she slid into his pocket and waited as they walked, she felt when the air changed and she sighed and relaxed, relishing in the sudden fresh air. she was bumped around though when he sat down and then again when he laid down. she blinked a bit then crawled out and sat on his chest, just looking around. and easy smile made it's way onto her face as she took in all the flowers.

she carefully slid off his chest, stumbling a little but still grinning as she looked around and crossed to the nearest flower, she was considerably shorter then the flower itself but she was also extremely small and was easily able to climb the stem and she carefully stood on top, looking around, she shot a smile at Yato before looking around. then the flower tipped to one side and she fell.
she blinked and looked around, a bit dizzy but otherwise unharmed.

He laid back, staring up at the sky when he felt Lux slide off of his chest. He leaned his head over to get a better look at her and watched her stand atop a nearby flower. He was worried she'd fall but also felt that worrying too much was going to shorten his lifespan by about 30 years so he decided to try and stop worrying so much.

...so much for that. He bolted up as Lux fell from the flower, his hands reflexively bolting out to catch her but wasn't fast enough. When she looked up at him, he looked her over with worried eyes. "Are you okay?" He asked.

she blinked up at him and nodded, despite still being dizzy. "I'm sorry" she answered "I didn't mean to fall, it was so pretty from up there it didn't realize how high it was" she glanced back up sadly and carefully got back up to her feet.

she realized she was practically covered in dirt and started brushing it off. her long hair was messy and all over the place but she hadn't really paid any attention to it. the dirt was kinda dry so most of it came right off. it left her hands brown though and she looked at them with curiosity. "how did that happen?"

out of the corner of her eye she spotted something familiar and turned, tilting her head to look at it. there was a purple flower some distance away but in sight. she started towards it, it was bent down over the little cobble path and she honestly couldn't remember why she knew this flower but she did. she was so focused on the flower she stepped out onto the path without making sure no one was coming.

Yato looked over Lux as she replied to him, blushing when he realized he was going to have to help her bath herself more than likely. He'd... He'd just hope she could figure it all out on her own...

But what if she drowned?

Or fell down the drain?

While he was thinking of all the bad things that could happen to Lux in a bathroom, he hadn't notice her wander off.

Just as she was walking over the cobble path, a young woman stumbled her way down the path, stopping when she noticed the small doll-like creature making her way across the path. It was odd that this woman even noticed Lux as tears were streaming down her ruddy face. She wore dirty farming clothes and her hair was about as filthy as her clothes, a muddy red color.

"Wh-What?" She muttered through her tears, wiping them away to make sure she was seeing correctly.

It was then that Yato realized Lux was gone and looked over wide eyed at the strange girl who had stopped on the path and was currently looking at something on the path. "Shit..." He muttered. He didn't know if going over there would be a good idea right now, he just needed to watch for a moment...

The girl bent down to get a closer look at Lux. Her brown eyes stared down at the tiny dirty girl who was struggling to get over the small stones...

Lux stopped when she saw the girl. she looked up at her and realized that she'd done something bad. she was supposed to be hiding or with Yato, and yet she'd gone off and now there was a person here. she was frozen in her spot as the girl looked down at her.

then Lux saw the tears and she instantly snapped into caring mode "are you alright?" she asked "are you hurt? did you fall? i fell a little while ago, is that why your face is wet? that means your hurt right?" she was a little proud of herself for the connection, figuring out tears meant you were hurt, or upset.

she stepped closer, managed to trip over her own feet and decided getting off her knees wasn't worth the effort and simply stared at the girl "you don't look like Yato, or like the other girl" she glanced down at herself then back "you don't look like me either..." that brought back her thoughts that maybe there was no one like herself but she shoved it to the back of her mind "what's your name?"

The girl's eyes went wide as the small-doll like creature spoke to her, showing honest concern for her well being. "N-No... I didn't fall..." She responded, wiping her tears as she stared down at the small girl.

She began reaching down to help the small girl up when fell, but hesitated. "Yato?" She asked, tilting her head in confusion. The prince? This small... rather adorable girl knew the prince? "I'm Maggie..." She responded when asked what her name was. "What about you? What's your name, Little One?" She added. By now her tears had all but dried and the fear that had once filled her was nearly gone. However, the thought of the prince finding her was a bit much... He'd probably say the same as his mother.

"N-No... I didn't fall..."
Lux was confused, trying to think of what else could make someone cry, but nothing came to mind. she was abruptly aware she was very very young and had no idea how the world worked, but she preferred not to ponder that. "that's good" she said "you could get hurt if you fell, i didn't get hurt because Yato saved me" she smiled slightly "Yato's very nice to me, he takes care of me"

"Hi Maggie!" she said, as soon as the girl told her her name "I'm Lux!" she said it very proudly, she liked her name "Yato calls me that" she smiled warmly at the girl,

then she froze and glanced back where she'd come from as it suddenly occurred to her yet again, that she'd messed up. it occurred to her that she shouldn't be talking to this girl because Yato told her not to. her eyes widened "Oh... he's gonna be mad at me again..."
she suddenly wanted to cry, because in what little time she'd spent with him she'd realized she hated making Yato upset and this would surely upset him. she sniffled a couple times before the flood gates just broke and she started sobbing, because she didn't understand anything that was going on. she didn't understand why she couldn't talk to other people, she couldn't understand what she felt towards Yato or why, she couldn't understand anything and she was suddenly so overwhelmed that she just sobbed into her little hands.

Yato takes care of her? That man? The Ice Prince? Maggie raised a brow, as if she couldn't believe it and tilted her head in confusion when Lux suddenly got very scared and began sobbing. The young girl jerked around with her hands, trying desperately to think of something to get the small creature to stop crying.

"Oh goodness.. What to doo...?" She mumbled, her brow furrowed out of concerned.

Yato, hearing this, decided to step out at this moment. He stood and walked over to Lux and the girl and sighed, bending down next to her. "If you're afraid I'm going to be mad at you, Lux, then you should really listen to what I say." He chided her, shaking his head. He, slowly, put his hand down on her head. He was suddenly rather irritated he couldn't hug her or wipe her tears.

Still, with one finger he steadied her head and with the other, he gently brushed her cheeks.

Maggie, watching this, blushed and turned away as if watching a private interaction, as if she'd intruded on something despite being there first.

Lux looked up upon hearing his voice. "Yato!" she sniffled a couple times and leaned into his hand "I'm sorry, I walked away and got seen, you told me not to" she twisted around to wrap her short arms around his wrist. "but... but she's not mean!" she looked up pleadingly "Maggie was nice to me! I promise!" she looked back at the girl with a teary smile before letting go of his wrist and walking over to hug his leg.

"you really aren't mad at me? even though I did something wrong?" Lux asked "I'll be a good girl, I promise!" she smiled and wiped at her cheeks.

she suddenly pulled back and looked between them "oh, you guys don't know each other do you?" she took hold of Yato's hand as well as she could and tugged "Yato, this is Maggie, she's nice, she was crying" she then went closer to Maggie "Maggie, this is Yato! Yato found me, he takes care of me. I don't know much yet but Yato's teaching me!" she beamed at them "now you guys know each other so we can all be friends, right?"

Yato sighed, listening to Lux, his expression blank as he looked up from Lux to Maggie and then back down to Lux. "Of course, I'm mad at you." He told her, glaring at her. "You shouldn't do this again. Not everyone is like Ms..." He trailed off, looking up at Maggie.

Just then, Lux interceded, introducing Maggie to him. When she told him the girl had been crying, Yato looked up again and noticed the puffiness to her eyes. His mind was whirling, trying to decide how best to handle this situation.

If the girl was crying, there might be someway Yato could help her in return for keeping Lux a secret. But... what? He hated surprises...

Maggie watched the both of them. She'd noticed Yato's concern for Lux right away. It was obvious that something more was going on between them, she just didn't know what. She tightened her lips slightly and sent Yato an awkward smile. Scratching the side of her neck, she replied, "Maggie Uldrich, of the Urdrich farm." She hated telling people her full name because people always assumed they could push her around.

Knowing how Lux was, Yato chose to ignore Maggie's last name, knowing what kind of family she came from. "What were you crying about, Ms. Uldrich?" He asked, her voice cold and calculating.

"N-Nothing, sir. I was just going to pack up my things. I... I just got fired." She explained, looking away out of embarrassment.

Yato took in a deep breath and closed his eyes. He knew what Lux would want him to do but he also knew that this was going to open a can of worms he didn't really care to touch. Maggie got up and dusted off her dress and began to leave but before she could do so, Yato grabbed her arm, still staring at the mansion, specifically his mother's room.

"That won't be necessary." He told her. Maggie stopped, wide-eyed, and turned to him. "Stay here and become my personal maid. I don't really need a maid, but Lux needs someone to be with her when I can't. Could you do this?" He asked, glancing back at her.

"Y-Yes?" She replied, more of a question than a response.

"You don't sound enthused..." He spoke, his voice smooth, still cold. He glared bullets at her, a slight frown on his face.

"Yessir!" She replied hastily, bowing before him. Moments later, she cleared her throat. "Uhh... Sir? Could you... let me go?" She asked.

Yato coughed and quickly yanked his hand away from her wrist. "Go take Lux back to my room. I need to go see to something." He told her and walked off, sending a quick glance Lux's way. When he remember how she might take this, he turned around and came back, leaning down to talk to her. "Where I'm going, I don't want you to see. So, I need you to stay with Ms. Uld- Maggie... here. Okay? I won't be long." He explained, laying a gentle finger on her head. With that, he was gone.

Lux pouted a little when he said he was mad but she didn't start crying again. she was a bit proud of herself for that. she sat down between the two people as they spoke. she could tell that Yato wasn't being exceptionally friendly, but she wasn't sure anything she had to say would change that. when he mentioned her staying Lux got excited, would that mean she'd have someone else to talk to? she liked Yato but she didn't like being stuck. he was just worried, she figured that much out, she still wasn't sure why though.

then he started to leave "Yato!" she said, standing up and trying to follow after. then he stopped and came back, leaning down to talk to her. she pouted a little again but after a second nodded, still looking a little sullen. she watched Yato leave then looked at Maggie. "do you know where to go?" she looked around, before walking a little closer, putting a hand on the girl's leg. "cause I don't"

then she remembered something and started, turning around in a circle until she spotted it and crossed to the purple flower she'd noticed earlier. she could be quite fast when she put her mind to it. she got to the stem of the flower and looked it over. how did she know this flower? the stem was curved, leaving the flower closer to the ground then she thought it should be. she walked around it for a second, humming to herself quietly. finally she tried climbing the stem but it just bent more so she got off. "Maggie, can you help me?" she asked "I want to see the flower" she gave the girl a pleading look "pretty please?"

Maggie watched the whole encounter curiously, keeping quiet. Her mother had always told her the best way to live in this world was to keep quiet, stay low and off the royals' radar.

When the small girl turned to her and spoke, Maggie still had a hard time accepting the fact that a girl smaller than a flower was real and talking to her. "Ye-" She was prepared to take the girl back to Yato's room when, like a bolt, she ran away. Concerned, Maggie followed her, though it didn't take much on Maggie's part to catch up and she came pretty close to squashing the poor girl with her boots.

Maggie watched as Lux tried her best to get up the flower's stem, failing miserably. She turned her small head and with a dainty face, asked Maggie to help her see the flower. With a sigh, Maggie lower her hand for the girl to climb on. She honestly could get to liking this Lux. She was beautiful like a princess and held the same countenance but her words and actions were very anti-princess-like.

"What is it?" Maggie asked, genuinely curious as she held Lux up over the flower.

Lux smiled and happily climbed onto the girl's hand when it was lowered, holding on as she was lifted back up to look at it. she hummed quietly as she looked over it. Maggie asked her what is was but she didn't answer her right away. finally she said "I don't know..." she leaned forward a little and put a hand on it "I know this flower some how, but I don't know how, I've only been here a day or so... I think, it couldn't have been much longer I don't think, but I know this flower" she looked at the stem then at the flower "why's it bent? it doesn't look like a heavy flower... maybe the flower's sick?"

finally, she just plopped back down on Maggie's hand. she sighed quietly then looked up at the girl "you can take me back to the room now" she looked the girl up and down for a second "where am I going to hide?"

Maggie was taken a back for a moment before realizing that, yes indeed, no one needed to see this small... girl. She looked around for somewhere to hide her. She didn't really have any pockets or anything...

Maggie huffed before lifting up her apron. "It's a little dirty, but I promise I won't drop you." She told Lux, feeling a bit anxious about all of this. She put the apron down level with Lux and if Lux got on, she'd lift it again, hoping that it didn't jostle her too much.

Lux was a bit confused but Maggie held the cloth out to her so she climbed on, tumbling a couple times as she realized it wasn't a solid surface and it wasn't completely against the floor. she giggled and looked up at the girl. "This is fun! but how's it gonna hide me?" she looked around, there wasn't anything for her to pull over herself or anything, she supposed she could curl up very small? she was already very small, maybe no one would notice her if she got even smaller?

"Uhh... Like this." She told Lux, pulling the cloth up to her midwaist, effectively creating a pouch. "You okay in there?" Maggie asked, worried she'd hurt her in the process. She didn't really know what the prince was doing, but she knew she needed to be on his good side for everything to work out well for her and part of that was taking care of this... person.

Lux was a bit shocked as Maggie pulled the fabric up and might have lost her balance had the girl done it any quicker then she had. she shifted around a few times, not used to the lack of solidity before she settled. Maggie asked her if she was ok and she thought for a second "I think so... this feels really weird but not... bad" she shifted again before looking up. "Where now?"

"To be honest? I have no idea." Maggie replied, suddenly feeling very helpless. She was trying to think of a place where not too many people went...

"We could head towards the west hall. No one ever goes over there, though I'm not sure why. What do you say?" She asked, peeking into the pouch she'd created for Lux.

Lux thought of it for a second then said "I don't know where that is" she looked up at the girl "but I trust you, if you say it's safe then I believe you" she shifted again and tried to get into a more comfortable position but it was difficult when there was nothing really solide beneath her. she added "Will it take long? to get there?"

So much trust in someone so tiny...

Maggie sighed, smiling at Lux. "It might, depending on who sees me. If you're having trouble getting comfortable, why not try laying down long ways? If you try not to sit maybe it would be more comfortable?" Maggie offered, feeling bad for the small girl.

She tried the best she could to move smoothly as to not jar Lux in anyway as she made her way to the west hall.