A/N: lol if you wonder about why the dividers have random words in them, I felt like naming things either a maid should have on or what a maid would use lol and also, my response to reviewers! (I'll try to keep doing it this way owo) btw, I noticed...Aster's everyones favorite XDDD

AntiSora: lol I know Aster's different XDD and thanks for loving him lol that means you love me too! j/k and I might just introduce that idea of yours in this chapter. As for what he does in his free time...we'll see into that little by little...

Miracle Of Oracles: lol really? Glad I could help you out ^^ here's an update for you right here!

Latias Eevee: your screen name surprised me to this story XD thank you thank you though and yes, Aster is sure to keep being hilarious through this so I can keep you all laughing.

Transformer123124: Thanks! owo and here you go!;)

Now onto the story!

~Dress~

"So then men, what do you say to this deal?" Aster questioned, small smile upon his face with closed eyes, seeming like the most perfect angel on earth.

"I say that's highway robbery!" The man yelled. "You think we're stupid or something?"

"No, no. But then again, you know yourselves better than I do, maybe you should decide that one..." he tilted his head, smile never flinching. A snort came from the red eyed boy as he stood on the sidelines of the price-talking.

"Look here you little snot, I think we know a thing or two about business to know that's over charging for crops!" he shouted, leaning over to intimidate the boy. Not being one to be intimidated, Aster's smile remained as Ratatosk began frowning.

"Hey old man, back off. Now." the eldest triplet growled, about to step forward until a hand held him back.

"Now, now, calm down...it's not at that point yet..." the scholar smirked to his brother. "Calm down. If they continue to be unruly, then I'll leave them in your capable hands..." he then turned back to the other marketers in the room. "So, do we have a deal, yes or no?"

"No!"

"Okay brother, now it's your turn...if you all would excuse me..." he stood, all of them following him with their eyes. "Oh, and please do wait until I close the door..."

"Yeah, sure..." he grumbled at his sibling, cracking his neck almost too nonchalantly for the situation. As the door clambered shut, one of the most menacing grins appeared on the face with red eyes. Cracking his knuckles this time, he simply asked: "Didn't take it the easy way so here's the hard way for you..." Outside the room however, many people eyed the door behind a blond just dusting his fingers against his palms like the sounds of fighting hadn't even had broken out in the first place.

"My brother is too brutish for my tastes..." he yawned before smiling himself. "But...it gets the job done." Everyone just stared at him, as if that would bother him though... "Wonder what they're doing..."

~Apron~

At the house, Marta was trailing Emil as he did the cleaning, from where he put what to the way he washed things exactly and also how he scrubbed the laundry. Although he wanted to tell her to stop, he really did, he couldn't find it in himself to do it. She was actually...studying him. Like the way a little kid followed their mom around type of studying. The overwhelming shy side of the boy made his cheeks pinken whenever she leaned to close though, making it ever more obvious of what she was doing.

"Uh, M-Marta...y-you know...you can go rest, I'm just about done..." he mumbled, turnin g his face from her.

"No! I need to learn how to do my job right! Start to finish!" she responded quickly, not taking the hint whatsoever. He chuckled lightly, folding the last bit of the clothes they'd taken in from earlier.

"As long as we're the ones looking after you, it's okay. Don't worry so much." he assured, turning to her with a small sheepish grin. She all but suddenly leapt at him in a hug, squeezing him tightly. A sudden noise made them flinch and he unconsciously grabbed her back, both looking at the wall in the direction of the sound.

"What was that?"

"I-I...I dunno..."

"It could be Aster and Ratatosk...wait...it's too early for that... Oh no! Maybe it's those thieves he was talking about! What should we do? Emil!" the maid began to panic, the boy shook her once, silencing her and surprising her all the same.

"Calm down...we'll just have to make sure they don't find you. Come on!" he called before running off and pulling her along with him. Upon reaching the kitchen, the front door was thrown open from brute force, as if someone had kicked it in, Marta screaming from fright.

"I hear one! That way!" the intruder ordered. From the sound of that, the boy figured it must be a group of them.

"Damn it, Marta!" he yelled in a hushed voice. He knew she didn't do it on purpose, he really did but that was a very stupid thing to do when trying to hide.

"I-I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" she was far past scared at this point, covering her ears with her eyes clenched shut. He grabbed her arm and darted up the stairs, heading straight for the eldest's room. Accidentally pushing the door too quickly, it resounded with a thud against the wall, Emil lightly cursing again again because of it. Before anything else, he had to make sure they didn't find Marta. He forced her under the bed, figuring since it was dark in there she wouldn't be spotted easily, even in that bright tan dress she wore. After making sure she slid all the back before searching for something, anything he could use as a weapon, this was Ratatosk's room after all.

"Up here! This room!" the man ordered again. The blonde fished around the headboard and was able to grab onto a piece of freewood, the "brute" could be counted on after all. Just as he was able to get a firm grasp on it, they charged into the room, a group of four, the apparent leader still in the doorway. "Get 'er!"

"Huh?" Emil spun around, almost comically thwacking the first attacker across the head accidentally. Turning on the second, he swung with purpose, a smashing sound as the wood cracked. Marta had to clamp her hands over her mouth from shrieking at the impact of both men, one on the bed and one on the floor. The third grabbed the boy by the throat before he had the chance to attack, smacking the battering utensil away.

"Lil feisty one, idn't she?" the man in the doorway cackled. In his head, Emil groaned. It must seriously be dark for them not to tell they were fighting with a guy in here... The man against the bed got up, grabbing one of the blonde's arms and twisting it back while pulling a cloth out his pocket. As he cried out the cloth was pressed over his airways, and having no choice but to breathe in he found his eyelids getting heavy before his limbs joined the fray. His steps stumbled before his arms fell completely limp to his sides, his body going out on him in a matter of seconds as he hit the floor.

She didn't think it was possible to cover her mouth even tighter but once that mop of lemon hair hit the ground right in front of her, she had to do everything in her power not to call out to him. Her eyes were wide and running with tears as she muffled her panicked breaths through the already tear soaked gloves, the taste of salt not helping her throat at all. She just stared as her protector was picked up and rushed out of the room, the mob of feet fleeting from view. She heard the horse take off but still, she couldn't find the means or a reason to leave that spot. In her mind, the only conclusion she could come to as she curled up was that this was all her fault...

~Stockings~

"Maaaaaster Riiichter~!" the blue-haired girl called affectionately. The man replied to her with a stiff 'hn?' as he continued reading. Seems like he was used to whatever that call meant and he wasn't having any of it. "Honestly! I wanted to ask you something serious!"

"What?" the man sighed, "What is it Aqua?" she giggled, the royal blue knee-length dress swaying along with her after she'd stop.

"Where's your green eyes come from?"

"...are you stupid?" he shot back. She pouted at him momentarily before shaking her head.

"I am not stupid and I meant from which parent did you get them?"

"Is that something you need to know to save your life?" he grumbled. Her eye twitched before placed a hand over her face. That was something she should've expected, it was just like him to say that... "...why is it important to know?"

"Because green eyes are rare, Master Richter! You hardly see anyone with them! I wonder if there's a green eyed maid out there somewhere, I'd love for her to work here!" she chimed, again swaying with that 'You know what I'm getting at.' look on her face. The red-head sighed, finally standing from his chair.

"I suppose you want me to go find one?" she nodded with excitement. "How exactly would I go about that then?"

"Well...they do have the black market...that's where you got me..."

"...hn...I suppose so..."

"Um..." she looked down for a moment.

"What?"

"N...nothing...I'm just kinda...scared to go back there...nevermind me though. Which jacket would you like, Master Richter?"

"...it's getting dark, the chill will be coming..."

"Right away sir!" she giggled again while running off. He just gave a final look in her direction before letting out a huff. Sure she was his head maid buuut...the freedom he gave her was starting to get ridiculous...

~Mary Janes~

"So, question..."

"What. Aster?"

"Oooh, someone's a bit annoyed..."

"Whose damned fault do you think that is?" Ratatosk roared at the boy next to him. It's a surprise he didn't startle the horse though...

"Whatever do you mean, dear brother?" Aster asked back innocently, smiling the way that always sent the other fuming.

"You just keep pestering me about stupid crap! Stop asking about Emil! Stop asking about Marta! I swear, you're horribly obvious at what you're getting at so stop it!"

"Just passing the time..." he smirked while looking up. It was still just as cloudy as when they'd left the house... "So, as I was about to ask before...which word do you think I should use?"

"...what do you mean?"

"Twincest or Emilcest?" the red eyed boy had a stupefied look on his face before he recovered from the last word spoken.

"What the-Aster! What did I just say! And what type of word-"

"You said not to ask about Emil, and I'm asking you about a word, am I not correct? And as for the word. I found the flaw in the word 'twincest'. As you pointed out earlier, we are triplets so it hinders the word and we can't call it 'triplest' because even though were triplets, I have nothing to do with your situation..."

"Except the fact you keep instigating it..."

"What? Oh, yeah, sure. So then that's when 'Emilcest' came to me. Seeing as you can direct that specifically to the person who has thoughts of fornication with him-"

"Which I do not have, thank you..." he interrupted quickly.

"...if that was so, you wouldn't be blushing right now." scarlet eyes blinked for a moment. He didn't know if he was actually blushing or if Aster was bluffing and he couldn't take his hands off the reigns to tell... "But yes, I say either word is good but Emilcest can't really be trumped can it?"

"You're gonna get trumped if you don't shut the hell up..."

"...Ratatosk...do you mean...me too?" the scholar teen asked in feigned shock. That time, Ratatosk was sure he blushed.

"No, you freggin moron!"

"So you do only prefer Emil..."

"You-AGH!" the older was about to throw in an insult if it weren't for some carriage high-tailing through town that bumped into them nothing but a second ago. "Asshole!" but then he blinked. He swore he saw a blonde in the middle of those people... "Umm...Aster..."

"We need to get home...now..." his voice was not teasing, it was dead serious. Ratatosk figured he noticed too...and the last time they checked, they were the only blondes in the area...

~Feather Duster~

Emil's eyes flinched. He could swear he just heard his brother... As he rolled over he found he was lying on something soft...and warm... He groaned opening his eyes to a semi-darkening sky. Another thing that caught his attention was a look of boredom directed down on him. His eyes shot open completely as he jolted upright.

"I-I'm sorry!" he yelled quickly, bowing down almost immediately. She laughed, holding her hair back from the wind blowing it around a bit.

"It's okay, I put you there. They were pretty stupid for kidnapping a boy but hey, can you do? Besides, why are you apologizing to a girl?" she smirked. Although she was asking if that was like a common sense, her tone was...extremely sarcastic to say the least although she somehow made it playful.

"O-oh um...I don't really treat girls differently from anyone else..." he trailed, looking away as if he'd said something wrong.

"Heh, figured that was your type. I like guys like you, ya know? But all those girls are scared of you just for being a guy...they say men hold the prejudices against women but it's also the other way around..." she sighed looking off at the sky. He blinked.

"You don't seem scared at all..."

"Who, me? You serious?" she laughed again. "I wish I would be scared!" she flicked the bang the was covering her left eye with a joking scoff. "That's hilarious, I tell ya..."

"Umm...if you don't mind me asking...why are you here? Well...who are you?"

"Mm?" she smiled, holding out her hand slightly, "The name's Ruri, and you are?"

"U-uh E-Emil! Emil Castagnier." he stammered back, taking her hand lightly.

"Well Emil..." she tested the name, leaning against the railing of the contraption, a thought glinting over coffee colored eyes. "I must say, you're kinda weird..." he gaped at her for a second before a slight blush came over him.

"R...really? I don't really see how..."

"Oh?" her hair whipped around as she turned to him quickly, the shoulder length hair blowing wildly from the wind at this speed. "Well, you're a guy but for you to be a guy, you're extremely modest...well...that's not the right word..." she put a hand to her chin. "and saying 'shy' is the lazy way about it..." she growled to herself then sighed again, "Ah well, I figure it out later but yeah, you get what I mean."

"Then I could say you're a bit odd to be a girl..." he mumbled. She chuckled.

"S'pose you could say that. We're a bit reversed aren't we? Well, I'm a tomboy, can't help it. But I think it is your fault for being effeminate..."

"Effemi-!"

"But I never answered your other question."

"Huh? Oh yeah...you seem fine to have been kidnapped..." a snort came from her direction causing him to look at her confused.

"Kidnapped? Me? That's a good one. They tried a long time ago."

"...what?" now he was more confused than ever.

"Ya see, when they tried to kidnap me, I whooped ass, took names, then demanded them to take me to their boss. Being the idiots they were, they did. The boss liked my attitude so she hired me. I just have to watch over these idiots and take care of some things at the base. When not doing that, I can do what I want when I'm there." Ruri beamed. "By the way, completely random but you have a pretty rare hair color for around these parts. Blondies aren't found often."

"Oh..." he looked to her, his head tilting. "...is it me or is your hair and eye color the same?" she ran her fingers through her hair of not exactly black but not clearly brown shading.

"Well, that's true, green eyes..." she chuckled back. Suddenly, she frowned. "Sorry Emil, time to go to sleep again...it was fun talking to you. Be easy on him, kay?" he leaned back. The last sentence was not directed at him. He turned just to be met with the same cloth as before and as he fell, she caught him. "...sorry...

~Frilled Hairband~

Aster quickly hopped out of the wagon, seeing as their front door was clearly still thrown open. Upon reaching the front room he noticed not that many things were disheveled. Running alone could've done that damage. Then a quick thought of why they would be running and not being careful but that obviously wasn't putting two and two together...someone must've been chasing them is what he concluded. He waited for the other to strap in the horse to inspect the damage.

"What happened?"

"Hm..." he huffed, clearly annoyed. "Nothing much so far as I can see...we need to find them...let's check upstairs, Emil would be the type to hide there." And with that, they both ran up. They checked the den, the study, the baths and guestroom before coming to their own rooms. Aster opened his, seeing as nothing was altered whatsoever, he checked Emil's. Last one to check was red-eyes room. Opening the door and turning on the light, the owner of the room groaned.

"Why is mine the only one trashed?"

"Just your luck..."

"...shut it. And what's with this?" As soon as he picked up the slightly broken wood, a gloved hand shot out at him. He cursed at first before he realized what, well who it was. "Marta!"

"Marta?" Aster echoed. Truthfully, they'd scared the girl even worse then she already was. She had somehow managed to cry herself to sleep under there but with the way they ran up the stairs, she was scared awake, wondering if they finally noticed that they kidnapped the wrong person and were back to do the job correctly. And when they'd opened the door, her heart nearly stopped until she heard the oh-so-familiar groan of Ratatosk. Carefully, he knelt down next to her and helped her from under the bed, unconsciously dusting her off while trying to stop her shaking.

"What the hell happened here?" he didn't want to shake the girl but he was on edge. Then he noticed she was trying to say something but it wouldn't quite come out. "Is there something to drink around here?"

"Got it." the brown-eyed boy was down the stairs and back before they knew it with a canteen of water, handing it to his brother. She took a few sips from it, the coldness not helping at the moment.

"He...on..." she rasped. Both of them just raised an eyebrow at her, Ratatosk handing her the bottle again. She sighed, took another drink and attempted it again. "He's...g-gone...they...took Emil..." Scarlet and tan met for a moment as the brother's looked to each other, a silent conversation ensuing.

'It seems that really was Emil...'

'Damn it all...what should we do?'

'Don't really have a choice...'

'So we're going after them?'

'Of course...'

'Alright then...' the eldest sighed. "Marta...we're going after Emil tomorrow..."

"You...what?"

"Lest we have expected guests tonight..." Aster added. "They might come back once they figure out what house it was..."

"Knowing idiots like that, they would...ah well, let's just-" he was about to attempt standing but the girl gripped onto him, her shaking starting up again. "...Marta?"

"I...just-I..." Aster placed a hand on her head, rubbing in a calming motion. Apparently, it was working because her shivers died down a bit. "Please don't leave me by myself again..."

"Wouldn't dream of it. Come on." the scholar boy stood, holding his hand out to the girl. "Let's go camp out in the den. We can set up a tent and make 'Tosk cook for us. What do you say?"

"That..." she smiled lightly with a small giggle, "sounds like fun!" She took his hand as he pulled her up and they began walking out the room.

"I never said I'd cook." the one left behind grumbled. Then he sighed, better get started...

~Neckband~

"Nngn...wha..." the green eyed boy mumbled. He'd felt someone touching him for a while now but he was finally able to move. "Who...is that?"

"Shame...thought you'd least remember me from like, what? An hour ago?" the female voice spoke back.

"...Ru...ri?"

"You know it." she giggled back. From his laying position, he was able to look down at her. Well, he could see her clearly now. Her hair was in a ponytail unlike earlier and she had a hair pin holding her bangs back but it was something else that distracted him. Where his legs should've been he saw...lace...frills... Oh dear lord, those frills. He shot up, blush immediately splashing his face.

"W-What the hell? W-Why'd you p-put me in a d-dress?" he nearly shouted from embarrassed shock alone. He was responded to with a grin, from ear to ear that being.

"Like I told you, everyone else is scared of your gender-"

"You know that's n-not what I meant!" then he sighed. "seriously, could you please tell me?"

"Well, you know why you were taken, even by accident, right?" she offered, placing one hand against her hip and the other towards him.

"Well...yeah... "

"That alone is the explanation." she dead-panned. "Moreover, you don't seem that bothered by it..."

"Oh that's because Marta-" he stopped, noticing the smirk on her face with a raised eyebrow. "Nothing, nevermind...please stop looking at me that way..."

"What way? Marta huh? Must be the reason why you're here... Anyway, how the hell do you keep waking up? And turn around, I wasn't done..." she turned him, fixing the bow on the back of the sash. "Black doesn't look right...but this is the standard...they'll dress you as they see fit anyways... There! Done with that..."

"This may be rude but you have an odd habit of trailing your sentences then continuing." he pointed out amongst her little adjustments. She looked up from fluffing a bit of his skirt.

"Observant much? And you don't seem to be bothered by any of this..well, you're calm around me anyway..." she exhaled, looking over her finished work. "Then again people say I'm that type of person..."

"...makes a bit of sense I guess..."

"A bit? Heh, well, it's time for you to go back to sleep." Just as he was about to ask why, her fist was flying towards his face. He flinched but found he didn't get any impact and that her hand whizzed past him and into the man standing behind him. As he opened his eyes, he noted she looked angry until he also noticed that there was in fact someone behind him. "Stop doing that! That crap's not workin, idiot." It was then Emil could finally put his finger on it as she walked past him. This girl was like Ratatosk, that's probably why he was that comfortable in her presence and he had a mental giggle at the thought of what would happen if they met. All of a sudden, there was a thud, snapping him out of his musings. "Stupid dolt...see how he likes that when he wakes up..."

"Y-You knocked him out?"

"Using his own method, yes." definitely too similar to Ratatosk...they'd probably hit it off if they weren't arguing about something first... "You afraid of needles?"

"No, why?" there was a sudden pinch in his right arm, he quickly glanced at the syringe that she was using to push something into his system.

"Yeah, again, sorry but that stuff's not working...I diluted it though...you should be out for three hours...four and a half, tops. I'll make sure no one dirty gets to you though...that'd just be adding insult to injury..."

"What are you-" and that's when his head started to spin. As he began to head for the floor, she caught him, adjusted him to her back as she began to carry the half-conscious boy to the show room. "My...head..."

"Uh-huh...you feel tired?"

"Yea...nngn..."

"Just...sleep, kay?"

"Nn...kay..."

"Not like you really had much choice in the matter...jeez, this is the type of person that makes you feel bad for em..." she mumbled, shaking her head and walking into a room with a wall of glass. "Oh well..."

~Broom~

"We...we're here M-Master Richter..."

"What's the matter Aqua? You're behaving...out of character..."

"I...told you! I hate this place, that's all to it." the blue haired girl sighed. "Well, it's not the place I hate but..."

"But what?" The man asked, pushing up his glasses in slight annoyance. Before she could answer though, A woman walked up, eyeing the man before clearing her throat.

"Lord Richter, if I am correct? It has been a while." she cooed, the edges of defined lipstick turning up ever so smugly as she put her hand up to her chin, tapping it with her finger.

"...Pronyma was it?"

"Yes?" she drawled out.

"Pardon all rudeness but I do not wish to stay here. Will you fill my inquiry?"

"I have an assistant for those things. She's inside."

"And what might her name be?"

"That...I don't tell people...unless you'd like to get me to tell you-"

"Ruri..." Aqua cut in. "Dark brown hair and eyes...most find her if they go inside..." The woman looked nearly enraged at that statement, her fun ruined.

"Still don't know how to hold your tongue, I see..."

"..." she inhaled, "Forgive me if I'm wrong but aren't I supposed to see to my master's desires? If you may please excuse us..." she gave a curt bow and held her hand to Richter's elbow, leading him inside as she was trained to do. He looked to her, wondering about something but not letting his thoughts show on his face as he was showed the way. Even without looking she could tell the auction runner was staring daggers at the back of her head but that didn't matter to her, not at all. She just wanted to him away from her. Once in the building however, he scrunched his nose up at it.

"Do they know how to use lights here?"

"Ah, you see, that's cause-"

"If we did, any maids on market who ended up waking up would see beforehand who is purchasing them..." A young teen added. "That tends to scar them a bit..."

"Ruri!" Aqua exclaimed. Richter peered down at the new face in front of him that he realized wasn't so new to him. And also that maybe Aqua should've said she finds you, not you find her...

"You're that girl from before. I didn't get your name back then though..."

"Jeez, you got good memory. How long has it been?"

"Four years." the blue haired girl mumbled, fiddling with her fingers behind her back.

"You would remember..." Ruri chuckled, "Ah well, why are you here today?"

"We want someone with green eyes, if that's okay..."

"Green eyes-oh!" she mumbled to herself before coming to a sudden idea. "Well, I do know of someone but they're a...special case. First off, is he nice to you?" she questioned, pointing a finger at the redhead in the room.

"That is quite rude you know..." he grumbled, flicking a few strands of his hair back with the statement. He was promptly ignored.

"Well, yes." Aqua answered, wondering why the test was going on.

"Okay, two! If he were to find out something strange, would he over react?"

"No..."

"Three! Is he secretly a pervert?"

"Per-WHA?" she almost echoed but found herself blushing at the thought of that. "Well, I wouldn't know... he's never done anything to show he is, although it wouldn't really bother me, mind you..." she mumbled that last part with a small smile on her face. "If he were...oh! What would I do?" seeing as her mind began to stray, he cleared his throat, snapping her out of whatever...mini fantasy she just had.

"The answer is no." he muttered, deciding against looking this Ruri girl in the eyes.

"I see...I guess I can so you to em then..." she turned, heading to the door past the glass and beckoned him to follow.

"She's quite...odd..." he again mumbled.

"Not odd, Master Richter. Fearless is more like it. She not afraid of anyone or anything and if she is, you can never tell unless it really bothers her. I always admired that about her... She was never afraid of that...woman."

"Pronyma?"

"Ah, yes..."

"No one really likes her but, who cares. By the way, I can hear you..." Ruri pointed out. The stoic look upon the man's face never changed as Aqua laughed nervously. "Anyway, here's the one..." she trailed as they now stood in front of a blond, seemingly asleep in a sitting position.

She's...cute." Aqua stated absently. Although he was silent, Richter knelt down to look the other over closely. No scars so she was obedient more or less, depends if that's good or not. The hands were semi-abused, showing they perhaps had skills in labouring and or cooking, which would be a benefit. Over-all, it didn't seem like much of a hassle except for the apparent price. He stood, facing the nearly raven-haired girl.

"So how much is she?"

"Considering the normal price of a maid-"

"2,000,000 gald...regrettably..." he huffed.

"And since you have a specified area that has been found...but...I won't charge you for that..."

"...what's the catch then?"

"Catch?" she blinked. "No, there's none...well...make sure to take extra care of this one...please?" he stared at her, wondering if she'd really meant what she'd asked. All of the silliness had drained from her and she had a serious look about her, especially since she wasn't smiling.

"Why does it concern you?" he asked back coldly, frowning at the girl as he asked.

"Because I promised and I don't break my promises."

"Hn..."

"So is that a yes or a no? Since you didn't want to waste time here, correct young Lord Richter Abend?"

"How did you-"

"Yes or no?"

"..." she stared him dead in the face, eye to eye, something not many people had the courage to do. They had a stare-down for a few moments before he sighed, pushing up his glasses. He at least give her credit for that. "I guess it wouldn't be to far out of the way to do..." Suddenly, she lit up, a big smile on her face right before lunging at him.

"Oh, thank yooouuu!" she laughed amidst the embrace. "I'll go get this stuff filled out so I'll be back!" and with that she was off. He just stood there stupefied for a moment, staring wide-eyed at the direction she took off in.

"Did she just...hug me?"

"...yes..." in Aqua's mind, she was in between fuming and jealous but the thing keeping her from snapping at the girl was her master's expression. She wanted to bust out laughing truthfully because never has she remembered him looking so surprised. As the girl came back a little while later, he was back to his stoic self, which she found herself stifling a giggle at. She hadn't missed that look earlier either.

"Sign here, here, here and initial here and sign one last time here please." Handing him the papers, he did as told, finishing off the pen's flourish with the last curl in the name "Abend". She gave it a once over before smiling once again. "Thank you! Now as for the payment method.."

"In full gald, of course..."

"As expected of a young lord...so I presume your satchel is in your carriage?"

"...ah, yes."

"Let's be going then. Hey you..." she called, looking off in a random direction. A surprised man reacted, pointing to himself as if questioning. "Yes, you. Do me favor. Carry that one for me will you?" she asked, forwarding towards Emil.

"You do know I don't work here, right?"

"Of course, the question is 'Do I really care?' It's either yes or no to it."

"She's..." Aqua started, not really knowing how to word it.

"...that trait is a bit indescribable isn't it?" the red head finished blankly, sighing afterward. The girl came back with a slightly angered man following her with Richter's new purchase.

"Lead the way please!" she chimed, smiling as if she hadn't just done a thing she had. As they'd gotten outside and to his transportation, Emil was placed inside by the man, who turned to Ruri in return. She simply stared back before muttering a "Shoo, shoo..." while waving him off. A small giggle escaped the maid as the master sighed. "...what?"

"Oh nothing." the blue haired girl giggled again.

"Oh, hey you, Abend."

"...yes?" he was reluctant to answer her but figured he'd be worse off not doing it.

"Get that one a dress like Aqua's!"

"...why?" most like Aqua herself would've said the same but since she suggested it, maybe she had an actual reason...

"Because, it'd look cute! In green! ...maybe a dark green and have the bow the same color as the eyes? That'd look nice, don'tcha think? Black doesn't suit that one...at least without another color..." not a bad idea but not a true reason either, he mused. Perhaps he would try that out but for now, it was time to get the new one home. He handled the bag one-handed, slinging it over to the girl just to see what would happen. In a bit of his own surprise, she'd actually caught it, with both arm though. She put it over her shoulder and smiled at the two. "Alright then. Have a good night you two!"

"Ah, you too!" Aqua called out from inside the carriage right before it began to move. "Keep up the good work Ruri!"

"You got it!" she laughed. Turning to go inside, she shook her head while smiling. "I wonder if they'll be mad once they found out?"

A/N: lol I kinda had to make a self-insert for that. I couldn't think of any characters to play that role of "the fearless girl" that hadn't been used (or planned to be used) already so I just used myself XDD and yes, I act like Ruri for real, just changed the name. I/she will only be around there so no worries about her popping up too much. On other things, the story is finally in a good enough motion for me and I found that listening to the tos2 soundtrack while proofreading is fun. I squeed on Richter, Alice and Ratatosks themes while fixing this up a bit owo And for anyone reading more than one of my stories I'm so sorry! TTnTT I don't mean to neglect them it's just that...for some reason I can't write much and I can barely draw and...and...and.*sniffles* I'll try to get back on it, I swear! And the only reason I got this up is because (for some odd reason) i hate to see only one chapter up if I know it's gonna be continued (cause it'll make me feel like it's a one-shot I guess? Truthfully, I only ever did that once...) but yeah, I'll stop babbling now and please be dears and review!

~Ruru out