aungier | (no subject)

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(no subject)

Date: November 2, 1888
Time: 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Location: Various locations around the house.
Characters: Shirogane (

anachronisticbilliards) and YOU! [OPEN/~~CLOSED~~]
Summary: Shirogane's just trying to do his job and is available to be bothered.
Warnings: Moving furniture. The horror.

What with all of the people constantly coming and going at Aungier House, furniture needed to be moved around quite often. Rooms needed to be prepared. Some rooms didn't have enough furniture. Others had too much. Other rooms had the appropriate amounts of furniture and were well-used, but the furniture still needed to be moved so that the maids could clean.

That's where the footmen came in. Today, Shirogane found himself doing just that--moving furniture. For the most part, he didn't mind the work. It could be physically demanding, true, but at least there was a point to it. A purpose other than that someone somewhere thought criminals needed to walk on treadmills or turn pointless cranks for hours on end. For a few hours in the afternoon, he could be found moving furniture between rooms as he'd been directed. If he needed to be bothered or pulled away for some other task, well, he was just a footman. He didn't quite have as much governance over his own time as he would have liked.

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While Lyall rarely wound up stooping to moving furniture, himself, he did have to check in on the ones doing the moving. It was one of the privileges of rank that he had to admit enjoying. After all, he wasn't exactly of tree-trunk nature-- more of a shrub than anything else-- so that had never been a particularly pleasant endeavor.

It was always worse, of course, when one found out all one's hard work just went to waste. Lyall came into the room where Shirogane had just finished switching the couches to the other side of the room. He watched for a beat, looking both satisfied with the finished work and apologetic for what he was going to have to say. "I'm afraid that the Lady of the house has one more lounge sette she wants to fit in here."

Of course another piece of furniture needed to be added to the room as soon as he'd finished. Of course. Shirogane was unable to prevent himself from letting slip a bit of a sigh before turning to regard the room again. Turning away from Lyall to look back at the room gave him the chance to make sure he kept the irritation off his face. "Does she have any preferences as to where it will go?" There was the briefest of pauses as Shirogane momentarily forgot how he should probably be addressing one of his bosses. "Sir?"

The pause earned him a brief raise of his brows. Lyall didn't exactly care where people came from, but he did generally insist on at least the pproper respect. When Shirogane did add on the honorific he continued as if the hesitation hadn't happened. "I believe it is to be part of the collection by the window, and it is coming from the room next door."

Which was also a bit overcrowded for Lyall's taste, and would be even without the sette. He would never understand the current style of packing a room so full of furniture that one had to move carefully lest one bump it.

Shirogane stared at the furniture in that direction and had to wonder if anyone had even looked in this room before deciding it was to hold more furniture. He had his doubts the task was even physically possible, and part of him wondered if this was some sort of test to see just how much the new footman would put up with. Maybe if it had been anyone other than Lyall telling him that. He couldn't see the man wasting his time in such a fashion.

"That's going to be a tight fit...but I think I can manage it, sir." He walked over to the window to begin creating a space for the lounge. "Just the one additional piece?" At this point, he wouldn't have been surprised if Lyall broke the news that an entire dining set was to be wedged into the room as well.

"As far as I am aware." At least there wasn't going to be a dining room set. This was a sitting room, and not even the eccentric individuals in this household would be bringing a dining room table into a sitting room.

Lyall looked a bit wry when he added, "But I make no promises of those whims of which I am unaware." He would never say such a thing in front of his employers and their family, but said employers and their family were not here, now, were they? "Shall I show you which sette is to be moved?"

Shirogane had to smile a bit at that comment regarding the family's whims regarding the furniture. Things could change rather quickly, true. "That would be very helpful, sir."

Because, really, at this point, all that furniture was starting to run together quite well.

"This way, then." Lyall headed out of the room and towards the next one down the hall, from drawing room to one of the various libraries in the building. He had a minute to talk, and since Shirogane was still relatively new, he felt it safe to ask: "Have you been settling in well, Mister Oogami? Besides the regular expectations that come with working for an indecisive family, at any rate."

Shirogane seemed surprised to be asked. "Well enough, sir. It's...a bit different than what I'm used to." His official story was that he'd previously been employed as a workman at the docks before working his way up in the world, which, he supposed, would have provided excuses for any behavior that might have been rougher around the edges than he thought. It certainly sounded better than prison. Even without that, it wasn't like he knew all that much about high society.

"I imagine so. One must polish up one's manners, working on a country estate. At least it is a country estate and not a city one," Lyall mused helpfully. "Things are perhaps a hair more relaxed here." He pushed open the library doors, looking inside for anyone who might happen to be inside. One never knew, in this house, given how popular the libraries were. Even Lyall, when he could snatch a minute away from work, was known to slip inside one for some light reading.

For now, it seemed to be empty.

"It's good to hear that, sir. I've heard stories as to how things are in some of the city estates from some of the other servants...I believe I would be happier in a place like this." That was the truth. The city certainly seemed stuffier than what he'd find here, and a country estate seemed confined enough at times. Not for the first time, Shirogane wondered why he hadn't simply set out to wander the world. Perhaps a berth aboard a ship, working as a sailor where they didn't care if you'd spent time in prison or not...

Of course, the pay was certainly better here, and he wouldn't have to worry about such pesky things as seasickness. That made a big difference. He'd traded a bit of freedom for a bit of security, and it was still an adjustment. He followed Lyall into the room and looked around at the furniture appraisingly in the manner of a man who was trying to decide which of the pieces would be easiest to move and hoping that whatever he had to haul, it would be that one. "Which sette is it, sir?"

"And I do hope you'll be happy here. Or at least comfortable." That was one thing Lyall did hope his staff knew about him: he did in fact care about their welfare, comfort, and feelings. Not so much that he let them walk all over him, of course, but enough that he took their opinions into consideration and their troubles with serious care.

"Quite honestly, I do not believe it matters which," he added, looking about, himself. "I was told 'that sette from the library', and not much more. So I believe you may be free to choose your own. Though I will not promise you wno't have to change it later."

"I think I will be, sir." Hoped he would be, anyway. "Comfortable" was a good word for it; the house was much nicer than anywhere else Shirogane might possibly have ended up. The family was still taking a bit of getting used to, and Shirogane still didn't know what to make of the vast majority of the other servants, but Lyall seemed like a decent enough boss.

Shirogane scanned the available furniture in the room and went for the smallest sette he could see. "This one looks like the only one that's going to be able to fit in there with all of the other furniture..." It would also be easiest to haul back in there if it wasn't the right sette. There wasn't a truly significant size difference, but with all the furniture moving he'd been doing, Shirogane was perfectly willing to take these small victories where he could.

"The color seems all right," Lyall agreed after considering it a moment, as well. It would harmonize rather than clash, even if it didn't precisely match. "Very well. Will you require any help to get it moved, or shall I leave you to it?"

Not that he'd stoop to helping manually, of course, not at his rank and with his reedy frame, but he'd send someone up to help if need be.

"I believe I can get it myself..." Shirogane experimentally went to lift the sette. He was no stranger to a hard day's physical labor; they did so hate to see the inmates lying around idle at his last place of residence. "No worse than some of the jobs at the, er, docks."

"Excellent." After one more glance about, Lyall finished, "I'll leave you to it, then. I trust your judgement to fit it into the other room's collection tastefully." Well, somewhat tastefully, anyway. He might have words about it later, but for now, he had other things to tend to, and he didn't need to supervise this simple endeavor. "Thank you, Mister Oogami."

Shirogane gave Lyall a nod of acknowledgement before returning his full attention to getting that sette where it needed to go. "You're welcome, sir. It's what I'm here for."

((and fade out there I believe :) nice establishing scene!))

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