"Well, that was something." Izou says, displeasure nearly dripping from his voice.

Thatch looks over at you, still seated beside Izou at the breakfast bar. "You okay?"

You breath in through your nose and let it out through your mouth softly before looking at him and nodding a little. "I'm certain my parents were in the wrong, whatever they said or did. Though I'll admit I am nervous."

Thatch gives you a big smile. "Ah, I wouldn't worry, Pops won't do anything to ya'."

Izou sighs dramatically, and gives Thatch a pointed look. "I'm sure her nerves have nothing to do with being left alone with her match, on the first night of their meeting, the same day she received her book, to now be in a house full of men."

Thatch stammers a bit before putting a hand over his face. He clears his throat a little and then goes about serving everyone a cup of tea. You see a sly smile on Izou's face. Somehow the small interaction does relieve some of your anxiety, even though your situation is unchanged.

After a few minutes, and about half a cup of tea, the front door latches, and you all can hear the heavy, gravel-filled sigh of the patriarch of the house. Mr. Newgate must have made certain your parents left the entire property before coming back inside. A wise choice. You wouldn't trust them to leave on their own either.

"Miss Kakusho," he begins, and you get up and bow deeply.

"I would like to apologize for my parents' behavior, sir."

"Miss Kakusho," he repeats, exasperation in his voice that prompts you to straighten up. There's concern there too, and you can see that he's certainly drained by whatever happened. You weren't surprised, your parents had that effect on people.

"It has been a long evening." He continues in a voice you feel he is trying to make at least a little small for your benefit. "We can discuss what's happened tonight, or you're welcome to our guest room and we can discuss things tomorrow after breakfast."

You're quiet for a moment, you don't know what to honestly make of this situation. As far as you knew, your parents had not meant to get themselves forcibly removed from the property. It was, however, possible that such was truly part of The Plan, as you knew only the bare minimum required for you to play your part.

All you had now were assumptions based on the things your parents had drilled into you.

"It would be... impolite of me to impose on you and yours." You say after a moment. "I could..." You trail off. You couldn't rent a hotel room, you had no money and no cards or accounts in your name. You could return home, but you had no way to get home without relying on someone else.

You swallow thickly, and look down at the floor. "Perhaps... some sleep would be useful." You bow a little, straightening up even though your eyes stay on the floor. "I'm in your debt."

Edward Newgate hums in affirmation, but doesn't say anything else in response. "Thatch, show your fiancée to the guest room, the one with the half bath attached."

"Sure thing, Pops." Thatch steps out from behind the breakfast bar and offers you his elbow. "If I may?" He gives you a bright smile, a little more flourish in his movements than needed, trying to either distract you or bring a little levity to the situation.

Nodding you put your hand on his forearm. "Please do."

Thatch guides you away from the kitchen, and he's quiet for a few moments, but once you're out of ear shot of the others he speaks up.

"It's going to be okay." He offers up. You look up at him, realizing he's bent a little to keep his forearm at a comfortable level for you. He seems to be so used to the maneuver that he doesn't look uncomfortable. "If he was angry at you too, he wouldn't have let you stay."

You can feel yourself relax at the statement. "Thank you."

"Of course. Pops is a big guy, and he's got that gruff voice to go with it, he can be pretty scary even when he's not trying to be."

"You're -," you stop yourself, realizing that your words could be rude and Thatch chuckles.

"Ah, yeah, I'm not exactly small myself, huh? Seven two and the only person in the family taller'n Marco aside from Pops, and not by much either. Marco's six nine, and Pops is seven five. Poor Izou's barely six four, and has always felt short."

It was obvious he was rambling because of nerves, but it was nice to have something filling the air between you, and you didn't have anything to talk about. Thatch continued talking about his siblings' heights until he reached the door to the guest room.

Opening the door for you, he stayed out in the hall. "It locks from the inside, there's an old alarm clock by the bed, if you want to be up at a certain time. Ah, there should be some cotton pajamas in the closet there," he says, leaning in enough to point to it. "We can get your clothes tomorrow, but I'm sorry you'll have to wear what you got for a lil' longer."

"That's okay, I'll survive." You assure him, stepping into the room. The guest room's easily the size of the living room in your parent's house. It feels like too much, but you don't want to say anything with them already going out of their way like this. "What time is breakfast?"

"It's all over the place. Everyone has different schedules, so don't worry about it. I'm not going into work tomorrow, so I'll be here. I would be honored to make you breakfast whenever you're up for it." The smile on his face is inviting, and the dusting on his cheeks endearing.

The warmth, and genuine desire in his voice makes your face heat up. You don't know if you're blushing, but you can feel a soft rush in your chest as the situation flusters you. Trying not to fidget, you instead twine your fingers together.

"I look, I'm... I am looking forward to it, thank you." You stammer, hiding your face in your hands. It had been years since the last time you unintentionally tripped over your own words. Your parents had taught you how to play at being a certain kind of way, and Thatch's seemingly unbridled honesty made it difficult to act in return. "Sorry."

"Nothing to apologize for, doll." Thatch says and the word cools your fluster. The way he says it is very different from how your parents have ever said it, but the word itself sits on your heart painfully. Everything he knows about you is from a book that was penned by your parents plan.

Would you need to play this part for the rest of your life? Would that warmth in his voice and the kindness in his eyes fade if you dropped the act?

And what even was behind the act?

"Goodnight, then." You say after a moment, glancing up to his eyes for just a second before looking away again.

"Yeah," Nearly sighing the word, he seems to catch himself. Thatch straightens up a little and pulls the door closed for you. "Rest well."

Heading down the hall, he gives the doors to your room one more glance before nearly jogging back to the kitchen. Pops and Izou were waiting for him, and Izou had made their father a fresh cup of tea. It was rare for Pops to drink anything but booze, the conversation earlier must have really pissed him off if he was drinking tea to calm down.

"She all settled in?" Pops asks, and Thatch nods.

"Yeah, I'll be surprised if she's still awake within an hour. I think the whole day's worn her out." He answers, sitting down with the others. "What in the hells did her parents say to you?"

Pops' brows furrow and he pinches the bridge of his nose before sighing heavily.

"They offered up a plan to sell her." He manages to growl the detestable words through grit teeth.

Izou's eyes go wide, the teacup he was holding clinking against the saucer as he lets go of it in his surprise. Thatch is completely agog, the implication of his father's words making him go blank. There's no way they had heard him correctly, it was simply too ludicrous.

"Sell her... to us?" Thatch questions, head tilting in confusion. That didn't make any sense, they were already matched, unless him or his family petitioned for a rematch, and it was approved, she was already a part of the family.

"Their suggestion was that I utilize the trade routes of the company, and any connections to interested parties, to auction her off to the highest bidder." The tea cup in his hands shatters and he mutters a curse before Izou helps him clean up.

Thatch doesn't even notice, his fist clenched so tight he can feel his fingernails biting into his palm. "They wanted you to..." He can't even say the words, but his father nods.

"Seemed to think it would be a good deal for both of us." Newgate explains, reaching over the bar and pulling a bottle of liquor out. "They were... detailed about why she'd fetch a good price." He takes a heavy drink straight from the bottle. "Despicable." He spits the word. "I can hardly believe they're parents."

Thatch growls. It's a low, reverberating sound thundering against his ribs, as he's trying to keep from roaring in anger. If he reacts how he wants, you'll hear him, even so far down the hall, and he doesn't want that. Doesn't want to risk making you afraid of him, or of his family, not after hearing all that.

The idea that your parents would so callously bring up such a plan, however, makes his blood boil. He's angry to think that you had to live with them all this time.

"Honestly, I'm surprised you didn't just bury them in the garden." Izou says. He looks relaxed, but his tone is so scathingly icy it helps Thatch calm down. Knowing he's not alone in his rage is oddly soothing.

"We can't let her parents-." Thatch starts and then stops.

"We can't stop her from going home if that's what she wants." Pops corrects him. "She'll be moving in with you within the next week even if she does return to them."

"That's too long!" Thatch barks, slamming his fist on the counter.

"She's an adult, Thatch, we can't detain her." Izou points out. "If she had requested we drive her back home earlier, instead of accepting the guest room, we wouldn't have had a choice."

"We don't have to send her away though." His father points out. "I mean to ask her tomorrow what she wants to do. She can stay here for a while before moving in with you, or move in immediately if she'd rather. We can take her home if that's what she wants, but no matter what she decides you're going to have to be okay with it, young man."

Thatch growls for a second before sighing, curling on the stool until his elbows are on his knees and his face is in his hands. You were so docile he was certain you'd decide to return to your parents tomorrow. You might not even believe his father, if Pops decided to tell you everything that had happened. You had no reason to trust him over your own parents.

He wasn't even sure he wanted Pops to tell you everything. If you did believe him, what would that mean? Did you know? Had you spoken so kindly to him all evening understanding that there was a chance, however slim, that his father would agree? Was there a fear in the back of your mind that Thatch himself would be the deciding factor?

Meeting a match for the first time was already stressful enough, to be put in a position that made it worse was cruel.

"I let my parents read the book. I saw a picture of you, but I didn't look at anything else."

Thatch's brows furrow and he sighs. Either you did know that had been your parents plan, and hadn't wanted to risk getting attached only to be sold off, or your parents hadn't let you read the book and you'd lied. Understandably so, and he wasn't even mad at the idea of it. Who would want to drop that kind of information at a first meeting?

He didn't know how tomorrow was going to go, but if he didn't calm down and get some sleep he wasn't going to be able to cook you a delicious breakfast. So he focused on that instead. Something he could control, and hopefully something you could enjoy.