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 Posted: Sat Nov 29, 2008 10:15 am
Alas, Aster was going to have to resort to the only noise she could possibly make loud enough to work as a 'summoning call' at the given time. Yes, a loud little 'OMGALOOOONE' whine.
Because the longer she was alone wandering the halls the more and more uncomfortable she felt.
PRRWHIIINEWHIIINEWHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINE!!
Okay, now Kanda had definitely heard that one, glancing over his shoulder, barely, to try and see who had just totally shoved themselves into hiding in the water...
...
...
If he was capable of seeing anything through all the glorious mistiness of the room. Which unfortunately (or fortunately?) he wasn't. However, he did have to make a point out of announcing himself to see who else was in there again.
Because if it was Yossarian, he didn't want the man to give another 'free show' to any maids who may or may not have been discreetly giggling out in the hall.
"Who have I joined this time?"
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Posted: Sat Nov 29, 2008 10:56 am
Tap, tap, tap tap tap tap TAP TAP TAP s**t SO BORED AWKWARD SILENCE AND NOTHING TO DO--
And how long exactly had it been since he'd left the table? Fifteen, twenty, thirty damn minutes? Was it even possible to chat over such an awkward topic so long and, for that matter, who could possibly want to? But there obviously couldn't be any other reason for the lack of showing up to pester him more, so...
Okay, something really wasn't feeling quite 'correct' about this situation, and he finally gave in to it, sighing heavily as he got up off the bed and stuck his head out the door, seeking out the nearest maid he could spot (just across the hall) and addressing her flatly.
"... That woman with the folded ears hasn't passed through this hall as of yet, correct?"
"N-Not that I've seen, Sir?"
".............. I see. Thank you." Well then, it was off to--
"But wait, Sir! I-I'm certain she's only... going to explore a bit, that's all!-- SIR, W-WHERE ARE YOU GOING?"
Okay, that? No, that was a big red flag if there'd ever been one, because he already knew that any 'exploring' (purposeful or otherwise) would probably just get the idiot HOPELESSLY LOST and unable to find her way back to anything familiar for hours on end. She was just that talented.
Elsewhere there was yet MORE fun happening, as it seemed Shae wasn't the only one who'd just realized their predicament and, lo and behold-- ... wait a second, that definitely wasn't the voice she'd been expecting. Was that really?...
"... Sir?"
While most sane girls would have panicked even more upon realizing that their unintentional bath buddy was a (OH LAWDIE NEKKID) dude, her reaction was... oddly enough, something like the opposite.
It was the 'least' of three possible evils in her book, really.
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Posted: Sat Nov 29, 2008 11:04 am
Ultimately, Aster had settled for finding as good of an 'in the way' place to sit and continue her whining. Obviously her wandering was getting her nowhere.... and perhaps sitting in a semi-fetal position would make one of those damned maids point her in the right direction.
Or make them all congregate elsewhere to cackle maniacally over their success of keeping the 'stealing woman' away from 'their dark knight'....
...
....
..
Odd how a group of women would obsess over one man and think anybody else 'getting' this man would be a crime.
Either way, however, she was at least sitting and waiting for someone to make her un-lost in the house.
Ohae, Kanda knew that voice. And while he certainly could have cared less who he was sharing the tubpool with, at least it was someone who wouldn't be hissspitting about the predicament or would be bright red and totally drowning themselves in the corner as far from him as possible.
"Yes?"
Well, she'd asked as a question, so he'd answered as one. Or perhaps he was curious as to if she had anything else to say on top of that single word.
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Posted: Sat Nov 29, 2008 11:44 am
AH HA HA. Oh, surely those little maids couldn't possibly be thinking that a few dirty pranks would rip the duo apart, right? Hell, if a good six months of constant trouble and misfortune hadn't done it yet, chances are that nothing would!
... Though it didn't mean Yossarian was thrilled about the prospect of hunting her down in such an ungodly monstrous place. Sure, he wasn't QUITE as clueless as her when it came to having a sense of direction from hall to hall, but it was still like finding a needle in a haystack--
.........
Until he noticed a very peculiar trend of little maids all wandering off in more or less the same direction. Huh. That was strange. Was it significant?
Gambling on YES he decided to follow and, lo and behold, with an extra ten minutes of scouring the general vicinity he came across something very familiar looking at the end of one loooooong corridor, in a very familiar quasi-fetal position.
Well, at least he'd found her and she seemed to be in one piece?
"... This wasn't an intentional 'exploration' of the manor, was it." Not even a question by then. Just a deadpan 'Ohae, YOUR UN-LOSTING SAVIOR IS HERE' statement.
Oh good, it really WAS Sir after all! Not that Shae had had many doubts, but... there was still something vaguely reassuring about it. Her ears weren't clogged with steam, she wasn't crazy, and there'd really be no worrying about accidental exposure of certain completely uncouth elements--
Though that didn't mean she was about to relax, either.
"... I'm sorry, should I--" Damn, there was still a certain twinge of 'awkward' to the whole situation, if only because she didn't know how to handle it properly. "... I mean... w-would it be preferable if I left the room for now?"
She could always grab a towel and wait until later to finish her meditative soaking; after all, it wasn't like she'd been caught in the middle of scrubbing her hair or something...
Though the inevitable eavesdropping and/or peering in of maids was a little worrisome.
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Posted: Sat Nov 29, 2008 11:56 am
Ohae, her un-losting savior had found her! Y'know, only after she'd been looming for a decent amount of time. But of course she had to keep her 'wibble-y face' even when she looked up to see who it was speaking (if it wasn't obvious already....).
"No......." Whine...
But of course this was accompanied by a 'get up and toddle over prrrprrrrprrrrr' action, happily taking up her hubbikin's arm once again to latch and lean against his shoulder. Yep.
Back to 'puppy that will trail along back to wherever it is we're going' mode. Complete with apologetic prrprrrs. Poor guy seemed to always be needing to hunt her down when she was in this house.
Though the time previous hadn't been as extensive.
Frankly, Kanda didn't care either way. It was a large amount of space, she could hide herself away from him, and it wasn't as though he had been doing much more than soaking his poor sore muscles or anything else of the sort.
So really they'd both only been 'sitting around' in there, so either of them getting up and going off was an option.
"Only if you want to." he replied, pushing his shoulders back underneath the water until he could feel them crack back into place. Ahhhh, bone cracking joy. Kinda sorta.... Hey, at least the water muted the epic cracking.
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Posted: Sat Nov 29, 2008 12:21 pm
Eh, he'd been expecting as much from her... and the clingy, wibbly, sniffling show of utter PATHETIC too, apparently, not even batting a lash as he was latched onto like some sort of great puppy (kitten?) herding shepherd. Now that he'd found the idiot, he could resolve this whole stupid mess (oh how the maids must've felt so defeated!) and get back to his room...
... With her in tow.
"I won't even ask how you managed to lead yourself so astray," he mumbled, "... just try to memorize things as we go, understand?"
And without further ado, off he went, down and back the same way he'd traveled to get there. Sure, he wasn't the most spectacular navigator in the whole wide world, but at least he had some idea of where he was going... and that'd (probably?) be enough to get them back without issue.
The maids could just pout and moan to themselves over their failure.
This was very true, actually-- and Shae admittedly wasn't too concerned about the space or visibility (seeing as the tub WAS so huge and the fog WAS so thick); she'd only been trying to avoid any clumsy proverbial toe-stepping, which didn't seem to be happening.
"Right, then..." she mumbled, but instead of leaping out to grab a towel, she just... sank back into her little spot and leaned her back against the side of the porcelain.
It was a harmless situation-- at least, as far as she knew. Apparently the peanut gallery was rather incensed, however, whimpering and hissing to themselves about indecent bathing scandals and bristling in silence beyond the door. THIS HAD NOT BEEN IN THE PLAN, DAMMIT.
But oh, did it still feel nice (physically) to just sit there and soak, even while her thoughts reverted back to all the stressful what-ifs.
It was all in her head, right?
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Posted: Sat Nov 29, 2008 12:43 pm
"I didn't lead myself anywhere..." she mumbled, failing to point out that she'd gotten to where she was by being pointed in said direction by the maids. Oh how they had been thwarted by the diligence of a hubbikins.
But hey, at least she was being compliant enough to at least try and make mental notes of all the hallways that looked the saaaaammmmmmmmmmmmmmmeeeeeeee. Which they kinda did. Even statues and other hallway hangings repeated themselves to her chagrin.
Oh how the whole house was out to get her...
...
.....
..
And someone else too.
Nnn, didn't feel like his toes were being stepped on in the least! He felt perfectly fine about the whole thing (even with the seething maids and their 'our dark knights are being violated!! D< ) ideas off to the one side.
...
....
..
Yeahno. Nothing going on, just a pair of companions soaking all of the stress out of their muscles as only they could do since the other pair would have gotten all awkward and 'Plzno' on them. Which was all good and amusing, but he really had no other thoughts on that.
"Are you feeling any better now? You've been quiet all day."
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Posted: Sat Nov 29, 2008 4:15 pm
Yes, yes, of course she hadn't led herself so terribly astray, suuure. But he wasn't in a mood for needling her about it, so any doubts Yossarian had (hey, he was still pretty clueless about the real extent of the maid pranks) would go unspoken, just grumbling some half-hearted affirmation to her statement and focussing on navigation instead.
Now, which hall was it that he'd wandered through coming here, again?...
But no, he absolutely refused to believe in the possibility of being lost himself and just pushed through any unsure feelings, managing to get them back into 'familiar' territory in just under five minutes. There, the guest rooms were all in sight, and he paused to locate he--
.........
Wait a minute; if she hadn't yet visited her room and drug her bag inside, why wasn't it sitting outside of any door to 'mark' it as his had been? That was a little strange...
"Do you know which of these rooms is your own?" he couldn't help but ask out of curiosity, brows furrowed slightly in a rather.... troubled thoughtfulness.
Funny how a normally awkward situation could turn out so peculiarly tranquil, really, but after all of the trials and tribulations they'd been through together (and all of the things they'd already 'seen'), there was no reason, for Shae at least, to bother making a big deal out of it.
No need to ruin the peace they probably wouldn't be getting again any time soon.
"... I'm well enough," she finally responded, but there was a little pause as she quietly contemplated amending the statement. Really, was that true?...
"I just... can't shake an uncertain feeling from all of this, I suppose," she added a little less audibly. "I-I'm sure it's just the nostalgia playing on my nerves, but..." s**t, what was she going to follow that with? Had she been going to follow it with something? "... I don't know."
That was pretty hard to fess up to, but sadly true; she really didn't know what it was, or if it was worth brooding over, or if she was 'feeling better' at all. This kind of anxiety wasn't something she usually experienced, even when cautious about a situation. It didn't feel right.
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Posted: Sat Nov 29, 2008 7:27 pm
Well how nice of him to doubt his little kitten on such a matter! It's not like she hadn't asked for help or anything. In fact, she'd probably gotten more lost on directions she'd been given than her own willpower!
She seemed to be waiting to be pointed out to whatever room it was that hadn't been claimed in the hallway by one of the others in their little troup, before Yossarian made his inquiry, looking up at him with a pleasantly puzzled expression of 'Huh?'
".... No... I haven't been down this hall before you found me."
Oh yes, she'd only been roaming the house far more than finding her own 'living quarters' given the situation. Why was he asking?
"Why? Should I ask one of the maids?"
No, Aster. They'd point you down a hall and you'd never return to the world of the living.
They both were almost casually blissful, unfortunately. Almost.
Okay, neither of them were ever 'blissful', frankly. They were just a pain in the 'romantic' a** and were nowhere near a 'functional' couple like whatever dieties were trying to pair them up together would have wanted. Perhaps better for them in the given situation.
"You're not the only one who has ill feelings about this place. Perhaps we should spend the day out of here tomorrow."
Ooooh, yes. The less time they were trapped inside, the less time they'd be going "RAWWWRRRR" and being slowly driven insane by whatever source it was slowly driving them up a tree.
And yes... 'we'. Kanda was far too accomodating, frankly.
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Posted: Sat Nov 29, 2008 9:15 pm
... Yes, Aster, go and ask the same people who LED YOU ALL THE WAY TO THE DARK RECESSES OF THE MANOR TO WANDER AIMLESSLY 'TIL YOU DROPPED DEAD. Because that was a really AWESOME idea that needed executing.
Even Yossarian (who, again, didn't know the true malice of his unintentional fan club) didn't like the sound of that, making a slight face as if he'd just tasted a very bitter, sour, and thoroughly unpleasant wedge of lemon.
"No, you shouldn't," he shut her down immediately, shaking his head and giving each door a scrutinizing look. Hmm, well, he could only assume they had all been shoved into more or less the same vicinity, sooo... yes, time to shuffle over to the door beside his own, give it a testing knock and, when there came no response from the would-be whoever-the-hell inside, shove it open.
No Asterbag to be found, but there were clean floors and untouched bed sheets, so he assumed it was free.
"This should be an adequate accommodation for now." Er, well, so he thought, giving her a little sideward look. "... Shouldn't it?"
But it was as close to blissful as they could really get in a sense, seeing as neither Shae nor Kanda were stupid enough to let their guard down entirely or put a justifiable concern out of their heads for the sake of happiness. At least the physical tension was being leeched out of their systems by the all the nearly scalding water?
"I think... that might be preferable, Sir..." And she was all for his suggestion, too. Sitting around inside all day would do her absolutely no good...
The frigid cold would be much more tolerable with good company. Definitely a worthy tradeoff, given the alternative.
"And we have several days to keep ourselves occupied before this... party... the master and mistress want us to attend, so... I'm sure it couldn't hurt to get out a little in the meanwhile..." Yes, and they wouldn't be missed, right? It wasn't as if the two would be coerced into ridiculous etiquette retraining after just one day... not with far more 'desirable' grandchildren (puppies?) to dote over like Aster and Yossarian, anyway.
"... All of this, it... it probably doesn't mean anything significant, does it?"
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Posted: Sat Nov 29, 2008 9:48 pm
Well how would she ever find her bag if she didn't ask anyways? Besides, the maids would have never been 'nice' enough to put their quarters right next door to one another. Perhaps they'd been planning to just have her sleep in the hall?
..
....
....
She'd suffered worse, unfortunately.
"I... guess this will work until someone else walks in and gets mad at me for being in their room....." she replied, releasingh is arm and wandering over to the bed, flinging herself on it....
...
and into it...
..
...
..
Still sinking......
Okay, so it was 'a date' or whatever that would be wrapped up as? Certainly neither of them needed to brush up on their 'etiquette' (or rather Shae didn't.. Kanda was the one who hadn't excused himself from the table) anytime soon, right?
He was a good enough 'aristocrat' by blood anyways.
Push come to shove he'd just brood and be unobtainable for a time and make girls want him without having to converse. How was this beneficial? He had no idea, frankly. He'd just pretend it would solve the problem.
"It will be better for both of us, I think."
He gave her question some time for deep thought while he sunk further into the tub, folding his arms all philosophically. Ooooooh, Kanda could think!!
"I would like to think that it is mere cooincidence."
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Posted: Sat Nov 29, 2008 11:03 pm
Oh, for the love of--
... Dammit, wasn't this the point when she should've been rejoicing or something? She wasn't going to die wandering the halls anymore and she had a damn room (which, for the record, he was 99% sure had NO FORMER OCCUPANT), so... seriously, what was the holdup?
Watching her sulk and sink just led (inevitably) to more frowns, standing there in the doorway and honestly not sure what the hell he was supposed to do. Had she been expecting something else from him, really? Then what? Surely, not to sh-- ..............
Oh god, that was just it, wasn't it?
"... Look." Oooh how he wanted to do one of those long woeful sigh things right then, but instead, he just went over to a door on the side of the wall and shoved it open, "if I'm not mistaken, these two rooms are connected via a... bathing facility... and I'll leave the passageway between them open in case of significant issue, alright?"
See? THERE. PROBLEM SOLVED. They could have their cake (space) and eat (enjoy) it too... or so his mind asserted.
'I would like to think' ... Okay, that definitely wasn't a definite of any kind, but again, near as close as they could get to it without being stupid, so... yes, it'd have to do.
"Coincidence... right, right..."
With nothing better to placate the (siiigh, still lingering) feelings of unease, though, and her muscles starting to shift from forcibly relaxed to overwarmed and borderline gelatin, it was time to lean over and grab one of her fluffy towels, not even bothering to stop and check for anyone 'watching' (he never had and never would) before getting out to sit on the edge and go about drying off.
Mm, if there was one advantage to the lack of fur, it was the lack of water retention.
She probably would've traded it for the warmth of a decent self-grown coat in these frigid conditions, though.
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Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2008 8:30 am
STILL SINKING!
Really, it's not like she'd been trying to look like a fit of woe, she'd just.... kinda gotten stuck in the mattress, one arm flailing helplessly before she eventually managed to pry herself out of it. PANTWHEEZEAIROHGOD. Really, were rich people immune to smothering in a way she'd never be?
Because that mattress had nearly been the end of her!
But it seemed she'd prevented her oncoming death in time for Yossarian to sigh and make his attempt to appease her from her sadfacing. Too bad he was getting the slightly wrong impression. Certainly she wouldn't mind sneaking over to purr on him or whatever...
...
.....
But not the causes of her sadfaces, really. She did force a smile for him though. There, all was good and well, right?
"Well that'll be convenient."
And now it sounded as though Shae was getting up to leave. Not that Kanda minded much. If she wanted 'her' space, he'd allow her it. For now he'd just remain there in the water, waiting for his body to slowly relax into a point where he'd feel less-than-secure in the tenseness of his muscles for the next two days.
..
....
Yes. That'd do a perfectly suitable job, he thought.
"If you're ever feeling insecure in this place, you can always come and confide in me." AKA I DON'T CARE IF YOU COME CURL UP WITH ME AT TWO IN THE MORNING.
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Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2008 12:08 pm
... Oh. OH, she'd been drowning in the mattress more than wibbling, right! Now that made a bit more sense as he recalled just how ungodly squishy all their beds probably were... but at least she'd managed to save herself without his assistance (being choked to death by down feathers would've been a faildeath to top them all), so it was well enough.
If the forced undertones of her smile got to him, he didn't really show it, appeased enough to restrain any comments and force a nod right back at her.
"I pray it should be," he remarked flatly, for lack of anything better, really... and with that, it was probably time to make a retreat through their new inter-room passageway to his own quarters for more idle nothingness and maybe a bit or rest-- ...
But no, wait, one last thing first.
"And if the situation is less than dire..." Oooh, he'd probably regret this, but... "visitation is... still permissible."
Yes, he'd given in to the same pathetic sensitivity trap and probably just okayed getting woken up with purring of DOOM at god-awful hours of the night, but oh well. That just gave him more incentive to get in some sleep before it happened (assuming his own bed didn't smother him in the ni-- ... evening? night).
Awww, what sweet offers on both ends, really-- and sure enough, the eavesdropping peanut gallery was already working itself into a quiet frenzy about the absolutely dreadful implications of some scraggly half-breed girl going to seduce their favorite tabby-striped eye candy like a little HUSSY at midnight--
Though Shae (naturally) wasn't planning anything of the sort, just content to accept the reassurance of having somewhere (or someone) to go to if she did eventually hit critical mass in the anxiety department.
"... I know, Sir. Thank you." She was a lucky little mercenary to have such a good partner in crime, and she knew it.
"Enjoy your soak," she added pleasantly, a nice, benign little goodbye before she threw a second towel over her shoulders (the air would be a bit cold once she got back to her room, she figured) and made a quiet exit, figuring it best to leave the little 'in-between' door cracked so room access could go either way.
Now, to just find her bag and-- ......
Where was her bag, again? Hadn't she just set it beside her bed? Del couldn't have possibly carried it off (... and the little golem was nestled on her pillow), so...
.......................
Dammit.
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Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2008 3:01 pm
Eh, at least she was being mostly compliant and pleasant and even forcing a smile despite the fact she probably would have rather gotten a hug or something than for him to leave. Sniffsniffcomeback! Only without the whining for his return.
Ah ha ha.
Awwwwwwww, he said she could come visit. Heart heart ooze affections. Hopefully that bathroom walkway wouldn't become a 'Maids enter heer and maul Asterkitten to death' path. That would have been a faildeath as well, unfortunately.
Faildeaths were....
...
Well, fail.
And then he was alone. Which was actually less pleasant than having company of the opposite gender in there with him. But perhaps less scandalous on this part. Better that nobody got killed over the company fun, right?
Right.
He only remained in there for a few minutes longer, to wash his hair, before he seized a towel and his pants to return to his room. Oooh, he certainly hadn't checked for peep-holes, so who knew if he was being spied on or not!
...
....
Dirty maids. D<
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