Chapter One: Salmon Salad

January 24, 1890

Lie Ren had it better than he deserved, in his reckoning. As the only ex-member of the Grimm who hadn't disappeared through death or imprisonment, the Hong Kong native had seen a vast change of fortune unparalleled in his twenty-five years. After putting a stop to the Grimm threat, he'd been employed as the butler to Dr. Pyrrha Nikos, and had since taken up residence in the spare bedroom next to her workshop and library/study.

He knew his living conditions would change soon, having been promised a neighbouring set of rooms Coco Adel was to vacate after her wedding next month. Of course, Ren had some idea as to who would move in after he'd moved next door.

As he arose at a quarter to seven that morning, Ren made use of the small washing stand that sat on the interior wall of his quarters. Showering at this hour would only serve to rouse his employer from her much-needed slumber – meaning that he'd abstain until the very second Pyrrha left for Exham Museum.

Having freshened up enough, he donned one of three identical suits that he wore in his official capacity. A white dress shirt was nigh completely hidden by his jacket, tie and trousers; they were all a shade of green so dark, Ren could be mistaken for wearing black tie at a distance. Quietly making his way down to the kitchen, Ren loaded the toaster and filled up the kettle, just as he heard the front door get unlocked.

"Good morning, Coco," he called out.

"Morning, Ren," she called back.

A few seconds later, Coco joined him in the kitchen, holding the Manchester Guardian and the Daily Standard under her left arm and this week's bottles of milk in the right. Given that Pyrrha preferred to observe an issue carefully before developing her opinions, Coco made a point of purchasing at least two papers for Pyrrha to pore over during her breakfast hour. As the toaster released the browned wholemeal and the kettle whistled, Ren's employer made her entrance.

"Good morning, Pyrrha," the pair of staff chorused.

Pyrrha strode in daintily, wearing her tweed skirt and a white shirtwaist, with her usual riding boots and tweed jacket waiting by the front door. Ren had noticed her subtle change in fashion sense, along with the fact that her hair was worn long instead of being tied back like usual. Clearly, he observed, she's due to see Mr. Arc tonight.

"Busy tonight, Pyrrha?"

The archaeologist was quick to answer him.

"Actually, I will be engaged tonight. Jaune volunteered to take me for a stroll through Regent's Park before taking me home in his cab."

"How romantic, ma chère," Coco replied warmly, while Ren nodded with a small smile. Of course, he wondered to himself, will she be engaged or get engaged tonight?

After breakfast, Pyrrha put on her fedora and strode on out to take the next tube to Baker Street for work at the museum. Ren promptly dashed upstairs as Coco began working on the dishes. Locking the bathroom from prying eyes, Ren removed his suit and placed it on the dresser. Showering so that his charcoal locks didn't look ragged and ruffled as always, Ren made good time before he turned off the shower.

Drying his body with a green towel that Pyrrha had bought for him, Ren left only his hair wet. For that, he opted to use a device that Coco had bought him last Christmas – his brand-new hair dryer. Using a miniature crimson Dust generator similar to the one that Miló harboured within its stock, it unleashed a stream of hot air that rendered Ren's long mane dry in a full minute.

"Satisfying," the butler muttered, having slicked back his hair into a ponytail. After getting dressed, Ren began his rounds around the house. He started by making Pyrrha's bed and neatening the rest of the room. This took him a mere ten minutes, such was his rate of work and efficiency. Clambering downstairs, Ren merely ran a feather duster along the shelves of Pyrrha's library and study, along with the benches within the workshop.

Pyrrha had been rather adamant that the "organised mess" in her working rooms should remain that way, even though it would have reflected rather poorly on Ren's records. Still, he had to fight a nagging urge to organise her paperwork and books as he went about the room. Meanwhile, Coco did him a favour by tidying his bedroom.

With Pyrrha having lunch at work as a rule, Ren and Coco weren't required to make sandwiches or do much until four in the afternoon, when the preparations for dinner would commence. Having already done the shopping for the week, Coco took to relaxing with the knitting, while Ren usually read the papers Coco had bought earlier, usually tag-teaming with her for the crosswords when he got to them.

The Standard's headline article that day wrote about Croydon Aerodrome planning to start long-range dirigible flights to New York by way of Inverness, Reykjavik, Nuuk and Newfoundland. Apparently, the SDC had found a means to compress verdant and golden Dust into large batteries that recharged periodically through wind turbines, thus requiring only rest stops for supplies and the like.

The economic benefits alone would be immense to each city within the flight path, Ren observed, and it would serve to introduce yet another Dust-powered technology to the Americas. However, he didn't have enough time to do either of the crosswords with Coco, as he had an appointment to keep. At one that afternoon, Ren alighted at the Baron's Court station, and made his way towards the Sea-King Repairs shop between the stop and Talgarth Road.

Even though he'd never needed to use them since gaining employment with Pyrrha, Ren felt that his pair of green Reichsrevolvers needed servicing and cleaning. So with the aid of Neptune Vasilias, the blacksmith that Pyrrha had always gone to for repairs to her weapons, he'd had Stormflower brought up to standard. As he entered the shop however, Ren encountered someone he hadn't seen since Christmas.

"... So as I was saying, I ended up wrestling the she-bear to the ground and fed it my last Dust grenade."

"Good heavens," the blacksmith replied. "Whatever did you do next?"

"Well, after the bear was broken, I patched my wounds up, retrieved the amulet that thief placed on the bear's neck, and made my way back to the Rosslare Ferry."

"If that's true," Ren interjected, "then how come there are no scars on your arms or face from the bear?"

Startled, Nora Valkyrie turned to face the man with Magnhild in hand. She dressed with unusual formality for a huntress, wearing an ankle-length rose pink dress and white shirtwaist, with her trademark white fedora firmly affixed on her head. Simply put, Nora looked as though she'd just arrived from the American South. The effect was electric, until her Irish burr and non-demure demeanour completely undermined it.

"O-oh my, didn't see you enter Mr. Lie!", she squeaked.

Timidly, she moved to his left to face both men, who were both smirking at this point.

"And, er, well, to answer your question, it was rather small."

Ren smirked even harder. "I'm sure it was. How are my Reichsrevolvers, Neptune?"

"They're doing well, Ren," the Greek man replied as he fished them out from below his counter. "Got them were they needed to be, and I even replaced the compressed verdant Dust rounds that they need for you."

An uncharacteristically toothy smile spread along Ren's features at this while he retrieved the pistols.

"That's rather generous of you, my friend."

Ren had no sooner handed Neptune his five-pound fee than he heard a commotion outside. Ren and Nora both peered outside through a window, and beheld six men in black dress and armed with axes. Wearing masks and black top hats, they alighted from a van on the other side of the road, and all of them began to march towards Neptune's shop.

"We'd better step in," Ren muttered.

"Aye," Nora replied.

While Neptune ran into the back of his shop, the pair strode out with weapons in hand, and rushed to engage the brigands. Shifting Magnhild into its launcher form, Nora hung back and blasted fuchsia Dust at the ground between the men. The explosion scored an unsightly mark in the pavement, and the force of the impact knocked the rearmost pair of hoodlums out.

The other four, thrown slightly off-kilter after dodging the Dust blast, found themselves getting shot at by Ren at close range. Two shots out of the initial salvo found their marks, electrocuting two of the assailants into unconsciousness. The last two men grew furious, and the closest one managed to make Ren stumble back by means of a kick to the stomach.

The furthest man, a ginger man with a crew cut, was unexpectedly swept off his feet, courtesy of Nora heartily applying Magnhild to the man's groin. The ginger's resultant yelp and collision with the asphalt caused the other man, who had darkened skin, to turn around with axe in hand, finding himself staring at Nora shifting Magnhild into its launcher form. Behind him, Ren rose to his feet, catching his breath while aiming Stormflower at the back of the thief's head.

At that precise moment, a Black Maria sped around the corner of Talgarth Road. Cursing under his breath, the man dropped his weapon and sprinted forward. Nora fired her launcher at point-blank range, while Ren holstered his guns and attempted to rugby tackle the escaping cad. In a cruel twist of luck, the blast missed everybody involved in the scuffle, only managing to blow a hole in an unsuspecting bird above the tube station.

All the while, Ren's flat feet made him jump at the wrong angle to take the thief … with the end result that the butler bowled Nora over while the dark skinned man picked up his comrade and legged it. The police swarmed out of the van and proceeded to clasp the four unconscious conspirators in handcuffs.

"Bugger," Nora groaned as she got up.

"The sentiment's shared," Ren observed with equal irritation. As they dusted themselves off, the officer approached them to take statements.

After the police had left, Ren decided to take his leave and walked back inside Baron's Court Station. However, Nora begged him not to go just yet.

"Please, can't you stay a while longer? I haven't seen hide or hair of you since I went to Ireland after those thieves, and I've missed you all."

Ren's face betrayed no emotion while he thought about it.

"Look Nora, as much as I'd like to stay around with you, I'm afraid I'm due to help prepare dinner for Pyrrha. After all, I am her butler, and I really can't shirk my duties."

Nora's expression shifted from desperation to pure dejection, reminding Ren of a kicked puppy and making him feel strangely wretched. He mentally groaned and groused before caving.

"However, you can visit me when your schedule next allows you to. I'll need to clear it with Pyrrha first, so it won't interfere with my duties, but I'm sure she'll be amenable to the idea."

Nora's cherubic face smiled wider than Ren had ever remembered.

"Splendid!", she exclaimed happily. "I'm usually free on Fridays, so I'll likely come around next week on the 31st. What time works well for you?"

Ren stroked his chin. "Lunchtime, I'd say. Pyrrha's always taken her lunch at work, so me and Coco are usually unoccupied from one to four."

Nora nodded happily, eagerly jotting down the time in a small notebook, then writing her phone number down for Ren and handing it over.

"So it's settled then," the Irishwoman declared. "When Pyrrha has her answer, call me. I haven't got anything else to do today, so I'll be home."

"Very well," Ren calmly replied. "I'll ring sometime during the evening, when Pyrrha gets back from her walk."

"Great!", Nora cheered. "See you then!".

Ren turned to go downstairs, but called back to the huntress.

"By the way, what's your favourite dish?"

"That's always been my mother's salmon salad. It's super easy; just cook up a fresh salmon, dice it, and serve it with lettuce, cucumbers, and vinegar dressing!"

Ren couldn't quite hide the smirk at Nora's overeager speech, and waved goodbye as the train came.

"Very well. Adieu, Nora."

That night, Ren and Coco had just finished setting dinner when Pyrrha walked in, radiating happiness like an angel. A prefunctory look at her revealed what had happened; her right hand's ring finger bore a band of silver, with a cushion-cut ruby encircled by onyx.

"He proposed!", the archaeologist happily exclaimed.

"Congratulations!", her staff chorused, with Coco hugging her and Ren patting her shoulder.

"Please, join me for dinner," Pyrrha requested.

"Sure thing, ma chère," replied the housekeeper.

"By the way, Pyrrha," Ren enquired, "is it alright if Miss Valkyrie visits us on Friday afternoon?"

Pyrrha looked upwards in thought for a moment.

"Well, I suppose she can. Be sure to provide her lunch for her trouble."

Ren smiled at his employer.

"Worry not, Pyrrha. I've got that covered."

A/N: I'm back!

Just so you guys know, this fourth entry into the Belladonna Lilies AU will get updated infrequently. Also, I'm planning to make this about four or five chapters long, so it'll be quite tiny compared to the other three. Still, I hope you guys enjoyed this first entry for "Said the Butler to the Huntress".