Tale as Old as Last Wednesday [Maid IC]

Ante nods to Terran. She wishes she could tell him that she had already seen the master, but can't quite think of an excuse for how she would have done this, and before she can, he is already gone.

She nods to Yuki when she makes her request, and promptly waits right in the room for her to return.

...What? You expect her to run away just because the girl is teasing her about devils? Hardly seems like the heroic thing to do.

Besides, this will give her a chance to dissuade her of any sort of crazy theories she may have come up with in her head, like say, her being a devil of some kind.

Because that would clearly be ridiculous.

Lune just nodded quietly as Yuki stepped into the wardrobe. There was lunch to be made so Lune decided to make her own way to the kitchen. She couldn't take putting off maidly duties any longer. Her fingers fiddled with the trim of the dress as she pondered what the master wil be like when she met him.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Deme

"He can getteth around, but the process is full of delays, and standing, it seems, lieth beyond his capacity... But he will generally get one of us to move to him about..."

Terran apparently didn't seem to question why she was so nervous about this.

"But it is a comfort to hear that thou art taking him under thy protection. I hope you will be good friends."

He adds to Skelly, who nods and gives him a wave.

---

"Right, Skeletons are like people too you know? They have feelings, poor communication skills, and need friends." She wanly smiled and nodded her head and looked at Skelly. "Does he have a name, because I just keep calling him Skelly?"

He raised an eyebrow.

"I am somewhat dubious about the emotional qualities of inanimate and mundane skeletons... But he, certainly, possesseth many an admirably quality in spite of his advanced decomposition."

He patted Skelly's back, dislodging a rib. Terran looked slightly emberassed about that, but Skelly did not appear to mind. To the second question, he sort of looked askance.

"Sadly, we have been unable to ascertain his true identity; it may be that the flow of history hath taken his recollection of it from him, or it may be that our own efforts have not chanced upon the right name. We know him to be of the Line of Osha, so he is family to his highness... But that's about it."

Upon seeing Ante, Yuki folds her arms behind her back and assumes an astute posture. "As entertaining as it is to make jokes at your expense, I believe it would be better if I went ahead and got straight to the point," she states factually.

"I ran into the devil who was hunting you," she says, tilting her head slightly to the right, studying the other maid's reaction to the revelation. "I honestly expected him to put up more of a struggle, but the moment I began to strangle the life out of him, he began to sing like a canary. A demonic canary," she aloofly observes, a small smirk forming on her face.

Ante at first was totally relaxed in her bed, looking up at Yuki with casual interest.

That casual interest became morbid terror as soon as she mentioned another Devil. She shot back to the wall with alarming speed, and far less composure than she'd hoped. She only relaxed when she was told how easily he'd been subdued.

"...What makes you think he was after me?"

...No, I'm not going to bother rolling for that. It's quite obvious to even the casual observer that Ante is playing an incredibly bad bluff.

Yuki's smirk fades, and she somewhat snarkily states with a neutral expression: "Oh, I don't know, perhaps the fact that he spilled his weasely black guts about the fact that he was hunting a demoness named Ante, and that his sources said she would be here, and that he was supposed to bring her back for not doing her job and going rogue, or something along those lines."

She then aloofly adds: "You should really work on your poker face, by the way..."

"...It was hearing you mention another Devil that did it." She says remorsefully, looking down at her lap. "I had thought I'd eluded them at last, and that Hani and I could settle down here, away from them all...and of course they would say I owe them."

"Despite decades of unpaid overtime, working through vacations, insisting time and time again that we needed a new supervisor, or at the very least an assistant, and for all that time getting no respect for any of the work I did sorting through the souls of the damned...of COURSE they would be too incompetent to regulate it themselves, so of COURSE they now think that I owe them for all the souls they lost. That is just. Like. THEM."

Balls of fire form in Ante's fists as she hisses through her teeth, slight pointed canines showing through as she grits them in rage.

"Calm your tits, woman," Yuki aloofly states, giving another dismissive handwave. She doesn't even seem to care or notice that Ante is going into some sort of crazy demon mode in front of her. "The problem has been dealt with. For the time being, at least."

"..." Strangely, or perhaps owing to some sort of secret military training, that actually seems to work, as the flames die down almost immediately from her hands.

"The prince already knows about it. He was kind enough to try to help me hide it as well. So don't feel like you need to go warn him about there being a devil in his midst." She says, still feeling a little bit bitter.

Yuki scoffed, rolling her eye. "Oh yes, like I'm going to go tattle on you like some bratty little schoolgirl. If you are in trouble with the devils for not doing bad things, I don't exactly have much reason to expect trouble from you, do I? Though it is nice to know you have made previous arrangements and agreements with the Prince," the assassin shrugs aloofly, completely missing that potential source of conflict and confusion.

"At any rate," she idly waves her hand, "I told him that even if there was a demoness named Ante here, looking for her would be more trouble than it is worth, what with the monsters, killer maids, and diplomatic issues surrounding this place. So he scurried off, saying he would talk to his bosses about leaving this place alone. Hopefully, you will not have to worry about them for some time, though you may not want to let your guard down completely, just to be safe," she muses.

Ante stares at Yuki for a moment, like she's just told her that an elephant was in the room asking for directions to Sesame Street. Her eyes wide, locked on the other maid as she searches for a hint of...something...and doesn't find it there.

She blinks, her ears twitching as she scoots closer to the edge of the bed.

"...Why tell him that? Why not just hand me over to the devils, and save yourself the trouble of keeping me here when I'm a wanted woman?"

Yuki shrugs. "I need a reason?" she asks flatly.

She then looks over to Hani, slumbering peacefully. "I have done some horrible things in my life. They were always for a reason, mind you. Damning my soul for the greater good, that sort of thing. But what reason would I have to do something like that? Split you apart from your sister, condemn you to God-knows-what sort of punishment or torture, just because why? You didn't drag some unlucky bastards to Hell, and now some demons are perturbed about their evilness quota being unfulfilled? Hah..."

A wistful smirk crosses the assassin's face. "Like I said, I have done some horrible things. My hands are stained with innocent blood, many lives left damaged or destroyed in my wake, and my soul tainted by countless sins..."

"But I am not evil."

"...No...you really aren't." Ante says, a grin forming across her face. "And I think I'd know."

She stands up, and seems to consider something for a moment...and extends her hand to Yuki.

"Had he gotten to me first, it would have been very bad for me, Yuki. For that, I owe you one."

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Deme

He raised an eyebrow.

"I am somewhat dubious about the emotional qualities of inanimate and mundane skeletons... But he, certainly, possesseth many an admirably quality in spite of his advanced decomposition."

He patted Skelly's back, dislodging a rib. Terran looked slightly embarrassed about that, but Skelly did not appear to mind. To the second question, he sort of looked askance.

"Sadly, we have been unable to ascertain his true identity; it may be that the flow of history hath taken his recollection of it from him, or it may be that our own efforts have not chanced upon the right name. We know him to be of the Line of Osha, so he is family to his highness... But that's about it."

---

"So Skelly it is, or rather what I've been calling him," She coughed into her hand and patted down her skirt. "So uh...what were you saying earlier? Something along the lines of maid duties, mister Terran."

"Oh, yes. It is time to regroup and for thee maids to begin preparing lunch...And to prepare to meet His Highness as well. I will show thee to the kitchen."

He bows to Skelly and asks his leave politely before waiting in the hall for all the girls.

Yuki extends her right hand, and accepts the handshake. "I will bear that in mind, Ante. Now, I believe we should hurry to prepare lunch. Do you have any ideas?" she asks as she begins to head for the door. "Perhaps sandwiches..."

The assassin pauses at the door. "Oh, what of your sister? If you need to remain behind a moment to wake her or write a note, I will wait outside for you." And with that, Yuki steps outside into the hall.

"Sorry," she bows respectfully to the butler upon seeing him. "I had to take care of a few things of varying importance. My apologies for wasting time."

"Yes, or something simple like that. Let's not make things too complicated for our first day." Ante nods as they walk towards the door.

"Ah, and yes, I should try to wake her. I'll be but a moment, hold on."

Ante walks over to Hani, and gives the girl a gentle shake.

"Hani, sweetheart, wake up. It's time for us to work."

Lune came around the the corner and into the hallway to meet Terran and Yuki. " Hello there Mr. Terran, look I found a uniform, isn't it darling?" She did a little twirl and ended it on a small laugh.
" By the way, have you decided which maid will be first to meet His Highness?"

Yuki smirks wickedly, her eye drifting up and down Lune's figure as she twirls around. "Oh, I don't know if 'darling' is quite the word I would use..." she purrs, her voice practically saturated with lust.

She is, of course, joking. Lune will hopefully realize this, as Yuki just got done saying she's straight.

Terran, on the other hand, has no such warning. The assassin looks forward to his reaction with sadistic mental glee.

Yuki then raises an eyebrow and casually asks: "Are we to meet him individually, or as a group?"

Terran...Well, he's not sure what to think about this. It certainly could be less likely to be good in the long run, that's for sure.

"Individually. We've found that in groups, mob-thinking taketh over."

It seems he's had a lot of experience in this. Lots of experience, most of it bad. He taps his chin thoughtfully on the subject of who goes first, however.

"I have not exactly, and he hath not determined it; perhaps it shall be left to thy discretions?"

After Terran left, Merry glanced at Skelly and patted his boney head. "Well, I'm off to go do maid stuff, see you later." She then dug through her bag and pulled out a perfume bottle. She spritzed herself a bit in an attempt to re-cover her smell of perpetual brimstone.

She then stepped out to join the other maids, becoming guarded around them.

"Ah, Meridith," Yuki turns to acknowledge the newly arrived maid. "We were just discussing how best to introduce ourselves to the Prince," she factually states. "We were also discussing whether Lune's new uniform is 'darling' or... something else..." she leers with a wink.

Hopefully her reaction will be more amusing than the butler's, or rather, his lack of one.

The assassin then looks back over to Terran and arches her eyebrow. "How exactly will the Prince be taking his lunch? Will he be dining privately, or will we also be serving the rest of the estate's residents?" She is, of course, referring to the 'arcane adviser.'

Despite being a highly-skilled killer, Yuki sure can be oblivious sometimes...

Merry at the moment is feeling aloof to others, focusing her attention on herself and fretting about her brimstone odor. She gives Yuki a momentary glance, missing the leer, and straighten out her maid apron again. "Um, sure, I guess that's nice...or something." To note, she was also standing the farthest she could from them. Blargh, it was easier to be around the dead and animals for her. She didn't even really know how to address her fellow maids. The chains around her waist and shoulders, rattled a bit in her moment of fretting with her apron.

"Ah, yes. I think how things are arranged will depend on how matters goeth; I hope things goeth well enough that we may all enjoy lunch together."

He sighed slightly. He really didn't *like* things being so disorderly.

"I apologize. This hath all the qualities of a fine mess, I know... It hath not been an easy few years for him; nought once hath things gone well. Just once, just now... I would have it go well."

He sounded just a tiny bit defeated, there, though determined in the way of someone faced with a long and difficult struggle.

Yuki tilts her her to the right slightly, and shifts her gaze back and forth between the butler and the maids. "Actually, I do not think you have much to be worried about. Things have gone rather well so far. We all seem to be getting along quite well. For the most part. We've all settled in and quickly gotten our bearings, and are fully prepared to begin our duties. The wardrobe monster has been dealt with successfully, as have a few other smaller issues. Ante and I have already met the Prince's arcane adviser in the gardens; in fact, I apparently made a good first impression, judging from the conversation. And we all seem to be looking forward to beginning our jobs and serving His Highness. So, really, all the current evidence seems to indicate that you have nothing to worry about. Things haven't gone wrong yet - why should they now?" she shrugs aloofly.

"Thou shat serve lunch for all in residence, regardless of whether we eat with his Highness or not; all of the maids, and 3 others. Most of the maids we try to employ experienceth no problems... Until they meet His Highness. And..."

He paused. His brow furrowed as he listened to what she was saying... And facepalmed.

"There is no arcane advisor in residence here; the only man who'd goen through the trouble to impersonate one...If he hath a good impression of thee, it is because he thinketh thou makes a fun new toy to manipulate."

Terran pouted, still clearly furious about this turn of events. He did not have a good opinion of Mozart.

Yuki stands with a neutral expression for a moment, seemingly pondering the butler's words. At first, she is silent.

Then her eye twitches.

"So," she states flatly. "That... mongrel..." she growls, irritation slowly rising in her voice. "Lied to me?" she asks, hatred burning in her eye.

Rage almost seems to radiate off the normally cool and aloof maid; the others can almost feel the heat of her anger, and they made feel inclined to take a few steps back just to be safe.

"Oh... Oh, he thinks he can make me look like a fool, does he?" she snarls, punching her right fist into her left palm. "I could care less about him flirting with me! That doesn't bother me! What upsets me is that the scoundrel actually made me explain why I thought he was a damn wizard, when in reality-" she growls fiercely, "He's... He..."

A twisted grin spreads across the assassin's face. "He thinks I'm a 'lovely snowflake,' does he? I'll show him how much of a lovely snowflake I am when I've got him by the horns..." she glowers.

There so much gum flapping and talking that Merry sorta tuned out half the conversation, mostly on Yuki's side :P But once in a while Yuki would say something moderately worthy of listening to that Merry had to react, particularly about a ward robe.

"Ward robe?....What do you mean by that?" She eyed the maid suspiciously.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Trobby

"Yes, or something simple like that. Let's not make things too complicated for our first day." Ante nods as they walk towards the door.

"Ah, and yes, I should try to wake her. I'll be but a moment, hold on."

Ante walks over to Hani, and gives the girl a gentle shake.

"Hani, sweetheart, wake up. It's time for us to work."

---

Hani yawned and rubbed her eyes as she woke up, the bell on her collar tinkling slightly as she sat up. "Onee-sama?" she questioned.