The Jigsaw Phenomenon

[Trillian]

Every day, for a couple of hours, Dagger would pull Mia from her duties in order to help him with the jigsaw - a puzzle that he did not touch unless she was at his side.  He found he quite liked her gentle nature and quiet ways, though after a number of days he found her conversation - though still brief - wasn\'t quite as stilted, as though she was becoming more comfortable with him in her presence.  This had been one of the benefits to bonding with her over a recreational task, the other was simply because he enjoyed the company of a pretty young woman who wasn\'t after him for his money or statue.  She didn\'t seem to make sordid connections about the attention she was getting, and he doubted that if she was, that she could be playing it so cool.

They were about a quarter of the way through the picture already, to see that there was a grassy lawn, a few trees, some puffy clouds in the sky, and what looked like the foundations of a very large building.  Dagger had a clue that it was likely a very large nobleman\'s manor, or the palace itself - a usual product of a painter\'s brush.

"I tried painting a picture once," he said as he fit another two pieces together, cheating a little because the brush-stroke was what helped him match them rather than the sequence of colour.  "It came out dreadfully."

[pinkroses]

Mia enjoyed the hours she spent with Dagger next to the puzzle and she was starting to get better at the skill of searching for the right peices and putting them together, using various clues to get the correct mixes, shapes, colours, brush strokes. The front peices of her bright red hair were pulled back out of the way and the rest hung in loose waves down her back, curved over the table.

She enjoyed cooking, but that was still her job, this was something she could just enjoy without having to worry about the outcome and Dagger was a man she didn\'t think she needed to worry about being around. He never wanted anything from her in return for this time of relaxation, they just sat, working at the puzzle and chatting about whatever came to mind. She could just relax. Mia loved Ridley, but she always felt on edge around him, never quite sure what he would want to do with her.

Today hadn\'t been an especially stressful one, but Mia was still glad of the time to just sit and rest. For the last few days she had been terribly sick in the mornings, but it seemed to fade later in the day so she had still come to work. Mia didn\'t know the reason behind it, but she was sure it couldn\'t be too serious, or she would constantly be feeling ill. She hadn\'t wanted to risk not coming as well, this was something she really enjoyed and she felt more comfortable here than at home.

The girl looked up with interest as Dagger spoke, a smile playing on her lips with turned into a small laugh at his second comment and she looked down again. It was hard to imagine Dagger not being good at something.

"What did you try to paint?" she asked with curiousity and she shifted through a small pile which looked like they had leaves on them as she worked on a tree. She had never had the opportunity to paint before, suppiles were expensive and when there was work to do it seemed like a waste of time. Of course, for those who had enough skill ad time it was a worthy persuit, there were some truely beautiful peices of art. Of course, most of the art Mia had seen was in this very house. "Maybe you could ask someone for advice with it?" she suggested, slipping another piece into place.

[Trillian]

What had he tried to paint?  Mia would\'ve been better off asking who, for a redheaded woman was the subject of his attempt at art, when he\'d been younger, more romantic and a great deal more foolish.  It hadn\'t resembled the captain at all, save her beautiful red hair, loose and wild.  Dagger had put it in the attic and left it covered with a sheet to stop it from gathering dust, though he didn\'t know why he hadn\'t just burned it.

"My art is beyond salvation," he said wryly, grinning over at Mia without answering her first question.  Another piece slotted together and he added it to what was obviously a castle tower.  "This is obviously not a painting of Oberon Castle," he said, "in fact, I believe it is German."


[ooc] OH MY GOD I suck, I forgot I even started this    [/ooc]

[pinkroses]

Mia blinked as he so obviously ignored her first question. He seemed to have a habit of doing that, if there was something he didn\'t want to talk about he didn\'t try to skirt around the subject, he would just completely blank it.

She looked down as he put another piece in place then nodded a little at his words before looking up at him again with curiousity. "How can you tell it\'s German?" she asked. She could see that it wasn\'t Oberon castle, she\'d seen that often enough, but she had no idea what other castles would look like and how you could tell that they came from different countries. Wasn\'t a castle just a castle? How different could it be?

[Trillian]

"The architecture," he explained simply.  "I have a bound book of notepages on illustrations of German buildings, such as castles and churches, manors and the like.  Would you like to see it?"  Dagger lifted up his finger to stop her from responding.  "Don\'t answer that, for I would like to show it."

The master of the house wished to take up more of her time and there would be no argument, though he doubted that Mia would be upset by him educating her on interesting facts around the world.  She had asked, after all.

He left her with the jigsaw in order to take himself upstairs and search through his bookshelves for the bound bood in question.  It was at this stage when a knock came at the door, and neither Dagger nor his other servants were around to answer it - both the butler and the maid out on errands.  Only Mia was nearby, and within hearing distance of the guest at the front door.

[pinkroses]

Mia opened her moouth to protest, to tell him she didn\'t want to bother him like that, but he silenced her before she had the chance. She gave a smile and a nod, always eager to learn more if he wanted to take the time to show her. As he disappeared upstairs Mia looked back at the puzzle, examining the part of the castle which had come into view, trying to see what would be distinctive about it.

Her stomach flipped over when she heard a knock on the door and she looked up quickly, not moving. She silently listened to hear if Dagger was moving towards the door, but she couldn\'t hear anything, and she knew the other servants weren\'t hear right now. Mia chewed on her lower lip as looked down, checking that she looked presentable enough, although she really didn\'t want to have to open that door. She was supposed to work in the background, not seen, but she couldn\'t leave one of Dagger\'s guests on the doorstep.

She quickly walked towards the front door, smoothing her hands down the front of her dress, then the young red head hesitated before she opened the door, glancing towards the stairs, but still hearing nothing. She pulled open the door, looking out at the person on the steps and then lowering her eyes quickly.


"May I help you?" she asked quietly, thankful that she had actually managed to speak at all. Her stomach was still churning with nervousness, hoping she hadn\'t done something wrong.

[Existentially Odd]

Lam had stood before Dagger\'s home for probably five minutes before she finally took a deep breath and knocked; and even then it was mainly because she\'d noticed someone walking past the estate and peering towards the house.  Afraid she\'d be recognised as dithering before the door of her rumoured paramour, she\'d straightened her shoulders, sucked in that breath and rapped her gloved knuckles on the ornate wood.

She was in uniform, having come from the palace on her way home - though she did look a little more unkempt than usual, considering she\'d trained with Hew last and he\'d made it his mission that day to wreck her very neatly-arranged bun and cripple her.  Her thick red hair was therefore hanging (as neatly as her fingers could comb it, after she\'d pulled all the pins out and pocketed them - which was prefereable to turning up here with hillocks protruding randomly all over her head) in waves reaching halfway down her back and her left thigh pained her on every second step because he\'d managed a devastating downward kick that had, unfortunately, corked the muscle.  The little shit knew he\'d got her good, too, despite her biting back the tears that sparked at the flaring pain when he\'d surprised her and connected.

She wasn\'t entirely certain that being here was the best course of action but she was helpless to fight the urge to come.  She owed Dagger an apology for calling him an ass at the banquet the night before and... well, she just generally felt that it was time to begin talking with him again.  She missed him.  It wasn\'t possible to lose the person who\'d held her heart and had been her world for twelve years and not feel some sort of pang to be near him every now and then.  Plus, things with Kysis were... progressing and it was almost like she needed Dagger\'s blessing before she continued doing exactly what she wanted.

Stupid, but true.

She ran her hands nervously over her uniform, smoothing immaculately cut and fitted clothes as if they were disastrously wrinkled (she felt slightly that way thanks to the prince, that was for sure) and looking up suddenly when the door was pulled open, expecting to see Irene standing there.  Except it wasn\'t; it was a young, pretty redhead who almost looked like she\'d been caught doing something incredibly naughty to be answering the door.  She barely looked old enough to bathe herself!  And her breasts were...

Lam mentally stopped the rage that flared instantly upon sighting the young woman.  It wasn\'t her place to be jealous any more.  If Dagger chose to invite a sweet young

redhead!  Like me, damnit!  Replaced!

thing over to bed, she hadn\'t the right to question him.  She had Kysis, after all; he was entitled to have anyone he liked.  Even if it was a different someone every night.

"Hello," she greeted with a smile that formed smoothly enough on her face but which didn\'t meet her currently-hazel-coloured eyes.  "I was wondering if I might gain audience with Lord Dagger - is he available for Captain Wilson?" she queried smoothly glancing past the girl to the all-too-familiar layout beyond.  It had frequently been her home away from home and she\'d once entertained the notion that she\'d be Lady of this house; it held a very dear place in her heart, even if these thoughts left her feeling embarrassed and even more nervous than she\'d previously been.

[pinkroses]

Mia slowly raised her dark eyes to look at the woman in front of her, she was dressed in uniform maybe onne of the guards? Mia had see a few of the guards in the tavern where she had used to work, but, like here, she was usually in the background and didn\'t get to see may of the patrons. The youngster hadn\'t seen many female guards though, she didn\'t even know there were any. And this red head was so beautiful; she looked so strong and powerful and like...when she said something, she expected it to be done.

Her fingers tightened a little on the door as if that would protect her from this woman, why would she want to see Lord Dagger? Had he had any problems? Was he in trouble?

When the woman smiled Mia made an attempt to copy it, but it was a very timid look, nothing like as relaxed as she had been with Dagger just a few moments before. Her eyes widened a little when she learnt that this woman was the Captain, she was obviously an important person and Mia desperately didn\'t want to do anything wrog.

"I..um, I\'m not sure, I could go ask him," Mia said hesitantly, not sure if that was the right answer or not. Would Dagger want to see her? Well, Mia had just given away that he was here so she would have to find out now. The red head suddenly realised that she hadn\'t yet moved to go and find out and she took a small step back, leaving the door open. Wait, was that rude? Should she invite her in? Would Dagger mind that? Well, the Captain was important, she surely wouldn\'t like to be left on the doorstep and Dagger wouldn\'t mid her being let in, would he?

"Um, would you...like to come in to wait?" Mia asked, quickly returning to the door after her short movement away. She pulled open the door a little further to give the woman room to enter . She hesitated again, should she just leave her to enter and make herself comfortable, or wait until she found out if Captain Wilson was settled before going to find Lord Dagger? In truth she was anxious about going upstairs to find him, she hadn\'t yet ventured up those stairs and was a little scared that she might get lost up there, maybe not be able to find him.

"You could wait in the drawing room?" Mia suggested, really the only room she knew in this part of the house and the room where she and Dagger had just been working on the puzzle.

[Existentially Odd]

"Uh... ?" was about all Lam got out while the girl was speaking, but once she stopped, the captain - who had followed her in as far as the entranceway at least - smiled.  She felt strangely maternal, looking down at the fine-boned woman who had absolutely no clue what she should be doing in this situation (and in trying to hide this fact, was only making it more obvious).  Lam therefore took the initiative and closed the front door behind herself, then removed her gloves in preparation for shaking the other\'s hand.

"Of course, I\'ll wait wherever you put me - or I could just go and find Dagger myself, if you\'d prefer?  He and I are old friends, he shouldn\'t mind the intrusion too much, I hope - and don\'t worry, I know my way around the manor.  Whatever would be easiest for you - you\'re obviously new here... ?" Lam said, raising her eyebrows expectantly, waiting for the other redhead to supply her name.

Wilson hadn\'t completely dismissed the notion that the girl was just a last-night\'s-leftover, but it seemed unlikely.  Dagger didn\'t tend to bring anyone home with him, so the girl was more likely a worker of some sort (though she had no idea what role someone new might fulfill in his household, she was rather out of the loop on that score).  Lam felt sorry for her awkwardness enough that she wanted to put her at ease, no matter who she was or what she did in the house.

[pinkroses]

Mia turned back to face Wilson, taking a small step backwards when she saw how close she had come. She twisted her fingers together anxiously as the woman spoke and glanced towards the stairs, really not sure what she should do. She knew it would probably be faster for the Captain to go and find Dagger herself, but Mia didn\'t know if he would like that. Mia also didn\'t know how close they had become when they were together and if she had then she wouldn\'t have known if Dagger would want to see her at all after how it had ended. The list of things Mia didn\'t know or wasn\'t sure about seemed to be getting longer every moment.

She looked up at Lam when she stopped talking and was looking at her expectantly. She blinked quickly, "I, um, yes, sort of, I work in the kitchen," she said, not expecting that the Captain would care at all what her name was. Why would she?

"I think, perhaps, you should come into the drawing room, I\'ll go find him for you," Mia said, hoping that the Captain would\'t mind this choice. At least this way if Dagger didn\'t want Lam here then he wouldn\'t have her sneaking up and surprising him. The petite red head led the way into the drawing room and stood by the door, waiting for Wilson to sit down. She shot a glance towards the puzzle on the table, a little put out that their couple of hours were disturbed, but she didn\'t let it show on her face. After all, the Captain wouldn\'t be here if it wasn\'t important, she would be selfish if she minded being disturbed when it was something important, or really anything to do with people higher than herself. What did she matter in the grand scheme of thigs? Dagger had many important things to do with his time, she should be grateful that he even bothered spending any time with her.

Mia watched the Captain enter the room with curiosity, admiring the way she moved, the way she held herself, everything about her. She seemed to be a complete contrast to Mia, apart from their hair and the servant couldn\'t help wishing that she could experience a part of the other woman\'s life. How different it must be. She quickly shook herself out of this train of thought and realised that she was now actually going to have to go and find Lord Dagger.

"I\'ll will go tell him you are here," she said quietly, tearing her eyes away from Lam and letting them fall to the floor again, before giving a small nod and quickly leaving the room, letting the Captain sit, or wander around the well decorated room, however she felt comfortable.

She moved quickly towards the stairs, her small feet making barely a sound and she hesitated for a moment before climbing the stairs, wandering into unkown territory. Mia\'s eyes darted around, looking for any sign of which room Dagger might have gone into, chewing gently on her lower lip as her figers skimmed the ornate bannister, barely even registering how beautiful her surroundings were. Her dark eyes finally settled on a room where the door had been left open and she quickly walked to it, pushing it open a little more, relieved when she saw the man she had been looking for.

"Sir? Captain Wilson is here to see you. She\'s in the drawing room, I wasn\'t sure...is that alright?" she said quietly, watching him for his reaction, her figers reverting to their usual nervous twisting.

[Existentially Odd]

Lam, left in Mia\'s wake, bent over her sore left leg once the kitchen hand was out of the room - before she\'d had a chance to shake hands with her, too.  Her bruised face fell into a frown of pain as she massaged her left thigh, regretting the stoic way she\'d followed after the other woman, determined not to limp.  Limping was about all she was good for now, thanks to the Heir Apparent; he would pay when next they sparred, that was for damn sure.

Glancing around the drawing room, Lam\'s gaze fell upon the puzzle and she smiled wistfully as she hobbled closer, leaning against a chair on her right elbow and negligently poking at the tight leg muscle with her left fingertips.  She didn\'t sit, because she didn\'t trust herself to get up, if she bent the leg at all.  Instead, she merely leaned and rubbed, listening to the sounds of the house and wondering if Dagger would come down to see her, or whether she\'d be sent away.  It was still a distinct possibility.

In the daydream that quickly sprang up however, the redhaired servant came down and sent Lam up to Dagger\'s bedroom - the most familiar room in the house to her - where he would be waiting for her and she could stretch her damn leg out.  Her ex lover would then offer to massage the cork out for her, as he\'d done numerous times throughout their relationship.  She sighed blissfully at the mere thought, embracing the flight of fancy with relish (anything was preferable to the pain, after all... and Dagger\'s hands were an added bonus).

[Trillian]

Dagger hadn\'t had any success in finding the notebook of drawings, though he was positive it was in his shelves in the bedroom.  After a cursory glance in a few drawers, he\'d returned to the shelves and was now thoroughly checking through the titles and scrolls, just in case he was remembering the binding incorrectly.  He\'d been fairly sure the book had been stitched against a flat piece of thin board to keep the drawings flat, but perhaps it was a scroll after all.  After unwinding a few and losing track of time as he discovered a scroll he\'d forgotten he even owned, he was startled by Mia\'s voice in his room and he looked quickly towards the door where she stood.

Initially he was irritable at her for coming upstairs without permission, but the words coming out of her mouth excused her for this mistake.  Captain Wilson.  So, his ex had come to his door and been shown in by his meek cook.  He was surprised Mia had even answered the door instead of standing as still as possible in the drawing room like a frightened rabbit, hoping the knocking noise would go away.

"Thank you, Mia, that is good" he said, and though his words were warm his tone was not, but it wasn\'t to do with his servant.  "If you could find a baked treat to serve our guest with a pitcher of lemon ale, that would please me."  He was thinking of the cookies in a jar Mia had made a couple of days ago, waiting to be consumed.  "I will greet my guest," he said, without pleasure.

It would be hard looking at Lam\'s face here, in his house, when the last time he\'d seen her here they\'d both been curled up in his bed.  He moved behind Mia, not rushing her with his steps, letting her set the pace as he went downstairs and then entered the drawing room, noting that Lam hadn\'t taken a seat - not wanting to make herself comfortable, no doubt.  Ready for a quick retreat, perhaps.

"Good day, Captain Wilson," he greeted formally.

[pinkroses]

Mia bit her lip and lowered her eyes when he spoke, his tone of voice making her face fall. "Yes, Sir, of course," she said quietly. When he walked towards her she turned and started to walk back downstairs, trying to think of something she could have done differently. Maybe she shouldn\'t have opened the door or let her in. Maybe she should have just waited downstairs for Lord Dagger to come back down, but this was what she had done and it was too late to take it back.

The red head turned to walk towards the kitchen, glancing back at Dagger before he disappeared into the drawing room. She was glad for the chance to escape, she didn\'t really want to be in Dagger\'s presense when he was in this mood. She just wished she knew whether it was her fault of Captain Wilson\'s why he had suddenly become so mood. She quickly made her way to the kitchens and set about doing as he asked.

[Existentially Odd]

With a little hop, Lam turned to face him, startled out of her reverie.  Her hand, still prodding at her thigh, lifted meekly as she straightened to her full height and leaned less on the chair.  She gave herself a moment before she said anything, waiting for her body to get over its initial reaction to being close to him

Will that never bloody stop, that rush of adrenalin and excitement and lust?  Damn him for being so sexy

and then smiling tentatively.

"Balthus," she breathed, ignoring his stern tone and words - for she\'d expected nothing less, after the way she\'d acted the night before - and taking a hobbling step towards him.  "I wondered if I might have some of your time... alone?" she queried politely, with a glance towards the kitchen.  She took another step and hoped the wince she held in didn\'t show in her eyes, for he knew her well enough to see it, if so.  Standing around inactively was only making the muscle cramp more, it seemed; she was better off moving or taking the weight off it completely.

[Trillian]

Dagger didn\'t miss the look cast in the direction of the kitchen, at the back of the house.  From here voices would not carry due to the structure of the rooms, closed in as they were, but it was easy for Mia to interrupt, and Dagger had given her cause to do so.  His eyes shuttered for a moment, conflicted with himself to be soft on Lam or to be cold with her.  What he wanted was to hold out his arms and have her step into them and melt against him, what he didn\'t want was to give in to her.  She\'d left him.  It wasn\'t anything he could take back, it was all her work.

Despite his desire to remain harsh, his next words came out quietly and without his previous stern tone.

"We shall sit and wait for her to bring us refreshments, and then you and I can talk."

He suspected that she would deny a stay at length, perhaps refusing his offer of refreshments and blurting out some kind of hasty apology before leaving him with just the breeze of her back.  He didn\'t believe she would do such a thing, she knew better, but in leaving him she\'d declared he didn\'t know her, so he could be wrong, he mused unhappily.