divine servant

‘ there’s a party? ‘ he asked simply, white brows rising just so. he’d not known of such a thing. the only thing he was certain of was that there were far too many spirits here and it was incredibly difficult for him to even find how to get to his room, so the notion of a party was lost on him. and, now, he’d begun to feel a bit guilty, pulling her away from the few moments she might have had to finish her meal all to help him find his room. it didn’t sit well with him and when she could spare a moment, he decided he might treat her to another meal. after all, if he was to deprive of such a thing, he ought to offer her another. for the moment, white ears merely shifted forward and as he looked down at her, he gave a small shake of his head. ‘ i’d not known there was a party. though, i’m not one for celebrations of any kind. i prefer quietude. ‘

whilst in the midst of being PUSHED, more so attempted, seeing how their height difference made it quite difficult to make any leeway without moving himself && what not. his eyes began to travel and gaze at his surrounding area, the sun had already begun setting, what only seemed moments ago that the sun shone ever so BRILLIANTLY across the land. now absent, and darkness spreading all throughout the town, actually, it wasn’t only the night closing in. but, dark spots and materializing from the air, wasn’t a result of a day ending. no no, THIS WAS ANYTHING BUT, NORMAL. ❞ hey, hold on, quit pushing me! ❞ he stands up straight and begins looking around stalls and the establishment. this had to be a joke, this couldn’t be real, no way. ❞ ….what the hell is going on, explain. ❞

                                   when the black screen lifts rin’s face is there, talking to him while lorna looks pensive, cheek resting on rin’s shoulder. he can’t stop the indignant squawk that leaves him.  ` i was on a SHIP a few episodes ago !  being sailed away because i was BANISHED. how could i have – okay. `  breathe. bring it in. he’s on a quest. get to his love. so what if two people missed an important outfit design choice for the entirety of a season? not his problem.  ` you know what, doesn’t matter. the point of me trying to reach lance through the amulet is so i can tell him i’m coming to hortensia to save you all. `

silence. blink.   `  … uhm.  `   their two faces are unblinking on the glass ball, looking not at all impressed.    `  ...  nothing  to  say  to  that  ?  `

 ` what did he say ? `  on the other end of the line lorna’s looking at keith’s frozen face, his mouth open mid speech. not the best of places to freeze on. she sympathizes.   ` last i heard was him saying he was on a ship … `

           while he FREEZES, rin takes the time to carefully pluck a spider leg poking out from lorna’s hair. with their cushy new station as servants in hortensia and a special one hour bracket a week to bathe, finding bugs on each other has become something slightly more rare; rin balances the leg on the pad of her finger tip and holds it out to lorna with a “make a wish” as they wait for him to finish. 

"well, we know they’re on a ship. they’re pretty much the most popular one around.” to her mild observations, male-male relationships tend to take the gold no matter what -- if the popularity of the enchanted forest pub and the girls swarmed around it with their quills out ready to write fiction were anything to base the rankings off of. 

           lorna nods emphatically ,  shooting keith a smile.  ` oh yes, he had much of those !  almost got us in trouble with the guards, actually …… but no shiny red amulet !  it would greatly stand out, being a rather … clunky piece.  &  you know how prince lance loves to keep his neck visible !  says his collarbones are one of his best features. ` 

hearing this makes keith’s lips twist, unconvinced. in his peripheral he sees eunbi being chased by a unicorn,  &  ignores that.  

            `  …  no  …  he  definitely  had  it  on  him  ALL  THE  TIME  …  `

huh. lips an ‘ o ’, lorna looks at rin, then thinking quickly, covers the amulet with her palm to mouth, ‘ was he not there for the first season ? ’

          as ever, lorna makes good points about things rin wouldn’t have noticed as a simpler b-list character . . .  but even that fails to reach keith. when lorna supposes something plausible, rin frowns, digging a fist into her hip. “i don’t know...i’m not really sure what goes on during the other screen time.”  but whatever it is, it’s hopefully a decent amount, because anything would probably be preferable to a focus on eunbi singing about her push-up corsets or the hot milk maid from wednesday morning. “he came in at the end though, right?” 

regardless of when he joined the payroll, rin prefers to get to the point; she and lorna have reservations at that elite peasant pub that only gives you a stomachache for a record-breaking two days instead of four. gently, she uncovers the amulet, waving her hand. 

          keith blinks at the faces on the ruby surface – not the one face he expects.               `  why  do  you  have  lance’s  amulet ?  he  never  takes  it  off.   ` 

           ` he does not ? `  pressed at rin’s side, lorna’s eyes are practically saucers, flickering between the amulet, to rin, back & forth back & forth.  ` b – but … i could have sworn … & he has told me RED is NOT his color … `  

           “hah?” eyes narrow in judgment immediately after keith’s confusion, but rin nods to encourage lorna when she turns to her. “we were with lance at the border when he had to dump everything into the basket. that amulet definitely didn’t come up.”

           & that single comment is all it takes, lance springing up & getting all up in rin’s face, beaming, sparkles around him.  ` you really THINK SO !?!? NICE !! `  a fist pump – then, under his breath:  ` i knew it … `  validated, lance slinks back to his place on the cushions, practically glowing he’s so uplifted.  ` THIS is why you’re my favorite, rin. you have GOOD taste. why hasn’t yubaba given you a raise yet ? if i owned this place i’d have made you my second in command. `

         It was a bit of an understatement to say he had no idea where he was or how he’d ended up there; but it was what it was. The girl that addressed him, well, she didn’t seem to be the most understanding particularly, but at the very least she didn’t look like some type of other creature… so far. And she did take the time to talk to him, so the least he could do was take advantage of the situation to inquire how in the world he was to get back home; or if she had any idea how he’d gotten there in the first place.

“Certainly not,” His tone was dry. “Would you mind telling me what this place is? Where am I, exactly?” Where else to begin than the most obvious of questions, right? At least, that was all he could think of at the moment. It wasn’t as if he was actually curious about the bath house.

        this one’s got some attitude on him . . . but it’s not as if rin doesn’t respect the need to cut to the chase; in most cases ( this one included ) , she prefers it. he’s lucky to be in the big tub too, the aroma of old herbs and sludge caked on the edges doing wonders to cover up the prominent stench of HUMAN. “you’re in a bathhouse, in the spirit world.” it’s not as grand as introductions should go when someone enters a completely new realm, but she’s never been one to roll out parades, especially for those trespassing.

『 ah– good. she’d heard him. white ears shift atop his head as he neared the woman, all the better to hear her with in the horde of spirits, glad he could flag one of the employees down to get the help he so desparately needed. as he approached her, he offered a kind and hopeful smile and a slight bow out of respect. he knew she and the rest were likely busy, be it with breaks, assisting other guests, or tending to their cleaning duties, so he’d wanted to keep his time with her short. keeping her from the things she needed to do could possibly get her into some trouble, so with another dip of his head, he said, ‘ could you help me find my room? i got myself a bit lost. i’ve never been to this place before and i hadn’t been given any instruction as to how to get there. ‘ 』

    ❛  i’ll leave as soon as i find who i’m looking for.  ❜ he doesn’t promise he will leave before sundown. he was taught not to lie to adults and he doubts he’ll be able to keep such a promise. he MUST find his parents and nothing will sway him from his current path. deep down inside he just KNOWS he’s getting closer than he’s been to them in months. he can’t afford to lose them now. ❛  have you maybe ever heard of a SARIATU instead, miss? i’m sorry for bothering you but i REALLY have to find them.  ❜