ariescantus | Maylene/Ronald Drabbles

1.sunrise

It was still dark when Maylene awoke, reaching for her glasses. Her eyes adjusted instatnly to the blurred view, and she slipped quietly out of bed. The halls of the mansion were mostly dark, but a candleabra burned here and there making enough light for her to see as she padded her way toward the kitchen where the light was on. Peeking in she saw Sebastian preparing the morning's breakfast, even though it should have been Bardroy's job. Sebastian did a lot of things for them that should have been their jobs. It was one of the things that made him so wonderful.

She debated with herself for a moment whether or not she should approach him and in the end decided against it. She didn't want to disturb the strange calm the mansion had for once. So she walked past the kitchen, not noticing that the butler looked after her with a secretive smile on his face.

Making her way through the rest of the house was always a bit of a task. This morning however she only bumped into three things, and nothing was knocked over. It was almost a personal record. She stepped outside, into the early morning. It was early summer, so it was chilly, but not cold, even in her nightclothes. Maylene squinted up at the sky through her glasses. There was the barest hint of light forming. It was almost sunrise. Maylene liked the stillness of dawn's twilight, rather than that of the night. There was something peaceful about it

Climbing the wall surrounding the estate (with some minor difficulty), she sat with her legs over the edge watching the sky.

- - -

Ronald sighed as he went over the man's cinematic record. He was nothing special, as most people were. Another shady man, who didn't know what he was getting himself into, and making deals in the middle of the night in the woods. He was going to have to talk to William about these nightshifts. They were really something theat Grell-senpai was more suited for. He usually had plans, then would crash. Grell, at least, liked working nights.

Ronald was sure he was being punished for his failure aboard the ship. He wanted to point out that it had been the fault of that boy and his demon, and all of their failures recently had been their fault, but that would have put the boss in a worse mood. At the very least he wasn't working overtime. Just nights. Almost as bad.

Deciding that this poor man did indeed deserve to die, he marked it down and finished extracting the soul. Opening his appointment book, he was pleased to not that this man was his last appointment for the night so he was free to go home. He pumped his fist in excitement and headed for the exit of the woods with a slight spring in his step. His watch told him that he would be clocking out early tonight, which meant extra sleep. The paperwork could be put off until tomorrow.

- - -
It wasn't the footsteps that caught her attention first, or the humming, even though she should have heard them. It was the singing, and it nearly sent her tumbling backward off the wall. Seeing as the sun had not yet risen there was no chance of it being Finny or Bardroy. Not to mention the singing was coming from outside the mansion parameters, not within.

Maylene clutched at the wall to keep her balance and turned her gaze in the direction the singing was coming from. Moments later a young looking man was ambling along, singing an unknown song to himself. It was funny to find an unknown man out here, especially at such an hour. She pulled her glasses away for a slightly better look and immediately put them back on blushing. He certainly wasn't bad looking. And he had a sense of familiarity about him that she couldn't quite place. She was sure she'd remember someone that handesome however. She remembered most of the handsome people she'd met, she kept a journal under her bed. Yet, she still couldn't quite place it.

"Top of the morning to you."

She shreaked and nearly fell off the well again. "H-hello! Good mornin'!"

"Whoa, careful there. Wouldn't do, would it, for a lovely lady to fall to her death."

Her face felt even more heated at that last remark. She was sure there was probably steam coming out of her ears. The last man to call her a 'lovely lady' had been a drunkard in a tavern.

"Though should you really be out in your nightclothes, Miss." He looked off to the side as he said it, as if he knew he shouldn't have.

He shouldn't have. Maylene was certain her face was on fire now and she reacted without thinking about it. "Who are you to comment on what girl wears, huh? How d'you even know these are my nightclothes!?"

"Oi, oi. My sincerest apologies. I certainly didn't mean to insult you."

He looked up at her more fully this time, and it suddenly hit her, where she had seen him before. "You were that guy from the docks, when we were seeing the young master off!"

"Huh.." He rubbed at his chin thoughtfully and then broke into a grin. "I owe you tea don't I?"

"I... Uh, well... Um... I have duties I need to get back to! Get to!"

The man pouted a little, but let it slide into a smile. "I see then. Well I'll have to look you once the sun's come up sometime."

"And how d'you think you're gonna find me."

His smile was mysterious this time. "Oh I have my ways."

With a wave he was gone leaving Maylene's heart pounding and cheeks burning. She hadn't actually gotten back to her duties until Sebatian came to find her in a fit of irritation, ordering her to get changed and start with the chores. Maylene did so with a bounce in her step.

2.broken

It was a mistake to send her shopping. Everyone knew it, and yet Sebastian had done it anyway. It seemed he and the young master had somewhere very important to be very suddenly, and she'd broken nearly an entire china set this morning, while trying to get the table set for breakfast. So it needed to be replaced, and no one else was available to go shopping. Unfortunately for the young earl, it would probably cost him more for the shopping trip then to replace the dishware.

Maylene was attempting to point out to the shop keeper that she wanted this specific set of plates over here sir, and when she turned to show him the shelf she meant her skirt knocked into a table display sending plates and bowls toppling over in all directions. With a cry she tried to scoop up as many as she could before they shattered all over the floor, but she didn't have Sebastian's reflexes, and he wasn't here. She squinched her eyes shut preparing for the horrendous crash, and.... it never came.

After what she was sure was an entire minute she carefully opened one eye to peek at what cold possibly have stopped that mess. Had the spirits finally heeded her prayers? No, it seemed there was a man holding several plates in one hand, bowls in the other, and a cup balanced on one foot. Why, he was just as good as Sebastian, he was!

"You all right there, Miss?" he asked, slowly lowering his foot to the ground and lightly depositing the cup, then kicking the table back into an upright position to set the rest of the china down.

"Uh... um Fine! I'm completely fine! Thank you so much for catching all those! I really can't thank you enough. I am so sorry, sir! So, so, so sorry. Anything that's broken I will certainly pay for!" She was bowing repeatedly to the man who had saved her and the shop keeper who looked positively shocked. Maylene didn't realize that the man's super human reflexes were out of the ordinary, she was used to seeing things like that every day.

"Thankfully nothing is broke Miss." The man told her cheerfuly and she finally stopped bowing long enough to glance up and recognize him.

He was the man from the docks, the one who had been outside the Manor the other morning. Getting a closer look now he was even more handsome than before. If she could see correctly, which she might not because of her glasses, it looked like his eyes were a peculiar shade of green behind those thick telltale glasses. His smile was just as charming as she remembered it.

"Ah! You again!" she exclaimed.

"Huh? Oh hey! The lady from the docks." His smile grew, and he rested his chin in his hand to give her a long look. "Care for some tea today?"

Her cheeks flamed and she struggled to give him an answer. "I-Well-You see... It's hardly tea time, it's still mornin' after all. And I still have to get this china back to the young master before he returns home or Sebastian'll have my head!"

He laughed. "You're young master is certainly lucky to have such a hard worker as you around."

Maylene shook her head frantically. "Oh no! No, no, no! I'm just a clumsy maid. I'm lucky the young master keeps me around at all! Really he should 'ave fired me long ago. I thank my blessing everyday I work for him."

His smile softened a little. "At this rate I'm never going to get to thank you. Hmm."

"It's not as if I really need thanks. All I did was tell you where the second class boarding was."

It was his turn to shake his head. "You saved my skin there! I had to be on that ship, and I was nearly late as it was. They were pullng up the walkway as I was walking up it! Man, I don't want to imagine what would have happnened had I not made it." He took a moment to shudder. "I simply must thank you."

"I... Well I'll ask Mr.Sebastian for some time off then. He's pretty strict though... How should I contact you?" Maylene was fidgeting with the folds of her dress. She wasn't sure how to deal with such a forward man.

"I'll find you." He winked and turned to walk away, pausing in the doorway, "Oi, what's your name?"

"M-Maylene!"

"Pretty. I'm Ronald Knox."

With that he was out the door leaving her star struck and bright red. She returned home without purchasing the dishes she was supposed to and Sebastian gave her real good lecture, but she hardly heard it.