Chapter 36: Varian's Morning
Everyone, I'd just like to thank you for the attention this piece of fic has gotten, I am so happy for every follower that joins and for all comments. It means allot that you see the whole picture.
Yes mycove, I think we can all agree that Varian is at his most adorcable when he's being taken care of. Our poor little boy deserves all the care he can get, and there's plenty of people who wants to give him that. I'm so glad Phineas has been approved. I'll try to give more room for my other OC's in the future, hoping they'll get the same creds.
And ayzbraiker, You got it! It was JUST THIS different kind of perspective I was hoping to give about the Majesties and Varian, I'm glad you see this and point it out. Don't get me wrong, I love Arianna as a protective mother figure for Varian, and people are doing an incredible job with good fic's about it*winks to mycove*, but I have a plan for Freddie in this one, and boy I am curious to see everybody's reaction as this goes on... *wide sneaky smirk*.
Boy, I spent over 30 chapters on a single day... Perhaps about time to move on to next day?
The sunlight carefully peeked through the small window, which wasn't really a window, but a small look out that served as a wake-up call. The bedroom was small, only room for a small bed and a night stand, and under the bed was a hidden dresser. Under the nightstand there was a bowl with a mug in it, and this was filled with water for morning wash. On the tip of the nightstand was a candlelight and a box of matches. So the room wasn't meant for more than sleeping.
This was where Karen spent her nights along with the kitchen cat Caterpillar. The door had a small crack by the lower hinge where the cat could come and go as he pleased. This was just a coincidence, but it suited both Karen and Caterpillar well. Right now, the red striped cat was curled up behind the hook behind Karen's legs where he had warm support behind his back.
Said cat noticed the light as the rays touched the spot next to him. Blinking a few times, a part of him refused to wake up, as his position was too comfortable. But in the end there was a dire need not to be ignored, and so he forced himself up, streching his body out to its limit back and forth, and then rose to walk over to his mistress to wake her.
Karen was fast asleep, holding a hand around the pillow with her face almost mashed into it. Her brown hair was half covering her face, but Caterpillar brushed some straws of hair away from her face, before he let his paw pat on her cheek. After doing this a couple of times, the girl got annoyed and turned her head around. Caterpillar realized he had to approach in a different way, and jumped over her shoulder and begun pushing his head under her arm while he purred loudly and nuzzling his shout to her chin, tickling her face with his whiskers.
At last the girl responded, and tugged him tightly to her body and cuddled with him for a while before the cat figured out it was time to get up and wriggled himself from her grip and meowed sweetly.
"Kay, okay... I'm coming." she mumbled tiredly as she forced herself up, yawning in the process. The orange striped cat watched as she found the bowl and the mug and poured water into the bowl, before giving herself a quick wash. As she got dressed, the cat got impatient and meowed a couple of times while he stroke against her legs.
"You little nagger. I'm almost done!" she said as she put her cap on before she lifted him up, cuddling him smiling. "Oh, I can't be mad at you."
The cat responded by nuzzling his head up under her chin, meowing a reminder to her that it was time to go.
"Alright, let's go." she proclaimed and snuck out the door.
Her small bedroom was a tiny one besides the bigger one that her aunt and grandmother's shared, but at least she got some privacy. Most of the maids were two or three about sharing bedrooms, but as the scullery maid she was getting up so early, and therefore she had a little room to herself so she could go to bed early without being disturbed by the elder maids, and in the morning she wouldn't disturb the others when getting up. It was a bedroom used my many scullery maids before her, and would probably be used by many others after her.
"I wonder when I'll ever be allowed to move in with the others..." she mumbled as she walked with the cat in her arms. "They'll have to get a new young girl to do my duties then. And who knows whenever that happens." she mumbled sarcastically as she looked down at the cat. "But you'll come with me if I change room, right?" Caterpillar meowed a respond to her as they left the bedroom quarters and entered the corridors.
The corridors were all silent early in the mornings, and any footsteps echoed in the hallways, but she had long experience in walking silently. While walking towards the kitchen, she noticed the paintings on the walls and smiled. She loved watching the noble faces and the fine clothes, especially the women's' lovely gowns and hair styles from different times.
"I wish I had gotten a closer look at Princess Annabelle!" she said dreamingly. "I hope I'll get my chance today. I heard the others say something about a wedding. Oh, I would love to help out in that, a little more than just cleaning and stuff."
As she approached the kitchen, she opened it with the cat in the lead. Then she went right through to the other kitchen door. There it was another small corridor for servants and another door to the garden, which she opened to let out the cat.
"Behave now, and don't dig in the flower beds."
The red striped cat meowed satisfied as he trotted out, ignorning her comment.
Then she walked back to the kitchen and started the preparations with lightening the oven. As soon as it was warm enough, she would prepare eggs and bacon and smoked salmon along with some vegetables, and start cook water for the tea for the royal breakfast.
"I sure wonder what the Princess would like for breakfast." she said to herself a she poured water into the copper pot. "If Aunt Millicent is going to attend the Princess, I wonder if I should wake up her as well as Grandma." She held that thought as she placed the copper pot on the oven to let it warm up. "Then again..." she frowned, recalling that she was still a little upset with them, and shrugged. "Auntie's old enough to mind herself."
Then she spotted the casseroles from the previous day, and her heart sank as she recalled all the things that had been. How Varian had startled her, and she struck him down with the frying pan and bringing him to the sick room; how the interaction with the royalties and the guests had gone; and in the end how she had tried to make him remember how he got there and then his dreadful reaction from this.
She felt a shiver run through her when she remembered his face when he began crying and clenching his teeth and grabbed his head like he was in great pain. She had felt so helpless and dumb, not able to do a thing to help him.
But not just that. It was everything else that had followed. The ruined dinner and the interference of the guests. Her outburst towards her Grandmother... She shook her head to remove the memory from yesterday and led her thoughts differently.
"I wonder how Varian's doing..."
She blinked hard. She just didn't manage to get him out of her mind. The more she had thought of the condition she had found him in, the more concerned she got and hadn't she been crying herself to sleep last night she wouldn't have had any sleep at all. Even though the King had been really understanding and ensured her she wasn't to blame, she still felt bad for him. It was just luck she hadn't gotten a nightmare about it.
Then she made up her mind. She found a small bowl which she filled with flour, before she went to find the butter in the storage and climbed up ladder to the seasons and found the cinnamon and sugar pots. Then she made some arrangements while the oven was getting warm enough, while a smile was creeping its way on her lips.
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In the sickroom, Phineas was rolling away his improvised bed. He had been awake for a while and had been watching the young boy still asleep. The young patient laid halfway over at his left side, his mouth half open in light snoring while his eyes were closed. The raccoon was sleeping by his left side, but peeked his eyes open at his movements.
"Good morning to you." he made a nod and smiled to him.
Ruddiger hadn't been all sure where he had the newest stranger yet, but as he recalled he had tried to help his master the other day, so he could at least conclude he could trust him.
"Your master seems to still be far off." the elder physician mumbled lightly. "He was not this calm in the night. I wonder what troubled him..."
Ruddiger looked back at his boy, like he realized what he referred to. During the night, Varian had been rather disturbed, and had been tossing and turning violently sometime in the night, but because of the tonic from Phineas he hadn't woken up.
"I believe it's time for him to wake up as well." Phineas said, making he raccoon look up at him again, seeing the elder man smile down towards him. "You or me?"
Ruddiger didn't reply, only turned towards Varian and stood up with a little strech to have a better view. Then he lifted a paw and begun scratching Varian's nose. The boy wrinkled his face and made a funny sound and lifted up his right hand to cover his face and turned his head aside.
But Ruddiger didn't give up sp easily. He grabbed a hold on the blanket, crept underneath it, and as the figure of him were moving back and forth under it, Varian suddenly started giggling.
"Ah-hahaha! Ruddiger, stop. Stop, it tickles-no no, stop please!"
The boy wriggled himself as the laughter turned into laud cries, and he kicked up the blanket and tried to crawl out. But Ruddiger were faster, and as soon as he realized he had manage to get him fully awake, the critter found a small passage through the blanket and escaped out faster than a blink.
Phineas couldn't yelp bud giggle himself, as he imagined the raccoon's claws most likely were of the ticklish kind. "Good morning, my young friend."
"What...?" Still giggling, he turned around, but he got quiet when he became aware of the bandage on his head, and a feeling behind his head. "It's itching... Outch!" he said as he led a hand behind his head to check what happened behind there, and when he took a short look at his fingers, his eyes went wide and he made the most awkward sound as he spotted a drop of blood. "Oh gosh!"
"Don't poke it. It's time to change it."
"What's going on? Where..." Varian said nervously as he suddenly became aware of his surroundings, which to him in an early awakening were not so familiar. "Where is this? What is this? Where... where am I?" he looked at him with trembling bottom lip, his blue eyes huge like eggs. "Who are you?"
Phineas was by his side as quick as a blink, gently grabbing his shoulders and made him face him. "Varian, young scientist; Focus! Look at me. Look at me, lad. Now, what is my name? Tell me, what is my name? Focus!" He was calm and gentle in his voice when he spoke to not frighten him but, determinant as well to get min distracted from his panicking.
"What? How... how should I..." Varian was beginning to hyperventilate.
"Listen carefully, lad. It's important that you look into my eyes when I say this!" Phineas said, his eyes locking the boy's.
Varian obeyed, frightened as he was, and his frightening egg shaped eyes met he physician's narrow dark eyes.
"My name is Yong Wang Wei!"
"Eh... WHAT?" Varian arched an eyebrow at him, his breath calming down at last.
"Yong Wang Wei. That's my name!"
"Huh?" Varian blinked and shook his head. "No, it's not! It's... Phineas! That's what it was."
"Well... Truth is..." He smiled and rose from the bed. "...it's not really."
Varian blinked in confusion. "But... Yesterday you said..."
"So you remember yesterday?"
"Yesterday... Here... at the..." he looked around, slowly realizing his current position."...Castle... Right? But how..."
"If I say... frying pan, what do you recall?"
"Princess Rapunzel... Eh..." He blinked a few times, then he looked at him again. "Did you say something?
"Frying pan, Varian. What does that make you think off?"
"Eh... breakfast? Pancakes... Yes, that's right. I demonstrated flipping pancakes for Daniel, and... Lars and..." he covered his mouth with both hands at sudden, and then he slowly developed a blush on his cheeks. "Is it true that I was speaking to the King?"
"Correct. Do you remember what he told you?"
"Eh..." he replied, staring out in the air. "What part?"
Phineas chocked a chuckle. "Yes, that too. But if you give yourself a moment to think, maybe you recall..." Phineas finished for him. "Now, give me one moment, and I'll get some water for that wound. We need to change the bandage and clean it. It might not be so pleasant, and you might have to close your eyes."
"For what?"
Phineas turned back and smiled. "There may be blood."
All color and blush faded from the young teen's face. He looked down at Ruddiger, who eyed him closely. "Buddy... I'm not sure I feel so well..." he whispered.
Ruddiger put both his paws on his knee, indicating that he would provide full support whatever came.
Okay, for thos ehwo wonder, I made up Phineas' technique of making Varian calm down and remember. I just wanted to make a funny moment.
