There's a rat in the kitchen, what am I gonna do?

Posted on Wed Apr 12th, 2023 @ 11:01 by Rebecca McMillen & Valjean Beaumont

Chapter: Prologue: Dawn of Avalon
Location: Kitchen, Avalon Institute
2387 words - 4.8 OF Standard Post Measure

"Putain de bordel de merde." A loud clang of iron hitting the tiles on the kitchen floor, followed by another string of French swearing. "Faites le tour de ce côté-là!" Valjean was now on his knees, with one of his duplicates rushing around to try and corral the rodent back towards a waiting third copy that was holding a large frying pan. "I swear, if I get my hands on you, you Scottish plague infested vermin." Loud squeeks of the rodent were echoing around the kitchen and were probably audible even outside of it. The small critter was in a right panic, rushing under a low table to prevent being hit and wounded, or worse, killed.

The prime Valjean grabbed a broomstick and stuck it under the kitchen isle to try and coax the foul beast towards the waiting trap on the other end. All he could do was blindly swing the stick back and forth as the light didn't quite extend far enough under the counter-top to allow him to get a good view of the creature.

"Is everyone al... Whoa whoa whoa what's going on!?" came the voice before the form. Rebecca ran into the kitchen to see the scene, chef after chef after chef... but that wasn't her concern at the moment. There was a frantic, pleading cry for help. Terrified screams and fear summoned the blonde to the room, an advocate for those without a voice.

Well, without a voice that folks could understand.

"Move, move, I'll handle her." and in the chef's own kitchen, Rebecca started to head towards the isle, where that poor creature was trapped. "Trust me, I can handle this."

All three Valjeans took a step back when someone suddenly burst into the kitchen and started shouting over them. "Just scare it towards me, I'll make sure it's painless." The French chef with the frying pan in hand called back. "I'm sure this'll do the trick as well." The one with the broomstick added. The third one simply crossed his arms and took a step back, "By all means. Handle it."

To the two that were armed, Rebecca shook her head fiercely, "No." she said to one, "No." she said to the other, then turned the more reasonable of the French trio and gave a nod. "Keep your two siblings calm while I do, please. Sorry about that, but.. but you just can't hear her the way I do."

With that, Rebecca knelt down next to the island, "Shhhhh, it's alright now. No one's going to hurt you. I told some of the others that this place isn't safe." she paused for a moment. Two of these three were armed and ready for action. The final brother, possibly their elder, seemed more reasonable. She gave that one another little nod before she returned her attention to the kitchen isle. She put a hand out under the isle, "I'll take you somewhere safe, girl." and the response she got back was just a few squeaks from under the isle.

"She'd feel a lot better if you two took a bit back." she offered up to the duplicates armed to the teeth, as it were. "You're scaring her." there were a few more squeaks from under the furniture. "Mmm hmm, uh huh I see. She said she's sorry about this, but everything just smelled so wonderful, and she was hungry so she just wanted something to eat." another pause from the blonde, "Hey now, don't be like that. Us critters gotta stick together."

The two armed Valjeans looked at each other a bit incredulously. Still not quite at ease with the wispy woman coming into his domain and asserting her dominance in the situation. Without further discussion the two of them stepped back. The third one, clearly not seen as a part of this leaned forward. "So you whisper to rats?"

Rebecca gave a nod, "That's the closest I can put to it, yes. They're not fantastic chatters, they don't have a lot of words, but I understand what they're trying to say and they understand me. I can, I don't know, I can feel what they're feeling. She's afraid, and hungry." she pointed out, not as a reminder but as a demonstration.

"Tell you what, let me put her outside, and I'll tell her not to come back in here. Rats and mice are mostly lead by their stomachs, but they recognize danger when they survive it." she paused, "Had a few times where knowing the rats really helped me out on the way up to Avalon." she paused for a moment, then withdrew her hand and cupped the scared rat in her hand. "See? Not so bad. Now you stay right there." she chided the rat in her grasp. "I'm glad you came out, thank you. Otherwise I'd have to come down after you."

Valjean, all three of him, looked at the mousey stranger talking to the critter in her hand and as they got rid of their various weapons they almost synchronously folder their arms. "Why don't you do that." It was only when she mentioned coming down there after the rat that he noticed the tail swaying behind the young woman. "Can you become one of them?" He hadn't really considered that, and immediately wondered that if he would've encountered her in that state and hit her with the pan if that would've killed her. Had there been other mutant creatures he had killed in a similar fashion?

"See? Not so bad now?" she coo'ed to the sizable rat in her hands, even going so far as to give it a gentle pet pet between the ears. She turned after to address Valjean prime, as it were. Or rather just the speaker. The initially unarmed one. "Well, yes and no. I can shrink to the size of a mouse, but I'm still a person. I'd have to wear mouse-themed pajamas to really be mistaken for a mouse."

"Okay, so what's the fastest way out that has the least number of people?" Rebecca looked around the kitchen, "Also, do you have a cracker or something? It's for her, but it's not a reward for breaking in." that last part she directed towards the intruder. "These places are dangerous. People are dangerous. Promise me you'll be careful?" and the rat's response seemed to satisfy Rebecca.

"Cracker? A Cracker?" One of the Valjeans responded incredulously, as if she had just asked for instant noodles in a three star restaurant. "Non, non, non." He shook his head and folded his arms when another one rolled his eyes and sighed before scooping up small hand full of croutons he had prepared from last weeks bread for this weeks salads. He endeavoured not to have things go to waste.

"You're giving that rodent our finely crafted croutons?" The third Valjean huffed.

The chef offering the snack looked back over to him, "It's stale bread baked in olive oil and 'erbs."

Rebecca glanced over at Valjean Two, and the offering of croutons. She took one from the pile, to spare him having to get closer to a rat than he might have been comfortable with. She offered it up to the rat, who gave it a sniff sniff before claiming it. Nibble nibble nibble.

"What do we say?" she chided, and the rat paused in its feast before resuming. "That's better. She said thank you." and gently the blonde rose up with the cargo in hand. "Lead the way. Let's get our little celebrity out discreetly."

The Valjeans sighed in unison as they stepped closer to each other. For a moment it seemed like they were going to bump into each other. The energies releasing as they recombined left a bit of a ripple in the air, when for a moment it seemed like three people were inhabiting the same spot in the kitchen. A lone Valjean stepped out after the effect had ebbed away. "Follow me." He walked towards the back of the kitchen, there was a servant's entrance at the back to allow for easy and discrete resupply, something a lot more relevant back in the olden days when the whole thing was built. "I 'ave not seen you or your rats here before. How many more of them do you 'ave?"

Rebecca watched, and was about to warn them to watch out, when the ripple washed over them. When she looked back she blinked, now only seeing one. Questions, but questions for later, "O.. okay."

As they walked, she responded, "I'm new here, that's why you haven't seen me. My name's Rebecca, I'm the newest addition. I think. Oh and she's not my rat, just a rat rat. I don't have pet rats, it's... it's weird when your pets actually talk to you, it would be odd to keep one as a pet when i can have a conversation with one."

"She's not one that helped me make it here, probably a local. Hard to tell, and they don't like being asked. Something about telling on their own doesn't sit right with them." She offered a shrug. "But I'll ask her to spread the word that this place is..." she paused. "This place isn't safe. For them."

"Good." Valjean looked at the critter in her hands sternly before looking back towards the latest rescue in Claire's care. He wondered what it was about that woman that made her compelled to spend all of her wealth and time and energy on trying to accommodate, safeguard, and teach strangers. "Being able to talk to your pets is an appeal, non? Many people talk to their cats and dogs, despite never getting any response."

"It's an appeal until you can. One of those monkey paw wishes." Rebecca commented, "See, people do talk to their cats and dogs all the time, but they do get responses. A meow, a wagging tail, excited bouncing, a headbutt. There's a whole language there." she was silent for a beat, "Imagine being able to talk to cats, and going into a pet store. Could you walk out with just one?"

"If you have a pet that you can actually communicate with, the line gets blurred. Would it be fun? Exciting? Sure.... for the one outside the cage." she gave the rat in her care a gentle pat on the head, to which it responded by just nibbling on the crouton more. "Dogs and cats have it easy. They don't have cages."

"Je suppose." Valjean remarked more inwardly than anything else. He hadn't really considered the full ramifications of his off hand remark as much as she seemed to have. It made sense of course, she'd been living with it for quite some time now. "I'm guessing you're new faculty. Teaching or Support?"

"I'm the new art teacher." she responded with a cheerful smile. "Don't worry, I'll make sure the kids wash up before they head to lunch." she said in jest. "College wasn't fun, until I heard about some new technique America was working on, where you could take all your classes through the computer. Which helped me out a lot, since it meant I could attend and graduate without having to worry about my older sister keeping me from my classes."

"You know how older sisters can be." as though that were the universal explanation for what happened. "But that's how I got my degrees." she paused in her speech, "Though, I guess now that I think about it, I'm kinda both. Teacher, and support. Just cause the bell rings doesn't mean I stop helping the kids out." she smiled, "And don't worry, I know what you meant. Given the fact that I can kindly ask the cri... rats and mice if they'd peacefully vacate, thinking I'm some kind of pacifist exterminator isn't too far out of the realm of possibility."

Valjean had given up on teaching the students there manner when it came to eating with any semblance of decency, so he didn't really care whether they came in to eat covered in paint or clay or whatever she'd have them working with. "Do you teach art theory? Or just the practical side of things?" He pulled the doors closed and locked them again before making his way back to the kitchen area.

"Honestly, I haven't gotten that far yet in the planning stages. I mean, theory isn't much without some hands on, and knowing what you're doing isn't half as fun if you don't know WHY you're doing it, so I guess a little of both. I don't want to say I'll figure it out as I go but, I think that's the case. BUT, the least I can do to make your life easier is at least TRY to impress upon them that acrylic doesn't go well with soup." she smiled.

"They will realise this themselves soon enough." Valjean didn't seem at all impressed by the promise, nor did he think it was going to do any good. "So long as they keep the chairs and tables clean. Which they don't already, so what's the point really." He gave a shrug, "You made sure the critters will not be returning?" He asked as he took up a position near the stove, arms across his chest, seemingly waiting for something.

"She won't be back." Rebecca indicated. "She'll pass the warning along to others, but that's not going to hit every rat and field mouse in the region. If you see any more, just let me know." she said, a smile on her features. "I'd much rather teach them, and let them go, than risk hurting them."

Then something dawned on her, "And, I'm very sorry I barged into your kitchen to stop you."

"You are forgiven." Valjean commented on the apology, at least this time someone intruded upon his realm to do something worthwhile, rather than just come in and take in any foods they pleased. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll have to prepare for the dinner rush."

"Oh of course." And the mousey blonde took a step back first. "I'll leave you to it." not wanting to take up any more of the triplicate chef's time, she bid him adieu and returned to the rest of the manor.