Spoiled | Falsettos AU

Chapter Two

a/n: half of this sounds like a shitpost because i'm so tired

tw: brief mention of attempted date rape/attempted stabbing

Charlotte

Trying not to curse aloud, I lead the prisoner out of the throne room and down the hallway towards the servant's quarters. I keep my hand on the prisoner's arm maybe a little too tightly as I walk, I admit.

It's not that I don't feel bad for him, or dislike him. It's clear he's been dealt an unfair hand in life, and I want to help, but... What the hell is Marvin thinking? He still a criminal (admittedly, not a violent one, at least), what makes Marvin think he is genuinely willing to work? What if he's just playing along in order to steal when nobody is looking?

After turning a few corners, we reach the right room. I lead the prisoner- okay, I should probably call him by his name- I lead Whizzer into the room, which is a small bedroom, previously used by the last maid. Fortunately, she seems to have left the place clean and organised.
"Do you have any possessions you need bringing from the prison?" I ask. Whizzer shakes his head, looking around the room.

"The bathroom is through there." I point to an adjacent door, wrinkling my nose. "I suggest you take a bath. Do you know how to prepare it? There's already water in the cauldron and a pitcher beside the bath, but you'll have to light the fire, then pour-"
"I'll figure it out." He says patronisingly. "I have taken a bath before."
"Right." I say, slightly embarrassed.

"Well, work will probably start for you this evening, or perhaps tomorrow morning. When you're done, leave this room and go two doors down to the left. My wife will show you the ropes."
"Alright." He says, heading towards the bathroom. I wince at the dirt he leaves in his wake, then leave and head to the kitchen myself to make Cordelia aware of what's happening.

~~~

I enter the kitchen to a small fire. It's almost worrying how little this concerns me.

"I have this under control!" Cordelia shouts as she runs past me, clearly not having it under control. She tips a jug of water over the fire, effectively drenching whatever she was trying to cook, then turns to me with a proud smile. "Got it!"
"Trina's gonna kill you if that oven's broken for good."
"It'll be fine!" She says confidently, then checks the oven. "Fine..." She repeats, less convincing this time.

"Sure." I chuckle, making my way over to her. "So, Marvin has hired some thief as our new maid for reasons I'll not get into now, so when he comes in here, explain to him how to do his job, okay?"
"Sure." She nods. "What does he look like?"
"The only guy you won't recognise who will walk in here." I roll my eyes.

"Be more specific just in case." She shrugs. "I'm incredibly dense."
"Well I guess that's true." I reason. "He... Uh, has brown hair, and a beard... Brown eyes, I think... Oh, and he only has one hand."
"Alright." She says.

I realise I should be getting back to Marvin, but then decide I don't want to watch him and Mendel bicker over Jason for the second time this week. They're adults, they should be able to solve their disputes without me warning them when they're getting to angry.

I take a seat at the table in the centre of the room as Cordelia starts to redo the vegetables for dinner. Thankfully, there's plenty of time before they need to be ready. If it wasn't for how her and Marvin get along, I don't think Cordelia would still have this job...

While there's time, I fill her in on Whizzer's situation, explaining my apprehensions.
"I'm sure there's nothing to worry about." She reassures me, nicking her finger as she cuts carrots. She sticks her bleeding finger in her mouth, and I pull it out again.
"You're as bad as Jason. Wash your hands."

"He wasn't arrested for stealing here, right?" She says as she does as I told her. "So he might have grown out of it."
"I suppose." I shrug. "Still, I don't trust him. He didn't bow to Marvin, and the way he carries himself, I don't know... He just doesn't seem quite like who he claims to be."

"Well, you shouldn't judge a- oh! Hi!" I turn to look the same way Cordelia is to see Whizzer standing in the doorway, a white robe wrapped around himself. He's cleanly shaved (and clean, period), and that alone is enough to make him look almost like a different person. He looks younger somehow, and much more attractive.

Oh, no. I can already predict how Marvin's going to react to this. His lack of tact around pretty boys is enough to give me second hand embarrassment.

"Hi. Uh, are there any clothes I can borrow? There's nothing in my room."
"Oh, right. Sorry." I chastise myself for forgetting clothes as I rush past him and head off in search of something for him to wear. With the fact that there's only three members of staff here,
not including Whizzer, there's a shortage of men in the palace, and Mendel's room is locked, so I resort to Marvin's closet, picking out a white shirt and loose brown pants, then grabbing some underwear blindly and hoping it fits.

I get back to the kitchen to find Cordelia giving a baffled-looking Whizzer lettuce.
"What are you doing?" I dump the clothes in a pile on the table.
"Feeding him. He's too skinny." Cordelia gives him more lettuce, which he awkwardly takes. "Eat." He politely takes a bite. She smiles.

We wait for Whizzer to finish his lettuce before he leaves to get changed, then comes back fully dressed. The clothes are far too big for his skinny frame, so I suggest Cordelia gives him something more substantial.
"Cabbage?"
"How about some meat." I groan.
"Oh, right."
"Thank you." He takes a seat and fiddles with his collar while we wait for Cordelia to fix up some food.
"So where are you from?" She asks.

"Do you want the list?" He joke's hollowly. Cordelia frowns. "Exire, originally." He relents. "Then Hedone, Audai, and now here. Telos, right?"
"Yep." Cordelia sets a plate laden with food down in front of him. "So is Whizzer your real name?"

"I knew that was coming!" He groans. "Yes, it's my real name. No, I don't know what my parents were thinking. Whizzer Brown. Who names their kid that, I know."
"Okay, calm down." I say, taken aback a little. He sighs.
"Sorry. It's just... Everywhere I go, the first thing anyone ever asks is 'what's up with the name?' It gets frustrating."
"Sorry."
"It's fine. Sorry for snapping at you."
"Eh, I'm uses to it." I shrug.

"Just eat." Cordelia sits beside him as I contemplate going to make sure Marvin and Mendel aren't throwing punches in the throne room. They might break something. Whizzer digs in eagerly, I realise that he really is worryingly skinny.
"Don't way too fast." I say softly. "You might throw up." He slows down, but I can tell he's trying hard to control himself.

"When was the last time you ate properly?"
"Define properly." He says through a mouthful of food.
"A full meal." Cordelia suggests.
"About four months ago? Some guy in a village I don't remember took me out on a date. Then he tried to stab me when I wouldn't go home with him."
"He what?"
"He missed." He shrugs. "It was kind of funny, actually."

Before we can even process this fully, I hear a crash from down the hallway, then Marvin calling my name.
"Well that's my cue to leave." I say. "I'll see you later." I kiss Cordelia's cheek, then leave quickly, hoping that nobody is dead. That wouldn't be an ideal thing for Whizzer to start his stay cleaning up.

a/n: two updates in one day? from me? wow.

seriously, it seems like i can find motivation after saying i'll update "by the end of the month" or "sometime in the next two weeks", but when i say "by the end of the week", i can't seem to make words work.

anyway, i just feel like i should say that most of the kingdom names i'm using in this are just greek words i'm learning in philosophy, (hedone is pleasure, telos is purpose/end, etc. (exire is just a word though)), so yeah.

and if anyone has any suggestions for what marvin's surname should be, just comment them, cos i don't think he has a canon one but i might need one later.