[Fic] A Day in the Life
Title: A Day in the Life
Author: Shytan
Rating: G
Characters: Cutler Beckett, Elizabeth Swann, Mercer, Saunders & Estrella
Summary: A day in the life of Cutler and Elizabeth Beckett.
Warnings: -
Notes: Prompted by Cassiopaya!
Breakfast
The staff at the Beckett household were used to waking early, as their master was quite the morning person. Elizabeth, however, was not. Estrella watched from the corner of the luxurious bedroom as the frail old valet hobbled over to the bed, clothes in hand. Usually the valet opened the curtains to let the dawn light stream in and wake his master first, but now that Estrella was in service to the Lord, she had volunteered to do the task each morning. Like her mistress, she had been surprised by the state of Beckett's valet. Clearly old Saunders had been in service to Lord Beckett for a very long time, and the man seemed to have a great fondness for his master, one that, despite attempting to appear otherwise, Cutler clearly returned.
Cutler stirred and woke on his own, perhaps roused by the valet's approach. He seemed pleased to wake to the sight of the kind old man, and almost immediately slipped out of bed and prepared to dress. Estrella didn't bother to fetch her mistress' clothes, Elizabeth was still sound asleep, and would be for another hour or so. The maid busied herself straightening up Cutler's side of the bed so that Saunders would not have to do it later. Despite sleeping soundly for the entire night, Cutler always managed to make quite a mess of the sheets, thrashing about every now and again. It was a good thing Elizabeth slept so deeply.
Cutler was ravenous in the mornings, and ate breakfast while his wife slept on. He was off to his office before she woke.
"I don't know how you do it, my lady," Estrella couldn't help comment.
"Do what?" a freshly woken Elizabeth asked as she stretched.
"Wake to an empty bed each morning," Estrella presented her mistress with a simple but elegant dress to wear for the day.
"I see him at night," Elizabeth shrugged. "And on weekends."
"I see," Estrella decided to drop the subject.
"I get the feeling he likes it that way," Elizabeth continued. "It's his time alone with his valet, I suppose."
"Old Saunders? I don't know why he keeps him on, the poor man is so arthritic," Estrella lowered her voice despite being alone in the room with her mistress.
"He likes him," Elizabeth shrugged again. "I believe Saunders valeted for him when he was a child."
"I see." Estrella stepped back to appraise her fully dressed mistress. "That colour goes very well with your eyes, my lady."
Lunch
After a rather productive morning, Cutler had been coerced into sitting in the dining room for lunch. Despite his appetite in the morning and evening, Cutler would not indulge in lunch unless his clerk Mercer dropped something in front of him and demanded he eat it, or his faithful old valet could convince him to dine with his wife.
"Hello, Elizabeth," Cutler greeted her rather tiredly. He was sulking a bit because he had been dragged away from his office and made to eat.
"Cutler, dear," Elizabeth smiled sweetly. He grimaced in reply.
"Been working hard today?" Elizabeth implored, knowing full well that he had.
"No, I was sleeping. Oh wait, that was you," Cutler replied, cheering up as he always did when given opportunities to employ his wit and sarcasm, which Elizabeth had to admit he was very talented with.
"Very funny," Elizabeth responded, selecting a fork from the cutlery before her and poking at the salad on her plate.
"Have you plans for this afternoon?" Cutler inquired lazily, shifting the food around on his plate to give the impression that he had eaten some of it.
"I thought I'd visit one of my friends, I haven't seen her in a while," Elizabeth pondered. "Why, did you have plans?"
"Not involving you," Cutler stabbed his fork into the meal and sneered at it slightly. Elizabeth ignored his moodiness, he was always terrible company at lunch. His mind was still whirling with figures and ideas, and his hands were itching to write them down, but instead they were playing with a meal he had no desire to eat.
Mercer often hung around during lunch, and Elizabeth was not sure why. But she was glad for it, for as much as she despised the man, she knew that is was his eagle eyes bearing down on her husband that forced him to place his fork in his mouth and chew sulkily. Cutler's dark mood was rather fleeting however, as a cheerful thought fluttered to the forefront of his mind, and he started to chat away about something of little consequence to Elizabeth, but she listened and nodded anyway. Not only was it proper and polite, but Cutler, when the mood struck him, was more than happy to do the same for her when she rambled on about her own specific interests.
Dinner
Estrella had prepared a bath for Elizabeth, and greeted her mistress respectfully when she returned from dinner. After a long, hard day of work, Cutler was exhausted as usual after dinner, and was content to collapse onto the covers on the bed and not move. Elizabeth smiled as she watched faithful old Saunders pull off Cutler's wig and untie his cravat, then struggle to get the Lord out of his waistcoat. Cutler took his task of not moving very seriously, and had gone as limp as a ragdoll. Yes, Elizabeth definitely preferred Cutler at night.
After completing her bath, Elizabeth sat on the bed next to Cutler and watched as one of the maids ran a bath for her husband. If he was really tired, he would let Elizabeth poke and prod him. Childish as it may be, Elizabeth found great humour in lifting his arm or leg and watching it drop flat onto the bed, and would continue with her game until he tired of playing ragdoll and mutter something about respecting the dead, which he certainly was not. Elizabeth was sometimes sad that she spent so little time with him, but then again he wasn't exactly a sunshine and roses kind of person, so perhaps it was just as well.
Elizabeth smiled again as she watched the elderly valet tugging Cutler's arm, trying to convince him to get up and undress so he could bathe before the water get cold. If bathwater never cooled, Cutler would never bathe, Elizabeth thought with a grin. With a deep sigh, Cutler reluctantly crawled off the bed and headed towards the tub, thoughtfully handing his clothes to Saunders as he took them off so the valet didn't have to pick them up later. While Cutler bathed, Estrella dutifully tended to Elizabeth and made sure she was content before leaving for the night. Shortly afterwards, a dry and sleepy Cutler crawled into bed beside his wife. Saunders bid goodnight to them both before blowing out the candle and tucking in his master. Yes, Saunders had worked for Cutler since the Lord was a young boy, Elizabeth decided.
Author: Shytan
Rating: G
Characters: Cutler Beckett, Elizabeth Swann, Mercer, Saunders & Estrella
Summary: A day in the life of Cutler and Elizabeth Beckett.
Warnings: -
Notes: Prompted by Cassiopaya!
Breakfast
The staff at the Beckett household were used to waking early, as their master was quite the morning person. Elizabeth, however, was not. Estrella watched from the corner of the luxurious bedroom as the frail old valet hobbled over to the bed, clothes in hand. Usually the valet opened the curtains to let the dawn light stream in and wake his master first, but now that Estrella was in service to the Lord, she had volunteered to do the task each morning. Like her mistress, she had been surprised by the state of Beckett's valet. Clearly old Saunders had been in service to Lord Beckett for a very long time, and the man seemed to have a great fondness for his master, one that, despite attempting to appear otherwise, Cutler clearly returned.
Cutler stirred and woke on his own, perhaps roused by the valet's approach. He seemed pleased to wake to the sight of the kind old man, and almost immediately slipped out of bed and prepared to dress. Estrella didn't bother to fetch her mistress' clothes, Elizabeth was still sound asleep, and would be for another hour or so. The maid busied herself straightening up Cutler's side of the bed so that Saunders would not have to do it later. Despite sleeping soundly for the entire night, Cutler always managed to make quite a mess of the sheets, thrashing about every now and again. It was a good thing Elizabeth slept so deeply.
Cutler was ravenous in the mornings, and ate breakfast while his wife slept on. He was off to his office before she woke.
"I don't know how you do it, my lady," Estrella couldn't help comment.
"Do what?" a freshly woken Elizabeth asked as she stretched.
"Wake to an empty bed each morning," Estrella presented her mistress with a simple but elegant dress to wear for the day.
"I see him at night," Elizabeth shrugged. "And on weekends."
"I see," Estrella decided to drop the subject.
"I get the feeling he likes it that way," Elizabeth continued. "It's his time alone with his valet, I suppose."
"Old Saunders? I don't know why he keeps him on, the poor man is so arthritic," Estrella lowered her voice despite being alone in the room with her mistress.
"He likes him," Elizabeth shrugged again. "I believe Saunders valeted for him when he was a child."
"I see." Estrella stepped back to appraise her fully dressed mistress. "That colour goes very well with your eyes, my lady."
Lunch
After a rather productive morning, Cutler had been coerced into sitting in the dining room for lunch. Despite his appetite in the morning and evening, Cutler would not indulge in lunch unless his clerk Mercer dropped something in front of him and demanded he eat it, or his faithful old valet could convince him to dine with his wife.
"Hello, Elizabeth," Cutler greeted her rather tiredly. He was sulking a bit because he had been dragged away from his office and made to eat.
"Cutler, dear," Elizabeth smiled sweetly. He grimaced in reply.
"Been working hard today?" Elizabeth implored, knowing full well that he had.
"No, I was sleeping. Oh wait, that was you," Cutler replied, cheering up as he always did when given opportunities to employ his wit and sarcasm, which Elizabeth had to admit he was very talented with.
"Very funny," Elizabeth responded, selecting a fork from the cutlery before her and poking at the salad on her plate.
"Have you plans for this afternoon?" Cutler inquired lazily, shifting the food around on his plate to give the impression that he had eaten some of it.
"I thought I'd visit one of my friends, I haven't seen her in a while," Elizabeth pondered. "Why, did you have plans?"
"Not involving you," Cutler stabbed his fork into the meal and sneered at it slightly. Elizabeth ignored his moodiness, he was always terrible company at lunch. His mind was still whirling with figures and ideas, and his hands were itching to write them down, but instead they were playing with a meal he had no desire to eat.
Mercer often hung around during lunch, and Elizabeth was not sure why. But she was glad for it, for as much as she despised the man, she knew that is was his eagle eyes bearing down on her husband that forced him to place his fork in his mouth and chew sulkily. Cutler's dark mood was rather fleeting however, as a cheerful thought fluttered to the forefront of his mind, and he started to chat away about something of little consequence to Elizabeth, but she listened and nodded anyway. Not only was it proper and polite, but Cutler, when the mood struck him, was more than happy to do the same for her when she rambled on about her own specific interests.
Dinner
Estrella had prepared a bath for Elizabeth, and greeted her mistress respectfully when she returned from dinner. After a long, hard day of work, Cutler was exhausted as usual after dinner, and was content to collapse onto the covers on the bed and not move. Elizabeth smiled as she watched faithful old Saunders pull off Cutler's wig and untie his cravat, then struggle to get the Lord out of his waistcoat. Cutler took his task of not moving very seriously, and had gone as limp as a ragdoll. Yes, Elizabeth definitely preferred Cutler at night.
After completing her bath, Elizabeth sat on the bed next to Cutler and watched as one of the maids ran a bath for her husband. If he was really tired, he would let Elizabeth poke and prod him. Childish as it may be, Elizabeth found great humour in lifting his arm or leg and watching it drop flat onto the bed, and would continue with her game until he tired of playing ragdoll and mutter something about respecting the dead, which he certainly was not. Elizabeth was sometimes sad that she spent so little time with him, but then again he wasn't exactly a sunshine and roses kind of person, so perhaps it was just as well.
Elizabeth smiled again as she watched the elderly valet tugging Cutler's arm, trying to convince him to get up and undress so he could bathe before the water get cold. If bathwater never cooled, Cutler would never bathe, Elizabeth thought with a grin. With a deep sigh, Cutler reluctantly crawled off the bed and headed towards the tub, thoughtfully handing his clothes to Saunders as he took them off so the valet didn't have to pick them up later. While Cutler bathed, Estrella dutifully tended to Elizabeth and made sure she was content before leaving for the night. Shortly afterwards, a dry and sleepy Cutler crawled into bed beside his wife. Saunders bid goodnight to them both before blowing out the candle and tucking in his master. Yes, Saunders had worked for Cutler since the Lord was a young boy, Elizabeth decided.