Volume 19 - Royal Guests, Chapter 145 - A Bird in a China Shop

Sya went about her mid-day routine of checking on each cabin, or at least the ones without a 'do not disturb' sign on the door. She finished cleaning the large cabin and walked the short distance to the next one, pulling a little cart that was loaded with cleaning supplies and fresh linens.

The tall tiger-girl let herself into the small cabin, the one used by Nemes and Moira, if she remembered correctly. Since she knew that the Egyptian group was at Ski Lodge Kobold for the day, she skipped her normal announcement and went straight to the bathroom to clean up and collect the dirty towels.

The entire cabin was already pretty clean, even the bathroom. There were just a few used towels on the floor, along with a stray dark grey feather, about seven inches long. Sya tossed the towels into her cart's laundry bag and held the feather up to look at it more closely, pinched between two black claws.

Sya thought the feather was kind of pretty, with bands of light and dark grey in a chevron shape. Her first thought was that throwing it away would be a waste. However, it would be weird if someone collected her shed fur, so she shouldn't keep a harpy's feathers.

"You can have that, if you want."

Sya's tail bristled and her ears perked up in surprise. On top of not expecting anyone to be in the cabin with her, Sya was not used to people being able to sneak up on her. She turned her head and saw the source of the voice, Moira the horus harpy. Her eyes looked a little sad, but there was a smile on her face.

"Uh, oh, thanks," Sya mumbled. Then she took a breath, stood up straight, then bowed and said, "I apologize for barging in here. I had assumed you were out with your group."

"Nah, I wasn't in a mood for skiing, so I'm staying in today." As she spoke, Moira paced around the kitchen. The motion was surprisingly quiet, just some soft clicking of claws on the linoleum. On carpet, she'd be perfectly silent.

Sya sniffed the air and smelled only scented shampoo from a recent shower, the same smell that was wafting from the bathroom. She relaxed once she understood how Moira had hidden from her senses. Then she said, "Oh, I see. Is there anything I can do to make your day more comfortable?"

"No than—" Moira started to answer, then she shook her head. "Actually, there is something I'd like your help on, if you can spare a few minutes…"

About twenty minutes later, Moira, Sya, and Rem were seated in Moira's well-decorated room. Tall vases held palm fronds, colorful throw pillows were scattered across the bed, and the dresser was covered in small porcelain figures. With all the decorations Moira had brought, it hardly felt like the cabin room that Sya and Rem had cleaned numerous times.

Not that the room would need any cleaning. Everything was pristine, from the drapes to the bedspread to the carpet.

Rem peered around from her perch on Sya's shoulder, then said, "You sure do keep everything really clean. Doesn't leave anything for us maids to do."

Sya nodded. "The other rooms were nearly as spotless. Did you clean those too, Moira?"

Moira nodded slowly. "Yes. I am the Queen's handmaiden, so it's also my job to keep her living quarters pristine, wherever they may be. But despite my title, I don't have any hands, and I don't make a very good maid."

Sya's keen eyes had noticed something else that she hadn't mentioned, and she suspected that Rem had seen it too: many of the objects in Moira's room had received repairs. Tape and glue had been used to reattach chipped-off corners of porcelain knick-knacks and vases, and long rips in the curtains and pillows had been hand-stitched back together.

Moira waved one dark grey wing around the room, drawing attention to all the broken objects. "I do alright with the cleaning, but I'm clumsy, so I often break things, either by dropping them, knocking them over, or accidentally scratching them with my claws… Abyss helps me fix them, but I think Fal is losing her patience with me."

Rem and Sya just nodded, waiting for Moira to continue.

"That's why I came to you, Sya. You're so graceful, in a way I could never hope to be. I was hoping I could learn just a little bit of it." She turned slightly to address Rem. "And I'd love your help as well, Rem. You're a successful maid too, and I'll take all the help I can get."

Sya was slow to respond. "Um, I don't think I'm all that skilled. I'm just a young homestay working part time, and I only learned how to be a maid a few months ago from a woman named Lato who has far more experience."

Rem punched Sya lightly on the cheek. "Stop downplaying it. You were graceful long before that. You were born and raised to be prim and proper and elegant."

Sya felt her face grow hot. "Fine, I guess I can tap into my etiquette training for this. Moira, can you start by showing us the kind of things you usually do?"

Moira spent fifteen minutes demonstrating some of her job responsibilities, which really didn't differ much from normal maid duties. Fifteen minutes wasn't nearly enough time to show everything expected of her as handmaiden, especially with how slow she was at some tasks, but it was more than enough to reveal the problem.

"You're really bad at using your wings as hands," Rem said tactlessly. "Haru's got little thumb wings too, but she's way better than you."

"Rem! Don't be mean," Sya admonished.

Moira shook her head. "No, she's right. I'm terrible at that, and never get better…"

Rem hopped down off Sya's shoulder and walked right up to Moira's legs. The top of her head didn't even reach Moira's knee. "Now this is where you have grace," she said, patting Moira's gold-colored calf. "Everything you did with your feet was smooth and controlled, at least as long as you weren't also trying to use your wings. That just threw you off entirely."

"Really?" Moira asked, her voice low and unsure.

"Let's prove it. Stand on one foot, then use the other to do what I say." Rem then started issuing commands to Moira: fold some laundry, pick up some keys, and even carry a glass of water across the room.

It was actually quite impressive. Moira was better at every task with her feet than some humans were with their hands.

Sya folded her arms across her chest. "There's no doubt, you have grace and skill in your legs. Any idea why? Have you ever played sports?"

Moira shook her head, then said, "I think it's just predatory instincts. In the past, all my people were hunters who used their feet to catch and gut prey, like fish. But nowadays we just import our food."

"Alright, we can work with this. Let's switch to training you to use your feet whenever possible. When you need to walk, you'll have to carry things under your wings or in a bag, but I think you can accomplish a lot using only your feet."

Sya and Rem then guided her back through her previous demonstration of her duties, using her slender legs and talons for everything. When one foot wasn't sufficient, she sat down on a chair and used both. Rem watched from various angles, calling out mistakes and giving tips, while Sya helped Moira with balance and presentation.

The difference was incredible. She never dropped anything, she never fell over or flailed wildly, and she did everything faster. After all, she already knew what she needed to do, and now she was using the correct tools for the job.

After it was done, Moira sat down on her bed and let out a long sigh. "Thank you two so much. This is such a better solution, and I just wish I had figured it out sooner."

"You're welcome," Sya and Rem both said. Then Rem added, "And don't worry about not figuring it out on your own. Everyone can benefit from some outside perspective from time to time."

That evening, four women were soaking in the Mountain Lily Inn's primary hot spring. They had purchased some very high quality sake, along with a wooden tray and porcelain cups.

Nemes was sprawled across the hotter end of the pool with her chest and wings above water and resting across a small boulder. It looked uncomfortable, but it seemed her upper body had the same cat-like flexibility as her lower half.

Abyss sat at the other end of the pool and kept a watchful eye over the entire group. Even while relaxing, she had perfect posture and an intense expression on her face.

Fal was near Nemes, chatting happily and sipping sake from a small cup. She was still wearing her crown, even in the hot spring. Her wings were withdrawn against her back, keeping the bare skin there warm. She said, "I'm definitely getting better at skiing. I tried using my wings today, and I think it helped me on sharp corners. Have you tried that, Nemes?"

Nemes spoke slowly, as if fighting an urge to take a nap. "I have, for I had little choice. Some lack the limbs to properly wield the tools of the trade."

"Oh, of course. I forgot that you had trouble holding the ski poles. Sorry about that." Then Fal turned to her right. "You used your wings while skiing too, right, Moira?"

"Huh?" Moira mumbled when she realized she'd been addressed. "Sorry, I wasn't listening. Do you need anything, Your Highness?"

Fal shook her head, sending long strands of pure white hair swinging. "No, it's not important." She changed her mind about asking Moira about skiing, and grabbed her sake cup from the floating tray. She emptied the small cup and went to pour herself more of the delicious drink.

"Wait," Moira said. "Please allow me."

Fal looked unsure, but she said, "Okay."

Moira stood up in the hot water, which reached her mid-thigh. Then she said, "I'd like everyone's attention, please. I've been trying to be less clumsy and I believe I found a solution, with some help from the maid staff at this resort."

With one leg, she reached out and tugged the floating tray toward herself, then she carefully moved the four porcelain sake cups into a line. She picked up the glass sake bottle and smoothly filled all four cups without spilling a drop.

Then she returned the bottle to the center and moved the cups to the corners of the tray. She slipped her talons under the balanced tray and lifted it up above her head, taking advantage of her impressive flexibility.

Then Moira looked at the other girls, who had all turned their heads away. "What? Why aren't you more impressed with my new skills?"

Abyss cleared her throat, then said, "While your skills were impressive, you are currently flashing all of us with a very revealing view of your nether regions."

Without a word, Moira gently set the tray back down on the surface of the water, then lowered herself into the pool, up to the shoulders. She hid her bright red face with her wings.

Nemes giggled and said, "I commend your grace, both in motion and in handling the humiliation."

That embarrassed her even more, so she sunk down deeper until her nose was barely above water.

Fal paddled over and settled in next to Moira. "Thank you, Moira, for putting in that effort. It shows that you care and want to improve yourself."

Moira lowered her wings and smiled back shyly. "I guess I should go shopping for some shorts, if I'm going to be lifting things with my legs, huh?"

"And maybe skip it entirely while bathing," Abyss added teasingly.

"Yeah, that's fair," Moira said, laughing. The other girls joined in while Abyss passed out the filled sake cups. They sipped and talked and laughed for another 30 minutes, before retiring to their rooms for the evening.

Back in her cabin, Moira showered to get the hot spring smell out of her feathers. When she dried off her wings and climbed into bed, her mind was on Sya and Rem, and how she wanted to give them a gift as thanks. A gift better than a single feather, at least.

But she wasn't in a hurry to pick a present. She was excited to give skiing another try, and she could think about gift ideas while she was on the mountain.