Hurricane Hattie on the Horizon

[ella_of_frell]

Who: Ella of Frell, Hattie of Ehvenn, Dorian of Gray (er, wait -- )
When: Today!
Where: Dorian's Place
Summary: Studying at Dorian's apartment after seeing to the 'mildew' problem. Hattie's paranoia leads her to the apartment.
Warnings: Hattie. :I And probably lots of arguing. And ... god help us all.


Still a little frustrated over Hattie's behavior of late, not to mention a few other things, Ella had agreed to see to Dorian's mildew problem. She was dressed in an altered version of the French Maid outfit that Haruhi had snipped to h-ll and back, having sewn a layered skirt over it so she didn't embarrass herself or give people the wrong idea. A knock at the door heralded Her arrival at the apartment. After they tackled this issue, they could work on those French lessons.

Comments

[mostbeautiful]

[Dorian opens the door, right at 2:30. He's tired, but glad to have the issue taken care of.

Seeing Ella is a surprise, but not an unpleasant one.]

Ah, Miss Ella. Hello!

[ella_of_frell]

[ Let it it never be said that Ella is ever late. She smiled a greeting, curtseying briefly. ]

Good afternoon Dorian. How are you doing? I'm not coming at a bad time am I?

[mostbeautiful]

Not at all, it's the exact time we discussed. I just expected Hattie, not you. I'm not disappointed though.

[ella_of_frell]

If you like I could go back and get her. [ Although Hattie would laugh in her face if she said that . ]

Hattie is just the owner. I'm helping out with the cleaning until she can get people to hire. ... So where's this mildew issue you have?

[mostbeautiful]

No no, it's quite all right. I understand.

The rot is in the closet. Here, I'll show you.

[ella_of_frell]

All right. Was that day you made the post about the mildew the first day you noticed it?

[mostbeautiful]

No, I noticed it when I moved in. I've just had other things to do. Then, I got sick.

[ella_of_frell]

It's been that long? [ She'd rather not mention that whole sickness thing. It claimed a lot of lives and frankly, she doubted he wanted to talk about it anyway. ]

Well I can't fault you for being busy - where is it, in the closet?

I'm sorry! I think I missed this notif!

[mostbeautiful]

Here...

[Dorian takes her through to the bedroom. It's rather small and a little untidy. Apparently Dorian isn't in the practice of picking up after himself.

He opens up the close door.]

It's in here.

[He looks up at it. There's a crack in the upper corner of the outside wall, and some mild mildew and some crumbled plaster. But, it's not damp and it doesn't appear that there's any large amount of rot.]

It's okay! :D

[ella_of_frell]

[ Ella carefully navigated her way into Dorian's room until she reached the closet. Resisting the urge to wrinkle her nose a little, she peered in curiously, and then followed his glance up. ]

I... don't think that's mildew...

[ It didn't even really smell mildewy. She reached up cautiously, to touch two fingers to the stuff -ew-. ]

Actually, it looks more like how the wood warps from darkness taint. My floor looked like this a few months ago, when some of that darkness stuff seeped in after hours. You might want to check on the protection for your apartment. ]

[mostbeautiful]

I'm sorry, I'm afraid you must think me daft. I'm a bit lost...

[ella_of_frell]

[ Ella chuckles lightly, shaking her head. ]

Not at all. I would probably have thought similar about what it was, if I hadn't seen the darkness taint for myself before.

But it looks like I can't help you on this one, sorry.

[mostbeautiful]

Well then what do I do?

[This is especially distressing, since he's always thought that 'darkness' stuff sounded a bit daft.]

[ella_of_frell]

Do you know anyone who's well versed with darkness protection? Or the manager of the building might be able to help you.

[mostbeautiful]

I-I don't. Do you? [Dorian's actually a little helpless.]

The manager? I don't know where he is. I haven't seen him since I moved in.

[ella_of_frell]

Hm... none that come to mind, but... I can ask around. The good thing is that this isn't a bad... leakage so to speak.

[ She shut the closet door, taking a step back. ]

But all the same you shouldn't let it go for long. [ Hands on hips. ]

I hate to say it, but your manager really sucks if that's the case.

[mostbeautiful]

It's been there for weeks as it is... oh my...

I wondered why the rent was so cheap... I just counted myself lucky.

[blondandperfect]

[When it comes to Ella, Hattie's patience is shorter than usual. After getting worried, she went ahead and headed to Dorian's place.. You know, to make sure that her stepsister was behaving. So! The doorbell rang once more.]

[ella_of_frell]

Well if it's been there for weeks, another day probably won't make too much of a difference. But let me make sure there isn't any damage anywhere el-

[ She pauses at the doorbell, glancing curiously at Dorian. ]

Were you expecting company? You can get it if you like, I won't be long.

[mostbeautiful]

Thank you, dear. I think I'd better.

[He excuses himself, stepping to the door.

As it swings open, he grins when he sees Hattie]

Well, hello there. This is an unexpected surprise!

[ella_of_frell]

[ "Dear"? Wait, did he call her that before? Way to clue in now, Ella. She hoped he didn't call her that in front of Hattie; she didn't need the girl to jump to more conclusions. Although she didn't know who had come to the door, it was clearly someone Dorian was pleased to see. She busies herself in the bedroom, checking the closet and for any cracks even though she had NO WORLDLY idea what she was even looking for. Once she was done here, she'd probably have to head back home before Hattie got paranoid. ]

[blondandperfect]

[Hattie gives a fluttering laugh.]

Oh Mister Gray, a pleasure to see you as well! I had just wanted to make certain that things are going well and that my employee is.. Doing her job.

[Hattie couldn't help but lean in a bit to try and peek over Dorian's shoulder.]

May I come in?

[mostbeautiful]

[Dorian understands, or thinks he does. He gives a light chuckle. Women are such jealous, squabbling creatures at times.]

She's doing her job, very well, thank you.

[ella_of_frell]

[ Ella would probably be a lot less pleasant to Dorian if she knew that's what he thought. XD Hearing Hattie's voice, Ella grimaced slightly, but walked out of the bedroom, smoothing the wrinkles in her skirt from when she had been on the floor, checking for additional signs of taint. ]

It looks like you're all clear, Dorian. Like I offered, I'll ask around about darkness protection for homes and see if we can't fix that leak for you. I might still have the number of the company that helped me last year, when I had that problem.

[ The same smile on her face, Ella curtseyed to Hattie since she still had to defer to the woman. And oh, how it grated. ]

I didn't expect to see you here, Hattie.

[blondandperfect]

O- Oh! Well.. Um.. Of course!

[She couldn't help but feel a touch disappointed that Ella hadn't done anything at all! But once Ella stepped out from.. Somewhere, her smile ended up quite forced.]

Hello, Ella. What do you mean 'darkness protection'? [Accusing glare. That's code for 'hanky panky' isn't it! Admit it!]