Simone's Sandwiches

"Hey, Simone!" Lucy caroled, hopping down from the truck.

Simone arched one brow in amusement. Beside her, Kuro and Sol lurked just a step back, as if in preparation for running.

"Simone!" Simone turned just in time to be swept up in a tight hug from Rena. "I love your shoes!"

"Rena!" Simone squealed back, making Lucy wince just a little. How did they get their voices so high and matchy?

"I know! Just look at mine!" Rena stuck out a foot to show off the high-heeled boots she'd snuck out of Lucy's closet.

Lucy shook her head as the two went off in a tangent of clothes, shoes and accessories. Sol stole forward, a slight smile on her face, Kuro trailing after.

"Lucy," Sol said, coming to a stop in front of her.

Lucy gentled her demeanor. Sol had never been a forward person, but Kuro was even worse than she was, so she'd proclaimed herself the twins' go-between. Lucy reached out a hand and tousled the braids on Sol's head.

"Lucy," Sol protested, giggling. She tried shifting away, but the move was half-hearted at best.

"How you been, sweetie?" Lucy asked, looking past Sol to Kuro who shrugged, head ducking down.

"Came to visit Simone," Kuro remarkably muttered. His voice sounded hoarse from disuse. "Heard about Paul and Morris."

"Paul and Morris?" Lucy repeated, looking to Sol for confirmation.

"Paul said that he had something to tell someone, and that we should to go see Simone," Sol said. She ran her fingers through her braids, untangling them.

"What did they have to tell them?" Lucy asked, bewildered. Of all the times to be running headlong into something…

"I dunno," Sol replied. She finished untangling the braids and glanced over at Rena and Simone who'd progressed to some strange ritual that involved lots of bouncing. "Is that normal? Because I don't think that's normal."

"It's normal if you're a clotheshorse," Lucy replied. "That might go on for a while. Wanna show me where the kitchen is?"

"Won't the old man—," Kuro began.

"—Nah! That's what we got the adults for," Lucy assured him.

*****

The kitchen was marvelous. It was like something out of a magazine spread. Shining metal appliances broke up the monotony of shining marble countertops.

Lucy had a brief instance of hate for Simone after staring at it for a moment. Then she dismissed it. Simone probably didn't even know how to boil an egg. Probably one of the servants staring at her little group in horror would promptly do it for her.

"Is there something you need, Master Kuro?" One of them ventured. She was dressed like a maid. An actual maid! Complete with black dress and white ruffly apron.

"Lucy wanted snacks," Kuro managed, glancing at Lucy.

Lucy rewarded him with a warm smile. This and the previous two phrases were the most words she'd heard Kuro speak in a day. He'd obviously been improving since they were little kids.

"Can we, can we have some, um, ham sandwiches? The small ones," Sol asked in a rush. She ducked behind Lucy.

Lucy sighed a little. Sol was still so shy, but she'd made gains. There had been a time when she wouldn't make eye contact while talking.

"And something to drink? Milk or similar?" Lucy asked, happy that she'd toned down her makeup for the trip. She had a feeling that the servants would have jumped out of their skin at her usual appearance.

"Right away, Miss!" The maid sounded relieved. "I'll bring it to the drawing room right away."

Lucy let herself be tugged out of the wonderful kitchen. She fought hard not to frown, trying to figure out just what had happened.

"If we're not in the drawing room, we won't get sandwiches," Sol said, tugging determinedly.

"Very good," Kuro muttered, pulling on Lucy's other hand.

Lucy let them tug her into the aforementioned drawing room. Like all the other rooms she'd seen, it was spectacular. Had Simone's grandfather called in some old-timey designer? Because everything reminded her of the shows that came on public television late at night.

"You know…" Lucy let the words trail off as she turned to look at Sol and Kuro who were sitting side by side on an overstuffed couch. "It's not just me and Rena."

The twins transferred their attention from the doorway to Lucy. Lucy glanced at the empty doorway and wondered just how long sandwiches would take.

"Court and Jebediah are here, too," she finished.

The twins perked up immediately. Sol even jumped up and took a step towards the doorway before looking conflicted.

'Sandwiches?' Lucy thought, massaging one temple. 'All it took was a ham sandwich? What's in these sandwiches, anyway?'

Simone and Rena trailed into the room, still happily talking about some designer Lucy had never heard of. They came to stop at the sight of Lucy and the twins. Then Simone gasped and glanced at the empty doorway.

"We're getting sandwiches?" She asked, an excited note in her voice.

"What's with the sandwiches," Rena whispered to Lucy who shrugged.

"I've been trying to figure that out for the last couple of minutes. Any idea where the boys are? Or even the adults?" Lucy responded.

"No clue," Rena shook her head. "Simone's offered to put us up for the night, or was it week?" Rena shrugged. "We were talking fashion."

As far as Lucy was concerned that explained a lot. She'd noticed that once Rena started talking color schemes and runways, she'd be off on tangents for days. Well, hobbies were a good thing…

"And then she said, 'but I couldn't do that,' and it all fell to pieces," Jebediah said as he walked in the door, holding a tray of sandwiches.

The maid accompanying him tittered. She carried another tray with two glass jugs of milk and glasses on it.

"It's not me. This is just weird," Lucy proclaimed in a calm, low voice.

"Not just you," Rena agreed.

They both watched as the trays were settled on an empty table. The maid bobbed a curtsey and disappeared, apparently back to the kitchen.

Lucy took a step backwards as Sol, Kuro, Simone and Jebediah all swooped down on the sandwiches. Even with all of them taking one, it didn't make much of a dent in the pile on the tray.

"Mm," Jebediah said, chewing contentedly. "Just as good as the first one."

"You already had one?" Rena asked.

"In the kitchen. Got hungry," Jebediah responded. He poured himself a glass of milk and gulped some of it down before going for another sandwich.

Rena and Lucy exchanged glances. There was clearly something wrong with the sandwiches. Jebediah usually ate like a bird unless he was researching. It was part of the reason he was so thin.

"So, you've been eating a lot of sandwiches?" She asked Simone doubtfully.

"Mm," Simone nodded. "They got so good last week! You have to try one!"

"That's okay, sweetie. I'm not hungry at all," Lucy said, taking a step back at the sandwich being waved at her.

"Last week," Rena mused. "Isn't that when they started advertising this charity auction?"

Lucy snagged Rena's arm, and they slowly backed away towards a nearby window.

"Where are the adults?" Lucy asked, glancing around the spectacular room again. It was starting to look more like a gilded cage.

"The Amazons have spread out, and the big cheeses went off with Simone's grandfather to talk about the enhanced security." Rena winced. "I think I heard him say something about getting some refreshments for their talk."

"Seriously?" Lucy tilted her head back. She was wishing heartily for some gum or some baking supplies. "Why is this happening?"

"Because we can't have normal lives?" Rena shrugged. She eyed the milk and sandwiches. "Do you think it's in the sandwiches or the milk? Maybe the mayonnaise?"

Rena glanced over at the others who were hungrily eating the sandwiches. Even Simone was tearing into hers like she hadn't eaten in years.

"Rena! Focus!" Lucy snapped. Then she paused. "If Jebediah is here, then where's my Court?"

"You know, Lucy. He's not a pet," Rena said, following after Lucy as she stormed out of the drawing room.

Rena paused and ducked the curio clock winging towards her head.

"Hey! I was just pointing things out!"

"Less pointing, more looking," Lucy snarled back from the hallway.

Rena sighed, eyeing the remnants of the clock. Then she frowned and crouched down. Lucy came back in to see her picking out a broken device from the wreckage.

"I'm not a clock person, but I don't think this was made in the eighteen hundreds," Rena said, showing her the piece of electronics in her hand.