The Lomcust House (closed)

[Poprockz]

She nodded, "you're welcome, Gabriel. You can call me Libby."

He was offered a small smile before she continued, "I imagine having a new butler around will help tremendously. The head maid manages the head butler duties to the best of her abilities, but she can't manage that and her own duties without some tasks and errands falling through the cracks. Without her around to manage the maids more closely, some of the others have been... less industrious with their time, which doesn't help maids like myself with iron deficiencies."

There was a sigh as she rubbed the back of her neck.

 

[dizzylagoon]

Gabriel's shoulders relaxed, just a little. She's got an iron deficiency. Explains a lot. Which means, she has to be running herself ragged in this place. He has to step up, if only temporarily.

"I bet, I bet." He started, nearly forgetting he was in a cloak of bedsheets. "Well, ah, thank you! I'm looking forward to working with you, Libby."

He took a polite step back before nudging the door closed, working his provided outfit on, a dark sack suit with a simple white tunic and simple black slacks. He stretched his arms, and gingerly tugged at the hem of the suit to get it situated comfortably over his athletic frame. Alright.

Gabriel stepped out into the hall, glancing around the expensive decor. The entire manor had this vibe of eerie stillness. He could hear the faraway sound of plates and faint shuffling on the floor above, but the entire place felt too still.

He wandered in the direction he came from, searching for Medrienne.

 

[Poprockz]

Medrienne was difficult to find, busy as she was. The place was enormous and the woman was presumably speed-walking as though it was a god-given ability that far surpassed mere mortals. As such, even the maids he came across didn't know specifically where she was, but each attempted to point him in a direction that she could be. At one point, one of the more tenured maids suggested he go to her office to wait for her. The lady had admitted that the head maid was out and about most of the day, but it was a point at which she would surely return at some point. In any case, it was the best lead he had.

Unfortunately it looked as though she wasn't currently in her office as the room's lights were off from what one could see from the keyhole if one dared to look into it. That and the fact that on the door there was a little sign that said, "out of office" hung on the front. It looked as though it could be turned around, the back saying "present."

There was suddenly a shuffling sound from within the office though, the doorknob turning before a woman walked out. Upon seeing him standing there, there was surprise in her sharp green eyes but she quickly recovered to give him a calculatedly friendly smile.

"Oh! Hello. You must be the new head-butler. My name is Jane- nice to meet you." She held out her right hand for a handshake. She was dressed in grey trousers, a white shirt with sleeves that came down to her elbows, and a grey apron. Her brown hair was done-up in a braided bun, and there were close-toed, comfortable shoes on her feet. It was obvious that she was one of the cooks from the kitchen. Despite being dressed very modestly, one could still admire the plumpness of certain areas of her body.

 

[dizzylagoon]

Gabriel jumped. Weird.

This woman– Jane, had just popped out of an empty room. Stranger still, she seemed almost as surprised to see him there as he was to see her.

And she was a cook. Why on Earth was she hiding out in the office of the head maid? He tentatively shook her hand, hoping he managed a kind enough poker face. He didn't need to give away his suspicion yet...but this Jane woman was on his list.

"Nice to meet you, ma'am." He took a furtive glance over his shoulder, towards where he thought he caught a glimpse of Medrienne. She moved like lightning, and if he missed her, he'd be running himself ragged around the entire estate. "D-Damn, ah, looking forward to working with you!" He called, backwards jogging down the hall, narrowly dodging a little table with an expensive, gilded vase on it.

And as Gabriel rounded the corner, a shadow was cast over Jane.

It was Atlas.

His generous height and athletic build, complete with his broad shoulders and mildly vascular arms, paired with his opulent and lightly eccentric outfit to make his presence that much more commanding.

"Jane. I find it...hard to believe that you have time to talk to new hires, with the banquet tomorrow morning." He crossed his arms. "What's keeping you?"

 

[Poprockz]

That new hire was a bit... normal to be a butler, wasn't he? He didn't exude the typical 'stick up one's ass' aura that most butlers eminated. Well, there was some variation on the sort of person who took up that position, but she found pompousness to be a general rule. He was younger than a lot of butlers she had met though, so perhaps he simply hadn't climbed up the steps to his self-made pedestal yet.

Upon Atlas addressing her, it was Jane's turn to jump, and jump she did. It had been about two months since she had come to work here, and of all the nobles Lord Atlas seemed to be the one with the lightest steps. Not that she came into contact with them all that much. The fact of the matter was that she would avoid them if given the opportunity, which was why she got a job in the kitchens. It was a hot and chaotic place with some pungent smells. Haughty nobles very rarely deigned to visit the kitchens personally for those reasons- it was beneath them.

Frankly she was surprised he even knew her name. Surprised, but not particularly pleased about it. She would have preferred to continue on in her anonymity, as being noticed would only make things more difficult for her. Still, she wasn't about to give any inclination to him about her inner thoughts.

“Ah! My lord.” He was given a polite tilt of the head. “That’s actually why I’m here. I was sent from the kitchens to give the head maid some food. She’s so busy getting everything ready, and we haven’t seen her eat today, so we wanted to get that woman some sustenance before she collapsed. It’ll do nobody any good if she keels over in the middle of the preparations.”

Jane gestured towards the office with her thumb. “I left some grab and go type of food on her desk for her for whenever she ends up back in her office. I bumped into the new hire on the way out by chance. Seems he was looking for her too.”

 

[dizzylagoon]

Atlas looked her over, appraisingly. Once, then twice. He didn't speak for a long moment. Just... stared, with brown eyes that were closer to being golden, shimmering in the chandelier's light.

"Of course. Diligent. Compassionate. Exactly what we need from our help." His weight shifted to his other leg, leaning slightly along the wall. Another pause, like he was thinking. For a long, torturous second, all they heard was the clinking of plates, the sizzle of the stoves, and the footsteps on the higher floors. "Of course."

And he smiled. A small, demure, measured smile, as if too much emotion was poison for him, but a smile.

"Well, I won't keep you." And he strode past her, shooting Medrienne's room a passing glare, before disappearing around the corner.

Meanwhile, Gabriel was dodging around servants that seemed much too used to zipping around this place. And stranger still, as he pursued Medrienne, he noticed one woman, nearly indistinguishable from the rest, plating a particularly well-seared chicken breast. Her long, raven hair was tied in a bun, as she worked with the same strangely honed focus as her coworkers. However, Gabriel noticed the same exhausted-looking features on her. Another iron deficiency? He hoped they had a medical wing here.

But he pushed that thought aside, as he closed in on Medrienne's fleeing back, calling out with a choked gasp.

 

[Poprockz]

Why was he... looking at her like that? He was exceedingly hard to read, and she had no idea what was going on behind those golden eyes. There were three possibilities she could come up with. Either he was suspicious of her and was trying to determine whether she was lying, he was taking notice of her and found her body pleasing, or he was trying to commit her to memory as one of the favored "help." Honestly, none of those options were good ones, though she assumed that the first option was probably the most likely. She made a mental note to make more of an effort to lay low after this.

She was here with ulterior motives, after all. As little time as she had garnered herself in Medrienne's office, it was apparent that what she was looking to secure was not hidden within it. Thus, she had to continue her search. One might suggest that trying to seduce one of the nobles would be a good option, but that was simply the road to being tossed off a balcony or locked in a dungeon. Powerful nobles were dangerous, as their influence was so immense that their whims were always justified in one way or another. Getting caught in that web would only lead to sticky situations.

Every time he left her in suspense with his silence, it was torturous. More so because she didn't like how good he was at masking his thoughts. Finally though, he seemed to be willing to let her get back to the kitchens, thank goodness.

"Thank you, my Lord," was all she said as he swept away down the hall. Jane glanced over her shoulder at him before scuttling off to the kitchens.

----

The head maid heard him, swiveling around to frown in his direction. "Keep up, master Gabriel! If you want to assume the position you have signed up for, you're going to have to work up your stamina!"

"There is a banquet tomorrow, and it requires the utmost care. I am currently managing both of our jobs at once, and thus I will not have time to teach you about your job duties until such time as the banquet is over. If you are needing a task to occupy yourself with though, I suggest you go through the rsvp letters in your new office so that you can compile a list of those who declined to come and why - our Lady Dioxys needs to know who dares disrespect her, and who has a legitimate reason to not attend." With that, the head maid zoomed off once more, leaving him to decide whether he wanted to chase her down, or ask a nearby maid where exactly his office was.

 

[dizzylagoon]

An office?!

Maybe he had missed something in his job description. An entire office? He only needed to be a low-level butler. Gabriel finally couldn't keep up with her anymore.

He pressed his back into the wall, just outside the kitchen. He had to create a plan. He could ask for help, but the kitchen staff was busy, and the maids...moved as if they were all attempting to zip around like Medrienne.

Alternatively...he could find Lady Dioxys himself. After all, she might know where all of the RSVP letters go, which would be where his office is.

Besides, he needed to information. What better way than speaking to her?

And so, Gabriel settled on both. He asked the scant amount of maids who happened to stop for just a second, where his office might be. As he did so, he made his way up towards the grand atrium. She'd have to be relatively higher up in the castle.

 

[Poprockz]

As he ascended, eventually he would find himself in the grand atrium itself. Most would describe it as breathtaking, as it seemed that they had somehow managed to create a large, shallow pond with various aesthetically pleasing flowers and plants. Every now and then one would find a tasteful bench or a table with two to three seats so that one could rest and admire the scenery.

No one was there to enjoy such a view currently, no one except Lady Dioxys who was currently in the middle of feeding some of the fish in the pond. She leisurely tossed small handfuls of food and watched them come to the surface with their large, hungry mouths. They were lovely fish in her opinion, though she had once tried one of their blood and it was like drinking moss. Needless to say, after that she was content to simply feed and watch them with interests. She rather liked the idea of having creatures that depended on her so desperately that they needed her to survive.

 

[dizzylagoon]

Gabriel visibly tensed.

Lady Dioxys. The enigmatic lady of the Lomcust House, feeding fish. He felt the tension in his shoulders, his left arm subconsciously reaching for a weapon he didn't have on his person.

But he stayed his hand, forcing himself to move closer with tiny, measured steps, as if she was radiating poison.

"...excuse me? My...my lady, I'm... sorry to intrude." He tilted his neck downwards slightly, seemingly confused on whether he should bow, before going through with it in a sloppy and ungraceful manner. "Ms. Medrienne, she directed me to my office, but, I'm not sure where it is. Do you have any idea?"

Now that he got a good look at her, not from the height of the grand stairwell, but here on equal footing, he realized she was, in fact, gorgeous. Gorgeous for someone who might be a man-eating monster, at least.

 

[Poprockz]

The lady straightened up and regarded him with what could only be described as amusement drenched in condescension, as though a toddler had waddled up to her, tugged on her skirts, and asked a silly question.

“You look a lot more put-together now that you’re not carrying all the sky’s water with you. Very dapper, I might add.” Her red lips curled up into a smile before she turned away from him and gracefully tossed another handful of food into the water.

“I do know where the head butler’s office is, yes,” she remarked casually, though she didn’t follow it up with any explanation on the subject. The silence dragged on with her unbothered by the gap in the conversation. Perhaps she was waiting to see how he would respond, or perhaps she was simply drawing the conversation out on a whim. Whatever the case, the fish seemed happy that she hadn’t discontinued their meal, their large mouths greedily sucking up the round pellets donated to their hunger.

 

[dizzylagoon]

It's like Gabriel could feel the condescension as a physical smack in the face. He didn't like her. He didn't like her one bit. She spoke like he was some jester that existed to entertain her. And she looked at him the same way.

Plus, just a compliment, from nowhere?! Was she playing with him? Was she just generally insane?!

And then, she just...absentmindedly fed fish?! Casually said yes, with no follow-up? A nasty, private part of Gabriel hoped she was what he thought she was, so his hate was justified further.

"...can you tell me? Or point?" He did his best to speak in fragments, working hard to keep each word level and subdued. He had to play the part. He forced the venom from his voice that was bubbling in his chest. She hurts his pride.

 

[Poprockz]

"Hm." It was a light noise, one of vague interest in his question. She put the small bowl of fish food down and brushed off her hands. Once she was satisfied that the crumbs had been dealt with, she turned towards him and slowly sauntered closer to him.

"There would be no use pointing with the size of this castle. Similarly, describing to you how to get there would be rather tedious... The only feasible option left would be for me to take you there." At that point she was right in front of him, her large brown eyes examining his face for even the tiniest change in expression. Being this close to her allowed him to see that the soft skin of her face was flawless. One might joke that she must have bathed in the blood of virgins to acquire such a youthful complexion, but bathing in blood wasn't something she was interested in. That would simply be a waste.

"Am I to understand that you would like me, Lady Dioxys, a high noble in her own right, head of the Pedigree Merchant's Guild, and wife to the Lord of this very castle to personally escort you, a butler, to his office?" Though her voice was mildly teasing, one got the impression that it would be wise to answer carefully.

 

[dizzylagoon]

For a moment, there was a stunned silence. His face was set and calm, but at this point, the tensing of his shoulders and the strain in his voice was now visible. Small, discreet, but visible.

Gabriel was starting to hate her, hate her in a way more personal than business. It's as if every word out of her mouth made him want to...he wasn't sure exactly what, but he knew she deserved worse than whatever he could think of.

He wasn't sure exactly what it was.

Maybe it was the disparity between how she looked and how she behaved. Admittedly, she was beautiful, incredibly beautiful. But when she opened her mouth, all that came out was haughty, smug venom.

Maybe it was how enigmatic she was. Ever since her comment on the stairs about how soaked he was as he entered, she wouldn't stop getting under his skin any chance she got. Did she know? Was this on purpose?

Gabriel steeled himself. She's a monster, until proven innocent. Focus.

"Yes." He managed. His hands went behind his back, in an effort to hide his clenched fists. "Uh, please. Ma'am." he added, in a last ditch effort to keep the tone...and his job.

 

[Poprockz]

"Bold, yet respectful..." She mused, pleased at his answer. "I like it. You don't seem like a brat entitled to my help, yet you don't shy away or lash out when challenged. Yes, I think I will show you the way to the office. You'll have to forgive me if I don't walk with Medrienne's fervor-- I'm trying to conserve energy for the banquet tomorrow."

Well, that was part of it. The other part of it was that without as much of a supply, she had to take it as easy as she could when possible. If she wore herself out doing mundane things, her cravings would start to become more pronounced and none of her favored ones were in any position to help her. It would force her to do some under-the-table dealings, which was... unappealing. It wasn't as though she would allow herself to lower herself to the things Atlas accused her of. No, if she had to acquire emergency rations, then she would at least make sure they were befitting of her station.

Lady Dioxys started to walk towards the exit of the grand atrium in a measured, easy-going pace, not turning her head to make sure he was following. He would be a fool to ask her for help and then change his mind the next moment, after all, and he didn't seem to be a fool in her estimations.

 

[dizzylagoon]

At the mention of a banquet, Gabriel's stomach flipped. She must be talking about the real banquet. She couldn't be alluding to the eating habits she might be hiding. And yet, why would she need energy to sit down and eat...unless she was hunting people that could run or fight back!

Gabriel's mind worked, staring at the back of her head with a steely glare. He'd find out, but that little notion piqued his suspicion even further.

As the two of them walked, a flurry of servants would scramble by, some holding trays, some holding fresh linens. Some of them were just a little slower, enough so that they could murmur to each other.


"Lady Dioxys...on this floor?" One said.
"Typically, she stays even higher in the castle." Another piped, nearly dropping his precariously stacked pillows he was holding.

 

[Poprockz]

Wherever she walked, she had the sort of aura that demanded respect. Perhaps not the commanding one that Atlas exuded, but one that let everyone nearby know that she was important and she knew it. One might call it absolute confidence while another might call it arrogance. Well, one might call it arrogance only if she wasn’t within earshot, at least.

“I’m sure you’ve been to several banquets,” Lady Dioxys started, ignoring the servants who would glance at them with either surprise, nervousness, or curiosity. “But I doubt you’ve ever been to one as large as this. There will be nobles from all over lined up to be in attendance for our two cousins’ coming-of-age celebration. I doubt any eligible young lord or lady will be staying home. I expect to receive several courtship proposals by the end of the night, which will need to be read and compiled for my own review.”

 

[dizzylagoon]

"And... that's my job, Medrienne said." Gabriel added, casting another look at her.

He should probably stop looking at her. It really was difficult to imagine her as more than an enigmatic and particularly irritating noble. After all, she assumed so many suitors would be lining up to wed her that they'd need to hire someone to handle their pleas.

But then, Gabriel stiffened.

Cousin?

Cousin?!

He'd never heard anyone in the family except the two.

The shock flared in his mind, causing his teeth to clench. More of them...meant they might all be monsters. Gabriel was beginning to feel a glimmer of apprehension. He wasn't sure how strong any of them could be, or even if any of them were monsters at all.

This was entirely speculation. Conjecture. Gabriel didn't like it. Not one bit.

"How many of these...requests, so to speak, are you expecting?" Gabriel asked, as politely as he could.

 

[Poprockz]

“Indeed,” she had agreed with his comment about his job role. That was definitely part of his job, if only a fraction of it. Hopefully he would be able to handle the plethora of responsibilities that came with being head butler, or at least be capable enough at delegation and management of the other butlers he would be overseeing. As long as everything got done, she didn’t care who did it (with the exception of a few more delicate tasks).

“Hmm… At least fifty for each of the two cousins. If they receive less than that, then I may have to remind some of the nobles that the Lomcust family means business. Ah, to be young and eligible… an exciting time, to be sure. As far as I’m concerned, they can choose whoever they deem most suitable, but I at least want to be able to empower them to make informed decisions. Marriage is, at its core, a political partnership, after all.” Lady Dioxys continued as they traveled, one long hall giving way to another long hall; the place was a constant reminder of how massive it was.