♅ ninth

[themistress]

[Mistress has a baby, but you'd really be hard-pressed to get her to admit it. So, for the past few days, there has been a rowdy, ill-behaved little boy running around in the lobby. He doesn't seem to speak very much, though he does laugh, and he's fond of magically zapping people to watch them jump.

But Mistress doesn't care. She just lets him run roughshod all over the place without so much as a glance. But anyone in the lobby might notice something a little suspicious about the way she glares when he peeks around the corner of her throne and then turns her footstool to life.

It trots out from under her feet, and Mistress adeptly catches the little boy by the upper arm.]

Stop it, Child. Leave me be.

[The little boy sullenly sucks his bejeweled binky and pouts at her until she releases him, whereupon he goes back to running around and casting magic at people.]

Comments

[eternityalone]

[Katherine was about to head to the city, when she overhears.] I'm pretty sure you can't just ask it to leave you alone.

[themistress]

Why not? He's not my responsibility.

[eternityalone]

The castle seems to believe it is.

[themistress]

Then I suppose it's good that I don't give a fuck about what the castle "believes".

[eternityalone]

I guess we'll see. [She has a feeling no one in this castle will let someone just abandon a kid or abuse it. So this'll be interesting, of nothing else.]

[themistress]

See what? It's not as if Child is starving or beaten.

[eternityalone]

I just know the castle has an odd sense of sentience about it and it likes making things difficult for others.

[themistress]

If the castle tries anything, I'll bring it down on itself. [She shrugs.

Child toddles over to Katherine and looks up at her silently.]

[eternityalone]

[Katherine glances down at the boy, giving the same silence in return.]

I heard they've tried to do that. Take the castle down. It just rebuilt itself.

[hellshaped]

[Hellboy is blissfully unshackled and free from children this year, so he's able to just wander around as he pleases.

He'll stop on his way out the door though, giving this ... scene ... a long look.]

You can probably ask him to stop zapping things, too. Just a thought.

[themistress]

[Mistress just blinks impassively. She doesn't give a shit if the kid zaps things, she just wants him to leave her alone.

This is demonstrated when Child peers around the edge of a settee and sends a beam of blue light at Hellboy, causing his coat to spontaneously burst into flames.

Mistress does not react.]

[hellshaped]

God damn -- [DKLDJSDJL HELLBOY THROWS HIS COAT OFF AND VICIOUSLY STOMPS ON IT, trying to put the fire out >:[ rude]

[themistress]

[Child giggles and hides again, sucking on his jewel-encrusted binky. Mistress ignores the situation entirely, except to unhelpfully say:]

Be careful.

[hellshaped]

[Once Hellboy has properly stomped the fire out of his coat, he just glares venomously at Mistress, jaw set and his teeth instinctively bared.]

Keep him under control!

[themistress]

He isn't mine to control.

[hellshaped]

He's your kid!

[themistress]

I think I would remember having a baby, and I haven't. So he isn't mine.

[thehistorian]

God, you got one too?

[themistress]

"Got one"? No. It keeps following me around, but it most certainly isn't mine.

[thehistorian]

The way the castle seems to think, it probably is yours, then, for all intents and purposes.

[themistress]

Well, then the castle is sorely mistaken. I am content to let Child sleep in the pantry, and keep him fed, much like I would a cat. But the castle's whims don't make me a mother.

[Child is crawling under a table near Shaun, and peering at him in an almost childishly evil way.]

[thehistorian]

[he looks down at the child and raises an eyebrow.] Whatever you are thinking, you stop that. I will tie you to a chair and leave you there, do you understand?

[and then he turns his attention back to Mistress.] Well, no, but it does mean you temporarily have ownership of him, in as much as anyone ever owns children.

[themistress]

[Child glares, then opens his palm to Shaun. Blue light surrounds his feet, and suddenly his shoes are made of stone. Child is not capable of much more than basic elemental magic.

Mistress again ignores it.] If I wanted a new pet, I would have procured one myself. Child is not mine to handle.

[thehistorian]

I am going to take these off and throw them at you. Cause and effect. [Shaun levels a glare at the child, crossing his arms over his chest.

...and then turns his attention back to Mistress again.] God forbid they were here to entertain us. Children are terrible at that. They're burdensome and... [he shoots another glare at the child.] Irritating.

[themistress]

[With a defiant suck at his bejeweled dummy, Child toddles away to sit at Mistress's feet.]

I personally don't understand why anyone bothers.