Servants are People, too. Or ARE they?

E

EquinoxSol

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Original poster
Standing in the middle of the front room, a giant expanse of area more suited for balls (which it was designed for), is Conner and his number of servants, all of them drastically different. Each of them stand in a horizontal line as Conner speaks.

"You are staff hired of the Hunt family, and as such, you should dress appropriately," he glances pointedly at Eve, who is still wearing the clothes she was when she met him. Standing in front of Eve, he tells her, "You are responsible for anything that has to do with the cleanliness of the house, clothing, and any tools used within and without the house, save for duty-specific tools." Eve mock-salutes him, a smile upon her face.

Moving along the line to Cornelius, he says, "You watch the house, make sure no one intrudes, during the night. Secondly, you also attend to the wine cellar."

Conner walks further, stopping at Olina, "Your duties are three meals, sent up to my study. You are also responsible for whatever the rest of the staff is going to eat."

At Lucian, he says, "You are the grounds keeper. Your job is to make sure that the grounds are looking their best at all times, especially when I have company over."

When he stops at George, he nods once before saying, "You are the butler, and I have already gone over your duties with you prior to now."

Stopping at the last man, Cain, and looks up at his face, "Bodyguard. You are to stay by my side most of the time, unless I tell you otherwise."

Pacing back to the middle of the line, so that he is looking at everyone, Conner tells them, "If there isn't any questions, get to work. Every other week, you are each given a day to go into the city if you so choose after preforming your duties."
 
Cornelius bowed respectfully to his master before proceeding to his designated post in the wine cellar, it was still mid-day and the sun light was lethal to him so he was happy to spend his time in a dark underground cellar where he would be safe. Cornelius was....well to say he was mavelolent spirit would be easier then trying to pronouce the name given to his kind, and while he could not go out during the day, but at night....at night was when the fun began. It was when he could prowl the grounds looking for someone foolish enough to try and sneak into his masters house, and when he found that said person he'd show them no mercy as he tormented them to the point of insanity as they ran home like a frightened kid crying out for someone to save them. Yes, Cornelius was the servant to a human and yes his master was demanding of him but to say that he hated him would be way off base, Cornelius loved his master and respected him greatly and nothing would ever change that.

Cornelius began browsing the racks of wine as he looked for an appropriate vintage that his would be sampling with his dinner tonight, for what seemed an easy task this required much consideration and thought so as not to ruin the over all taste of his masters meal. "Ah yes this will do nicely, a bold taste but none too flashy." He popped the cork to the bottle and took a whiff of the succulent aroma, "Yes this will do every nicely." He recorcked the bottle before carring it up to kitchen, he creaked the door open a bit checking to see if there was any direct sunlight coming into the kitchen. When he was sure there wasn't any of the lethal thing around, he quickly proceeded to the nearest table and set the bottle down before almost leaping back into his hole and shutting the door. He then gave the door three hard knocks signaling to who ever was in the kitchen that he had left them the wine.
 
Olina jumped, startled a the three loud knocks that emanated from the cellar. She wondered if she would ever get used to it. Her mind had a tendency to drift while she was prepping for a meal. Moving to the table, she picked up the wine that had been left by Cornelius. Ah, Brunello di Montalcino. It was a beautiful red wine, bold and fruity. It would go very well with the hardy meal she was preparing the master this evening. Nodding to herself, she mentally complimented Cornelius on his fine choice; she made a note to chat him up about it later.

"If I can catch him, that is.." she said to herself, chuckling a bit.

Returning the wine to its table, she moved back to her cutting board and continued slicing her carrots and onions. They would be joining chuck steak in a cast iron pot for the next few hours; Olina was not yet sure of her master's tastes, and was playing it safe with a simple but exactingly prepared pot roast. She was rather nervous about it, to be honest.

As for the staff, they would be enjoying the same meal; after all, the roast was huge. Absently she swayed and tapped her feet to an imaginary tune. Did all of the staff members even need to eat food? What if some of them didn't eat meat? What if they ONLY ate meat?! Sighing in frustration, she deposited her vegetables into a bowl and set out to find someone who could inform her of everyone's eating habits. Surely the butler would know?
 
Lucian, after being given his specific duties, had drifted out of the manor and out to the gardens. The corners of his lips pulled up into a smile, if you could call it that. Those who weren't paying him much attention wouldn't have noticed the slight facial change. His steps were carefully placed, soft in sound, as he made his way around the garden, listening to the plants spin their sweet tune. The roses complained about the lack of sun, their voices jittery and short, as if someone were plinking a violin string. It was grating, and would likely would have been the first task he set about had the lilies not sounded so sad. They were quiet, usually overlooked for the more boisterous and attention seeking flowers, but these just sounded as broken as a crying violin. Coming to the edge of the pond, Lucian could see why. The water was dark and murky with algae and bacteria, not fit for their delicate roots that hung below their floating bodies. Pale fingers reached out and brushed against their petals, a silent promise that they would receive help.

Glancing about, his mismatched eyes landed on the garden shed not ten paces away, gracefully gliding towards the small structure in search of the proper tools he would need. The wood creaked as the door opened, a small cloud of dust billowing out from within. The fae stepped in, blinking against the dust that settled on his lashes. He found what he was looking for easily, lifting the buckets off the shelf lightly, tucking the extra's underneath his arms as he stepped back out into the daylight. A quick jot brought him to a small well filled with clean water, quickly drawing up the already filled bucket. It was exchanged for one of the empties, and the pattern was repeated until all but one had been filled. He'd had to make a few trips, but soon all the buckets were lined up beside the pond, ready to serve whatever purpose the fae needed them for. But Lucian had had a thought, and with a small voice, promised the lilies he would return momentarily.

The fae turned back to the manor, his legs moving in a quick run, passing by a few other servants as he made his way towards his destination, the kitchen. He paid little heed to the woman who was busily preparing a meal, silently searching through the cupboards for something. So focused on his task was he that he left them all open as he went, items rifled through and falling to the floor on his quest to find the one he was looking for. Finally, his hand grasped the handle of a pasta strainer. Perfect. "I'm borrowing this." Was all that the young cook received as Lucian left as quickly as he came, returning to the lilies. Their voices still cried out, but at least there was a twinge of hope this time. The fae rolled his eyes. Flowers, so overdramatic. They could have survived without help for at least six more moon cycles. With a gentle hand, Lucian reached under the water, and began to transplant the lilies into the buckets of water.

They gave shrill little squeaks as they rejoiced in the cleanliness of the water, only mildly annoyed at how cramped the space was. The lilies safe for the moment, the fae placed his hand into the water. His blue eye glowed lightly as he began to steal the life energy from the algae in the water. Being small plants, they soon died off and began to sink down to the bottom. He didn't stop until there was none left living in the water, pulling his hand out gently. The water was pure now. Taking the pasta strainer in hand, he set to work, scraping the dirt and algae up and out into the air. Giving a small shake, the dirt slid through the small holes, leaving nothing but dead plant life behind, which was discarded into the empty bucket. The wasn't a chance that he would be able to strain all the algae out, nor did he want to. Dead plants made great fertilizer, which would help the lilies grow. But it wouldn't be fair for them to claim it all.
 
George gave a short bow. "Yes, Sir Connor." He then turned and began his general patrol around the estate, making sure that everything was in order. Most of the manor was already spotless. Everything that was supposed to be clean was clean, and even things that he had not expected to be tended to were clean. Eveline was certainly good at her job. He would have to be sure to compliment her the next time he ran into her. While he was at it, he could also be sure that he did not wind up on her bad side. People who did tended to have their skin darken significantly.

A few of his longer rounds finished, he decided to keep close to the door in case any visitors came knocking. Even though Sir Connor had not scheduled any visitors, it was always safe to be sure. Although, he would not mind I there were no visitors today, he liked the quiet. All was at peace.


No sooner had the thought crossed his mind, than his sensitive ears picked up a metallic clang and clatter coming from what he assumed was the kitchen. "Oh my..." he said with an almost sarcastic tone. "Let us see what Miss Olina is up to now, hmmm?" He began making his way to the kitchen, his mind coming up with all sorts of troublesome circumstances that she or any other servant could have gotten into. Surly it was not Master Cornelius. He's the quiet type. Master Cain is with Sir Connor and young Master Lucian is in the gardens. It can't be Miss Blake either. She would rage at the sight of someone making a big mess. As he turned the corner he ran smack into Olina, who bounced off of him and made him take a step back to keep himself from falling over.


"Ah, young Miss Olina. I was just looking for you. I was just thinking that I should bring you up to speed on the servants' eating habits that Sir Connor neglected to inform you of. Until then, let us go see what that terrible clatter in the kitchen is about, hmmm?" He smiled warmly, placed a gentle hand on her back, and began leading her back to her kitchen. "I like steak, extra rare if you would please, young Master Lucian does not need food, only the company of others, Master Cornelius does not eat and, let's see... ah Master... Cain, I believe is what he likes to be called... just give him some water and maybe a fish just in case. And Miss Danae should probably have a salad."
 
Cain nodded and followed the master, shadowing him. Cain was akin to a ghost when he wasn't wanting to be heard or seen and right now the master wanted him near but not seen or heard. A truly striking thing considering his height and obvious features. Simply shadowing the master was the easy part of the job, protecting him from miss eve's out bursts was another matter entirely. Letting the master do as he saw fit for the time being Cain looked out the window, banishing the clouds from the sky. Today was to be a sunny day. And he would retain that forecast. Cain was retaining his silent demeanour. Around the master he never spoke unless ordered too.

Cain pullked his chair upon the corner of the room. The water within the air being pulled to silence both his foot steps, and the movement of the chair. Cain sat quietly in the corner of the room mulling over his thoughts as the master worked. What was the point of interrupting if he was not needed. And whilst the master was still alive Cain would not be far. His purple eyes glimmered in the light shine from the window. As he sat there in silence he pulled all the humidity from the air alongside the clouds he'd banished just moments ago turning them into solid balls of ice for him to juggle quietly in the corner of the room. Cain remained silent, his eyes ever watchful. Not missing a thing and resorting his masters papers every time they fell out of a neat stack.
 
Rhae raised herself from her bed, dressed and prepared herself for the day. She never properly slept, but the idea of having a day and a night seemed much less fearsome than being faced with an immortal time, never changing. At least she felt a little more human after a night of so called sleeping. Perhaps human wasn't the right word... She shrugged and descended the stairs at the normal pace. When she reached the breakfast room, she opened the paneled door and stepped inside.

The first thing she noticed was that it was too hot. Hot was not good, windows provided instant relief. The second thing was the dirty plates and cutlary cluttering the table. This, also, was not good. She replaced the dirty with an empty space, banishing the dirty with her mind rather than clearing up properly. The family over the worlds would be burdened with another bundle of unwanted dirty tonight, but it was for their own good, probably.She set the table carefully, paying attention to detail. Detail, detail, detail. Red candle sticks all the same height, flowers a matching shade of red. Chairs clean and without chips or needing any sort of repair. She opened the curtains and used her mind to mix away she mold and old smells. A fresh, new place to live and eat, one room at a time.

The room was ready, at last, and as the bell was wrung she announced; "Breakfast for my lord." She did not know if a meal had been repaired, but for certain she was on precise timing. In a world where she had forever, she had been forced to learn to perfect things well.It had taken as little as a century to learn how to control herself, and in that time she had, naturally, needed distractions.

Obtaining perfection hardly seemed a tough thing to her no. Really, it had been quite... interesting. Mortal humans struggled to make the right choices in love and life. She had nothing of that left. Life... Could she call this a life? A real life? Np, it was a jib. And if it was all she would ever do, then at least she would always have a bed at night. Food on the table.
 
Eve, as soon as she and the other servants had been dismissed, had gone off and changed into clothes for a proper lady, an ankle-length, solid orange dress. After that was done and over with, she set to work on cleaning the front room, polishing the stairways' banisters, sweeping the flooring, and dusting the various portraits that hung upon the walls. It went relatively normal, save for a small, almost unnoticeable spot on the floor that wouldn't come up, no matter what she used on it, even lye. Exasperated, she quickly lost her less-than-short temper, and ended up burning a larger stain onto the floor. Cursing loudly, she quickly set about cleaning up the stain, and sure enough, the small speck she had treid to get off the floor was still there.

Sighing, she covered it with a rug before heading into the other parts of the house. Soon enough, it was spotless, and she was left with nothing to do. With several hours left in the day, she found herself wandering back to the front room. No one was there, and that only furthered her boredom. Such was the life of Eve, left to smolder and burn softly until something small set her off. Of course, that would certainly cause more of a mess for her to clean up, so she held it all back. Sitting down on the bottom three steps of the grand staircase, she played with fire between her fingers, trying to amuse herself.

---------------

Conner had returned to his study after his mini-speech in the front room, sorting through ridiculous amounts of papers. This mansion hadn't belonged to him, not since he was a child, and he had left as soon as he was old enough. But, when his parents died, he'd had to reutrn to the manor he had once hated, to uphold his family's estate. No other reason besides that, he would tell himself so he could sleep at night. Scribbling in the ledger book, trying to make sense of his father's scrawled handwriten notes, he soon gave up, and only pretended to be busy for a while, until his inner self demanded that he get back to work.

Half the day had passed when he finally looked up again, only to find that he had missed the morning meal, and was about to miss the midday one. Sighing, he stood up, before saying to the silent Cain, "I've had enough of these surroundings, let us go outside for a few minutes," he offered a soft smile, although it was twinged with an underlying tiredness. The dust of the room had gotten to him, and his eyes and nose itched from it all.
 
Cornelius sighed bored out of his mind at this point, he'd already doen everything that was required of him at this point. He'd sorted all the wine bottles, dusted the racks, and even made a few choices on what they could use for tonights meal. Atleast there was a chair for him to sit in till it was time for him to assume his night guard duties, maybe he could get some sleep between now and then. He didn't need to sleep or eat both would only be for pleasure, still he needed to do something to pass the time. He pulled up the chair near the wine cellars door incase they needed him for some odd reason.
 
Olina rubbed her nose, which had collided with the butler's chest quite hard. Allowing herself to be led into the kitchen by George's large hand at her back, she listened to the information he gave her, eyes still closed against the throbbing in her nose. Damn, she'd have to make some adjustments to the dinner menu to satisfy everyone. She was sure that they had everything she would need, however. The mansion's pantry was quite extensive and well stocked. She'd also have to venture down into the wine cellar, and have Cornelius help her choose another wine to pair with their new menu.

As they entered the kitchen, Olina opened her eyes, only to stop dead in her tracks at the horrific mess.

"MY KITCHEN!" she yelled furiously. Her eyes darkened to the inky black of her seal form, but that was about as far as her anger-induced transformation could go without her seal-skin. The smell of the sea seemed to invade the air around her more thickly than usual as she stomped into the disaster zone; there were all manner of utensils, pots, and pans strewn about the floor, flour and dried spices coating the counters.

An inarticulate sound somewhere between a wail and a snarl escaped her lips as she began stacking pots in her arms; George was all but forgotten for the moment. Who would do this Was this some kind of prank?!
 
Lucian huffed, setting the now ruined strainer aside with the bucket of dead algae. He'd taken out as much as he deemed necessary, and now it was time to put the giggling lilies back into their pond. Just as well, as the lilies were starting to complain, rather loudly, about the cramped buckets they were sitting in. "Oh hush, I'm putting you back now. Hold on." He spoke gently, carefully lifting each and every flower back into the small pond. A small smile graced his lips as the lilies relished in their clean home, chattering loudly amongst themselves. With their crisis averted, he could focus on the rest of the garden. Maybe he'd go see about those roses. They seemed to be complained about being crowded, though they seemed to be alone in their area. "Hmm.. Maybe they have weeds." He mused, leaving the buckets as they were. He'd use the water later, after the major issues had been taken care of.

Soft footsteps brought him over to the four rosebushes lining one of the small paths, bright in colour and high in growth. The fae narrowed his eyes, wondering if maybe they had been just clamouring for attention. Roses were known to do that, from time to time. Kneeling, the man ran his hand over the stem of each rose, listening carefully to what the roses were lamenting over, a knowing smile on his lips. "Just because I'm new doesn't mean I know when I rose is crying wolf." Thin fingers ran over the rose leaves, smiling gently. "If you're quiet while I'm working, I promise to come listen to you afterward." The rose's complaining died down to a soft mumble, Lucian standing to see to the rest of the garden.
 
"Oh my..." was all George could say upon entering the kitchen. It seemed as though a small tornado had stormed through the room, specifically targeting pots and pans. They had been thrown around, littering the floor and counters. He frowned. This meant he would had to reprimand someone. He never liked chastising anyone, but it had to be done. Even then, before he could chastise anyone, he would have to find out exactly who needed chastising.

Calm as could be, he strode towards the mess of metal cooking instruments and tried his best to ignore Olina. She was screaming and giving off some really angry negative energy, plus the smell of salt water was filling his nose, distracting him from what he was actually trying to find. He sniffed at the pots. More salt water. He though about asking her to calm down, but he had learned long ago to never ask an angry woman to calm down. Especially not an angry supernatural woman. He moved over to the cupboards and sniffed those. Ah! There! The faintest hint of grass, fresh water, and the smell of outside air.


He brought himself up to full height once more and turned to the still hysterical cook. "I do believe I know where we can find our culprit, Miss Olina. Now if you would kindly please calm do- uh clean up, then I will go see of my guess is correct." he said as he turned to leave. Suddenly he stopped. Something in the back of his brain was making him stop, making him want to go back, making him feel guilty. He heaved a small sigh. "Oh all right! I shall stay and help you for a bit." He turned around once more and got to work picking up the various pots and pans that littered the floor.


Once the chore was done, he left Olina with her work and ventured outside, toward the general area of Lucian. In truth, he did not know exactly where the faye was, but he could guess. All he had to do was follow his nose until the smell of plant life became almost overbearing.
 
Cain listened closely to his masters word, he wanted to head outside for a little while? Cain nodded heading over to the door toopen and allow his master to leave, following him out Cain walked in utter silenc, one did not speak infront of his master without his masters leave, so Cain remained silent. Following his master out into the garden. Odds were Lucian would be at work this time of day, and Cain would be headed out with his master. If Lucian got snippy then Cain would deal with the matter. However seeing george in the gardens made cain's mind sink, he didn't like george. Not as mthought he would admit it.

Still He ould have some fun conjureing th water molecules in the air he latched a strong pull onto gorges jacket within afew seconds a localized thunderstorm of rain began pouring over juts george. Nobody would know it was cain seeing as he didnt speak or move out of the ordinary. Cain didn#'t speak unless allowed by his master...Period. Straightening his jacket frmly th navy blue cotton adjusted it;self over his form as he followed his master out into the gardens. Mayhem caused, fun to be had, and all without a single move out of the ordinary.
 
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