The Phantomhive manor had quite a lot of rooms for the servants. Sebastian, Mey-Rin, Tanaka, and Snake had their own while Bard and Finny shared one. The servants were all quite pleased with their sleeping arrangements. Sebastian and Mey-Rin got their privacy, Snake got to be alone, and Bard and Finny didn't really mind. Though the rooms fit the servants tastes, sometimes the arrangements could be inconvenient.

For example, Finny got really bad night terrors sometimes and usually Bard was there to calm him down and make sure he got back to sleep all right.

However, sometimes the young master, Sebastian, Mey-Rin, and Bard left to do things on their own. In the past, if the young master left, he would've left all the servants to look after the manor. Now that he had Snake, he usually took half of the servants with him. Since Snake was rather responsible, the young master left the scaly footman and Tanaka in charge.

With that in mind, Snake, Finny, and Tanaka were the only ones at the manor. After the three finished dinner that night, they all went to their assigned rooms.

Before going to sleep, Snake usually had to look around his room for his snakes. Though they obeyed him, they still liked to joke around and hide from their master. It was almost midnight by the time Snake rounded them up. Irritated by how long the task had taken, Snake got into his bed and tried to sleep. He chuckled when his snake, Emily, slithered onto his pillow.

Not even five minutes passed when Snake's door creaked open. Snake peeked over at the door to see the small frame of Finny. He and his snakes quite liked Finny. Of course, he could be loud and obnoxious at times but Snake was glad he was afraid of him. He found the boy to be quite sweet and darling.

Letting out a sigh, Snake said for Emily. "Finny, what're you doing here so late? Says Emily."

He blinked when Finny walked over and sat at the edge of the bed. That's when Snake noticed he was crying. It wasn't the usual loud, incoherent blubbering Finny let out when he'd messed something up, it was shallow and wheezy. Snake frowned. What had caused him to start crying?

Snake crawled over to his blonde friend and sat near him. "What's the matter? Says Emily."

He stiffened up when Finny leaned against him. The poor thing was trembling. Snake didn't move, too scared.

"It b-burns." Finny said softly.

Glancing over at him, Snake noticed how Finny was rubbing the back of his neck where the brand was. Snake realized what was wrong.

Gathering up what little courage he had, Snake said. "Finny, why don't we lay you down. Says Emily."

He nudged Finny over towards the pillows, feeling nervous and slightly guilty when the blond flinched as though Snake were hitting him. Finally, Snake got Finny to lie down. Snake felt even more guilty at how wide Finny's eyes were. Is he scared of me? Snake thought. Hesitantly, Snake laid down next to his friend. He was careful to keep his distance, just in case Finny panicked and got more upset.

To his surprise, Finny scooted over and nestled close. Snake slowly set his arm over Finny, taking this as a sign Finny was ok now.

Finny whimpered quietly and asked. "Are they here?"

"Who?" Snake blinked.

"The bad people." Finny whispered, shaking more.

"No, no, just us. Says Emily." Snake murmured. At some point during all this, Emily had settled herself on Snake's shoulder.

"Kay."

Snake sighed. He let his hand stroke Finny's hair gently, glad Finny didn't seem scared by it. In fact, it seemed to relax him. That made Snake smile. He made Finny feel comfortable, finally.

Finny looked up at him. "I'm sleepy."

"Ok. Get some rest." Snake said gently, stroking Finny's hair out of his face but, alas, the hair fell back into place.

"Kay." Finny snuggled close, eyes closed. Suddenly he peeked up at Snake with a smile. "You said that yourself!"

Honestly, Snake thought Finny was too tired to notice. Snake gave a little chuckle and said. "I did, didn't I?"

He smiled more when Finny giggled. "Silly Snake..."

"Go to sleep." Snake ordered gently.

Finny nodded and pressed close to Snake. "Night."

"Goodnight. Sweet dreams." Snake said gently. "Wake me if you need me."

The littlest of smiles was on Finny's face as he slept that night. At some point, Snake eventually fell asleep, one hand pulling Finny's head to his chest and the other on his back. They stayed that way until morning. Once they woke up, they decided it may be ok to change the sleeping arrangements a tad...