SMILE & SABRINA : MEMINI'S PLACE

[Wolfy]

Sabrina waited, her heart pounding, in the silence that followed the first crash. She felt as if the entire world could hear her thudding heart. It nearly blocked out everything else to her. After a moment, she heard nothing more. Could they have gone? Did they give up? she thought hopefully. "Maybe," she dared to whisper out loud.

Just then, however, there was a loud crash. Splinters of wood flew everywhere. Light burst into the dark room, giving everything an eerie, shadowy look. She let out a squeak of terror as the man who'd burst through the door came to a screeching halt past the foot of the bed. He was lying on the floor, gasping frantically for breath.

Sabrina gazed at the man, wondering who it could be, for he'd gone just out of reach from the light. Before she could look at him thoroughly, another man strode in. She could only see his feet moving slowly along the length of the bed she was hiding under as he prowled toward the first man like a tiger about to pounce. His feet moved slowly and purposefully, which made her think he was the attacker who had come with the intention of killing her.

As the man paused, he stood within her reach from under the bed. Her heart still pounding like she'd just run a marathon, Sabrina clutched the spring tightly in her hand. Suddenly, before the man had any more time to react, a bloody, bandaged hand shot out from under the bed he was standing by.

A sharpened spring was stabbed into the soft space between his Achilles' tendon and his femur. It was deep enough that it stuck there, but not so deep that it didn't move around painfully when his foot moved. In the blink of an eye, the hand was gone, retreated underneath the bed in a flurry of adrenaline and fear.

They're sure to find me now! Sabrina thought desperately. Her dazzling green eyes filled with crystal tears as she searched frantically for a place under the bed to hide. She just managed to squeeze into a box, which promptly tipped to the side, leaving the open side up facing the bottom of the bed. She was trapped!

Whimpering and crying in that tiny box, she waited for the men outside to slide her out and kill her, trapped like an animal. However, all that noise wasn't making her hiding spot any more secretive. They would find her for sure if they just managed to hear the crying and see the slightly-shaking cardboard box.

[Rad]

"Damn!" An abrupt stabbing pain forced Adrasteia down on one knee, clenching his teeth as his expression contorted into one of agony. As tears welled in his eyes, temporarily blurring his vision, he wondered if he had been unfortunate enough to have been bitten by a serpent.

Reaching down to his ankle he wrenched free the thing implanted deep into his flesh. As the pointed end of the rusted coil emerged he exhaled a rush of air, his complexion paling significantly at this additional pang.

Who was the culprit behind this attack? Certainly not Smile! That useless person was still squirming on the floorboards; covering his face and moaning about having bitten his tongue.

That narrowed it down to only one possibility; Sabrina! That rather obvious whimpering wasn't helping to guise that fact either. Trying his best to sound as composed as possible (an attempt which failed miserably) Adrasteia practically yelled out "SABRINA!"

[Wolfy]

Sabrina listened closely to her attacker, who was merely a few feet and a thin sheet of cardboard away. She could hear his voice swear loudly, then a thud as he fell to his knees. Then, listening extremely closely, she heard him remove the old spring from his ankle. Even without seeing it, Sabrina flinched within her tiny enclosure.

Then, she realized in horror, the man shouted her name. And this voice was familiar. It was Adrasteia who she'd stabbed, not a mobster! How could she have made such a grave mistake? So, quickly managing to tear down the wall that was keeping her trapped in the box, she sheepishly emerged from under the bed, crawling like a three-legged animal in order to save her injured hand.

"I am so sorry," she said quietly, staying on her knees in front of the tall man. "I thought they'd come after me... I didn't know it was you!" With tears in her eyes, she witnessed the blood dripping down his foot and onto the floor.

She grabbed one of the dusty sheets from the bed and tried to mop the blood up. "I heard a crash and hid... There's no way I could have seen that it was you!" She continued trying to clean up even though her vision was now nearly completely blurred by tears. "Please forgive me... Sir."

Such a term of respect for a servant was truly uncommon coming from a girl of the upper class. Not that she felt so rich now. Within a couple short days, she'd felt like everyone who'd cared about her had just turned around and hated her. She felt so alone at the moment, especially since she was facing imprisonment in that little room for an indefinite amount of time, while still recovering from a near-death experience.

It just wasn't fair that she should also lose Adrasteia, who seemed like one of the last people still on her side. Though with her asking to bring Smile in, that was bound to change now. She waited tensely for his response, watching the spring in his hand nervously. Would he feel it fair to return the blow to her? He certainly was angry with her...

[Rad]

At first, listening to Sabrina’s paranoid ramblings was, to be brutally honest, really rather tiresome. However, as they continued, now accompanied by tears, meek apologies and unbecomingly subservient behavior, Adrasteia soon resigned to the fact that he could not remain angry at this girl! She was plainly too pitiful in her current condition.

No, the true target of his wrath should be the creature that had so shamelessly reduced her to such a mess! Gently yet firmly, Adrasteia reached out and took the blood-soaked rag from the young maiden’s hands. Unwilling to look upon her pitiable form he opted to glare at Smile who, judging by that irked expression, seemed rather jealous that he wasn’t getting any attention from his ‘princess’.

“Hush, Sabrina. It is improper for a maiden of your stature to voice such words to a mere servant. Even if you intentionally stabbed me, which I sincerely doubt, it would not have been entirely out of your jurisdiction to do so. Believe me when I say that I have suffered more torment than this from Memini. Really, you needn’t trouble yourself fussing over someone like me.” Sighing, Adrasteia made an effort to get up, only to wince in pain and fall back on his knees.

Choosing this moment to speak up (and perhaps feigning ignorance of the situation to rile him butler up) Smile cheekily said “Well! Seeing as Adrasteia’s chosen to forfeit your concern why not redirect your attention to me? This rubbish left eye was all because of –“ Thank goodness he stopped himself and corrected that sentence in time! Sabrina was already distressed enough without his thoughtless complaining! “All because of…Adrasteia! He doesn’t deserve any of the attention he’s getting from you.”

Unexpectedly, this random accusation (voiced as a pathetic cover-up only) actually produced a response from the butler. Really, the sincerity in the butler’s voice was shocking!

“Yes, this is all because of me. If you had had someone else there to protect you this would never have happened.”

[Wolfy]

Sabrina inwardly sighed a breath of relief. So Adrasteia wasn't mad at her after all. She would have hated it if she had angered him so much that he wouldn't speak to her anymore. She watched him stand, but was horrified when he fell back to his knees. She quickly caught him by the arm to prevent him from falling completely over.

It was then that Smile spoke up. She turned her attention to him and sniffled, trying to rid herself of any evidence that she'd been crying. She didn't even catch Smile's pitiful attempt at a cover-up to guise the fact that he almost blamed her for the whole thing.

She listened and sighed to how he finished, though. She didn't blame Adrasteia for the accident. It was the mobsters who'd done that. But Adrasteia seemed to be taking the blame. "Does this mean you don't hate him anymore?" she asked quietly to the tall man beside her.

Just as she asked, there were footsteps behind them. "Boys, did you really have to destroy two doors?" came Mr. Matthews' voice. He looked down at Sabrina, but then quickly glanced away. He walked up to Adrasteia, but still not near Sabrina.

"What happened? Why is there blood on the floor?" Sabrina shrunk down, looking extremely guilty. Her father saw this and sighed, reaching into his pocket. He drew out Sabrina's gold locket and held it out to her.

"I'm not in favor of this punishment, but until my wife calms down, I'm afraid it's better for everyone if we all just go with it," he said as he handed the piece of jewelry back. "But take this back. I know how much it means to you."

Baffled, Sabrina took her locket back. She thought that her father hated her, but that didn't seem to be the case at all! She was surprised, but also extremely happy. Mr. Matthews reached a hand down to Adrasteia, offering to help him up. "I'm expecting a doctor to arrive soon, he can take a look at that foot." Just as he spoke, a doctor pulled into the circle drive of the estate, carrying Sabrina's medicine with him.

[Rad]

“The destruction of doors is a worthwhile hobby and should be proclaimed as a glorious pursuit for all!” Smile proclaimed brazenly, rising to his feet without the need for assistance. Despite the bruise gradually developing on his lower jaw the former mobster was as snarky as ever! After all, regardless of who had dealt the final punch it certainly wasn’t him who was, by the end of it all, half-crippled and limping along with the aid of another man.

Thus it was that Smile nonchalantly excited the room, whistling cheerfully as if it was him that caused his adversary such injury. Watching him go, Adrasteia let out a sigh and (though teeth gritted shut in pain) moaned, “No. This is merely an uneasy truce until the regain the strength to –“ A gasp; a wince; a muffled cry of pain, “beat the living daylights out of him.”

Reaching for Mr. Matthews hand, Adrasteia attempted to pull himself up; only to have his attempts greeted with failure after failure. After some time, much spilling of blood, exhaustion and exasperation the butler was finally able to stand; his weight largely supported by the other foot. “Thank you, sir. However, I must ask: have you considered employing a bodyguard or other caregiver for Sabrina? In consideration of recent events –“ Another grimace of pain, “I think it would be advisable to –“

There it was, a ill-intentioned kick and Adrasteia was back on the floor as Smile snickered as if he had witnessed the most amusing thing in the world. “A guardian? Well if it’s for Sabrina I’ll happily oblige. After all, I’m not as useless and SOME people! What?

[Wolfy]

[ie=]Mr. Matthews gave Smile an acidic look, watching him trot out like he was proud of all of the events that had taken place that day. It was appalling, considering that nobody felt as if he were welcome with them. Saying nothing, he put his attention toward getting Adrasteia on his feet, so as not to lose his temper at the ex-mobster.

It was a painful process, getting the poor man back up. After a lot of attempts, however, the butler managed to get back to his feet (or foot, since he wasn't applying much weight to the one). "Yes, I think you still need to show that Mafioso some manners," he said in a hushed tone.

It was then that Mrs. Matthews appeared in the doorway, offering no assistance to the situation. She merely watched with a bemused expression on her face. Then Adrasteia brought up the interesting point of hiring a bodyguard.

That would be so much better than a maid. She knew that there would be no danger of Mr. Matthews getting into trouble if there was no maid. Plus, she knew Sabrina would detest the idea of relying on the mobster for everything.

"What about you, mobster?" she asked, stepping inside. She didn't even glance at Adrasteia as he fell down, though Sabrina and her father instantly began the work again to get him back up. "You have no job, and... no offense..." Which only meant that she intended as much offense as possible. "...I don't see who would hire someone like you. How would you like to serve as Sabrina's caregiver?"

Sabrina looked shocked (or horrified) at this thought. Smile? Her protector? That was a disaster waiting to happen. Who knows what he would do in that situation. She looked at Smile, trying to predict his answer from the expression on his face.
[/size]

[Rad]

That job offer from Mrs. Matthews, although entirely unexpected, brought an almost instantaneous change to the mannerisms of Smile and within seconds he was kneeling before her like a knight before his Queen. “Madame, I would be honored! It seems I have greatly misunderstood you in the past and would sincerely like this opportunity to offer my apologies. Fear not, I will treat Sabrina like a true princess.”

Finishing his little act, Smile turned to Sabrina and winked.

Adrasteia on the other hand, was so flabbergasted that he could only open and close his mouth like a fish out of water. She…she couldn’t be serious! This was practically the same as throwing a young helpless lamb into a lion’s den!

-

Meanwhile, a maid, intrigued by sounds of hiccuping and off-key drunken singing, had finally opened the door to discover a rather intoxicated Memini. Sighing, she dragged the naughty child out of the dimly-lit room and back to the kitchen where she left him in the care of a rather amused chef.

That, she hoped, would be the end of that particular misadventure.

{OoC:// Want to end it here and start on the butler training RP?}