'Huh, he didn't answer.' Noble furrowed her brow.
The man seed in terrible distress. Maybe he hadn't even heard her.
'But he's looking right at .'
He hadn't so much as glanced her way until she spoke, and then he looked like he had been spooked.
His dark eyes–They looked like they contained imasurable power. He was more than an Awakened or even a typical Master.
'Maybe a Saint?'
Noble cleared her throat.
"I'm Noble."
"Sunny," the powerful stranger continued to stare at her, wanting to gauge her reaction. Why should she react to his na? Was he famous?
A small tug pulled at her soul but as quickly as it ca, it dissipated.
'Strange.'
Sunny looked away and Noble could feel his spirit break a little.
"You look a little…" she wanted to say lost but that seed rude, "confused. Is there sothing I can help you with?"
She would have been harsher and demanded to know why the man was staring at the neighbor's house, but his pitiful, broken state filled her with compassion.
The man coughed lightly, putting on a neutral expression.
"Can you help ? Yes, actually you can." His emotions shifted to curiosity. "It is rare that a person can sneak up on . How did you…"
Happy to sense sothing other than despair, Noble held out her arms, allowing the gold bands to slip from beneath her sleeves. "It's a mory. It shields the wearer from being perceived."
Sunny grabbed her wrists, and it was Noble's turn to be startled. He was very strong, but he didn't seem to an any harm.
He peered at the mory, studying it with the utmost care.
The professor shifted uncomfortably. 'He really likes to stare at things.'
"Fascinating…" he mumbled.
"Perhaps I can hand them to you? It might help if my wrist is not in the way…" Noble slipped one off her free hand and held it out.
She saw no reason to hide it from him. His strength seed more than enough to take it from her. Sunny couldn't steal it; Noble would just dismiss it and send it back to her Soul Sea.
And if he wanted to destroy the mory, she preferred he do it when her hand wouldn't be collateral damage.
Beyond that, Noble felt compelled to help him. It was always nice to find soone as interested in mories as she was. But few were usually so overt in their interest.
Sunny winced.
"Oh yes… thank you," he looked up as he took the bracelet before his eyes darted away. "Sorry for, uh, grabbing you."
Noble smiled weakly. "No harm done."
She handed him the second band, and his eyes opened wider as he looked at her. "You're a Master? When did that happen?"
Noble tilted her head. 'I didn't realize the bands hid that well. But it makes sense. It not only masks my physical presence but also the aura I put off as a Master.'
"Very recently. Maybe two months ago." Noble watched the stranger nod.
"I see. A lot has happened in a short ti."
Noble wanted to ask him what else had happened, but Sunny had already turned his attention to the tal in his hands.
They stood in silence for many monts in the frigid cold. The dark-haired Saint peered at the golden circles.
"Seems simple enough. I think I can replicate that." He nodded slowly.
'A mory forger?' Noble grew a little suspicious. Had the King of Swords sent soone else to get information from her after Awakened Jeremy ca up empty?
"Are you from Clan Valor?" She asked.
"What? No! I am not from any clan. I don't suppose I have any ho at all."
Handing back the bracelets, Sunny's original gloom returned.
'No ho?'
"Are you a victim of Antarctica?" Noble wasn't sure how else to ask.
Sunny barked a bitter laugh. "Victim? Well, I suppose you could say I'm a victim of many things."
Noble really wanted to know, but she could feel the stranger's bubbling frustration, and she didn't want to make the powerful man finally snap.
Instead, Noble smiled softly and sent him so comfort. He looked at her strangely but accepted the small gift.
"Well, if you are looking to start over, I know a realtor who might be able to help."
Sunny shook his head. "Thank you, but I won't be settling down any ti soon. I was just… reminiscing."
'Poor man. Did he lose his ho in sowhere like Falcon Scott?'
Maybe this neighborhood, particularly her neighbor's house, reminded him of his own ho before he lost it.
That was the easiest explanation for why he kept staring at it with a longing expression.
Sunny shivered, and Noble noticed that he had no coat. The cold was biting and even a survivor of Antarctica would feel it after a while.
"You should get out of this weather,"
Noble glanced at her house.
Her husband would have a fit if she invited a strange lurker into her ho. But her gut told her that he would not hurt her or her family. Unless Sunny had so mind-altering power like Counsel, her gut was usually right.
Noble was torn.
'Forget this. There is already a lack of humanity in this world without adding to it.'
"Would you like to co in? Maybe I can get you so hot tea?"
Sunny seed to consider the offer. He closed his eyes tightly before sighing.
"No, while sothing warm sounds nice, I should be on my way."
The solemn saint stepped away.
'He doesn't have anywhere to go,' Noble observed.
"Well, if you won't take up on my offer, at least get yourself sothing to warm up. I know the convenience store just up the road has ran if you need sothing quick. My daughter loves it. She might even still be there to give you a recomndation."
The last words caused Sunny's emotions to spike.
"I might take you up on that offer." The man's handso lips turned into an appreciative smile.
He was quite possibly the most stunning human that Noble had ever seen.
Besides Fort, of course.
The transformation of his face made her feel his sadness even more keenly.
Offering him money to pay for the food would have been taken the wrong way. If he was a Saint as she suspected, then Sunny likely had a wealth of credits stashed away sowhere.
She wanted the best for the stranger, but not at the expense of his pride.
"I hope you do. The world always looks a little better on a full stomach."
The man gave her a complicated look as if he knew that statent was more true than she could ever realize.
What kind of horrors had he been through to have such darkness in his eyes?
Sunny nodded. "Ran it is then. Thank you for your ti."
"No trouble at all," Noble sent a little more comfort to her companion. This ti it hung between them for a mont before dissipating. Noble felt a little pang in her heart. "Be kind to yourself, Sunny."
"Always worrying about others more than yourself." Sunny shook his head. "So things never change." He turned to go.
"Wait! I do know you, don't I?" Noble blinked and the man was gone, as if he was never there.
From the shadows, a whisper ca. "Yes."
Noble sighed, her head feeling fuzzy. "I guess I'll never get an answer…"
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