Reaver's Servants

Tea Time

"Nothing interesting ever happens around here." said Reaver, sipping his tea. His house guest, Logan, looked across the table at him as he put two sugars in his tea. They sat outside in the garden to enjoy the summer weather before the party to take place that evening. Logan nibbled on a cookie and looked over at the servants. They were preparing the garden with decorations. Reaver sipped his tea again. "This evening's party will be a nice distraction, as well. I swear it gets dreadfully boring around here, especially in the summertime."

Logan bit into his cookie as he watched Gordon scale a trellis to reach an out of the way branch. Logan continued to watch as Gordon swung from each beam like climbing money bars. Gordon reached onto his belt and took the hedge clippers off. When realizing he couldn't reach it this way, Gordon began to swing himself, and once he got the proper momentum, he swung up to the top off the trellis and snipped the small branch. Gordon, who was never against showing off, front flipped off the trellis and landed perfectly on his feet. His arms in the air as he landed, the other servants clapped softly and went back to their work.

"I sometimes wonder how I keep from going insane from the boredom." said Reaver, picking up a cookie with his fingertips.

Logan sipped his tea again and looked over at Willa, who was dusting a statue of Reaver. "You sure have a lot of statues of yourself." said Logan, softly.

Reaver nodded proudly. "Oh yes, I commissioned them myself. Lovely works…"

Logan looked over again and saw Willa carrying a large flower trough. Willa placed it down near Barry, who pointed to where he thought it should be. Willa nodded and picked it up again, placing it down. Barry then pointed to a small cement statue of a cherub. It looked heavy, despite its small size. Barry mumbled something and pointed to the gate of the garden.

Willa picked up the statue (as if picking up a toy) and walked it over to the garden gate. Logan watched in amazement. He couldn't fathom how a person of her size could lift something so heavy. He heard Barry mumble in disagreement, and had Willa pick it back up. He pointed to another area and ducked each time Willa swung the statue around. Willa finally placed the statue on the other size of the fountain. Barry nodded in agreement and went to pick up his clipboard.

"You know, Logan, I invited your sister to my party, but I never received an RSVP back from her." said Reaver, pouring himself some more tea.

Logan looked back at Reaver. "Oh, Robin was never much of a party person, I guess. Whenever we had galas at the castle, even as a child, she'd hide behind something or stay close to me until the party was over." He said, simply.

Reaver chuckled a bit. "Ahh, yes, I remember when your parents would invite me to those parties, they were quite a laugh. Your parents were always a bit stuffy, even after everything me and your mother, the great departed Queen Sparrow, went through."

Nibbling on a cookie while Reaver talked about nothing of any real importance, Logan glanced over at Beryl, who was arranging flowers in a cement flower pot. She was also setting up a tiki lamp with her left foot. Logan cocked an eyebrow and tried to drink his tea. He almost choked when he saw her bend backwards to pick up a paper lamp that had fallen from the trellis above her. When she was done setting up the tiki lamp, she picked up the lamp with her toes and stretched up her leg to hand the lamp to Gordon, who was back on top of the trellis.

"One of your maids is made of rubber." said Logan.

"Hmm? Oh, you must be referring to Beryl. No, not rubber, though she probably has bubble gum for brains." laughed Reaver.

Rosie walked over to the table with a tray. "Miss Sarah wanted me to bring these out." She said, simply as she placed the tray down. The tray contained more cookies.

"Ahh, wonderful. I do love Miss Sarah's cookies. She always makes extra." Reaver pointed out to Logan, as Rosie walked away.

After tea, the two men walked the grounds of Lakeview Manor, near the lake. "Can you believe I almost gave all of this up?" said Reaver, still nibbling on a cookie. "No one can appreciate it like I can." He added with a self-satisfying laugh. Logan rolled his eyes and looked at the dock.

Barry was instructing Rosie on how to string up the lights along the dock. Logan just watched. Rosie was getting aggravated by Barry, who was telling her how to tie a knot. He watched her eyes glow and then saw one of the lamps fly up and hit Barry in the face. Logan watched as Rosie's eyes started getting brighter and the strings started to wrap around Barry, constricting him. It was then Miss Sarah ran up and shook Rosie back to consciousness, and helped Barry out of the strings. Rosie bowed and apologized profusely to Barry, as Miss Sarah helped him inside.

"It's so quiet here, sometimes…it's maddening!" said Reaver, as they walked along the banks of Bower Lake away from the manor. The servants seemed to be running around Millfields for any reason Reaver needed at this point in the day. "But I guess one does pay a steep price for privacy and normality." He continued.

"Mr. Reaver? May I borrow your hat for a moment?" asked Miss Sarah, running up to the two men.

"Why of course, Miss Sarah. Be careful with it though." He said, taking the hat off of his head. She bowed and ran off to a group of noble children, who seemed to delight in following the servants around lately.

Logan watched Miss Sarah tap the hat three times and reach in, pulling out a tray of cookies and a few bottles of fizzy pop. The children shouted happily and ran off with their treats. The hat started to shake; a giant tentacle reached out and grabbed Miss Sarah. She shouted and kicked loudly as it lifted her in the air. Barry pointed and yelled, grabbing a nearby fallen tree branch. He ran towards the hat and started beating the tentacle with a stick. The other servants joined in, with Willa jumping on top of it and wrestling it to the ground. Rosie ran up to Logan, grabbed the guitar off his back and ran back to the fray. Logan could hear the sounds of a guitar being hit against something heavy and sighed softly.

The tentacle let go off Miss Sarah and retreated back into the hat. Miss Sarah tapped the hat three times and the hat stopped shaking. Willa brought Reaver his hat back. "Oh, there's dirt on it…" he said, patting the silk hat softly. Rosie handed Logan his guitar back. The strings were cut and the body was cracked. "Rosie, you are a very violent guitar player…" Reaver remarked.

Logan and Reaver eventually made their way back to Lakeview Manor. The party was set to begin in a few hours. "So…your servants…"

Reaver stopped Logan before he could continue. "Logan, I know what you're going to say, and I for one am offended!" he said. Logan cocked an eyebrow. "I want you to know I already branded them, so they are not for sale! Besides, they are servants, not slaves. Selling them would land me in hot water with your sister, and unless it's a bathtub filled with bubbles with champagne chilled on the side, I don't want that." He chuckled deviously.

The two men walked up the stairs and toward the dining hall, where everything was already ready.

"Besides, they're dull as dirt. It's not like they add to the excitement around here…"

N'cha! I quickie before the party haha.

I should probably explain myself. I deleted the original thirteenth chapter because, overall, I wasn't satisfied with it. My belief is that if the author isn't satisfied with their own work, then the readers are definitely not going to be satisfied. So, I took it down and decided to put up this quickie instead, which I am much happier with, despite how short it is.

Yes, Reaver does notice the things that go on around his house, but it's whether or not he's gotten used to it or just chooses not to care is the question. Lakeview Manor at this point is probably a very interesting place to live.

Y'all ready for the big party? I hope so! I'm doing a lot of editing on the next chapter, so I can make it extra special for you guys. It might take a while, but I know you guys will like it.

As always, please review and be merry (I appreciate all reviews)

Tatty-bye my lovelies!

Reaver, Barry Hatch, and Logan belong to Lionhead.