"Anise! You never told me you'd given up your pay to my family! You're so kind to me...I couldn't ask you to do that, oh, but Anise!"
Anise's eyes widened considerably as she felt a very warm embrace. She wasn't quite sure where it had come from, but she nearly stumbled backwards from the unexpected affection. Her cheeks flushed a bit, until she realized that it was Tanzy. A smile crossed her features, and she hugged the light haired girl back, "It's no problem.. my mother doesn't deserve it, and we very well cannot keep the money." She added with a lighthearted laugh. Honestly she just wanted the money to go to someone deserving, and Tanzy had a nice family from what she had heard of them. It wasn't a big deal, she asked Reiji way before he began to hate her.. He was quick to accept the payment change. It was one less different variable for him to sign, or something like that. He always spoke in a complicated manner, and despite her intelligence, Anise wasn't officially educated. Her mother just happened to be a fallen noble and taught her many things when she wasn't beating on her.
"But more importantly, you'll be ok from now on! You don't need to fear anymore- the master won't harm you."
Anise's eyes widened again, but this time in fear for poor Tanzy. What did she agree to? Reiji wouldn't just promise to leave her alone without some sort of deal on Tanzy's behalf. Did Tanzy really sell her soul on her account? She didn't have time to ask, so she shot Tanzy a small smile, "We'll talk later. See you soon." and she followed behind Mirabelle without shuffling her feet. She didn't want to annoy the blonde female, because in the end, despite the kindness she often showed her, Mirabelle was still one of her employers.
“Jane must still be getting the carriages ready, so Anise, do you mind helping me dress, and I’ll give you something warmer to wear? I’m not sure if I have any shawls, but I know there is a heavy hooded cloak in there. It’s a deep purple and I think it would look lovely on you.”
"It'll be my pleasure, mi'lady." Anise bowed, continuing to follow Mirabelle along. Purple? Anise always liked the color. Red, blue, and purple were her favorites. Then Mirabelle mentioned it would look good on her, and she blushed a bit. She wasn't used to receiving direct compliments from the masters or the mistress of the castle. It made her a bit nervous to be completely honest, but she knew she had to reply or else she'd come across as rude, "T-Thank you, Lady Mirabelle." Anise began to inspect Mirabelle's room. She'd only been inside of it once, when Katerina was doing everyone's hair at the ball, but it didn't look much different. It was extravagant and tidy, very feminine. It suited her well.
“Mind lacing me up?”
She noticed that Mirabelle was getting dressed quickly, and she did notice that Mirabelle was fairly skinny, but she didn't find her unattractive. She approached immediately as she was asked to help lace up the dress, and Anise nodded, "Of course not. You look gorgeous in this color, Lady Mirabellle.." Anise smiled gently. It was the first time she'd helped someone dress since Anise first showed Alice how to put on her maid attire. Anise gently took the strings of the corset, lacing it expertly. She had to do this since she was a child, considering her mother was always too drunk to dress herself, so it was up to Anise to dress the both of them or they would have never looked presentable in public. It didn't take long, and Anise made sure to meet the fine line of just tight enough and leaving enough room to where it wouldn't squeeze Mirabelle's lungs out, "There you are, mi'lady. I hope it pleases you. It's been quite some time since I've laced another's corset." She replied, softly laughing at herself for a moment. It was the first time she'd ever laced a gown for a vampire.. In fact, some of the Lords were dressed by their maids, and Mirabelle was dressed by Jane, and now Anise.. she was kind of glad that Castiel and Bishop always dressed themselves. She doubted she would mentally survive having to dress her employers.
Eventually they returned downstairs, and returned to Bishop who had Jason in tow, obviously irritated by the fact. Anise sent Jason a quick and kind smile before Bishop's eyes turned to either of them. Though his next words kind of concerned her. She knew to not take his words too seriously, but this was rather specific. She couldn't help but overthink this statement;
"Is there some stupid made- up holiday dedicated to being annoying that I'm not aware of? Almost everyone seems to be doing a damn good job of pissing me off the past twenty four hours..."
Anise, despite her better judgement, was beginning to worry that she was one of those annoyances. Did she also get on Bishop's nerves today? She didn't mean to, but perhaps he truly was growing angry with her? Was that why he admitted to threatening her life to Alice? He then flipped off Demetri, Anise's eyes widening. She'd never cussed or done anything like that before, her mother would have beaten her lifeless for doing something so unladylike.. but it was also something she rarely saw men do. Bishop was one of the very few that openly expressed foul language and she was a bit taken aback. If he was flipping off his own brother, he must have been very angry today. I must have overestimated his tolerance for me.. I've probably been making things worse..
Anise clung to the cloak, hiding her features as she pondered on her worries. Though the feel of the fabric in her hands made the dark haired maid remember that she'd forgotten to thank Mirabelle for it. Her eyes immediately turned to Mirabelle and she blushed a bit, but accompanied it with a bright and grateful smile, "Thank you for lending me this cloak, Lady Mirabelle. I will take good care of it and return it washed and neatly folded." She assured the blonde vampire.