(sksjsjsh)
Riven looked up when she came back out, raising an eyebrow at them. "Do you have any things I need to send for?" He asked, still doing his best to be coldly polite. He defaulted to this sort of thing much of the time, especially after interacting with any of his older brothers. So he would eventually go back to being his nasty, normal self. But for now, he was cold.
They held their limbs close to their body again, noticing the prince’s change in demeanor and finding it a little unsettling, considering his first words to her was a lame insult pertaining to her appearance. Their smile quickly dropped.
“I believe I have just my gray shawl left at the Thistlewell Estate…” they murmured. Could she ask for the herbs? Maybe, but it was likely she wouldn’t get them. Technically she found them on her former enslaver’s property, and therefore the herbs belonged to them, but what would they do with them anyway? And hopefully, even if she didn’t get them, they would still have a chance to find some herbs on the palace grounds.
“I also have some wild herbs that I left there as well. That’s… that’s all the possessions I have.”
He tapped his fingers for a moment, before crossing over to the desk and writing it down. He sealed it into an envelope, and stuck his head outside, giving the missive to one of the other servants. "It has been sent for." he said, relatively calm. His eyes landed on the wine bottle, and he picked it up, yanking the cork back out and pouring himself a glass, using the same one that had been sitting on the coffee table.
She nodded, unsure of what to say now. They were about to suggest going back to the party, but then that would be a tactless choice of words. The prince was probably extremely humiliated from what had occurred, and having Indigo near wouldn’t do him any favors.
They stood there for a moment, staring into space, until eventually they couldn’t take it anymore. The messiness of the place became too overwhelming. She headed to the bookshelf first, and began sorting through the books and papers.
He looked up sharply. "And just what do you think you're doing?" He demanded, taking a step. "Those are mine." He frowned, taking a sip from his glass. Indeed he wouldn't be going back to the party, not for a few hours at least. After his brother telling him off like that, he felt humiliated and embarrassed and off balance, and so he would go back when he was sufficiently drunk for that not to matter much.
“Sorting books,” they replied bluntly, keeping their gaze on the bookshelf. “Your messy space is annoying me, that’s all.”
It was clear that most of the books had not been handled with care in the past. Some pages were wrinkled or had small tears, others were stuffed awkwardly beside each other, and others still had spines that were coming undone. It pained her to see them in this state, so she made an effort to handle them as gently as they could.
He frowned faintly. "Well, don't damage them." He replied. Some books were obviously better cared for than others, but well loved, with thinning, worn pages and a few stains. He flopped down in one of his chairs, taking another sip from his glass with a faint frown. He didn't know what else to do right now.
“I would never.” She looked at a few of the books, feeling a little better each time she saw one that looked well cared for. They decided to simply put them in alphabetical order, as it looked as though they had been that way at some point, but some of the books ended up out of place. Some of them caught Indigo’s eye, and they wonder if she could read them at some point.
Riven leaned his head back against his seat, closing his eyes and shaking his head faintly. He kept sipping at his glass, tired and still cranky about what had happened earlier.
Some time later, Indigo slid the final book into place with a sigh of satisfaction. That was one less thing to worry about. She wiped her hands together, then made their way over to Riven.
“Your Highness,” they said quietly. “I’m finished. You don’t seem to be keen on me doing things without being told to, so I suppose I should ask you what you would like me to do next if you’re not ready to go back yet.” Her volume rose with each word, as it was easier to speak into silence once the first word was spoken. All too often there would be times were they’d regret speaking at all, but how else were they going to communicate?
Riven looked up, eyes flickering open as he studied Indigo for a long moment. He waved a hand vaguely. "I don't care." he finally said, words faintly slurred. He had drunk more wine, and was probably going to head back to the party sooner rather than later, having mostly recovered from his embarrassment by now.
Indigo studied Riven right back. It was easy to tell he had drank some more, and that made her a little nervous. Olympia had never been an angry drunk like Zephyr sometimes was, but she tended to get whiny and sorrowful whenever she’d had too much. Riven didn’t sound exactly irritated when he spoke, but they could never be sure whether he simply wasn’t angry or if it just bursted out at certain times.
Still, Indigo wouldn’t be in the mood to respect his feelings all the time. “‘I don’t care,’ he says.” She rolled her eyes. “His poor Highness doesn’t know what to with his own slave.”
He narrowed his eyes at her. "I did not choose you." he spat. "That was my darling brother." distaste laced his words, both at them and at his brother. He didn't like any of his siblings, though he didn't hate his sister. She was the only one he actually got along with, though; none of his older brothers liked him, and he didn't like them either.
They couldn’t help but laugh. “Oh prince, you keep telling me things I already know. I’m not that stupid. I figured you were the bossy type, already telling me to do this and that, but I suppose that’s informed by the fact that I’ve been serving the same person for over a decade. So which is it? Do you take me for a stupid oaf or so intelligent that I can immediately know your wishes just by looking at you? I’m curious now.”
She knew the real answer, of course. That she was never here in the first place, that his brother never chose them. He didn’t know what to do with them because he never chose them, and never wanted to. Poor guy. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to have a little fun with him every once in a while.
"If you would like something to do, you may clean the bathroom. A previous partner left it absolutely trashed, and I have not been able to use it in three days, due to the state of it." he replied, words half a growl. "Since you seem so desperate for something to clean, you may do that. Or, if that does not suit you, you may clean my boots with your tongue, as you seem to have no other good uses for it." he glared at them, words snarled out in a fit of pique, irritation, and anger.
Ah, guess the fun’s over. Indigo’s expression dropped into an emotionless poker-face. Cleaning the bathroom certainly didn’t sound appealing, but it’s not like they hadn’t cleaned bathrooms before. Cleaning his boots almost sounded like a joke, but either way, that sounded like the worst option.
“Ah, so now he knows what to do with me. Wanted to get rid of me that badly, eh?” She merely shrugged, then went over to the bathroom, pinched her nose just in case, and opened the door.
The bathroom was not very pretty, though it could have been worse. It smelled of piss and a hint of vomit. There were clothes on the floor and stagnant, dirty water in the tub that had likely been there for who knows how long. The toilet seat was flipped up, and there was dirt or worse smeared on the bowl. Riven hadn't been kidding when he said a previous partner left it disgusting; no wonder he hadn't wanted to use it.
(Hey! Just fyi school started for me so hopefully I’ll be able to respond this weekend)
(hey! Alright, no rush!)
Indigo was glad they plugged their nose. Even so, it scrunched up in disgust. But indeed, it could’ve been worse.
They started with the clothes, collecting them from the floor and putting them folded outside the bathroom. It didn’t take very long, and soon she had moved onto the tub, though it was a bit trickier to tackle. It seemed something was clogging up the drain so the water couldn’t filter into the sewage pipes. There was a tersorium (a sponge tied to a stick) leaning on the wall, so Indigo took and poked it in the drain in an attempt to dislodge whatever was clogging it. Upon bringing it out of the water, she found a lot of hair… and some other strange, milky white substance clinging to the sponge. Maybe soap that hadn’t washed away and accumulated in the drain? Maybe the accumulation of the hair had something to do with it. Indigo could only guess. She dipped the tersorium back into the drain, the water sloshing as they jerked it around, trying to disentangle the accumulation clogging it.
Riven stretched in his chair, eventually getting up and pacing around his sitting room for a while, silent, hands folded behind his back. Then he headed into his room, changing into a shimmering grey button up, and a pair of dark slacks. He put on a pair of sandals, dragged a comb through his unruly curls, and perched a golden circlet on the dark locks. He checked in the mirror, adding a smudge of kohl along his eyes and a glittering hint of blush at his cheekbones. "I'm going back to the party." he informed Indigo, not bothering to wait for a response before he headed out the door.
Indigo didn’t reply to the prince’s announcement anyway, merely acknowledging it with a flicker of their gaze and continuing on with her work.
Whoever used this tub last had a lot of hair. A lot of hair. Indigo tried not to think about it too much, but it was hard to resist the urge to gag sometimes.
If she was being honest, she was used to cleaner bathrooms than this. Olympia had high standards and was a bit of a neat freak, so it was an extremely rare occasion when there was a bathroom in a state like this one. It was difficult to think of a time when Indigo would have to do this much work in a bathroom alone. The thought that they would still be working on it when Riven came back scared them a little. Would he be angry if she wasn’t done? Then she shook her head. He’s not Olympia. He only wanted me to do this so I would be busy and have something to do.
At last, she pulled the tersorium from the tub, and the satisfying sound of draining water filled their ears. The tersorium looked absolutely dreadful, but it had to do a more dreadful job now. Indigo turned their attention on the toilet.
(do we wanna timeskip again, or nah?)
Riven headed to the party, greeting his friends with a grin and his brother with a poisonous glare, grabbing up a glass of wine. It was quite normal, at these parties, for Fae to spend the entire thing drinking or drunk, with the glittery drugs spread across lips or wrists or foreheads, smeared lightly against skin whose color could range from milk white to the jet black of midnight to the deep blue of the ocean, to the pinks and orange of a sunrise.
(I don't really mind if we do or not, all Indigo's gonna do after they're done with the bathroom is take a nap, so….)
(djsfhgv makes sense, uhhh)
(Well, if we did want to skip, where would we skip to?)
(uhhhh idk. sorry)
(That’s ok, we just don’t have to time skip. Maybe there’s some drama at the party?)
(like what? I have zero ideas right now, my apologies lmao)
(Totally understand my dude. No thoughts head empty :’)
