Disclaimer: You tell me where I can buy the people who used to be in Malice Mizer and I may be able to change this. Until then, I don’t have them.
Gackt: Puff, maybe you can test Mana after he has a nice long nap? *looks hopeful*
Puff: *thinks*
Mana: *staring*
Puff: Sure, I can wait to let Mana heal a bit. If he’s not better, though… *menacingly waves metal spike*
Mana: *hurries off to take nap*
Gackt: I’d better go make sure he’s getting good sleep. *follows Mana*
Chapter Thirteen
“You really do look stunning. I’m just not saying it,” Adam continued, smiling flirtatiously. Mana smiled weakly, automatically tugging the hem of his dark blue robe down as far as it would go. The butler didn’t seem to notice, his bright green eyes not even faltering slightly as he stared openly at one of his employers.
Mana stepped back, coiling his slender fingers around Gackt’s wrist, and darted out into the hallway. The vocalist had to follow him, due to the death grip on one of his limbs.
“I thought you would have enjoyed that kind of attention,” Gackt said curiously, rubbing at his wrist when Mana let go, “I mean, you’ve never seemed to mind people looking at you like that before.”
“I do like that kind of attention. I didn’t like the stupid way he was trying to flirt. Besides, the outfit I’m wearing at the moment is a little short,” Mana explained coolly, smoothing over the soft material with the tips of his fingers, “I’d rather have him flirt meaninglessly when I’m fully clothed, thank you very much.”
“Flirt meaninglessly? Does this mean you aren’t interested in him?” Gackt asked innocently, “I thought that was the reason you wanted to hire a butler.” Mana sighed, rubbed at his azure eyes, and looked back up at his friend.
“Gackt, they think I’m a girl,” Mana reminded, smiling brightly, “I think I’ve done a rather good job of fooling them since Adam is acting like an idiot around me. In any case, I’m not interested in him even if he didn’t mind me being a guy. He’s not my type.”
“And they think you’re married,” Gackt pointed out, a smirk plastered on his face, “You forgot that. I don’t know how, since it’s a rather important factor in our lives right now.” Mana rolled his brilliant blue eyes, loosely crossing his arms over his chest.
“I didn’t forget. I figured that it wasn’t important enough to mention,” Mana protested, arrogantly turning his head to the side so he wouldn’t have to look at Gackt. The vocalist’s smirk grew at Mana’s quick reply, knowing quite well that the guitarist had let the fact slip his mind. Gackt reached over and playfully ruffled Mana’s dark wavy hair, letting his smirk change into a soft smile when he got a slightly amused grin in return.
“Do you think they’re talking about us?” Adam asked quietly, sighing because he couldn’t comprehend Japanese. Allison raised an eyebrow, staring in disbelief at the very dense butler. She shook her head and returned to her cooking, not about to try and explain what was going on to Adam.
“Oh, Gackt, I just thought of something we’ll have to do after the servants go home,” Mana said suddenly, leaning lightly against the wall.
“What do we have to do?” Gackt asked suspiciously, watching the way Mana was absentmindedly toying with the hem of his short robe. The guitarist followed his eyes for a moment before he sighed and re-crossed his slender arms.
“We have to move your clothes, or at least some of them, to the master bedroom. Remember they’re still in the other closet,” Mana explained, flicking his blue eyes upwards for a second, “I don’t know how well that would bode for us if Britney happened to be snooping around in the rooms.” Gackt nodded, wincing at the thought of having to explain something like that. He gestured vaguely that they would continue the discussion later as he listened to the butler whine about not being able to understand Japanese.
“He’s an idiot, did you know that?” Gackt asked bluntly, pushing his auburn hair out of his clear blue eyes, “At least he can follow directions, I suppose.” Mana nodded quickly, walking back into the kitchen.
“And he’s too distracted by me to try and learn Japanese,” Mana said playfully, glancing over his shoulder at Gackt, “That’s a bonus. He’s a fool with all of his attention directed at me. Adam will never figure anything out.” The pair of musicians laughed lightly, giggling even more when their servants looked at them with confusion and suspicion.
“I still have about half an hour left before breakfast is finished,” Allison commented after the laughter had died down, “Are you just going to wait in here or go do something else until then?”
“If it’s only a little bit of time left, I think I’ll wait here,” Mana said politely, carefully choosing a chair where the butler would have a harder time getting a good look. Gackt signaled his agreement and sat down right next to his friend, amusedly watching Adam try to figure out how to stare at Mana without it being obvious. Allison rolled her eyes at Adam, half-prepared to go whack him across the top of his skull.
For the next twenty-five minutes, the only sounds were that of the food cooking and the occasional annoyed sigh from Adam. He had given up his task after a little while, dejectedly letting himself slump against the table. Mana had a smirk dancing on his pale pink lips and Gackt looked like he was tempted to do something dangerous to call the butler back to alertness.
“Adam, go get Britney,” Allison ordered, gesturing out the door with a very large metal spoon that was covered with still hot grease. The blonde man lazily let one eye open halfway, spotted the chef’s weapon, and immediately scampered out of range to do as he was told. His footsteps sounded heavily up the dim staircase as he ran to fetch Britney from her cleaning.
“I got her back for you,” Adam said breathlessly, one of his hands wound around Britney’s wrist. The maid glared at him and yanked her hand back forcefully.
“You make it sound like I’m some sort of pet that ran away,” Britney stated with annoyance, grabbing the stacked black china dishes that Allison held out. She unceremoniously set them onto the table, each one landing with a clatter. Needless to say, she turned a vivid crimson when she finally noticed that Mana and Gackt were still in the kitchen. She was much more careful when she set out the glasses and utensils.
“So, what are we having today, Allison?” Adam asked eagerly, clutching at his fork and knife like lifelines. He was nearly drooling as the chef arranged the different foods on platters to be brought over to the table.
“Just a simple breakfast,” Allison replied, carrying each platter over and gently placing it down, “Pancakes, fried eggs, bacon, sausages, ham, hash-browns, and toast.” As soon as everything was on the table, Adam was piling things onto to his plate until the drizzled white design disappeared beneath several inches of food. The rest of the people were taking their time and being much more civilized about it.
“You two aren’t eating much,” Britney commented casually, meticulously arranging her food. Mana and Gackt looked up, looked at each other, and stared at Britney.
“It just seems like it would settle kind of heavily if you ate too much,” Mana explained quickly, gesturing at the food with his shiny black chopsticks.
“Besides, we don’t normally eat much of a breakfast anyway,” Gackt added, smiling at Allison who looked slightly crestfallen. They all settled into eating quietly, except Adam who was devouring his meal like a starving dog. The two women stared openly as their employers calmly ate with only chopsticks, not even using a knife to cut through the food.
“Is that difficult?” Allison asked uncertainly, quickly looking at different utensils she had placed around her plate. Mana and Gackt simultaneously shook their heads.
“Maybe you could eventually teach us. I think it would be fun to be able to use chopsticks with such ease,” Britney chirped brightly, grinning widely, “They’re so pretty. They look like little alligators chomping down when you move them.”
“That is an,” Mana began, pausing while he thought of what he wanted to say, “Interesting way of putting it. Slightly poetic, in an odd style.”
“Thank you,” Britney chimed, positively beaming from the comment she took as praise.
“We hired a couple fools,” Mana muttered under his breath, leaning closely to Gackt, “At least we got one that’s reasonably level-headed.”
“Or so it appears. Allison could go psycho on us at any moment. I mean Adam seems terrified of her when she has something in her hands,” Gackt said just as quietly, “Well, we didn’t get stuffy, stuck-up people.” Mana nodded his head, popping a small piece of butter and syrup-covered pancake into his mouth. He looked reasonably pleased, but made sure to let most of the syrup drip off of the next bite.
*Hours later. Yes, I’m too lazy to figure out how long exactly ^_^*
“This is going to take longer than I first thought,” Gackt sighed, peeking behind each of the mirrored doors that opened to the closet. He turned around and looked at Mana, who quickly made himself look as innocent as humanly possible. The guitarist smiled meekly and batted his long eyelashes over his sapphire eyes.