Erik (age 8)
- Ingenious Pilot -
not yet a manwhore
Posts: 165
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Post by Erik (age 8) on Jul 1, 2008 13:14:29 GMT -5
Erik crept through the house. He remembered the route to the tank, and the way he'd come in, but nothing else. The house was quiet in the early morning--until he heard some noise coming from what turned out to be the kitchen. He stood silently in the doorway, watching.
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Post by Professor Henry Jamison on Jul 1, 2008 13:57:24 GMT -5
**As Mrs. Waterbury**
Mrs. Waterbury bustled around the kitchen, clearing the mess from her employer's hasty tea, making her lists of chores and groceries, respectively, for the day, stirring the pot of porridge on the stove, checking the pastries, and digging in her apron pockets for her key ring in a whirlwind of highly-organized, chaotic-looking steps. She had been a housekeeper by profession for the past seven years, but she had been keeping house for nearly forty previously as a wife and mother. In short, she was a domestic champion who found working for her current employer to be more than a little dull. When he told her earlier in the morning that he had taken on an assistant, she had been relieved; a tray of tea for breakfast and supper with a sparse lunch in between left her bored and lolling about the house half the afternoon. Perhaps this new one would give her more to do with her day.
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Erik (age 8)
- Ingenious Pilot -
not yet a manwhore
Posts: 165
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Post by Erik (age 8) on Jul 1, 2008 14:13:23 GMT -5
She seemed so busy. Erik watched the flurry with interest, the smell of the pastry drawing him forward unconsciously into the room. He drifted closer, until he was a few feet from Mrs. Waterbury.
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Post by Professor Henry Jamison on Jul 1, 2008 14:24:31 GMT -5
She was so caught up in the bizarre rhythm she had worked out that Waterbury very nearly stumbled over the masked boy when she whirled about to stir the porridge again. She barely managed to stop herself from tripping onto him and had to grab the counter for support to stop her considerable momentum. She hadn't heard the slightest sound warning her of his approach--not even the telling creak that always sounded on the rickety back stair!
She must have been more caught up in her work than she'd thought.
"You must be Erik, then," she huffed, straightening up and adjusting her cap and apron, she cast a critical eye over the boy, careful not to stare at his mask as her employer had cautioned. However, she could not stop the startled gasp that slipped from her lips at another of the odd-looking child's notable features.
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Erik (age 8)
- Ingenious Pilot -
not yet a manwhore
Posts: 165
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Post by Erik (age 8) on Jul 1, 2008 17:03:38 GMT -5
Erik darted back out of her way and stood a few feet distant, unnaturally still. She was trying to hide it, but he could see her curiosity.
"I am," he said. There was a pause. "I did not mean to startle you."
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Post by Professor Henry Jamison on Jul 1, 2008 17:43:47 GMT -5
Mrs. Waterbury was sure it must be some kind of divine conspiracy. The boy was even scrawnier than the master; in fact, she'd never seen a thinner child in the entirety of her respectable years! Well, she was determined that this one would eat something. She shook her head and turned to the oven, opening it to check the pastries once more. "Never you mind, you just sneaked up on me is all. The master is always lurking about in that dungeon he's got under the house, and I'm accustomed to being all alone topside--ah, look, pastries are finished!"
She retrieved the peel from beside the oven and began lifting them out. "Why don't you take a seat at the table, Master Erik. I expect you'll be wanting some breakfast."
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Erik (age 8)
- Ingenious Pilot -
not yet a manwhore
Posts: 165
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Post by Erik (age 8) on Jul 1, 2008 18:03:02 GMT -5
Erik hesitated, wavering at the thought of being fed, like... like he belonged to somewhere. At the table. He feared it was some horrible trick. Perhaps an experiment, plotted by the professor, to see what he could do to a boy like Erik. He'd lure him in, dull his defenses, and then... and then...
Well, Erik couldn't think exactly what he'd do. But it would be bad.
Still, the smells wafting from the oven and the stove seemed to hypnotize him. All at once he realized he was starving, and with a speed that was almost lacking in his habitual grace, he was sitting patiently.
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Post by Professor Henry Jamison on Jul 1, 2008 18:20:15 GMT -5
Once the pastries were cooling on the racks, Mrs. Waterbury fetched a bowl and waddled over to the pot of porridge on the stove. "I hope you've an appetite this morning, Master Erik, because the professor didn't take a smidgen of breakfast, and I dislike seeing food go to waste." She filled the bowl to the brim, caught up the milk pitcher, and set the spread on the table before the child. "There's sugar in the bowl, if you like, and you may have a pastry once they've cooled. Do you want milk or tea with your porridge?"
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Erik (age 8)
- Ingenious Pilot -
not yet a manwhore
Posts: 165
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Post by Erik (age 8) on Jul 1, 2008 18:27:35 GMT -5
Erik stared at the food in front of him. It looks like an obscene amount, considering what he'd been used to. It was too much, and the choice was far more difficult than it had any right to be.
"May I have both?" he asked, as if afraid of the answer.
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Post by Professor Henry Jamison on Jul 1, 2008 18:54:31 GMT -5
Mrs. Waterbury chuckled good-naturedly and retrieved a teacup, a glass, and the kettle. When the boy had been served (and was looking at his breakfast like he was afraid it would bite him), she took a moment to poor herself a cup, as well.
"Oh, I don't believe I've introduced myself. I'm Mrs. Waterbury, the housekeeper, which I expect the professor's told you. Should you need anything, you can usually find me somewhere about the house. If there's a mess, I'll thank you to come and tell me rather than try to take care of it yourself, same goes for when you're hungry. I'm very particular about the way the house is run, and I'm very territorial about my kitchen. The professor and I have had a few little rows about it now and again." She chuckled again, tugged up her sleeves, and began rolling out more pastries for the oven.
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Erik (age 8)
- Ingenious Pilot -
not yet a manwhore
Posts: 165
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Post by Erik (age 8) on Jul 2, 2008 10:14:02 GMT -5
Erik was stymied by her businesslike manner, as if this was no big deal and she fed freak show runaways at her table every day. It wasn't the way things were supposed to go, and Erik found it difficult to believe it was real. She seemed so formidable, he worried about creating a mess in the first place. He remembered making messes as a child that got him beatings from his mother.
He eyed the food for another moment until hunger took over and he started packing it away as if storing up for another famine.
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Post by Professor Henry Jamison on Jul 2, 2008 12:47:48 GMT -5
((Stymied is one of my favorite words XD <3))
Mrs. Waterbury was pleased when she heard the child finally tuck in to his breakfast. Where her employer had managed to find such a starved little thing she had no idea, but as long as she had him under her charge, she was determined to put some meat on his bones. She made a mental note to check her grocery budget and perhaps add a roast to her shopping list.
"So, Master Erik," she called, pounding out the pastry dough a final time before scooping the mince into the middle, "won't you tell me a little about yourself?"
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Erik (age 8)
- Ingenious Pilot -
not yet a manwhore
Posts: 165
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Post by Erik (age 8) on Jul 2, 2008 14:47:33 GMT -5
Erik swallowed a too-large and nearly too-hot mouthful of pastry so fast it hurt.
"There's nothing to tell, m'am," he said finally.
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Post by Professor Henry Jamison on Jul 2, 2008 15:51:50 GMT -5
Waterbury tsk'd and thought about pressing him but thought better of it just as she opened her mouth to do so. "If you say so," she shrugged, patting out another row of pastries. "Would you get the oven for me, please?" she called, reaching for the peel and loading up more of the little stuffed buns.
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Erik (age 8)
- Ingenious Pilot -
not yet a manwhore
Posts: 165
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Post by Erik (age 8) on Jul 2, 2008 15:55:14 GMT -5
Without thinking, Erik obeyed her. It wasn't until his hand was on the door handle that he realized what he'd done, but he opened it anyway because he was already there and there wasn't much point in stopping now. Not that he wanted to be contrary. Not as such. He did, however, resent his impulse to do as she told him. Perhaps it was because she was a woman, and one not at all like his mother.
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