Dear me

After being repeatedly reassured that Deuce does not need any more help, Annie takes a seat beside Lilin. She unties her food just as Lilin had, smiling as the warm, delicious air fills the space in front of her. Looking down, she sees quite a pleasant meal. There is some rice still fresh enough to be steaming, a cut of red meat with a dark crust along the outside, and a small spread of... It's hard to pin down, but it seems to be a vegetable assortment. They are yellowish-orange in color rather than green, but they're also shaped like a strange mixture of green beans and broccoli. In the same way that broccoli resembled a little tree, these greens resembled palm trees.

Annie looked for utensils, but didn't see a fork. Instead, she found two small sticks and a knife. Does that mean... Chopsticks? She looked to Lilin, and sure enough, she was using the two sticks as chopsticks- though it wasn't nearly as elegant as Annie had seen on Earth. The chopsticks seemed to have a small curve inwards at the end, and Lilin was stabbing her food just as often as she was scooping it up. The little curve served as a bit of a hook, making it easier to hold things by stabbing them. Well, Annie couldn't use chopsticks worth a damn, but stabbing a piece of meat wasn't exactly hard!

Annie began to eat as best she could. The rice was tricky to scoop with the chopsticks, so she ended up cutting the meat into small platforms that she stacked rice onto as a little food elevator. Each bite was wonderful, though the spices weren't quite as extravagant as she had hoped. The meat tasted somewhat lime-y, with a hint of some pepper and a bit too healthy a dose of salt. It wasn't an unpleasant flavor, but she could easily make it better if she had her usual rack of spices. The vegetables were wonderful, having the pepper-like taste in spades along with a similar dosage of salt. The stalks proved to be softer and easier to eat, while the heads were much more substantial and fun to chew on. The rice tasted... Well, exactly like white rice tasted like. She wondered if it was possibly called rice here as well.

Annie finished her meal quickly, feeling revitalized afterwards. She felt like a broken record always repeating the same thoughts, but it was truly incredible to be back in a young body. Running out of energy once didn't end her entire day, she could easily recuperate in a few minutes. Whatever a brief rest didn't recover, a meal easily replenished. She was looking forward to sleeping without constant aches- well, assuming that beds existed here. She hoped that they did, it would be a bit of a bummer to sleep on a bamboo mat or even just the ground. Well, maybe a hammock would be fine, but they did always feel a little unsteady for her liking.

"So, Lilin," Annie asked idly, "how are sleeping arrangements?"

Lilin looked up, taken a bit off-guard by the question. "Uh, what? How did that come up?"

Annie shrugged. "Well, I was thinking about how the food is similar yet different to what I am used to, and I was wondering... Well, will the beds be the same?"

Lilin sighed, not wanting to bother trying to figure out how Ten made that random jump. "Well, dunno how similar it is to whatever you're used to, but... We have our own rooms. They've got sleeping pads, which are pretty massive and soft things we sleep on, and they've got blankets. That sound about the same?"

Annie nodded. "Yeah, just about. I'm accustomed to having a 'pillow' as well, but I can get by with just a pile of clothes."

"Oh, pillows? Yeah, we have those too. Should already be one in each room. If not, it's usually our fault, so... I guess I'll have to show you where to get those."

"Thank you, dear," Annie replied, "and how long until we are to go to bed?"

Lilin stopped, turning to face Annie. "Okay, time out. What the hell are you calling me 'dear' for, exactly? Isn't that the type of shit that weird old ladies do when they're trying to butter somebody up?"

Annie wasn't sure how to react. It was just a habit to call people that by this point. Lilin certainly wasn't wrong, she was absolutely saying it just like she did when she was a little old lady, and she was indeed trying to help pacify Lilin. At the same time, she couldn't just say she used to be an old lady. Or... Could she?

"Well," Annie said cautiously, "you might not believe it, but... I'm actually an old lady. I just... Got lucky, I guess. Now I'm here, in a new body, ready to kick some ass!"

Lilin rolled her eyes. "Yeah, sure. You're secretly a demon, huh? Never heard that one before. What's really going on here?"

"Wait, demon?" Annie asked. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Uh. The hell do you mean? Demons? Reversing age with your Core? Look, you're not fooling anybody, Ten. I know you're a human. Just tell me what this whole 'dear' thing is about."

Annie tilted her head. How SHOULD she respond? She couldn't be truthful, and she couldn't really come up with any good lies. What to do, what to do... Ah, the classic, deflecting the question!

"Well, dear, I said what I said, and I don't take it back. I've told you the truth, it's just up to you to accept it."

Lilin scowled, standing up from her chair so suddenly that the chair fell back. "Like hell you have! What the fuck do you call me 'dear' for, Ten?!"

"Please, be quiet whilst in the library," rang a young voice.
Lilin and Annie both looked over and saw Deuce looking sternly at Lilin. Lilin growled a bit, but slowly picked up the chair and sat back down.

"Fine... Whatever you say, stupid brat..." she muttered, making sure to keep her voice down.

"Actually," Deuce said, "this little brat has a name now. It's Deuce, the Library-man."

With that, the little librarian turned and left with a bit of a pep in his step, leaving Annie and Lilin sitting there in silence. To call it awkward would be a severe understatement. The ring of a bell interrupted the silence, and Lilin immediately started to pack her box up. Annie followed suit, and they hurried into the hallway where they returned the boxes to the cabinet. Just as quickly as they had appeared in there, they vanished when returned.

"Just a few more hours," Lilin muttered to herself, "peace and quiet in just a few hours...."

"What was that?" Ten's shrill voice rang.

"Oh, nothing!" Lilin replied immediately, trying to mask her impatience. "Just saying we've only got a few more hours 'til we're done."

"Oh, who tends to the castle at night?"

A full night away from Ten might not be enough of a break for Lilin.
"I, you- Ugh, shut up and stop asking questions," she snapped, "if you want to ask somebody, ask Six when you're off-duty. She's basically nocturnal and works even when she's supposed to be asleep. I don't care about your stupid questions."

With Lilin's level of caring about stupid questions firmly established, her and Annie went off to continue with their maidly duties until the sun had set firmly below the horizon.