3rd [action]

[splitthebaby]

[There's nothing suspicious here. Nothing at all. Well, except for the moe faced mechanical doll and the carpenter working hard on the side of a garage. The garage at 1125 Taylor, as a matter of fact.

Sitting on a chair watching is Merem. With him are quite a few rats and a few birds. Also, surprisingly, both of his arms are gone....]

Did Ciel really say that? That's rather embarrassing, I'd imagine.

What was that...?

[One of the rats chitters and then they all start rolling around, one flopping right off the chair. Merem ends up laughing along with them.]

A good king likes to help out but...heh. He can't help his appearance. I think they call that Plumber's Disease, by the way.

No, no, don't keep making fun of him. You'll hurt his pride. And Lady Windup doesn't exactly have a sense of humor. She'll take what you say literally so be careful.

Though did you hear? The Rat King has been hanging around with girls lately. I wonder if he's taken a liking to them. He might end up being more human than me before it all ends.

[He tilts his head as another rat speaks up.]

Well, he is more properly behaved and groomed than you. Of course he'll get free food. What? You think that's all it is? Hm....

Instead of pondering that, how about you get back to work. I'll have something special for you once it's all over.

[All the animals bound down from the chair and start to help out, carrying tools here and there and keeping things level. Thankfully, the creepy one sided conversation is over but it's like he's really Snow White.]

Comments

[splitthebaby]

Most magi must rely on their own internal source of magic. You....you have an outside source, don't you?

[adropofjupiter]

I have no internal source - wasn't born with magic. I'm just an ordinary witch, ze.

[splitthebaby]

Ordinary? That makes you the most abnormal witch out there. But it works well in your favor, nonetheless.

[adropofjupiter]

...is that supposed to be a compliment or an insult? I can't tell.

[splitthebaby]

Neither. It goes against the grain which means for Bazett, it can be used to catch her absolutely off guard.

[adropofjupiter]

She knows I'm a witch, ze. She threatened me just because I was one. Bitch.

[splitthebaby]

She thinks you're a magic user in the way magic functions in her universe. That's why things are quite different.

[adropofjupiter]

Oh... so like Rin's magic?

[splitthebaby]

Yes. And you aren't telling Rin about what I'm going to teach you.

[adropofjupiter]

Why would I tell her that? We might be allies and friends, but we each have our own secrets. [a chuckle] We are both magic users.

[splitthebaby]

Rin couldn't keep a secret if her life depended on it. Though, I suppose it helps to know that I'm personally acquainted with her magic teacher back home.

[adropofjupiter]

You don't have to worry about that, ze.

[splitthebaby]

Fine. One other rule. No practicing in front of Ciel. She's quite an accomplished magi but I certainly don't see a positive reaction coming from her. Instead...the Princess would do. She may not be able to use magic but she has a complete understanding of it if you would ever have a question that I wouldn't be around to answer.

[adropofjupiter]

I'd rather hang out with Arcueid than I would Ciel anyways. Arc's a lot of fun. Ciel... not so much.

[splitthebaby]

In her defense, Ciel is very fun. You just have to know the right things to get her going.

[adropofjupiter]

...like what?

[splitthebaby]

How much do you know about Ciel?

[adropofjupiter]

Aside from being a Burial Agent and her, ah, familiar... She likes to bake, is overprotective of everyone, has a really weird relationship with Arcueid...

Actually, she doesn't talk much about herself. Like at all.

[splitthebaby]

I'll start with one thing then. There's a reason why she's overprotective of everyone.

That's because she doesn't want them to bear the burden of too much responsibility. Ciel really hates seeing people do that but it's quite hypocritical, don't you think?

[adropofjupiter]

Yeah. She ain't much older than me. And I've been living on my own for half my life. I don't need a nagging mother. I've told her she needs to lighten up a little and relax for a change.

[splitthebaby]

She's quite a bit older than you, Marisa.

[adropofjupiter]

I asked her how old she was; she said she was eighteen.

[splitthebaby]

Do you really take everything you hear as fact?

[adropofjupiter]

No, but she looks about that age and I'm pretty sure she's human. She also knows I'm from Gensokyo and that my girlfriend is about around a century in age. I don't see the big deal about being older than one looks, so there really isn't any reason for her to lie about it.

I'm not an idiot, Merem. I know she acts older than she looks. It's why I asked her.

[splitthebaby]

Just don't say you're close to each other in age when you aren't.