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Chapter Four: His Butler, a MentorSebastian exited the study to find April standing just outside the door, waiting patiently. He smiled in a friendly manner. "April, our master would like me to train you. Do you have any objections to that?" he asked,hoping she would object and let him off the hook. He didn't want to have to babysit a silly girl all day;he had work to do.
April looked skeptical, perhaps she could sense his own apprehension."I don't mind." she said after a few quiet seconds.
Sebastian nodded resolutely. "Splendid. Follow me." he snapped, turning on his heel. He walked at a fast clip down the the kitchen. April followed closely, her dainty feet pattering in a manner that was both annoying and endearing. Sebastian hoped against hope that she wouldn't be clumsy. One clumsy maid was bad enough, he didn't need another.
They reached the kitchen and Sebastian swung the door open wide. "Here is the kitchen. You'll be spending a relatively small amount of time here, but it is important that you know your way around. Be sure to pay attention." April nodded, her eyes focused keenly on Sebastian's every move. "We are going to prepare the master's tea. I have made some raspberry-filled scones ahead of time and I need you to pull them out of the oven for me right now so they have time to adequately cool. The oven is there." Sebastian pointed to the oven and watched her carefully as she approached it.
Sebastian was pleased to note that the girl had the forethought to pick a rag up from the counter to use to protect her hands from the heat. Mey-rin would have never thought of that, and would have consequently burned her hands. April pulled open the oven door and picked up the cookie sheet, using the rag to her advantage. She turned around, kicked the oven door closed gently and placed it on the cooling rack. It appeared that she had baked before.
"Very good. Now, come watch me prepare the tea." Sebastian waved her over to the sink. "The first thing to do is-"
"Ya gotta get the water goin' first, right?" she interrupted.
If anyone else had interrupted Sebastian, they would have slapped immediately. As it was, Sebastian couldn't very well hit such a pretty kitten like her in the face in good conscience. He settled for putting an annoyed smile on his face and a low growl in his throat, "Don't interrupt me again. It's rude."
"Oh," she blushed, "sorry."
"Yes. Well,"Sebastian cleared his throat, "we shall pump the water into the kettle and get it boiling." He sets the kettle under the water pump and gestures for April to pump it. "Go ahead and pump the water. It may take a bit of muscle, as our pump gets a bit-"
He stopped talking when he saw that this dainty flower of a girl could use their stiff pump with surprising ease. He hadn't expected her to have so much strength. Though, thinking back on it, he should have known. She had punched him, after all, and quite hard. He must have worn his surprise on his face, because she responded with a smile and said, "I can pump water, trust me. Had to do it all the time on the farm. Heck, I betcha I could fix your pump too."
"Don't worry about it, my dear. Now, I think that's quite enough water." Sebastian tried to sound as casual as possible. She stopped pumping and he put the kettle on the stove and proceeded to stoke the fire that Bardroy had actually had enough sense to get going earlier. "While that's boiling, let's get the pot ready. The Earl likes us to warm the pot before we put the leaves in it."
April pointed at the teapot sitting on the counter. "That one?"
"Yes, that one."
April took it in her hands, closed her eyes and her hands began to glow purple slightly. She set the pot down gently, leaving glowing handprints on it for a fraction of a second. The handprints disappeared. She nodded at it expectantly. Sebastian took that nod to mean for him to touch it. He laid a hand carefully on it and was surprised to find that it was warm to the touch.
"Interesting trick. Did you teach yourself that?" the butler asked.
"I did. It's a quick way to warm things. Don't work too well on people though. I ended up burnin' a fella once," she bit her lower lip in the most adorable fashion at what should have been a decidedly not-adorable memory. "Poor didn't have eyelids after that."
Sebastian chuckled. Her nonchalant attitude towards maiming a person was most entertaining. Her petite size and innocent face betrayed what Sebastian found to be a most interesting and odd personality. They waited a few short minutes for the water to boil. During that time, Sebastian showed her how to arrange a tea-service. She watched closely, not missing a single detail. For the sake of being thorough, Sebastian had her redo the tea-service herself. He was most pleased by her ability to perfectly copy it. Sebastian showed her how to measure and pour the tea leaves into the pot, being sure to tell her that this tea was a darjeeling with hints of citrus. The kettle soon whistled and Sebastian took it off the stove. He carefully poured it over the leaves, emphasizing the importance of this to April. He set the lid on the pot and let it sit for five minutes.
"Now that the tea is ready, we will take the tea-service to our young lord in the study. Be sure to be quiet and respectful when we enter. We must always knock before entering a room where the master might be." he led the way out of the kitchen and back to the study. She kept close, thankfully not too close, and was silent the whole way there.
Sebastian tapped the study door three times and waited for Ciel to say "enter."
"My lord, today we have for you-" Sebastian was interrupted for the second time today by Ciel clearing his throat and pointing at April.
"Have her say it," the little brat-no, the young lord said.
April looked at Sebastian with her big, lavender eyes, as if asking for help. "What do I say?" she whispered fearfully.
"Tell him what we are serving him, and make it sound appealing," the butler whispered back.
April cleared her throat, clearly nervous. "Today we have uh,um, a darsh-darjeeling tea with citrus innit and a um raspberry uh...thing with some butter on top-"
Ciel held up a hand for her to stop. "Good heavens, April. Where did you learn to speak? I hate it when people stutter and you must know the words you are to say. Your accent is atrocious and you sound like you have a mouthful of marbles. Speak clearly and distinctly, and enunciate your words. Start over," Ciel said harshly.
April stood there, frozen like a rabbit looking down the barrel of a gun. Her mouth opened and closed a little as she was trying to think of what the scones were called. Sebastian resisted the urge to rub his temples in frustration.
"Well?" the young master tapped his fingers on the desk impatiently. "I'm waiting."
"T-today we have a darjeeling tea-"
"I can't hear you!" Ciel snapped. "Speak up!"
"Today we have a darjeeling tea with a nice citrus flavor to it and a raspberry...scone, with butter!" April blurted out, her voice cracking a bit on the last word.
The Earl Phantomhive smiled, satisfied. "There it is. Be more confident, April. You are a Phantomhive maid now, take pride in that fact. Well done."
Sebastian smiled as he felt a small wave of relief sweep over him. He was puzzled at that. Why would he feel relief over whether or not his master approved of the new maid. She was only staff. He was stunned when he realized that his young master scolding the blonde girl had upset him slightly. Perhaps it upset him because he saw the tiny tears forming at the corners of her soft, doey eyes? He tried to forget all these realizations and got to pouring the tea. April paid close attention as he poured it.
As April took the cup and saucer to the young lord's desk, Sebastian prepared for the worst. He expected her to trip and spill the hot tea all over Ciel. He was happy to see that she set the cup and saucer on the desk without a mishap. She stepped back to stand beside Sebastian, her thin frame visibly shaking a took the plate with the scone to the desk then and returned to the butler's side.
They waited silently for Ciel to finish his tea and scones. After he had finished, they cleared the tea service, bowed, and left the room. Sebastian could see the relief written on April's face as soon as they left the room.
"You did well, April." Sebastian said encouragingly. "I do believe the young master rather likes you. He usually doesn't waste time telling his maids to 'be confident'."
After that, Sebastian did all his chores as he usually did, stopping to explain things every once-in-a-while. April absorbed all the knowledge presented to her like a sponge. Sebastian was more than pleased with her competency level. She did all the basic household chores with no issue, and the more complicated chores she figured out right away. By the time dinner rolled around, Sebastian was reasonably confident he needn't train her anymore.
Of course,that was the opinion he held of her before dinner.
Just as Sebastian had begun preparing dinner (a broasted duck in cranberry dressing with candied walnuts on the side), there came a knock at the door. The butler felt slightly annoyed at this interruption, but realized he could simply have April answer the door. She left to do so, and later returned looking panicked.
"What is it?" Sebastian asked testily. "If we have a guest, it is your duty to announce them and show them every hospitality."
"I-I know. Thi-this guest ain't a good person to have around though?" April stuttered almost fearfully.
"Who is it?"
There came a crash from upstairs, and Ciel screamed. There was muffled shouting and what sounded like a scuffle ensued. The demon, annoyed, raced to the parlor where Ciel had been last. The scene that greeted him was… not as terrible as it could have been. Prince Soma was there, laying on top of Ciel, on the floor. He was crushing the younger boy in a forced embrace. Agni stood in the corner, watching with a smile on his face, ever the faithful butler. Sebastian sighed in exasperation.
"Prince Soma, we had no idea you were coming. Whatever are you doing here?" the butler put a finger to his aching temple as he waited for a reply.
"Oh Sebastian! Good to see you! We were in the area and decided to stop in for a visit!" Soma said cheerfully. "I missed my friend very much, you see!"
"I understand, my lord. But whatever did you do to the new maid? You scared her witless." as if summoned by his scolding tone, April appeared behind Sebastian. She kept her arms crossed, which was an improper posture to take in front of the master and company. She seemed fidgety, and Sebastian wondered what the prince had done to upset her.
Soma simply smiled like the fool he was. "I said hello in the only way I could think of. She has such pretty lips, such wonderful eyes, that I fell in love with her at first sight! I kissed her." April covered her mouth self-consciously, blushing. Sebastian had never wanted to hit the Indian prince so badly in his life.
"Well I must say," it took all of Sebastian's poise as a butler to keep from being extremely rude, "that was rather inappropriate. In this country, we don't kiss whomever we please whenever we please."
"Commoners don't, at least," Soma pointed out. Poor Agni looked rather put-out by the prince's off-handed answer.
"GET OFF OF ME!" Ciel growled viciously from the ground. Soma got off of him and stood, straightening his ornate clothes. Ciel stood, looking extremely annoyed. "Soma, it doesn't matter one's social standing. You cannot go around kissing girls you don't know! Especially a maid in my employ!"
Soma shrugged, not really listening. "She is too lovely to resist. What can I say?"
Agni finally spoke up, "My prince, perhaps you should apologize to the girl? She seemed frightened by your actions."
"Can I just say somethin'?" a quiet voice chimed in. April stepped forward, her eyes filled with tears. "I don't like strange boys comin' up to me and kissin' me without my permission!'
Agni seemed to grow irritated at her outburst. "Allow the men to handle this!"
"The last time a man handled somethin' where I was concerned, I got put in chains. I don't 'preciate what y'all did, Soma!" she pointed an accusatory finger at Soma and stormed off, the tears flowing down her cheeks.
Soma was in shock momentarily before he opened his stupid mouth and revealing the extent of his immaturity. "What a spit-fire, as you Englishmen say! Ciel, I insist you sell her to me! I want to make her my wife!"
Ciel was clearly flabbergasted at this and was speechless for a full minute before answering with an angry, resolute, "WHAT?! NO! I WON'T SELL HER!"
Sebastian took Ciel by the shoulders, trying to calm him. "What my master wishes to explain, Prince Soma, is that we have no right to sell her to you, since we do not own her. She is paid a wage to work here and is a woman free to make her own decisions. I highly doubt she would want to marry a childish man, such as yourself, but you must ask her." the butler explained.
"Very well," Soma said with a sigh. "I suppose I should apologize. After dinner. When's dinner?"
Again, Sebastian wanted very much to hit this bratty prince. Dinner was served nearly an hour later, and April was still distraught over the interaction she had had with Prince Soma. She was so distracted while the servants served dinner, that she over-filled the young master's wine glass. She noticed just as the dark red grape juice spilled onto the white linen tablecloth that she was performing poorly. She immediately pulled the jug up and moved swiftly to clean up the mess. The stain wouldn't come out however, and April got frustrated. Sebastian gently shooed her away and got to work cleaning it up. The demon was disappointed at what this whole situation had revealed: April's emotions easily got the better of her, just like any human.
All these pathetic humans were the same, even this exceptionally gifted witch;they were governed so completely by their emotions that it left little room in their brains to do even the simplest tasks when they were overwhelmed by the damnable things. Any hopes of April being the perfect chess piece that Sebastian had were wiped out by this recent series of events.
While she was better at her job than most, April was still no more than a pitiable human.