"Very good, thank you. Sleep well, Athena." He said, his tone hinting that he expected her to sleep in her room. With that, he walked out of the dining hall and towards his own room.

Athena began cleaning the dish's taking her time to make sure the kitchen and the table were spotless. Finally she went up to bed and slept on the floor with one of the pillows from the bed.

((Wolfie knew you would do that. You are so predictable!))

The next morning, Athena would wake to hear a scratching at her door. Yokou was there, carving her name into the blank spot where a name should go. Once finished, he smiled at the name and went back to his room to get dressed.

(( I'll give you *falls asleep* ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz))

Athena woke and stretched before fixing the bed and heading to her masters room to wait for her orders and to fix his bed. Athena knows it was short but she was to tired to care.

Yokou emerged from his room again shortly after. he seemed surprised to find Athena standing there. "Good morning, Athena. Is there something you need?"

"I'm here for my duties master." Athena said with a bow "Shall I start with making you're bed?"

Looking back at his door, Yokou shrugged. "Yes, very well...go ahead." He said, seeming slightly distracted. "When you've finished you can start on breakfast. I will be in the library, please let me know when breakfast is ready." He said, heading off towards the library.

Athena bowed to him then cleaned his room making quick of it learning were he kept his things and memorizing where everything went before going downstairs. She started on breakfast a simple meal of eggs, toast and bacon.

In the library, Yokou took a book from a shelf. The book was old and worn, the title faded but readable- "Grimm Brother's Fairy Tales" With a sad smile, Yokou opened the old book and started to read.

"There." Athena washed her hands off and hurried up stairs finding the library and knocking "Master breakfast is ready shall I bring it to you?"

Yokou looked up, startled. He had been so engrossed in his book, he had forgotten about breakfast. He stood up and went out the door. "No, no food in the library. Meals will be taken in the dining room." He said.

Athena bowed to him before steaping aside so he could go first. "i made toast and eggs. I hope that is alright master."

Yokou waved a hand as if to dismiss her worries. "It's fine, thank you. He said, giving her a kind smile as he walked past her.

"What shall I do know master?" Athena asked following after him wondering if he would make her eat with him again.

Yokou glanced at the girl and sighed. "You should eat, Athena. But to spare your comfort, I won't make you eat at the table with me. I simply prefer you to eat breakfast before starting a long day of work." he said.

"Very well master." Athena went into the kitchen and brought out his food then went back and scarfed down what was left over well cleaning up.

Sighing again- he seemed to be doing a lot of that lately- Yokou sat down to enjoy his breakfast. He took his time, seeing no need to rush.

Athena finished with the kitchen and filled a bucket with hot water planning on working on the surfaces and windows then the floor.

Yokou finally finished his breakfast and brought his plate into the kitchen. Seeing that Athena was already hard at work, he nodded. "Very good, Athena. When you are finished in here, please begin dusting the entrance hall. After that, come to me for further instructions. I will be in the library, studying." He said.

Athena whirled threw the downstairs kitchen and dinning room cleaning every surface. She frowned when she heard a scratching noise moving with stealth she went into the hall and screeched when she saw a mouse. "Evil thing." she said grabbing a broom attempting to smack the creature.

In the library, Yokou was hard at work when he heard Athena scream. In a flash he was out the door and down the stairs, running into the hall. "Athena! What's wrong?" He asked, looking around. Seeing the mouse, it clicked. "Oh. For heaven's sake..." He sighed, walked forward, and picked up the creature. "I was afraid it was something bad. Hey, no biting. There we go." This last to the mouse, as he carried it to the door and set it down outside. "You stay out here now, where you belong." Watching it run off, he turned to Athena. "This happens sometimes. Next time, just call me and I'll take care of it. I don't like unnecessary death in this house, so please try not to kill them. You may, however, kill bugs."

"I wasn't trying to kill it just direct it towards the door master." Athena sighed "I'll be more careful with those evil things from now on if that is what you wish master." she grabbed her bucket and began scrubbing the area the mouse had been it mice carried awful diseases and she didn't want any traces of it left.

Yokou watched her for a moment with interest. "Do you dislike animals, Athena?" He asked after a few moments of silence.

"I love animals master but mice and rats carry disease I have seen it affect many people servants and masters so I don't like them hanging around." Athena said pausing in her work to contemplate the matter.

Yokou seemed thoughtful. "Hm. That is a point of view I had failed to see before. Perhaps I have been cut off from humanity for too long, if my only friends are disease ridden animals." He said with a shrug, before walking away.