tea with the demon and the witch [OPEN]

[cutlery]

CHARACTERS: Sebastian Michaelis (cutlery), Sieglinde Sullivan (grunehexe), and YOU

DATE: Today?! I guess?!

WARNINGS: None

SUMMARY: Sebastian received tea and a teapot for his holiday gift, so what better way to use it than to share it? That, and it's a prime opportunity to socialize Sieglinde. It's lessons time.

[ Whether you received an invitation to come to tea or just happen to be an especially dedicated explorer, you're likely to find the local apothecary's first floor slightly rearranged. After a bit of bargaining with the owners, Sebastian had managed to convince them to allow for a small gathering. While Sieglinde's little apartment above the store was well enough, it was certainly not suitable for what Sebastian had in mind. He had received a gift of tea (earl grey, of course) from ALASTAIR, and not quite having a taste for it himself, well. He had another idea on how to use it.

It was perfect for a lesson for the young lady.

A large table is set up for tea, including a plethora of tasty treats all made by Sebastian himself. He won't be sitting to join, since it's not proper for a butler, but he'll happily stand to the side of the room with the teapot at the ready to give people tea as they need a refill. There's no need to ask, since he's a butler of perfect principles, so just as you seem to be wanting more, he's there to refill your cup.

In his mind, this is an occasion for Sieglinde to meet others and socialize with them, and he can gently give lessons on proper etiquette, but it might not be in yours. Feel free to strike up a conversation with the butler quietly playing host, though he'd much prefer you speak with everyone else! ]

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ooc ; Welcome to a tea party! This log is OTA, so feel free to tag in even if you don't have CR with Sieglinde or Sebastian. He's too polite to turn people away, and Sieglinde is probably just excited to meet more people... Feel free to make toplevels and use this as a mingle post. I'll be responding to every toplevel at least! ♥

Comments

[digophelia]

Or so he thinks.

[ Alice chooses not to put any sugar or milk in her tea, after being reminded of the Mad Hatter and his insistence to pour as much sugar in it as possible. He called Alice intriguing, so it's only fair for her to be smarry about him, especially after what he called Alice. ]

Not the definition of grace, that one. At least Her Majesty Queen Victoria is cordial from what I heard. Kind, they say -- I would hope so, she has nine children.

[grunehexe]

So he thinks... ? No, that is in fact one of the correct titles. "King of Uruk"? "He Who Sees Into the Depths"?

[Perhaps she didn't know the epic very well... Sieglinde's manor library had been quite vast, but Alice's upbringing perhaps had less access to ancient texts, that was believable...

Wait, nine?]

- What a formidable womb.

[digophelia]

[ Doesn't this sound familiar? Not surprisingly, guess who Alice is more partial to. ]

Yes, yes, I've heard and so I've been told by himself. I've already dealt with his tantrum.

[ Alice takes a long sip. ]

Ah, wait until you're older. Once you have more than one child to care for, you'll understand nine is an impressive number. One needs quite the amount of patience to handle children. You're actually very mature compared to most.

[ Twenty, on the other hand... Well. Alice wasn't a very patriotic person and actually held nothing but contempt for authority. When it came to mothers, matrons, nannies, and caregivers, she respected them. ]

[grunehexe]

[A tantrum... well, she couldn't say that the epic she'd read hadn't gone into quite some detail about Gilgamesh's temper, but.]

He has been nothing but charming in my presence.

[Said with a slightly defensive sniff...

Was it polite to mention she doubted the Queen took care of her own children? This was a tea party to train her to meet the woman, so she supposed not...

Well. She could keep that comment to herself, then. Just like she kept her reaction to being compared to "most children" to another sniff...]

Well, I should get back to you on how I handle them within a few years, then.

[She... still had... somewhat medieval concepts on child birthing ages...]

[digophelia]

Has he now.

[ Plenty of suspicious people can be charming and polite and become the complete opposite. ]

For his sake, he should continue to do so.

[ Otherwise, yes, he will incur Alice's wrath and that will go beyond just ear tugging and waving fingers from her. ]

You're a healer, are you not? I'm sure eventually, you'll have to deal with children in some capacity. I was a matron, much like any other unmarried woman my age.

[grunehexe]

Of course he has.

[As much as she could logically understand it, Sieglinde's ego has been taking a hit over how many people seemed to be worried about her- particularly in regards to Gilgamesh of late.

Masamune had gotten into a fight... Sebastian had lectured her... She was trying to smile, but considering it really did bother her... it came out.

Rather suspiciously like she might be lying.]

We have a perfectly scholarly relationship.

[He may have also ended up on her "great genetics" list, but that was neither here nor there.]

My village had no children, but I'm sure treating them is not dissimilar to adults.

[She'd just. Never actually seen a baby before Chantes, and still has never been close to one.]

[digophelia]

I would hope that you be careful around others.

[ She couldn't help it, possibly because when she heard the word "scholarly", something manifested in Alice that compelled her to start a bit of a lecture. ]

Aside from him, you should keep whomever you deem "scholarly" at an arm's length; don't confide too much in them. Any man you don't know well, for that matter.

[ She couldn't help but think of a certain doctor bitterly as she sipped her tea. If she could prevent Sieglinde, Steven, and Sakura from harm from others like that, she would feel better. Right now, it does nothing to soothe her worries, it exerts her protectiveness of all three of them. ]

Ah, not quite. When I was a little girl... I was ill.

[ To put it gently, to avoid the fact that she was in an infirmary for severe burns and an asylum the next year, for the next ten years. ]

Children are much more delicate, not just physically. They frighten easily and they will remember if a doctor is cruel to them and will grow to loathe doctors. They need extra care.

[grunehexe]

[If Sebastian was grading her at this tea party... Sieglinde would definitely get an "F".

Though she managed to keep quiet until Alice finished what she had to say, her knuckles turned white around the cup she was holding, slamming the cup down back into the saucer with a crack-threatening sound. (01. Don't click your china.)]

I am a scholar.

[(02. Don't raise your voice.)]

If I do not pursue knowledge, how am I supposed to reverse the ultimate magic?

[(03. Don't make conversation about things your guests aren't also aware of/interested in.)]

I cannot walk, but I am not helpless- I don't need everyone warning me about things I already know are dangerous!

[(04. Don't project your issues into your guests.)]

Simply because you are afraid of doctors doesn't mean intelligent men are all dangerous!

[(05. Don't bring up your guests' issues, either.) She would regret that last one the most- but she couldn't take it back once it left her mouth, glowering down at her teacup with shoulders raised and body defensively stiff. Though she'd done her best to tolerate what she found to be condescending- the way Alice treated her as if she were a child, Alice was unfortunately the last in a growing line of people to express worry about her- the veritable "straw".]

[digophelia]

[ Perhaps at one point, Alice would have reacted poorly to that. She sat there and didn't bat an eye and remained composed. But intelligent men were dangerous, they were the worst of them all, she would say. After what happened to her poor sister and her family, all because of one very intelligent doctor.

Maybe the look on her face was too hollow. ]

Dear one, I was not calling you helpless.

[ Carefully and calmly, with a hint of grief in her. She could tell something was there in her too, that outburst was the result of something much more than a child's affirmation of independence. ]

There is nothing wrong with the pursuit of knowledge, not in the least. I don't want you to put your faith in someone that will hurt you, I want you be careful.

[ A pause follows and Alice adds with a tired expression. ]

I do not want you to be like me.

[grunehexe]

I am not a "dear one"!

[Words of affection, things children might be glad to hear from mothers, from older sisters... she'd never had them, because she had always needed to be not a child. She was the Lord of Wolfsschlucht, she was the Green Witch, she-]

I'm special. I'm a genius. The best brain in all of Germany! The Green Witch!

[They were words that would sound like a brag from anyone else, but she said them like a curse, awkward and unclaimed- they weren't words she was using to describe herself that she believed in, they were things she'd been called. By that woman who claimed to be her mother, after all she'd done to her, all she'd made her believe, all those years-]

I'm not like you at all- like anyone else at all!

[digophelia]

[ Without much of a response, the color drained from Alice's face. She was going numb all throughout her body, disconnected. She was not there, she was standing outside of her body. She didn't mean for this, she couldn't stand to see her upset like this. Suddenly, his voice is ringing in her head-

A hysterical woman, former lunatic, roaring outrageous accusations against a respectable social architect and scientist. My God, Alice, who would believe you? I scarcely believe it myself.

Alice rose to her feet, green eyes hollow and a stare almost vacant, further out of her body. The room was shifting, blurring.

What have you done? You're mad, you break everything you touch! ]

...

[ Truly, she wanted to apologize, she wanted to express her grief and guilt, and wanted nothing more to hold this girl and assure her it would be safe. She waned to protect her from harm, that was all. Silently, after standing there in silence for half of minute of simply staring at the room, Alice moved swiftly, no explanation provided, and fled the tea party. ]

[grunehexe]

[After the outburst, Sieglinde was left slightly red in the face, all pent up emotion accidentally let loose in stark contrast to the hollow, drained expression on the older girl.

As the silence stretched on, though, a hint of shame began to creep in. She shouldn't have brought up Alice's fear of the medical- it had been an observation she'd made when treating her, not something she should have drawn attention to...

And maybe she shouldn't have said any of it-

But then Alice is up, and she's gone, and Sieglinde sunk back into her chair in the hopes a hole would appear and swallow her up to save her from Sebastian's disapproval and her own guilt, but.

If this was any indication of how the tea party with the Queen would go... it wasn't good.]

[cutlery]

[ Of course Sebastian has been here the whole time, since there's hardly anywhere else to go. He simply fades into the background as an excellent servant should, so it's easy to dismiss or forget his presence. He's been watching this exchange, and a truly innocous butler would have intervened as soon as Sieglinde started to raise her voice, but that he is not. He waits for the best opportunity to intervene, because there's a different sort of lesson here that's not a bad one for Sieglinde to learn.

When Alice falls into a silence, that's when Sebastian steps forward. As smoothly as ink through water, he comes to Sieglinde's side. He gives Alice a brief look of sympathy as he moves there, but after that, all his attention is on Sieglinde. He places a hand on her shoulder that's a light touch, and yet still probably feels rather heavy considering what's brought him over here. ]

Master Sullivan...

[ He just says her name with gentle concern, though there's no chiding lecture in his tone. Sebastian will be the perfectly concerned butler, since that will prompt her into an apology much more readily than something harsher, wouldn't it? He may be playing tutor, but that doesn't always have to be so overt. ]

[grunehexe]

[Sieglinde didn't notice Sebastian's presence until the hand fell all too heavy on her shoulder. It had exactly the desired effect- a reminder that she'd made a mistake.

She shouldn't have done that. Not to Alice, and certainly not here. Even though part of her wanted to hang on to that indignation, that anger, it wasn't right of her to have said some of what she did.

Even if she did hate it- that so many people here seemed so concerned for her safety, like she couldn't decide what was dangerous for herself, like just because she couldn't walk well it meant she was helpless, that-

That being treated like a "normal girl"... wasn't as nice as she'd hoped, once.]

... I think I would like to end the party, now, Sebastian.

[She wasn't in the mood to play host any longer.]