There it was again. The snuffling, whimpering noise that had been keeping Mey-Rin awake for almost ten minutes now. The girl sank deeper into her small bed, drawing the sheets up to her chin. She hadn't even been living at the Phantomhive Manor for a week yet, and already there were strange noises in her room.
Well… it wasn't just her room. She shared it with the two other new servants, Bardroy and Finnian. The whole thing made Mey-Rin uneasy. Not only was she sharing a room with two people she had just met, but they were both boys.
Calm down, she told herself. You're a trained assassin at the age of seventeen, for heaven's sakes. You can share a room with two guys, no problem.
But still, what was that strange noise?
Gingerly, Mey-Rin pulled the blankets away from her face and looked around. She could hear Bard's faint snoring coming from the other side of the room. There was a large, Finny-sized lump in the gardener's bed, covered by his sheets. The maid frowned. What was he doing under there?
"Finny?" she whispered, but he did not respond.
Mey-Rin swung her legs over the side of her bed and stood up. She tiptoed over to the blonde boy's bed, and gently pulled the sheets away.
Finny was sitting there, his knees drawn up to his chin. He gasped when she uncovered him, and even in the darkness, Mey-Rin could see tears running down his pale cheeks.
So he was the source of the strange noise. "You're crying." she observed. "Are you alright?"
Finny nodded, avoiding her gaze. "Y-Yeah… just nightmares again."
The maid frowned. "Again?" she repeated.
"Well… yeah."
He looked so small and embarrassed, almost like a lost puppy. Mey-Rin felt a rush of pity for him- and sympathy. She knew how he felt; she, too, had nightmares sometimes about the things she had done, about the people she'd killed. If what Sebastian had said was true- which she didn't think it was- and this boy had really killed people as well… it would haunt him forever, especially in his dreams.
She sat down on the bed next to him. He flinched away instinctively, unused to proximity that didn't bring him pain. "I have nightmares, too, sometimes" Mey-Rin confessed.
Finny looked up at her, his turquoise eyes wide. "Really?"
"Yes."
A smile spread across his face. "That's good. I mean… not good that you have scary dreams. But… good that I'm not the only one. Does that make sense?"
Mey-Rin nodded, and returned his smile. "I know what you mean, yes I do." she said.
For a few moments, they just sat there wordlessly in the moonlight, but Finny soon broke the silence. "You know, Mey-Rin, you're really nice."
Blushing, she opened her mouth to respond, but he wasn't finished.
"It's hard to believe that you could have ever killed someone."
Immediately, all of the warmth that had been spreading through her vanished, sucked out by something cold and dark. The smile slid from her face, as did the rosy colour that had been gracing her cheeks. She looked down at Finny, her expression a mixture of shock, anger, and hurt. His mouth fell open when he read the look on her face.
"Oh, no, please don't be mad." he whispered. "I… I didn't mean to say anything that could hurt your feelings… and I don't think you're a bad person, 'cause I've killed people, too. I just thought… you seem way too nice for all that."
Mey-Rin pursed her lips, studying his face. He was young, twelve or thirteen at the most, although he was so thin and scared-looking that he could have easily passed for ten or eleven.
I don't think you're a bad person, Finny had said, 'cause I've killed people, too.
So what Sebastian had told her was true. He had killed people. By looking at him, at the tears on his face and the way his pyjama shirt was slipping off of one of his small shoulders, she never would have believed that someone like him could ever take a life.
"Please don't be mad." Finny whimpered, his eyes welling with fresh tears. "I'm really sorry."
"I'm not mad." she said finally.
"You're not?"
"No." Mey-Rin smiled again. "Hey, if you're scared… why don't you come and sleep in my bed with me tonight?"
His face lit up. "Really? You mean it?"
"Of course!" She reached over and put her arm around his shoulders. "Then neither of us will have nightmares tonight."
xXx
Three years later, Finny was sitting in the sunny garden, digging up weeds. Mey-Rin stood beside him and watched, as she dried an ornate teacup with a cloth.
"Hey, Finny?" she began suddenly.
"Yeah?"
"Do you remember when we first came to live here… and you used to have nightmares all the time?"
He turned to look at her, trowel in hand. "Yeah, I remember that. That was pretty embarrassing, huh?"
"No, not really." She shook her head. "Anyway, I was wondering… When was the last time you had a nightmare?"
"Hmm. I can't even remember!" A warm, dazzling grin spread across his face. "I guess I just feel really safe with you around, Mey-Rin. I always sleep better when you're there."
Mey-Rin's face felt hot and she knew only too well that she had gone bright pink. "Oh, Finny." She leaned down and gave him a little kiss on the top of his strawberry-blonde head. "You're sweet, yes you are."
The young gardener beamed. "Aw, you're sweeter. You know, I'll never forget when you found me and I was crying, and you let me come sleep with you. You were so nice to me then, Mey-Rin. That was the first night I didn't have nightmares for… for as long as I could remember."
"I'll never forget that either." said the maid. "I remember being afraid, but you looked so small, you did. I wondered if I'd later regret letting you come into my bed… but to this day… I never have."
"Aww." Finny laughed softly. "Maybe it wasn't just a coincidence that we were both recruited here. Maybe we were brought together so we could protect each other, and so we wouldn't be scared anymore."
Trying not to think of the grass stains she'd have to wash out later, Mey-Rin sat down beside him and rested her head on his shoulder.
"I like the way you think." she murmured.
He set his trowel down on the ground next to him and sighed contentedly. "I'm not scared now, Mey-Rin."
The magenta-haired maid smiled and said, "Neither am I."
end