Nadine R. Valencia
Nadine's heart began to slowly race as she entered her room, the footsteps of the unexpected young man following her ringing out like thunderclaps through the sudden comparative silence. The girl herself was starting to worry, wondering how she was supposed to react to this awkward pause, when the snake-ring-boy behind her suddenly stopped. She turned and glanced back, noting that he was standing hesitantly on the threshold of her door, frozen as though he had struck some sort of an invisible wall. Judging by that and the look on his face, Nadine quickly realized that he felt just as awkward about this as she did.
"A-ah... Sorry..." Nadine apologized quietly, a blush forming on her face as she turned her eyes away, gazing down at the floor where she stood at the room's center. "I shouldn't have... I didn't mean to make you... I..." Stammering, she began to fidget nervously with her fingers, unsure of what to say, at last finishing lamely out of a fear she'd never finish at all, compelled by the awkward silence all around her. "Sorry," She repeated at last. "I-if you want to, you can come in... But if you don't, I-I understand..." The flush covering Nadine's face darkened, turning to a deep scarlet as little pinpricks began to run up and down her body, prodding her with sudden, inexplicable feelings, like an itch she couldn't scratch, reminding her fully of the embarrassing nature of the situation she had trapped herself in.
A sudden reassessment of her position told Nadine that she was now standing right next to the unused bed at the center of the room, an object the proximity of which gave her a sudden surge of discomfort, as it, too, began to weigh on her mind, telling her again and again how awkward the situation was, and why. Grasping at nonexistent connections now, Nadine instead scampered over to her nest-like chair in the corner a little too quickly in a frenzied attempt not to embarrass herself and the man she was now entertaining as a guest. Sadly, it seemed this effort was doomed to failure also, since the moment she sat down, a flurry of movement from the doorway drew her attention, as she watched in momentary confusion, then dawning dread, and finally complete, crushing humiliation as the man spoke in a stammered, embarrassed voice that matched her own.
""M-mistress, I-I did not s-see anything..." He hastily affirmed, answering a question she hadn't asked. While that should have reassured her, instead it told her two things: firstly, that there was something to be seen, and secondly that he knew it, which meant, obviously, that he had, in fact, seen it, and was simply denying it in an attempt to preserve her dignity. While she might have appreciated the gesture, that appreciation was drowned out by overwhelming shame as she hastily pulled as many blankets over herself as she could, giving a quiet squeak of surprise as the blush on her face continued to deepen.
"A-a-a-a-a..." She stammered incoherently. "I-I-I'm sorry... I... I wasn't thinking, and I..." She got no further than this, her voice trailing off into muffled, high-pitched apologies that were so quiet and broken as to be completely unintelligible, suffocated equal parts by her shame and by the blanket she had pulled halfway over her face, held with trembling hands that were reddened by the humiliated flush that had expanded to cover her entire body. Although the man then began to introduce himself, his own words swiftly trailed off in much the same manner as her own had, leaving both of them in mutual, awkward silence, two ashamed voices trying and failing to speak the words they felt obligated to say. But, at last, the boy spoke, and said the words both of them knew had to be said, and both of them had dreaded equally, shattering the last vestiges of dignity the girl might have had left completely and utterly in that moment.
"M-mistress, would you mind... putting some clothes on?"
Before the words had fully finished leaving the blue-haired man's mouth, almost as though Nadine had simply been waiting for this moment to act, her hand forced and her mind made up instantly by the embarrassing request the man now made, several things happened at once. First, the girl gave a quiet gasp, as though caught committing a horrible crime, and the scarlet hue staining her face became more pronounced than ever. In the next instant, she had crossed the room in the blink of an eye, overturning the small tea table and the basket of the chair in which she had been seated, and scattering the blankets that had covered her across the floor. Covering what of her chest showed through her somewhat revealing nightclothes with one hand, she swiftly raised the other, grasping the door just outside of which lingered her follower, and pulled it closed as fast as she could, although she waited for the man to get the hint first, not wanting to strike him with the thick wooden portal as it shut it. She took the time in which the door remained open to offer a hasty apology.
"I'm sorry," Nadine said quietly, her voice sounding rather broken and hurt, and her countenance full of complete humiliation as she swiftly shut the door. Although it might have just been a trick of the light, it seemed as though a faint stream of liquid trailed from her deep blue eyes, a few well-mastered but ultimately triumphant tears of shame streaming down her cheeks. "P-please e-excuse me." And with that, she swiftly shut the door.
.....
For a few minutes, the door remained shut, and silence reigned supreme in the air, broken only by the occasional opening and closing of drawers, shifting of furniture, and muffled, indistinguishable sounds from the room's owner. Nadine might have been crying from utter dismay and discomposure, but if she was, she hid it well, silencing herself as best she could in a well-intentioned effort not to further embarrass her guest. And, when the door opened just a short while later, it was clear Nadine had done her best to make up for her initial faux pas. The room was once again in order, with the furniture that had been overturned in Nadine's initial start set back in its proper places, and the girl herself now properly dressed in a simple, long-sleeved white blouse and knee-length black skirt, beneath which she wore matching knee-high black stockings, and over all of which she had draped a soft white blanket as a sort of mantle out of a lingering sense of exposure and embarrassment. If her face had been stained by tears a moment ago, they had been skillfully brushed away, and did not appear to ever had existed, although a faint scarlet tinge still showed in her countenance. She opened the wooden portal softly, almost silently save for a quiet creak of the door's hinges as she slowly and uncertainly gave it a gentle push, allowing it to swing open, for the most part, on its own. Appearing from behind a crack in the slightly ajar entrance, she still seemed very nervous, a fidgeting hand placed against her pursed lips as she shyly motioned silently for the man outside to enter if he so wished.
"S-sorry..." She apologized yet again. "I was a bit surprised this morning... So I rushed out of bed without getting dressed, then got caught up in everything with breakfast and didn't have time to change..." Her words were softly spoken and slow in coming, but she had managed to overcome her seemingly constant stammer, at least. "Sorry to make you feel awkward... I didn't intend..." She trailed off again, and at last turned, opening the door a little wider behind her as she made her way back to the comfort of her corner, not wanting to make the man stand out in the hallway any longer, as well as trying to buy herself some time while she thought of something sensible to say to keep the conversation from lapsing into awkward silence. Then, she remembered: the man had introduced himself before, right? And, come to think of it, he'd been calling her "Mistress" the entire time. That felt... really strange. It was nice being respected, but she didn't like it. It wasn't a title she deserved, and so she decided that it would be best to introduce herself immediately and rectify the awkwardness in the conversation.
"Err... Sorry for not introducing myself before... I was a little... flustered..." She said weakly, turning herself around, but not averting her feeble gaze from the floor beneath her feet. "I-I'm Nadine. It's... n-nice to meet you... Jian?" She used the evidently Chinese - his features seemed somewhat Asian in appearance, but she'd guessed Japanese at first, to be honest - man's name uncertainly, not because she couldn't remember it - on the contrary, her recollection of such things was quite good, actually - but rather because it seemed a little strange, suddenly addressing him by his name. "E-er... do you mind if I call you that?" She asked nervously. "S-sorry. I'm not very good at talking to people." For what seemed like the millionth time, she yet again apologized, driven by an honest desire not to seem rude, but probably coming off as rather pathetic and insecure - which, really, she admitted sadly to herself, she was.
Yet again, she found that the conversation had taken a turn into awkward silence, and so she once more wracked her brains, searching for some way to make things seem a little less strained. At last, she settled upon her solution, deciding that right now it would be best to play the hostess and simply figure out things as she went along, instead of immediately trying to force a questioning. She had made the young man Jian feel uncomfortable enough as it was. It wouldn't do to continue this way.
So, pulling out the armchair opposite her own customary basket seat, she offered it to her guest, with a gentle, timid voice. "Y-you can have a seat, i-if you like..." She murmured, before moving over to the small cabinet in the corner. "Er... Would you like some tea? I could make some, if you want..." She once again volunteered, hoping she could somehow wipe away the shame of the past five minutes, but not finding in herself the courage with which to try and do so. As it was, she could barely manage to even keep on talking, her voice stifled by her fear and embarrassment. How was it that her friends managed things like this? How was it that anyone could cope with talking to another Human being they'd only just met? It was so difficult, so confusing... Nadine didn't think she could handle this, and yet, there didn't seem to be another option. As it was, her heartbeat was already quickening, her features swiftly becoming bathed once again in a blush that only deepened as time went on.
Nadine couldn't help it, nor did she even bother to deny it anymore. Interacting with people was something she simply could not do. She was, perhaps, the most awkward Human ever to walk the earth, and, in her opinion, when faced with a dialogue... she was completely, utterly, and hopelessly pathetic.
Sorry... Forgive me for being such a failure at social interaction... I'm trying my best, but I just... can't...! Was what she wanted to say, but she couldn't find the courage within her to say it. And so, yet again, the shut-in girl lapsed into pitiful, ashamed silence, not even capable of raising her eyes to the level of the gaze of the one who was supposed to be her servant.