(Ouch. Well, I'm glad you're ok.)
Meg looked up at the loft when he called and shook her head with a soft chuckle. Of all the things that her father's ancestral books had warned her about and helped her prepare for, hiding an accused criminal from the Royal guard hadn't exactly been a covered topic. But she was pleasantly surprised at how easily they were handling their situation and how well they had been getting along. She had often spent a lot of her free time in the stables even before she had met Adriano, so her mother hadn't seemed to notice anything suspicious… Though she had made a comment about how she seemed to be making more food lately. “Yes, I'm sure. Unfortunately, they don't have any more blue but I can go back later this week and see if they received more then.” she assured him, though she still didn't know what this project of his was.
Adriano had told her that his project was something like a secret. Whenever she happened to approach him he’d curled his legs up, pressing the fabric against his chest to hide the embroidered design. He was no professional with needle and thread by far, but he’d taken interest in it at the castle, and tucked away in a hayloft while hiding from the world seemed like an appropriate time to engage in painstakingly tedious pastimes.
“Alright. Hm.” Adriano pursed his lips as he looked over the design again. “What other blue…ish colors do you have? Like purple or green.”
"I do have a nice dark purple." she confirmed, glancing up at the loft. Meg had learned by now that he wasn't going to let her see whatever he was working on until he was ready to show her. Which most likely wouldn't be until he was finished. "You know, I didn't think of you as meticulous before you started this project." she chuckled, playfully teasing him. "Here." she called out as she tossed the spool of thread up to him. She had snuck a few pieces of her mother's spare needlework supply out to him and purchased the rest. As well as the replacements for her mother, of course.
“I’m not…usually.” Adriano lurched to catch the thread spool, but it slipped just past his hands and landed beside him. “I was pretty rowdy when I was little, so my mom kept giving me meticulous tasks to teach me patience,” he snorted. “It didn’t work, for the most part, until I grew up and calmed down. Now it’s actually nice having something small like this to focus on.” He admired the color of a thread for a moment, holding it in a day of sunlight between two fingers, before unraveling some to thread his needle. “Better than focusing on the alternative.”
"I can imagine that. I bet you were a real handful, especially after your first Woge." Meg laughed a little at the mental image of him running around some noble home causing all kinds of trouble. "I guess it's good to have a hobby like this while you can't do too much else." she agreed, thinking of her inherited talent for sketching and writing. Or at least she believed it was inherited considering the pictures and entries in the family journals. "Do you mean being bored as the alternative or the fact that you're hiding in a Grimm's stable?" she asked for clarification.
Adriano smiled to himself at the memory. When he was home, almost carefree and running down the lesser traveled hallways of the palace. He stopped that thought before it could go any farther. Even the good memories eventually led to painful ones.
“Both. And how this started in the first place,” he shook his head almost disbelievingly, “I just never thought I would be taking refuge in a Grimm’s stable. And running from another at the same time no less.” He chuffed, the last part quieter yet still audible.
Meg set aside the pitchfork she had been using to clean up and nodded, missing his comment about hiding from another Grimm and just assuming he said or mentioned something about the Royal guards. “I guess that's fair. I doubt any Wesen thinks it would be a safe idea to hide with their biggest enemy.” she agreed. “Though I have to admit that I am still curious as to what it was that actually started all this.” she said softly, not really expecting an explanation but it was something that she couldn't stop wondering about.
Adriano went silent at her last statement. She hadn’t phrased it as a question, so that left room to assume—at the very least he hoped he could assume—that she wouldn’t expect an answer. Then again perhaps a vague explanation might quell her curiosity for sometime, he reasoned. “No…not in the least, I think.” He pursed his lips, pausing in his embroidery to look away as if searching for words on the wooden planks. “I used to live in the inner city where wesen are more…controlled. And, um, my father didn’t know I was wesen until he caught me woge. So I ran away. That’s pretty much it.”
Meg looked up in surprise when he actually answered but nodded slightly as she leaned against one of the horse stalls. “So, you took after your mother. I’m assuming then that your father either didn't know about her heritage or… You were unexpected and she tried to protect you.” she said thoughtfully. “Do… Do the Royal’s and members of the court know about Wesen and Grimms then? I mean, did they know before you?” she asked softly. If they had known then what exactly did that mean for her? Did they hunt Grimms like they were hunting Adriano? Or was there a different consequence if someone like her was captured?
Adriano nodded slowly, solemnly. He couldn’t believe he was telling all of this to a Grimm, of all people. But then again, he also couldn’t think of anyone he could trust enough to open up even a little bit. Meg had proved her dependability, otherwise he wouldn’t even still be sitting in her stable. He’d either be on the run or trapped somewhere within the castle, presumably. “It was actually a Grimm who pointed me out to my father. It’s how he know I woged.” That had been a very unfortunate family dinner.
Meg didn't see the nod since she was on the main level of the stables but his words were a definite shock. The fact that Adriano’s father even knew another Grimm… though the thought that it was a friend of his father's, or at least an acquaintance, had to make things a little awkward. “And your father… or the high class that he belongs to, doesn't approve of Wesen?” she questioned. Obviously, the young woman had no idea how certain levels of society actually functioned, especially high society, and didn't know how being Wesen or Grimm factored into it either.
“Uhm.” That question had Adriano scrambling for a response. How was he supposed to answer that without letting on who his family was? Still, even though he assumed Meg would drop the topic if he wanted it end, he didn’t necessarily want to. He picked up the embroidery to keep working. “It’s not that he doesn’t approve of them in general. More like he doesn’t approve of them in his family. Or general vicinity.”
“Oh.” Meg nodded, a little surprised but understanding. That sort of behavior seemed fairly normal and was admittedly something she could relate to. She personally had nothing against Wesen in general unless they were causing trouble, except Geiers… those were just the worst in her thankfully brief encounter with them. Most of the others she had only read about and did sound dangerous but she couldn't necessarily blame them any more than she could blame a wild animal for its nature. As to having one in her family… It hadn't crossed her mind before, mostly because of the instinctive fight or flight reaction Wesen seemed to have towards Grimms.
“Is that why he's friends with a Grimm? Because your father can't see them but he wants to be aware of them?” she reasoned thoughtfully.
Adriano tipped his head to one side as he thought. “Mm. It’s possible. I didn’t even know he was friends with a Grimm until I woged and saw him. And when he saw me.” He reached up to scratch at an itch behind his ear, then absentmindedly combing his fingers through the unbrushed hair on the back of his head. “I wouldn’t put it past him to actively look for a Grimm to keep wesen away from him. My mother was an outlier.”
Meg nodded again, frowning thoughtfully. This was still a bit new to her. Grimm's and Wesen being known by anyone, and possibly accepted to a certain extent, in the high society Adriano belonged to had been something that she’d never even considered. “I… guess it makes sense that he wouldn't mention it. If that Grimm has anything in common with our ancestors, then they wouldn't exactly want it talked about.” she reasoned. It seemed like Grimms preferred to keep their abilities secret as much as they could. “Your mother certainly seems like she would be a unique person. I almost wish I could meet her but I know that's not likely to happen.” she commented, choosing the better topic than saying something she might regret about his father if Adriano’s guess was correct.
Adriano shook his head. An air of melancholy surrounding his movements at the mention of his mother. “No, not likely in the least. I’m not sure what even happened to her,” he steadied his wavering voice with a sigh, “considering the relationship between my parents I left them in. She was—is unique indeed.” Some of the thread he was working with caught around his hand. With a bothered huff he had to pause in his work, untangle his hand free, and tidy the space around him. “I’m sorry, I’m a little distracted. I like talking to you, though. It’s nice,” he admitted once the bothersome thread situation had been sorted.
Meg looked over at him and gave a gentle smile. “Hey, if she's anything like you then she's a survivor. I’m sure she'll be alright.” she assured. Unless she ran into another Grimm or the Royal Guards… she admitted to herself, though she was not going to verbalize any of that. Chances are Adriano already had similar suspicions. He was too smart not to think of those possibilities. “Don’t worry. I like talking to you too. It's… nice being able to be understood.” she said softly, but loud enough that he could still hear her. “I don't have anyone else. I didn't have a chance to talk to my dad about being Grimm or seeing Wesen. It started within a week after he died. My mom wouldn't understand all this and neither would anyone in town. They’d probably think I was insane or a witch…” she confessed, a little surprised that she was getting so personal.
