Zidane had never been so drunk in his life.

Of all things, he had the distinct impression that someone's high and mighty butler had given him some instructions. So maybe when he ignored them he got punched right out of reality? Yeah. Something had happened to disconnect him totally. In a minute, he'd blink and the real world would swim back into Tantalus's headquarters and an addled political debate. Or maybe a game to find out who could remember his lines the longest.

For sure.

It wouldn't take too long.

Annnnny minute now.

Dammit.

Either he was too lucid to be drunk or this was simultaneously the best and worst trip he'd ever had. And he couldn't even recall what mind-altering substance might've caused this. He had a dim feeling that Quina had another reason for liking frogs, but granted he was not in a position to be thinking rationally.

The fact that he was in a dress that made no logical sense (what were these itchy lace cuffs for to begin with?) wasn't the distressing part. The distressing part was, there existed someone creepy enough to want Zidane in a dress, and in order to be in the thing, Zidane had to at one point have been naked in their presence. And presumably unconscious.

For some inexplicable reason he thought of Kuja and got an awful feeling in the pit of his stomach.

It made his tail lash nervously, again with that odd, constricted feeling. He rested the tip near his ankle and looked sideways at the bow tied firmly to the end, and for once he could think of no snappy one-liner to describe his utter bafflement.

"Yeah. I'm officially disturbed now."

The one coherent notion in his head had to do with drawing his daggers and cutting his way out, due in no small part to the fact that it was so much harder to scratch his ass through lace (and that was how he'd discovered the dress to begin with). But as he felt for his weapons, he noticed the others.

Oh. Hell.

While his first impression might've been a quick estimate of how far his image had just plunged, the more pressing fact was, they were both in similar clothing. That meant the three of them were more than likely in the same boat here, and Zidane hoped he was wrong about however they got in these things for more than his own sake. Of course, they could also be the creepers who did this to him in the first place, but Zidane didn't draw conclusions about a damsel until he had to.

Besides, maybe it was just his imagination, but he got the weirdest flash of deja vu when he saw the blonde one.

It was kind of tough not to flounce on his way over, but Zidane managed. "Hey! Are you two okay?" Normally, flirting came first. But Zidane had just woken up in maybe the creepiest situation he'd ever been in, and he had the unique opportunity to appear less threatening than he actually was. After all, Ruby couldn't always be relied upon to play minor roles, and Baku had a wicked backhand for uncooperative understudies.

So it took virtually no effort to lighten his steps, demurely tuck his disproportionate hands out of sight, and push his voice into the higher registers of a slightly deep-toned, tragically flat-chested young woman.

EXP: 568
Total: 284

Word Count: 1,400
EXP: 1,400/2 = 700

“Um…..” Terra was very confused and felt very bashful at the moment or more like embarrassed due to her current attire. Never in her entire life has she worn anything just so frilly. The length of the skirt isn’t a problem for her and this might surprise many as everyone’s first impression upon meeting her is that of a modest and conservative lady; however, she’s donned skirts and dresses that displayed her thin legs. Another thing that enabled her not to feel too conscious is the stockings she’s wearing so in one way or the other, she is still covered up although she is mindful of being careful when bending over. The color and the frills however, were something new and strange to her. Terra normally preferred warm and somewhat subtle colors. She didn’t hate pink, but she didn’t favour it either. Sadly, she is left with no choice as this is the attire given to her and she’d rather wear something then nothing at all.

Well, she had spent a good amount of time fretting over her attire, but she really must proceed to the swimming pool area as she has been assigned the task of cleaning it along with a couple of other maids. The green-haired lady had been taking advantage of the empty corridor to give another look over her attire through her reflection. Now that was done, she faced the direction of the doors leading outside and was on her merry way. She has yet to meet the maids who will be working with her although a list of the teams had been arranged, but she failed to take a good look at it. No matter, she simply thought that in one way or the other, she will manage to get along with them. Top priority was to get their area clean in time for a grand event their Master is going to hold soon.

Once she had stepped outside, she immediately walked down the path that led to the swimming pool. On her way there, she passed by the overgrown gardens that were just screaming to be pruned, trimmed, watered and attended to. She silently thanked the heavens that she didn’t have to deal with that, but then again, who knows how grand and big the swimming pool is, much less filthy. Of course, this was proven the moment she stepped into the swimming area and she immediately stopped in her tracks upon laying eyes on the mess that was laid out before her. Stray leaves strewn all over the place, chairs carelessly toppled over, the umbrellas in need of washing and some to be changed and there was the most revolting, disgusting, polluted water she has ever seen in her life. The nasty shade of green of the water caused her to wince and flinch and almost retch, but she somehow managed to refrain from retching right then and there.

It just looked nasty; the entire place that is. Hands clapped to her mouth as she tried to recover from the shock and dismay due to the current state of the area. And she was instructed to clean this entire area. Thankfully, she won’t be doing the job all alone, but she is unsure of whether or not they will be able to finish up right away. In fact, she has no clue as to where her companions are. She didn’t have the chance to check the list of who had been assigned to this area with her. She merely thought to herself that she needs to be patient and that in due time, they will arrive to assist her and besides, it’s unlikely they’ll not show up to do their work as they have been informed that their superiors will be checking on their progress. Terra managed to recover from the revolting sight of the filthy pool and turned her back to it so she may take a deep breath of the little clean air there is left. “Alright, what should I do first?” she thought aloud to herself as she faced the pool.

Standing there at one end of the pool, she took a few moments to simply survey the vicinity. Lots of rubbish strewn across the tiled floors and every piece of furniture there was needed to be washed and scrubbed thoroughly. Conveniently, there was a small pile of cleaning supplies neatly stacked and arranged at the corner. Immediately, she eyed the broom and decided to sweep up all the debris before mopping or anything of the sort. With that task set in her mind, she proceeded to the pile of cleaning supplies and took one of the brooms in her hand. She briefly noted how well-made the broom was the moment her hands wrapped themselves around the handle. Without further ado, she started brushing away the mess scattered all over the floor. Of course, it was easier said than done due to most of the debris being damp and soaked. After merely a couple of strokes with the broom, she was already perspiring quite a lot and her arms were already screaming to her that the broom isn’t helping at all.

Terra placed a halt with her actions and glanced over to the pile of cleaning supplies with the thought of the possibility of finding something more suitable for the task being somewhere there. She abandoned the task of sweeping and returned to the pile then started to go through it. She was very impressed with the amount of supplies and tools that had been prepared and she even found some tools that seemed quite out of place such as a chainsaw, some flashlights, a few pieces of toiletries, a safety tube that is normally used for swimming and even a couple of first aid kits. She couldn’t help but wonder if there was more to the task than it seems. Deeply intrigued and curious, she continued searching until she found a rake among the brooms and decided that this should do the job. Immediately, she grabbed hold of the rake and gave it a tug. She was met with resistance which indicated that there was something causing it to be stuck there.

Terra frowned and this time grabbed the handle with both hands as to apply more force on to it. She was never meant to do such labor jobs considering she was more of a magic-user, but she had no right to complain as she feared to be punished. It was rather difficult to maintain a firm stance with such a short dress and heels and not look unladylike although she doubt that she is able to remain elegant at the moment considering what she was doing. The green-haired lady struggled and grunted as she let out more forceful tugs and it wasn’t long before it finally gave way; however, she had released so much effort that she was met with the force of reeling backwards the moment it came loose. She was very lucky that she was spared from plunging right into the pool however she landed quite hard on her backside causing her to yelp and wince in pain. An odd sound that was something like heavy metal clanking distracted her from the fall and she looked up to see that the rake was chained to something. This greatly perplexed her. [coloro=indianred]“Why is the rake chained to the ground?”[/color]

Then a voice from afar was heard and she turned towards the direction it came from see someone who seemed to be half-creature heading over to the pool area. Finally, one of her partners have shown up. Oh! She suddenly realized that she was in an appropriate position on the ground and immediately sat up with her knees down as to refrain from embarrassing herself by revealing any part of her lingerie. She was spare from delving in humiliation when it occurred to her that the person/creature heading over to her was wearing a maid outfit as well. She honestly didn’t know whether to be shocked or to be highly amused. “U-Uhhh, I’m f-fine…” she managed to let out, eyes unable to stray away from the maid creature…boy thing. “I just fell after having a rough time getting this out of the pile.” She held up the rake for him to see with its end attached to some sort of chain that lead back to the pile.

It appeared she was the unfortunate bird who flew from one cage only to land itself into another.

It was frustrating, to say in the very least. Was she doomed to always remain locked in a servitude? It seemed to be the case, and if there was any way around the issue she could not see it – there was not even a simple loophole to point her in the right direction. To break these new found shackles of utter submission and service to yet another higher being would be next to impossible, she wagered. It was usually the case when one dealt with forces greater than themselves.

The only way she would get out of this reproachful contract with a being she could not place a name to would be to either die or complete the tasks that she was meant to do, she could tell. Already, she knew how her course of action would take place, and it was simple enough. If death or punishment would be repercussions for her lack of willingness to cooperate in a team with god knows who else, then so be it. She preferred the thought of embracing death anyway. It would go well with her supposed eons of wishing for an end to be quite frank. Thus, it would be better to view the odd situation as something in her favour – even if it was just another duty to servitude.

Her lips twisted in a faint scowl as her eyes surveyed the absolutely atrocious state of the area they were meant to clean up with haste. The horrible condition of which it had found itself really was appalling, and she could merely shake her head at the pool’s status. There were countless amounts of litter along the ground, made of an assortment of what she would rather not look too closely at. She wouldn’t even begin about the pool’s state.

Glancing around with increased, stifled irritation, she was already refusing the prospect of cleaning up. This was beneath her, cleaning up garbage and filth. She was the Demoness, a troll feared more than any other in her kind, a step up from even Lord English himself (although she was certain that, if he could bother himself with doing the dirty work without getting her to do everything instead, he would be the one who was feared before all others). So to stoop down to something so beneath her was what she considered to be a terrible disgrace. She would not go from the stirring bigotry, from aiding in bringing about cataclysms and dissent and contempt to merely cleaning up messes left behind by others or due to a ghastly neglect.

What a neglect it truly was.

Fingering the mandarin collar of her new ‘maid’s’ dress – which was oddly a similar fitting and fashion to the dress she was more than accustomed to; she wouldn’t be surprised if it was modelled after her own as it was – she scoffed lightly under her breath. Her objective was clear, or so it seemed to be: work with the team she had been assigned with, whoever they may be, and clean up what was clearly a disaster zone. It looked as if a violent tornado had raged through the premises and thrown everything as deemed possible about. There really was nothing more to say about the matter.

It would take forever to clear up all the debris and filth, and just thinking about it made her lip twitch and her eyes narrow. Far beneath her, it truly was far beneath her.

Despite the outfit she was forced to wear, despite the proverbial shackles that now bound themselves on her wrists once more, she felt from accommodating to the whims of the unknown figure behind the ridiculous notion of service. The idea in itself was appalling enough.

She was used to working alone, and now, having to meet the needs and expectations of other beings rather than just herself was aggravating. Perhaps this could turn out interesting in some way for all she knew, however. She could only wait and see, and she was more than used to the aspect of waiting for the show and tell. Before, she had all the time in the world. Now was really no different.

Pausing, she came to notice another’s presence and, turning her gaze nonchalantly on the other, she coolly observed the green-haired woman in her attempts to dislodge the rake. Offering no helping hand, she merely watched and felt the urge to scoff in scepticism. If it was chained, perhaps it was a sign that it was not meant to be used. Either way, even as she made her way over to what she assumed to be just one of her partners, she made no move to actually lend her hand and, quite conveniently, the last of the party came strolling up to them. How conducive indeed.

“As ‘okay’ as one can be in this situation,” the Handmaid drawled in clipped tones, eyeing the short male in his ludicrous maid outfit, an eyebrow raised at the slightest. The driving force behind the ridiculousness that was this servitude appeared to have this taste for humour and delight in its little game. She, for one, hardly found it amusing. An outfit was an outfit after all.

With her eyes drifting over to the woman once more, and to the rake she indicated, the Handmaid could only roll her shoulders in an infinitesimal shrug, rather nonplussed and uncaring of the predicament Terra had found. “My, that is a shame. Perhaps this chain has a lock of some sort, then.” Rather callous? She really could care less.

Experience: 950 / 2 (475)

Apart from being drunk to hell, Zidane was also stumbling into some pretty shit luck--or else he would have been facing Terra when she fell. Even around the shortest skirt he'd seen in some time he just wasn't catching a break today, eh well. At least the girl was cute. Come to think of it there was something a little familiar about her, so he wouldn't even be lying if he started pulling the deja vu gambit on her. "Hey, have we met before? Cuz I could swear I just fell in love with you twice over." Gold. He really should carry something to write this stuff down.

Anyway, much as he hated it, this wasn't really the time or place--and he wasn't in any kind of situation to pick up chicks, especially considering he might as well try to pass off for one as long as he looked the part. Though, there were ladies who looked for love in a softer, feminine way...he was getting distracted. Creepy dolled up prisoners. Right.

He probably should've seen their taller, greener partner-in-cleansing, but somehow she seemed to melt right out of their surroundings at him and made his tail fluff out in surprise when she spoke. Maybe he'd just gotten too focused on the distantly reminiscent one with the big doe eyes. Still, something about her sort of put him on edge; he wasn't sure if the dead tone in her voice came from hopelessness or plain boredom.

The rake baffled him immediately. Apart from some obvious broom work from one or both of them, it was the first thing to suggest that the maid outfits weren't just a fetish, but a theme, and for some screwed reason their mysterious captor got his rocks off to actual manual labor. Not that Zidane was complaining in the face of the alternative, as long as this wasn't leading up to something worse. But apart from whatever happened to him in between not being in this dress and finding himself in it, it rankled him to think that someone could've messed with either of these ladies in the same way.

"Jeez, what a--" He coughed. "What a weird thing to do to a rake, if we're even supposed to use it here." Despite, and maybe even because of living in a den of thieves, Zidane was no stranger to cleanup duty. Depending on how disgusting headquarters got every week or so, and how many of Tantalus were lolling about waiting on jobs, there was about a one in nine chance of Baku getting fed up and turning over a few beds (or bodies where there weren't beds) until the bleary-eyed stragglers grudgingly got to work.

That said, Zidane's idea of "good enough" wasn't everyone's definition of "clean."

"Anyway, I'll see what I can do." Where the rake was concerned, he didn't have much optimism. From what he could see of it, the chain looked melded to the smaller metal tube between rake and handle, meaning he'd have to take the thing apart to get it free of the chain. He hoped their invisible observer (because the perverts always watched, he would know) didn't really expect them to work with such a limited form of tool. But he couldn't be certain until he got a closer look.

So in the meantime, a little chivalry wasn't out of place. Zidane only just remembered not to bend with his knees apart (regardless of what was ladylike or not), and rested one hand on them as he stooped. "Need a hand up?" he asked Terra, offering her the other.

EXP: 600
Total: 584

[/LATE AS FUCK, sorry girls]