Chapter Text
Microphone walked through the sunshine that scattered through the clouds. She was in a fabric gown, a little cheap, but functional. A couple people smiled at her as she walked past. She smiled back.
When you lived in a poor community, you began to learn that kindness will get you the furthest. If you knew how to get along with people, you’d be able to climb the ranks. That’s not necessarily why Mic was nice, she just thought being nice was polite. But it definitely helped her socially. She would clean for those who couldn’t, help the locals wash fruit, or even share rations when harvests wouldn’t go well.
She was on her way to a local tavern, where sometimes she sang. She was going there to meet her best friend, Soap, who she’d grown up with in the neighbourhood. Soap had recently been employed to work as a chef. For the queen. Now living in the castle walls, Soap and Mic hadn’t seen much of each other.
As she entered the wooden shack, she smiled at the brewer and took a seat. As she waited and waited, the stool under her body grew uncomfortable and achy. However, that feeling faded as the familiar, pale girl came into sight through the door. She noticed she looked less skinny and was wearing some kind of satin, instead of the run down cotton herself wore.
“Hey, Mic,” she grinned as she sat down, “Sorry I was late. Getting in and out of the castle is a much bigger deal than it should be. Something about sneaking contraband? I don’t know. Anyway, it’s been forever!”
The taller girl nodded eagerly. “I know, I haven’t seen you in ages! How’ve you been? How is it, yknow, working in the literal castle?!”
“Oh my god. You know, they like, eat actual meat there every day?”
Her eyes widened. “No way.”
“Yeah! And- and literally, there’s like, fifty plates at the table at once. I would know, I cook them, hah. But it’s insane.”
“Yeah? I can see you’ve put on a little weight,” she gestured to Soap’s arms. She wasn’t fat, she just wasn’t to-the-bone skinny anymore.
Soap shrugged. “The amount of food I have to make at the castle is crazy. I mean, considering we had to eat, like, whatever’s leftover… It makes me a little mad.”
“No, yeah. I knew they ate luxuriously but not that luxuriously. Fifty plates?”
“Oh, at least.” The blonde girl laughed as she took a sip of her mauled wine.
Mic stared in disbelief. “That must be tiring, Jesus.”
“I mean, I get a place to stay, and I get food for free. Yeah, it’s tiring, but worth it. Anyways, how’s it going with you?”
Mic shrugged as she traced her dark, slender fingers along the table. “Not many people have hired me lately. I mean, I’ve had to lower my rates and everything, and even then, no one wants me to clean.”
“What?” she said in disbelief. “But you’re like, really good at what you do.”
“I mean, there’s only so good someone can be at cleaning a house, Soap.”
“Yeah, but still! What- even your regulars?”
She sighed. “Yeah. Some of them have had to let me go. But it’s okay, I’m sure it’ll pick up soon. When people can afford stuff again, it’ll be better. I mean, I did a few hours at this rich couples house, but that was a couple weeks ago.”
Soap leant against the wooden beam next to her. She furrowed her brows in thought. It went quiet.
“What?” Mic asked.
“I’m just thinking.”
“Thinking what?”
Soap played with her straight hair in one hand. “There’s been rumours there’s a shortage of maids and stuff. In the castle. Maybe I could just, like, hint that maybe I know someone who can clean and stuff and is good at their job…”
“Soap, there’s a shortage because the Queen keeps executing them.”
“Come oooonnn,” she leant back on her stool, hands on the table, with a whiny expression, “we’d see eachother every day, and you’d be provided actual food and water, and also you’ll technically be royalty. Oh- and you have a comfortable place to sleep and everything. And yknow, you’ll live in a castle! Please. It sucks without you.”
Mic sighed, tugging at her afro a little, a habit she had when in thought.
It was tempting. Risky, but tempting. If she did well, she would have the rest of her life without a thought, with food on the table every day. Living in luxury. A comfortable bed to sleep on every day. Water that didn’t make her ill. And, she’d be with her best friend every day.
But, if she made one wrong move, her head would be cut clean off in a second. And also, she didn’t know if she would have the heart to leave everything behind. The smiles she got on the street, the markets every weekend, just the community. It all meant so much to her. And she knew she would feel guilty.
But she couldn’t keep living day to day. She’d rather be dead and fed than alive and hungry. And plus, she doubt she’d actually be let in anyway.
“Go on then.”
Soap’s eyes lit up. “Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh my god, I’m so smart. That was such a good idea from me,” she grinned as she finished her glass. “I’ll make sure to really sell you. Just try not to make any bad impressions in the next few days.”
“I appreciate it,” Mic smiled, dimples sinking like craters in her cheeks.
“Microphone, we might actually see eachother.” She grabbed her and Mic’s hands. “We could be living together! Mic, I’ve missed you so much. It gets so lonely by myself in that endless castle.”
They both smiled widely at one another. As the night continued, the sky washed into a dark blue colour, the paths lit up by torches. Both of their glasses were empty, and they were both in a lively conversation. It’s when Soap looked outside, that her eyebrows shot up. She suddenly looked panicked.
“Oh fuck, awh-, I- I was supposed to be back at dusk! I’m so dead!”
“Dead literally, or…?”
“No, don’t worry,” Soap reassured. “I just don’t wanna lose my job. I really need to be off.”
“Well it was amazing seeing you!” Microphone beamed.
“Same to you! We need to catch up soon. Maybe when you’re in the castle…” she smirked.
Mic chuckled. “Maybe. See you soon!”
“Okay, bye!”
Microphone watched Soap speed up and run off into the night. She smiled. She hadn’t seen the girl in a long time, so it felt amazing to catch up with her. But then the thing at the front of her mind came to light.
She picked up the glass from their table and placed them on the bar counter.
What on earth did she agree too? Working in the castle was way too much. She loved her life here. Even if she had to eat and drink like an animal, she liked it in a weird way. It was cozy and comfortable, and she couldn’t be living on edge. She’d gotten used to her peasant lifestyle. Why the hell did she say yes? She wouldn’t rather die whilst being full. What a stupid decision.
However, Soap had managed to make it that far without being sacked, or worse…
As she walked out the tavern, she focused her eyes on the dimly lit path around her. It was highly unlikely she’d actually hear anything back from them anyway. She kicked the rocks by her feet until she saw the candle lit up by her doorway. She took it in her hand and stepped inside, locking it. She used the candle to light up the other candles littered around the small house.
She placed a candle on the small countertop, with a stale loaf of bread on it. She grabbed the knife left on the top and cut herself a thin slice. The flame illuminated a little around her kitchen, and brought the mould on the slice to light. She sighed and cut around it. She grabbed a cup and sunk it into the bucket of water she had collected from the well earlier, choosing not to look at it. She sunk her teeth into the bread and took a sip of water.
It was lumpy down her throat, and the bread was rock hard. It made her stomach churn a little. But she was so hungry, she didn’t care. Microphone squeezed her eyes shut as she forced herself to chew and swallow the chewy and hard bread, and she had to take a few deep breaths to keep down the lumpy water.
She exhaled loudly as she put her cup on the side. She walked over to all the candles, blowing them out all except for one in case she woke up in the night. She then sat on her bed It was a wooden frame, with a rug laid atop it and a pillow stuffed with straw. Her head hit the pillow and her body twisted and turned against the creaking wood. She covered herself with a spare rug she had been able to haggle for at the markets.
Despite tossing and turning, sleep took her pretty quickly. She’d been running about all day, so her body was able to shut down pretty quickly.
———
A couple days had passed.
The sun bled through her window. It lit up the entire room so she could see everything. Her stomach felt a little funny, but when didn’t it? She brushed it off. She grabbed herself a cup of water and forced that down, heading out into the sunshine. She had made sure to grab a couple gold coins before she left.
She made her way down the bustling paths, people running throughout the town centre. The markets were open today, and there had been a food shortage due to the failed harvest last week, so everyone was desperate to grab something. She pushed through the mobs of people and made her way to a stall.
“Hey, Baseball, I see you have more stuff than last week,” she smiled at the man behind the stall.
“Yeah. It’s still not… amazing… but it’s good enough. I think people will take anything these days.”
Mic looked over the different fruits. There wasn’t many there, and they all had rough spots on them. It was hard to find one that didn’t have a patch of green somewhere.
“How much are the apples?” she asked.
“Two coins.”
“Two?!” she gasped.
Baseball sighed. “We’re all struggling for money here. I’m sorry, Mic. These are my last crops.”
Mic huffed as she looked down at the selection. She furrowed her thin brows. “Not even a discount?” He usually gave her one, but she understood. He needed the money as much as everyone else, maybe he couldn’t afford to give anyone discounts.
“I’m sorry.”
“One coin? And I help you run the stall next week?”
He shook his head with awkward guilt.
“No, no, it’s okay. I understand.” She picked up an apple and fished two gold coins out of her pocket. She placed them into his hand. “Have a good day! I’ll see you here next week?”
He nodded with a smile. “You too. Take care!”
She wandered off to the other stalls as she took a bite into the apple. It was a little soft and bruised but it blessed her mouth like tasting heaven. It felt amazing to taste something fresh(ish). She was about to walk up to another stall, selling bread which she could feed off of for the week, but quickly spun around as her pockets suddenly felt light. She reached down into them, and felt they were empty. Her eyes darted up and she saw a faint figure speeding off, but they were way too far to catch up to. She groaned in frustration.
Of course she had been pickpocketed. Why wouldn’t she have been? She only needed to buy her weekly food. She buried her head in her hands and audibly whined. She then stared at the floor, searching for possibly loose coins, but to no avail. Her face saddened as she had to turn back and head home.
———
“Please, MePad, she’s an extremely good cleaner, and she can take care of everything. She’s got delicate hands. She focuses on every detail. She’s cleaned for nobles, and rich people, and they’ve all said she’s amazing.”
The advisor sighed. “Soap, you’re supposed to be in the kitchen. If Her Majesty, Taco, sees you out here in the halls, you’re going to be penalised.”
“You know she needs some more staff around here.”
“I mean this in the nicest way possible, but you were hired four weeks ago. Don’t make me regret it. I will be able to find appropriate candidates on my own, thank you.”
She sighed, “Aren’t we running low on laundresses and servants and housekeepers?”
“Yes. The Queen doesn’t even have her own personal maid. We have been taking shifts doing her laundry and cleaning her room. But that is none of your concern. You are a cook.”
“Yeah, but I’m just saying, she can help!”
MePad crossed his arms. “I can find help on my own. Okay? I appreciate your concern, however.”
Soap sighed and tied her hair back up. “Yes, okay. I understand. I should leave before someone sees me.” She turned around, disheartened.
Just as she was about to walk off, MePad began, “What’s her name?”
She smiled broadly. “Microphone.”
“…How long has she been housekeeping for?”
“Ten years? Around that… She started young.”
MePad nodded firmly. “And where about does she live?”
“Just by the Market stalls in the town nearest the castle. Ask any of the locals, they will know.”
He had this blank expression on his face, but his eyes showed appreciation. He nodded. “Get back to work now, and I won’t tell anyone you weren’t at your duty.”
She grinned and nodded, then walking off.