clockhouse groupchat.

[clocktowers]

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voice;

[entreats]

So.. not to take the topic away from our recent.. old man concerns.

[ She is not going to say the s-word. Not even taxes! ]

But someone from my world arrived in this place. Her name is Shannon, and she.. uh. [ That's not even a socially awkward 'uh', those don't exist this month! It's just a 'how can I put this in the least awkward way, oh god, there is no non-awkward way to explain how I know her' kind of 'uh.' ] She worked for my family back home. I was hoping she could stay with us, considering this place isn't always the safest.

Also, just because she worked for my family and is super sweet and helpful doesn't mean anyone here can exploit that, alright? She's a free person here! I'm watching you.

[justoscar]

That's a good idea for your friend-- and I don't mind, as long as no more of my pots end up melted in the oven!

[Seriously. How does that keep happening? He's watching you, Ange.

Ruby too.]

Why would we exploit her anyway? I don't think anyone here would know what to do with her!

[entreats]

I know one person.

[ She says this even before Ruby comes in with her contribution, yes.

Ange knows her girlfriend too well. ]

But.. well, she didn't do the cooking, so I can't be sure. But I can't imagine she's quite.. on my and Ruby's level. [ Because that's a very special level of hell. Ange knows to stay out of the kitchen so she won't face Oscar's potential wrath.. ]

[justoscar]

....It involves that Cake Butler conversation happening elsewhere, right?

[He was suspicious. Cake Butlers were a subject that had come up before-- he wasn't terribly surprised.]

We'll find a way to steer her right. Ruby, I mean. We'll take care of your friend, but if she wants to help with anything I'm not going to stop her.

[entreats]

[ It's always the cake butlers. Ange's sigh says enough, without her even having to verbally answer that part. It's always the cake butlers. ]

Oh.. Yeah. She can help with stuff if she wants to. [ It's not like Ange wants to fully control her in saying she absolutely can't do that either!

It's just hard. Hard enough to make her pause for a moment, frowning as she thinks. ]

It's just that I don't want her to have to feel like she can only work here and not do anything else. [ It's a little more candid than Ange would usually be, but she knows that Oscar has got his head on straight. She can talk with him about more serious or difficult topics. ] My family's way of treating servants is really messed up in a lot of ways. I don't want to be the one continuing that cycle.

voice;

[onekindsoul]

Wait wait wait. When you say that she worked for your family.

Was she like your cake butler or something?

Because if she was then that is something we could use around here…

[entreats]

Ruby--

[ Ange starts, exasperated, and then stops herself for a moment. Like she needs to gather her thoughts enough to form them into one cohesive question before she speaks on. ]

Do you really think rich people have butlers just for cake?

[onekindsoul]

[There's a long pause as the gears start grinding in Ruby's head. She doesn't want her girlfriend to think that she's a total dummy by getting this one wrong.

Eventually she speaks up.]

...Yes?

[entreats]

[ Without missing even a beat: ]

Thank you for your honesty.

[ Only Ange could deliver that line in such a dry, deadpan tone. ]

.. but, no. She was a maid over at my grandfather's place. And my grandfather was the worst.

[forwantofahorse]

Hm, so if I-

A- Ah! It's working!

[Sayo is still shaken from being confronted with a walking, talking monument to all her sins and regrets, so the shakiness in her voice is 100% genuine rather than another part of "Shannon." That may change in the days to come, though.]

Um... I'm Shannon, yes. I'm grateful to Ange-sama for allowing me to live at your house. Don't worry, I'll definitely pull my weight! I can do all kinds of work, so you don't need to fret over my stay. A safe place to sleep is more than enough generosity for furniture like me.

[Part of Sayo wants to throttle herself (or throttle Shannon?) for immediately volunteering for more work, even after Rokkenjima's presumably been reduced to a crater and her old life is complete, thoroughly dead. The other part is desperately looking for any way to return to a numbing, if not comforting, routine, and that part wins out over the other.]

A- Anyways, if you need help with anything, please let me know. I'd be more than happy to oblige.

[entreats]

[ Oh god. Ange knows this is mostly for other people to respond to, so they can introduce themselves to Shannon, but.. gosh. Gosh. After spending so much time away from her world, hearing something like 'Ange-sama' just feels grating. She cringes. ]

You know.. You really don't need to address me so formally here, you know? It's not like we're on Rokkenjima. [ And THANK GOD FOR THAT. ] If anything else is too hard, you can just call me 'Ange-san', I really don't mind.

[ In fact, she does the opposite of minding. She doesn't know how many times she can hear that overly formal honorific before she melts into a puddle of cringe.

And yes, yes, there's a whole lot more to address here but this might have to be the top point for now. ]

.. unless you're really more comfortable with being so formal. I'll.. uh. Live, I guess.

[forwantofahorse]

[If Sayo was feeling 10% more spiteful toward Ange specifically, she'd keep calling her "Ange-sama" and clean up after her every step just to watch her squirm.

However, immense, overpowering guilt takes priority over gremlin tendencies, so she's actually going to try and adjust. Sayo nods, gulping.] Yes, Ange-san. Thank you.

Er... pardon me for asking, but... are the books here for public use? I can't help but be curious about them, especially since I'll be having more free time than I'm really used to.

[entreats]

Oh.. of course.

[ For a moment Ange actually looks a little surprised at the question. Not because of Shannon being interested in books - no, it's more just that she's been away from her own world for long enough by now that she kind of forgot about this sort of attitude.

(It doesn't help that this house is absolutely filled with gremlins, and Ange momentarily forgot there are people polite enough to actually ask this stuff instead of just grabbing it themselves.) ]

You can read them whenever, I doubt Ozpin will mind. [ Ange frequently reads them too, after all, and with how often he's gone from the house lately it's even less of a problem. ] There's a big library in town too. But if you can't find anything you're interested in, I could show you some bookshops around town instead. Maybe some shops with clothes too, in case you want to pick some of those too?

[onekindsoul]

Hello Shannon! Nice to hear you again!

I'm Ruby- We met in the spooky hotel!

But uh- You really should relax. We're more than happy to have another person staying with us. It's great. trust me.

If you can help me think up ways to tease Ange that would be great.

[forwantofahorse]

[Despite how shaken she is at meeting Ange, Sayo smiles fondly when she remembers Ruby. She was so kind, and goofy, and that eyepatch was kind of dashing, and-

And, oh no, she was definitely right there when that illusion was screwing with Sayo's head enough for her to flip back and forth between Shannon and Kanon at record speed. She pales, nearly dropping the phone. What if Ruby told Ange? Wouldn't that be a good thing; doesn't Ange deserve the truth? But no, no, Sayo's too much of a coward for that, and... and Ruby is almost definitely too much of an idiot to have noticed now that Sayo thinks about it.

Still, it's a possibility. Sayo burrows deeper behind the mask of Shannon, resolving to draw Ruby's attention away from the events of the hotel just in case.]

Hm... [Shannon taps her chin theatrically, enough so that Ruby can visualize it even over an audio connection.] Well, I did say I'd be happy to serve! Does Ange-sama, er, I mean, Ange-san still have trouble with indigestion?

[onekindsoul]

[Ruby definitely hadn't noticed the flip back and forth between Shannon and Kanon, she had been a little preoccupied at the time. She had noticed the strange sarcasm that had bubbled out of her but that could just as easily have been the illusion messing with them.

She just hoped the boy in the first room had gotten away. Assuming he wasn't part of the illusion along with everything else.

Not that she had much time to think about that. She was getting deets on Ange.]

Uhm- You know. I don't think so. Or at least not that I've really noticed. I think she's been eating a lot better ever since we moved in with everyone here.

Neither of us are all that uh- good in the kitchen. We tried to bake a cake for some friends that helped us before and that ended up being a little dire.

[bolstafir]

...Furniture?

[Hi, hello, did you want an appropriate greeting, so sorry. No, he's going to latch onto the one thing in this post Shannon probably least wants to talk about. Perhaps it's a shared instinct of individuals who hate themselves to see it in others but this is ringing a couple alarm bells.]

[forwantofahorse]

[oh why did she have to open her big dumb self-loathing mouth]

Oh, er... Genji-sama always taught us that servants should be like the master's furniture. Never noticed, but always there when they're needed.

[A reasonable enough explanation, but Qrow's spidey-senses are tingling even harder now if anything.]

[frogfear]

Hey! Any friend of Ange's is a friend of ours too. I'm glad you're staying with us. My name's Willow.

[Can you hear the grin in her voice? Probably.]

Tara just moved in not long ago too. You don't have to worry about doing a bunch of work - we all just kind of pitch in wherever we can. Just make yourself at home and take some time to settle in.

[forwantofahorse]

Thanks, but... I really, um, don't know what to do with myself if I don't keep myself at work...

[Granted, even when her hands weren't idle they still became the devil's playthings, but the routine soothed—or numbed—Sayo.]

[justoscar]

Don't worry about all that right now, Shannon.

[Oscar spoke up quickly, in a voice that was bright and warm. While he didn't know much of Ange's situation, he trusted her judgement on matters from her own home.

This was for Ange and Shannon to steer-- Oscar would just help as he could.]

Get yourself settled and catch up with Ange first. There's always plenty to do, but you've gotta remember to take care of yourself first.

[forwantofahorse]

A- Ah, but it wouldn't be proper if I just freeloaded...

[Sayo would love to freeload, but she would go even crazier than usual if she didn't have anything to do with her hands. And as she's taking a... hiatus... from mystery reading and writing right now, she doesn't have anything else to occupy herself with other than, well, chores.]

voice;

[frogfear]

Oh, hey! Yeah! That'd be really cool if she stayed with us! The more the merrier, right?

And of course she's a free person here? Why wouldn't she be?

[entreats]

[ Can you hear that sigh, Willow?

Ange is so tired. Not because of the question, but because of what it makes her think of. ]

It's.. difficult. She worked at my grandfather's mansion, and they let kids from an orphange he sponsors work there to earn money. But that kind of ends up ingraining the whole servant thing in them a little too much, you know? [ Hence why Ange worries that Shannon - especially Shannon, given how overly helpful the girl is - might fall back into old patterns here. Despite it being entirely unnecessary. ] I don't want her to have to worry about that stuff here.

[ But at the same time Ange isn't sure if the other girl can stop worrying about it to begin with. ]

[frogfear]

Ohhh.

[Willow gives an understanding nod.]

No, you're right - she shouldn't have to worry about that stuff here. We'll just have to... I dunno, discourage her from trying to do all the work here or maybe keep her busy hanging out with everyone or something. I don't know.