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Post by Kari Muffin on Feb 21, 2008 0:15:54 GMT -5
"Your father may be smart in math and science, but his magic has always been lacking. I'm going to teach you the things he wouldn't teach you. Though some things he knows just as well as I do," Josephine said with a wicked smirk. No point in playing games in her own house. She was a mage. She broke people. It was simple as that.
"When you've had enough of the book teaching we'll apply what you learned. The basement is off limits until then. If I'm down there and you ever need me, just ring the bell, understand?" Josephine said very clearly with a smile. "However, now that you've seen most of the house you can get comfortable if you like. Unless you want to see where Mr. Conway is going to live."
The woman walked past the pair, expecting at least one of them to follow, she didn't care either way. She returned to ground level, and walked past the kitchen. Behind it there was a small hallway that led to several different rooms. She lead Conway to the end of the hallway, unhooked a key from the door and handed it to him. "This is your room. Tomorrow you'll be expected to wake up at six am and get your instructions from my personal manservant. He can do what he sees fit with you."
Conway nodded, choking back a sigh. He bowed his head to the woman as she walked off. "What a bitch," he muttered to himself as he opened the door.
It was a rather nice room with carpet, a bed, a small dresser and a cabinet. Besides that there wasn't much else. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.
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Post by The Jenn on Feb 21, 2008 0:51:50 GMT -5
Thyme's tail wagged as her aunt spoke, slowly at first and then a bit faster. Oh, and didn't that just sound illicit and fun? Stuff that her dad knew but wasn't willing to teach her, as well as tons of stuff he didn't... and if Dad didn't know it then she totally wanted to! Wouldn't it be so neat to know things that he didn't for a change! Living at home, between him and Mom, it seemed as though he knew everything. Not that she didn't love her mommy, but really, she was pretty air headed when it came right down to it.
"I won't go down there until you take me, Aunt Josephine," the wolf said with a nod, tail still wagging at the prospect. Whatever it was her aunt did, she wanted to learn it, yes she did! She just hoped she had the aptitude for whatever it was. She wasn't one to get along so well with numbers like Dad or Parsley. Maybe she would be good at this. She hoped so. Then she could impress her aunt! That was... going to be a hard thing to do, she just knew it.
And she did, in fact, want to know where Conway was going to live. Should she call him Mr. Conway? Was that how she should address servants, or people older than her, or just anyone in general even if they were younger? So many questions about the Highland way of doing things... so she decided to ask that one as they walked towards the servants' quarters. "How should I address different people, Aunt? What kinds of prefixes should I use? A lot of times in the Wood, unless they were a higher rank, you didn't really have to put anything before their name unless they were a lot older and you needed to show them respect or they were doing something for you and you wanted to be polite. How would a Highlander address people?"
She watched as Conway received his key and gave him a quick, hesitant smile. "I'll see you later, then." They were sort of in the same boat. She could afford to be nice. And really, it would make her feel better having someone else learn the place at the same time as her.
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Post by Kari Muffin on Feb 21, 2008 1:15:31 GMT -5
"Call them by name if they're of lower rank with the exception of Jack. Putting titles in front of lettered card's names is standard. Especially at your age." She said with a toss of her hair. Being older had a lot of benefits when people weren't being idiots. It was a good thing she enjoyed punishing idiots just as much as aging gracefully. Satisfied with the way things were going, Josephine simply went back to her room. Thyme could do as she wished for a while, tomorrow the fun would start.
Conway blinked at the girl. He was surprised that she actually had followed them. He needed to be more observant. With a rather bashful smile he nodded and waved to the girl. She really was a cute little thing. How old was she? Younger than June by a few years, probably. He sighed. He really hoped that she hadn't seen him mutter.
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Post by The Jenn on Feb 21, 2008 1:31:02 GMT -5
Nodding at her aunt's instruction, she waited for the woman to leave before turning back to Conway. The instruction made sense. So she didn't have to call him mister, it was just her aunt being professional with a new member of the household staff. That made sense.
Still, she hesitated before leaving. She knew he wouldn't be able to answer her in words, or even call her by name ever, but she still wanted to say something more. That was an awfully nice smile he gave her. So he didn't have to be creepy about it. That was good to know. "I know it doesn't matter," she said with a small laugh, "and I know you'll never be able to address me anyway, but if you want to think of me as Thyme instead of some title or something like my aunt, that would make me happier. Goodbye, Conway."
With that, she headed back down the hall and through the kitchens, up to her room. Her own room! Time to flop on the bed and make it smell like her.
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Post by Kari Muffin on Feb 21, 2008 1:44:46 GMT -5
Well. That was terribly cute. Conway snorted, as he watched the girl leave. Miss Thyme and Miss Josephine. At least he assumed the old woman was never married. She didn't seem the type. Old bitter lady and all that. Whatever, he might as well get used to his room and make it his own to some degree. He was going to spend a lot of time here.
---
It was a bright and chipper morning when Conway rolled out of bed to face his superior. It wasn't a pleasant meeting in any sense, as he was yelled at for being too quiet until the man realized that he was "mute." This was going to be a special job.
And he got to do household chores. The first one of which was bring breakfast to both of the ladies of the house hold. Reluctantly the wolf got to serve a rather wonderful selection of breakfast food to Josephine with a fake smile. She was less than happy to see him, but was more than happy to slam his tail in the door on his way out.
After a long string of silent curses Conway made his way to the second floor. He knocked on the door and waited for Thyme to respond. He briefly wondered if the girl could read lips as he stood there still petting his poor tail and holding the tray in the other hand.
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Post by The Jenn on Feb 21, 2008 1:55:32 GMT -5
Thyme heard knocking at her door and groggily lifted her head from the pillow where it rested, more than content to sprawl across the nice big bed that was all hers in the nice room that she didn't have to share with anyone and the nice house her aunt decided to bring her into. The sunlight in the Highlands, strong and unbroken by a thick canopy of trees, was stronger and warmer than anything she clearly remembered. They could find patched of unbroken sunlight in the Wood often enough, but it just didn't feel the same as it did here for some reason. Maybe she was crazy.
And there was still someone knocking on her door. With a quick, whining yawn, she hopped from the bed and stretched out her limbs before trotting to open it. Her expression brightened slightly when she saw Conway, then turned confused when she noticed him rubbing his tail.
But he had breakfast. And that made him truly awesome this morning. "Thanks, Conway," she said with a grin, sensitive nose picking up on the smells of sausage and bacon and ham and other absolutely amazing-smelling breakfast foods. She loved meat as much as her dad did. If her aunt fed her this well all the time, she'd have to be careful not to get fat. Then she'd probably never hear the end of it.
She moved to let him into the room, tilting her head as she watched him walk. "Did something happen to your tail? Can you mime it out, or give me a hint?"
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Post by Kari Muffin on Feb 21, 2008 2:02:33 GMT -5
He set down the food carefully in it's proper place. The wolf winced as he walked a bit, gah. That woman had really done a number on his tail. Did she break it? If she did she had one hell of an arm. He blinked a few extra times as he looked at Thyme. Did she really want to know.
Well... he could try. He walked over to the door and pointed to it, and then his tail. With a quick motion he slapped the door shut, but it stopped before it clicked properly into place. He made a nod before opening it again so he could leave.
If she got the "my tail was slammed in the door" out of that he would be very happy. If she didn't he really needed to work on the mime thing. It had been a while since he actually had to play this game with people.
He looked at Thyme expectantly. Was she going to dismiss him or.... what?
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Post by The Jenn on Feb 21, 2008 2:07:54 GMT -5
Thyme watched him and his 'antics', which turned out to be the miming she'd requested, and could in fact infer that his tail had been slammed in a door. Ouch. That had happened to her once and she had nearly bitten Sage's head off. Stupid biped forgot that animal forms were long and horizontal sometimes... mutter mutter.
"That's a tough break," she commented, making a face. "I know that always hurts a hell of a lot more in the morning, especially if you aren't really awake yet. Thanks for breakfast. Did my aunt say anything to you about when she wants me downstairs or... well, anything to do with me? If so, I can go figure out what she needs downstairs. Otherwise, thanks again for the food and I hope your tail feels better after a bit. I don't want you to get in trouble or anything for not going back to the kitchens or wherever right away."
She'd figure this stuff out eventually and not sound like an ignorant child when she talked about this place. Until then, he was probably the best one to get her bumbling out on. One, he couldn't tell her aunt that she sounded like an idiot. Two, he was learning the ropes at the same time.
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Post by Kari Muffin on Feb 21, 2008 2:18:22 GMT -5
Oh right. He was supposed to tell her to go down stairs. He motioned to the stairs and lifted both his hands to signify that Josephine wanted her downstairs at ten. He wanted until she made an acknowledgment before briefly bowing and shutting the door behind him.
Now he had the job of dusting the entire downstairs. Fantastic. The wolf snorted as he walked down the stairs to find that a duster was being shoved in his hands. Joy. All he needed was the little apron and he was set. Silently cursing his desperate need for money, Conway did exactly what he was told.
And he got to listen in on the lesson that was going on between Josephine and Thyme. It was.... weird.
Josephine sat on a rather plush looking sofa with a book in her hand. "Has your father ever explained to you what the e'Devya side of the family did? I know that he wasn't particularly fond of being part Highlander." The ungrateful little bastard he was sometimes. She would have smacked him upside the head harder during their last meeting if it wasn't for him producing a worthy heir to the family name.
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Post by The Jenn on Feb 21, 2008 2:29:13 GMT -5
Thyme understood the downstairs part but it took her a second to figure out that both hands up meant time. Lucky bipeds and their fingers. Someday she would have fingers. It was almost enough to make her envy Sage... if she wasn't such a horrible bitch. Rawr. Even Parsley had squirrel-hands to manipulate things, which were a lot more dexterous than hers or Rosemary's. Alphonse was probably the worst off, though, obnoxious little Number. All he had were wing-thumbs. Heh.
Her breakfast was eaten quickly and she left the tray sitting on the table, not sure what else to do with it. She didn't have hands to take it down, nor was she sure that she should. Would servants do that? Did servants normally come in personal rooms? Did they clean them, or would she be cleaning her own room? She didn't know how much privacy was valued here, in this house or in the Highlands in general. In the Wood, it was... important.
A little after ten, she sat next to her aunt on the plush sofa, her paws unconsciously flexing on the nice material as they sunk into it. This was such a cushy place.
"Dad never mentioned much about his side of the family besides the fact that they lived in Corvistowne and his father came from the Highlands. He doesn't really like talking about it, even when I asked since I was the only one to really be attached to that part of the family. Well, Parsley was too, but only to the Corvie side. And I don't really know what e'Devya means. I've never heard that term before." She tilted her head and watched to see her aunt's reaction. Was that something important that she should have already known? From the way she said it, the answer was probably yes. Thanks Dad...
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