“ BATTER UP ! ”

           “GAH!”

He’s clearly horrified by the result, as meaningless as it is. While not exactly one to obsessively primp and preen his appearance, this kind of thing hurt no matter who you were, right?

            “Izzit that bad? Should I change somethin’? I dunno even where to start, Master Attendant ‘m sorry!”

* random act prompts

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          “So... Cricket practice wasn’t what you meant when you said you wanted to ‘train’?”

Chalk him up as disappointed and just a little afraid, eyes flicking nervously back to the whip coiled in her hand. Clinging to the handle of his own bat, Eton let out a nervous laugh before taking a single step backwards. 

          “Wait, wait, wait! If we’re gonna spar or somethin’, can’t we do it without the weapons? Uh. I mean. Hang on a sec... that’s still no good.”  

Would Master Attendant really be so upset?

She was quiet for a moment, the question actually confusing her almost as much as the thought of such things confused Eton. Slowly, she nodded, her dark features becoming a ghostly pale at the thought.

     “I-If worse comes to worse th-though, we’ll t-t-tell him I did it okay? Y-you haven’t b-been here very long…you don’t d-d-deserve that…”

Her voice was quiet during her last sentence, as though she didn’t want him to her it. Subconsciously, her hand moved to the bandage on her cheek. Eton was new to Master Attendant, so while perhaps he hadn’t shown all his cards, that could change the moment it became apparent that there was a problem, if there was one at all.

Eton was a magic food soul, helpful during battle and actually able to fight rather than just stand in the background. It was no wonder Jae-seung had yet to do anything to the extent of which Pink and the other’s got on a daily.

Quickly taking her hand away from his cheek, as well as her own, it was as if she was startled by the very thought of just- touching. As though that, too, would get her in trouble.

Eton was new.       But he was her friend.             And in her mind, that may have been what caused this bit of bad luck.

          “But you didn’t do it.” 

Gosh, this conversation was a confusing one for him. First Pink was saying Master Attendant would be really mad, and now she was trying to pin the blame on herself? It made no sense! Eton didn’t know what could be so bad about an honest mistake, but it was clear to him that the other food soul was afraid of what the outcome may be, for some reason.

         “I dunno what I don’t deserve, but I’m sure you don’t either.” 

“Nah, that’s usually called Chef’s Special or something.  You know, when they’re just trying to get rid of the scraps left in the kitchen?” Peanut Butter wasn’t always the best choice for chef, is probably the lesson to learn here.

          “That doesn’t sound quite as fun. Though I’m sure it’s awfully economic, what with the savin’s on ingredients an’ all.”

Scrap soup, chef’s special, same thing apparently. Eton might have even tried it, were he not so afraid of what the outcome may be. 

     “N-no, it’s fine, really. I’m more worried about y-you here than anything!” She spoke quickly, grabbing a wet cloth and starting to clean him up a bit, not really asking if he wanted her to or not. It was obviously a mishap, Eton didn’t need to explain himself. Not to Pink at least. After all, she’d seen her fair share of messes.

As soon as she had at least partly cleaned Eton up, she turned her attention back to the mess he’d made. Such things had become common place for the food soul and she took to cleaning as quickly as if she were a machine made specifically for such a purpose.

Within moments the mess with cleaned and she was fitting the blender with a new set of ingredients to remake what her companion had messed up. It was as though she had no regard for the other’s presence, at least, until she was done. Finally finished, she turned back to the other and put a hand on his cheek nervously, inspecting him.

     “Y-you should get cleaned up. A-and I won’t tell Master Attendant, o-okay? G-goodness if he found out you’d be in s-so much trouble…”

Worried about him? Well, he’d really hate to be a bother! Unable to even react, Eton could only stand there as Pink fussed about with the damp cloth attempting to mop up some of that pineapple smoothie explosion from his skin and clothes.

          “I-I think--!”

I think I can handle things, is what he would have liked to say, but he quickly cut himself off as the other food soul made it her business to clean up after his chaotic recipe experiment. Not that it mattered much either way. From the way she hastily tidied about, it felt as though he wasn’t going to hear another word from her until she had finished. 

Once she had, Eton went to try and at least thank her, but he stopped again as her hand touched his cheek, prompting a soft sound of confusion and a tilted head, instead.

          “You sound nervous,” he observed, clearly curious and a little confused. “It’s not as if I set fire to the whole kitchen, right? Would Master Attendant really be so upset?” 

Still on his feet, Eton was leaning against the wall as the last of the customers trickled out one by one, his eyelids growing unbearably heavy. Zoning out of the world around him, he only barely managed to pick up on a voice from nearby yet was too tired to properly decipher what they were even saying. Assuming it was about his current sleepy stance, Eton waved a hand dismissively; an assurance that he was perfectly fine despite how he looked.

          “No, no... ‘m still good. I can keep workin’. You need me to help?” 

          “I can help! I really can!” 

Making himself useful was the least he could possibly do for his Master Attendant, so the moment he picked up on (read as: overheard) plans of an outing, Eton Mess was quick to voluntarily throw himself into the fray; apparently not caring whether said plans involved danger or a simple delivery. 

Sitting upright in his seat, Eton threw his hand into the air like a student desperate to solve a problem, fingers waggling for maximum effect. 

          “Master Attendant! You’ll let me come with you too, won’t you?” 

The small girl had been set on cleaning, as was often her job when other’s were in the kitchen or serving. It was a menial task, but sometimes demeaning based on what exactly was going on- and if Jae-seung was there at all. 

Though she was working hard, she didn’t fail to notice Eton out of the corner of her eye. Or the fact that he looked disastrously dirty. And that, in itself, would get him in trouble if the Master Attendant were to see it.

Pink put her cleaning supplies up quickly and headed into the kitchen with them, knowing full well that there would be a mess from whatever had happened in the short time she’d been out of the kitchen.

This is a mess. The biggest mess I’ve seen and I make most of the messes in the kitchen.

     “A-are you okay…? You didn’t h-h-hurt yourself when this happened, d-d-did you?”

Oh dear, how worried she looked all of a sudden! Eton didn’t quite understand the reason why -- he was perfectly fine, after all! -- though it was the reaction of the Master Attendant he wasn’t taking into consideration here. Perhaps he was more naive for thinking all would be well, if he simply explained his mishap with a sincere apology. 

          “Haha! There was no harm done. Ah, unless you count the pineapple I ruined to make this,” he joked, pulling at the bottom of his sweater so he could properly see the smoothie-soaked fabric with a meek smile. “Then there’s no hope for it. The fruit was a goner.” 

Letting go of his sweater, Eton licked at the pads of his fingers to rid them of the stickiness of the ingredients before turning his attention back to the pink-haired food soul who had apparently already taken it upon herself to grab some cleaning supplies. 

The list of things needed for the next airship finally arrived for Cardia, and she was making sure to look through it and prepare the ingredients and dishes. Right now, she needed to make sure that things would be done by the time it will arrive next. The Master Attendant was simply analyzing the list with such a serious expression that you would think she was looking at some serious recommendation letter or some medical analysis. Thankfully, the one who got her out of her daze was none other than Eton Mess, one of the precious Food Souls that she was honored to summon. 

     “Ah, Eton Mess. It’s just a list of things we need for the airship. Business documents, requirements. How are you doing?”   Master Attendant inquired immediately as she settled down the documents, thinking that the other would find them boring. She switched her attention to the Food Soul with ease, already almost finished with the memorization of that list. Cardia also needed to remember to visit Victor these days. A medical examination was critical in her life as well despite Horologium not being as toxic as before.

Good! His Master Attendant was paying attention to him! That alone was enough to bring a smile to the food soul’s face, hands clasping behind his back as he stood up straighter in a more relaxed stance. Raspberry pink eyes glancing from the woman to the documents laid out before her, Eton let out a low hum as he tilted his head in thought. 

          “Anything I can help with? It’s been awfully dull today you know! Though I suppose that’s bound to happen from time to time...”