when seraphine woke up, nick was snoring softly beside her, his shirt half buttoned. she sighed, standing and walking around to his side of the bed, patting his cheeks slightly.

"huh?" he mumbled, squeezing his eyes.

"did you drink too much last night?" she asked, chewing softly on her bottom lip with concern.

oddly enough, the two had dinner alone, the rest of the family all coincidentelly taking leave that night early. wendy made a wonderful beef stew, so good for a moment seraphine forgot about the weird situation she was in.

nick had drank way too much wine, something sera was all too familar with, his relationship with alcohol.

"mhm," he just whined, rubbing his face.

sera got on her knees by his side, checking his forehead for temperature before sighing.

"i always told you to watch your alcohol...i'll go get you water."

seraphine got up to head for the door, she stopped when nick spoke.

"it's the only way to deal with it.."

she shook it off, opening the large mahogany doors. the hallways were all long and ominous. sera had forgot to put on shoes, and the pitter patter sound of her bare feet against the ground was the only sound.

where was the kitchen? seraphine realised she was dumb for believing she could pin point a location in this whole place. just then a door cracked open, and a sleep ridden alora stood behind it.

alora blinked, "seraphine?"

"alora right? i'm lost, where's the kitchen?"

alora looked at her as if she was insane, "wendy will prepare breakfast there's no need to-"

"i just need some water, please?"

the other girl pointed down a different hallway, "the servant's stairs are there, they go down to the kitchen."

"thanks..."

she could feel alora's eyes still locked onto her back as she walked down the hall. sure enough, a small, rickety looking elevator stood. she pressed a button, and quickly, it opened with a ding.

the interior was entirely wooden, and seraphine prayed she wouldn't get a splinter on her foot. lucky for her, the buttons were labeled by rooms, and she pressed the one written 'kitchen'.

the elevator smelled like flowers. sera looked down to see a rose, not yet dethorned, and she picked it up.

cassiel.

the boy from yesterday, this is what he smelled like. once she became aware that she was basking in his shadow, the entire space smelled like him.

she still didn't know who cassiel was, another cousin perhaps? or a sibling? seraphine wondered why he wasn't present at tea, didn't nick say his whole family would be there?

just then, the elevator re opened and revealed a kitchen that resembled the one in beauty and the beast a whole lot. sera stepped out, still gripping onto the red rose as she walked, looking for a fridge.

eventually she found one, putting the rose down onto a counter and opening the fridge.

"miss?"

the voice startled her and made sera jump slightly, turning.

wendy stood at the entrance of the kitchen, head slightly cocked as if amused, or worried.

"are you quite okay miss?" she asked.

seraphine nodded, gripping onto the fridge handle hardy then she intended, "yeah uh, i was just grabbing some water."

wendy nodded, making no move to stop her as she turned back to open the fridge. it was huge with a large assortment of products, but sera grabbed a fiji water bottle from the bottom left, and closed the door.

"next time miss, you can just call me using the bell."

seraphine frowned, "bell?"

"yes, in each room there is a switch that alerts me and the other staff member, then you can get assistance."

she couldn't help but notice wendy's non-existent use of plural, other staff member, was there only one other person? perhaps another maid.

"it's okay," seraphine said, brushing it off and using her hands to shrug, "i like getting things myself and i wouldn't want to bother you."

wendy's face quickly turned to concern as she rushed forward to grab sera's hand.

"miss, you're bleeding."

seraphine finally looked down at her hand, crimson red blood collected in blots like a constellation over her palm. it must have been the rose, the thorns weren't removed yet and she knew she felt a sting as she clutched it.

"follow me to the bathroom, i will help you."

"there's really no need-"

"i insist."

wendy grabbed seraphine by her wrist, gently guiding her through the kitchen to what looked like any normal bathroom. she sat sera down on a small stool, and opened the sink mirror to reveal there was a shelf behind it, producing disinfectant and some gauze.

"hold still," she reminded, holding sera's wrists gently again, wiping with a wad of tissue paper dipped in the solution.

seraphine held back a hiss as the medicine did it's job, she felt like she was feeling it's workings in real time, her skin swallowing the cuts.

"done," wendy murmured, wrapping her hand in gauze with such speed, you'd think she'd done it a million times before.

"thank you wendy..."

she stood, nodding, "ms finch you really should head to breakfast now, the rest of the family are waiting."

seraphine watched as wendy simply walked out. a lot of thoughts went through her mind, the main one being, when did she tell wendy her last name?

. . .

sure enough, when seraphine finally found her way to the quote 'dining hall,' most of the family was sat, doing their own thing whilst having breakfast.

alora was now out of bed, her blonde hair tied up in a high pony tail, already scrolling on her phone, typing away.

beside her sat darlene, who had her signature grin on her face, doing more talking to others then eating the eggs on her plate.

aure as usual looked absent from the place, staring down at his plate as if he hoped it would become a black hole and take him away.

beatrix looked exhausted, deep grey eye bags messed with the youthful look of her face, making her look like a ghost.

to seraphine's surprise, nessa was there too, engaged in what looked like a interesting conversation with nick's parents.

this included of course nick, who sat at the table across darlene. nick who what felt like just minutes before was hung over out of his mind in their bed.

"seraphine?" darla asked, her wide eyes finally noticing sera stand in the hall, still wearing her swan white night gown, hair unbrushed, water bottle in hand.

"i uh...nick!"

she took a step behind so that she was no longer in view of the family, and waited a few seconds before nick appeared.

"what sera?"

"what the fuck!" she whisper-screamed.

"why are you coming to breakfast in your pajamas?"

"i have a better fucking question! why are you just like...okay now??"

"calm down sera, fucks sake, i just felt better, can you go change and be normal?"

seraphine bit back a protest, huffing an 'ok' before turning to leave. miraculously this time she managed to find the staff's elevator on her own, pressing for it.

to her surprise, when the door opened, cassiel stood there, shovel in hand, eyes widening when he saw her.

"oh hi...cassiel right?"

"yeah..." his eyes trailed over her, stopping at her hands, "are you okay?" he asked, worried.

"this? yeah i'm fine, all good."

cassiel nodded, and she felt a bit odd, how did he notice it so quickly when her own boyfriend didn't?

"isn't this the staff elevator?" seraphine asked, confused cause there's no way someone related to nick seemed like they'd even think of using this elevator.

"i uh...work here?"

"oh uh..sorry..."

he cracked a small smile, moving his shovel aside slightly as he spoke, "the family elevator is on the other side of the hall."

"thanks.." seraphine practically ran away, her face peppered pink.

she stopped when she finally got to the family elevator, cursing herself.

why was she like this??

kalo's korner !

gonna work on slowly establishing relationships between sera and each of the characters...who's next?

also im obsessed with wendy she's such an icon.