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Lebanne enjoyed simplicity. Simple orders, simple tasks, simple motions. Raw, unfiltered power, unbound by a million rules. Lebanne, unrelatedly, enjoyed the simplicity of Jacinthe. She liked to think, to even the smallest degree, that she understood her lady. Jacinthe was sadistic, and way too peppy, and careless to no end.
Honestly? It was nice. Jacinthe wasn’t nice, it’s not like Lebanne liked being around her anymore than she had to, but it was at least easy to follow.
Sure, maybe she didn’t get everything. The way her mind worked, for one, would always evade the maid. Her sense of right and wrong, her priorities, and her general demeanor also confused Lebanne on a regular basis.
But at least there were a few consistent things Lebanne knew about her lady.
One. Jacinthe had a lot of energy, and it was (mostly) always shaped in a smile. This was the most well-known part of her, as it wasn’t just Pokemon battles that she overexerted herself in. Jacinthe, more specifically anyway, was always excited.
Lebanne had witnessed this first hand, as Jacinthe, even when faced with destruction of Lumiose, loss after loss to that Taunie girl, the bitter exchanges she’d had with Corbeau, always maintained that creepy, admittedly adorable passion. For battling, for revenge, for the sake of putting someone in their place, for whatever, she never lost that air of energy, even when she slept. Frankly, if Lebanne cared, she'd force the other girl to sit her little ass down and just rest for a week.
Two. Jacinthe didn’t do anything for herself. Usually, it was Lebanne doing her dirty work. From delivery services, to housework, to probably murder, if Jacinthe so desired, Lebanne was always the one sent to do it.
Lebanne learned that factoid about her lady day one of working for her, when she couldn’t even be bothered to give Lebanne a maid dress. Instead, Jacinthe insisted on “waning her off of her independence slowly” and “ensured this is what Lebanne really wanted.” What a psycho...okay, maybe that was a bad example, but she’d been run ragged helping out Jacinthe! Frankly, the codependence was annoying. Sure, given the contract which Lebanne "designed herself and signed with full knowledge that dragons are weak to fairies", one might say she was asking for it.
...anyway.
Third, finally, and most importantly though, Jacinthe hated things not going her way. Lebanne listened to every command, keeping arguments to a minimum unless she could tell the other girl wanted a fight to keep her amused.
She distinctly remember how pissy Jacinthe got over even the smallest inconvenience or setback, as seen by the time where she forced Zygarde, the Dieu de L'équilibre itself, to play in her silly tournament in order to do its divine duty. The gall of the girl was truly something to be admired. Not that Lebanne admired her or anything.
So. With those three factoids in mind. That Jacinthe was always excited. That Jacinthe never did anything herself. And that Jacinthe hated not getting her way.
What the hell was happening?
It had started simple. How Lebanne liked it. Her Dragalge had taken a nasty Psychic Fangs from a Rouge Mega Metagross during the whole fiasco with those Team MZ kids. And, after noticing how sluggish Dragalge was getting, Lebanne realized the best course of action would be to send the poor thing off to her cousin in Alola for a vacation.
So, Lebanne had mentioned offhandedly to Jacinthe that Dragalge was gravely wounded, and it was in a better place now. And, strangely, Jacinthe had turned to her without a word, a serious look on her face, and nodded. “I understand,” was all she said before leaving.
Now, Lebanne, under normal circumstances, would think nothing of it, but there was something weirdly solemn about it.
But, nothing came of it until nighttime, when Lebanne was preparing Jacinthe for bed. The smaller girl had looked up at her, with wide eyes, and muttered something. “Uhm…sorry, what’d you say, Jacinthe?”
The girl had quickly looked back at her lap. This was weird, but Lebanne knew better than to assume. However, her muttering became vocal. “Sushi…swords…or sharks…”
What.
“E-excuse me?” Jacinthe looked back up, determination, for something that evaded Lebanne completely, was shining. “Sushi, swords, or sharks! Which do you like more? I simply must know, dear Lebanne!”
Lebanne took a minute to process that request, before finally remembering she had to speak when spoken to. By Jacinthe. “Like...which do I like to eat more? Or generally?”
“I-in…whatever way you choose to interpret that..” Jacinthe concluded, as if not even she believed what was coming out of her mouth. Frankly, Lebanne didn’t. Jacinthe? Stuttering? This was so, so awkward. “Well…I like my Garchomp too much to eat shark, and while eating a sword sounds cool…I think I like sushi the most?”
If Lebanne had been too focused on brushing Jacinthe’s hair, she would’ve missed the sight currently ingrained in her head. Jacinthe’s look of utter dread. “Did...did I say something wrong, Miss Jacinthe?”
The girl jolted, before smoothing out her expression. “Of course not. Sleep in my bed tonight.” That made Lebanne hesitate, before as always, she agreed. But that wasn’t normal, either. Jacinthe had always tried to prove that they weren’t equals, but…what else was sleeping in the same bed?
Jacinthe had maintained those dead eyes, though they seemed entirely determined. As if she was about to undergo some Herculean task. Was sleeping with Lebanne really that bad? “Miss Jacinthe, I-" A single stare shut down all conversation.
Jacinthe had been attempting to figure it out throughout the night, even as she held Jacinthe in her arms.
The rising concern only doubled when Jacinthe wasn’t there when Lebanne woke up.
Lebanne had gotten dressed in a panic, trying to find the stupid fairy girl. Unfortunately, after looking around the entire mansion for a good two hours, the maid gave up. She gave up, because why should she care!?
Sure, Jacinthe was currently breaking her second rule of life, doing something for herself, but Lebanne wasn’t dumb enough to think that the girl was incompetent. Far from it, she was just lazy, and had a maid to boss around. So whatever this was, it was probably something private. Something that Lebanne shouldn’t care about, and should just enjoy Jacinthe was out of the house.
So anyway, Lebanne spent the next five hours caring about whatever in Arceus’ name Jacinthe was doing. Luckily, at noon, the Battle Chatelaines dropped by. And, surprisingly, they came bearing gifts. And not for Jacinthe, but for her! Free lunch! Well, they intended it to be for Jacinthe, but Nita and Dana insisted that they invite Lebanne over the other girl.
The five of them went out for food at a nice restaurant, and while waiting for the check at a table outside, Lebanne couldn’t help but notice some strange noises…and then-
“Stupid Arceus damned dragon…” Was that…was that Jacinthe’s voice!? Lebanne turned around in her seat, the other girls following her example, only to witness, Jacinthe, soaking wet, picking…were those fish eggs? Off of her? Where did she even come from!? That…was that a portal in the wall!?
Jacinthe looked absolutely miserable, and was digging inside her purse, seemingly oblivious to the eyes on her. Lebanne was trying very, very hard to make sure her eyes were squarely focused on the hair and face of her lady, and nothing else.
“J-jacinthe!?” Nita had exclaimed, drawing the girl’s sudden attention, proceeded by shock. “Oh my…e-er, hello there, my dearest Lebanne! And others!” The smile was back on at full force, as if she didn’t look miserable a minute ago. Lebanne kind of wanted to slap it off of her.
“Hiii~” Morgan purred, the others making fellow greetings. “Forgive me, I was…simply helping out some poor unfortunate souls with some Rouge Megas. Lebanne, do you mind helping me dry off?”
Lebanne stood up from her seat, eyes tracing every insecurity that, for once, Jacinthe seemed to be showing. She didn’t look proud to be here, nor happy, really. That smile was too fake, her posture was hiding from the view of the four other girls. Lebanne needed to protect her. From what? Not sure, that was a problem for later.
“Right, of course, Lady Jacinthe.” Evelyn waved Lebanne a brief goodbye, before the maid assured the four she’d see them around, which was true, as those girls were nearly as battle crazed as Jacinthe herself. She’d see them next week, most likely, if she even had to wait that long.
Dragging her all the way back to the manor, Jacinthe dropped her grace, and marched up the stairs to her private quarters. Lebanne was…concerned. This was…very much out of character. Not simple at all. Damnit, Lebanne had to be careful. She’d never really seen Jacinthe so…angry? Frustrated? No, she’d seen Jacinthe do both of those, but never so outward.
Of course, Jacinthe had thrown temper tantrums, but those weren’t real. These were. The scoffs as she found more fish eggs in her hair, or the water on her clothes made her skin uncomfortable. It made Lebanne feel…bad for her, in a way she’d never done so before.
“Hey…Jacinthe, are you…are you okay?”
The girl was now pouting in her bed, despite it being noon, lip jutted out, as she held her knees in her arms It was way too pathetic for Jacinthe, and Lebanne was half-convinced this was some manipulation tactic. But for why?
“....I’ve…realized I may not be suitable enough of a lady for you.”
…what.
“I-I mean, I agree, but, uhm.” Unfortunately, Lebanne did not quite realize that this was not the time for her normal complaints, as Jacinthe curled even further on herself. “H-hold on! What are you even talking about!? What happened?”
Jacinthe looked away from Lebanne. “You…your Dragalge is dead, no? I wished to help, by getting you a new Mega dragon-type Pokemon. I wanted it to be a surprise, a-and…and I attempted to fight against And…and yet…I failed. Even with my whole team, I…I underestimated it. It was far more wily than I-”
Lebanne’s lips curled, before forming a smile, forcing Jacinth’s eyes to widen. “W-what?” Lebanne smothered her chuckle. “S-sorry, Lady Jacinthe. Er, no, Dragalge is not dead, he’s on vacation. He got injured, remember?”
Jacinthe froze.
“I…oh.”
Lebanne hesitantly tried to comfort her lady, stifling laughter. “I...do appreciate it, I guess, but…you can just ask me. It sounds like you’ve been very…reckless. You frankly should’ve just asked me!”
The lavender haired girl blinked twice, leaning back on the bedrest. “Perhaps…this was an error on my part. I really should let you handle things, shouldn’t I? You’re so capable…” Jacinthe folded her hands nicely, wiping away some…were those tears? Lebanne called bullshit.
Lebanne glared. “Don’t weaponize your incompetence, my lady. It’s unbecoming.”
“You’re awfully snarky today…” Jacinthe whined. And, for once, Lebanne smirked in response. “Because you actually showed your human, my lady. And, if it makes you feel better, I do believe that’s…well, what a worthy lady would do.”
Jacinthe stiffened, before grinning, even if her smile didn’t stretch her face, Lebanne still knew it was genuine. Better than that, it was adorable. “Especially since that meant getting pelted by fish eggs because you couldn’t be bothered to ask a question? Very ladylike.”
“Shush. It was a Mega Tatsugiri.”
…oh.
“What’s that look for?”
“...uhm…you know you could’ve just asked that Shalour city gym leader girl for one, right? She’s been collecting them for a while now.”
Silence came. Jacinthe swore. She swore. And then Lebanne burst into laughter at the sheer exhaustion overcoming her lady. Without bothering to ask, Lebanne went to the bathroom and got a hair brush, as well all the many, many beauty products Jacinthe always needed to use before bed, to achieve those cloud-like curls.
“You should shower, my lady. The fish eggs might cause issue.” Jacinthe pouted, but got out of bed regardless. Lebanne, as a matter of fact, did not let that go undetected. “You just…listened to me! Me! Haha!” And then she got a glare from Jacinthe! Double win!
“I’m feeling so sad today, and yet here you are, mocking me. Do you not know your place?” Lebanne, feeling that boost from earlier still winding up her sails, climbed onto the bed as well, positioning herself mockingly above her lady. Her stupid little lady who apparently overworked herself, and Lebanne, way too much frankly. “Why don’t you show me?”
Perhaps the confidence was too intoxicating. Or maybe Jacinthe was delirious. Or maybe, just maybe, the fact thar Jacinthe proceeded to kiss Lebanne right then and there was something that the smaller girl had planned this whole thing around. Given the process, it was doubtful, but for the sake of her hyperactive imagination, Lebanne chose to believe the latter.
But, well, she had been proven wrong a lot recently. Jacinthe certainly wasn’t excited to do what she had done today. And she’d done it all herself, even when two (three, if you count not doing it at all) easier options laid in front of her. To add onto that, based on the the tongue currently down her throat, Lebanne figured that Jacinthe was getting pretty okay with not getting her way this time. "Her Lady", and herself, were less simple than she thought.
So, above all, if she had to say one thing she learned today?
Jacinthe deserved to be treated like the brat she was. She wanted to see that brat more. Much, much more. And hey, it was a maid’s duty to keep her lady in line, wasn't it? Especially when it came to letting said lady get attacked by sushi! Maybe Lebanne had just been...neglecting her duties, as it were.
So, if anyone was to ask in the coming days where Jacinthe was, Lebanne would answer that Jacinthe was learning some new lessons regarding what she was allowed to do. Their contract was specific, after all. If it’s what Jacinthe asked for, then it’s what Lebanne simply had to do.
And trust her, after making out with her while tasting like raw fish eggs, Jacinthe was asking for a lot.