The servant's hands were shaky as he swept the hallway floor, only looking down at the decorative neapolitan tile and nothing more. Dust particles picked up in one section and Sour Bill made sure to scrape the edges and corners of the wall. By his nature cleanliness was to be taken seriously but that sometimes got him caught up with details instead of the larger picture, to get the job done as soon as possible. He was head servant to King Candy and he did manage to balance out mundane tasks such as broom handling as well as more challenging tasks which the King would set up out of necessity or at times out of pushing his luck with the servant's compliance. A taste of leadership Bill did have was that he was the one to assign tasks to the lower level workers, and be the one to correct them via constructive criticism and help. His method to right a wrong was ten times as effective as what his King would do.
The dust was in the pan and in the wastebasket in a matter of minutes—halfway done with this hall.
The Sugary Sultan of Sugar Rush had just completed all of his paper work for the day. With some hours to spare until the race for determining who the new avatars will be competing tomorrow, King Candy went to go check on Sour Bill to see how his task was going.
Pushing away from his confectionary themed desk, he headed out to the stairs and passed some of the servants of the castle. They immediately stopped and bowed deeply to their King, each one of them hold a hint of fear. "Hello King, how may we serve you?" they spoke altogether. Their 'King' looked to each one, taking his time to adjust his coat and crown to sit just right before speaking.
"Nothing for now, ahoo! Keep working like the busy beesth you all are sthuppose to act~" he spoke in an upbeat and overly cheery voice. However, his words rarely seemed to truly match his countenance. None the less, all the servants bowed once more to him and said, "Yes oh great King!" Each one of them quickly returning to cleaning and organizing that section of the castle.
Candy chuckled a "Hoo hoo!" at being called 'great' before moving on. Glad that they respect him, or fear him. He didn't care either way so long as none of them ever tried to talk down to him like a certain little... Shaking his head, he put on a more neutrally serious expression as he hunted for his head servant, Sour Bill.
Upon entering another hall, he spied Bill half way down it. Cleaning to the nth degree every nook and cranny in and out of sight. Candy grinned inwardly as he hadn't had some 'fun' in a while. Putting on a casual air about himself, he strode with his jingly shoes down the clean section of the hallway.
Upon reaching Sour Bill, the King stopped next to a decorative vase that contained candied roses sitting upon an ornate half table against the wall. Noting the cleaning supplies strewn about the floor as Bill worked, Candy cleared his throat with a somewhat deep "AHEM!" to get his enraptured attention.
Waiting with a practiced patient expression of looking unimpressed or bored. Could be both or neither depending on his mood.
The other man heard him all right. Darkened eyelids of green orbs widened a centimeter before resuming a look of indifference, still focused on the floor. His old self would have immediately dropped everything and give full attention to the sovereign ruler of Sugar Rush. Not this time; King Candy's so-called need for attention was already filled by the others at this point, he bet. And this reflective, unfeeling surface that they kneeled and stood on was much more interesting.
By now Sour Bill still hadn't made eye contact with his superior, "Something wrong, Your Majesty?"
It dripped with a callousness that nearly got a corner of the servant's lips lifted as it left his throat.
The King didn't take kindly to being ignored. Paying attention to the floor, he could see how Bill's face reacted, even if it was forced to be minuscule. Frowning just a tick, he too forced a different expression. Smiling in a way that didn't quite reach his eyes. His tone of voice sounding bubbly, yet not happy.
"Ohohohoo! Thisth day hasth been going great stho far! That wasth though," he paused, lowering his bubbliness to something a bit more serious, "until now."
Plucking a hard candied rose from the ceramic chocolate vase, Candy quizzed Bill as he inspected the sugary floral, "Bill, refresh my memory," he said in a pseudo condescending way, "WHEN did I order you to clean the hallway, hmmmm?"
Candy continued to act interested in the rose he held betwixt his digits. His eyes though looked past said object to a much more interesting reflection of his servant in the floor.
Still playing with their mirror, the servant got out a smirk, now wide enough to be rid of subtlety.
"You have no need to tell me what to clean." His face again lifeless as he scratched at a tiny spot with the back of his thumbnail, "I'm actually helping you save your breath, talking; by cleaning what I believe needs to be.." He fell silent before getting up slowly; distancing himself from his King before eyeing that same rose, before looking straight into his rose orbs with an icy glare. Fingers shades darker than Candy's slipped the stem away from that loose hold to place it back into the vase filled with sugar water with a tint of blue.
Sour Bill spotted a drop of red contaminating it. He merely blinked with faked curiosity, "What is that?"
"Sire, you should really watch those thorns." The fact that the translucent stems were sharpened and polished rock candy didn't help either.
When their gazes locked, Candy's was steeled with a hidden rage just waiting to burst forth. However, he didn't snap nor break his view of Bill, even when the rose was taken back to its vase. He paid little mind to the nick that now thudded crimson on his index finger. Feeling the blood in his veins already simmering with every word and look Bill made in disrespect. To the King.
Carefully the King pulled a handkerchief from his sleeve and wiped away the excess blood. As he could feel it clot, he plotted his next move with caution. Wanting to shove Bill in his place verbally. If that didn't work well, no one was around, were they? This section of castle was empty for the most part this time of day. Taking this 'sour' servant's attitude down a few notches physically would please this sugary sire greatly.
Despite being deep in thought, Candy kept a neutral face all throughout. Once the blood was cleaned from his hand he flicked the stained kerchief into Bill's face. His own giving a flash of a would-be smirk before remaining neutral as his voice was forced to sound.
"Well, thank you for that informative information!" Candy turned on his heel to start walking away as his conscious self caught up with him. HE couldn't risk being caught possibly decking Bill. If someone saw, that's all it would take to start undoing all his hard work.
He wouldn't let Bill goad him. He'll just mess with Bill indirectly. Via the code room.
For now though, "I'm STHURE you can figure out wha ta do with that handkerchief, ahoo!" he started to sound in higher spirits again. "Make sthure though it's back on my desk when you're done doing what I DON'T need to tell ya ta do, hoo hoo!"