Always a Catch~ [Jenn] [Done]

[Greenie]

"Works for me! Vessie replied cheerfully. "I'm good at not taking the blame. It's usually not my fault, afterall," She replied archly, but with a playful grin. "Mia's just a magnet for trouble. He could lock himself in a box and something strange would manage to happen in there with him." She snorted.

"Male?" The ferret pretended to be startled. "He's a boy? I didn't notice. Whoops. He's very androgynous-looking when he tries.." She made a face in Mia's general direction, somewhere off in the Suites direction. "Why don't I go give him a kick in the right direction? I want his job, so I'm okay with being proactive in kicking him out of it." Vessatha smiled sweetly, steepling her fingers in front of her. "It will be delightful! I won't be so bored!" She immediately regretted having used the word "bored," as it was bound to come back to bite her.

[The Jenn]

"It's the Yarrow in me," Donnie replied with a snort. "She smells the male, whether or not it shows up in his looks. Or personality. Or phenotype in general. We'll be lucky if the boy doesn't turn out liking men just as much as his... mother?" She laughed a little, another snort escaping, before tipping her chair back as far as was safe and regarding Vessie through half-lidded eyes.

Bored. Oh, no she didn't.

She so did.

Fangs gleamed. "No. Noooo, I'm sure you won't. In fact, if that's your go-getter attitude towards the job, why don't you go and give him a kick in the ass right now? The sooner we get him shunted off to a new position, the sooner we can... get to work." The Queen's expression would have been sweet as pie if there hadn't been a knife lurking in the cherry goo. Beneath the crusty crumble. Under the whipped cream.

[Greenie]

Vessatha sighed gustily, then shrugged. "Who bloody knows? The boy sends mixed signals; though I would think after watching those parents of his his whole life he'd swear off boys. Only time will tell though.." She didn't want to make a definitive statement now and be wrong later; Vess hated being wrong. "It's possible he's straight. Two of my kids are, afterall."

She visibly cringed when Donnie started grinning and looking malicious. It was time to erase "bored" from her vocabulary...

The ferret muttered a few uncharitable things, then rolled her eyes and got to her feet. "Finefine, I'll go kick him, but if he doesn't show right away it's not my fault. He stopped listening to his mother years ago." She snorted. "I hope you're ready for him, Donnie; he's going to make a very interesting Queen!" With that statement, she grinned and left to go find her son.

[The Jenn]

Such a grumpy Vessatha. She shouldn't have said something like that if she didn't want her Queen to respond appropriately. Donnie smirked as she left the room, not saying anything until she was mostly out the door. "Let's just hope that his mate doesn't start getting ideas."

But now she had to think up a Queen's quest for him. She had little doubt that his mother would be able to bully him into approaching her, be it that day or the next. Sometime soon. Which meant that she needed some shadow of a thought on what to do to him. For him. With him? Whatever.

She could send him off somewhere, like she had Raina. She didn't particularly want to, though. That had been a very personal thing. She wanted his to be somewhere and something that his mother could appreciate. Heh, this wasn't going to be an easy one to whip up. Fun, though. She wanted to give him an honest challenge without driving him crazy, but she wasn't sure if she'd be able to. He really was surprisingly competent for his gender.

[Greenie]

Mia wasn't particularly happy that his mother had, once again, decided to interfere in his life and pester him until he did something, but for once he agreed with what she wanted him to do. It was time to do his Queen quest. He was bored with his tasks as a King, he wanted more autonomy, and he'd been a King for long enough. He needed to move up.

He managed to surprise his mother by cleaning himself up and eating lunch (just in case he got sent somewhere ridiculous) and heading over immediately to Donnie's office. It seemed as though she still thought of him as a wayward child.. Surprisingly enough, he understood. It was pissing him off that Zether kept growing up.

The ferret proceeded calmly to Donnie's door and knocked, showing no sign that he was nervous or upset, because he wasn't feeling either; he had a pretty good feeling that she'd accept him as her Queen, and after that it was just a matter of getting through whatever trial she had for him. Hopefully it wasn't something silly..

[The Jenn]

Donnie was waiting for him. She'd taken care of one or two other matters in the meantime, but her mind was rotating firmly on what to do about his quest. She had a few ideas, some of them more plausible than others, some easier to complete, some more complex... but the more she thought about it, the more she wanted to see him in action as an authority within the palace. She wanted to see him on the home front, practicing a little diplomacy to keep things going smoothly. She wanted him to understand the sort of power he'd be wielding, while at the same time making sure he had a healthy respect for the people he'd be interacting with on a day-to-day basis.

Her fingers drummed on the desk in satisfaction at the knock. Hopefully it wasn't just a servant announcing an unexpected visitor to the Court or something else she might have to rush off and take care of. "Enter," she called, tugging a folder over in front of her and leaving it closed for the time being.

[Greenie]

Mia opened the door and straightened his posture a tad beyond his norm, entered, and bowed respectfully Donnie. He stood in front of her desk with a small smile, then said, "Your Majesty, I would like to apply to be one of your Queens. As much as I've enjoyed working as your King, I feel I've grown beyond my position and could better serve the Court as a more autonomous figure. My skills and knowledge are much broader now then they were several years ago, and I would like to put them to better use." He kept his tone firm but polite, knowing that despite the fact that Donnie knew him quite well, he needed to present a well put-together front to keep her judgement of him in the positive. It wouldn't do to blow the whole opportunity to smithereens just because he slipped on his wording, after all.

[The Jenn]

Oh, look. Wasn't that cute. His mother would be laughing her ass off right now if she was watching through the keyhole. Which... Donnie wouldn't quite put past her, but doubted was the case. She smiled at Mia, drawing her fingers together and fiddling with a nail.

"Well, I'll say right off the bat that I'm pleased. For all of your failings, you have improved your skills and broadened yourself throughout the time I've known you. Being the King sort of forces that on you, but you've adapted very well to the position. As my Queen, however, I'm going to need a bit more out of you. A bit more inside the palace itself, and a bit more in the way of diplomacy. That's the skill I'd like to test today. Suits willing, you'll pass and I can start giving all of your work to your mother. Your poor, bored mother. What do you say?"

[Greenie]

Mia nodded along with what she was saying, not finding any of it particularly alarming.. Though he was wondering exactly what his "failings" were. Last time he checked he hadn't done anything overly stupid, if you didn't count the almost blinding Donnie part.. Huh. He'd rather doubted she was going to send him out and "abroad" - traveling wasn't his thing, and while he was adept at working with magic, it wasn't something he really wanted to prove himself with. He could do diplomacy, though.

At the snark at his mother, his mouth twitched. "My mother, bored? You must be mistaken." He said completely deadpan, then nodded. Vessatha must have said something stupid to have gotten that particular remark.

"It sounds good." Mia replied. "What would you like me to do?" He was hoping he wasn't going to get stuck going to Hearts, but he wasn't going to discount anything at this point.

[The Jenn]

"Oh no, straight from the woman's lips. Terribly bored. Almost stagnant. She needs something to occupy her copious free time," Donnie replied in an equally deadpan voice before smirking.

But. It was time to get down to business. All joking aside, she did want this matter taken care of. She flipped open the thin folder in front of her and pulled out several bits of writing and a picture. "The most blunt way I can put this is... I need you to convince an old woman to retire."

She tapped on the picture. Its center was a woman that Mia would recognize, one of the attendants who had been present in the palace throughout the last three ruling Queens and who took her duty to the Court quite seriously. She was a Ten of Spades, a stork, and an extremely hide-bound Josiggy. "I'm sure you recognize Tilda. She's been here... apparently, forever. One of the oldest attendants on record. Her mind's gone a little soft over the past two years and she's getting confused more easily. Despite that, she absolutely refuses to do anything but her duty to the suit. I don't have the heart to fire her when her heart's in the right place. Ideally, what I want is for you to convince her to leave of her own accord. The more it seems like a good idea to her, and like her own idea, the better. I've been putting it off and things haven't gotten any better."

Taking a breath, she slid another piece of paper to him. On it were several lines of text and a few figures. "For her years of service, she's entitled to an excellent severance package. So long as she lives within her means, she should have a comfortable retirement. A monthly check, health care at the Court's expense, and several other perks are all her due. The only problem is convincing the old bird to step down."