[The stupid thing is, if Penelope Eckhart were to try to rank the top worst things in her life, Callisto Regulus would still only come in fifth at best.
The worst, obviously, is her half-sister: the real Eckhart daughter, the spoiled trueblood princess of their shared father. The one she's always been compared to, all her life, and not at all favorably. In a way, she supposes, it makes a grudging sort of sense; there aren't many explanations for how two daughters in a family could have different mothers yet have birthdays only six months apart, and all of them point to a betrayal. She's just never understood how that somehow makes it the illegitimate daughter's fault, when it's not as though she ever asked to be born under the circumstances she had.
Second- and third-worst go to her second and eldest brothers, respectively. They've both never forgiven her for being born, either, but the younger brother's flashes of fiery anger are more volatile to deal with than the elder's icy distance. It's not that they're always unkind. It's just...hard to predict what she'll get, at any given moment. The younger can go from protective to accusatory in a heartbeat. The elder...looks at her, sometimes, a little too long and a little too heavy, before quickly retreating like whatever he'd seen had been insufficient, like she'd been found wanting.
Fourth is, tentatively, her father himself. He does...love her, in his way. He did give her his name, despite everything, and would help her if she ever asked. She just doesn't ask, because it's not worth it to have the others find out and torment her for it. He'd help her if she asked, but he never does it on his own. That's a bitter pill to swallow, and it's easier just not to swallow it all that often.
Which makes that insane privileged blond bastard fifth, at best, but that's nothing that should be taken as consolation considering the level of terror anyone would be up against for those first four slots. There's no possible reason someone like him could have any interest in her, after all, outside of some kind of nefarious scheme: she's not even a legitimate daughter of the Eckhart family, and their modest business ventures are nothing by way of comparison to his family's empire. There's no benefit to showering attention all over a poor second daughter who isn't even that pretty, and certainly isn't as perfect as her slightly elder sister.
In short, this has to be some kind of prank. When the hell is he finally going to decide he's tired of belaboring it? Following her around, pretending like he's doing her favors by showering her with his unwanted attention...she'd had to swear all her friends to secrecy about the places she works, for fear his stupid handsome mug might turn up at one of them and demand that she wait on him personally!
But now he's broken into her locker — and how would she even get him into trouble for something like that? He's rich and powerful! He'd snuff any complaint of hers out in an instant! — and the letter he'd offered had been so absurd that even after reading it twice she couldn't make any sense of it, so she just...hadn't. Maybe if she ignored it, it'd just go away. Maybe she could just avoid him forever.
She really should've known better.]
You really don't have to call me "my lady", you know — wait, you don't need to — I can — !
[Fuck. He's got her bag. And it'd be a big social faux pas to just snatch it back out of his rich stupid hands — she should've juggled her things better, ugh! — and. Fuck.]
Your highness, [she says, pointedly, because if he's going to do it then she will too.] maybe you can help me understand just what the point of that letter you're referring to was. It would make more sense to have been meant for someone else, and just accidentally ended up with me, wouldn't it?
[ derrick, eyes off... that's your sister and his ex-lover turned lover-to-be.
that said, if callisto knew what was on her mind, he would have been more offended to have only ranked fifth. negative attention was still attention, and he'd argue the closer they were to the top, perhaps then they would occupy more of her brain at any given time. if only someone told him that human affection didn't operate on the principles of object permanence... then maybe he also wouldn't be here.
to be honest, he already takes her lack of any real fight to reclaim her bag as permission enough.
penelope was smart, perhaps too smart for her own good at times, and he's sure if she wasn't declining, it's because she also methodically weighed her options. as it stands, though, he'll remain smarmy and arrogant and believe it's because she shares at least a shred of his affections. ]
... Unlike what you'd like to believe, my lady— [ he stresses it for a second time, because "Your Highness," he's actually quite fond of it? he makes eye contact with someone, who then swiftly makes their exit, avoiding them both as they slip into the nearest classroom. ] I do not believe anyone else could handle it.
[ the job offer, or the weight of his attention. ]
[Derrick, tragically, cannot be stopped. This will end badly for him someday. Probably at the hands of said aforementioned blond bastard turned soon-to-be brother-in-law. Fortunately, he's not here right now. Unfortunately, Penelope is.]
You don't think anyone could handle a personal assistant position? Don't you already have one — that brown-haired guy who always looks stressed out when he's around you?
[...Oops. That just revealed that 1) she'd actually read his letter thoroughly enough to know exactly what the job responsibilities of the offered position entail, and 2) that she's been watching him too, at least enough to know the people he surrounds himself with. And the fact that they're as exhausted of him and his antics as she is.
And the worst part is, when she'd read it, there'd been a solid minute where she'd just looked at the salary offer and thought — and thought of all the times she's had to wash her clothes to get the coffee smells out, the weekends she's gotten up before dawn to study because she'd be working the whole afternoon, the desperation to pick up every shift she can to make ends meet and still rarely have enough to even treat herself once in a while, while her friends are casually going for food after classes or buying new games that they don't even play or three pairs of shoes just to have their choice of color...
All that work, all that struggle, and this one job he's offering pays three times what she's managing on her own. Three times! It's insane, and she's not even qualified, and she hates the thought of the charity she knows it is, but...
But she's so tired. She's so tired, and he's not going to leave her alone anyway, and just once, wouldn't it be nice to have something just be easy...?
She draws a breath, squaring her shoulders as she looks at him, and tries to tamp down on some of the frustration in favor of the sincerity he claims to want.]
What I mean is, you seem to have this all figured out. So sincerely, just what is it you think I can do for you that nobody else can?
well, of course she had. he figured she couldn't not have, lest curiosity drove her to madness. or that's what his own delusion would say. but, he also think it's only reasonable. what sane person wouldn't want to have all the cards in their hands. there was nothing more dangerous than lack of knowledge. ]
Since he is as stressed as you claim, do you not believe you should take pity on him? You couldn't possibly be so cruel to ignore a man's distress? [ but, thankfully, he thinks he can warp this to his advantage. even if, ooops, he's implying she's heartless again. in reality, he thinks that's far from the truth. she's kinder than she initially comes across, and perhaps that's also why his eyes can't help but to linger on her.
he adjusts her bag in his hands as he continues walking in step with her. to be honest, because he watches her, the exhaustion shows through her otherwise collected appearance. it'd be nice if she weren't so stubborn, but alas...
he does give her a moment of truthfulness. ]
The most valuable thing of all. You would be my person. There's no end of qualified people, but having someone on your side is another matter entirely. [ he has no shortage of enemies even within the company. he'd rather choose someone who could be trustworthy over someone with could potentially have a million accolades and yet sooner stab him in the back. it's honest, in spite of all layers of ulterior motives that lie beneath that. ]
[Oh, no. No, no, no, she's not about to give in to manipulation like that, it's not her burden to relieve the stress that this insane bastard puts his staff through, it's his to lighten up on them to begin with —
Except that then, out of nowhere, unexpectedly — he says something that really does seem genuine. And not just genuine, but...lonely, almost? My person, he says, which ought to sound crazy and possessive and territorial but in actuality just sounds...like he's describing something he's never had. Or that he's had way too few of. My person, and it's enough to make her stop and ask herself whether she's ever had someone like that, someone who was just hers, someone always on her side no matter the circumstance.
(Her sister has no shortage of people like that. Every person is her person, it seems like. What would she know about being lonely?)
Maybe Callisto is manipulating her, saying that. Maybe he's deliberately trying to tug at her heartstrings. The awful thing is, it's actually working.]
...You know I...I wouldn't just blindly agree with you or anything. If all you're looking for is someone to tell you how great you are, then you're better off finding someone else.
[...But...]
So...if this is an "interview", then I should get to ask some questions of my future employer, right? Then what would you do if I disagreed with something you did? If I told you I thought one of your decisions was wrong, or not to do something because I thought it was a bad idea? Would you fire me? Throw me out a window? What happens to me, if you don't like the way I do my job?
[ perhaps, it's in that connection that they're actually quite similar.
callisto has no real insight into her circumstances, just that the tensions within her household was clear even from the outside looking in. but, who truly knows what goes on in another family? he presumes just like how most of the outside world don't know his, she may be in a similar set of circumstances.
rather, there would have been no explanation why her sister appeared to live in the lap of utmost luxury, and penelope was here, deliberating over his job offer. in spite what she thinks, it's not sympathy that drives him, but a desire to edge in a little closer to her heart. his words are also not a lie. he believes in the intuition he's honed over years surviving in a household where his own blood would deceive him for little more than pennies.
for a moment when he looks at her, he also wonders if she's feeling empathy? or if they did have a deeper connection than she'd like to believe. ] Do I appear lacking in those who agree with me? [ hello? he raises a brow, but...
also? ] Penelope. [ a rare instance in which he uses her name over silly titles and nicknames. ] Do you actually see me as a cruel person? If you're that concerned, I can agree to one promise. It is "your" job, after all. [ even if it's "don't fire me" and she decided to slack, that would be the least of his concerns.
but, he thinks the princess is far too responsible for that. if this would ease her mind, though. ]
[...Well, all right, he's got her there. If there's one thing Callisto definitely doesn't have a shortage of, it's people willing to bow and scrape at his feet. And maybe that makes sense. Maybe if what he really wants is the truth, unvarnished and real, then he's got to look outside the people who want something from him and go straight to the person who's trying her best to want nothing from him to begin with.
It's worth thinking about. Enough so that she's opening her mouth to answer his question (however rhetorical it might have been), when — when all of a sudden he says her name, and it's so unexpected that it stops her short, wide-eyed and blinking slowly as she tries to process what she's just heard.
Her name...it sounds really nice when he says it like that...
AUGH.]
I don't know enough about you to give an answer like that. You've shown me what you're like when you're after something you want, plenty of times. But that's not nearly enough to give me an idea about "you" as a person. It doesn't even scratch the surface. [And how's that for honestly? She's getting started already.] I don't think a cruel person would offer to make me a promise, though.
[It makes her think, though. Carefully. Meticulously. If he's willing to make her a promise, what's the one thing she wants most from him, really...?]
...Promise me it'll go both ways, then. The honesty. If I'm ever not honest with you, it'd be an offense you could dismiss me for anyway, right? So promise you'll be honest with me. And if you're ever not...then I get to leave, with severance and everything, and no hard feelings. That way...if you say I have value, then it has to be true. And if I say I agree with something you're doing, you'll know it's because I really think so.
[ in spite of his confidence that erred on the side of arrogance, he isn't as delusional as he feigns to be. he doesn't doubt that she has no shortage of her own thoughts on him, and yet... the words she speaks aren't anything of what he expects. it's not full of the presumptions he was used to, and why did it feel a little hopeful? as if she may have also sought to get to know him better? or as if she didn't mind at the very least.
though, that could be a generous interpretation. ]
... Is that all? You clearly do not have enough greed. [ she could have even made him promise a heftier paycheck, but if that's what she's opting on. he can't exactly say no. were this the world of a game, perhaps his affection meter would have gone up. but as it stands, he smiles and gives a small, subdued chuckle. ]
Very well. I will even sweeten the deal. You can commute with me every single, waking day. The more we become familiar with one another, the more truthful we can continue to be, wouldn't you say? [ he says this proudly, as if impressed with his own plan.
sorry penny. you give him an inch, and he'll take it miles. ]
If you think that promise makes me "underpaid", then maybe it's you who doesn't have enough generosity, don't you think?
[It's a test, a little bit; that much is obvious. After all, it's pretty unheard-of for a brand new employee to talk back to their employer in such a criticizing manner, isn't it? But if it's honesty he wants, then it's honesty he'll get — and maybe, just maybe, it's a first step toward making good on his requirement that she be "on his side". If he really wants to be a better person than a soulless corporate monster, he'll have to start hearing those sorts of things from the commoners beneath him, won't he?
Of course, it's a triumph that doesn't last long, with his idea of — wait a minute, how is that even "sweetening"?!]
— Wait, hold on, isn't "commuting with you" just another way of saying more hours of work?!
Unpaid? [ he repeats as if he's never even heard of the word,
but he supposed he could finalize the contract with a few more paid vacation days littered in there. though, there is going to be the unspoken caveat that he needs to know exactly how she's going to spend them. he mentally makes a note of this to unload onto cedrick's very capable shoulders.
as for penelope— ] Very well, I'll add in additional perks. And you can consider yourself "clocked in" from the second the driver picks you up. Then there's no complaints, correct? Besides, I heard early mornings helped build character.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
The worst, obviously, is her half-sister: the real Eckhart daughter, the spoiled trueblood princess of their shared father. The one she's always been compared to, all her life, and not at all favorably. In a way, she supposes, it makes a grudging sort of sense; there aren't many explanations for how two daughters in a family could have different mothers yet have birthdays only six months apart, and all of them point to a betrayal. She's just never understood how that somehow makes it the illegitimate daughter's fault, when it's not as though she ever asked to be born under the circumstances she had.
Second- and third-worst go to her second and eldest brothers, respectively. They've both never forgiven her for being born, either, but the younger brother's flashes of fiery anger are more volatile to deal with than the elder's icy distance. It's not that they're always unkind. It's just...hard to predict what she'll get, at any given moment. The younger can go from protective to accusatory in a heartbeat. The elder...looks at her, sometimes, a little too long and a little too heavy, before quickly retreating like whatever he'd seen had been insufficient, like she'd been found wanting.
Fourth is, tentatively, her father himself. He does...love her, in his way. He did give her his name, despite everything, and would help her if she ever asked. She just doesn't ask, because it's not worth it to have the others find out and torment her for it. He'd help her if she asked, but he never does it on his own. That's a bitter pill to swallow, and it's easier just not to swallow it all that often.
Which makes that insane privileged blond bastard fifth, at best, but that's nothing that should be taken as consolation considering the level of terror anyone would be up against for those first four slots. There's no possible reason someone like him could have any interest in her, after all, outside of some kind of nefarious scheme: she's not even a legitimate daughter of the Eckhart family, and their modest business ventures are nothing by way of comparison to his family's empire. There's no benefit to showering attention all over a poor second daughter who isn't even that pretty, and certainly isn't as perfect as her slightly elder sister.
In short, this has to be some kind of prank. When the hell is he finally going to decide he's tired of belaboring it? Following her around, pretending like he's doing her favors by showering her with his unwanted attention...she'd had to swear all her friends to secrecy about the places she works, for fear his stupid handsome mug might turn up at one of them and demand that she wait on him personally!
But now he's broken into her locker — and how would she even get him into trouble for something like that? He's rich and powerful! He'd snuff any complaint of hers out in an instant! — and the letter he'd offered had been so absurd that even after reading it twice she couldn't make any sense of it, so she just...hadn't. Maybe if she ignored it, it'd just go away. Maybe she could just avoid him forever.
She really should've known better.]
You really don't have to call me "my lady", you know — wait, you don't need to — I can — !
[Fuck. He's got her bag. And it'd be a big social faux pas to just snatch it back out of his rich stupid hands — she should've juggled her things better, ugh! — and. Fuck.]
Your highness, [she says, pointedly, because if he's going to do it then she will too.] maybe you can help me understand just what the point of that letter you're referring to was. It would make more sense to have been meant for someone else, and just accidentally ended up with me, wouldn't it?
no subject
that said, if callisto knew what was on her mind, he would have been more offended to have only ranked fifth. negative attention was still attention, and he'd argue the closer they were to the top, perhaps then they would occupy more of her brain at any given time. if only someone told him that human affection didn't operate on the principles of object permanence... then maybe he also wouldn't be here.
to be honest, he already takes her lack of any real fight to reclaim her bag as permission enough.
penelope was smart, perhaps too smart for her own good at times, and he's sure if she wasn't declining, it's because she also methodically weighed her options. as it stands, though, he'll remain smarmy and arrogant and believe it's because she shares at least a shred of his affections. ]
... Unlike what you'd like to believe, my lady— [ he stresses it for a second time, because "Your Highness," he's actually quite fond of it? he makes eye contact with someone, who then swiftly makes their exit, avoiding them both as they slip into the nearest classroom. ] I do not believe anyone else could handle it.
[ the job offer, or the weight of his attention. ]
Do you not believe you should match my sincerity?
no subject
You don't think anyone could handle a personal assistant position? Don't you already have one — that brown-haired guy who always looks stressed out when he's around you?
[...Oops. That just revealed that 1) she'd actually read his letter thoroughly enough to know exactly what the job responsibilities of the offered position entail, and 2) that she's been watching him too, at least enough to know the people he surrounds himself with. And the fact that they're as exhausted of him and his antics as she is.
And the worst part is, when she'd read it, there'd been a solid minute where she'd just looked at the salary offer and thought — and thought of all the times she's had to wash her clothes to get the coffee smells out, the weekends she's gotten up before dawn to study because she'd be working the whole afternoon, the desperation to pick up every shift she can to make ends meet and still rarely have enough to even treat herself once in a while, while her friends are casually going for food after classes or buying new games that they don't even play or three pairs of shoes just to have their choice of color...
All that work, all that struggle, and this one job he's offering pays three times what she's managing on her own. Three times! It's insane, and she's not even qualified, and she hates the thought of the charity she knows it is, but...
But she's so tired. She's so tired, and he's not going to leave her alone anyway, and just once, wouldn't it be nice to have something just be easy...?
She draws a breath, squaring her shoulders as she looks at him, and tries to tamp down on some of the frustration in favor of the sincerity he claims to want.]
What I mean is, you seem to have this all figured out. So sincerely, just what is it you think I can do for you that nobody else can?
no subject
well, of course she had. he figured she couldn't not have, lest curiosity drove her to madness. or that's what his own delusion would say. but, he also think it's only reasonable. what sane person wouldn't want to have all the cards in their hands. there was nothing more dangerous than lack of knowledge. ]
Since he is as stressed as you claim, do you not believe you should take pity on him? You couldn't possibly be so cruel to ignore a man's distress? [ but, thankfully, he thinks he can warp this to his advantage. even if, ooops, he's implying she's heartless again. in reality, he thinks that's far from the truth. she's kinder than she initially comes across, and perhaps that's also why his eyes can't help but to linger on her.
he adjusts her bag in his hands as he continues walking in step with her. to be honest, because he watches her, the exhaustion shows through her otherwise collected appearance. it'd be nice if she weren't so stubborn, but alas...
he does give her a moment of truthfulness. ]
The most valuable thing of all. You would be my person. There's no end of qualified people, but having someone on your side is another matter entirely. [ he has no shortage of enemies even within the company. he'd rather choose someone who could be trustworthy over someone with could potentially have a million accolades and yet sooner stab him in the back. it's honest, in spite of all layers of ulterior motives that lie beneath that. ]
no subject
Except that then, out of nowhere, unexpectedly — he says something that really does seem genuine. And not just genuine, but...lonely, almost? My person, he says, which ought to sound crazy and possessive and territorial but in actuality just sounds...like he's describing something he's never had. Or that he's had way too few of. My person, and it's enough to make her stop and ask herself whether she's ever had someone like that, someone who was just hers, someone always on her side no matter the circumstance.
(Her sister has no shortage of people like that. Every person is her person, it seems like. What would she know about being lonely?)
Maybe Callisto is manipulating her, saying that. Maybe he's deliberately trying to tug at her heartstrings. The awful thing is, it's actually working.]
...You know I...I wouldn't just blindly agree with you or anything. If all you're looking for is someone to tell you how great you are, then you're better off finding someone else.
[...But...]
So...if this is an "interview", then I should get to ask some questions of my future employer, right? Then what would you do if I disagreed with something you did? If I told you I thought one of your decisions was wrong, or not to do something because I thought it was a bad idea? Would you fire me? Throw me out a window? What happens to me, if you don't like the way I do my job?
["My" job. Not "the" job. Uh-oh.]
no subject
callisto has no real insight into her circumstances, just that the tensions within her household was clear even from the outside looking in. but, who truly knows what goes on in another family? he presumes just like how most of the outside world don't know his, she may be in a similar set of circumstances.
rather, there would have been no explanation why her sister appeared to live in the lap of utmost luxury, and penelope was here, deliberating over his job offer. in spite what she thinks, it's not sympathy that drives him, but a desire to edge in a little closer to her heart. his words are also not a lie. he believes in the intuition he's honed over years surviving in a household where his own blood would deceive him for little more than pennies.
for a moment when he looks at her, he also wonders if she's feeling empathy? or if they did have a deeper connection than she'd like to believe. ] Do I appear lacking in those who agree with me? [ hello? he raises a brow, but...
also? ] Penelope. [ a rare instance in which he uses her name over silly titles and nicknames. ] Do you actually see me as a cruel person? If you're that concerned, I can agree to one promise. It is "your" job, after all. [ even if it's "don't fire me" and she decided to slack, that would be the least of his concerns.
but, he thinks the princess is far too responsible for that. if this would ease her mind, though. ]
no subject
It's worth thinking about. Enough so that she's opening her mouth to answer his question (however rhetorical it might have been), when — when all of a sudden he says her name, and it's so unexpected that it stops her short, wide-eyed and blinking slowly as she tries to process what she's just heard.
Her name...it sounds really nice when he says it like that...
AUGH.]
I don't know enough about you to give an answer like that. You've shown me what you're like when you're after something you want, plenty of times. But that's not nearly enough to give me an idea about "you" as a person. It doesn't even scratch the surface. [And how's that for honestly? She's getting started already.] I don't think a cruel person would offer to make me a promise, though.
[It makes her think, though. Carefully. Meticulously. If he's willing to make her a promise, what's the one thing she wants most from him, really...?]
...Promise me it'll go both ways, then. The honesty. If I'm ever not honest with you, it'd be an offense you could dismiss me for anyway, right? So promise you'll be honest with me. And if you're ever not...then I get to leave, with severance and everything, and no hard feelings. That way...if you say I have value, then it has to be true. And if I say I agree with something you're doing, you'll know it's because I really think so.
no subject
though, that could be a generous interpretation. ]
... Is that all? You clearly do not have enough greed. [ she could have even made him promise a heftier paycheck, but if that's what she's opting on. he can't exactly say no. were this the world of a game, perhaps his affection meter would have gone up. but as it stands, he smiles and gives a small, subdued chuckle. ]
Very well. I will even sweeten the deal. You can commute with me every single, waking day. The more we become familiar with one another, the more truthful we can continue to be, wouldn't you say? [ he says this proudly, as if impressed with his own plan.
sorry penny. you give him an inch, and he'll take it miles. ]
no subject
[It's a test, a little bit; that much is obvious. After all, it's pretty unheard-of for a brand new employee to talk back to their employer in such a criticizing manner, isn't it? But if it's honesty he wants, then it's honesty he'll get — and maybe, just maybe, it's a first step toward making good on his requirement that she be "on his side". If he really wants to be a better person than a soulless corporate monster, he'll have to start hearing those sorts of things from the commoners beneath him, won't he?
Of course, it's a triumph that doesn't last long, with his idea of — wait a minute, how is that even "sweetening"?!]
— Wait, hold on, isn't "commuting with you" just another way of saying more hours of work?!
no subject
but he supposed he could finalize the contract with a few more paid vacation days littered in there. though, there is going to be the unspoken caveat that he needs to know exactly how she's going to spend them. he mentally makes a note of this to unload onto cedrick's very capable shoulders.
as for penelope— ] Very well, I'll add in additional perks. And you can consider yourself "clocked in" from the second the driver picks you up. Then there's no complaints, correct? Besides, I heard early mornings helped build character.
[ what is he implying... ]