Jabber and Gab, wot!

[sweetmint]

Seaford heard Malum, but he did not openly acknowledge her or, indeed, any other beast besides Sedgewick until Bluebells appeared. Both Seaford and the eldest Peppercorn child jumped to attention, Seaford with practiced grace and Sedgewick with a wince and slight stumble.

Sedgewick could not resist a short, sideways glance over to the table his friends were sitting at; if there hadn't been enough attention around his family to begin with, there certainly was now that the badger lady had gotten it in her head to come over. He was disappointed to find they had finished and left by now. The young lancejack adopted an at-ease position and bit back a sigh, watching Bluebells; he had to bite back another response when he heard what the badger asked the ferretmaid.

His family was to be this ferret's guide? Surely... surely she wasn't going to stay? He found he could not return his ruler's smile.

Seaford, relaxing his salute but remaining at attention, stood with both paws clasped behind his back, elbows out. Since Bluebells had directed her attention to Malum, he did not interrupt, nor did he make any kind of outward expression. Inwardly, however, he was getting the same sinking feeling that Sedgewick was experiencing, if for different reasons.

With the distinct impression Bluebells intended to keep Malum at the mountain as a guest, Seaford did not know what to do about the matter. Vermin could not be trusted. This was a very simple, straightforward fact, and everybeast at Salamandastron knew it from the cradle. He knew it was useless, but determined to make an attempt at dissuading his Lady from this purpose if -- or when -- she voiced it.

[Malum]

Bluebells smiled at Seaford and Sedgewick.

"At ease please." She said.

She glanced at Trixty and gave another smile. Poor thing, probably always getting picked on.... If only there was a REAL vermin here, so they could tell the difference... She thought. But he'll prove himself.... In due time of course. She glanced around the room at the other hares. She smirked at the fact they were all watching her. She held her hands up, and they went back to their meals.

"So, Seaford and Sedgewick.... What do YOU think should happen to her? You may speak freely." She said, noting the expression that came across Sedgewick's face before, and how angry Seaford got at her.

[sweetmint]

Seaford, still expressionless and emotionless as he usually was, did not change position; when Bluebells addressed him, however, he did twitch an eyebrow upward, briefly. Being a captain, he wasn't normally consulted on such things. Was this when she would make her verdict on Malum? Somewhat surprised despite himself, he could only think to say, "Marm?"


Sedgewick relaxed when Bluebells gave him leave to do so. Normally, he would have taken the chance to try and impress her with his ability to remain stoic and every inch the military hare -- like Seaford appeared to be doing next to him -- but he'd hit his injured footpaw on the side of a chair, and hellsteeth!, but it hurt. Struggling to keep from looking like he was in any kind of pain, Sedge shifted position so that he wasn't putting weight on his footpaw.

When Bluebells spoke to the lancejack and his superior, however, he jumped to attention again, and where Seaford was politely confused, Sedgewick was utterly bewildered. He looked to his mother, as if for answers, then back to the badgerlady.

"Uh..." he muttered, almost at the same time Seaford spoke. "Er, beg pardon, m'Lady, but.... what should happen to who, exactly?"

[Malum]

Bluebells smiled.

"Malum, of course. I just want to hear your position though, and it dosen't mean I will do what you suggest. But, since I noticed how you, and most of the other hares look at here, I want to know what the other hares are thinking. So speak!" She said.

Malum's ears twitched in aggitation and worry. Her eye pupils turned into slits for a moment before returning to normal.

"I know exactly what they'll say... Oh, vermin can't be trusted! Drive her from the land, and if she stays, kill her! Blah, Blah, Blah..." Malum said. "It happens every time."

[sweetmint]

This time, Seaford did react: he put his ears up and rose both eyebrows. She'd noticed the way her hares were looking at a strange ferret... and those reactions surprised her? He was about to answer, working his face back into a mask of military aloofness, when Malum spoke out herself. He kept his silence, deciding to let Bluebells address that on her own. He'd had enough going back and forth with Malum and wasn't about to start another conversation with her now.



What the flip? Sedgewick thought once Bluebells had explained. Malum? Oh, yes, Malum. The ferretmaid. He looked at her. Bluebells wanted his opinion on what should happen to her, then? And the opinion of a low-ranking lancejack would matter... how? Still, at least he knew what was going on now. Mostly.

"Perhaps--" he began, but Malum spoke first. There didn't seem to be anything to say after that; Sedge still wasn't crystal clear on what was happening, and he didn't want to rush a response to somebeast as important as his ruler.

[Malum]

Lady Bluebells shook her head.

"Forget I said anything." She said, not wanting to go into detail about her dreams and visitations. "Just, relax, and eat."

Malum watched Seaford carefully, and slowly started to eat again. Hmpf. Pompus idiot. She thought, smirking as her mind said it.

[sweetmint]

[[Pompous idiot...! X'D ]]

If Seaford hadn't been confused before, he certainly was now. And interested. Why had Bluebells brought it up in the first place, then? He stepped back slightly and dipped his chin in a brief acknowledgment to his ruler. It wasn't his place to question the wisdom of badger rulers; he had never done so, and wouldn't start now. He turned his gaze to the reason he had returned to the mess in the first place, Trixty.

"Find y'commandin' h'offisah, young 'un?" he asked, referring to their earlier conversation in the dormitories.



Sedgewick, bewildered and not half as accepting as Seaford, did not think it prudent to voice his confusion being surrounded by so many of his superiors at once. And his family. Hesitating, he glanced at the seat Mercycotton had offered him earlier, then at the table his friends had been at -- now empty -- and finally to the door. He was starving, as any young hare should be, and doubly so being late for supper; but he wasn't sure this was the kind of company he wanted to keep himself in. Then again... several hares had left the mess already... and Captain Seaford, Brigadier Ffolger, and Lady Bluebells were there. It couldn't hurt. Too much.

Rounding the table in a few quick bounds, Sedgewick dropped into the chair across from his mother and promptly began filling his plate with food, politely ignoring every otherbeast in the immediate vicinity. Or he would have, if he hadn't suddenly remembered the reason his parents' food was so much better looking than what everybeast else had.

Ears straight up, Sedgewick came to smart attention and said, "Oh, er, beggin' y'pardon, mater, marm, and pater, sah! Happy anniversary." And then he buried himself in that glorious thing known as scoff.

[Lisolette]

Trxity blushed ear to tail-tip at Sedge's comment, "Er, er. Wot, ol' lad? Er? I-I'm afraid I missed the punch line." The ferret wasn't sure if that was a joke or not.

He was relieved when Captain Seaford rebuked his older brother.

The Peppercorns remained silent when Bluebells questioned Seaford and Sedge about Malum. Mercycotton was unable to give Sedgewick and hints. The badger Lady had questioned her son, not she. It would have to be his answer.

What Malum said got to Trixty. It made the ferret grimace and look down. But Sergeant Peppercorn was enfuriated with her. How dare that evil, dirty, murdering, torturing, stupid ferret controvict the hares of Salamandastron!? Did she not see what her own kind has done!? And here she sat, the ungrateful worm not caring that they had allowed her to live. They could've easily run through her with a sword, but this fool did not think so. Peppercorn absentmindedly grabbed the hilt of his dirk, though he wondered if he was going to use it or not.

"Find y'commandin' h'offisah, young 'un?"

Trixty nodded and pointed to Peppercorn, "I'm gonna be watchin' dishes and floors 'till I drown in soap-water, sirrah." He said, trying to sound happy, though he was actually depressed. Trixty spooned his soup with, well, a spoon.

"Oh, er, beggin' y'pardon, mater, marm, and pater, sah! Happy anniversary."

Mercycotton smiled winningly at the lancejack, "Thank yah' kindly, Sedge me ol' wick!"

"Nuttin' 'appy about it..." Peppercorn thought before saying gruffly, "Aye. Thank ye."

Trixty stared at his soup, and dropped his spoon. "Am I too be trusted?" He blurted out.

Mercycotton flinched, "Of course ye can, Trixty!"

"I know you can." Trixty sighed, "But what about you beasts?" He nodded to Sedge and Seaford, and saluted to Bluebells.

[sweetmint]

Seaford's gaze lifted from Trixty to Bluebells while the hare-ferret answered him. The captain almost couldn't resist the feeling of curiosity; he had the vague notion that something bigger was going on here, something... something important. It bothered him.

"I'm gonna be watchin' dishes and floors 'till I drown in soap-water, sirrah."

The officer's ice-blue eyes snapped back to Trixty briefly, then to the sergeant.

"Capital! Good show," he exclaimed, actually pleased. Seaford was of the opinion that good, frequent punishments made better, happier soldiers. Trixty's apparant lack of enthusiasm for the subject -- a common feeling in soldiers on a fizzer, really -- was slightly exasperating. Seaford never could quite grasp why these young 'uns didn't enjoy the thought of turning into better creatures through hard labor. The captain himself wouldn't have minded a fair reprimand. Simply mind-boggling...

And now there was the issue of Malum at hand again. He didn't interrupt the family while they exchanged short phrases, and might have shifted the topic back to the ferret if Trixty hadn't spoken first.

"Am I too be trusted?"

This was a night of strange questions. "Trusted?" the captain repeated. He could understand why Trixty would question his peers -- he was a ferret at the mountain of Salamandastron, after all -- but he had been raised to be a patroller, and a patroller he was. It wasn't that big an issue. "Provided y'don't do h'anythin' h'else to h'inspire distrust," he gave the young ferret a short, stern look, but didn't carry the reprimand any further. "h'Every soldier h'of Salamandastron is trustworthy to the 'ighest h'extent, 'tis part h'of who we h'are. Never forget that, Private."


Sedgewick, for his part, returned his mother's smile when she thanked him -- or attempted to with his mouth full of her and his father's anniversary dinner -- and made no immediate reply. He began to pick up on the Sergeant's mood, and began to question his decision to eat with his family. This feeling was further enforced when Trixty blurted out his question. Uncomfortable, Sedge stuffed the closest thing to paw into his mouth to avoid answering, staring hard at his plate while Seaford spoke. Definitely a bad night to get shot in the footpaw and made late for supper.

What with the presence of Bluebells nearby, the situation behind Malum's appearance, his parents' behavior, the twinging pain in his footpaw, and his already strained relationship with his brother, Sedge was quite unable to think of a suitable response. Swallowing hard, he finally managed, "er... wot d'ye mean, exactly?"

[Malum]

Malum watched as Peppercorn placed his paw on his dirk, her paw straying close to her sword. Yet, she shook her head, and placed her paw on the table, trying not to seem like she was angry.

"Am I too be trusted?"

Malum watched as the ferret blurted out. She almost smirked at the confused glances, and shook her head sadly, knowing exactly what he meant.

"er... wot d'ye mean, exactly?"

Malum rolled her eyes, and them gave a small smile.

"I think he means to ask whether you DO trust him. Or, he means, since he is a ferret, is he to be trusted, since apparently, all ferrets turn evil one point or another during they're lives." Malum said, thinking.

BlueBells stared at her in shock.

"You sound like a philosopher... And yes Trixty, I trust you completely."