Disclaimer: I do not own kuroshitsuji.

Author's Note: Hey sorry for the long wait. Don't have a good excuse (please don't hurt me.)

Lilia busied herself folding the linens and stealing glances in the direction of the banister. He stood there for that one rare moment checking his pocket watch. His face one of silent contemplation. Sebastian hadn't spoken so much as a single word to her since the incident in the dining hall. Actually, she suspected he was avoiding her. It had been two days and he hadn't given her one order, or so much as greeted her. He wouldn't meet her eyes either. He simply acted as if she did not exist. However it was a decided improvement from being accosted every other moment.

"Good Morning Mister Sebastian," Meyrin greeted pleasantly as she passed him on her way up the stairs. The butler nodded with a smile returning the greeting before striding off to his next order of business.

Luckily, it appeared Meyrin had no recollection of the evening prior when she had attempted to shield Lilia from the demon's fury. The maid still blushed furiously every time the butler spoke to her and this time was no different. She gripped the stair rail to prevent a lovestruck tumble down the way she'd come. Lilia smiled to herself at her coworkers antics shaking her head. She didn't entirely understand the other maid, but she liked her. She come to like all of the servants, even though she hadn't had the best impression of them at first.

When she'd first arrived she'd thought them all idiots. And she wasn't wrong, as none of them were aware of Sebastian's nature despite the small hints he failed to cover up. Still they were good people. They accepted her so easily, treating her like she was part of their home instead of like a stranger.

"Miss Lilia, good morning!" Said maid had finally topped the stairs and spotted the young woman over in the corner.

Lilia smiled back at her. "Good morning. Are you alright?"

"Y-yes!" The maid clutched her cheeks as if willing her blush away. "Mister Sebastian is just so handsome this morning."

"He looks the same as he always does to me," Lilia stated laughing inwardly as the maid's blush returned full force.

"Of course, Miss Lilia you would not notice, you wake up and see yourself in the mirror each morning. I'm jealous."

Lilia blinked taken aback. "Ah... not really. I was born like this so..." She frowned still not comfortable with talking about her own appearance.

Meyrin smiled knowingly and took the pristinely folded fabric from the small table where the younger maid had laid it. "Ah, but it's nice. You suit eachother." It was only a quite whisper.

"Pardon?"

"D-did I say something?!" Meyrin blubbered suddenly hysterical again. "Please forget it!" Quickly she shot off nearly dropping the linens along the way.

Lilia stared after her frown still in place. Did it look to the other servants that she and Sebastian were lovers? Then she remembered all the times they had busted in on awkward situations. Yes. It probably did. Sighing she turned and made her way to the front entryway. She was going to go out for some air. No one really bothered her outside so maybe she could sit and wear off this embarrassment for a moment.

She looked over the sprawling lawn thoughtlessly. The air was cool and crisp a nice change from inside when she was sure if she stayed much longer she would suffocate. Just then a red blur caught her attention and she quickly found herself vaulting out of the path of a noisy and whirring blade.

Before her stood what she thought might be a man. She wasn't sure, they were certainly taller than her, but build slender and with a generous amount of make-up slathered on. But those eyes were unmistakable. She was sure of one thing only. This was a reaper. The noisy weapon slowed and quieted and the redhead stared at her in an amused sort of way.

"Can I help you?" she asked politely putting on the airs of a refined English maid.

"Hm," the reaper tapped their chin for a moment leaning closer to her until their noses almost touched. "Another demon, but this one's disgusting. Ew. I should clean up this yard shouldn't I? If my dear Sebas-chan sees such a filthy thing then what will we do?"

Lilia stared back at the shocking green eyes offended and a little shocked. She wasn't used to being insulted so openly. Generally when someone didn't like her it was out of jealousy, and harsh comments would be made behind her back. This however, was entirely new. "Pardon my asking, but are you a guest of the earl? I was not informed we would be having visitors."

A sly grin spread over the redheaded reaper's face and he leaned in his smile turning to a chuckle. "I am afraid that's confidential," he whispered in her ear. Lilia froze as a searing pain exploded in her back. He had another weapon, she realized, but it was far too late now. She should have been more aware. Surely even without that noisy machine of a scythe, it didn't mean he couldn't have something else on him. "Die like a good girl now."

Lilia sneered as the instrument was twisted and pulled from her back, her chest heaved in pain and anger. Did this person really think they could so rudely stab someone like that?

xxx

Finny watched in horror as a strange man with long red hair leaned in toward the small maid, a glint of steel in his hand. He had been watering the flowers and shrubs about the sides of the manor. After he rounded the corner though, his watering can hung a gnarled metal mess from his shaking fingers. No, he wanted to scream, but the words wouldn't come out. He wanted to warn her, to save, and protect her, but he could do nothing as before he knew it the stranger had jabbed the pair of scissors up to the handles in her right lung.

"Die like a good girl now," he heard the man say in a friendly tone.

All he could see was red, the red hair, the blood that spurted and trickled from the wound now evident through her maid uniform. Finnian could hear an inhuman scream, and realized that it was his own. His body moving of its own accord and charging the red man.

He would crush him. Sculls were so easily broken, bones were like twigs. This man would be wearing his brain on the outside in a million pieces. But something stopped him.

"Finny no!" Her voice rang out, breaking him from his insanity. Her grip was like that of a monster's on his arm, like his own. However, he had little time to think about the small hand wrapped around his wrist, as the red man was now attacking him. A menacing growling blade was spinning toward him only to be blocked.

Before the two of them, with the whirring blade trapped between his palms stood Sebastian. Finny stared up at the butler's back in reverence, and embarrassment. This was the man who filled in everywhere that Finny himself fell short, or where anyone fell short for that matter.

"Might I inquire as to why you are attacking my staff?" The butler asked in a sickeningly sweet tone. One that sent the hairs on the back of Finny's neck straight on end.

xxx

Lilia tugged the stunned gardener out of the way of the danger zone pulling him back into the safety of the manor. Surely explaining a reaper to him would be complicated. She could sense that it would be best to keep the kid in the dark as much as possible on the subject.

Her chest hurt where that asshole had stabbed her, more than it should have. Surely he couldn't have had more than one scythe, although Undertaker had never really gone into specifics on reaper life much. So she knew little on the subject.

A pair of emerald eyes bore into her, and she groaned turning away. She'd forgotten to conceal herself a little more, letting too much of the pain show on her face. Finny was going to cry and start apologizing like he always did. Just what she needed...

Instead she was surprised by slow careful hands. A gentle and warm touch as he lifted her carefully as he could. "Finny... what are you..." A piercing glare shocked her into silence and she resigned to her fate, whatever that may be. She'd never seen the blonde like that, and she was a bit stupefied. A small blush warmed her cheeks as he pulled her needlessly close before sprinting off down the hallway.

She was fine. She'd had worse, but here she was laid out on her stomach on the servant's large roundtable in the common room surrounded by worried faces. She was mortified. Finny had given her a very ungentlemanly ultimatum. Either she could remove her shirt so the wound could be cleaned and treated, or he would remove it for her.

Therefore she lay without a corset, or anything covering her upper torso except for her removed undershirt which she had been clutching protectively over her chest, not only to protect her ego, but the dark symbol of unholiness that would surely raise questions.

"You need somethin' to bite down on? That looks mighty nasty." Bard grumbled.

"You look nasty," she grumbled to herself.

"What was that?" the cook asked suspciously.

"Finny what happened?" Meyrin asked anxiously. All the while the maid was guiltily stopping a nosebleed with a tissue.

"Jesus Mey!" The cook commented rolling his eyes at the blood soaked handkerchief.

"She was stabbed," Finnian deadpanned, too busy concentrating on the task at hand to go into details.

Lilia watched from over her shoulder as the boy gently dabbed her wound with a wet cloth, cleaning the blood. She did her best to try to act oblivious to the odd looks on all the other servants' faces at Finnian's odd behavior.

"Who did it?, says Emily? Should we take care of them?, says Goethe."

"Sebastian is dealing with the intruder. Don't bother him," Lilia told them. "I think he would like the whole ordeal to be as tidy as possible."

Meek looks were exchanged amongst the servants. They knew that she had a point.

"Still..." Bard muttered. Lilia glanced up at him, only paling as Finnian began to wrap bandages around her torso. "You got some grit, I'll give ya' that kid. Sittin' there like you got a scratch when it's pretty obvious that hurts like hell. To be honest I didn't think you had it in ya'."

As the gardener carefully wrapped the cloth bandages around her he grazed her chest, sending the whole room into a tizzy. Finny fell backwards a shade of red that no one had ever known possible before. Bardroy was also a tinge flushed in the face, casually looking the other direction. Snake simply looked on with a little wider eyes than before while taking a few cautious steps back away from the whole ordeal. And then there was Meyrin who had burst into a lecherous grin, doused the entirety of her apron in blood and resorted to muttering obscene and terrifying things not fit for many adults, let alone the two younger ones in the room.

Bard quickly covered the maid's mouth blushing darker at some of the things he had heard. "That's it Mey. You need some time to yourself, it's better for society." With that the cook had drug the dirty maid from scene, The three remaining servants stared after them long after they had gone in silence, well with the exclusion of Finny who was still staring at Lilia his blush as intense as before.

"That was intense, says Wilde. We should go too, says Goethe." Snake made his way silently from the room. Lilia only realized all too late that that meant she and Finny were alone together after what had just happened.

"Wai—" Damn.

Lilia hung her head sighing. This was awkward.

xxx

His heart was pounding. He was certain she could hear it, it was so loud. And he knew he shouldn't be looking, but his eyes lingered on the area under her arm where she held the cloth to hide. She looked ethereal, like some sort of angel. Surely, she had to be the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen. And he'd... he had... touched... If his blush had subsided at all, it was back full force now.

Swallowing hard, Finny drew a breath as if to summon the courage to function normally again. "I... I—I really... I'm so sorry I touched you like that! I didn't mean it! It's just the bandage needs to be tight and I didn't really think about it and I—I—I'm so sorry! I don't want to see you hurt and..."

xxx

Lilia stared at the bumbling gardener whose mouth was moving so fast she barely could make out much of what he was saying, until she caught something amidst the chaos.

"—I really think I love you—"

He stopped speaking immediately, as even he had noticed his mistake. Both of them stared at one another in shocked silence.

"Ehem, Am I interrupting something?" A tall figure stood in the doorway with a large tear in his coat, but other than that, no blood or cuts. Red eyes locked onto Finny with a dangerous glint.

"N-no, Mister Sebastian!" Finny stuttered tears gleaming in his eyes. He'd finally returned to his normal self. The stoic seriousness, and the word vomiting completely behind him. Lilia was grateful. As much as she liked the gardener, she did not want to go down that road. The blonde boy practically ran from the room, not wanting to face down everything that lay within, and the two demons were left alone.

Lilia watched as the black figure strode towards her releasing a single sigh. "Perhaps I should castrate him. I believe that would resolve this issue of his infatuation with you." Nimble gloved hands took up the loose bandages now resting about her waist. Fingertips ghosted over skin as the wrapping was quickly tamed into proper position. "This will take a while to heal. It was a little thoughtless of you to allow that garbage to do this."

Lilia snorted, willing her mouth shut rather than smarting off. She was going to behave like she promised, though it figured that he wasn't going to make it easy. But she did think it funny, how Sebastian referred to that reaper as disdainfully as he had. She didn't like the redheaded freak much either, not after such a rude introduction.

Gloved fingers cupped her breast and she stiffened as a pair of lips caressed her neck. Tendrils of silken hair slipping over her bare shoulder as something wet and warm slid along her jaw. She felt hot. What was he doing? She didn't even realize when he'd tilted her head back, but as a pair of gentle lips met her own she found that she wasn't really keeping up too well with anything. What was he doing?! Why?

Gentle. Soft. Warm. This was not normal. This was not normal at all.

Wide- eyed she stared up into blood red irises as he pulled away. "Don't look at anyone else," he said quietly before walking away and leaving her alone.

She gasped drawing a breath she'd forgotten and stared at the empty space before her. What. Was. That? Swallowing she reached up shakily to touch the symbol on her chest. It was emitting a dim glow.

It was warm.