It was mid-afternoon when Portia was on her lunch break. She was in her cottage cooking when she saw two white figures bolt by. Curious, Portia took a closer look to see Mercedes and Melchior running after something towards the maze.
The red-head put down her spoon and walked out her door, following the dogs towards the maze. She had assumed that the creature in question was a small rabbit or similar woodland friend. She wanted to make sure that those pesky dogs didn't tear the poor thing to shreds.
Portia followed the barking to a dead end of the maze where the dogs were both facing the corner.
"Mercedes! Melchior! Get outta here and leave the poor thing alone!" Portia chastised the dogs as she shooed them away.
When they were out of the way, Portia noticed the hole in the hedge, clearly where the poor creature had fled.
"Oh, those damned dogs..." Portia muttered, shaking her head. "I'll have to make sure this mess gets cleaned up."
T I M E S K I P : The Next Morning...
When the sun was just cresting over the horizon, Portia was already awake and dressed, ready for work. After grabbing a bite to eat and feeding Pepi, she stepped out into the brisk morning air.
"What's this?" Portia wondered aloud, bending over to pick up a tulip from her doorstep. "Where did you come from?"
Shrugging, the maid opened her door and set the flower in a little vase filled with water before she stepped out to get to work.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Over the next few weeks, Portia continued to find a single flower at the door every morning, without fail. There were so many that she had to move them to a larger vase. And when they finally died, she made sure to press them gently as to keep them forever.
At first, she thought she was the recipient of a secret admirer's affections. She tried leaving notes, flowers of her own, but to no avail. Her attempts to communicate with the stranger were futile, seeing as her gifts always remained where they were, with the addition of another flower.
Portia began asking around the palace. She asked the guards, Ludovico and Bludmila, she asked the Chamberlain, she asked the Chef, Hestion, she even asked the groundskeeper, Babouche and the other servants, including Vincenze and anyone else she could find. No one could tell her anything.
Frustrated with not having any answers, Portia decided that she was going to spend her day off on a steak-out to catch whoever was leaving her flowers in the dead of night.
*~*~*~*~*~*
On the day of her all-nighter, Portia slept all day so that she could stay up to see who exactly came to her door in the wee hours of the night to give her flowers.
Her living room was completly re-arranged. Every blanket and pillow she had was spread out to provide as much comfort to the couch and floor as possible. She had gathered enough snacks to last her well into the next morning if need be.
It wasn't even all that late when Portia yawned for the first time.
"Oh, at this rate, I'll never be able to stay up late enough to catch whoever's leaving these flowers..." Portia muttered, stroking Pepi's soft fur.
"Prrrp?" Pepi questioned, looking up at Portia.
"Yes, you're right, Pepi. I can't just give up now,"
Hours passed and Portia and Pepi were both beginning to nod off.
Eyes heavy, Portia leaned her head against her arm just for a moment and was just dropping off to sleep when a rustle of leaves brought her to full attention.
Silently as to not scare away the person outside, Portia crept to her window and pulled the curtain back ever so slightly to see who was at her door.
What she saw shocked her. This "secret admirer" was just a child, maybe 12 or so. In their hand was a sweet pea blossom. They laid the flower down gently on the doorstep and ran off, hiding behind a nearby tree, clearly waiting to see her find it since they made no motion to leave anytime soon.
Pasha unlocked her door carefully and stepped outside into the cool night. She picked up the pink flower and turned it over in her hands ever so gently.
She smiled softly and looked out into the trees. "Thank you!" She called out quietly, but loud enough to be heard. "I love your flowers, I'd love to meet you,"
The child, not knowing what else to do, turned back around and came to the door shyly, not meeting Portia's gaze.
"Hey there!" Portia said with a wave. "I'm Portia. I love your flowers, thank you so much!"
"I'm MC," the child replied shyly, looking down and around them.
"Nice to meet you, MC. May I ask why you leave me flowers every night but never take the ones I leave for you?"
"Oh, erm," they began. "I leave you flowers to thank you for shooing those dogs away when they chased me into the maze. I didn't know the flowers you had on your steps were for me though,"
"That was you? Mercedes and Melchior cornered you into the maze? Oh, those pesky dogs. I don't know what to do with them sometimes..." She said, hands on her hips.
A moment passed before she spoke again.
"Hey, what were you doing on the palace grounds? I've never seen you around before,"
MC flushed and began to fidget with their hands.
"I, erm, I've kind of been hiding out here, in a little nook in one of the walls. Big enough for just me. I've lived there for a while. I used to be out on the streets, but one day, I was lucky enough to slip through the gates when the Masquerade was going on. It wasn't hard to get food and clothes, this place has everything," MC explained, embarrassed and afraid of punishment.
"You mean, you've been out here alone this whole time? No one to look after you?"
MC nodded.
"Well you certainly can't stay out here any longer," Pasha said and opened her door. "Come on in!"
MC and Portia spent the rest of the night as a sleep-over, getting to know each other, the good, the bad, and the ugly.
When morning came and Portia had to leave for work, she looked at little MC, who was thin with malnourishment, wearing clothes that were too small.
"You should stay here, okay? You can wash up and you should be able to find some clothes in my closet. Help yourself to my pantry too. Pepi will make great company!" Portia said, looking down at the kid in front of her.
MC only nodded, too shocked at Portia's kindness to say much.
"I'll be back for lunch. Bye MC!" Portia said with a wave as she stepped out of the house.
After the third night, Portia had become ever so fond of MC's company. She saw MC as a younger sibling, and she didn't want to see them alone again.
"Hey MC," Portia began while the two were cooking dinner. "I really like having you here and I hope you like being here. The thing is, I see you like a little sibling. You're absolutely wonderful and I'd love it if you stayed here with me. But for that to happen, you'd have to be working at the palace too. And since I work there, I could put in an awesome word for you with the other staff and m'lady herself. Then you could stay here with me and you wouldn't have to be alone anymore,"
MC stopped cooking altogether, nearly dropping the spoon in their hand.
"Y-you want me to stay here? With you? For real, Pasha? You mean it?"
Portia nodded emphatically.
"That would be so awesome! I've never had a sister before. And you're awesome. This is gonna be great! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" MC exclaimed.
Portia laughed and clapped her hands together.
"Wonderful! I can help you apply tomorrow if you'd like. I'm certain m'lady won't say no. How can anyone say no to someone as sweet and cute as you?"
And from then on, MC became MC Devorak, a palace servant and younger sibling to Pasha and Ilya who both loved the family's newest member to death.
Never again did MC have to worry about being alone, not with two amazing older siblings looking out for them!
*~*~*~*~*~*
Alrighty! Here's Portia's story with little MC. Thanks to SammyToon for the request! I hope this lived up to the expectations.
Thanks a bunch, guys!
- Fandoms <3