The Duke and Duchess For Tea (Part 5))

JP with Redsword, Jaxx, Lucian, Lasersexpanther, mdman and Cindy

Vor perked at the Duke's words, having started to zone out with the talk of Maseo's family. He was glad that no one had noticed, his failing presence making him debate whether he should excuse himself. Seeing the clear joy about the Duke and Duchess kept him in his seat, never one to pass a moment for celebration.

Cronk was himself, sitting in the huge chair bought specifically for him. He took a drink from his bottle, then listened to the others.

He didn’t know much of The Pirate, having never really worked with him. As a friendly gesture, Cronk offered the man a drink.

Once he had everyone's attention the Duke proceeded, "Elizabeth, you have a good team. You have done a good job with everything. You all have." He looked at his daughter, who was sitting next to her mother. "Elizabeth, your mother and I have talked it over, and we are gifting this house to you."

Elizabeth looked surprised.

"Consider it a token for a job well done, plus this way you do not have to message me anytime you want to change something." Her father added.

Elizabeth hugged her mother, then got up and hugged her father. "Thank you, father. Thank you, mother. This is an amazing gift.”

Sung stands and gives a bow to the Duke and Duchess. "Duke Ellington, you give a great gift. But you do like to spoil Lady Elizabeth," said Sung respectfully but with a little banter in his tone.

Dr. Jackal was amused by the generosity of the Duke and his family. It was rare to find rich nobility to be humble and kind. He had met a lot more of them that were selfish and cruel. He raised his cup to the Duke and said, "You are most kind Your Grace." Lily also raised her cup as well as she replied, "Indeed. We fortunate to be in your care." Lily felt a bit jealous that she didn't have this bond with her father till the very end of his life. However she knew she could not change the past and needed to look to her future. She took solace that she was under the care of Lady Elizabeth and though it was improper to say it in the open, she was rather smitten with Dr. Jackal. Of course it also helped that she was on friendly terms with the rest of the team as well. So though she lost her father she did gain a new family in a sense and she was not going to lose this one.

Seeing the caring nature of Elizabeth's parents was worth seeing in person to Vor. It did make him miss his own, though if they were here he could see them becoming quite close with the Duke and Duchess. Ever doting if Sung's comment was to be believed and he knew plenty of that from experience. He raised his tea for a small toast.

"Lady Elizabeth has truly been an inspirational and dutiful leader. Indeed, the glue that holds us together.”

Masao looked at Cronk extending the bottle to him, "Yui would kill me but lets keep it our secret Cronk." he said taking bottle and a good swig, but had opted to be largely quite but locked in to the conversation unless questioned directly as he wanted to make a good impression given that so far his main job had been relegated to auspicious thievery at best.

The Duke thanked everyone for their words, then Elizabeth said. "Yes, thank you everyone. I do appreciate your kind words."

Elizabeth retook her seat, her mind already going through the possibilities of what to do with the house, now that it was hers.

Conversation returned to more normal topics, when Elizabeth turned to Vor. "Mr. Aster, I have a proposal which you might be interested in.”

Cronk nodded understanding to Maseo. “Secret safe,” he whispered, which was still normal level for everyone else. “Cronk secrets too! Who U.E.?”

"Yui..." Masao paused, with a slight smile "She, The Gods willing, is the woman I'm going to spend the rest of my life with,” he said, passing the bottle back to Cronk.

“U.E. good woman then,” Cronk held the bottle up in a toast, then took a drink.

He wasn’t sure what it was, but he liked the Pirate. In fact, Cronk almost said something about his good woman.

“Good woman hard to come by,” Cronk admitted.

Masao nodded "Better than good." He added "Way better. You'll meet her someday soon, so be on your best behavior for your pirate buddy.”

Sung smarks at the conversation between Masao and Cronk. "Quite the women indeed to pin down Masao." commented Sung lifting his tea in a semi toast to Masao.

Lily smiled as she sipped her tea. She found it amusing to see the other team members get along so well. Granted she was not as close to some of the members as she was with Lady Elizabeth, Mr. Sung, Dr. Jackal, Ms. Lagrave and Mr. Cronk, but the others seem to get along with each other in their own way. She took comfort knowing that she had a place and a new future to look forward to. Though she still had the matter of her father's funeral and the inheritance to deal with, little Lily was glad Lady Elizabeth would aid her in that matter since her so-called siblings could be an issue later on. She looked at the good doctor next to her and noticed he was smiling and drinking his coffee in silence. He seemed to like watching the others have a good time.

Masao looked at Sung. "Very much so." Masao said, "But it's much more complicated and doubtful proper conversation for tea time." he said

As Elizabeth waited on Vor's response she could hear the conversation going on in the background, getting a feeling the tale Maseo had of how Yui and him met must be interesting and wondering if she might ever get a chance to hear it.

Vor jolted from his thoughts after realizing he had been addressed and it wasn't just a part of the other conversations. He had been enjoying hearing the banter.

"Of course, what did you have in mind my Lady?”

—-

"I will be moving into my Father's office, which leaves my office free. I wanted to offer it to you, as you as the team's researcher should have an office." Elizabeth was just thinking it would give more additional space, and some place other than his room and the library to work. "Also, if you need any modifications made to the office, those can be discussed.”

Cronk never understood the importance of an office. He figured it was good for thinkers. Quinn had one too.

Cronk not being a thinker, and office was of lesser importance than a fine woman, whiskey, and a good weapon. Perhaps he’d ask Pretty Flower about a nice sized war hammer. He took another swig.

Vor was quite stunned at the offer, but didn't hesitate. His smile was genuine and his mind was already working out how to move things around.

"My deepest thanks, my Lady. While the library has been a pool of comfort for me, I won't spurn the extra working room.”

"Very good, then. " Elizabeth smiled. "Just let myself, Mr. Sung or Harold know of anything you need."

"Miss Lavigne, that leaves the next offer to you." Elizabeth stated, getting the younger woman's attention.

Lily put her tea cup down with a confused expression on her face. She just got the mail room organized and ready to be used by anyone, but she had trained anyone to replace herself yet. Lily wondered if the death of her father had changed her position. Then she replied, "Yes Lady Elizabeth? Are we moving the mailroom?" Dr. Jackal sipped his coffee as he noticed Lady Elizabeth was making some changes. He was curious as to how much she planned to change now that she had more leeway.

"No, the mail room will stay as is. You did such a good job organizing it, I would hate to disrupt that. However, as Social Liason for the team, you need an official office as well. There is a sitting room adjacent to my father's office, that I would like to turn into an office for you." Elizabeth then added. "I will be bringing in prospects to work in the mail room as that personal correspondence and you will have other duties that I will discuss with you in the future.”

Lily was relieved that her work with the mailroom was both appreciated and she got a promotion. Since the mailroom was designed to easily train anyone to use, Lily was glad that it would not be so hard to fill that position. She was glad to get a new office to decorate and organize for her new position. She was already thinking of making new SOPs or Standard Operating Procedure Manuals, once she learned the ins and outs of her new position. She replied, "Oh tank you Lady Elizabeth. I will do my earnest to perform my new duties to the best of my abilities.”

"Very good, I am rather certain the job will suit you." Elizabeth gave a smile to Lily as well. "Actually, I was thinking. Do you believe Clement could learn the mailroom with some training? He is fluent in both French and English and can write.”

Lily touched her chis as she looked up and imagined Clement working in the mailroom. Then she replied, "I believe so. I wrote detailed instructions for each category of letters and left samples to refer to. So if he can read, write and follow instructions, I don't see a problem with that. The other concerns would be if his penmanship is up to your standards and if he will ask for help on the mail that outside the instructions. If you wish Lady Elizabeth I can work with him to see if he can adapt?" Lily was happy to assist Lady Elizabeth in her work.

"Yes, that would be most appreciated." Elizabeth responded.

Clement was going to be thirteen soon, and was already the provider for his family. The new position would be a raise, and she had seen his handwriting. The boy was quite good. She thought he would do well.

"The other thing I would like to do to the house, at the moment, involves the whole team. I will be turning two of the sitting rooms into training areas, I believe that should be plenty for our needs. As it was they had outdoor areas to train as well. Does anyone else have any other ideas for the house?"

Elizabeth's parents both smiled and her father let out a laugh, "See I knew it was better to just give you the house.”

Dr. Jackal put his cup of coffee down as he smiled and replied, "Not at the moment. Unless my work requires new equipment I can't see myself needing anything else." Lily looked at Dr. Jackal and smiled before she looked at Lady Elizabeth and replied, "I am sure I will have some ideas for the new office, but seeing how many skilled team members we have, would we need an armory of sorts?" Lily sipped her tea as she waited for a response.

"Whatever either of you need, feel free to ask." Elizabeth responded.

She thought for a moment. "An armory is a good idea, though it should be a building away from the house." Elizabeth couldn't think of a suitable building at the moment but one could be installed.

Dr. Jackal then replied, "Well if Ms. Ipsum is involved, it might be wise to make it a military grade since there will be explosives inside. We have too many bystanders in range of friendly fire.”

"I believe with the expertise of Miss Lagrave, Miss Ipsum, Mr. Sung and, if he has the time, Captain Maseo we will have no problem with making certain a proper building gets put up." Elizabeth commented.

Cronk gave a nervous smile. He liked things to go boom, just not the house. He finished the bottle, then wandered around the room for looking for another.

Sasha nodded "Agreed that the 'armory' should be outside however a weapon out of reach does little good. We should have some measure of armaments inside and within reach." She said, "However, unlike if we were to be attacked, getting to those weapons might be impossible if we have to get away, out of the manor and to an out building.”

Dr. Jackal rubbed his chin for a moment at Sasha's words. He remembered that in order to save space for big equipment they made compartments that were hidden in the wall much like the one used to hold bodies in the morgue. He was not too familiar with using that for military use but it was possible. Then he spoke up, "Lady Elizabeth if I may. When you had that lab made, it was made with hidden compartments to allow for additional room. Would it be just as feasible to make similar hidden compartments in this estate as well? Maybe a fake bookcase with a secret switch to open it, so its not available to anyone?”

Elizabeth thought for a moment. "It is feasible. It would require a good deal of work done to the house to accomplish that. It is my understanding it is much easier to have those installed when the building is built than to add them later."

Elizabeth was wondering how feasible it would be, they did now have an entire extra room. "Of course, those members of the team that have weapons are always welcome to keep what they want in their rooms, and on themselves. The armory should be for the extra. It does need to be safe enough that if, for some reason, anything ignites it, the entire house isn't destroyed in the process."

The Duke and Duchess seemed to be listening in but made no comments. They were interested in how the team was working together.

Masao cut in. "Or they could just be stored in the rooms of people with the training to safely use them. Rifles under beds, pistols in bed tables.”

“War hammer to smash,” Cronk insisted, “in corner!” He was beginning to take to Maseo. He seemed to have some things in common with the orc.

"Captain Maseo, while that is fine for personal equipment, there still needs to be somewhere to hold the excess firepower and arms which would be available to anyone that knows how to use them." That actually included a few people on the team, herself included and Lily was to be trained in such matters.

Masao put up his hands in a placating gesture "I understand, simply suggesting I'd rather not run through a hail of gunfire to get to a weapon. I know my ship, not manors, you are free to ignore the suggestion.”

Sung had listened to the suggestions and orders of Lady Elizabeth. He watched his Grace for reactions. Sung did not counter any of the ideas, not that all of them he would approve of. Like training in the house that could be a bad idea as he thought of Crok smashing through a wall. There could be only so many doors in a house. Also building a Dojo outside would take little time to build and it works for training.

Sung Thought for a moment. "Lady Elizabeth, I think training in the House can be a bad idea with our team strengths. A dojo could be built on the grounds and they do not take long to set up." Sung started. "The firearms I would say a few can have them, if they are properly trained. We could use part of the cellar and store any arms we may need." suggested Sung politely.

"Captain, suggestions are always welcomed." Elizabeth said. She didn't mind getting input from the team members.

Elizabeth listened to Sung's suggestions. "We certainly could build those outside. I would like two or a large one split into two rooms. So there are areas for practice and to do training as needed without interfering with one another."

The cellar wasn't some place Elizabeth had considered for the excess firepower. "I think the excess firearms and guns in the cellar might work. I don't believe anyone staying in the house has more than a few personal firearms, those will, of course, stay with them. This will just be excess equipment."

Dr. Jackal then put his coffee cup down and smiled as he replied, "If this were a military base it would be easier to set up, but since we have civilians on the premises, it would be wise to add the need for safety. Children have been known to be nosy and we need to remember that we don't want to surprise the maids when they turn down our rooms and find any firearms dropping on the floor and accidentally discharging." Then he signaled for the masid to refill his coffee cup.

Elizabeth listened to Dr. Jackal before responding. "Dr. Jackal I do agree with that. The cellar can be easily locked and warded. As for the firearms in the individual bedrooms, I trust that those who have firearms in them, know enough to have them safe guarded." The team members, mostly, who had weapons were well seasoned with those weapons. Lily, who was being trained in gun use, was being trained by Sung and Sasha, two people with years of experience. Elizabeth trusted they would train Lily on the safeguarding of weapons.

Cronk said with a smirk, “Maid know what expect. Good to Cronk.”

He found and helped himself to another bottle. This one was filled with bourbon. Uncorking it, he sipped it, smiled approvingly, then took a hefty swallow.

The rest of Tea went on with small talk, eating and enjoying each other’s company. When tea was over the Duke and Dutchess excused themselves to return to their new home. Tea had been successful and Elizabeth went to her office to start jotting down ideas for the manor.