Bartholomew Basil's Story

The sun began to dawn and rise upon a new day in Walt Town. Some of the shops were beginning to open at dawn, and the birds arose out of their nests and singing a morning tune. It was another typical morning in this humble little town, where not so humble people lived. Some were loveable. And some were... not so loveable. But they managed to find a way to get along civilly...



Awoof! Arf! Ark!

The unmistakable feel of a slobbery tongue sliding across his cheek brought Basil out of his short slumber. He blinked his eyes open, coming face to face with his basset hound 'Toby'. He smiled a little before pushing him away, causing him to fall off of Basil's chest and onto the newspaper-skewered floor. "Honestly Toby, have some decency." Basil told his dog, slowly sitting upright and dragging a hand down his face. He had fallen asleep on his couch last night, having spent most of the evening at the library and then laying on his couch working out puzzles from newspapers until about 3am. He never really slept that much. He tended to find that sleep was a waste of time. Why waste time sleeping when he could spend his time working out more puzzles? "You're a smart boy, you don't need to slobber everywhere..." He glanced down to his dog, now rolling around on his back and swatting at his nose. He smiled slightly and then scratched the dopey dog's tummy before getting to his feet and getting dressed into his typical clothes.

This town had been slightly boring for Basil lately. There didn't seem to be any crimes, any mysteries... everyone seemed vaguely happy with what was going on in their lives more recently. No one was being threatened, no one was dying... No nothing. Having a police investigator for this town seemed positively pointless. However, it seemed like that was the only job Basil was good at. Basil attached a lead to Toby's collar and ruffled his ears slightly, tying his scarf around his neck and then walking out the door of his messy home. He walked down the sidewalk, taking a newspaper from a stand and tossing a couple of coins to the owner. He flicked through it and allowed Toby to decide where they went today. After all, it wasn't like he was in a rush to get anywhere. He just needed to walk.



Miss Bianca had been sat by her windowsill, watching the sun rise with a delighted smile. "It's so bootiful. I don't think I could have a better view." she commented, looking around the room and then smiling, before suddenly remembering she was still alone. Her smile faltered a little, before she turned back towards the window and looked at the rising sun. Her hair still sat neatly upon her shoulders, even when she had just rolled out of bed. She found that she was always captivated by the beautiful sights of the town. It was just something that'd always catch her attention. Miss Bianca dived off of her windowsill and then got ready to go outside, changing into a beautiful Purple dress and flat heeled sandals. She let her hair hang in gentle waves and then picked up a purple bag which carried money, a phone, and her makeup. After doing her makeup and spraying herself with perfume, she left her house, heading in the direction of the town centre.

Miss Bianca had always been one to leave her house early. She hoped to meet some of the townsfolk who worked this early in the morning. And if there wasn't, she'd tend to read a book whilst sitting on a bench. Well, she would prefer being able to talk with others, but if no one was around, she didn't mind reading either. Miss Bianca smiled as she walked into town, greeting people and then looking into the windows of some of the shops. She wondered if any of the younger residents of the town, such as Kathrine, Dot, Violet or Pinocchio would be around today. Usually they were in school, or in Kathrine's case, working on the farm. But it was a saturday. Surely they could have at least one day free...

Jessica had woken with a start, ugh, she groaned "turn off the sun!" she called, but no-one was there so she sighed and rolled out of bed, taking her time to stretch as she went. "Oh go away sun" she groaned again, pulling the curtains shut with such force they almost fell off their hold. Jessica yawned and stretched once more then headed to the bathroom where she peeled off her night clothes and clambered into the shower. The water felt refreshing on her skin and soon she was fully awake and aware, strutting around her room, naked, with nothing but a damp towel on her head to dry off her hair as she went about, priming her face and moisturizing her body, doing various necessities as she danced about to her favorite song, her song. Jessica slipped into a tight, deep navy dress, skin color tights and black, strappy pumps and finished her make-up, ready to go out for the day and see who was around. As if n routine, Jessica ran her fingers over the framed picture of her deceased husband, Rodger Rabbitheart and kissed where his lips would be and then left her apartment and locked the door tightly shut after grabbing a coat and purse of course. Sighing as she stepped onto the street, Jess buttoned her coat up until the last loop and then began her journey to town. As she walked, Jessica caught a glimpse of her old chump, Bartholomew walking his dog and she quickly made her was over, "Oh Mr.Basil, how lovely it is to see you!" she called, clattering too his side, patting the dog on it's head as it jumps excitedly at her waist, "You too, Toby" she smiled, adjusting her coat and then looking up too Basil again, "So you two out for a morning walk? May I join?" Jessica more of implied then asked, making herself comfortable beside Basil as they began walking again, Toby sniffing eagerly in front.

Basil glanced up from his morning paper, hair kinda tussled over his eyes a little before looking back down as she walked along beside him. "I guess not." He commented slowly, eyes still scanning across every news article, and every single one seemed to be more dull than the last. He groaned out slightly and then shook his head. Nothing interesting, in his opinion, was happening in Walt town at the moment. Apart from the fact that Michael Mouse was getting married to a pretty young lady, which in fact wasn't even worthy of being in the newspaper, nothing was actually happening in this small town. Basil dumped the newspaper in the bin as they walked past it and looked around. "There has to be something interesting in this town." He commented to himself, looking around. He sighed gently and then glanced round to Jessica, tilting his head at her. "Have you seen any crimes lately? Any at all?" He asked, getting almost desperate. He never thought he'd see the day when he'd be asking someone about crimes for him to fix and deal with. Most other people in the police career had taken this as a good thing and had been more relaxed with going about their day-to-day business. However, Bartholomew was just desperate for a little bit of action in his life. He sighed, stopping as Toby sniffed at a fire hydrant. "There must be something happening... Even if no one knows about it..."

Jessica giggled, "Gettin' desperate for some action Basil?" she teased, "Well no, not unless you count school on a saturday.." Jessica pouted, thinking, why was there school on a saturday?"Them poor darlings, whoever decided to make a break into work must be punished!" Jessica said, smacking her hand over her wrist as if to give an indication to how she'd punish said 'person' if she ever met them. As the walked along, birds began to sing their morning routine and a light breeze pushed Jessica's sleek, straight hair up off her shoulders and then back down again. After a while of silently observing the nature, Jessica asked,"Do you know why they have school on a saturday? I mean, isn't saturday a day of rest?" she said again, Jessica loved saturdays, she didn't have to do anything if she didn't want to, "I always rest on saturdays.." she goes on, droning on over her morning routine. Suddenly she had a though and lightly tapped Basil's shoulder, "Well I have nothing to do today anyway, join me for breakfast?" She asked, pulling her best 'puppy face' that nobody could resist.

Basil sighed gently, before hearing about the school being open on a saturday.... That does sound rather suspicious he thought at first, tapping his chin. "Well, that's explainable really, sometimes the schools open extra time for statistical reasons, attempting to raise students grades due to disappointment on previous ones. However, in their case, it's more likely to be due to exams nearing upon some of them..." He paused, thinking it over and then sighing. "Oh that's no real mystery really. I doubt that anything besides a school headmaster with a knack for bringing grades up is something that will get him arrested over..." He paused and then turned to Jessica after his rambles. "Lunch. Yes. Though somewhere where dogs are allowed. Toby doesn't eat that dog food manure." He said, glancing down to his dog who was not so surprisingly sniffing at Jessica's shoes, and then some flowers, and then everywhere else. He sighed gently and then looked around the town. "...What I'm more suspicious about... How perfect this town actually is..." He said in thought, tapping his chin and then running it through in his head, pretty certain Jessica didn't want to hear his rambles and such.

Jessica smiled and laughed, "Oh yes, lunch. That's what I meant" she blurted, then they walked in silence for awhile. She though about what Basil said, he was kind of right, this town did seem a little too perfect. As she trailed off into though, Jessica watched as the trees began to drop their autumn leaves, making space for newer, younger leaves to live, much like life in itself, you live, you die, you get replaced. Jessica's stomach tightened, she didn't like thinking about death, not after her husband, Rodger, died, on set too, she saw the whole thing, right in front of her eyes. She must have been lost for awhile because when she eventually came around, Basil had tied Toby to a table on the outside of a cafe he had found and was calling her name, wondering if she was even going to sit down or not. "Yes, sorry" she sat, "I was just thinking.. this town is so.. y'know, perfect, everything and everyone seems so happy and bright.. I feel, watched y'know?" she said, rubbing her arms as a chill ran through her body.

Basil had already sat down at the table, holding a menu and looking through it as he listened to Jessica ask about her queries and doubts about the town. In reality, Basil was suspicious of Walt Town ever since he arrived here. But, that suspicious vibe caused him to want to stay for longer, just to find out more about this little town. "Perfect is an understatement Miss Rabbitheart." He commented, trailing his finger down the menu. "When was the last time you saw roadworks or building contruction being done? Even when everything around here looks up to date... And, have you never questioned how the media has never been able to follow you even when you were found in the most secluded places?" Basil pinched at his chin and rubbed it gently. "A lot of people in this town have come here to get away from their old lives, whatever happened. You're fame in your younger years, Selena's abandonment, it all lead to coming here." He lowered the menu and looked up to Selena. "Tea please, five sugars and skimmed milk." He said before looking around. "Do you allow smoking in here?"

***************

Miss Bianca shrugged gently. "I wouldn't mind being called Bianca. I've never complained because everyone seems... so fond of adding the miss." Miss Bianca shrugged lightly and then felt that Kida had sped up a little, soon having to speed up her pace to keep up. She had wondered slightly at first before they arrived at the nurses office, and Kida explained the reasoning behind the nurses' sad face. She nodded slowly and then watched as Kida walked over to the woman. Whilst she did, Miss Bianca looked around, noticing some of the medical kits on the wall and looking curiously to them.

She was unsure herself as to how people could be talented enough to do this kind of stuff... but, she was willing to give it a go. After all, she liked helping, and what better way than to be in the medical department for a school. However, she knew for sure that she would need Kida there, helping her along the way. After all, she knew nothing about that in the medical department.

Miss Bianca looked round when the man had approached and then looked to Kida when she replied to his question. She thought at first that Kida was going to go with the man alone to show her, but then she invited herself along with her. She smiled, holding her purple clutch-bag in front of her with both hands. "Why of course! I should probably have more of a look around the place that I'm helping out, no?" She smiled and laughed a little. "I do not wish to get lost in a school full of children. Who knows what humorous things they would do." she said, smiling to the two.

"Mmm" Jessica replied, shifting through her menu, "And I'll have a glass of water, please" she finally said, folding up her menu again and giving Selena one of her most famous smiles. "I came here to get away from Rodger's burden, Mr. Basil, not my fame" she said, then looking back towards him, the smile on her face shrinking as she spoke, "Alas, I see your point. Everyone came here to get away from something.. though I have a feeling we are all getting more into another something.." she said, her voice low as if there was someone watching over them. Truly, Jessica though someone was watching them, cameras hidden everywhere, but she couldn't prove it and she didn't think her suspicion would interest Basil. Jessica leant forward and crossed her arms over her chest, resting her elbows on the table, "Are you onto something, Mr. Basil?" she said in her low voice, a cheeky smile growing on her lips.

(I clicked on Bianca's name accidentally, sorry)

Basil scratched his chin and then broke into a small smile. "I just may be... by-george I just may be." He said, breaking into an excited grin. Finally, maybe there's something interesting happening in this horrible diminutive town. He thought to himself before hearing Selena ask him a question. "Pardon? Oh, I've known for quite some time, Miss. Lopez. I thought it was obvious to most." He drummed his fingers on the table, looking back down to the paper as he spoke. "The way you put on a smile for everyone, apart from Penny within this store. It's obvious, when you genuinely smile, you do not commit jittery eye movement and a need to put your hand in your pocket. Oh, and that leads onto accidentally holding a certain object that's close to you. When you touch it, your facial features fall and you have to be excused. The only explanations are a loss of a family member or something else. But, you have a lack of makeup and tend to be rather awkward in social events. It simply implies that you wish for people to not be attracted to you or draw attention to you. The only explanation is that you were left in a relationship, and are fearful of being abandoned again." Basil turned the page on his paper. "Honestly, you've been here a fair few years now, I would've thought most people would know that by now..." He glanced up to her. "Is tea done?" He asked, blinking a couple of times.

***

Miss Bianca followed along next to Kida, smiling at the students as she went past and leaning in close to Kida as she walked. She'd decided that Kida was a good friend of hers. Well, she hoped anyway. Miss Bianca never really took on that many friends, being able to tell when someone acted kindly to her because of her wealth. Well, a lot of people knew her family, and therefore new of the 'Kósa' name. However, that was why she preferred being known as 'Miss Bianca'. It was purely her first name and nothing more.

However, the thing is with Kida, she seemed to have carried on talking to her, even when Miss Bianca had been bothering her from time to time. She just seemed so friendly, and so nice. Everything about her, Miss Bianca seemed to like. And when Kida made a joke, it actually made her laugh, and vice versa. She heard the statement about the kids and laughed a little. "Oh, but they do seem lovely. Heyles, one of them could be president one day, and they are our future! They shall be people to be proud of, I'm sure." She smiled to Kida and then looked around. She didn't mean to appear so confident in people, but it was how she was. She truly was enthusiastic about young people and making sure they achieved the things they needed to.

When they had made it to the principles office, Miss Bianca became a little curious, peeking into the office through the window whilst Kida and the other man had a chat. "I'm Scott.... Scott Porter. I work at the monkey exhibit in the Walt Town Zoo and I am here to talk to the principal about the advertizing the school trip to the zoo." "Oh! The zoo, how wonderful!" Miss Bianca said after he had explained everything, grinning and turning towards him holding her hands to her chest in front of her. "The zoo is, how you say... eye-opening! I only wish those poor animals could have more freedom. However, it would be an amazing experience, I am sure." She grinned and then held nodded her head towards Scott. "I'm Miss Bianca. It's a pleasure to meet you Mister Scott Porter." She said with a small grin.

"Oh come come, no need to get so moody with me." Basil said, picking up his cup and stirring it gently. "It's because most other people don't pay attention to detail. It's a shame. Most people in this town want information like that dealt to them on a plate, and that's just not going to happen now, is it?" Basil took a sip of his tea and then immediately pulled back, raising his nose at the taste. "Much like getting any sugar in this liquid..." He swished it around before putting it back on the table. "Well, I'm sorry if I've offended you, but it was only facts. If you really can't handle hearing about your own life, then don't ask how people know things." He flicked the page over of his paper before getting to his feet. "I'll get my own sugar." He said, walking into the premisis and looking around for the sugar, milk, condiments etcetera. In all honesty, he couldn't quite see why Selena was so upset. Sure, it was her past. But, Basil didn't see the big deal. So what if he knew? He knew a lot about most people around here.

It was a nice day, the sun shone and the birds sang, just like always. Boring, but expected. No bombs going off today. He walked along slowly, cane firmly held in his hand. War wound, never really healed. He walked along with dignity, but was oddly invisible, as always. Minutes later, he was on his bench in the park. The park was his home away from home, good view of the heart of the town, close to a diner if he ever got hungry, and plenty of fresh air to breathe. 'Bit nippy,' thought Zaz to himself, pulling his coat about him tighter. He observed everything about him. The diner was busier than usual. Jessica was there. She sat by the window with...

Basil... Basil Bartholomew... Watson forced himself to tear his eyes away from the beautiful face and observe the rest of the buildings.

"Eh, no, your name is Selena Lopez... It's just that we had never met... and... ehm..." He stood and clutched his cane to his side. "Right, drink, diner..." Oh... Basil was in there. Zaz felt a blush burning on his ears, but tried his hardest to hide it. He wasn't ever going to have any chance with that man, so why bother? "Drink... Just you and me getting a drink... At the diner." Before he could screw up, he began to limp away towards the diner, keeping his eyes off of Basil in the window.

He nodded a curt "thank you" before fixing his tea the way he liked it. He was always up for some good tea, and this diner was the best place to get it. He stubbornly kept his back to Basil and eyes straight ahead, trying to draw no attention. Most of the inhabitants of this town knew him as "The Crazy Guy from the Park", and if Basil was one of them... Little did they know he did it for them, to make sure they were safe.

Basil sat down after retrieving the cream and sugar and sorted out his drink before looking around the establishment. It was rather vacant. Then again, most places around here were. There weren't that many people to go on, and therefore most places seemed rather quiet. Sometimes it was peaceful, other times it was... eerie. To him anyway. "Miss Jessica, do you know of anyone who moves out of this town?" He asked the model-like woman, holding his cup in his hands and having the edge close to his lips, but not quite sipping it yet. "The last I heard of someone leaving this town was about 16 years, 3 months and 24 days ago. And the only reasoning behind that was her father, who was living in another country, was feeling sick. She had to go live her stepmother and two stepsisters... I wonder how that worked out for her..." He scratched the back of his neck and looked up to Jessica, blinking a couple of times.

"I don't know about you... but whenever I've asked around, people have said good things about this town. When in fact..." He peered out the window and shrugged lightly. "There's nothing that big about this place. It's just another town." He had a sip of his tea and then put it back on the table. "People feel obliged to stay here, feeling it's safe and humble. But you can't help but wonder if this place is so fantastic, why there seems to be a lack of people living here..." Now, it seemed as though Basil wasn't really talking to Jessica anymore. More talking to himself and going through his thought process out loud. He blinked a couple of times and then rested his head upon his hands which he merged together. "A never ending life here... I don't know how old this place is... but... no one's ever died here..." He murmured to himself, now listing in his head the other places that have never happened in this town.

Zaz couldn't help but to overhear that voice thinking aloud. He listened intently, amazed at how brilliant the man was. He had always envied Basil, his sense of adventure called to Zaz's own, repressed as it was. He was a loner, like Zaz, and often spurned because he was different. A crazy, brilliant man and a crazy, neurotic war vet. Like that could ever happen.

As Basil petered off from his verbal thoughts, something hit Watson that he had noticed about the inhabitants. This could be his chance... If Walt Town was in danger, he would have no problem giving that information, and from what Basil was saying the foundations were definitely there. Yes. He would do it. With a small sigh and a poker face set firmly in place (easy to do from years at war), he put his tea back on the saucer and turned to face Basil. "Ehm, there's something else. You sort of touched on it when you were talking about family. How many step-mothers can live in one town, and why are they almost always the cruel sort?" He took the chance to get his first good look at Basil. Unruly black hair tousled down over his ears and forehead, and his brows arched enough to give him a severe look. The way his mouth moved when he talked, fast and precise, was fantastic, and... 'Whoah, Zaz,' he warned himself, 'don't blow your one chance.'

Jessica grinned and peered up from her own thoughts, "Well, Mr.Basil, don't you read the stories? Something that seems so innocent and perfect always has a dark, dusty secret behind it" Jessica was just teasing now, she knew he didn't like to be compared to the average 'inspector'. But somehow, what she said could get through to him, maybe he'd listen to her and make something of it.

"Well, I'll leave you two boys to play inspector, alright? Catch up with me if you discover anything Mr.Basil, I'm so interested" Jessica said, rising from her seat and giving them both a sweet smile as she patted Toby on the head and collected her things. It was true, she was very interested in what Basil had to say, all this detective stuff, although it confused her a little. "Taraa" she cooed, then standing and turning as she began to leave them, giving a quick, small twitch of her fingers as a wave.

Once she had gotten back to her flat, Jessica peeled off her coat and threw it down on the bed, soon followed by herself with a slight sigh of relief as her body hit the soft mattress. "Oh Rodger, I think our friend Mr.Basil is truly onto something.." she began, speaking to the picture of her husband that was positioned on the mantelpiece above the fireplace in her bedroom, "I'd really wish he would tell me what he was thinking, instead of just mumbling to himself" she said, pulling herself up and pacing around her room, tapping her chin lightly as she pondered on her thoughts.

(Let me just mention, school, homework and general exhaustion has stopped me from posting and I am so sorry)

Basil turned to Zaz Watson when he spoke up, listening to him and tilting his head slightly before nodding gently. The man was right. All of the step-mothers in this town had been known to be, 'Evil'. He looked back to Jessica when she spoke of reading stories and the stereotypical plot line. "This isn't a fairytale Miss Rabbit." He commented dryly, though scratched his chin. "But for once, I agree with you..." He looked up to Jessica when she mentioned leaving and letting himself and the other man to 'play inspector'. He narrowed his eyes a little. He knew it was an attempt to annoy him, and didn't want to let it work, but somehow it did...

He waved a dismissive hand to her as she called 'Taraa', still looking down to his newspaper before looking up quickly. "This town has a tendancy to dramatise things when people go into a relationship. True love and all that load of nonsense..." He blinked a couple of times before looking round to Zaz. "What else have you picked up about town, Mr. Watson?" He asked, picking up his tea and drinking some before tilting his head slightly at the man. Since he actually found a person around town who wasn't thinking it was the best place in the world, he might as well see what else he could come up with.

He'd never really gotten around to talking to Watson before. Of course, he knew everyone in this town, their past and the way they acted. However, he didn't really know them all that well. Watson especially. What with Basil usually going around trying to solve crimes and such, and he... well, he... sitting on his bench, I guess.

((It's fine Kitkit, I completely understand, I'm getting a lot of school work too :/))

"Oh, um, well..." Watson glanced to the ceiling in thought. This opportunity was bittersweet. The last time he had done his best to get involved and help, one of his charges had died, his son dissappeared, thought to be dead, and the royal family fell into chaos, starvation, and suffering.... Dare he attempt to do again after all that? All these years after the war between son and uncle and he blamed himself. If he had been there, if he hadn't lost that kid, the king would have lived and the family would have never been put through that horrendous time. The scars were still raw after all these years, and he had left to save their dignity. No one had noticed.

Either way, Basil was asking for answers that Zaz had. The harm that a bit of information could give if he wasn't involved couldn't be nearly as much as the damage he had done by his sheer lack of humility. "Our government is a bit off. Royal families that rule well together, loads of princesses, all sweet and demure and able to sing, and every family has one prince, usually by the name Charming. Who names their son Charming?" He continued to ponder the trends he had noticed. "Every morning, the birds sing the exact same song at the exact same time in the exact same place. Bit much to be a coincidence, in my eyes. Uhm, there's the grass, no matter what the season it's always green, even in winter under the snow." He looked to Basil to see how he was doing discretely as he sipped his tea, watching his pensive face carefully for any sign of emotion.

Basil nodded along gently to what he said, holding his chin between his thumb and forefinger, thinking carefully. "It's very much like a fairytale..." He blinked a couple of times, mindlessly scratching the head of his dog. "...It's just very deceitful." He said carefully, shaking his head a little and then retying his scarf, purely to keep his hands busy. "But Watson, what you've missed, which takes place in most of the town is the way the town is run. I mean, who actually runs this town? I don't see any mayor. And yet, there seems to be very little scandals and disagreements around here. It's as if we're forced to follow some unknown rules." Basil carefully picked up his tea and looked over to Watson. "It's just suspicious if you ask me..." He commented, sighing gently.

Basil blinked a couple of times at Watson, tilting his head slightly. It crossed his mind as to why nobody had ever introduced Watson to himself, or the other way around. The other man was also involved in trying to protect his country, or in Basil's case going for a chase, and he'd seen Zaz down at the police station a couple of times. However, whilst Basil was mixing chemicals together and matching DNA, Zaz seemed to just talk to the fellow police officers about his opinion, trying to help out in any way possible. He was an honourable man. But Basil often just didn't talk to people who were honourable. He put his focus into fellons, trying to get them to become imprisoned for good. "I do not believe we've officially introduced ourselves." He said formally, holding out his hand. "B. Basil."

***

Miss Bianca blinked a couple of times when Kida brought up going with Scot and then gently shook his head. "No no no! I mean, two hands are better than one, aren't they?" she said quickly with a smile, quickly pulling herself forwards and clipping their arms back together again, smiling to the girl.

It wasn't like she had anything against Scott. She was sure that Scott was a very sweet, very nice boy, and she would like to get to know him more. However, at this current point, her focal point was upon Kida, and she wanted to keep it like that. After all, she did seem to want to spend more time with the other girl, even if it meant helping to speed up the work she did. She didn't mind anyway, she felt like she wanted to help.

"So, Miss Kida." Miss Bianca said with a grin, tugging her along down the hallway happily. "What kinds of things will I be able to do as a member of staff? It surely does sound exciting, I must say." She said with a grin, leaning into Kida slightly as they walked along, side by side.

Watson looked at the suddenly extended hand with surprise. He tried to hide it the best as he could as he squared his shoulders and accepted firmly. "Watson. Doctor Zaz Watson." He held Basil's hand for a moment and released with a curt nod, eyes shifting to the floor on their own accord. He stood abruptly and winced before snagging his cane which leaned against his table. With his unoccupied hand he moved a chair to Basil's and sat, bringing his tea with him. "I've always watched as much as I could, and I'm sort of new to this whole 'involvement' concept," he murmured with a vague gesture to his leg. He decided it was best to leave his past out of it, no need to mention war and royal advising. Basil was good at reading, but Zaz was sure he wasn't that good, no one was.