A Horrible Harror
From FiranMUX
Ladonna, Oliana, Attis, and a child object named Saelus.
In which Saelus, the child object, has a no-good-very-bad-day in the bath house and acts as a two year old would. Mayhem.
The Anarinuell Bath House.
Oliana shakes her head and says, "I'm a lady's maid..." She is about to say something else when the man straddles her backside and her eyes go wide, "I... uhh..." She gulps and finds the closest thing to grab ahold of, that means the couch. "What's in the pot?"
Attis is straddling the slightly distressed Oliana on the massage couches, intent upon their conversation and the massage.
Oliana is covered with a towel from the waist down, laying on her stomach, and red as red can be while getting this massage!
Ladonna enters the women's baths with a servant in tow -- and the servant is struggling to manage a very sulky two-year-old. "Oh, /please/, Mer Saelus, just take off yer tunic!" the maid cries, striving to undress the wriggling child. Ladonna breezes past them, not pausing to even look at the boy. She unties her cloak and hands it to an attendant, gaze meandering to the massage chairs. She lifts one brow -- one significant brow. And then Saelus screams. *Firan*
The closest thing would actually be Attis, but he's not complaining. "It's a blend of raspberries, lavendar, and some other things. And oil. It will feel quite good. Who is your lady that you serve? Mes Kalissa is a-" he frowns at the disturbance and eyes several other towel boys and the servant before standing up on the couch. "Who is the boy's-, ah, Mes Ladonna Harror! Do you need some help with the little one?"
Hearing someone scream Oli is quick to turn her attention over that way and open her eyes she blinks at the boy and then to the servant trying to strip the child. Blinking she looks back and up at Attis who is now standing over her. She is quick to pull her towel right back up over her.
He screams and he screams, stomps one little foot, and screams again. The tantrum is fairly uncharacteristic of Saelus Harror -- to note, the maid looks positively terrified by this unexpected turn of events. Ladonna, however, barely hears her son. "Mer," she says pleasantly to Attis, glancing oh-so-briefly at the woman beneath him. Ho hum. "What little one? Oh!" She turns around and looks down at the shrieking, sobbing, upset little boy -- and she looks /down/ at him; he is a creature beneath her, this boy, for all he carries on. "Is this normal?" she asks the maid; the maid shakes her head. Ladonna lifts one shoulder carelessly and turns back around, hair flying behind her. To Attis, she says, "I haven't any idea." No. No, she hasn't. If Ladonna notices Oliana at all, she certainly doesn't condemn the woman's nudity or her position. It is! what it is.
Pleasantly, that's a chance. Attis sighs though and leaps down from the couch, that short short distance. "Well, this isn't the ampitheatre." He looks down at the screamer, raising his eyebrows quite large and then sticks out his lips before engaging in some songs.
Attis sings with great enthusiasm the Pink Ferret song telling the funny tale of the curious ferret that fell in a basket of raspberries. He makes lots of hand movements to accompany her wonderful song. All those who hear giggle and laugh. Attis sings the hopping bunny limerick in a lovley manner that almost makes you want to be this particular bunny.
Oliana sits up facing away from Attis and wrapping the towel around her the rest of the way, flushing as she does so. She looks over her shoulder at the screaming boy, and bites on her bottom lip, "I should perhaps be on my way Mer... I do need to do a few things before the day starts." Putting her feet on the floor she moves over to her clothing and begins to QUICKLY dress. *Firan*
Saelus stops screaming -- but only to stare at Attis in abject disgust. The grouchy toddler marches right over to Attis, to Oliana, and pokes the man squarely in the leg. "Stupid songs," he informs the bathboy without shame. Oliana gets a poke to the boob just as she rises without explanation. Ladonna covers her mouth with one hand. To laugh? Should she laugh? No. No, laughter would be so rude! "Oh, good woman," Ladonna says, waving a hand to Oliana and addressing her by a commoner's title, "Mes?" Now she is not sure! Common? middle class!? "Don't rush out, it's fine. He's just a brat today. Aren't you, Mer Saelus?" Saelus glowers at Ladonna and reaches for the aforementioned pot of oils....
Attis is quite distracted with attempts to entertain Ladonna's child, nevermind the fact that it is towelboy just like Attis who, while perhaps not as attractice or sociable, help disrobe the bath house's clientele. "Stupid songs! why of all the, HEY NO! DO NOT TOUCH." Attis rushes over to secure the oil. "Are you going to do anything, or do you only act?" he half-shouts over his shoulder to Ladonna. *Firan*
Oliana looks to the boy, when he boob pokes her and clears her throat blushing a little, "No no I do need to go Mes..." What was it the Towelboy called her, "Harror, have cleaning to do, and cooking. I also have to hem Lady Leene's stola..." She blushes and wraps her palla around her after the stola is firmly in place. She looks to the boy, then looks between the child and mother then the servant and back to the boy. *Firan*
Saelus stomps his foot and kicks Attis in the ankle. It's the most pitiful kick ever. Because he is two. If he can't throw the oil at his mother, Saelus will aggravate Oliana more. He's a holy terror today! The boy marches up to her and pulls on her palla -- hard. Hard enough to certainly pull it down if Oliana isn't quick! And then he finds another object -- the oil dish by the side of the pool. Perfect. Saelus walks to it very solemnly, looks at Attis, Oliana, and then Ladonna and the maid, pulls back his leg... and kicks it into the water! Plop! Ladonna lifts a brow and looks accusingly at the maid. "Well? /Are/ you going to do anything?" she asks. The maid darts forward to try and catch the now-fleeing child! FLEE BOY FLEE. Ladonna wanders over to the massage chairs, the bathguy. "I suppose we disturbed you, didn't we?" she asks Oliana. "How much was your massage? I'll pay for it." Saelus knocks things over as he runs.
Attis gives chase. Good thing it is pitiful. "Relax, Mes's and my ladies, we will soon have the situation under control." He calls out, delegating another towel boy to retrieve the oil dish. Does Attis ever-so-gently nudge Saelus into the pool with his foot? Who can really tell? But that is where the brat next goes, clothes and all. "I'll get him!" Attis dives in after him. *Firan*
Oliana isn't so quick as she'd never thought she'd be depantsed by a two year old, but she does catch the palla before it hits the floor. She shakes her head and says, "Oh don't be silly Mes Harror, but I do thank you." She sits down to put on her boots. Her eyes go to the child as she watches the Maid and Attis chase after him, "As I said, I should be on my way." *Firan*
Ladonna is not sure if Attis just kicked her child into the pool. She just /is not sure/. The maid looks over her shoulder at Ladonna and, upon seeing that the actress' motherly instincts are approximately that of a fruit fly's, dives into the baths after Saelus. Ladonna ...stands there, perhaps looking startled. Perhaps looking confused. What happened? Who? Where? Oliana distracts her, if only briefly, and the actress nods absently. "D.. did he fall in?" Ladonna finally asks, figuring her child may drown. And then she'd have to have another. Oh no. *Firan*
Attis is as good as his word. Struggle, flail, kick as he might, he holds tight to Saelus as he strides out of the water. "I hope you enjoyed your bath, Mer Bad Bunny Foo Foo." he hisses at the boy. "If Lord Fiero were still with us, I'm sure he might have some choice words..." Other than the peeper, this is perhaps the most serious and angry Attis to date.
Oliana rises and grabs her cloak, "Good day to the both of you, Eesha guide you." WIth that the young Maid starts for the door now that the young horror, errr harror has been caught. *Firan*
Ladonna bristles a little and snaps her fingers for her son. It's like a Von Trapp whistle, only more horrible. The maid, soaking wet, comes out of the pool fully dressed and quickly moves for Saelus, taking him by the wrist and leading the boy to his mother. Ladonna slaps Saelus twice across the face. "You do not go into the baths with your clothes on!" she says sharply, eyes flashing. "Now you have to sit and watch them /dry/." That. That is his punishment. The maid looks like she's going to enjoy it even less than the kid and pulls him away to get undressed. "Slap him silly if he puts up a fight," the Harror girl says after the maid. Ladonna pulls hairpins from her hair and moves toward Attis. "That woman," she gestures to Oliana as she goes. "Did she pay you?" *Firan* Oliana leaves the baths.
"That woman! That was Mes Oliana, a very nice young woman. She tipped me. There is no charge for a massage, Minister!" Attis scowls at Saelus and his mother AND the maid. He turns his back to them all, trying to gather his thoughts and nerves. Already there are a number of women tsking at Ladonna's display of "parenting".
"They're free?" Ladonna asks, finding this remarkably confusing. Huh. Weird. Weeeeird. She takes her hand from her pouch and starts to undress -- but thinks better of it. "Well, is there a charge for ...child wrangling?" Though a few women may find Saelus' behavior abhorrent, they are also mothers and they know that children... they misbehave! And given the times, and the culture, corporeal punishment is regarded as entirely acceptable. So. Tsking, maybe, but chatter soon gives way to gossip about meat pie. "Mer?" Ladonna tries to step into Attis' line of sight.
When she does step around in front of him, Attis manages a slight smile. "Yes. Massages are free. Well, you pay a thousand stenis when you enter. It's all included in that price. If you wish to tip me, I'm sure that it will go a long way to uh restoring your reputation, Mes Actress." He smooths out his loincloth.
"When you've been as up and down as I have, mer, you forget to care about your reputation," Ladonna says delicately, offering her own very slightest of smiles. "And I do believe my reputation as a mother is not something I particularly care to plump -- it is already fairly renowned." Her words may be blunt, but her expression is so sweet and her demeanor so soft, it's hard to assign malice to what she says. Ladonna moves a little closer to Attis and lowers her voice. "Could I, perhaps, convince you to wash my hair? It would mean the world to me -- it would mean you aren't angry with me. I would so appreciate it."
"Well, that IS what I am here to do. Do you need it styled as well?" He brushes it back and admires it, giving a glance to her son and the maid to make sure there won't be any more outbursts. He helps her out of the rest of her clothes. "It will have to be quick. There are many other patrons... what sort of songs DOES he prefer, your son?"
The maid has Saelus rather firmly in her arms -- temper tantrums wear little kids out, after all. He still looks grumpy, but instead of taking it out on the bath house and its staff, Saelus is engaged in a lively debate of "You Are Wrong" with the maid. No matter what she says, she's wrong -- and because Saelus is a privileged little tyke, the maid typically folds too easily. When Attis touches her hair, Ladonna shivers a little and takes one tiny, tiny step away. It is lovely - she has a very lovely head of hair. Indeed, Ladonna is quite a beauty. Nevertheless, she seems very shy and only steps out of her clothes when pried, covering her body with her arms until she can slip into the water. Once there, she leans back and lets Attis do his thing. "Perhaps a ...special style?" she asks, looking up at the towelboy for confirmation -- he should know, her expression says. He is the expert! "And... songs? I.. I don't know. I don't sing to him."
"I could try my hand at curling it into ringlets, if you'd like. Does your husband like curls?" He tilts her head back in the water, holding her neck with one hand. Then he brings his other hand around with the soap lather that he uses and begins to gently rub it in, massaging her scalp as he does so. "There. The bath house is better when it is fairly quiet. Except when I'm singing." he says with a grin. "I knew you needed to relax when I saw you at Faria's that day."
Ladonna looks over her shoulder at Attis and positively radiates. "Oh, ringlets?" she breathes. "Do you think? W.. would /you/ like my hair in ringlets? I don't know /what/ Mer Harror likes, really." And that seems to make her sad -- not just sad, but devastated. She turns back around and looks at the water swirling in front of her chest. A long pause fills the baths and then, meekly, Ladonna says, "I don't recall that day. ...what happened?" *Firan*
"Well, I don't know." He admits. "You wouldn't say. Yes, I think ringlets would be a nice change for you though. Well, you will have to see how he reacts when he sees you like I'll make you. Then you can tell what he likes." Her hair fairly washed, he focuses on rubbing her scalp, massaging her cranium, as he supports her in the water with a firm arm. "There. That's better."
Ladonna frowns, finding that being unable to recall a meeting is a frustrating thing. As Attis washes her hair, Ladonna's eyes close, but she does not drift off. "Perhaps I was... upset about .... That tends to upset me a great deal," she confesses. The sounds of Saelus arguing with the maid meander over the baths, but it's soft(ish) arguing and there is no cause for alarm. Ladonna's eyes fly open like a doll's and she looks directly at Attis. *Firan*
"A towelboy's life and living depends on his discretion." Attis declares in his soft whisper. He too glances up, but at another matter, as a towelboy stands with a messenger, urgently trying to flag Attis down without making a scene. "I wish to hear more about this, Mes Harror, but I'm afraid I won't be able to put you in ringlets today." He listens to the messenger and glances around the bath house, his shoulders shrugging. "Yes, well, please tell him I will be on my way. I must go." And he must!
