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 Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2008 6:31 pm
It was as if some God had picked up the entire ocean and dumped it over all of Erasmus. Everything, from shingles to fur to pavement stone was soaked through and piling up a seemingly endless amount of water. Already there were parts of the street with puddles deep enough to sink ones ankles in, despite the storm only breaking a few minutes before.
Of course she hadn't brought an umbrella.
Indeed, Tesla didn't even have an umbrella, but that didn't seem to matter much at the moment. In a matter of seconds the best set of clothing she'd had was completely sodden and caked with mud, and the scrap of paper with job listings on it had disintegrated in hand. Not that that mattered--she'd been turned away from each and every one of them.
The female gave a light growl beneath her breath. She didn't even bother running for the nearest doorstep, like others were doing. It wouldn't matter really, she was already soaked and unlike the Koshka residents, she didn't have a layer of fur to help her keep warm. Even her best outfit still had a few holes in it.
Half an hour later things hadn't improved. In point of fact, they'd only gotten worse the longer that the night went on. It was truly dark now, and the lamps weren't lit on the streets. Already a stranger to this city, she'd completely lost her way by now and the only light available to her unaccustomed eyes were the few house lights still on in the surrounding neighborhood, and the occasional flash of lightning.
Tesla sloughed her way through the churning waters of yet another lake-sized puddle, and found herself facing the front of a black shape that she thought was a large house of some sort. A mansion even. There were a few rectangles of yellow light, with shades drawn across them so that all that could be seen were shadows which moved on the rare occasion.
What truly caught her eye, however, was the single light burning on the entrance stoop. It was a small covered area with a few steps up out of the water, hemmed in by a wrought iron fence.
Without further thought to potential danger or charges of trespassing, Telsa flung herself up the walk and into the space between the rain and front door. It was small, but so was she, and she soon found herself sitting with her legs drawn to her, curled into a tiny, sodden bundle in the cold, cold night.
Chaos. Utter, bloody, sodding chaos.
He'd lost count of the days, but somewhere in the back of his mind, he was sure it'd been at least a week; he wasn't sure how much further his house (and his sanity) could last though. Hell, Melvin wasn't even sure how he'd managed to survive so far. It seemed like a damned miracle, as far as he was concerned. Grumbling to himself, he tossed the pieces of glasses he'd just finished picking up from the lab floor into a bag. The ground was full of chemicals, foot steps and stains here and there; what made him wince further was the notion the stains and footsteps were all around the house from the earlier ordeal. Sighing to himself, the Koshka headed to the kitchen with the bag of broken material in hand, pausing by the countered on his left to sniff at a solitary cup of coffee. Leaning in, he sniffed at the air above the cup, instantly wrinkling his nose in distaste.
It'd gone cold.
Then again, this was no surprise; Melvin couldn't even remember the last time he'd managed to peacefully sit down to drink a warm cup of coffee. Since the arrival of his two new 'lab assistants', he'd gotten no work done, whatsoever. He spent the majority of the day, running after the two girls in an attempt to keep the lab in a semi decent state. Despite his best efforts, the house was starting to look like a war zone and his nerves were starting to get frazzle from the ordeals. He couldn't even fire the girls, for his boss had pretty much dumped them on him, stating they were worthwhile, even despite the fact they were prone to breaking everything within reach; he'd said something about the girls being geniuses. Melvin was just wondering if THIS was some sort of divine punishment.
Letting out a self suffering sigh, he headed for the front door after grabbing the cup of coffee into his free hand. No sooner did he yank the door (obviously not even bothering to look), that he dumped the content of the mug worth, tossing the bag the to the container he knew was to the right. What he HADN'T been expecting, was that a girl had taken refuge on his steps; the content of the mug had been poured on her... his mistake for not looking at where he'd been aiming. For a good three minutes, the man (whom looked like he could honestly use a good bath and a full night's rest), blinked down at Telsa, looking almost bored; in reality though, he was idly wondering what the HELL she was doing there. It was hardly his fault his face usualy wore a 'bored' expression.
It was only after a full three minutes, that he realized he should apologize, "I apologize, I just-" he cut himself off, gave a short grimace and motioned towards the door, "Would you like to come in and get yourself sorted out?" he was sure he could just let her take one of Ammy's suits. Or one of Su's. Either or.
She was so wet that if the brown, caffeinated rain hadn't fallen directly on her head, Tesla might not have even noticed As it was she looked up with a start into the cat-like face staring down at her. Wonderful. Suddenly the girl was quite well aware of the fact that she was trespassing, and that she was a Mench. And that she now smelled of stale coffee.
It was all these realizations and their ironically dry state of humor that lead to this insult being met without a single noise or outburst from the female. Instead she had merely lifted her head to look up in faint surprise at the male standing over her.
His apology cut off any other reaction she may have had, and slowly Tesla nodded her head. "Its.. rather wet out here," Came the sheepish reply as she struggled to her feet. "Um.. I was lost."
That seemed to be the best she could work up in the way of 'proper' shock and indignation... or even shame for having been crashing on his doorstep. Yet she paused at the doorway, looking down at herself and the very nice--if oddly stained--tile beyond. "Ah.. I probably shouldn't bring the ocean in with me... "
Self consciousness hit and Tesla bent to try and wring a little of the water from her dress.
A snort followed her words, as if the male found a wry sort of humor to them; it soon enough became clear why though. No sooner had he stepped inside and thus, allowed her a good glance inside, that she would have noticed the state of the house within. Papers ran amok, and the stains from various chemicals littered the floor, "It won't change much," the words were drawled, but it was obvious he was not particularly happy over the fact his house looked like a war zone. Moving languidly towards the kitchen, he placed the mug back on the counter, taking a moment to rack his hand through his hair, pausing briefly when he reached the pony tail at the base of his neck.
Narrowing his eyes, the man reached behind him. Sure enough, his fingers soon enough found a ribbon; his hair was tied with a bow. Bloody hell.
"Those girls," he murmured under his breath as he returned to the corridor where he'd left Tesla, his hand still curled in his hair, "Mind doing me a favor and taking this blasted thing off?" he seemed to be referring to the ribbon in his hair before he motioned up the stairs with his head, "There's a cupboard there. Second door to the right. You may take any one suit you wish since I ruined yours," if he had a problem with her being a mench, he wasn't particularly showing it.
He was, however, displaying a concrete amount of amount of awkwardness that seemed to indicate he wasn't used to 'people' in general, no matter the species. After a moment of hesitation, his head turned to look behind him, as if an afterthought; sure enough, his tail was ribboned up too. Gritting his teeth , his mouth set into a grim line, he passed his hand over his face and features, "I'm not going to survive without a maid," the words were muffled slightly by the hand, but audible enough, "My sanity won't last with those girls."
She'd stopped in the corridor, more than a little afraid to move any further--and it wasn't for the state of her clothes.
The house was atrocious. It was beyond atrocious! Tesla had a vague moment of panic where she was tempted to turn and run screaming back into the night. Only a crack of thunder kept her from completing that turn. A moment later her defenses were back up, and she had rolled up her sleeves and begun picking up the papers scattered around.
She already had a large stack when he returned asking her to do... something. The mench turned to face him a little wide-eyed as she realized exactly what she was doing. "Ah.. .. well.. honestly it was the storm that ruined it.. heh.. You have children?"
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Posted: Sun Jun 29, 2008 1:52 pm
There was a moment's pause, during which the male's grip on his hair faltered; his gaze lowered down to meet hers as she stacked away the papers, "They're not mine!" for some odd reason, he looked vaguely horrified by the notion, "And they're not kids," a pause followed, during which he seemed to hesitate before shooting a glance upstairs, "Technically...."
Turning his attention down to the ground, he was almost confused, "You can leave that. It's going to become a war zone again, the moment the girls wake up. It's a miracle they've not blown up the lab yet," kneeling down, he took the assorted papers from, leafing thought them briefly before making a face; all of it gone to waste. Thinking about it was giving him a head,
"Can you take the blasted thing off of me, please?" he turned his head then, "The damned ribbon, I mean," then he motioned towards the stairs, "I insist. Water isn't nearly as bad as cold coffee anyhow."
"Sure," Tessa replied slowly. A few careful steps, conscious always of what she was stepping on, brought her to his side and she reached up to undo the ribbon. "It doesn't looks so bad, really. .. I can certainly see that you might need a maid, though, if they're so messy as that."
Something was clicking in her mind, but it was far too coincidental. And she was freezing. A single sneeze encouraged her to take him up on his offer and she nodded. "Thank you." With a dip of her head, the woman gathered her soggy skirts up in one hand and tried to make her way up the stairs without tripping over anything.
'So messy as that' didn't even begin to describe it. Reaching to take the ribbon back (where were the girls GETTING the damned things from anyhow?), he let out a sigh, "You think this is bad... you don't want to see the lab..." it was murmured under his breath, as if he were talking to himself. Following after the woman, he motioned towards a darkened room; the girl left all their clothes within the cupboards and random suitcases that still lay half unpacked, even after weeks.
Hardly a surprise though, seeing as how Melvin spent most of his time trying to make sure the girls weren't blowing the house up. Reaching up to massage his temple with one hand, he pointed at the suitcases with his other, "Take anything you wish, though I'm afraid they're koshka clothes," which of course meant they hair tail holes... he figured though, if she took one of Su's skirts, the problem would be fixed, "I'm sorry; that's all I have."
"No.. thank you. Its.. really very kind." She felt odd accepting borrowed clothes from girls who had no idea she was taking them... but she would bring them back cleaned and ironed, and in this mess they weren't likely to ever notice them missing. Quickly Tesla selected a plain shirt and skirt which would do just fine until she could get her own dryed.
"Have you thought of putting an ad out for someone? This place wouldn't be so bad for one person to clean, really..." Despite her soft words she was twitching at the sight of it. He'd probably note the way her fingers made for the mess then curled back into loose fists, in an attempt to keep herself from touching. A small tick was developing in her eye. "mm where can i change?"
"Hmmmm..." still rubbing at his temple, he wrinkled his nose, "I barely have time to work on what I'm supossed to be doing; instead I'm bound to making sure my two assistants don't blow up the city and shatter my sanity to shreds. Sadly I've not even had time to ship off an ad to the paper," a snort followed the words, "I doubt anyone has the skills necessary anyhow. I doubt anyone would WANT to take on the job either," a brow arched at her; he was one person and he'd hardly managed to clean up even 50% of the things before the following day brought down upon him the apocalypse again, "I beg to differ; would you like to give it a shot? Be my guest."
Desperate times called for desperate measures, as far as he was concerned, "There's a bathroom down the hall. The girls are asleep though, please don't wake them up. I only get a few hours of peace now a days. And it's only while they sleep."
The woman favored him with a look that said she though the whole thing was completely adorable, if messy. It was coincidental, but .... well, she would be a fool to let this pass her by--even if it wasn't dancing. She was down to her last buck, her clothes were in desperate need of repair, and Tesla had the faint notion that she might like to eat again one day.
With those thoughts in her head she picked her way down the hall and into the bathroom. What she saw there was not for the faint of heart, nor was it anything she would have willingly inflicted upon any living soul... and it made her mind up, ultimately.
Half an hour later the door finally reopened and the mench stepped out in clean, if ill-fit clothing. Behind her, the bathroom was left sparkling and clean before she turned the light off behind her. "I'll start tonight, then."
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Posted: Sun Jun 29, 2008 1:56 pm
He, on the other hand, didn't look very amused; then again, the man had hardly showed emotion aside exhaustion (the fear at the notion of his assistants being his kids aside). No sooner did Tesla walk out of the room that he allowed himself to flop down into a chair to the side of the suitcases, one hand coming up to remove his glasses so he could rub the bridge of his nose with the other.
The half an hour was used to rest (he was hardly in the mood to simply go back to cleaning), and Melvin had half drowsed off into sleep. Her voice down the corridor though, perked up his attention again. Placing his glasses back on, he pushed himself off the chair and peered out of the room, "I beg your pardon?" an ear perked up, almost as if wishing to make sure he'd heard correctly, "You're actually willing to give-" he paused when he saw the bathroom though. Even despite the dim light he could see the difference; he felt his brows shoot up to hide under his light colored bangs.
"Willing? I'd be doing the world a service," The woman replied with a touch of humor. "That doesn't mean I'll work for free, mind, a girl has to eat, but if you're serious about hiring a maid--I do need a job, and I do know how."
Tesla leaned against one of the cleanest seeming walls and crossed her arms before her. Her green eyes slid to the side, away from him, "That's actually why I was out when the storm hit this afternoon."
No kidding she would; rather than reiterate his own amazement at her skills though, the man simply allowed himself to walk towards her, peering into the bathroom briefly. Then he paused, lifted his arm to check his watch and frowned; how had she ever managed to accomplish such a task so briefly? And more importantly, with what help?
Still looking half amazed, half bemused, he finally turned his attention back on the girl, "Really?" he turned back towards the bathroom yet again, blinked, and seemed to have come to a determination, "Well, miss..." and he halted; what was her name again? "I don't recall asking for your name, I'm sorry; I'm Melvin Tweed," he stretched out a hand politely, though the whole conversation and even the fact he'd not even asked for her name to start with left it clear he wasn't used to visitors, "And I am dead serious about the maid thing. If it'd suit you, I wouldn't mind offering you a bed, and warm meals on a daily basis in exchange for your services. The house is large enough... and seeing as how those two girls crashed in already, one more mouth is hardly a problem?"
"That's more than I've got at present, certainly." Tessa replied with a wry quirk to her lips. She took the hand a shook it firmly and gave a nod, "You've got yourself a deal. and... yes really."
There was a faint twitch to one of her eyes when she looked back at the hallway. "And I'm Telsa McKormik, but most just call me Tes or Tessa. Now if you don't mind.... I have to get started!"
It was hard for her to hide the nervous shaking of her hands now, and when she said that she moved immediately and began a strangely organized and rapid gathering of papers, first, placing them in careful piles before getting started on the larger items. It was hard to see in the dimness, but with a storm still raging against the shutters, opening the windows would have done more harm than good.
It was also apparent that whatever quirks he possessed, she possessed just as many of her own. Chiefly was the single minded determination with which she launched herself into cleaning. She would have done it for free if he hadn't accepted, and only a thread of will power had kept her from doing so.
"I..." he wasn't really allowed to further question her; no sooner was the deal accepted that the girl rushed off to start working. Lifting his wrist he looked at the time on his watch and then back down at the girl, "Miss, it's 2am in the morning, are you quite sure you want to start now rather than in the morning?" he could see the way her hands were shaking, but honestly, he wasn't adding two and two; he was certain the shaking had more to do with exhaustion (she HAD been standing outside in the rain after all) than anything else. How could he have known the girl was... special, per say?
Mystified though, Melvin followed along as she cleaned away, "I'm sorry to be a bother but I recall you saying you HAD to get started, as if it were imperative," confusion was showing on his features; granted he didn't like the mess and more than she did but... something was off, "Might I inquire as to why?"
"Melvin--may I call you melvin?--I will not sleep in this house until its clean.. its just... no. no. that will not happen." Tessa shook her to herself, half muttering her sentences as it took concentration to talk. Even as she spoke she didn't look at him, but continued to pick things up and fold them and pile them when necessary. "Nooo.. that cannot happen. Not because I wouldn't but because I couldn't. It IS imperative, you see... dust... dust is... ugh. no. And there is so much more than dust here."
Still following her as she worked, he arched a brow, "You may," it was better than the strange nickname his assistants had randomly decided to bestow on him; where had they gotten 'M2' from anyhow? It was absolutely moronic, "Are you aware they trashed the whole house?" the words were drawled out to her, as if he couldn't believe she was planning on single-handedly working her way through the whole mess, "They've had days to create a disaster zone which I've not yet been able to sort out... and you plan on fixing it before you get any sleep?"
He'd passed from looking just about ready to kill himself before her arrival, to looking mildly bemused, which was quite an accomplishment, "There's worse down in the lab; which I suggest you stay clear off till I fix. Those girls managed to spill the mercury and create explosions," the words were a warning, not a threat, as if trying to put forward WHAT she should expect of said 'girls' as soon as they woke up, "I still don't understand why it's imperative; does the knowledge it's there keep you from resting?" how was he to know the girl was OCD?
"Yes. yes it does." She nodded, sighing a little but more at herself than at his question. "Its... a compulsion, I suppose. I can't... see this.. can't know about it without.. doing this."
She laughed a little at herself and looked down the hallway. Already she'd created a handful of neat piles. All that remained were stains she couldn't see well enough to do anything about just yet, and the fact that it would obviously need a deep cleaning in general. She looked it over with one self-judging eye, then turned and picked up the pile of papers first, taking them into a lit study in order to see what was on them and sort them out accordingly.
Still mildly bemused, he held his hands upon his back, grasped as he watched her, "Well, if it's what you want, I'm hardly going to stop you... however, taking into account you were soaked outside only moments before, I just don't want you dropping dead in the middle of the hallway," the fact it'd been hinted she'd been previously looking for a job told him that she'd probably been walking all day too.
Following her into the study, he reached with ease and took the papers from her, "I can do that; I'm not even sure what's savable anyhow," from the papers at least, it was clear he was researching... something or others. Something to do with chemicals, if the stains were any hint. Grabbing a chair, the man sat down and sorted the papers into two piles rather swiftly; those that he could keep and those the girls had ruined for ever more. Taking off his glasses, he rubbed his nose bridge again, "I'd never thought two girls could be so much trouble. Geniuses, they told me... they sure don't act it."
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