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Roleplay between ;; epicZILLA && n e v e r l a n d - - xx ( Lee Katan & Trystan Chevalier + Lauss & Crux )

Location: Lee Katan's house.
Time: Early Afternoon.
Weather: cloudy, with a chance of rain.

Plunk. A soft sigh came from Lee, whose face had never before looked so determined. Plunk. "Dang it..." Plunk. "Miss Lee, could you please try to concentrate on your work?" Plunk. "I have been concentrating." Lee had been trying to get her pencil to stand on its tip, but her efforts so far had failed her. "Miss Lee, the books--" "Look! Look, it's working!" The pencil stood strait up, eraser in the air and nothing but a small sliver of graphite holding it up; that's right, Lee had made a mockery of "gravity" and "physics". Here in front of her was proof that anything in these textbooks could be proven wrong. What's the point in studying them any further? Her face lit up with delight for the first time all day.

Lee hated her schoolwork particularly more fervently today, mainly due to her new study schedule. "Miss Lee, I implore you, we must continue. It is in your best interest." "We've been studying for five hours strait. Can't I take a break?" It was the weekend, and she usually spent days like today in front of her easel with a paint brush in hand. Since the appearance of her proto, though, she'd done nothing but school work and natural bodily functions, and Lee was beginning to burn out.

Lauss nudged a book a bit closer to the girl, grabbing the pencil that she'd been marveling over and handed it back to her. "Please continue." The proto pulled another book closer to himself and began flipping through the pages, scanning every bit of information available. Lee dropped her pencil and stood, heading for the door. "I'm getting a snack." The proto followed close behind. "I will quiz you." Lee sighed, completely exhausted and looking for any excuse not to continue. The two headed down the corridor, Lauss generating random questions and Lee getting them all wrong. Down the stairs and into the kitchen followed the same pattern. "What are the three kinds of energy?" "Um... the sun's energy..." "Incorrect." Lee opened the refrigerator door, picking things up and setting them back down, trying to look busy. "Okay... friction?" "Incorrect." Unsatisfied, she closed it back up, and turned her sights to the pantry. "Please try again, Miss Lee." Lee pulled the pantry door open, revealing not the fig newtons she'd been hoping to find, but two strange figures among the shelves of cans and boxes of food. The light was turned off, and only a silhouette could be seen. "Please try again, Miss Lee," the proto repeated.

Lee tilted her head, not quite panicked yet, but certainly prepared to be. A thought crossed her mind, and she calmed, laughing at herself a bit. Of course. "You're the new help, right?" The fact that these figures she was referring to were hiding in her kitchen pantry didn't seem to process in her mind. Not to mention, one was significantly smaller than any person she'd ever seen.

The affirmation of her assumption put a smile on Lee's face. Good thing she didn't panic, that would have been awkward. She beckoned the two out, hoping to show them where everything was, what their duties would be, and all that, more than happy to preoccupy herself with something other than Lauss's constant pestering. But the peculiar voice from the smaller being froze her, sending a shiver down her spine. A lie?

Don't panic. Maybe it's something else. "You... you're homeless? L-looking for food?" she stuttered, hoping for dear life it was anything but the obvious situation. She stumbled away from the pantry door, getting as far away from the two as their kitchen allowed. She knew, for once, what she was saying was ridiculous, but hoped that once again he would go along with it and leave the house, and both parties could forget anything ever happened. "Miss Lee, I believe they are hiding from someone."

Lee wasn't a screamer. She'd never spoken with her "outside" voice in her life, but for the first time she could feel her throat tighten, begging her to shout her lungs out. Her eyes were wide with panic, tearing up as she put her hands to her mouth.

Lauss didn't notice his owner's reaction; he was too busy gathering as much information from these two as he could. He swiftly spun around the man, and his curiosity was soon peaked by the gun in his holster. "What is this?" The girl bolted forward. "No, Lauss!" Lee ran over and grabbed the proto, pulling him away from any negative influence the man might offer and dragged him back to the other side of the kitchen. "Another essentic?" he chimed.

Lee paused. For the first time, she looked down at the proto by the man's side. "Please don't kill me," was the only thing she could think to say at the sight. Her overactive imagination was actually right on target this time. Lee's arms fell as she felt as if she could faint, once again releasing Lauss to his "studies". "Another essentic," he confirmed.

Lee staggered back, bumping against the counters behind her. This man... is rich? He must by lying. No one from the upper districts was anything like this man. If Lee knew anything, she knew rich. This man behaved exactly like the low-class men she'd imagined in her nightmares after overhearing her mother's gossip about being robbed in the mid-level districts. Where was the class? Where was the composure? Lee's suppressed pride was beginning to creep up on her.

It was not fear for her life on her mind now, but a bruised ego that she hardly knew she had.

"Miss Lee, this is a gun." Lauss repeated back to his owner, happy to have another bit of information he could possibly quiz the girl on later. Lauss crept a bit closer to the holster, trying to gather as much additional information as he could about the foreign object. The proto ignored Crux's comments about himself. He knew that already, and there was no point in making note of it. Lauss backed away when he noticed the man moved ahead, slightly bumping into Crux as he did so, and proceeding to follow the man at a short distance, waiting to see just what this "gun" was used for.

Lee bent down as the man stepped closer, feeling a bit like an animal being cornered. Sure, she was used to being controlled, but this was a bit extreme.

Lauss back away and watched as the man waved his gun in the air, taking mental notes. That's what a gun's function was? He made a strange purr as the gun was placed to the man's head and the trigger was tugged. Oh! Of course! He glided past the man and up to Lee. "Miss Lee," he began. Lee proceeded to ignore him, eyes fixed on the man with the gun. "According to my research, a gun is held to one's head and a small lever is pulled. As for its purpose, research is pending." He purred once more, seeming proud of his findings. "Please remember this, Miss Lee, I plan to quiz you on it later."

Lee, meanwhile, plotted her escape. Small open window going outside to the left. Wide open door to the entry ahead. Gun in holster two feet in front of me.

This should go well.

She went through her options in her head until her thoughts were interrupted by the comment about Banning. An idiot? She liked Banning. He was respectable, well mannered, the opposite of this man. Now he was insulting not only her financial status but those she respected as well? She cringed, but said nothing. At least there were no rude remarks about Miss Longway.

She found her voice once more, though it was very weak and a bit choked. "Can't you just go back into the pantry and hide there?"

Lauss jerked forward at Trytan's invitation, clearly excited to learn more about the weapon. Lee pulled him back, knowing full well what he was about to get the two of them into. "Lauss, just shut up," she hissed, still eyeing Trystan through her brow. Wasn't he supposed to be there to help her? Asking for a demonstration about lethal weapons was not helping. Provided Trystan was telling the truth and she did make it out of this alive, she would need to explain what's important information and what's not-so-important. A long talk about mortality might be useful as well.

Lee's nose scrunched at Trystan's words. "You... you kill people for a living...?" A quick pause followed. "And you're richer than me doing that?" The words came with a tone of total disbelief. No, the morality was not the issue. It was pride. A "what the hell?!" look replaced her expression of disgust. It felt like the ground was falling from under her. She'd always been comforted by money, whether it was the tangible item or people who had it; it ensured safety. Yet, here wealth stood in front of her, ready to put a gun to her head at any minute if the situation called for it.

Lauss, somehow sensing her mind was wandering elsewhere, attempted to pull her back into the moment. "Miss Lee, you never had money at all," he chirped. "This all belongs to your parents." If the proto had a face, he would most definitely be smiling. His attempt to mend her wounds only ripped them open further. Lee let her head fall back and hit the cabinet behind her. All hopes of escaping had dwindled.

Lauss greeted the man with a sort of bow after hearing his name. "Hello, Mister Trystan." Lee felt like scoffing, something she'd never done nor had to do in her life, after hearing him call her by her first name. About to mention the importance of calling her Miss Lee or Miss Katan, something through the kitchen door caught her attention. One of the help was tip-toeing through the entrance and toward the exit. Lee's mouth dropped as she stared wide-eyed at the man whose whole purpose was to serve her and her family. Had he been hiding this whole time?

It wasn't that just anyone had more money, it was that he had more money, and the tone of his comments made it sting even more. Perhaps her problem was more that she thought their worlds were the same, that, when not on the job, he lived his life the way she's always had. A life filled with grand parties where people would go on about themselves, filled with fake smiles and even faker beauties, where reputation was second to nothing. Why can he behave the way he does and no one will call him out on it? That's not fair.

His final statement, though, she couldn't help but make a fuss about. "Have so," she pouted. She really didn't want to sound stupid in front of this man, but keeping her mouth shut was not an option when her pride was on the line. "I don't know if you've noticed, but people here don't go around--" Luckily for her, Lauss interrupted the not-so-well-thought-out speech involving criminal acts and who did and did not perform them; Lee herself was technically a criminal, after all. The proto was getting restless after being told to keep his mouth shut. "Miss Lee, you came down here for a snack, yes?" Lee sighed, even more irritated by him than she had been when they were studying. His presence, though, had been calming her gradually; he's turned out to be quite the mood-killer, which in this case was a very good thing. She nodded to him, and he bolted into the pantry and back again, presenting a package of cookies. Lee set them aside and tried to continue what she'd meant to say earlier. "You don't act rich," she concluded, turning out to be more of a compliment than she'd planned. She couldn't imagine him smiling and making small talk with someone he hated just because it was what was expected of him. She took out a cookie and chomped on it, trying to hide the hint jealousy that had crept onto her face.

"Very well, Mister Trystan. No need for formalities. I am Lauss." The proto assumed Trystan meant that he shouldn't refer to himself as Mister Lauss, which he found odd as no one had ever referred to him as such in his short existence anyway.

Lee watched half horrified and half impressed as Crux took the man down in one move. Lauss's interest was perked at the word "Unknown." "Henry Coltair, 37, no wife, no kids, but a girl friend in the food industry. High school diploma, making a yearly average salary of..." the list of facts went on. Lee ignored him, as she expected the other two to do as well. Poor thing never knew when to quit.

Was she really being asked if they could kill him? Was he joking? Probably not. While Lee wouldn't have minded seeing the man who was supposed to be looking out for her get knocked around a bit, she was certainly not about to risk his life. She shook her head slightly, just enough to let Trystan know that she wasn't prepared to see a dead body this early in her life. "What are you gonna do to him?" She squinted and bit her lip; she could only imagine. Lee wondered if there were others still in hiding, or maybe a few that have already escaped. Doubtful; it seemed like Crux would have picked up on that in an instant. She mentally thanked Lauss; if it weren't for him, she'd probably have had the confidence to make a run for it herself. She didn't want to think about what would have become of her.

Afterall, there was no denying Trystan loved his job.

"Don't go around stealing and killing, and just... being criminals." she finished, pathetically hitting the ground with her tiny fist in a bit of a tantrum. "Why do you even bother to keep all this up if you have so much money? Why not just quit?" It would be asking a bit much for Lauss to keep all her stupid questions bottled up, now wouldn't it?

Ah, for once she could agree with him. College. Pft. A waste. For some reason, she didn't comment. Somehow she couldn't help but fear her parents might be around any corner, just waiting to hear their daughter to defy them and their plans for her future.

"There is." According to Lee's parents. "They're... we're respectful and well mannered." She'd begun to count with her fingers, a new one raising with each new adjective. "We're courteous and gracious, and we're good hosts. Or hostesses. And we don't kill people." She left out all the negatives, though had she used them, her list would have been much longer. It was true, Lee had only experienced other wealthy people if they were the type to go to the balls and social gatherings that she was dragged along to. She'd hardly ever met any adults other than her parent's friends.

Lee pouted again. This girl? She prefered him calling her "Lee" over that; he did say there was no need for formalities, though. Lauss didn't understand Trystan's tease, but he was just happy to hear someone address him without a disappointed or irritated tone. "I am Miss Lee's tutor. Miss Lee's grades have dropped to--" Lee tugged on the proto's arm, looking away from Trystan in slight humiliation. "That's enough, Lauss," she muttered. Again, Lauss was banned from speaking. Today wasn't a good day for her self-esteem.


Lee winced and squeezed her eyes shut as the man's head was struck to the ground. She almost felt bad for the poor guy. So... he's not going to kill him? Lee's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. The bloodthirsty hitman... listened to her? Weird...

Lee made a "Meh" kind of face; he had it coming, she supposed. Why so many helpers? And have just one person do everything? That was ridiculous, if you asked her. "It's not like you could anyway. They'd find blood on you're clothes when they did the laundry, wouldn't they?" Lee shrugged and took out another cookie, munching away as she spoke.

Was she really having a semi-normal conversation with this man?

Lee tried to back up further, only to hit her head against the counter once more. Trystan's hand was dangerously close to his gun, and his tone seemed slightly more threatening than before. While Lee may have had a few more points she'd like to argue, she thought it best not to push the matter any further. The man with the gun is always right. Her fidgeting started again with the word "demon"; it should have been obvious, what with the horns and everything, but she'd never actually met a demon before and her fear of the unknown was creeping up on her. A few quick nods followed his words, but Lee paid little attention, more focused on the gun at his side.

Lauss, meanwhile, was trying his hardest to keep quiet like his master had requested, but Trystan was just too great a source of information. Spoiled, pampered, selfish, shallow. Got it. "I believe that makes them the murderers, Mister Trystan." Lauss seemed satisfied to answer his rhetorical question. "Mister Trystan, what is a villain?" The proto tilted his head. Most of their conversation had been over his head, and any concept of "good" and "evil" was something he didn't quite understand yet.

Lee had once more focused on the conversation at hand, but still had an unpleasant knot in her stomach. The knot only felt tighter with Trystan's words, and she bit her nails with worry. The people she's known her whole life were murderers? "Why would they do that?" she unintentionally whispered. The whole thing seemed a little far fetched, but... Assuming the worst was her specialty. "Wh-who do they kill? D-do you think someone's gonna try to kill me?" Somehow, she actually expected an answer. That's right, she was demanding information from a hitman about his job.

"Hospital?" Lee's mouth fell open slightly; what was she supposed to do? She looked to Trystan for any kind of solution. He was, after all, the only conscience adult in the house, and he was clearly the one in charge.

Lee couldn't do laundry. Nor could she cook, clean, or perform any other necessity that the help could. Instead of admitting this, she instead uttered a simple "I guess so..."