Mimi's Demons

Chapter 91: Because It's Christmas

"I'm sorry, I didn't—it was a slip of the tongue."

"Obviously," said Duke. "I'll only let it slide this time, but I've had enough reports of your dirty mouth to revoke your station."

Juli suddenly looked a lot smaller. "Sorry, sir. It won't happen again."

Bilo looked pale too, as though he too had been scolded. The control hung from the tip of his fingers.

Mimi sighed again, loudly. "Papa, go away."

"No."

"You're making him uncomfortable. I feel like my room's turned into a death zone, he just lost at Mario Cart, give him a break."

"Mirianna," the book went completely down, closed and everything. "These are not your friends. It's not their part to be comfortable and happy. It's their part to prove they can be trusted to serve at your side, and Juli has had long enough to control his language. This is also a trial period for the Garcia boy, not play time. You may enjoy themselves, but their enjoyment is entirely up to their competency at the task."

Any warmth remaining from Christmas morning had bled out more and more with every word he spoke. Juli and Bilo looked smaller and smaller with every one too.

Mimi looked back and forth between them, floundering. She wanted to defend them. She wanted to fix...whatever was wrong with this situation. But she was just her and Papa, well...Papa did know a lot more about all this than her.

More than that, though, was the uncomfortable twist in her chest whimpering that she just wanted a friend.

Duke had already given her many lessons on that, however. Minions couldn't use you. Friends could. Friends required a two-way street devoted to equals. Minions got safety, pay, and benefits in return for their services. There was a strict line between the two. If Mimi tried to cross that line and make them her friends, she'd lose them, as making them friends would then give them access to her Papa and all he had.

But in moments like these, it was hard for her to grasp. What was really the difference? And would it really be so bad?

The tense quiet was broken by Juli lifting the black bag from beside him and handing it to Bilo.

"Fair and square," he muttered, not looking at him.

Bilo accepted it and got up from the bean bag to kneel down in front of Mimi, to her horror.

He bowed his head and offered her the bag.

When she just continued to stare (Juli never acted like this!), Duke said, "Well, don't keep him waiting."

She took the bag, somehow not as excited for the robot as she had been before.

"Thank you," she said. "For winning it for me."

Bilo lifted his head to give her the biggest smile she'd seen on him yet. While he looked happy for the first time, it didn't sit right in Mimi's chest.

"Anytime, Mistress."

"Good boy," said her Papa.

Serena came in then with some Christmas snacks on a tray, which helped made starting up Mario Party a bit less awkward. Duke went back to his book, allowing Mimi to shove aside all her confusing feelings to enjoy playing, because Mario Party she was actually good at. Juli wasn't as practiced with it because he thought it too 'baby' for him (though Mimi could never nail down what his standards for what was 'baby' or not since he played Animal Crossing and Minecraft, which were definitely no Call of Duty or Resident Evil). Though this just meant they both got schooled by Bilo, though he continued to attribute all his wins to Mimi.

Soon Mimi sat next to a little pile of prizes, as more had been brought along by underlings of Cromwell, who must have been watching from somewhere to know the robot had already been lost. It was his idea of a Christmas gift for both Mimi and Juli.

"This sucks," said Juli as he watched Bilo set yet another toy on Mimi's pile. "I don't like him. Can he go away now?"

"You just don't like losing for once," said Mimi dryly. "Now you know how it feels."

"It's not my fault I'm good...and you sometimes win at Mario Party."

"Not very often. How about we do Minecraft together? There's no winning or losing at that, and that weirdo Pikachu guy might be on."

"Very likely," said Duke, though he didn't sound pleased about it.

"Pikachu?" Bilo asked quietly.

"Some weirdo online friend of Mimi's we have yet to meet," said Juli. "My dad knows him, but he won't tell me anything about him. He always makes his avatars black, though, so if you see some random black dude around the house..."

Bilo seemed to shrivel into himself. His eyes seemed to pop in sudden terror, though Juli didn't even notice.

Mimi frowned. "Hey, you alright?"

"I'm fine, mistress," said Bilo, though he didn't look fine. He looked like he was about to faint.

"Perhaps our trial period is over," said Duke from his armchair.

"NO!" Bilo smacked a hand over his mouth and looked down. "No, sir," he said, much quieter. "I can keep going. I'm fine."

"I don't believe I gave you a right to tell me no."

Mimi threw her head back and groaned as loud as she could. "Lay. OFF, Papa! You're making me uncomfortable! If you got to scold him, do it away from me, at least." Though she'd rather he not scold him at all. Bilo looked like he needed a good hard hug and a nap, but she knew her father wouldn't approve of her hugging him let alone tucking him away in her bed. Juli wasn't even allowed to touch her bed let alone lay in it.

"Alright," said her father after a pause. "Because it's Christmas."

That hadn't mattered before. Hypocrite.

At least when they dropped into their Minecraft world her mysterious online friend was on. Her only friend, at this rate. At least this time it was because of an overprotective father and not because she was afraid other kids would drop her on her head for seeing demons.

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Tonight on Hubby and Boys Cultural Movie Class, we got "The Secret of Nihm!" I actually remember my mom renting the movie for me when I was little and telling me it was one of her favorites. I wonder if she even remembers that now. Another thing I remember from that movie was that the rats writhing and clutching themselves in agony in their lab cages really inspired the sadist storyteller inside me. My dreams were all filled with writhing lab experiments. Folks were brave back then with what they put in kid movies. 

On a different note, Jim the giant cat is not thrilled to be moving.