Nie sighed, closing the doors leading into the castle ballroom behind him. It was cold, but a fire had been lit on the patio that kept the worst of it away, even with his thinner finery on.

The human took a seat on one of the cushioned stone benches; as he had suspected, there were many nobles unhappy to see him at the debut ball. Now that the introductions and escort dance were over, Nie decided to excuse himself, mostly so Gahne wouldn’t actually get into a fight with anyone.

I shall talk with Vehra and Dahm later, he decided. They had also come to escort younger siblings at the ball and were fellow members of the Rabahni Miniature Aquatics Consortium. In addition to helping Gahne prepare for the ball, Nie had been busy finishing his latest pot pond, since it was his turn to host the monthly meeting. It would only be a week after the ball, so he had wanted to ensure he was ready early.

Nie flinched at a sudden thud, whirling in his seat to see what had caused it.

Grand Duke Abuin rose from a crouch, brushing a few stray leaves off his own, much more impressive finery as he did.

Nie blinked. He honestly had not even given the Grand Duke a serious thought in the past few weeks leading up to the ball and was having difficulty making sense of how the man had suddenly appeared. The human’s eyes trailed up to the gardens built on the tier about twenty or so feet above them. The gardens connected to the ballroom currently being used by the higher nobility for their debut ball, which was certainly an event a grand duke would be expected to attend.

He jumped? Nie realized in sheer disbelief, Why?

Abuin finished brushing himself down, then looked up, catching Nie in his intense amber-eyed gaze.

Belatedly, Nie got to his feet, putting a hand to his chest and bowing. “Good evening, Your Grace.”

The benign greeting felt entirely out of place, but Nie honestly did not know how else he could have responded.

“Mn,” Abuin replied, paw nails clicking on the stone patio as he approached.

Nie risked straightening up, since he was well accustomed to the Grand Duke failing to tell him to raise.

Abuin stopped about a foot away, but his gaze did not waver.

Nie shifted his weight uncomfortably; he was still reasonably certain Abuin had no idea he was a noble, so perhaps the duke had spotted him and come to investigate. With this in mind, the human gestured to the ballroom he’d left, “I am here to escort my sister at the debut ball.”

Abuin did not so much as grace the hall with a glance, “You are a noble?”

It was the first full sentence Nie had heard from the Grand Duke in over a year, and it made him flinch in surprise, though the tone was soft and neutral—not disbelieving nor mocking, which he supposed was well. Clearing his throat, Nie replied, “Yes, I was adopted into the Wahnera family at thirteen.”

“Mn,” Abuin acknowledged, then snorted, finally turning his head, “Here I was banging my head, but the solution is this easy…”

Nie felt off-balance—were they… having a conversation?

The Grand Duke turned his attention back to the human, “Do you have any marriage prospects?”

It took Nie a full minute to muster a reply—after all, that was a question one only asked if they intended to send a marriage request, and there was no reason why Abuin should be asking Nie that kind of question.

“No,” the human finally said, still confused.

“Mn,” Abuin nodded, “You said the Wahnera family, correct?”

“I did,” Nie said, and before he could properly ask what the Grand Duke’s intentions were, he was interrupted by his stomach letting out a loud growl.

Nie was finally able to tear his own gaze away in embarrassment.

“You have yet to eat?” Abuin questioned.

“The Wahnera family is only a barony, so we were announced close to the end,” Nie replied, “We did not have time to have anything before the escort dance, and I find my life is much easier when I do not impose myself on my peers, so…”

Abuin snorted, and, without a word, stepped closer—but only to push Nie back towards the ballroom with a hand against the human’s back, opening the doors so they could both walk inside.

Nie blinked at the sudden brightness, very aware of the large paw-hand against his back as Abuin continued gently pushing him along. While there had been an initial wave of sound, it slowly died as the occupants of the ballroom became aware of Abuin’s presence. It only took a few moments before even the music stopped as people stared.

It was hardly unheard of for a higher noble to come down to the lower noble debut ball, but it was usually the low-ranking higher nobles, like the bottom two marqual ranks. For a grand duke, the highest rank under the three royal ranks, to make a sudden appearance was as much a shock to the other nobles as it had been to Nie.

Abuin only stopped when they reached the food table—even Rabahni nobles usually served themselves at large events involving a good deal of dancing and social interaction. The Grand Duke gave Nie a slight push toward the table before taking his hand back, clasping all four behind his back and watching the human attentively.

Nie took a glance about the room. He could almost feel the questions the other nobles had. Where had the Grand Duke come from? Why was he here? Most confusingly, what was he doing with the human?

Abuin huffed, drawing Nie’s attention back. The Grand Duke gestured to the table with a tilt of his head.

Well, he is being a little assertive, Nie thought, obligingly picking up a plate to fill. But he is not attempting to feed me himself, so I probably misunderstood why he was asking about marriage prospects outside…

As the human picked out his plate, someone got the music to start again, softer and less lively than before, but it felt much better than complete silence.

Nie looked up as his sister rushed over. He could hardly blame her for needing time to collect herself.

Gahne stopped at an appropriate distance, eyes wide as she curtsied abruptly.“Your Grace!” she exclaimed.

“Mn,” Abuin growled a little, looking in her direction.

Nie stepped into his line of sight and cleared his throat, “My sister, Lady Gahne Wahnera.”

“Mn,” Abuin repeated, tension disappearing as he turned his gaze to Nie’s plate.

Gahne looked up hesitantly, catching her brother’s attention and giving him a significant look.

Nie shrugged helplessly. He did not know what was happening any more than she did. How could he hope to explain?

He was saved by the equally sudden appearance of Greater Marquis Shasol Imehn, Abuin’s valet, who somehow managed to walk across the room at the speed of a jog, “So you were here—Abby, what are…”

Shasol paused as his eyes fell on Nie, and he sighed in what sounded like both resignation and relief, “Oh. You found Nie.”

Gahne crept up to her brother’s side.“Why does the Greater Marquis know you?” she asked through her teeth.

Nie could well understand her panic and confusion, but was having a difficult time finding words that would help with either.

Meanwhile, Shasol and Abuin were glaring at each other. Nie could almost swear they were having some kind of mental conversation despite a lack of any change in facial expression.

Finally, Shasol sighed, rubbing his temples and closing his eyes for a moment. When he’d gathered himself, he turned and bowed, “Lady Gahne Wahnera, I presume?”

“Ah… yes! Your Grace,” Gahne said, returning the bow a moment too late.

Shasol rose with a strained smile, “Would you allow me to take the place of your brother as your escort?”

Nie blinked rapidly in surprise—now what was happening?

“Ah…” Gahne looked as off-balance as Nie felt. She looked at him for guidance.

He shrugged again. Having a Greater Marquis as an escort would definitely boost his sister’s social status, and he felt this had more to do with Abuin than anything else. Still, it was her decision to make, not his.

Gahne whined, glancing between Abuin, Nie, and Shasol before swallowing and curtsying again, “Of course, I would be honored, Your Grace.”

“Thank you,” Shasol smiled, then returned his glare to Abuin, “You heard that, yes? Now go back upstairs before you cause more problems.”

Abuin snorted, but rather than complain at his valet’s far too rude command, started to leave the ballroom. Dragging Nie along with him.

“Please just put up with this,” Shasol said quietly as they passed him.

Well, Nie took a look back, fairly certain by the gentle grip Abuin would let him break away if he desired. As long as someone is escorting Gahne and she is fine with them, I suppose…

Abuin really did take Nie with him to the upper ballroom, riding up the water-powered lift and startling castle staff along the way. While their entrance did cause quite a bit of head-turning and murmuring, it was nothing so dramatic as the lower ballroom's complete silence.

Nie didn’t particularly mind being dragged along, especially since he would have no idea what to do with himself otherwise. He was still awkwardly holding a plate of food from the lower ballroom, and a bit awestruck by the far grander upper ballroom.

Abuin deposited the human on a couch at a low table, pushing the plate at him before walking off without a word.

Nie’s stomach protested its emptiness again, so with a sigh, he took the hint and began eating, looking about the ballroom and feeling very out of place in every conceivable way.

“Excuse me,” a Rabahni noble Nie did not recognize—which would be most of them since he did not keep up with that sort of thing—slid into one of the other seats around the table, “But you are… the human some baron adopted, correct?”

Nie nodded, “Nie Wahnera.”

“Wahnera, yes,” the woman said, waving a hand, “Tell me—ah, Nie—how did you… do that?”

“Huh?” Nie asked.

“You know,” she went on, “Abuin. How did you do it?”

“I do not know what you mean… Your Grace,” Nie replied, more confused than ever.

“Asahn,” she waved a hand again, “I’ve never seen him so…”

Abuin reappeared, tail swishing as he sat beside Nie and set another full plate on the table. He huffed at Asahn, but then merely leaned back, draping his upper arms across the back of the couch. It made Nie feel… surprisingly more comfortable to be semi-absorbed into the Grand Duke’s space instead of occupying his own in this situation. It helped that Abuin put his lower hands in his lap, maintaining some space between them.

“I noticed,” she said, waving a hand yet again. Perhaps it was a common gesture among the upper nobility, “Well, pleasure to make your acquaintance, Nie… Wahnera. I am sure we will meet again soon.”

Nie nodded, but he had no idea why she would think that. Though, after he finished his only half-full plate from downstairs, he started to glean an inkling from Abuin putting the second plate in his hands. The human had assumed it was for the man himself, but it appeared the Grand Duke was going to feed him after all.

Was he simply… trying to figure out what I like? Nie realized, finding the food Abuin had retrieved was similar to the choices the human had made previously. As he was still hungry, he did eat more. But he also thought, Does that not prove he hardly knows me well enough to even consider requesting my hand…?

Their brief encounter in the garden was the closest thing to a conversation they had ever held, and Nie was not sure he would even put it in that category.

“Last time,” Abuin said at length, “you had someone else’s smell on you.”

Nie had been nibbling and people watching, and flinched in surprise at the sudden address. He looked over at the Grand Duke. “Last time?” he asked, blinking.

“Mn,” Abuin agreed.

“... last… last month?” Nie asked, having no idea what other time the man could be referring to.

“Mn,” the duke nodded.

Nie had not the slightest inkling what this man wanted from him. He knew, because he had been hired for it, that Abuin had particularly strong instincts and more enhanced senses than the average savbahn. While it could be advantageous in some settings, being a trait many past Rabahni warriors had, it tended to be more of a detriment in polite society. It caused him to be overstimulated at most social events, which largely contributed to his short temper and usual irritation.

But knowing that Abuin’s too-sharp senses could have cut through Nie’s usual scent-masking lotions did not assist him in remembering who precisely he had spoken to before a massage session that happened a month ago, nor why the Grand Duke was even making mention of it.

Abuin huffed, then sniffed the air, and after a few moments, pointed, “That one.”

Nie followed his hand and, after a moment, spotted a face he recognized, “Marquis Wesahn?”

“Mn,” Abuin said, letting his hand drop.

Nie still was not sure what Abuin wanted. “We are members of the same club. I suppose if I bumped into them on the way to the Nehma Estate, I might have said hello?” he said.

Abuin growled a little.

“It is the Rabahni Miniature Aquatics Consortium,” Nie added. Derha Wesahn was the highest-ranking member of their little group, which defaulted them into being the president.

Abuin just stared without saying anything.

Nie sighed, “We make little ponds in clay pots for small fish.”

The duke blinked, then looked away, frowning.

The human sighed again—that was the usual reaction, after all. Confusion as to why a group of nobles would be interested in, of all things, making fish ponds.

“That is all?” Abuin asked after some time.

Nie felt a headache coming on, “Your Grace, I do not understand.”

“That it all there is between you and the marquis?” the duke clarified.

The human truly did not comprehend what was going through Abuin’s head, but replied anyway, “Yes, that is all.”

“Mn,” Abuin grunted. “So, you do not have any lovers?” he asked.