Waiting outside the Family home, John wandered around aimlessly. He fumbled about in his pockets and produced a lighter and a smoke. Walking about in circles was certainly getting old fast. He'd expect that Kusarian's would be on time, they had the reputation for it. Maybe he was just early. He scanned the clear skies for a hint of their arrival but was met only by the glare of the sun. He straightened his morning suit and dusted off his trousers. Not that there was much point, since he was already well presented. He sighed and continued wandering about, since there was little else to do.
It took quite a while before the two Kusarians were even close to the 'house' John mentioned. The older one of the two kept glimpsing at the younger one every few steps. After asking an older citizen about the Steiner family's house they were directed to what looked far more than a huge estate than what Aimi expected to be theirs. The stone sign at the wall surrounding the whole place read: "Maidstone House". This was really the place John was waiting at?
Amaia looked back at Hayashi, curious about her reaction while they went through the gate to the front yard. The house itself already visible, as well as a man walking around in front of it. This must have been John!
Aimi turned to the other girl again. "Quite impressive, isn't it? I didn't expect him to own such a place.. nor that there's still that much tradition here in Bretonia."
Ayane did her best to feign confidence as she walked next to Aimi along the open path that led to the house. Ayane was very well read, so her knowledge of Bretonia and Bretonian culture came from books. Knowing that her knowledge of history and literature wouldn't help her interact with actual people, Ayane resolved to follow the lead of her more experienced sister.
"If by tradition you mean old money then I definitely expected to see it around Cambridge. I never expected to see such an example, though, especially owned by such a charming gentleman. The architecture itself is impressive, it could be a museum!"Ayane had been expecting to find humble and impromptu accommodations for her vacation - she had even packed to sleep in her ship just in case. As she considered her current situation, Ayane was hopeful, maybe naively, that this vacation from Kusari might be just what she needed. Her lodging on Ainu was becoming cramped and lonely.
"I see John over by the house. I can't wait for him to show us around, but this place is so big it's kind of intimidating."
"I bet it is about as old as some of the ancient manors one can find in Kusari. I truly never expected to see something like this..."
Aimi had to admit that it was impressive and became even more so with every step they took towards it, yet her limited knowledge didn't let her appear as impressed as Ayane seemed to be. Almost having got lost in thoughts Aimi barely overheard Ayane mentioning John but then looked shortly at her, nodded and glimpsed for the guy at the building again. Seeing him still walking up and down she sighed and speeded up her own walk a bit, there was no need to let John wait afterall.. and she had to admit that she was curious about how it may look like inside of this building.
Ayane, as curious about its occupant as the house itself, quickened her pace toward John. She could see him pacing around, but a row of shrubs kept him from noticing the two girls immediately. Aimi kept pace as Ayane led the way over to the front porch. Not wanting to disturb the beautifully kept bushes, the girls waited until they rounded the last shrub to announce their presence.
"Hey John, we made it! What a nice place." Ayane didn't want to startle John, so she announced the two girls' presence from the edge of the porch.
''Ah'' he said turning around in mid-step, dropping his smoke and crushing it out, ''Hello there. How nice to see you again'' he said coming down to them, taking each of their hands and giving it a light kiss. ''Welcome to my home. I hope you didn't have too much trouble finding it. Shall I show you the house or would you rather go now and come back later?'' He quietly hoped that they would come back later, considering William and his wife were currently 'engaged' in the west wing of the house.
Aimi gave him a weak smile at this hand kiss and just calmly proceeded to answer his question then, though she didn't even look at him while doing so, rather she looked at the huge house in front of them again.
"Iie, we had no trouble finding it. We just chose landing pads a bit too far away, gave us a nice first glimpse on the city though. Uh, Ayane-c..-san, what do you think? Should we first take a look at the house?"
She wanted to let Ayane decide, afterall it was her who wanted some vacation! Aimi wondered how long she could stay herself now, would Rei allow her a few days off?
Ayane liked the looks of the house, and the courteous greeting was a nice touch. As she looked around, her thoughts drifted back to what she was vacationing from. Her leave from the Chrysanthemum's fighter corp would be over in less than a week, and she had plans to fly back through some of the contested Gallic and Tau systems in order to gather intelligence on Gallic fighter technology for a Blood Dragon contact. Ayane hoped to encounter a few Gallic fighter craft, and test the limits of her Blossom fighter - that was unlikely to happen with even a well-meaning, friendly escort out of Bretonia.
Ayane also recalled the impromptu nature of Aimi's help. Ayane had been outnumbered in Kyushu, and although the two were eccentric, she hadn't wanted to end up in the cargo hold of either hostile ship. She was grateful for Aimi's help, but couldn't help but feel a slight air of condescension from the slightly older pilot. Then again, Aimi seemed like the type of pilot who might enjoy tagging along for her intel gathering. Sensing the early out, and a slightly distracted look on John's face, Ayane decided not to commit the two girls to an extended stay on Cambridge. Ayane planned to eventually come back to do research in the Cambridge Archives, and hoped John would have her over then.
"It was certainly nice to get out, stretch my legs, and breath some natural air, but it did turn out to be a bit later in the afternoon than I expected, and a tour of such a large house would probably eat into your evening. I assume such a gentleman doesn't live in a house this large alone?"
He laughed ''Heavens no, my family does, along with the servants and kitchen staff. But you are right, it would take you far too much time to explore the whole thing and neither of you came here for a history lesson. So, without further delay, shall we explore the village a little?'' he said as a servent came out with a three quater coat for john.
Aimi unnoticed got a step closer to Ayane, wondering herself about a few things concerning recent happenings around her herself, including the happenings in Kyushu and Taus, those strange Naval Force pilots would surely stay in her memories for a long time, then she noticed Ayane replying and listened carefully.. she remained silent, awaiting John's reply which promptly came then.
"Hai, she's right.. we do not want to abuse your kindness for too long. Let's explore the village, I am already curious about what is there to see. The few glimpses Ayane and me caught on the way here were already nice, hmm..."
She suddenly ended her sentence when the servant showed up, nodding at them shortly with a smile then before she turned to Ayane and smiled at her as well. Wondering if she was able to get Ayane a room on the Susanoo out of a sudden...
![[Image: K21Vaai.png]](https://i.imgur.com/K21Vaai.png)
