Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, nor do I own Elemental Gelade.
Chapter 2
"Hello?" Ren heard a knock on her door.
"Reverie, it's me, Partin!" The door opened and said stepped inside. "I just came to see if you're unpacked yet."
"Yes. I finished a few minutes ago." Ren's now empty bag was tucked neatly under her bed at the edge, all of her clothes put in her dresser and her few belongings in her nightstand.
"Ok, then. My son will be home in a bit so you will be able to meet him soon, and he's around your age. But I should warn you," Partin's smiling face turned serious, "you are not to interact with my son except in necessary situations. My husband won't allow it."
"Yes, Ma'm." Ren looked out the window that was above her nightstand and bed. She didn't really care about Partin's son. It wouldn't change the fact that she was still just a piece of property.
Partin frowned. "The cook requested you to help her prepare dinner tonight. After you meet my son, you are to immediately go to the kitchen. You can ask Coud to show you where the kitchen is."
"Coud?" Ren looked back at Partin.
"Yes. Coud is my son." Partin turned to leave. "Remember what I said."
"Yes, Ma'm." Ren resumed gazing out the window. "Of course."
"Don't forget to come down in a few minutes." Partin left, closing the door firmly behind her.
Ren sighed. Already Partin was acting a bit colder than when she had first arrived just an hour earlier. I wonder what Coud is like? And what about my... owner? What is he like? Ren opened her nightstand drawer and took out her notebook and a pencil. She walked over to the desk and opened up her notebook to a page that had a drawing of a flower on it. Taking her pencil in her right hand, Ren began to add some more lines to the rose on the page, trying to make the stem more detailed. She worked for another five minutes before putting away her notebook and heading downstairs like Partin had ordered her to.
Ren had just reached the bottom of the stairs when the front door opened.
"I'm home, Mom!" A boy's voice called. Ren looked up to see who had spoken. The boy closing the door had light brown hair that had spikes in the front pointing towards the back, and in front of those spikes were bangs. He was wearing long red pants with a red jacket that only went to about his belly button, and underneath that was a black collared shirt. He was also wearing brown gloves that had a black mark on the back of his hand. The boy, who Ren assumed to be Coud, looked up and noticed her. "Oh! Hey!" He smiled and walked over to her, extending his hand. "I'm Coud. I guess you're the new servant my mom had told me about, huh?"
"Reverie." Ren shook Coud's hand quickly before putting both hands behind her back.
"Reverie?" Coud's dark eyes sparkled. "That's a pretty name."
"Most people call me Ren..."
"Ok, then! Ren it is!" Coud's smile widened.
"Coud!" Partin walked in through the archway on the right. She walked over to Coud and grabbed him by the shoulder, spinning him around and pulling him into a tight embrace.
"Mom..." Coud pulled away after another moment of hugging, a slight blush on his cheeks.
Partin smiled at her son, and then looked at Ren. "I see you met the new slave."
Coud looked confused for a second, but then answered, "Ren? Yeah, I just met her a second ago."
"Who is Ren?" Partin asked Coud.
"Huh? Oh! Reverie is Ren. She told me that that's what she's usually called." Coud looked at the floor.
Partin sighed. "Right... Coud? Do you have any homework that you need to do?"
"A bit, yeah..."
"Then go do it before you do anything else."
"Yes, Mom." Coud walked around Ren and walked up the stairs.
"I'll take you to the kitchen instead." Partin started walking towards the archway she had come out of in the first place. "This way, Reverie." They way Partin said her name made Ren feel uncomfortable. I was right... she did change. Ren started following Partin to the kitchen.
They passed through the large living room and the dining room before Partin opened up a large door that led to the kitchen. The kitchen was nice and bigger than Ren's was. There were even two stoves and ovens. Cupboards lined most of the walls, standing out a light brown against the white wall. In one corner was a table with three chairs around it and a clock hanging above it. When Ren saw the fridge, she could see someone inside the doors.
"Rowen! The new slave girl is here to help you with dinner." Partin gently pushed Ren forward by the shoulders.
The man in the fridge turned around, holding an egg carton in hand. His long blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail with bangs hanging down the side of his cheeks, going to below his chin. His dark grey eyes sparkled as he smiled at Ren. "Hello!" He said cheerfully, closing the fridge door behind him.
Partin started leaving the kitchen. "I'll leave her to your care for now."
"Right." Rowen set the egg carton down on the counter nad walked over to Ren. "I'm Rowen, the cook! And what's your name?" He held out his hand.
"I'm Reverie." Ren gave Rowen a small smile as she shook his hand. She just felt that he was nice. "But I'm called Ren."
"Right then, Ren," Rowen walked over and took two aprons off two hooks on the wall next to the door. "Let's get cooking, shall we?"
Ren slipped the apron on over her black dress and Rowen tied it in the back for her, and Ren did the same for him.
"You might want to pull your hair back, Ren. It is pretty long..." Rowen pulled open a drawer and shuffled around for a bit. "Aha!" He pulled out a black hair tie. "Here you go!" Ren accepted the hair tie and pulled her long light blue hair back in a ponytail.
"What are we making?" Ren inquired.
"The boss requested a roast beef, so that's what we're making for them!" Rowen went back to the fridge and started pulling ingredients out of the fridge. "As for us and Kuea, however, we'll have my special cheesy potatoes. Sound good to you?"
"Yes." Ren took a few steps towards Rowen. "How can I help you?"
Rowen took out a big sauce pan and put it on the stove top. "In the freezer are some frozen green beans in a bag. Get those out, along with the corn that's in there as well."
"All right."
And with that, Ren and Rowen began cooking the dinners. Ren and Rowen chatted from time to time about different things. About where Ren came from, how Rowen got to work for Partin, just simple stuff like that.
After they had been working for a long time, Rowen looked up to the clock that was hanging on the wall above a small table in the corner.
"Ren, go set the table for three. The plates are in the cupboard next to the sink with the cups right above them, and the silverware is in the drawer next to the fridge." Rowen pointed to the places he had indicated while he stirred some corn on the stove top.
"Right!" Ren got the plates and cups and walked back into the dining room, setting them down next to each other with one at the head and the other two on either side. Then she went back into the kitchen and got three forks, spoons, and knives and also put them on the table in their right spots.
"All right, you can sit down now. I got it from here." Rowen smiled at Ren when she walked back into the kitchen.
"Are you sure?"
"Oh, wait." He pointed to the corner where the table with the three chairs were. "Set that table as well, please. Then you may be finished."
"Ok." Ren did as she was instructed and then sat down at the table in the chair in the very corner so the back of it was pressed against the wall. Then she watched as Rowen walked to and fro the kitchen with different dishes of food for the next several minutes. Finally, Rowen took a breath and leaned against the counter.
"There." Rowen walked over and washed his hands in the sink. "I'll go tell them that it's time for dinner. Could you go out in the garden and get Kuea?"
"Kuea?" Ren tilted her head slightly in confusion.
"Yes. Kuea's the gardener. Just go back out to the living room and you'll see another door, and that leads out back where Kuea is. Just go tell her that dinner is ready, ok?" Rowen took off his apron and hung it on the hook again.
"All right." Ren stood up and left the kitchen. When she got into the living room, she found Coud there.
"Hey! Ren!" Coud got up from where he was sitting on the couch and walked over to Ren.
Ren was silent as Coud stood in front of her.
"Whatcha up to?" Coud inquired of her.
Ren put her hands behind her back. "I am going to go get Kuea." She started to walk past Coud when she faced him again. "And dinner is ready." She turned back around and headed out the door Rowen had told her to go through.
When she got outside, Ren stopped walking for a second to take in the scenery. She was standing on a small slab of cement in front of the door, and leading from the slab was a gray stone path with patches of dark green grass in between the gaps in the stones. Along the path were a variety of different kinds of flowers in all sorts of colors and sizes. Ren could see a white picket fence outlining the yard, and within the yard, scattered about, where trees with little flowers on them. Ren followed the path and soon found herself in front of an actual garden. There were rows of plowed dirt, and Ren could see little sprouts coming up all along the rows.
"Hey! Get away from my garden!" Ren heard a voice yell.
Ren spun around and was faced with a young woman. She was black, and she had black hair that parted itself down the middle in the back so that it spread out. The front of her hair was in spikes behind her bangs that bent to the right, making a half circle. Underneath her bangs parted to the sides, Ren could see that she had pink eyes that were currently narrowed in anger. She wore a black top that stopped at her ribs and had no sleeves, but it went so that part of it was a collar around the ladies neck. The lady wore black gloves that went way past her elbows and looked kind of sleeves. She wore a light purple skirt that was short in the front and longer in the back and billowed out around her. Her shoes were a pair of black high top boots that went to above her knee. (A/N: There is going to be link to see picture of her in A/N at the bottom as I am terrible at describing looks.)
"I'm sorry." Ren apologized, stepping away from the garden. "But, I'm looking for Kuea. Do you know where she is?"
The lady's look softened. "Oh, you must be that new slave girl I had heard the master was getting, right?"
"Yes. I just got here today." Ren replied quietly.
"Ok, then." The lady smiled and held out her hand. "I'm Kuea. What's your name?"
"Reverie." Ren shook the hand lightly before pulling away again. "But... call me Ren." Kuea seemed nice enough.
"Ok, Ren." Kuea put her hands on her hips, her smile widening. "What did you come looking for me for?"
"Oh, um... Rowen told me to tell you it was supper time."
"SUPPER?!" Kuea's eyes started sparkling. "GREAT!" And with that, she ran off towards the house. Ren stared for a second, before following her, at a walk, back to the house.
Ok, I'm going to end it there cause... CAUSE I WANNA! Problem? :P
So I said that I would add links but... they aren't working. -.- I save and it automatically erases them! So... just go to google images... and type in "Elemental Gelade (name of character)" [Ex: "Elemental Gelade Kuea"] and you'll find pictures of them! Sorry about the links...
I am so terrible at describing clothes... I have no clue what most names of clothing are, actually... and I'm a girl... XD. I'll add in more links as I add more characters from the show. There is at least one more person I'm going to add, and I may add one more in somewhere... but I'm not sure yet.
So I hope you enjoyed it! And for those of you who waited for this chapter to come out, I'm sorry it took so long. It's just that I barely got any views so... yeah. Also, I'm trying to finish up my other fanfiction, "Past After the End". BLAHHH! I CAN ONLY WRITE LIKE ONE FRIKKIN SENTENCE A WEEK! Ugh! So annoying!
So... R&R! ^-^ I'll try to update soon!