Over the next few months, Kevin starts to trust Eddward more and more. Opening up to someone other than his Mother or Giles was hard for him at first and he started out with small things but soon those small things turned into bigger more secretive things. They had a very easy friendship when it was just them two. It was even getting easier with his Father because Eddward was able to explain things and talk to Kevin through some of the more intricate things that his Father was trying to teach him. Things were getting to be very tolerable and downright pleasant in the Barr home.
Eddward clicks his way down the hallway, carrying a basket of assorted picnic foods, plates, wine stem glasses, silverware, and a blanket. "Young Master," he says knocking on the door to his study.
"Yes, Eddward?" Kevin looked up from the papers strewn about his desk.
"I thought you could use a reprieve to relax for a few hours. I have the horses saddled and your favorite food and wine in here. I just thought you seemed rather stressed" Eddward smiles holding up the basket.
Kevin looked up and smiled gratefully "Anything to get me out of here!"
"Shall we leave then?" the butler asks bowing and holding the door open.
Kevin quickly left the room and made his way to the stables. His heart raced as he approached Red, which made him nicker at Kevin. Eddward pulls himself onto the black stallion that he was quickly becoming attached to. "Lead the way, Young Master. Do try to keep in mind that I have a basket full of porcelain."
Kevin smirked as he adjusted his seat in the saddle. "So not anything deep in the woods... I got the perfect spot. Follow me!" Kevin trots Red out and heads for the orchards and hills.
When they come to the hill, they get off their horses tying them to a willow tree. "Young Master, this view is magnificent…" he says softly as he lays the blanket out.
"I love it out here, I could be out here forever. When it gets dark, you can see the stars and Moon on clear nights... if it stays like it is now, we'll might get a good view tonight" Kevin sits on the blanket and stretched his legs out.
Hearing and seeing the Young Master like this always put Eddward in an exceptionally good mood. "Well, Young Master, I believe I've brought enough food for the rest of today and a book to entertain myself, if you wish to stay out here that long" he says laying out the ginger's favorite snacks.
Kevin sighs and picks at some of the food. While he is hungry, he is much too happy to be outside and out of the house. "What book did you bring?"
Eddward pulls out a book he had frequently seen the Young Master reading. "you had me curious I must admit" he chuckles dryly.
"It's a great book. Go ahead and start reading it, I'm gonna go play with Red a bit" Kevin quickly shed his shirts and unhooked Red from the small limb he was tied to. Playfully pushing his muzzle to get him worked up, Kevin laughed as him and Red ran circles around each other. It was training as it was playing for them. A thin sheet of sweat worked up over Kevin's bare chest and back, the muscles in his arms moved with grace and speed, and a smile blossomed on his face to light up his whole face. Eventually they stopped and rested as Red nuzzled into Kevin's chest and Kevin returned the love with pets and soft words of encouragement and praise.
Eddward chuckles as he looks up from his book, outright laughing at one point, when Red nuzzled into Kevin's chest a bit too enthusiastically and knocked him down. After a while, the butler checks his pocket watch. "Young Master! You should come eat!" he calls out.
Kevin clicks tongue, causing Red to follow him and tied him back to the tree next to Eddward's black stallion. Flopping down on the blanket with a tired but content sigh and a rumbling tummy.
Eddward pours him some wine and goes back to his book. "You were quite right, Young Master. This is an excellent book."
"Honestly, I'm happy you can read. Not a lot of the staff can with the exception of Giles and a few others. I'm glad you're enjoying the book." Kevin sipped his wine a bit and leaned back on his hand, watching Eddward read. A feeling of nostalgia washed over him as he thought back to when his mother would read her sappy love stories to him. "Where ya at?"
Eddward looks up from his book. "I am at the part where the dastardly Lord Byron steals away with the young Lady Elizabeth in the middle of the night because her father refused to let him court her" he chuckles.
"Read to me a bit? I'm feeling a bit nostalgic..." Kevin asks with a slight blush.
The Raven butler smiles softly. "Of course, Young Master" he says before starting to read out loud to him. After a while, Kevin was sleeping to the relaxing tenor of Eddward's voice. Eddward reads until it turned dusk then snapped the book shut, waking up the ginger. "Young Master, it is time for us to depart. You've been out most of the evening and are in need of a bath" he says standing. He starts packing up the food and other things he brought for the ginger as his stomach starts growling since he hadn't eaten since breakfast,
"I'm hungry too, sit down and let's eat real quick, ok?"
The butler looks at him skeptically. "Such informality is frowned upon, Young Master. I'm afraid I must decline" he says tactfully.
"Must I make it an order? Come on, Eddward... sit and eat before the food goes bad" Kevin says simply, grabbing some fruit and tossing it in his mouth.
Eddward sighs deeply. "Young Master, it is not so simple as that..."
"Sit. Down. Eddward!"
Eddward pinches the bridge of his nose. "Young Master, I can no-" he doesn't get to finish his sentence because Kevin shoves a finger sandwich in his mouth.
"Shut up! Eat!"
His eyebrow twitches with annoyance, but not being one to waste food, he does as told. "There, it is gone. Are you quite pleased with yourself?"
"Maybe, are you still hungry? Do you want more food? Don't make me feed you..." Kevin warns from his place in the blanket, eating another small sandwich.
"I'm afraid I must decline I can eat when we get back to the estate."
"Oh my God, I'm going to shove all this food down your throat and watch you slowly die if you don't knock it off and eat like a normal person. No one is here to see you and, honestly, no one would care. Giles eats with my father and myself all the time. Get over it and eat! I can hear your stomach from here."
Eddward sighs knowing full well that it is likely the ginger would in fact sit on his chest and force feed him, though he did find it peculiar that Giles ate with them. "Very well, if you insist..." he says before beginning to eat. And again they sit in a comfortable silence, at peace with each other and content. "I don't like eating alone... makes me feel like I'm preventing you from eating or something" Kevin muses around some potatoes.
"On the contrary, I eat right after you do, Young Master" Eddward says popping a grape in his mouth.
"Yeah but you do a lot for me, I like to return the favor. You just gotta let me" Kevin grinned. "It's my way to repay for you all you do... simple as that."
"Young Master, I am amply compensated for all that I do for you. Besides, I enjoy taking care of you" he chuckles.
"I'm sure you enjoy taking care of a 'spoiled brat' like me" Kevin grinned jokingly. "I run you ragged and give you a hard time some days, so I like to try to apologize for that. I know I'm not the easiest person to work with but I just hate the formality of everything."
"I am very well aware of that" he chuckles dusting his hands together to get the crumbs off his gloves.
Setting aside two apples, he stands and gathers his shirts to put just one on for the ride back to the estate. He feeds each horse an apple and they happily munch away. Kevin turns around to see if he could help Eddward pack up but Eddward is just shaking off the blanket and folding it up. "Guess you need no help, huh?"
"What kind of butler would I be if I needed my Master's help to do my job?" Eddward laughs dryly picking the basket up and walking over to the black horse.
Kevin rolled his eyes with a smirk. "You are something else, ya know that?" Kevin easily mounted Red and waited for Eddward join them. Red wanted to run, he wanted to gallop through the fields in the dark and run over the hills. Kevin could feel his body quivering and his excited breathing. "I'm taking the long way... He's itching to run a bit. You can come with if you want." With that, the two redheads took off.
"Please be back soon Young Master!" Eddward calls out before heading to the house. He lets the stable hands take the stallion and then gives the picnic basket to the kitchen staff before walking upstairs to the Young Master's room. He takes off his gloves, letting his hands get some much needed air and puts them in his pocket before turning down the ginger's bed and gathering his night clothes. He then turns his attention to the bath…
Kevin maneuvered Red into the stable and brushed off the stable hand's offer to wash the stallion down. "I'll take care of him. Go do other stuff" he claimed as he got down and grabbed the water and brushes. He made sure he got all the dirt and grime off before brushing Red out and making sure he had plenty of food and water. After washing off and hanging the tack, Kevin made his way up to his own bath. He knew Eddward would have a warm bath waiting and everything set up for him to quickly slide into bed.
Once Kevin made it to his bedroom, he started to take his clothes off before getting to the bathroom. He opened the door and saw Eddward drawing his bath but his hands were bare... and Kevin finally saw the marred skin and thick scars.
Eddward quickly hides his hands. "Young Master, I do apologize! I was not expecting you quite so soon" he says sliding his gloves back on quickly before turning around acting as though nothing happened.
"What happened, Eddward?"
"With what, Young Master?" he asks, kneeling in front of Kevin to unbutton his pants and pulling them down leaving the ginger naked. "Your bath is ready" he says beginning to pick up the discarded clothes.
Kevin grabbed his upper arm as Eddward was making his way out of the bathroom. "What happened to your hands?"
Eddward swallows the lump in his throat and looks back at the ginger. "Do not concern yourself with that, Young Master. As long as I am still able to do my duties, it doesn't matter what happened to them."
"General curiosity and wonder... did Cain do that to you?"
"You have had a long day, please bathe so that I may dress and put you to bed" Eddward says softly.
Kevin sighs "You know you can talk to me about things if you need to. I can be your friend too..."
Eddward sighs softly and nods. Once he discards the clothing and got Kevin into his bath, he sits on a stool and slips his gloves off again. "You already know so this task will become easier I suppose..." he says lathering up a washcloth. "Yes, this happened while I was under the employment of the Cains."
"They're notorious for being cruel to their staff... I'm surprised they have staff left!" Kevin grumbled out. "They give the rest of us a bad name."
Eddward nods. "Yes, I know that now" he says quietly washing the ginger's back.
"You didn't think all of us were like that, did you?" Kevin froze.
Eddward chuckles. "I must admit that I did. I grew up with my father and mother working for them and I did my butler training under them as well. It wasn't until I finished and got the job here that I realized that people could actually be kind to their servants."
"My mother was always very firm that I was to be as nice as I can be to the staff. I was mean to my nanny one time and she saw it, I'll never forget that. Both my parents got on my ass for that... treat people with respect and they'll respect you in return" Kevin commented, feeling Eddward's hands run up and down his back felt wonderful.
Eddward scrubs the young man's hair. "If only there were more people like you" he says softly.
"The world would burn..." Kevin jokes lightly. Eddward flinched imperceptibly at the word 'burn' but stays silent as he washes everything out.
"You're so good at your job, I can't see a reason why they would punish you..."
"How did you think I became this good, Young Master?" Eddward asks quietly.
"I guess..." Kevin didn't know how to respond. He knew the Cain's were cruel to their staff at best and God only knows what Eddward went through, never mind his parents to have been able to raise him in that kind of environment. He got out of the bath and dressed quickly in a comfortable silence. Just before Eddward leaves, he calls out to him. "Hey Eddward, I'm glad you're here."
Eddward halts in the entry way. "Why, thank you, Young Master. So am I" He says gently before closing the door silently.
Kevin rolled on to his back and stared at the elegant designs on the ceiling. He was having some strange thoughts that he knew had no place in his mind right now. He was to be wed in a few months and all he could think about was ways to make sure that Eddward stayed with him. He didn't care about any other staff member as long as he got to keep Eddward with him. That wasn't too weird, right? Right!
The butler meanwhile clicks his way down the hall, making a silent vow to himself not to fuck this job up so that he could stay by the Young Master's side. He felt a deep connection to the ginger that was unexplainable to him but he wasn't about to look into it as long as he was able to do his best for Kevin.
