It was unnerving, and frankly a touch annoying, how easy everything had ended up being. After the nerves, the apprehension, the fiasco with that idiot messenger, and the resulting scene in the hall… she had been expecting a fight, and she had been ready for it. But a fight was not what she had gotten. She was a little disappointed.
Demitri had seemingly vanished again, his newest trick apparently, denying her the pleasure of demanding answers from him once and for all. So she made up her mind to see if she couldn’t find some way to make herself of use as any half decent slave would, and, as much as it pained her to do so, make he and his guest as comfortable as possible.
The little blonde Calliope had seen Demitri speaking with, and who had run off in such a hurry when she and Thelios had appeared, was apparently already on her way back with the very refreshments she had been planning to ask for. What’s more she was even considerate enough to ask Calliope’s preference in terms of who brought it in to him.
Her evident relief when Calliope volunteered did suggest that her primary motivation wasn’t necessarily courtesy or kindness. But, regardless of her reasons, the effect on Calliope was the same. The young woman was, to her continued surprise, more than forthcoming in offering her an overview of their system, ‘since she was new’, and without being prodded for it. It was all fairly straightforward really, painfully so, and she mentally cursed Demitri for being right yet again. Damn him.
The girl, Silva, and a man named Kal were the ’emissaries’ for this particular set of suits. Yes, set, as they were shared, like a household, and the personal servants made requests directly from these ’emissaries’. So that was one issue she didn’t have to fret about any longer. Of course the ‘household’ issue created a whole new set of concerns, particularly as she could guess fairly easily who they were sharing with.
As it was, the ease with which she’d passed this recent- semi-nonexistent- hurdle was suggesting to her that perhaps her fears had been exaggerated. That didn’t mean she was about to dismiss them completely. After all, one positive example did not a rule make, and she wasn’t anywhere near forgetting the incident in the hall, nor Thelios’s changed demeanor… or the fact that there was a giant serpent with the face and body of an incredibly beautiful… and naked… woman keeping him company on the other side of the door. They’d been alone close to half an hour by her guess, and she was loathe to interrupt, but it was unseemly to allow a guest to go without refreshment any longer than she already had. Once more she was forced to swallow her anxieties and do what needed to be done.
She adjusted the tray and rested it on her shoulder to knock. He called for her to enter from the other side. So, with a deep, settling breath, she did. She went in expecting anything, a wise course of action when one was in as unique a situation as she, and also precariously balancing wine on a rather large tray.
She needn’t have been worried.
He was slouched in a chair on the other side of the room, his chin resting on a raised fist… brooding. The snake… woman…’no, snake’ she smirked mentally, was draped over a low couch, her chin resting on the backs of her bare arms which were in turn crossed over the chair’s back. She was staring at him. He was staring blankly across the room. Or, more accurately, he was glowering across it. Calliope hesitated a moment seeing his dark expression, but didn’t let it stop her from proceeding as intended.
She averted her own gaze to the tray when she felt their attention shift toward her, but kept them both on the edge of her vision. The room wasn’t very large and held just the one arrangement of furniture, consisting of two low couches and the one wide, throne like chair. At least it looked that way, with the way he sat on it… his arms now laying along the rests and his legs braced symmetrically before him. And of course, there was the glowering. He looked very much like the king of hell himself.
She knelt next to the table at the center of the arrangement, setting down her burden and noting the open doorways, one beyond Thelios, and the other to the right, which she guessed were the less formal living quarters. The little blonde servant had indicated that her things had been taken to a room just off of the master’s sleeping quarters; directed there by Demitri, apparently.
Calliope had managed to stifle her self-consciousness at what that fact might connote for the other household slaves. Namely, that she was the master’s bed-warmer. It helped that the girl seemed utterly unfazed and indifferent to the fact. It was, after all, none of their business how a master chose to keep his slaves… but still, she valued her privacy and it seemed like such a public announcement of her role in Thelios’s household.
She continued to peruse the room out of the corner of her eye as she set about serving the wine.
She also noted the way Thelios’s eyes had shifted back to the wall, ignoring her once more, and the way his guest’s had not. The snake’s eyes watched her as she, still kneeling, poured the wine into two glasses and were still waiting as Calliope turned and met them with a polite smile as she offered the first glass. She returned Calliope’s polite smile with an amused one of her own.
“Thank you.”
Calliope blinked in surprise, but otherwise kept her reaction to herself. It wasn’t the words alone, but the low purr in her voice which had caught her off guard.
“You’re welcome.” She murmured, breaking her gaze and returning her attention to the other glass.
“Calliope,” she continued, still purring, “perhaps you would have more luck than I have…” Thelios waved off the offer of the wine.
“You take it.” He muttered. The snake scoffed, but she was looking askance at Thelios and not at Calliope.
“I have been trying to explain to my ‘dearest’ brother that there is absolutely no reason he can’t relax for five minutes and stop being such an uptight prig. I understand you don’t want to be here brother, but I mean really, how do you survive if you never let yourself have any fun?”
Calliope frowned at that. The master? uptight? That was… completely absurd.
The snake seemed to notice her confusion and looked back down at her. “Don’t you think?”
Calliope blinked again and felt her lips part, as if instinctively trying to answer the question. But she was stymied for a response. “I… ah, I suppose.” She finally managed with some uncertainty.
“You don’t agree.” It wasn’t a question but the look in those violet eyes was more curious than anything else.
“Well… I… suppose it’s a matter of perspective…” she hedged, glancing at Thelios for some indication of what she should or shouldn’t say, but he gave her nothing. He wasn’t really glaring at her though, and his frown seemed more one of general annoyance than anything aimed in a particular direction… so that was something at least.