"I killed people," Yuki deadpans.
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"I killed people," Yuki deadpans.
He did. He was intimate with that certain touch of sadness used to refer to parents that were no longer "with us," as it were.
"I see...He must be a very special friend indeed..."
Sensing a dead end there, he continued on, giving Ante a glance that meant 'I'm doing OK, right?'
"You know, I have a brother about your age...Or, well, I guess he'd be a bit older than you now. And, of course, I have Terran."
Leaning in the doorframe, Terran sputtered, his face flushing to life.
"Leeeeeooo~n! I asked thee to leave me out of these proceedings, did I not?!"
Terran rather wanted to be left out of this. Leon smirked in a manner that said that this was, in fact, an old routine.
"Oh, really? Well, you know I can't help myself. Pretty ladies loosen my tongue."
"And Hani is a very lovely little lady indeed." Ante smirks, feeding into the Prince's act, though she can tell he really does want to make Hani smile, otherwise she wouldn't be helping her out.
Any other person would've had some sort of shock and reaction. Not Lune. She just kept on smiling.
" Well I guess you win for being the most interesting Ms. Yuki unless Ms. Merry can. "
Lune turned her gaze to Merry. " Same question Ms. Merry, if you will."
"Uh..." Merry froze and fretted with her apron again. Crud, what to say...make something up, yea, make something up. Naturally what made her feel uncomfortable about Yuki made itself know, but she couldn't let herself react to it.
"Oh uh....bar maid in a local village tavern?"
Yuki's eye lights up. "Really? Excellent. I am something of a liquor connoisseur, but my knowledge of mixing drinks is sorely lacking. I am certain your skills will come in quite handy, if not for the Master, then for me."
"Mixing drinks?....What are you talking about?" Merry cocked a brow, she was sure that wasn't a thing in these human local taverns. "Uh...I just served the patrons what the bar owner/bartender poured from the mead barrels." She scratched her nose and just kinda stood there. She wasn't going to complicate her lie with something fanciful, she wasn't going for making it interesting.
Yuki raises an eyebrow, and flatly asks: "So you were serving wench?"
"I was not serving wench, I believe you had a verbal typo, anyways, I was a serving wench, yes, nothing that interesting I assure you," Merry continued on not particularly caring that Yuki was probably thinking lowly of it. More apron fretting as is her habit.
Lune's eyes ran up and down Merry's frame for a moment before she turned back to the table. After tightening the dark blue bows in her hair, she smiled again.
" That's great to hear Ms. Merry, for a second I was worried someone else had less experience then me at this job. Anyways, I guess Ms. Yuki wins."
Lune tidied up the table a bit more before standing back looking pleased with herself. " There! All done!"
This time, Hani couldn't help a slight giggle. She knew what he was saying, but it was amusing and appreciated nonetheless.
He chuckled himself, and even Terran reluctantly smiled in his corner.
"But would you like to learn some things while you're here? I'm of the opinion few things serve a young lady better than learning, and it'd be something to do during free time."
He figured he'd make the offer -- she ignited kind of his own 'big brother' instincts.
Yuki studies Meredithe for a moment, but opts not to reply with a snide comment about serving wenches essentially being a cross between a hooker and a waitress.
She instead looks over at Lune and smiles. "I have some stories I can share, if you are interested. There are some I will not share, though. The loss of my arm and my eye, I do not discuss. Other experiences, though, I do not mind recounting," she says stoically.
" That would be lovely, thank you Ms. Yuki." Lune said with a smile. " Perhaps we can swap stories later after the work is done."
Merry was just glad the attention shifted off her and made herself scarce by just being quiet and hanging around in the background.
"...Thank you, Sir Leon." Ante says, curtseying gracefully to the prince. And she truly looks like she means it.
He truly is a saint...to give my sister an education I could not. She thought to herself, feeling her heart swell for the prince.
Then immediately told her heart to shut up about her employer, because it should not be swelling quite that much.
"Ah, if I may interrupt though, I believe the other maids should very nearly have lunch prepared by now, so perhaps it is time for us to adjourn to the dining hall?"
He nodded. They'd work out these details later, when he had an easier time talking to her. He was already compiling notes on how to teach Hani piano in his head.
"It's in the interest of everyone, so there's not much need for thanking."
He rose, dusted off, and started heading to the door.
"Very well, then. We go!"
And so they went towards the dining room, Terran following with a contented face. The world was looking more normal. Yes, he just said that about the world that now included a mermaid and a catgirl and some demons (that he didn't know about) and a cyborg assassin. But that was just surface detail.
Leon bursting into it with a vague attempt at vigor.
"Hallo everyone,"
Everyone could see him, visibly, not flinching to brace for people being startled. It was an act of determination.
Yuki does not hesitate to turn and bow respectfully to the Prince, just as she would any other noble. "Greetings, your Highness. Lunch is prepared," she factually informs him, before gesturing her hands towards his seat. "We hope everything is to your liking, sir."
"Oh..! Yes, hello, greetings..sir," Merry was caught by surprise by Leon's sudden arrival. She was expecting it, but she wasn't expecting it. "Y-yes...table set...food..for you..ready..and stuff."
Lune fell into hostess mode like a leprachaun into a pot of gold.
" Hello Your Highness, please enjoy." She said with an elegant curtsy.
When no startle was incoming, he relaxed.
"Well, this looks quite nice. Excellent work, I'm sure."
[roll0] favor for all the cooks, +2 for all the table-setters.
"Now, would any of you care to join me?"
"That was the plan, and in the spirit of this task I did advise them to make enough for all."
Leon smirked.
"Ah, you do know me well. I couldn't stand not to take my first opportunity in...quite some time...To have a meal surrounded by such gorgeous flowers of womanhood."
"Oh....that was to be a thing..? Uh...well I guess...I'd be honored to join you, your highness...and stuff," Apron fretting. Merry put on a smile and nodded her head. But first to serve the prince!
Yuki raises a very perplexed eyebrow. Did he realize that what he just said was possibly a euphemism one would likely find in fancy erotic literature? Best not to accost him on it now, though. She liked her job, and embarrassing the Prince in front of his entire staff was likely an unwise career decision. No, she'd wait until she had a more private moment with him, and then mess with him about the inadvertent innuendo and delight in his resulting awkwardness.
In the mean time... "Thank you, your Highness," she says with a polite nod. "We are glad our preparations are to your liking." She steps over to the head of the table, and pulls out a chair. "Please, sir, have a seat. Shall we prepare your plate for you?"
"Or perhaps pour you a drink?" Ante chimed in, not wanting to put herself out of place just because she made her entrance with the master.
Lune smiled at his question, his double meanings lost to her unlike Yuki. Stepping forward just ever so slightly she said, " I cannot speak for the others sir, but I would love to join you. "
Presumably, Hani would or would not join in -- either way, Leon knew the best way to get others to sit was to sit himself (there were rules about this sort of thing), so he sat down and adjusted wings and tail. Terran sat down to his right.
"Well, then, let's sit and eat."
He nodded his assent to the maids offering him food and drink, and while he waited on that, turned to conversation.
"Are any of you from Oshia, may I ask?"
"I doubt it, in truth."
Yuki pours a glass of tea for the Prince, and then steps back from the table to await further orders. "Technically, no. By birth I am from the Far East, but my 'parents' adopted me when I was naught more than a toddler. After that, though, I was primarily raised in this land, minus some stretches of time where I was trained in regional practices, dialects, and techniques," the assassin explains methodically.
Merry wasn't really sure how this serving thing worked. Did she serve him his red potato salad first? When he asked for it? Oh dear, she didn't know what to do, she was like a deer caught in the headlights. OH, THIS IS THE WORST POSSIBLE THING. She kinda backed against a decorative wall table forgetting about the Prince's question. The decorative table clattered a little.