Home...

The cars pulled into the Kenne Estate, a large, gated and walled in home spanning over 8,000 square feet of space. The massive building was made of white brick and a mixture of lignum vitae and purple heart wood. The complex was well lit, and a myriad of identical vehicles and men and women in black suits were all around. Heavily guarded, highly secure, the Kenne Estate was the closest thing to a military base one could get.

The car came to a halt, and Five would get out of the backseat. Almost immediately, he saw a young, shorter boy with black hair running towards him, a goofy smile on his face.

"Five, you're back!"
"Hey, Six!"

The two of them would start to walk towards the entrance, and Six began ranting about how his day was. Apparently, Three and Four refused to do anything with him, and One and Two were too busy as always, so Six spent his day wandering around the complex and practicing his gift. Five smiled and commended him on the practice, ruffling his hair as they made it to the door.

"I'm proud of you. But I need to go talk to Mother, let's put a pin in this conversation, alright?" He said, making his way indoors.

It lead to the entrance hall, an elaborate and large room with a massive staircase in the center that extended in two different directions much like a T shape. There were hallways on either side of the room, each seemingly filled with countless doors, and if one were to go around the staircase, they would see that there was another one heading down to a basement floor below. The center was covered in a dark red carpet, while ornate tile covered the rest of the floor.

As Five made his way towards the stairs, a larger man with longer, silver hair would step in front of him, red eyes staring down at him.

"Five. Mother is busy."
"I know, One. I'm just needing to report on today's mission."
"She's busy. You can report to me."
"Alright..."

Five sighed, letting One know that he met with his client, Claret. He proceeded to tell him the nature of his mission, and what he intended on doing. One remained quiet and unmoving, closing his eyes.

"Keeping her close at all times, quite literally. I suppose that's one way to do it... Just don't overstay your welcome, Five. Do your job and get out. We don't need you getting any attachments. Remember, one day she could be one of your targets."

One's words left him uneasy, and he remained silent as his older brother started walking away.

Five would allow himself to take a moment to remain calm before he made his way down the left hallway, heading past the multitude of doors before he turned right at the end of the hallway. Passing a few more doors, he'd come to a heavy door made of the same wood as the exterior, the number '5' embedded in the top center.

The door would let out an audible click as Five pushed it open, making his way inside before shutting it behind him. Taking a moment, he would finally flip the lights on.

What greeted him was a completely pearl white room, unnervingly so. All that was in there was a single bed and a table desk, on which a camera sat. A sliding closet was on the far end, practically blending in with the walls. In it were all of his clothes and the like. It wasn't much at all. It was mostly only used to sleep in, sometimes hide away from the rest of the world. He had never been in any of his siblings' rooms, not since Seven... but their's looked identical in how minimalist it was.

This was home. Or the sorry imitation of it.

He removed his suit jacket, walking over to hang it in the closet when his phone started vibrating. He quickly pulled it out of his pocket, smiling uncontrollably when he saw it was Claret. He would sit down on his bed, not even finished getting undressed, as he started to write a text back.

Hey, I'm glad you made it! That's good. Make sure all doors and windows are locked.

A mixture of elation and business. How he would've loved to just text her about anything at all instead.

Claret

Five would be holding the notebook from earlier tonight, pouring over his notes. He wasn't sure what he hoped to find that he already hadn't though. His notes were going to be expanded upon in the coming days, he was certain, but he would leave himself another note to be sure to check the photographs again.

Photographs...

He set his notebook to the side as he looked at his phone again. A few taps, and he would be on Claret's online page that he had subscribed and donated to. He was up to date on things, but he would navigate to one of her more safe-for-work photos to take a look at it.

It was unreal. It was really her that he met tonight, that had circumstances lead to the two of them living together for an unprecedented amount of time. He was still in disbelief, but looking at her face in this picture helped him realize that yes, it all really did happen. She had a picture perfect smile, and there was a brilliant light in her eyes that after tonight, he hoped would never be extinguished. Somehow, she greatly exceeded any expectations he had of her in person as well.

His phone would vibrate again, and Five would see a text from Claret pop up. Navigating to his messenger, he would quickly type a text to her. She probably didn't need instant responses from him, and he was afraid of coming off too strong, but...

I did. I'm just hanging out on my bed now.

He thought for a moment, wondering if he should add onto that at all.

Pretty nervous about tomorrow. But I'll be able to head over early in the morning.

Five wasn't sure if he should admit he was nervous, but at the same time, she probably would've liked it if he acted more human and less... like a generic bodyguard. They were going to be together a lot, so the least he could do was show her how he really was, right?

After sending the text, Five would relax back on his bed again, sighing. Life was a right mess right now. Looking over to his side, he'd see his long knife was still strapped to his side. Drawing it, a sizeable, silver blade would emerge with a satisfying sheen. It was clean and well kept, which was easy as he didn't actually use it very often, especially on a person.

Looking at the end of his room, Five would throw his blade across the room, towards the wall at the other end. Just before impact, it would stop, remaining suspended in midair as Five's hand remained outstretched. Slowly and carefully, the blade would float back across the room towards him, and he would grab it and twirl it around in his hand.

He still needed to practice his gift, but he was getting better with it. He no longer made any knife marks in the wall that he had to buff out.

Claret

Claret followed up on asking what he was nervous about, which isn't something he really expected. She was right though. Don't stress and just relax. She was the one who had every reason to stress rather than him, anyway. All of his nervousness stemmed from his own knowledge of her prior to this whole ordeal, but there was no way he ever wanted to make that apparent.

Not about the job, if that's what you're worried about.

I've actually never had a roommate before.

It's... new, I guess. Should be interesting.

It wasn't a lie, but wasn't the entire reason he was nervous. Five had no idea how to tell Claret she was the cause of his anxiety, not that she ever had to know that. He didn't want her to feel bad or uneasy for any reason... though he had a feeling he was the one who would end up feeling bad somehow.

Five would get off of his bed, setting his phone down momentarily on top of it while he finished getting out of his dress clothes. They were soon replaced with a plain black t-shirt and grey pajama pants. They contrasted the pure white of the room heavily, but it was the only sort of color he could really have in this room. He was always too scared to make it his own room, though he could never quite explain why.

The ground felt really cold against his bare feet, and as he made his way back onto his bed, he thought that maybe a break from the solitude he faced in here was very much a necessity.

Claret

She would try not to make it horrible for him? He was worried he would somehow make it horrible for her! He was the one staying in her house, potentially keeping her on lockdown. And he was the one who was meeting the e-girl he was into for the longest time. He was afraid of being completely and utterly cringeworthy.

I don't think you'll have to try very hard, haha.

The circumstances aside, I guess it's a little exciting.

I mean the job comes first, but like you said we can always make the best of this.

How do you tell someone you're real excited to see them while trying not to come on too strong? This wasn't like any of his other jobs. Any other time, he had to try and win over someone he didn't really care about and at most he'd have to deal with them for a couple of hours to a couple of days.

But Claret was different. He wasn't used to playing bodyguard. He was used to stealing and getting the hell out of dodge. But here she was, the one person he would feel awful stealing from. And instead, he was to make sure she kept her life rather than take anything from her. And he was going to be with her a lot longer than normal.

One or anyone else would've been much more suited to tasks like this. It was all awfully coincidental for his Mother to choose him out of all people for her.

But he'd do his best. She deserved that much.

Claret

Five saw Claret's texts come in regularly enough, and he was surprised (for some reason) that she was actually keeping interest in talking to him. Despite the weight of her situation, she still wanted to try and have a good time. He found that rather commendable, at the very least. He could only wonder what kind of fun she had in mind, but he tried not to think too much into it.

She asked about his hobbies, and his eyes darted over to his camera. Between that and his love for baking, he couldn't really think of anything else. He liked to draw, but his art was grade school level at best and not something he would dare try to pass off as a hobby. Photography and baking, however, were a part of his life for many years. They were some of the few joys he was allowed to have in the world.

I like to bake. I'm not like... an amazing chef or anything, but I have fun with it.

I also love photography. I've been practicing with a camera since I was a little kid.

I actually own a pretty decent camera, but I haven't got to really use it lately.

It was strange. He never really talked to anyone about his hobbies. Six and Seven were the last people to ever take an interest in him even a little, but his desire to do anything recreational faded significantly once Seven disappeared. He wasn't sure what it was about Claret, but she seemed rather approachable and someone he could tell these things to.

Claret

Just haven't really had the time, I guess

Work and all

But sure! Just give me a minute

Claret actually wanted to see some of the photos he's taken? The thought made him a little nervous, as he had never exactly shown his pictures to anyone. He had to figure out which of the photos that he wanted to send her, and thankfully the ones saved to his camera were uploaded into his laptop, which he had set up to be able to access remotely through his phone. He could have just got up off of his bed and headed to his desk to get to the laptop, but this was simpler for now.

Tapping through his gallery, Five would start to go through his photos. Some were somewhat recent, while others were several years old. After deliberating for a moment, he decided that he would send two to Claret for now, unless she asked to see more or anything.

So this first one I took a few years ago. In the forest by the city

Five would text her. A few taps on his phone and the file would start uploading to her. She would see a small, white kitten sitting on a turned over log in the middle of a forest clearing. The sun was shining down on it, and it was looking to the left of the photo, as if it were staring at something else. The shot was a little blurry, but at the time he thought it was pretty good. He was hesitant to show her this one, but it would be good to preface the next photo with this.

And then this one... was probably a couple of weeks ago.

The next file would start uploading, and Claret would see the river that flowed near and through Hiraeth City. The large cityscape itself was visible in the back, large and looming over the body of water. The sun was setting, and he captured the shine off of the building windows perfectly. He managed to find a good spot where the water was clear save for a single fish in the center of the water, and the riverbank was clean. It looked almost like a nature versus industrial era picture, and the quality was considerably clearer and less shaky. The lighting was done substantially better, and one could almost see the details of the fish rather vividly.

I realize they're not the best.

Environments and animals are most of my pictures

Mostly because I don't have someone to take pictures of haha

But I've gotten really good at lighting, photo cleanup, making things prettier, etc.

Five was a little nervous about all of this, but it felt good to be able to share one of his passions with someone, even if she might've just been asking to be nice.

Claret

Five felt genuine happiness when Claret praised his photography. The fact she straight up responded with 'Holy shit' was enough to show him she really meant it, rather than just sing empty praises in his direction. She said he had a real gift with it, but he knew that it came after a lot of trial and error. Even so, he would've loved to find a way to be a photographer for a living, rather than living under the thumb of the Kenne family. Her compliments reinforced how badly he would love to do that.

He owed his Mother everything though, including his own life. None of them were allowed to walk away.

Five was wondering how to respond to her when a few more texts from Claret came in. He saw that she offered to model for him, making sure to throw in a winky face. His eyes widened, and he felt his heart stop for a moment. No way, she was seriously offering that?

He thought about the kinds of photos she posted online, and felt his cheeks getting warmer at the mere thought of being the one to photograph such things. On the other hand, being able to take regular, down to earth photos of her seemed like it would be quite joyous. He imagined she could make any photography techniques, any background, any lightning look phenomenal. The opportunity was too much for him to pass up too, if he wanted to further himself as a photographer. But, getting that close to his client was very much against what his job entailed, right?

I'm very flattered you'd make an offer like that.

He sent at first, thinking of how to follow it up best.

I'd be honored, if we ever got the chance.

Maybe we can talk about it sometime after I'm there

The job comes first but I imagine we'll have downtime

He was racking his brain on how to be both professional but an elated fan. This was a blessful nightmare for him.

Claret