The other part of Yvette's first day and just a taste of how the Prime Minister handles things.

Notes: The artist scene was based on a video I saw on Youtube that I found rather infuriating. Also, I wonder if other references can be spotted. Locco ended up being an interesting character to me as was Kiki, and I "stan" Bobo given her backstory/situation. So, I included them all.

Chapter Text

Yvette thought that the afternoon would be better. Of course, she was wrong. She'd been outside for a breath of fresh air and found that a grayish white husky wanted to share some air with her. Except, the dog wanted more than that. He began growling at her. Yvette froze, but dog kept approaching.

"I don't have any food..." she stammered. "I-I'm not tasty." The dog kept approaching. "Please." She started walking away, but she heard the sound of paws after her. "Please!" She started running, but the dog barked and kept chasing her. She didn't know how long it had been chasing her? Two blocks? All she knew was that she bumped into someone...someone in burgundy.

/Oh no/. "Prime...prime minister..." She looked up at Prime Minister Nidhogg, but he only briefly smiled before calling out to the dog.

"Sit."

The dog obeyed. Yvette couldn't believe what she was seeing. Nidhogg walked over to the dog, holding out a gloved hand.

"Shake." The dog held out his paw and they shook hands. "Now go." When the dog did, Nidhogg turned to Yvette.

"Huh? It obeyed?" She asked, sincerely shocked.

"It's always obedient," Nidhogg answered with a smile. He approached her. "Now, why would it chase you?"

Yvette shrugged. "I'm popular with small animals...but, I don't know why that dog would chase me. This is embarrassing. Are you embarrassed?"

Nidhogg chuckled. "No, not at all. I don't mind." He walked in front of her. "Follow me. There is work to be done."

Inside the building, Yvette heard co-workers talking.

"Hey, did you see the new secretary?"

"Sure did! Walking disaster zone. Why did he choose her when there are so many better people out there?"

"She's not so bad. She's as tender as a bunny. Maybe she has a certain something. We shouldn't be hasty in judging her."

Nidhogg stood in front of the three, a gloved hand on his chin, his eyebrows raised, his voice like a slash. "What are you three doing here? Do you not have jobs to do?"

"Oh! Minister! We..." The three workers scurried away.

"Sir, are they my colleagues? Yvette asked.

Nidhogg nodded as he kept his gaze on the worker who defended Yvette. "Yes, but you have different duties. You'll know each other in the future." He resumed walking. "Come on, we've wasted enough time."

They stopped at another set of workers who had been styling a dress. Or, what Yvette thought was a dress. Nidhogg simply had one glove on his chin, but his eyebrows were raised, his golden eyes scanned the outfit, and no smile adorned his striking face.

"This is not going to happen," he simply stated.

The outfit in question looked like a bunch of balloons being stitched together with ribbons that didn't even match. The shoes looked like packing boxes with straps. The stylists looked at each other and the poor model couldn't even look at any of them. Yvette wanted to say that it doesn't seem suitable, but she found that she didn't need to say anything at all when he briefly glanced at her before looking back at them.

"There's a term for this: hot mess. Even that is too flattering. Fix this. In fact, start over."

One of the stylists tried to chime. "We wanted to-"

"Why are you defending this to me? /Fix it/."

When the workers scurried, Nidhogg kept walking and Yvette did her best to keep up. The rest of her day proved a bit better despite some stumbling and paper drops. The Prime Minister only smiled while he ran a ship that proved as tight as everyone claimed. So tight in fact, that when he confronted a suspected art thief he merely stood with his arms folded, his face like sleek steel, his voice sounding like that very same steel.

"Why did you steal someone else's work?" He asked. "Don't bother trying to deny it. I already know the truth. You asked your pawn to draw in an empty sketchbook and you claimed credit for the work." He looked over the at the artist who stood nearby and pointed at the thief. "This girl is not your friend. She is only using you for your art. The sooner you see it, the better. Do you understand me?"

The artist nodded. The thief's mouth dropped and she started crying. The Prime Minister simply stood there, waiting. Yvette sensed that he could wait forever if he had to. The artist shook her head, clearly a victim of those tears at one time, but with Nidhogg around, not anymore.

"You've done this before," Nidhogg continued. "Usually, someone will approach and wonder what is wrong." The thief's tears meant nothing to him neither did her increasing volume. "You'll make up some story about how you were attacked unfairly and that person will side with you. If your target can't properly explain themselves, then you will be believed. Maybe that person will yield and give you something to make nice." His amber gold eyes flickered over at the artist, who sadly nodded, and then those eyes flickered back to the thief. "Today is not that day. In fact, it will never happen again."

The thief suddenly stopped crying, her face turning pale. Nidhogg nodded. "Hmmm...just as I thought. Did you really think that would work with me? Did you really think I would side with you? Did you really think I would be like the others?" He took a step forward with nothing but a soft smile on his face. "You thought wrong." That last statement came out in a whisper that might as well have been a razor blade. "You will leave immediately and never return. Is that understood?"

The thief bolted out of the room. Yvette gasped, knowing full well that she herself would have acted like the artist if she had a similar 'friend.' She felt thankful that she did not, not anymore at least.

"I hope you've learned some lessons from this," he told the artist.

"I have..." she replied. "I need to be better."

Nidhogg nodded. "If you wish to remain here, then you do indeed." He quickly tilted his head to the side and the artist left. He turned to Yvette.

"Choose your friends carefully."

She simply nodded and followed him until the day finally ended. On the way home, she stopped at a tea shop where she sat with her friends, a girl in a frilly pink dress and another in yellow with light orange borders.

"So, how was it?" The girl in yellow asked, her eyes wide. "He's cute, isn't he?" She held her hands over her heart. "And he smells soooooooooo gooooood!"

"Bobo!" The girl in pink shook her head with a smile. "How was your day though?"

"Uhm..." Yvette did her best to recount the day.

"Wait, what!?" Both girls exclaimed when she mentioned the cut off incident.

"Oh no..." Bobo looked at the girl in pink. "Have you ever done something like that, Locco? To be honest, I wouldn't have dared. And the /Prime Minister/!? Eeek! I would have died."

"No," Locco replied. "It's a common mistake though." She sighed, her bobbed hair swinging over her cheeks. "Please be careful next time, Yvette. Can you imagine if he hit you?"

Yvette blushed, a chuckle escaping her lips. "He said that his car had brakes and he knew how to use them."

"Oh! I bet he does...them boots! Those gloves! All those clothes!" Bobo looked up at the slowly darkening sky. "Can you imagine being in his car? Watching him drive..." She fake fainted. "Swoooon!"

"I'm sure a lot of people do, Bobo," Locco laughed. She took a sip of her tea, a delicious blend known as "Cicia Fog". Yvette had one too.

"I actually don't," Yvette answered.

"Not yet!" Bobo retorted, taking a sip of strawberry infusion tea.

Locco laughed. "Honestly, I wish I could have been his secretary. I tried and he was polite enough, but he didn't seem interested." She shrugged. "I envy you, Yvette, and yet I don't. Still, I'm proud of you and I'm sure Kiki is too."

"Oh she is!" Yvette beamed. She continued telling them about her day while they nodded at some parts, laughed at other parts, but fell silent when the artist finally came up.

"I know her," Bobo said with not a hint of humor in her voice. "That thief tried to be my friend, but my senses tingled and I chased her off with a Styling Contest."

"She tried the same with me," Locco added, "to the same result. She can't even steal properly. At least the Phantom Thief is cool. Anyway, I hope that the artist gets better at dealing with situations like that. She's actually talented and I'd hate to see her work stolen by anyone, especially by fake friends. The Prime Minister did a great job handling the situation."

Bobo's eyes brightened again. "Yes! He's just great at everything! SWWWWOOOON!"

Locco rolled her eyes. "I hope you learn too, Yvette. I think you'll do well with someone like him."

That night, Yvette sat in a recliner at home, the December Troupe TV show in the background. She had just finished talking to Kiki on the phone. The conversation mirrored the tea shop one, only Kiki wasn't quite as swooning or giggly. She was, however, impressed.

"You really would benefit from him," Kiki said. "Everything is made clear. No games, no nonsense. This may sound weird, but there is freedom in the discipline he would provide."

At first Yvette felt afraid, even doubtful, but the more she thought about it, the more she realized that they could be right.