Charlotte Liddel - Tumblr Posts
‧₊˚ ⋅ ꒰১ ᯓ ☆ㅤ˗ˏˋㅤ𝑾𝒆𝒍𝒍, 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔. Of course, it wasn't as if he didn't welcome KIND ADULTS. In fact, it was quite the opposite. He had the misfortune of encountering MANY adults in his lifeㅤ—ㅤand out of all of them; only one of them had been kind to him up until this point. But he didn't want to complicate the matter of bringing his FATHER back to life even further. He had even been been reluctant to bring Mademoiselle Domi into it. It had just been the best idea at the timeㅤ—ㅤwell, until it turned out that it wasn't.
˚ʚ ☾ ɞ˚ㅤ˗ˏˋㅤㅤHe wasn't used to an adult being THIS concerned over his well - being. Now, he actually had to think. There was no way he could just bring this woman to his actual ' home ' and think she would ACCEPT IT. There was another thing he could do; take her to where his ' caretaker ' lived. He didn't LIKE the idea nor did he like his ' caretaker 'ㅤ—ㅤbut in the very least, he knew that the man was REASONABLE enough to play along and let the woman on her way. The Comté probably wasn't going to be too happy with HIM though.
˚ʚ ☾ ɞ˚ㅤ˗ˏˋㅤㅤ❛ㅤIt's a LITTLE far ! I actually rode my dog, Etoilé here ! I probably could have walked it on my own, but I get TIRED OUT easily ! She can take me back if you're that worried, Mademoiselle ! ㅤ❜
˚˚ʚ ☾ ɞ˚ㅤ˗ˏˋㅤㅤ—ㅤHe had a feeling she wouldn't take THAT either.
"Well, it's good you have someone that is supposed to be looking out for you, but I still wouldn't feel right letting you to wander back home on your own. That would make me irresponsible." Charlotte taps her chin in thought, tilting her head a bit. It wouldn't be too hard for her to escort him home and get back to the cafe without losing much time. Still, she wanted to make sure he was okay with her offering it since she was a stranger to him.
Deciding to be cautious was the best approach, and so she settled to lead into the offer after one or two questions. All this would depend on his answers of course, but she was ready to counter most excuses if she was given any. She was also ready to just safely shadow him if he lived nearby enough with one of her butterflies.
"My cafe isn't really on the more popular main thoroughfare, so I would at least like to know how far you'd be walking. Do you live close to here or far? If you live more than I few blocks I'd rather offer to escort you back." All it would take is one unlucky instance that would break any safety of his previous times going about the area himself. That was the burning worry that had her bothering to offer, alongside a desire to size up just who was in charge of this young boy.
She had a certain instinctual feeling that the boy was maybe lacking proper care. A feeling she really didn't want to overlook.
‧₊˚ ⋅ ꒰১ ᯓ ☆ㅤ˗ˏˋㅤㅤ—ㅤ𝒀𝒆𝒂𝒉, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒏𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍 𝒘𝒂𝒚 he was getting out of this one. Too bad she wasn't a VAMPIRE or something that he could have just easily ' convinced ' her with his book. He would have felt bad about it anyway. He certainly did after he had used the book to manipulate Mademoiselle Domi.
˚ʚ ☾ ɞ˚ㅤ˗ˏˋㅤㅤA glance was directed towards the small flock of butterflies lingering over the doors. Geez, she REALLY didn't want him leaving.
˚ʚ ☾ ɞ˚ㅤ˗ˏˋㅤㅤ❛ㅤYou didn't HAVE to lock the door, Mademoiselle !ㅤ❜
˚ʚ ☾ ɞ˚ㅤ˗ˏˋㅤㅤThe boy says with a pout on his face. But at least it looked like he had FINALLY surrendered to the woman. Hopefully there wouldn't be any unintended consequences. After all, his ' guardian ' wasn't the most welcoming person.
˚ʚ ☾ ɞ˚ㅤ˗ˏˋㅤㅤ❛ㅤOkay, fine. I guess if you're NOT going to let me out otherwise, I guess I'll let you walk me back !ㅤ❜
˚ʚ ☾ ɞ˚ㅤ˗ˏˋㅤㅤNext time, he was definitely going to THINK TWICE about walking into businesses !
He was certainly right she wouldn't take that excuse involving his dog either. Rather his explanation was met with a slight raise of her eyebrows and light flick of her tail. Even if he could rely on his dog, she really didn't want to be so irresponsible as she was taking whomever was supposed to be caring for him was.
"Well, despite my near equally short legs to yours I can happily walk quite far. And now knowing you get tired easily I couldn't possibly let you go home alone. Even with Etoilé being about to carry you." Charlotte was doing her best not to overstep too hard on scolding him, though she did wave her hand lightly in emphasis to her words, "So, I really must insist that I escort you back if you're rather far from home. Now no more little excuses, please."
She really wasn't going to let him give her too many more excuses, as she sent out a few other butterflies behind her to speed up locking up the shop. It rubbed her the wrong way to be irresponsible about him, and she wanted to better gauge the actual safety of the town. Escorting him was just not something she was going to be talked out of.
‧₊˚ ⋅ ꒰১ ᯓ ☆ㅤ˗ˏˋㅤㅤ𝑴𝒂𝒚𝒃𝒆 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒊𝒅ㅤ—ㅤbut he wasn't EXACTLY buying the whole ' protocol ' thing. Customers like himself probably wouldn't be too happy if they were just LOCKED IN while they were eating ! He knew that he certainly wasn't. But there were definitely far bigger things to worry about.
˚ʚ ☾ ɞ˚ㅤ˗ˏˋㅤㅤMaybe he would get lucky ! Maybe one of the maids that he knew his caretaker had would answer the door instead of him. But even then, how many people within the estate actually knew of his existence ? Not many; his caretaker had put a lot of effort into keeping him a SECRET after all.
˚ʚ ☾ ɞ˚ㅤ˗ˏˋㅤㅤApprehensive thoughts were interrupted at the sight of the small stack of boxes. That was a large amount of treats; more than he was used to receiving or acquiring through ' gentle persuasion ' with his book. Geez, she was so niceㅤ—ㅤhe was REALLY hoping she didn't have to deal with that man.
˚ʚ ☾ ɞ˚ㅤ˗ˏˋㅤㅤ❛ㅤWow, thank you ! I'll be certain to visit AGAIN, Mademoiselle Lottie !ㅤ❜
˚ʚ ☾ ɞ˚ㅤ˗ˏˋㅤㅤNot with friends and family though. He didn't HAVE any friends and family at the moment. Now, he was hoping that this little mishap wouldn't cause him any problems in the matter of getting his family back. Or that his caretaker won't be mad at him.
˚ʚ ☾ ɞ˚ㅤ˗ˏˋㅤㅤWell, he doesn't really have a choice but to more forward now. With that, he FOLLOWS the woman's lead as he steps through the doorway with his dog in tow.
˚ʚ ☾ ɞ˚ㅤ˗ˏˋㅤㅤ❛ㅤIt might be a bit of a walkㅤ—ㅤand I hope you don't mind DARK and CREEPY forests ?ㅤ❜
"Apologies, but it is protocol to stop other customers from meandering in when I'm closing. Just sit tight for a moment." She moved her hands like she was conducting an orchestra as she spoke, the butterflies now moving in a more organized fashion to speed up the cleaning. Some moved to draw the blinds and curtains, and others cleaned the tables with staggering efficiency.
It was only a few minutes before all the butterflies disappeared as their work was finished, and half of the lights in the building turned off when Charlotte snapped her fingers. An almost frightful display of her control over the interior of the business. If Mikhail had any questions before about her, she knew this display would cause more.
With most of the tasks sorted for closing, she made her way to the door with a butterfly carrying a string wrapped stack of two take out boxes behind her, "I put together a take away too with some of the other sweets you stared at in the bottom box. The top box has some assorted homemade dog treats; all made with dog safe ingredients." As she disclosed the contents of the string wrapped stack of boxes with a smile, the butterfly set it down on top of her open palm, "...Since I hope you'll visit again with friends and family."
She was trying to show she wasn't meaning to be too intimidating towards him, even if her actions were showing the certain measure of her firm opinions. His safety and happiness was paramount to her in the moment. She just struggled to know how to calm kids a lot of the time beyond her cooking and baking.
Opening the door with her free hand and holding it open, she gestured him to move with a tilt of her head, "Let's go, shall we?"