OOOOOH good questions ... i like the idea of him not having seen them before, at both of them being kind of good with keeping their secrets and that being an obstacle at first to them truly gaining intimacy

the murder would've def been rune related, and i can def see that being the first time he's ever seen one and being like ??? tho i leave it up to you if he'd immediately know what that was

AND ALSO FOR ALIRA in case she might be something new/interesting for you - i'd genuinely be thrilled with either one - the loose inspiration for the alira/elizaveta dynamic is the last tale of the flower bride, the whole indigo/azure thing bc it was riveting to me >> and partly why i haven't completely decided if i want alira to be the nice one or if both should be a lil more complicated than that but yes.

either way it's juicy af ahem