Disclaimer: Don't own Hakushaku/Count/Earl Cain Series et cetera. If I did… um, well, this wouldn't be fanfic, and I wouldn't be posting it here.
"You take that back, you little brat!" Merryweather stormed, chasing after Edgar Lavot, the youngest and most obnoxious member of the entire Lavot family.
"You'll never catch me, wench!" Edgar called over his shoulder, sticking out his tongue. Barring adult intervention, he was probably right. Merry's party dress didn't suit chasing after annoying little boys very well, and made navigating through all the people in the ballroom much more difficult for her.
Cain almost hadn't let Merry come to this, the spectacular New Year's party hosted at the Lavot family mansion every year. But she had begged, and it was New Year's, after all, so he had finally given in, on the condition that she didn't get into trouble. To be fair, Merry had made Cain promise the same thing, but it seemed as though for once it would be Merry unable to uphold this promise.
"Nyah!" teased Edgar, dodging in between two fine ladies' humungous crinolines. Merry harrumphed and changed course. If she could just get around the table with the punch bowl, she could head him off. Edgar thought she was still chasing him directly, so when Merry appeared around the side of the table, he nearly had a heart attack. Merry lunged to grab at his hair, but Edgar dodged at the last minute, knocking into a short girl in white, causing her to spill punch all down the front of her dress.
"Gah!" cried the girl, stumbling. Merry stopped short.
"Oh no!" she exclaimed, grabbing part of the tablecloth to dab at the bright red stain that marred the girl's white skirt.
"Bugger!" Edgar squeaked, paling, and fled.
"You smarmy yellow git!" Merry called after him angrily. "I'm so sorry!" she assured the girl of white, looking up at her face. She didn't have to look very far, for although the girl was dressed in a lady's gown, she was only a few inches taller than Merry.
"Oh, no," sighed the girl, unhappily dabbing at the stain. "This will never come out!" She was a pretty girl, with a round, childish face and unusually short blonde hair, and the trim on her dress was matched to her aqua eyes.
"I'm so sorry," repeated Merry. "It's all that beast Edgar's fault! You should make him pay for the dress."
"No, no," sighed the girl. "It's just… oh, my brother told me not to wear white, he warned me something like this would happen! But I didn't listen to him, and wore the dress anyway, because I love white, and it is New Year's after all. And now I feel so guilty!" Merry went stiff with amazement. The girl's eyes were actually filling with tears.
"Just explain to him, he'll understand!" Merry assured her. "If he's a good brother, he will, anyway."
"It's not that, I know he will. But I still feel guilty because of all the trouble he went through about the dress," sniffed the girl. A smile broke through the tears, and Merry couldn't help but smile in response. "I'm Kitty Howard, by the way."
"Merryweather Hargreaves," replied Merry, and waited for the inevitable.
"I've heard that name recently," said Kitty, tilting her head to one side. "I wonder where?"
"Probably the gossip column," sniffed Merry. "My brother's always getting himself into it."
"Hah, really? That must get annoying," Kitty grinned, but then her face fell again. "Oh, it's no good. I'll keep feeling guilty until I explain to Mel about the dress…"
"Really?" Merry asked. "Your brother? If he's really that scary, just don't tell him!"
"No!" Kitty exclaimed. "He's just quirky. I have to tell him though, if I don't, it'd be like being dishonest! I'd feel bad all evening, anticipating."
"I'll go with you to talk to him, and take the blame," offered Merry, because, well, it seemed the right thing to do. Kitty laughed.
"You don't have to," she said, but took Merry by the hand, and, scanning the room, led her off towards one side.
There was only one man by the table near the window, and he was hunched over antisocially, munching on biscuits. Kitty, upon registering this, started a little and frowned.
"Hiding in the corner eating all the refreshments! Again!" she muttered, but seemed reluctant to go any further. Merry had to tow her up to her brother. He turned, and blinked down at the two of them sleepily. In reality, he wasn't all that tall, but his sister only came up to his chin, so he seemed taller. Not, Merry reflected, taller than Cain, but only just barely shorter. His hair was gingery-blonde, just long enough to resemble a haystack, and he was much fairer of skin than his sister, with a vaguely unhealthy glow. Lazy gray eyes with fair lashes as long as a girl's were the defining features of a long, thin, but evenly featured face.
"Umm…" Kitty started. "Mel?" Mel's gaze rested on the scarlet stain on Kitty's ruffles. All at once, he went rigid, expression stricken, and staggered back, one hand clutched to his heart. "Mel!" exclaimed Kitty, dashing forward. He began to slide down the wall, still dramatically posed. Kitty was grinning now, as she grabbed her brother by the lapels. "Stop fooling around!"
"Oh," he groaned. His voice was of a higher pitch than Merry had estimated, and scratchier. "Oh, Kitty, you'll be the death of me."
"It was my fault!" Merry exclaimed. "I was chasing Edgar because he's obnoxious, and he ran into her!"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Now stop it!" Kitty exclaimed. Abruptly, he twitched upright, straightening his shirt collar.
"Don't apologize so much," he said calmly, shooting his cuffs. Kitty glared at him. "But really, Kitty dear, didn't I tell you so?"
"Yes, yes, you did," muttered Kitty. "And I was all ready to be contrite about it, until you decided to overdramatize."
"I can see that. You even brought a friend to help exonerate you. My, my," he said, leaning over to peer at Merry. She met his gaze, unconsciously setting her chin. "Oh, but you're cute!" he chirped. Merry felt herself flush and looked away stubbornly.
"Oh! Mel, this is Merryweather Hargreaves," Kitty exclaimed, remembering her manners. "Merryweather, this is Melvin Howard, my brother."
"Nice to meet you!" said Merry, a bit louder than she needed to, extending her hand.
"Howdy do," said Mel, kissing the back of her hand, managing to keep that Cheshire Cat grin as he did so. Merry relaxed a little. It didn't seem like he was flirting… she'd seen Cain flirt plenty of times, and she was fairly sure this was not how it was done.
"Mel…" Kitty began, but she was cut off.
"So, am I to assume you've made friends?" Mel asked, quirking an eyebrow. Kitty started, and looked at Merry, who shrugged. "Because it would make sense… the two cutest girls in the room, as well as the shortest, making friends, and all."
"I know I'm short!" Kitty made a face at him.
"I'm ten! I'll still grow!" Merry protested, starting forward.
"Did I ever say you wouldn't?" he laughed, waving off their advance. "And what's wrong with being short? Why I myself wouldn't be able to dance with half the women here, if not for the lifts in my shoes…"
"You wouldn't dance with them anyway," Kitty snorted. Mel looked sheepish.
"What were you doing all alone in this corner, anyway?" Merry queried, sensing a weakness. He avoided both the girls' gazes.
"I was…" he mumbled. "I was… peoplewatching?"
"You were being a recluse, again!" Kitty accused. "You complain that you don't know anybody at parties, but that's because you don't go out to meet anybody! You hide in the corner eating biscuits and then wonder why you didn't have a good time!"
"Hey, I was hungry," he whined, but feebly.
"That's no excuse," said Merry firmly. "It's a party, you ought to socialize! It's New Year's, for goodness' sake!"
"Well…" he tried, he honestly did, but it was too late. He'd been railroaded.
"Whatever are we going to do with you?" sighed Kitty, looking at him with tilted head. Merry pretended to ponder as well, but she'd already thought of a solution.
"Hah! I've got it!" she grinned, thumping her fist into her palm and trying to look as plottingly evil as she could. This would be payback for the 'cute' comment…as well as backlogged revenge on Cain, hopefully.
"What? What?" Kitty urged gleefully, as Mel seemed to wilt.
"My brother doesn't socialize much at parties either, he either flirts too much or stays in a corner being grumpy," Merry explained. "We should introduce him to Mel!"
"Okay!" Kitty hurrahed. She grabbed Mel's wrist, and Merry latched on to the other. "Where's your brother?"
Merry stood on tiptoe to survey the ballroom, and finally spotted him off in a corner, clad all in black and draped over the edge of a mantle, twiddling his cane and looking bored.
"Come on!" she exclaimed, and tugged the two of them out onto the floor. "He's over here!"
It was harder work to get across the floor this time, with one more person, a person who was doing his best to be dead weight. Mel wore a rather blank, confused expression, but the weariness in it indicated that this wasn't the first time that Kitty, at least, had dragged him off to do something like this. Merry had to smile. She liked Kitty and Mel, Kitty because she was cute and still playful, with an aura of complete innocence, and Mel because he was weird, but personable. Funny, too, but not a clown, like Oscar.
When they were a few feet from Cain, Mel stopped short, and made a small noise, as though the breath had been knocked out of him. Merry followed his gaze to where it rested, on the elegant profile of her elder brother, the Earl of Hargreaves. She looked at Mel, suddenly a little worried, but all that she read in his face was a vague sort of apprehension. So he had heard of the Earl of Poisons, then. Merry and Kitty tugged on his wrists again, and they all stumbled forward.
Earl Cain turned to look at them, one dark brow arched aristocratically under soft, dark auburn, almost black locks. His green-gold gaze went from Merry, to Kitty, who gave a cry of delight, and rested on Mel. Mel twitched his wrists from the two girls' grip.
"Big brother," Merry started, planting her hands on her hips. "This is my friend Kitty Howard, and her brother Melvin."
"A pleasure," he murmured, catching Kitty's hand and pressing a slow kiss to the back of it. Merry twitched. That, she was certain, was flirting. "Such beauty and innocence in one girl is a rarity." Kitty was flustered, but she did manage to register his comment.
"I'm not pretty!" she protested, blushing. Cain released her hand, arching an eyebrow at her aristocratically.
"Oh, for heaven's sake, Kitty, learn to take a complement!" exclaimed Mel, the tone of his voice indicating a very old argument.
"But it's true, I'm not!" Kitty frowned at him.
"You are so, pretty. And talented, and good at drawing," Mel stuck out his tongue at her. Kitty shook her head.
"Kitty's pretty!" Merry chirped, not about to be left out of the fun. "Kitty's pretty, Kitty's pretty!" Merry sang, tackling Kitty with a hug.
"Am not!" Kitty insisted, as she tried not to smother.
Mel, noting the Earl of Hargreaves' quizzical expression, flushed a little and felt the need to explain.
"She's always like this," he shrugged. "I've tried to bully her into taking compliments, but it always backfires."
"You're her brother?" Cain asked, sounding a little bored.
"No, I'm actually her Samoan valet in whiteface makeup. I'm undercover to make sure the chimney sweep's guild doesn't assassinate her," Mel replied, completely straight-faced.
Cain was saved from having to address that non sequiteur by Merry and Kitty, who were apparently done with their hug fight over compliments, and were now standing assembled, giggling.
"My brother is too handsome for his own good," asserted Merry. Cain closed his eyes, pressing a hand to his forehead. "So he thinks he can get away with anything."
"With a face like that, he could get away with murder?" Kitty chirped. Cain started visibly, but relaxed at Kitty's next statement. "That's what Mel always says about me."
"It's the truth," Mel insisted, speaking to Kitty, but his gaze was fixed on Cain.
"Doesn't matter! He's cute so we forgive him, right?" sang Kitty, dancing forward to give Cain a hug around the middle. He froze, caught off guard, and was still frozen when Kitty broke away.
"That'll show him," Merry smirked happily, and took Kitty by the hand. "Come on! Let's go find Edgar and beat him up!"
"With boys his age, cuddling is usually more of a punishment!" Kitty advised, allowing herself to be dragged off. "Bye Mel, play nice!"
Cain and Mel's corner of the room suddenly became much quieter.
Well, sorry, all, but I simply couldn't resist. I apologize to people who don't like OC's, but I'm primarily an original fiction writer. OC's are my strong point, so of course I'll have them featured…
Anyway, this isn't pointless, directionless, or sheer wish fulfillment. I actually have a plot, an honest-to-god, mapped-out plot. Because reading Cain Saga etc. made me want to make a doujinshi, but I don't have the time or the energy. So I'm writing this, the 'novelization' of what my doujin would be…I'm trying to keep the plot in the spirit of the original, but I'm afraid my poor brain can't take quite that many twists and double-blinds. And I have a terrible habit of liking to leave a story with all the characters alive, OC or not. Ah, well, we'll see how it turns out!
