He bit back a retort. Not your dog, either. He'd warned Pretty Boy plenty, and now, in typical uppercrust fashion, the man was going to do what he was going to do, and damn the consequences of keeping a disobedient wolf. Aya seemed to understand that this was her place, now — much to Fletcher's chagrin. She watched Theo fetch her water. She whined at the cats, ears perked and eyes alert, but seemed to know better than to run up and sniff them. As the two of them departed, Fletch saw her circle a few times, dig at the horse blanket, and then flop down contentedly. Somehow, it made him even moodier. "Don't you have a stablehand to do these things?" he muttered, not caring whether Pretty Boy read it.
Finally, they headed back to the house...and past the main entrance. It took Fletch a moment to grasp where they were going. "This your escape hatch?" he asked as they approached the servant's entrance and stepped up into the scullery. But before Theo had a chance to answer, they were ambushed.
The girl seemed sweet. Genuine. It was clear by their familiarity that the two of them had a rapport. Fletcher found a spot in the corner and sat, still preoccupied by that sudden and jarring reminder of a thing that, like Aya, shadowed him wherever he went. He was so deep in thought that the cigarette was halfway out of his pocket before he remembered where he was, and back it went again. That little jolt of anxious guilt snapped him back to the present, though, and now he watched Pretty Boy and the girl as they waved their hands through the air. He squinted. What were they...?
It came to him suddenly: that silent language he'd seen used south of here. A few of the "words" were similar, in fact — though most weren't familiar at all. He had a sneaking suspicion that they were gossiping about him, and Pretty Boy's expression confirmed it. Still, it was hard to be particularly bothered about it, especially when the maid was already so nervous with him there. He leaned forward a little. "Could at least have the decency to talk shit out of earshot, you know," he chuckled.