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Sheril Kamelot didn’t like animals being in his house for the same reasons that he didn’t like the majority of his family members coming to visit: They were loud, messy, disruptive, and had a bad habit of destroying his things, effectively plunging his normally pristine household into complete and utter chaos. Sheril liked to run his household with military-like strictness and precision. Everyone and everything had its place, and he refused to tolerate so much as a single thing being out of line. And so while he couldn't control the comings, goings, and constant intrusions by the rest of the Noah Clan, he could refuse to accommodate anything attempting to enter his house that walked on more than two legs and did so with extreme prejudice.
His first mistake had been giving into Tricia; his frail wife had come to him after a visit to the country side, absolutely overjoyed and gushing about the horses that had been at the estate, gently dropping hints over the course of several weeks as to just how wonderful it would be to have some of their own. Begrudgingly, he had conceded to his wife’s wishes. Tricia was a simple soul, and she never asked for much, making it difficult to deny her something that would have been considered painless to any other person in his position. Besides, the beasts would be kept far away from him in a paddock clear on the other side of the grounds; he didn’t have to see them, smell them, or deal with them at all.
But that concession was followed by another when Road came running home from school one day, a large, slobbering mutt right at her heels. When Sheril's eyes fell on the scruffy stray, his lip immediately curled up in disdain as Road gave him a pleading look, her arms wrapped around the filthy animal's neck. His aversion to animals had been moments away from overtaking his love and devotion to his darling daughter when Tricia walked in and took note of their daughter fawning over the dog; Road immediately switched to begging the woman to let her keep it, leaving Sheril with little other option other than to allow for a second exception to his rule. While he didn't like the dog (though the dog seemed completely oblivious to this fact, following him around with a drooling grin whenever Road wasn't at home), he had to admit that it added another layer to his perfect family portrait: Beautiful wife, doting husband, adorable daughter, and a loyal hound. He wasn’t happy, but could live with this.
The mansion stayed blissfully calm and disruption free for several weeks after Road brought the dog home, Sheril filling the time with his usual agenda of politics, parties, and plotting in accordance with the Earl's plans. But as he sat at his desk composing a letter one quiet afternoon, his concentration was broken by the jarring barks of that damned mutt echoing throughout the halls. Slamming his pen down, Sheril abandoned his work in favor of finding a servant to go and restore the peace for him. As soon as he opened the door to his study though, a small dark shape darted quickly darted between his legs and disappeared into his sanctuary, followed closely by the dog who, not being the brightest of animals, also tried to run between Sheril's legs in its attempt to catch the other creature. However, being significantly larger than whatever it was that had just taken shelter in his office, the dog barreled straight into Sheril, knocking him off his feet and plowing right over him, leaving him stunned and more than a little pissed off.
Before he could even manage to right himself, Lulu Bell appeared in the doorway, her normally bored expression marred with concern as she stepped over him in order to pull the still barking dog away from the prey that it had managed to corner in the narrow gap between the wall and one of the armchairs in the room. She plucked the creature up, Sheril realizing that it was a damned cat, and cradled it in her arms, which seemed to mollify the dog, realizing that it wasn't an intruder in need of chasing and being eaten. Sheril was fuming as he watched his "sister" lounge in his armchair with the feline, paying him absolutely no mind as she cooed to both of the animals. He was so consumed with what was going on in front of him that he didn't notice that the Earl had joined them until the patriarch spoke, both startling him and enraging him even more, especially when Sheril took note that the Earl also had a cat in his arms.
"Afternoon, Sheril~" He chuckled lightly, a smile on his face, "I hope we aren't interrupting anything."
Sheril gritted his teeth, forcing his lips up into a smile. "Of course not, Lord Millennium. What can I do for you today?" He forced himself to breathe and calm down, making an effort not to glare at the beast that was purring contentedly in the Earl's arms.
“Oh, well Tricia had mentioned wanting a couple of barn cats and, well, our dear Lulu Bell happened to know just the right kitties for the job~” He lifted the cat in his arms, dangling it in front of Sheril’s face as it meowed, still purring.
“Then perhaps they ought to be in the barn, yes?” Sheril managed to squeeze out between clenched teeth. The Earl shrugged, carefree and relaxed as ever as he beckoned for the Noah of Lust to follow him, the dog thankfully trotting along after them and leaving Sheril on his own to lower his blood pressure back down to non-stroke-inducing levels.
The next blow to the order of the Kamelot household came after the incident in Japan with the Ark when the idiotic twins came crashing into the foyer in the middle of the night with. A. Chicken. Where had they even managed to find that thing? What was worse was that the shrieking little bird escaped from Jasdero’s hands, the blond twin chasing it around the ground level of the manor, absolutely wailing as it evaded capture, his twin folded over and laughing obnoxiously on the floor. Once the feathered monster was caught, Sheril had banished all three of them to the yard under pain of death if any of them were to step foot inside of his house again. Of course when Sheril came down stairs for breakfast the next morning, he found the twins sitting at the table with Road, food flung every which way, and the foul fowl perched atop Jasdero’s head like an ugly, squawking hat. Even Tricia was taken aback by the sight. But when Jas started crying at Sheril’s invitation to literally have the chicken for dinner, his wife forced him to compromise by keeping the bird in the barn, citing that fresh eggs would be a wonderful addition to breakfast each day.
Sheril vowed that the chicken was the final straw and that no other animal would call his estate home, regardless of the pouts and puppy dog eyes that he was sure to receive from one or both of his lovely ladies. He absolutely refused to compromise the state of his house any further. He just. Wouldn’t. Do it. Consequences and appearances be damned. So naturally, the universe saw fit to drop Wisely into his lap, which, while a bad situation on its own, was exacerbated by the white haired menace’s companion: A big, fat, slimy frog that the newest addition to the Noah family insisted had to be called “Gamako.” If the Earl hadn’t been standing behind Wisely at the time, Sheril would have turned the teen and his “pet” both back out onto the streets where they belonged. Instead, he was yet again forced to grin and bear it, silently making a mental note to ask the family chef about how to prepare frog’s legs, just for posterity’s sake. Not that he would ever have need for that information, though the nosy, mind-reading brat didn’t need to know that little tidbit.
As Wisely and Sheril duked it out verbally in the foyer below, Tyki parceled out some cash to his niece on the landing above, shaking his head in defeat as she giggled and smiled smugly.
“Damn, I thought for sure he’d put his foot down with the frog.” Tyki sighed as he lit up a cigarette, disappointed that his normally predictable brother didn’t take the bait.
Road shrugged, humming as she counted her winnings. “Don’t worry, Tyki~ Maashiima promised that he’d drop off a herd of rabbits sometime next week, so you’ll have another chance~”
“Hmmm, and Fiidora said something about flamingos…but sooner or later he’s gotta realize that he’s being punked.”
The Noah of Dreams rolled her eyes, hoping off of the banister and tossing a wicked smile back over her shoulder as she walked off, “Maybe, but what do you want to bet that we can get the Earl to show up with a crocodile before he manages to figure it out?”
Tyki, at least, was smart enough not to touch that bet.