"I'm… sorry about the mess, Marion."
The girl looked on quietly as the cluttered basement in a silent shock. Clothes were strewn around everywhere, a year's worth of news was tossed into the corner of the room and the sheets on the tiny mattress were pushed between it and the wall.
"I can… work with this."
In her hand she carried two large bags, secretly stolen from her mother's store, one filled with her clothes and the other with her essentials. She also held a few objects of her own in her pockets, including her stuffed animal which she had recently found out was called 'Sir Bear' according to her younger self. She placed them to the side before pointing towards the clothes and bed, looking at her friend with a menacing stare.
"You can clean up after yourself, right?"
He almost audibly gulped, then responded with a nod, immediately starting by picking up his dirty clothes while trying to place the sheets back onto the bed with only his right foot. Marion quickly paced towards the parchment, picking one month's worth of news to find that the ink on them had begun to blend into one another making them essentially worthless. After a moment of hesitation, she grabbed as many of the pieces of parchment as she could and quickly skipped up the stairs, doing her best to not let any of the ink drip onto the floor. She quickly opened the door to find three maids loitering around in the corridor, each holding a frayed looking sack. Before she could react, the youngest maid quickly ducked down and placed the sack underneath Marion, nodding towards her as if they had planned everything out. Marion quickly lowered the mess in her hands into the sack and the maid quickly paced down the corridor, turning the corner and out of sight. Another maid quickly grabbed Marion by the wrist and aggressively tugged her towards a wooden bucket which had been placed by the door filled with water.
"Wash."
Following the maid's order, she placed her hands in the lukewarm water, rinsing off the ink that had seeped onto her hands. Once she had confirmed that her hands were clean, Marion hovered her hands over the bucket, letting the water drip down back while she waited for herself to be dry. With a surprisingly smooth motion, the eldest maid held a towel under Marion's hands like she was offering a sacrifice to a god.
"Thank you."
Marion gave her a polite smile as she grabbed the towel, drying her hands while she prepared to go back down the stairs.
"No, thank you."
Marion turned, a little taken aback by the sudden switch from silent efficiency to appreciation. The eldest maid smiled despite her grumpy looking face, her wrinkles making her seem surprisingly comforting despite being a stranger.
"Did I… do something?"
"You managed to get him to clean up his room and you'll get him to keep doing it too, as long as you stay."
Marion glanced down the stairs towards the basement, glancing down the stairs to see the teenager frantically attempting to keep the discarded clothes in one large and confusing ball.
"I'll… try to keep Cenic in line."
"He usually only cleans up when there are young girls around, so it's mostly been just Celi."
The second maid plucked the towel out of Marion's hands and placed it into her sack with a cheeky grin on her face. She quietly came closer to Marion's ear, whispering into her ear.
"We're counting on you."
Without waiting for a response, the maid walked down the stairs, cracking her knuckles while leaving her sack on her shoulder. As Marion followed the maid with her eyes, she felt a presence pass behind her, followed by some murmuring to her side.
"Were you guys talking about me?"
"It's nothing you need to worry about."
Celi frowned for a moment before quickly skipping over to Marion and tapping her on the shoulder.
"Delivery! You're supposed to read this right away."
Marion had piece of fresh parchment pushed into her face, held out straight by the maid who struggled to keep the text at eye level. The teen quickly scanned through the message before gently placing a hand on Celi's hand, her smile souring slightly.
"I'm guessing this is how he's going to be talking to me from now on."
Celi nodded slightly before quickly scampering down the stairs, quickly disappearing out of sight. The oldest maid quietly approached Marion and placed her hand on the teenager's shoulder, a slight hint of glumness peeking out of the corners of her smile.
"Don't take it personally, darl. We all know you're a nice girl, but working his job is… tough, to say the least."
Marion forced out a smile, doing her best to reassure both the maid and herself that she would be okay.
"I know."
In the back of her mind, she reminded herself that she needed to do the best with what she had. You can never know when something in your life will be gone; or when it abandons you.