At Your Service [Jovan's King Quest] [FIN]

[Vyn]

What? Though Jovan honestly should have expected the answer (Corvies could be very ADD about projects if they weren't in the spotlight of their interest), he was still somewhat surprised to hear that she hadn't made sure to prepare the package in advance for such a prestigious customer.

Then again, Jovan hadn't been given a deadline either so he could easily presume the Court had left the poor apothecary owner in the dark as well. He accepted the list with a cordial smile. "No problem, miss." She was lucky he was the helpful sort, he wasn't sure how many court officials would actually take time out to help prepare a package.

He turned to the wall of shelves, comparing the list to the items stocked. Oh thank the suits, alphabetical order made his life so much easier. It also helped to have four hands. He collected the items fairly quickly, reviewed the list to be sure he had everything in the right amount, and managed to return to the counter shortly after the owner had returned to the front. "This should be everything."

[Kari Muffin]

Bailee pulled a variety of boxes for the package, trying to find the one that was the proper size. After a few moments of frustration she kicked the largest box into the service area. The special order items were more important than the various herbs that she was providing for the Queen.

She picked up a long and large neatly wrapped brown package in her mouth carefully. She also snatched a small box off of the shelf with her paw, balancing it on her nose as she walked out of the back room. She carefully set the two things on the counter tops and went to wrapping the things she kept behind the counter.

When the King returned from his miniature mission Bailee popped up from her wrapping. "Good good," she said as she poked at the various supplies. Still needed to get the arsenic that the Queen wanted. "Could you come back here and help me back the smaller materials. Most of them can just be stacked in the box since I wrapped a good deal of stuff. Sorry about all of this mess, sir. They never gave me a proper due date and mentioned something about... a test for someone?"

She shrugged before she slipped behind the counter to nose around for the arsenic.

[Vyn]

Jovan watched the woman with masked intrigued, impressed by the way she was capable of multitasking and in her animal form at that. Her request that he join her was met with another nod. "Happily, miss." He had just rounded the counter to arrive on her side when she finished speaking. "A test?" The words came out before he could stop it, and he internally cursed the little slip. "I believe that test must be mine, considering that's the reason why I'm here." He laughed a little and offered a small, bashful grin along with it.

"And, really, it's not a problem. I'm happy to lend a paw or tentacle where I can and I'm fairly good with organizing and the like." His tail gave a brief wag before he focused on the task appointed to him and began packing the items away into the box.

It was all fairly simple work, which would've been nice had the test not been mentioned. Now a tiny voice told him that this was too easy, that there had to be something more. Hopefully, there wasn't.

"By the way, miss, I don't believe I got your name?"

[Kari Muffin]

Bailee looked at the boy with a curious expression. Oh, so he was the one being tested? That made plenty of sense then. "I'm sorry, my name is Bailee." she said with a smile and a bit of a tail wag.

Supplies. She scooted off to grab the arsenic jar that the Queen had requested, making sure that wrap it several times over with paper, tape and a good deal of padding before shoving it in a smaller box and putting it on the top of the pile. That left them with the small box and the long brown packaged.

"So I need to give you instructions for two of these packages," she shut the box as she spoke, grabbing a container of glue and pouring some on the edge of the flap. She spread it out with a brush fairly carefully and finally grabbed a strip of what seemed to be paper to seal the flaps. She dropped everything so she could speak properly.

"The long brown package over there is dangerous and was requested by the Queen from a mechanical Corvie. So don't throw it around or you might get someone in the eye." She motioned to the other box. "Don't shake that small box. Make sure it's fairly padded in the carriage."

Was that all? She grabbed the list from under the counter, eying it for a few moments. Right. One more thing. "And I almost forgot something, so hold on." She disappeared into the back room again.

[Vyn]

Jovan inclined his head politely. "It's a pleasure, Miss Bailee." Next time he was in town or needed supplies of an Apothecary's nature he would have to stop in. It wasn't everyday one found such a reliable and well put together Corvie. Especially not one who could potentially experiment in drugs, as her syringes might suggest.

He had finished tucking the last of the boxes snugly into the larger container when Bailee spoke up again. He made sure everything was situated before pausing to give her his complete attention.

Good thing, too.

Surprise momentarily flickered through his eyes when she mentioned something in the long box taking out someone's eye. Though, really, he had noticed she was taking great pains to wrap it well. What could be in there? "Alright. I can do that." He made a quick mental note to be sure a servant brought in the less delicate box while he carried the long package and small package. That should ensure it was carefully handled no matter what.

"Of course," he murmured as he hurried away into the backroom once more. While waiting for her he'd quickly finish packing the larger box and making certain that everything was in its place.

Good. Hopefully nothing would rattle around in there...

[Kari Muffin]

The canine returned fairly quickly, a small brightly colored package was hanging from her mouth. She set it down and went back over to her list to triple check it. She nodded after a moment before returning to Jovan. "You should be good. That's everything the Queen ordered, and there are no more special instruction. Everything is already paid for so you should be set to go."

Bailee looked rather accomplished and cheerful. "Would you need any help carrying that out?" she offered as she held out the last package to the Jack, her tail wagging a bit.

The last package was light weight and probably wouldn't be too much for anyone to handle, let alone Jovan. Ultimately it wouldn't take him very long to pack everything into the carriage properly and return to the Court of Hearts in a decent amount of time assuming nothing went wrong along the way.

[Vyn]

When Bailee returned with the final parcel he carefully gathered the boxes together and lifted them cautiously to be sure nothing tilted or teetered. When confident of their stability he returned Bailee's tail wag and a charming smile.

"Thank you very much, Miss, but I believe I have it." He shifted his weight, making sure everything was still stable, and then inclined his head gratefully. "Thanks again. Have a wonderful afternoon."

---

The trip back was utterly uneventful, though Jovan did manage to catch up on some reading, and he was back before he knew it. He slipped out of the carriage and fetched a servant to assist him with some of the larger parcels. He could certainly manage them all himself but he wanted to be certain everything was perfectly in order and with a servant to manage the larger parcels Jovan would be able to focus primarily on the fragile package.

Arriving at Her Majesty's door, he knocked firmly and settled back to wait.

[Kari Muffin]

Xiven was still going through the mass amount of paperwork that she was bogged down with. It was a never ending stream of paper that she always seemed to be behind on. It would be nice to have a fully staffed Court, but she doubted that would ever happen.

The knock on the door was the break she had been hoping for. Perhaps Jovan and returned with the package? That would be wonderful. "Come in," she said as she reorganized papers and slipped her pen and inkwell somewhere safe.

When he entered the Queen looked cheerful to see the packages and the young Jack. It was rare to find someone who was responsible, young or otherwise, and since his mission was successful he would be a wonderful asset to the Court of Hearts. Hopefully he was prepared for the paperwork.

"Welcome back Jovan, did you run into any trouble in Corvistowne?"

[Vyn]

Jovan stifled the bubbling excitement that was building, forcing himself to maintain an aura of calm confidence. If he started babbling like a child... well, he'd just look like a child and that was about as far from what he wanted as possible.

"Thank you, Your Majesty. Not at all, it was a very straightforward trip." He turned his attention briefly to the servant and requested they leave the package on the desk so that they could be on their way. She quickly did as asked, bowed graciously to both the high ranking individuals and hurried off after Jovan thanked her. He'd be sure to repay her for her helpfulness once this business was attended to.

Jovan added his collection to the few on the desk and seated himself in the chair across from her. "Miss Bailee of the Apothecary did say the small package here is fragile, and I'd like to pass that information along." He'd forgotten to remind his mother of that once and that had resulted in Kyri being doused in one of Mother's experimental Truth Serums. No one had been very happy about that, especially not when Kyri began to spew confessions. Jovan never forgot that lesson again.

[Kari Muffin]

Apparently the Corvie was more formal than she had expected, considering she actually gave proper instructions. The Torquehelm gave a small smile, "Thank you for the information."

She carefully inspected the package, unwrapping a bit of it so she could check the contents. When she had quickly determined that everything was in order she looked to the King. "Now the question is, are you prepared for the responsibilities of the Court," her eyes wandered over the young man. "It will mostly be paperwork, and if you're willing a little bit of bodyguard work to put your weapons training to good use."

He would probably be fine as a bodyguard, perhaps he could look after Kamina? That or Othello, though she doubted that her son would approve of that sort of thing, Kamina was a bit more open minded and needed something more than a babysitter half the time.