Poisonous Fox

“-et away from her!”

Marianne hissed as she jerked upright, covered in sweat.

It was almost routine for her at this point. Not always the same dream, but often enough. She did what she could to forget it, to put it behind her, to only affect the things she could control, but it was hard.

She wiped her face and checked the time. Judging by the flute-work playing through the vents, it was just about time for the staff to rise.

Nearly dawn, time to help the new girl.

Marianne untangled herself from damp blankets and tossed them into a corner between the bunk and wall, beginning her stretches.

The other girls had always been jealous of how flexible Marianne was, but it was dumb, since they only wanted the flexibility for their night-work, and Marianne was too young for that–even if she wanted to–which she did not, because men were gross. So, Mariane was no competition to them! Unless they just wanted better paying clients, maybe?

Just considering that grossed Marianne out and left her stomach turning. Ew.

No, wait–her stomach was rumbling, not turning! Not that the night-work was anything but gross, but what she was really feeling right now was hunger. Easy mistake, really. But now, Marianne knew without a shadow of doubt that it was time to start the day: ablutions, breakfast, more breakfast, helping the girl get settled in, and hopefully chatting.

A rumbling also came from across the aisle, from the bottom bunk, where the new girl slept. She snored. Poor thing. Thankfully, none of the other girls would find out about that, otherwise they might tease Jackie. But, there could have been other girls assigned to their room–it chambered four. But other than Esmerelda, none of the other girls had ever lived out of it, at least so long as Marianne had been there.

The other gals usually found comfier accommodations to spend the night in. Most of them slept in too. The benefits of night-work.

Still not worth it though, not for Marianne! And from what she knew, not Jackie either. They were both too young. Thankfully.

Jackie was resting on the opposite bed, on the lower bunk, in a graceless position. Jackie was on her belly, her arms almost hugging the narrow mattress, her head tilted to the side a bit further than should be comfortable, and her legs tangled in her blankets.

And she was drooling.

Honestly.

Marianne simply shook her head and wondered about how best to wake Jackie. In the end, Marianne decided that Jackie’s first-first day had been hard enough, even though today was actually her first day on the job.

Marianne had mercy.

This time.

Marianne knelt and nudged Jackie’s shoulder, gently, using just a single finger.

Nothing.

No, not nothing. Jackie let a particular violent snoring snort loose.

Ew.

Enough mercy.

Marianne knocked on Jackie’s shoulder, like she would a door.

Jackie’s eyes snapped open and she recoiled, rising too quickly, hitting her head on the bunk above her, and then losing her balance and rolling backwards into the wall, where she slumped to the mattress.

Marianne stifled herself, pressing her hands over her mouth, making a snort of her own. She tried. She really did. But in the end, she was unable to stop it.

She giggled.

And holding her mouth failed to hide that fact. All that did was cause her cheeks to poof out, which caused her to laugh even harder when she saw her reflection.

The other girl failed to find the humor, instead glaring and groaning, while rubbing her head. Sleep still dusted Jackie’s eyes.

“Ready to start the day?” Marianne asked, voice still full of mirth.

“Yes.” Jackie’s tone felt somewhat aggressive, but that could be expected.

“Excellent!” Marianne said, clapping her hands and ignoring the hostility. “Let’s get washed up and changed and grab breakfast! Then we can chat before our day really starts–”

“-Wait.” Jackie interrupted.

“Hm?” Marianne paused her flurry of activity, tilting her head.

Jackie’s mouth was working, struggling with a question.

“Why–Did we need to wake up so early?”

Warning bells began to chime in the back of Marianne’s mind.

“Hmmm kinda?” Marianne offered, quickly trying to think of a really good reason.

“You said ‘chat,’” Jackie said, sounding very unamused. “But if we’ll have time to chat, then–”

Marianne hurried up to explain herself. She had a reason, kind of. She just hoped the other girl would buy it. In her haste, she stumbled over her own tongue.

“-Well!” Marianne said. “If you want to wash, which you mentioned last night, then we need to beat the rush.”

“Rush?” Jackie asked, pausing the acidity, even if just temporarily.

Marianne groaned and rolled her eyes. “Just trust me, alright?” Marianne said. “It’s not like I woke up for fun.”

Jackie’s face narrowed for a second, and Marianne almost felt as though she were gazing into the eyes of a much older, jaded, and vengeful woman. But then Jackie’s eyes softened with a sigh.

“Alright, then,” Jackie said, giving a slight nod, while picking her way up from bed. “Lead on.”

Marianne and Jackie had the vanity rooms to themselves, taking relatively quick baths, shampooing, and then drying their hair. As Marianne finished tightening her bodice, she turned to find Jackie struggling with the laces, and Jackie had yet to slip on her leggings, wearing only the long tunic to cover her thighs.

It was strange.

Marianne had never known of lilac hair, but it did seem to be Jackie’s natural color.

And speaking of coloration, Jackie’s skin was far paler than most of the Middens, which would have fit in better in the far north, which was very distant, very very distant.

“Need a hand?” Marianne asked, shaking the musings aside.

Jackie growled, which sounded odd coming from such a petite girl. It would be as though Marianne growled. In fact, the thought of pretending to be a rabid dog, frothing at the mouth, nearly distracted her enough to begin giggling anew.

Fortunately, Marianne restrained her mirth.

That time.

“Yes,” Jackie bit out, accepting the help.

Marianne stepped behind her and adjusted the bodice to be straight on, and then undid all of the wrinkles in the tunic–those would end up causing discomfort partway through the day, at least if they were trapped beneath the bodice. And then Marianne began tightening the lacing, starting from bottom and working her way to the middle, before repeating again from the top. Less than a minute later, Marianne was wrapping the loose strings about Jackie’s waist and tying a bow at her back.

“There!” Marianne said. “Now your service jacket, and you’ll be just about set…”

“Just about?” Jackie asked, arching a purple eyebrow above those bright cyan eyes.

“Well,” Marianne said, her eyes flicking down for just a second, “you still need your leggings. Unless you’re going for bigger tips.”

Jackie snorted.

Marianne counted that as a win.

They finished readying themselves, and soon found themselves down in the kitchens, where the cook, simply called ‘Cook’ by Marianne and the rest of the staff, prepared a simple breakfast that kept well throughout the morning.

“There,” Cook said, ladling porridge into two handled bowls. “Sugar’s in the bowl, cream’s in the chest. Leave.” Cook made a shooing motion with her hands. “This one must ready for lunch.”

When Jackie hesitated to grab her own bowl, Marianne grabbed it for her. “See, not too hot. This is how you hold it!” Marianne said, fighting back a laugh at her almost joke. An almost joke, for the off-chance that Jackie was slow. It would be awful to make a full joke if Jackie were slow minded, afterall.

Also, Cook hated laughter.

But that was all besides the point, because Jackie was acting strange.

While Marianne took the bowls to the counter, Jackie just gazed on, a strange expression on her face. Perhaps, one of distaste? Porridge was a fairly neutral dish though, hard to mess that up.

Marianne shrugged. Jackie would figure it out. Unless she was actually slow.

When Marianne reached the countertop with the sugar and near the cold-chest, Jackie still had yet to follow after. Marianne was beginning to worry if something was wrong. She was about to ask, but Cook beat her to it.

“Psss!” Cook said, almost hissing. “Unless the hairless one plans to help, then leave. Go. Begone. Stop standing there!”

That seemed to shake Jackie out of whatever Jackie had been doing acting like a freshly fed meohr.

Jackie grimaced, but left all the same, leaving Cook’s space. Cook watched with her tail swaying irritably.

“C’mon Jackie,” Marianne called. “How sweet do you want it?”

Jackie’s nose scrunched and she glared at the bowls.

“Ooookay, no sugar then… ? But what about cream?” Marianne asked as she pulled out the jug and smelled it–just to make sure–not that Cook would allow spoiled cream in her kitchen. Once verified, Marianne dropped a dollop on her porridge.

Marianne left Jackie’s bowl for the other girl to tend to, along with the cream, while standing aside and waiting for the girl to come and grab it.

Jackie took the hint and stepped up, sniffing the cream as well. Her eyes widened slightly, and she began pouring the jug into her bowl.

It poured for one second, then two, then three…

“Uhh Jackie?” Marianne prompted.

Jackie tilted the jug upright, her gruel absolutely swimming in the heavy off-white goodness.

“Right. Likes cream,” Marianne said to herself, leading the way out to an out of the way spot they could eat.

They ended up in a cubby just off the kitchen, where a few old papers and a pen were pushed aside. Marianne set her bowl down, and sat on a hard stool opposite of Jackie.

“So,” Marianne said, a smile splitting her face. “You want some oats with your cream?”

Jackie growled, again. Such an odd expression.

Once again, Marianne giggled. She almost asked about the growling, but figured it was just one of the other girl’s affections. Purely harmless, at least Marianne hoped.

Jackie began spooning the mostly cream into her mouth, while Marianne ate and spoke, though never speaking with actual food in her mouth.

“Mhm, good,” Marianne said, blowing on another spoonful. “Hot’n fresh.”

Jackie’s eyes had narrowed, but Marianne thought that might have been normal.

“So, duties!” Marianne said.

Jackie put her spoon down with a clink. “You told me about them already,” Jackie said, tersely.

“I did?” Marianne asked, before remembering. “Oh that’s right! I did. Quiz time then! What are we doing today?”

Jackie began listing them out: “Leading guests to tables, receiving their orders, returning with those orders filled, pouring drinks, cleaning tables and washing dishes.”

Marianne ticked them off while Jackie spoke, expecting the other girl to get something wrong. But Jackie listed everything… which was kind of embarrassing for Marianne, so Marianne thought of a nifty excuse for bringing up redundant material.

“That’s well and good for a high level of understanding,” Marianne responded with a forced haughtiness. “But what about the details?”

“...details?” Jackie responded, sounding frigid. “You did not previously share… details.”

Marianne nodded, ignoring the frost in Jackie’s voice. “Yep! Didn’t want to overwhelm you before, but now we’re gonna be going over some of the little things! Like where the menus are, what’s in stock, where the rags and cleaners are, which cleaners go on wood, which on stone, and most importantly, who the best tippers are!”

Jackie remained silent for a moment, before she licked her lips. “Could these not be learned as we go along?”

Well, of course Jackie was right on that front. But, then they would have nothing really to talk about for the next hour or so until the shift started. Unless they wanted to get into some make-work, but that was never any fun. For some reason, Marianne doubted the wisdom of confessing this to the other girl, so Marianne was forced to give a slight improvisation.

“Well we could if it’s slow today,” Marianne said.

Jackie nodded slowly, in comprehension. “But not if we’re busy. Very well. Let’s go over these details of yours.”

“Yes!” Marianne cheered.

Now she just hoped that it really was busy. Marianne nervously swallowed, which seemed to cause Jackie’s eyes to tighten.

Hopefully the lunch rush came hard and early.