "So are you a bad guy?"

Fabian grinned widely.

"I may be. But I also may not be. Who knows?"

Fabian was harmless. He couldn't be a bad guy if he tried. But acting was fun.

He could act like a bad guy. Maybe.

His acting skills could be good sometimes.

"Verysuspicious. Should I be running away?" He suspected that the other elf would find it hard to keep up with him if he did - he still seemed quite tired.

Then again, he could be faking it: installing a false sense of security, and all that. Oh well.

"Perhaps."

Fabian wouldn't be running after him if he ran.

As helpful as being in the forest was at the moment, he was still feeling the effects of Aurick's excessive feeding. He was going to lay around in the forest for a few more hours before returning to Aurick.

"Hmm. Maybe later." He tucked his legs under himself. "How big is this forest?"

He knew the town wasn't exactly close, but he didn't know how much space the forest took up. It had certainly looked big before he had walked in.

"Couple square miles, I think."

It was definitely big. He hadn't been able to explore all of it yet.

"It's really big." That much he could say for sure.

Fabian once again gave a careless shrug. It didn't bother him so he didn't care to find out the specifics.

Bian lived his life in a state of constantly blissful unawareness of the happenings around him.

"You think," he repeated. "How long have you been here again?" He could understand not being concerned, but being completely.. not curious was something he struggled to grasp.

"Maybe we should talk a walk and look around. I take it you've been in here often? Is there anything of note inside?" He meant natural wonders, such as lakes or ponds. Something pretty.

"Uh, I dont know. A year? Year and a half maybe?"

He didn't know. Aurick dealt with all that sort of stuff.

If something important was happening, Aurick would tell him. If he wasn't told, he just assumed that there wasnt anything important happening.

"Sure."

A walk sounded nice.

"There's a river."

"A year is a very long time." Or perhaps it wasn't to Fabian. Atlas had no idea how old he was, after all. Being only young, it sounded a long time to Atlas.

"A river. How far away? Is it big?" He stretched his arms above his head and stood up.

"Not really."

A year wasn't too long of a time. Fabian was over a hundred years old. A year passed by quickly to someone that age.

"Not too far away from here. It's fairly small but its pretty."

He liked to sit on the bank and dip his feet into the water sometimes when he felt like thinking. It was peaceful there. He loved the river.

"No?" His tone maybe it into a question, obviously curious as to why Fabian didn't think of a year as long.

"Well, let's go. If you think you can manage it." He pushed up from the ground and bounced to his feet, toddling off a few feet before stopping for his companion. He would need him to show him where to go.

"I guess I'm old enough now to think that a year isn't really a long time."

He was a hundred and twenty. A year just didn't seem like much time at all in relation to that span of time.

"I'll be fine."

Fabian pushed himself to his feet and brushed off his body gently. So much dirt. He was going to have to take a shower when he got back to his room.

He padded forwards, leading the boy in the direction of the river.