dappledleaves | THE WORLD: PSL LIFE

[ If there was tech involved, the Severines would definitely be on it as well. Despite Arvel's passing, the family still received an invitation. This is the first business party/meeting that the family had been invited to after the head has passed. This is why in place of Arvel, Kaleria was in a gorgeous dress, beautiful, elegant, and very eye-catching. Her wavy shoulder length white hair and gold eye, the other covered with an eyepatch, is bound to catch attention of many. They say that the middle daughter is just as pretty as her mother, but in a different manner. However, the daughters are not present here. Oria is though, and he's talking to some business partners. Some express their condolences, and Oria responds in a very professional yet cordial way, just like how his father did if Sinclair remembers. He seems like a completely different person when it comes to mannerisms even though Oria is very recognizable by appearance.

The meeting continues as smoothly, but really. It's more of a party. There would be no formal meeting with alcohol involved.

Most adults leave Oria to gather around Kaleria. She seems to be holding on her own well enough. It leaves Oria to finally catch a breather.

But then someone else comes on over. She has long black hair that's tied into a pretty bun and she's wearing a modest dress. Other than that, she looks plain. Her eyes are purple though, and she seems to radiate some sort of naivete on the shy side. However, she's not used to the shoes, so she almost sprains her ankle, but collapses. Oria isn't pretty close to where she fell, so he walks on over, asking her if she's hurt among other things. Her face is a deep red. Maybe Oria sounds like he's flirting... ]

[Sinclair tries not to notice Kaleria or Oria, though both of them are so eye catching that maybe it seems stranger that he doesn't. Or maybe it's how the Linton's trained all their staff, hired for the party or otherwise. Be invisible and notice only when a guest calls you over to refill their glass or collect dirty dishware without being asked. The woman named Catherine seems to be no where in sight, but her brother Hindley is here and looks quite dour, drinking quite heavily in the corner. Sinclair notes the the empty glasses and the impatient look on the man's face and makes his way over to him, passing by Oria along the way. And if he's paying extra attention to Oria while he refills the man's whiskey glass and takes away some dirty plates...it's only natural.

...who is that girl though?]

[ Hope you don't overfill that glass, Sinclair. Oria really tried hard to ignore the drinking guy in the corner, and supposes security will whisk him away or something if he gets too rowdy.

Meanwhile, Oria brushes some hair away from the girl's face because it looked like it was going to prick her eye. The girl doesn't see it that way though, and looks extremely flustered about the gesture. ]

Can you walk?

[ She tries to get up on her own, but she topples over due to her sprained ankle, whimpering. She must be embarrassed being like this in front of Oria and any other onlooker.

It doesn't faze him though, and he holds her hand to help her stand. Then he lifts to carry her in his arms, walking over to one of the staff members. Congrats, Sinclair. It happens to be you. The girl looks like she wants to disappear while covering her face with her hands. ]

Hey, is there somewhere she can rest at? Preferably away from the party, since she sprained her ankle. I don't think she'd appreciate being stared at more than she has to be.

[ A second congratulations, because Sinclair's disguise is so good that apparently Oria doesn't seem to realize it's him. Or maybe he's faking it. ]

Her parents are real busy chatting up the others and I don't want to look for her brother. So, can you help me out?

[Sinclair's smile becomes very fixed. There might need to be some words later. Oria accidentally throwing Nanase for a loop was one thing. That was definitely...

Yeah, he doesn't like this feeling at all.

He doesn't overfill Hindley's whiskey glass but Hindley does seem to be pleased by the extra helping because he roughly pats Sinclair (on his ass, which may or may not be on purpose but Sinclair refuses to react with nothing more than sidestep. Drunk rich men Sinclair tells himself) and shoos him away in time for Oria to carry the girl over to him. He honestly doesn't know if Oria recognises him or not but he manages to nod and offer the girl an arm.

Pleasedon'tmakehimtalkpleasedon'tmakehimtalk]

[ The girl stays in Oria's arms, even burying her face a little into the suit jacket and almost curling up. Oria just sighs. ]

Sorry, she's a bit shy so it's fine if I carry her. Could you lead me to the place?

[ Like a sick bay. Infirmary. Whatever they have here. ]

[ Sinclair nods again, turning away sharply. If his long braid smacks Oria's arm along the way that's totally not purpose.

He doesn't know how to use long hair to his advantage after all.

Sinclair does want to be away from here so he takes the cart, makes a gesture for Oria and the girl to follow him and leads them out of the room. He's feeling all sorts of things right now and he doesn't like it at all.

Also Heathcliff looks like he's about to murder someone and he doesn't want to be here for that]

[ Heathcliff, please... no murder at the business party. Normally, Sinclair's reaction could just be a stern maid doing their job. No emotions. Professional attitude. Doing what they're told. It's all a part of their job.

But Oria saw that blatant harassment from Hindley, and oh, he really did not like seeing that. He's behind Sinclair, but he narrowed his eyes for a second over at Hindley's direction before moving along. ]

... Bora, you don't have to hold onto me so tightly. I'm not gonna drop you.

[ The girl, Bora, is around 160cm tall, but her vibes make her feel even smaller than that. She doesn't meet Oria's eyes, her gaze stuck downwards along with her red face.

He just sighs. ]

[The cart gets rolled out to another servant, who hastily whisks it away into the servant's quarters, and when Sinclair's sure his expression has fallen back into some sort of professional mask, he risks a glance backwards to gesture for Oria to follow him. The fact that the girl was clinging to Oria while in his arms does not faze him. It does not.

...it's probably weird he hasn't said a single word at all, and he panics for a moment. He doesn't think it's a problem if Oria recognises him or not (and maybe he wants Oria to recognise him), but the girl...uh. Uhh.

...well, for some reason his voice did seem higher outside of German and English so...]

...this way.

[He'll say it in perfectly accented French as he opens a door to a sitting room clearly belonging to the help staff. Thank you Michel for your encouragement...]

[ That French accent really throws him off, even though that long hair with the braid reminds him of when Sinclair was in a maid dress back when he had long hair in Fragment. That skirt was so short... and he had garters too. Man. Oria just reaffirms to himself that despite looking at someone else, he can only think of Sinclair.

Yeah, he really doesn't know that the maid is Sinclair at all, but his thoughts were strangely close. ]

Thanks for leading us here.

[ He tries to put Bora down on one of the seats, but she keeps clinging onto him. ]

... Hey. Bora, can you let go?

[ ...

She eventually lets go, but very slowly as she makes her way onto the seat. To Sinclair: ]

Please get me a bag of ice, pain relievers, and a roll of compression bandages.

[That worked...? Oh god that worked. He doesn't try smiling or anything. He just nods and swiftly enters the backrooms to get what Oria requested. He will not glare at anyone, he will not make anyone uncomfortable, he will not do a single thing out of place...

Luckily this is a proper maid's dress this time - long enough to brush his knees, a proper apron to cover the skirt and actual tights. No garter belts this time or he really would have died on the spot.

Another servant spots him and when "Amelia" explains what happened, she hands him the things, shooing Amelia off lest the head maid finds "her" and yells at her for slacking. Sinclair just nods, thinking...hopefully this is the last time he has to put on this outfit.

Sinclair comes back with Oria's requested items with a small bottle of water among the things on a tray.]

Here it is...is that all?

[Still speaking in French, and avoiding everyone's gaze by casting it to the ground. He will not get mad at a girl he's never even met before]

[ Oria speaks perfectly fluent French back at Sinclair to tell him that will be all and thanks for giving him the things. And... to stay away from Hindley next time. After that, Sinclair is free to go while Oria works on getting the sprain to manageable levels. Bora is definitely enjoying the attention and even Sinclair can see that she really, really likes Oria a lot from how she looks at him. ]

["Bora", huh...? Sinclair tries not to grimace when Oria warns him off from Hindley - that wouldn't be a problem honestly - and makes his escape, even if a part of him wants to linger to keep an eye on things. How does Oria not see how much that girl likes him?

Jealousy is an ugly feeling honestly...he doesn't like it. If he had room to do so, he'd curl up in a corner with his book and be done with his feelings...unfortunately that is no where near him.

Now to try and sneak around some rooms...he takes a trolley full of cleaning items to make it look like he's busy.

Downstairs, room on the end. Use the keycard all cleaners had access to and swipe in.

Hopefully things don't get out of hand at the party]

[ Oria eventually trades his position with Bora's older brother and leaves the place. He doesn't really want to go back to the party, honestly... so he decides to take a look around. Give himself a little tour. Yeah. This is much more exciting than hanging out with old people and exchanging "pleasantries" all day.

So he starts peeking into random rooms that are unlocked. Unfortunately, most are locked... so the one that's unlocked is the one where Sinclair went to.

Huh. Wonder whose room this is... he slips in and looks around. It stinks of cologne... ]

[ Sinclair had put the earpiece back in, switching the channels to a secure one belonging to Limbus Company, instead of the servant's one. Looking around the room, it was almost overdecorated with various hunting trophies lining the wall. Sinclair grimaces, but makes a beeline for the laptop. He's so busy trying to get Meursault to give him clear instructions on how to get into encrypted files using the usb drive that he doesn't notice Oria enter until it's almost too late. He freezes ]

Ah...

[He holds up a feather duster as if in defense]

[ ... ... ...

He feels like he walked into something he wasn't supposed to see. Oria frowns and asks in French: ]

"I don't think cleaning computer files is one of your cleaning tasks."

[ He's half-expecting a blade to protrude out of that feather duster. ]

[Sinclair just takes a step sideways away from the desk, wondering if he could close the distance and drag Oria in to explain everything. Not the worst person to walk in on him but]

"I was just...dusting it down..."

[...yeah, Oria definitely doesn't know it's him. He's not sure what to feel about that. There are no weapons on his person. He is a true defenceless maid...]

"...you're not with that girl anymore?"

[Meanwhile the instructions continue to go through his ear...completely useless because he can't focus at ALL]

"Her brother came to take my place."

[ Why does that matter, is what he's wondering right now but he takes some steps closer to the laptop. ]

"You use a compressed air spray for laptops, not... feather dusters."

[ Incredibly sus. ]

[Sinclair steps in front of it and just...gets into Oria's personal space. Nope, no looking at the laptop while Meursault was doing his weird hacking thing from a distance, since Meursault seems to have registered the fact that Sinclair isn't talking to him anymore.

Is he relieved that Bora's brother came to collect her? Maybe. Still...he's trying not to think of that and be annoyed. He has very important things to do right now]

"I-I didn't know that. Um. You really shouldn't be here though, and..."

[Can maids push people out of rooms? Then Sinclair covers his face, mentally screaming. Switching back to English]

Oria. It's me

Edited 2024-01-14 19:07 (UTC)

[ ... ... ... ]

[ HE KNOWS THAT VOICE!! ]

[ Wait, this means Hindley slapped his boyfriend's ass.

He's gonna kill him. ]

[ Anyway.

Oria looks at Sinclair up and down. Up and down. Is this how Sinclair felt when he saw Oria in disguise back in Kayser Corp? Maybe. He's a bit dumbfounded. ]

Emil...?

[ Wow. ]

No wonder I thought of you when you were wearing a maid skirt back in Fragment when I saw you. It's actually you.

[ I hope Meursault can hear this ]

Cute, by the way. 10 out of 10.

[Oh...Oria was thinking of him. That's ni---WAIT]

D-don't tell people about that where they can hear!!

[Earpiece !! Earpiece!!]

[ The teasing just gets Sinclair just this side grumpy this time though, instead of flustered. HIS FLIRTY BOYFRIEND...]

I guess Rodya should be happy her make up worked but--

[ Though really, it wasn't much. Just a bit of eye make up to emphasises the upward tilt of his eyes, mascara to make his eyelashes more doll like and a bit of blush and lipgloss to make his face softer...]

Edited 2024-01-14 19:29 (UTC)

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1/?

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Done

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