Ashbourne Estates (game thread)

[GargantuaBlarg]

Re: Ashbourne Estates (game thread)

Peaches sat where she was, looking at the doctor with a confused expression on her face. The last of her cake disappeared into her mouth as she stared, and she licked the tips of her fingers free of any crumbs. Whatever the doctor was talking about, she didn't understand a lick of it.

She briefly wondered if it was alright to let someone that talked nonsense take care of the Lady... but dismissed the thought. Danielle had said she was in service here for two years... it was a reasonable bet she was familiar enough with the doctor to trust her, especially compared to her, who'd just come to the manor. Oh well, she thought, shrugging and turning back to grab another cake. She supposed educated people could be indecipherable like that - wasn't education more or less the skill of making sense out of an indecipherable mess, anyway? She supposed they got used to things like that.

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Ashbourne Estates (game thread)

"Speaking in riddles, eh, doctor?" Elaina said, not looking at Remey but rather focusing on the kettle of water, which she deftly removed from the stove top just before it began to hiss. She then poured the water into another specialized kettle with tea leaves already inside and let it steep.

"I prescribe tea for that symptom."

Turning she brought a tray of tea cups and a small pot of sugar over to the table where the other maids had gathered. Then she walked back and brought the tea kettle to the table.

"As for what I intend to do with my free time, I suppose I'll unpack my things in the bedroom and then explore this mansion and maybe the outdoors a little more. I intend to find a suitable training ground for my exercises. After that, hmm, I don't know. Perhaps we'll find some suitable group activities to satisfy our boredom."

When the tea had steeped for long enough, she poured for the others, serving herself last.

 

[Skull_Man]

Re: Ashbourne Estates (game thread)

Jessara followed the other maid, content with the silent praise of her work, this is what she preferred a silent help, to be ignored and be allowed to do her work, still the thought of sweet cakes did draw her thoughts, settling down she began to cautiously eat her cake, watching Elaina start to make tea, excited inside for such a treat.

The doctor spoke sending shivers up her spine. She tired to move as little as possible, thankful when the other girl engaged the woman in conversation. Why did the Doctor make her feel like this, it was like she could read her mind. Desperately she wished she could shrink disappear.

 

[Incubus]

Re: Ashbourne Estates (game thread)

The doctor accepts the tea with a slight nod of the head. "I won't guarantee your prescribed treatment will work. You should leave such things to the professionals,” she answers with a slight smile, sipping slowly at the hot tea. ”Yes… I imagine Danielle is off somewhere on free time,” she adds to Sabine’s question but something of the whimsical smile the doctor had suggested she knew more than she was revealing.

”Still, I fear I must be off soon, if people are to be unpacking and the like, I would hate to be in the way. My duties are done, for now, after all,” she says somewhat apologetically after a moment, although her tone did not quite match her words. ”The last bunch was far more interesting,” she adds offhandedly, with another mischievous smile.

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Ashbourne Estates (game thread)

"And in what manner were they more interesting, Miss Remey?" Elaina asked the doctor, whilst sipping from her own cup of tea. She did not doubt that Remey was up to some sort of game, waltzing in here and teasing the maids as she was. What was she expecting from them on their first day in this mansion? And what gave her the right to expect anything at all from them? They were not her servants.

Frankly, Elaina did not care at this moment where Danielle took her free time or if the doctor knew about it or not. The house was to be kept silent when the mistress was sleeping, so Elaina doubted how much 'fun' would be allowed in such a place and at such a time.

Wistfully, Elaina began to think about riding through fields and over wooded paths on horseback. Riding and dueling had been her two favorite pastimes. Nothing was quite so nice as working up a sweat. She even enjoyed swimming, when she could get the chance, but she did not know if there were a pond or lake nearby where such an activity could be allowed. Nor did she expect to have THAT much free time. She sighed inwardly as she waited the doctor's response.

 

[GargantuaBlarg]

Re: Ashbourne Estates (game thread)

The doctor's mention of a "last group" gave Peaches pause. She didn't like the implication that she might be thrown out of here in the near future... after all, even if the food wasn't that great all the time, the lifelong problem of her "unique perfume" had practically vanished since she came here. She just couldn't bear to have it return again...

She turned in her seat to the Doctor, the half-eaten cake in her hand lowering to the table in front of her. "'Last group'? What, what happened to them? Does Lady Ashbourne do this often, or something? ...Why just us five?"

 

[wallpaper]

Re: Ashbourne Estates (game thread)

Though Sabine did not reply, she turned her attention from the doctor to the girls, and back again, listening intently. She had not been aware that their coming together all at once was strange... though now that she saw Peaches fretting, she did have to wonder. It was difficult to speculate without further evidence, though the pale-haired construct suspected that, if nothing else, the state of the mansion might attest to the reason that the last batch had unanimously been let go. The place looked as though it had been allowed to fall into disarray... and given their jobs, and the ease with which it took to do each task, Sabine couldn't imagine what the other girls had been up to that would leave such a mess.

She re-folded her hands sedately in her lap, head tilted slightly as she cast her unnervingly flat gaze in Remey's direction.

 

[Unknown Squid]

Re: Ashbourne Estates (game thread)

Ellen accepts and pours herself a cup of tea readily, decent tea happening to be another one of the things that had been a rarity for her to get in the family household. The life of a servant continued to seem rather luxurious in the simple girls experience of things. She did also wonder about the current topic, of what happened to the previous staff, but didn't worry herself much over it. "I dunno about the last bunch, but I'd rather stay here. Cakes, tea and meat broth. I never got that for helping with the laundry back home I can tell you. I'm going to be the best maid." She says with a grin. "And with the money from this I can even finally afford some more powder for my musket!" sipping at her tea again and plucking up another sweet cake before the last of them are gone.

 

[wallpaper]

Re: Ashbourne Estates (game thread)

((Blue has asked someone to sub in for Incubus while he is away, so I'm moving this thread into free-time zone! I'm not going to nudge things forward into further plot-centric events, but if you guys want to take the chance to get to know one another, now is a good time to go nuts. I'll be keeping an eye on any seductions/fights/stress explosions, etc. as they come up, if necessary. If there is anything in particular that you'd like to see happen while we take this interlude, please either PM me or drop a note in the OOC discussion area.))

"That," the doctor replied to their barrage of questions, "is something that I may answer tomorrow." She set her cup down on the counter, dusting down the front of her pants smartly as she stood. "Good day, ladies. I can see myself out." Gathering up her bag, she quirked a wry grin to the group as a whole before sauntering out of the kitchen.

If any of the maids attempted to follow the woman, they would find that she did indeed do as she had suggested, skipping down the front steps at an oddly jaunty trot, eventually disappearing through the gates at the front of the manor.

It looked as though, now that they had no guests to entertain, the girls really were left to their own devices.

---

Sabine glanced between the four young women, still curious about their predecessors, but with an eye for what to do with the next hour or three open, as well. "Time to unpack?" she finally asked, rising to her feet and smoothing out her skirt.

((And, in the event that you would like a refresher of the mansion's rooms, the floorplan can be found here!))

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Ashbourne Estates (game thread)

Sipping the last of her tea, Elaina nodded to the newcomer maid, Sabine. "Yes, time to unpack... and then I think I might go out to the grounds and walk around the boundaries of the estate, just to get myself a little more familiar with our new home. Anyone is welcome to join me."

Elaina eventually went back to the servants quarters and unpacked her things. She'd only be able to take a very few keepsakes from her previous life and nothing that would out her as a member of the Whitefield family. She made do with a few favorite books, a locket her mother had given to her, and her gift of tiger-claw weapons handed down to her by her martial arts instructor in the army. Besides that, it was very much the bare necessities. Putting everything in order, Elaina stood by the back door and waited to see if anyone else had planned on joining her. If not, she would take a walk by herself, as the exercise would do her good, and the nature would let her clear her mind.

 

[Skull_Man]

Re: Ashbourne Estates (game thread)

Jessara stands, still only half done her sweet cake, speaking to Elaina she says "I would like to join you, I've wanted to see the grounds too." Her voice is soft but steady. Brushing the wrinkles from her dress she moves towards the other girl, ready to follow her around. She watches the other girls eat and chat and wonders if it will be alright for her to do this, hoping she doesn't get in trouble for it