The Red Light District of Orario, located against the wall on the south-east end, was a thriving community, but the area outside of Ishtar's old territory was absolutely filled with crime and poverty.

"It's like I clicked my heels three times..." I grinned a little.

I hummed a tune, and then sang it softly, my deep, vibrant voice rolling through the street. "🎵Io chiamo su Afrodite, Iside, il Freya

Sentire il suono del mio cuore

Sentire la mia chiamata.

Chiedo di essere benedetti con amore,

Che essere trovato partner del mio cuore🎵."

I heard a scuffle in an alley, and a man walked out, buckling his belt angrily. A woman followed slowly, limping, and tried to remove blood from her nose and cheek unsuccessfully.

She turned her gaze towards me for a split second, and my voice died in my throat. Light Mocha skin and long, Obsidian hair, and the darkest grey eyes I'd ever seen, but with no fire, or steel, behind them, only pain.

I hummed and shook my head to clear it, walking past her, and handing her a handkerchief, before continuing on my way a few steps.

Then I halted, a thought occurring. "What's your name, girl?" I asked suddenly.

She flinched, and curled into herself a bit. "Alex... Benedetto..." she whispered.

'... my god, I just sang a ...' I tsk'ed. "Alright... come on, Miss Alex. Let's get you fixed up. No worries." I slung her over my shoulder, modestly pulling her shirt down to cover her bum.

She squeaked, but then simply held on, shivering, as I lugged her back to the Castle.

Several people gave me odd looks, but I ignored them, and continued on.

Once I got to my room, (passing Riviera on the way,) I set the woman down on the bed, then handed her one of Xavier's shirts, which would reach her knees, and wasn't covered in blood. I hesitantly cast a healing spell, and her nose stopped bleeding, while she stared at me, incredulous.

Then I led her into the shower, and turned on the water, quickly exiting.

I laid on my bed, covering my eyes. "God I'm an idiot..." I murmured.

"Sir Jonathon? May I have a word?" Riviera asked from the hallway.

I stood, sighing, and entered the hallway. "Yes?" I asked.

She breathed deeply, then exhaled. "While I would not deign to tell you how to spend your free time, or what company to keep, bringing prostitutes into your quarters at The Castle is a bit...-"

"Okay, hold up. That's not what this is." I waved a hand. "She was only mildly injured, so I took her here, and then healed her nose and lip, and now she's getting a shower, hopefully. I'll return her in the morning, and have words with her Pimp, and hopefully that'll be the end of it." I explained myself.

She raised a delicate eyebrow. "Have words?"

"Its code for 'I'm going to beat him into a bloody pulp, and then threaten to geld him with a rusty spoon should he ever get up the courage to touch another woman indecently in his entire miserable life', or something similar." I frowned.

She smirked a bit. "I see. Alright, then, but I'll send in Tiona to help her. She doesn't need another man around her right now, or ever, really."

I nodded. "That's fine... oh? And ask Tiona if she's got any... womanly things. I only gave her a shirt of mine to wear." I asked gently.

She smiled. "Indeed. I'll handle it. You just make sure she stays. We women of the Loki Familia have been doing this for a long time, if... differently. I'm happy that you also care."

"I don't. Other people's lives are none of my business... I just have a soft spot for cripples, and broken things." I closed my door before she could respond.

I knocked on the door to the bathroom gently. "Miss Alex, do you need anything?" I asked. She didn't respond, but I could hear her breathing heavily, almost like she was about to cry, though no sobbing came.

I nodded slowly. "Take all the time you need." Then I sat down on my bed, and leaned against the wall, breathing out a song to soothe my nerves.

"🎵Muse d'arte,

Muse del suono,

Muse del pensiero,

Si riuniscono intorno.🎵"

Again, my timber filled the space around me, filling me with a peaceful feeling. I heard her breathing gentle a bit, and Tiona knocked on the door gently, ruining it.

I sighed. "Come on in, Woman." I said clearly, more for Alex's benefit. She opened the door, and looked around. I pointed at the bathroom, and she nodded, walking over. "Alex, the woman at the door is Tiona, an Amazon." I said simply.

The door to the bathroom cracked open, and Tiona slipped in like a snake. "Well hello! Let's get you cleaned up, huh?" She closed the door, and I laid on my back, closing my eyes. I decided to use my time wisely, and thought of a different rhyme to make into a song. I settled for English Poetry, sighing.

"Sweet Frigga of the spinning wheel.

Who spins the strands we call our life.

Your love, so strong, so very real.---

You've answered my lonely appeal.

Though in sad seclusion I do live.

Sweet Frigga of the spinning wheel.---

In a world both mundane and surreal.

You've succored me, my goddess.

Your love, so strong, so very real.---

Your kindly blessings I do feel.

Having happily felt your fair grace.

Sweet Frigga of the spinning wheel.---

Frith, frugality and women's weals

Are the gifts you shower down.

Your love, so strong, so very real.---

My troth I give, though I do not kneel.

Sweet Frigga of the spinning wheel.

Your love, so strong, so very real."

The poem flowed out of me, giving itself meaning, and I took that as a sign. 'A song about Frigga, thanking her for creating love... interestingly .' I hummed. 'Then again, it could be that I'm destined to be her friend... well, I'd be okay with that. I don't have enough friends as it is.'

I tried hard to ignore the sounds of Tiona teasing the girl, and decided to distract myself. I sat in the chair that sat next to my bed, and kicked my feet up, opening my book of puzzles, which had been in my back pocket when we came through the portal.

"Hmmm... 1-4-3-5-7-6-9-2-8 should be the first row..." I murmured.

---

The bathroom door opened, and Tiona led Alex out, setting her on my bed gently. "You need anything, girl, I'm just upstairs, room 417." She patted the taller woman's cheek, and then glanced at me. "And no funny business!"

I huffed. "Me? Funny Business? You're joking, right?" I gazed at her blandly over the rim of my glasses.

She blinked. "I didn't know you wore glasses!!! Wow, Old Man, you just got even sexier..." She skipped out, making me chuckle mentally.

I sighed. "Sorry about her. She was the only woman nearby." I said simply.

Alex nodded slowly. "I... can't stay here."

"Your boss won't like that, will he... well, I'll talk to him. You get some rest. I'm not moving from this chair, and you have several Level 4's and 5's in the rooms around us, so you're safe here. No one's getting in, except maybe Loki, but she'll be easy to deal with." I murmured, and marked a 7 in the last box, checking my work.

She stayed sitting up, and I glanced over my glasses at her. "Don't worry. Really. I swear, you'll be able to get some good rest here, and I'll have coffee waiting in the morning, then your boss and I will have a chat." I nodded encouragingly.

She flinched. "Are you... going to buy me from him?"

I blinked slowly. "Would you rather I do that than hurt him?" I asked honestly.

She nodded quickly. "If you force him to let me go, he might try to kill us both..."

I snorted gently. "Yeah, that'd make my day. Don't worry, you're totally safe with the Loki Familia, Alex. Get some sleep." I said firmly.

She nodded slowly, and laid down on top of the covers, subconsciously moving her legs until the shirt was off of her hip.

I looked away, and returned to my puzzles.

---

Around 03:00, Xavier returned, but I shushed him before he could speak, and told him softly to get me some hot coffee in about two hours.

He shrugged and walked out, closing the door without a sound.

I squinted at my puzzle, and smirked, finding the answer to the riddle, and inputting it into the squares. 'Hubris'.

Dawn slowly rose, and Xavier set two glasses of coffee on my desk, along with a ramekin of sugar and a small bowl of milk.

I nodded silently, and made my own coffee, waiting for her to wake up.

The smell of coffee must've done it, because she sat up slowly, her hair in disarray. I held out the second coffee mug gingerly, not looking at her, so as to not spook her.

She took it slowly, and sniffed it. I slid over the milk and sugar, and continued writing in my crossword.

"Uhm... thanks..." she said quietly, and poured almost half of the sugar bowl into her coffee.

I blinked, staring at it incredulously, then shook my head, re-focusing. "The capital of Brazil; Eight Letters..." I murmured, and then smirked, writing in 'Brasilía'.

She sipped her coffee, staring at me, and every time I glanced over, she flinched.

"I don't bite, girl. And I want nothing from you, in the realm of sexual favors. You can relax. The man at the other end of the room is Xavier, my son. He's probably sleeping, but I can't see him." I said suddenly.

"Uhm... there's no one over there." She said slowly.

I hummed and glanced over my shoulder, easily finding him standing in his armor, against the wall, like a suit of armor.

I chuckled softly. "He's hiding. Very shy. Ignore him, then."

Dotty appeared suddenly, and leapt onto my bed. She batted at Alex's hair, and Purred softly, in her stutter-start way of purring. Her old age was catching up to her, unfortunately.

Alex lifted her into her lap slowly, petting her ears gently.

Dotty almost smirked, and curled up, rolling until her belly was exposed.

Alex giggled, and pet her stomach. "She's yours?"

"Xavier's. Her name is Dotty. She's very old." I nodded. She seemed more at ease now, which was good. Dotty would have to stick around, then...

The door opened almost on cue, and six different cats herded into the room, hissing and growling at the Vacuum cleaners running behind them.

I blinked slowly as they all crowded onto my bed, and then hid under and around Alex. She pet them all, shushing them, and I hummed. "That's never happened before." I murmured.

"Sorry, sorry, we lost a bet, so we have to catch all the Cats in the Castle!!! Well be back with more!!!" Tione called into the room, and closed the door.

I chuckled and finished my coffee. "Xavier, can I bribe you into getting us an entire pot of coffee this time?"

He hummed, making Alex freeze. "Nah. I'll get ya another cup, though." He sheathed his armor, and snitched my glass, then gently extracted Alex's from her frozen hand.

The cats rubbed against her, and she forgot about him for a moment, which was all he needed before he was gone.

"Told you." I shrugged.

She calmed down significantly when Dotty smacked another cat, and climbed out of her lap, up onto her shoulders, where she lounged, meow'ing at the other cats disdainfully.

"All hail queen Dotty..." I smirked.

Alex giggled gently, and covered her mouth.

I nodded. "Well, you can't really leave yet, the cats are very attached to you. I'm sure it'll be fine."

The door opened, and several more kittens were herded in, and they quickly climbed onto me, hiding in my jacket and even my collar.

I blinked slowly. "Well... hello."