Lucienne was warm and comfortable, and not at all looking forward to waking up. She was still sore from the night before and wanted nothing more than to sleep longer. However, something had caused her to wake up, and she had just enough consciousness to realize she needed to figure out what it was.
Even with that thought in mind, she stretched languidly as she tried to remember if it had been a touch or a sound that had woken her. If it had been a touch, she needed to be alert for the demon butler, but she was so tired, she could barely open her eyes. She rolled onto her back and stretched her legs out as she yawned widely.
She realized what a mistake that was as she felt a hand rubbing her stomach and a voice cooing nearby. "What lovely fangs. You could do that all day and I would never tire of it."
Instantly, the adrenaline was pumping through her veins and had her alert. She curled her body around the offending hand and sank every one of her claws in as well as her teeth. She wanted to hiss at Sebastian when his only response was to lift his hand up in front of his face with her still attached, but her mouth was currently occupied with trying to remind him why it was a bad idea touch her.
He chuckled at her response as his other hand came up to rub behind her ear. "Such ferocity. Though it might be best if you let go."
Her lip curled up in response to his suggestion, but it wasn't until the taste of his blood coated her tongue that she realized he was right. She instantly dropped back to the bed and was trying to get it out of her mouth. If she had been in her human form, there was no doubt she was have gotten sick.
She did hiss when Sebastian chuckled again and knelt until he was on eye level with her. "Did you forget that it is not blood in my veins, but ichor?"
Lucianne hissed at him again, but it was a weaker sound as she was still trying to deal with the awful taste. Sebastian smirked as he scooped her up. She swiped at his hand again, but she was too distracted to make it count. He ignored it entirely as he rubbed her ears while he continued as if she had not attacked him. She did jerk away at that point and managed to get loose and land back on the bed while he spoke.
"As much as I enjoy our little tête-a-tête, I am afraid that it is time you changed back. I must go wake the young master soon, and he has stated we have much to do this afternoon before we may return to the mansion. You will need to attend to his lessons this morning while I prepare everything."
By that time, Lucienne had managed to get the worst of the taste off her tongue, though she was sure she would likely feel ill all day. She mustered enough of her dignity to sit up and wrap her tail around her legs before she shook her head at him.
His eyes widened at her response before he frowned. "Please do not be obstinate. I have already made it quite clear what the consequences will be if you disobey, and I would hate to resort to such measures."
Lucienne gave him a silent snarl, but she shook her head again. Sebastian's frown quickly turned to contemplation as something else occurred to him. "Are you refusing because you don't want to listen to me, or is it that you simply cannot change back yet?"
He gave her an expectant look, though he nearly laughed once more when even her feline features changed into an expression that clearly indicated he was less than intelligent. It did not take him long to figure out why. He smirked as he knelt again. "Ah, yes, please forgive me for my thoughtless request. I suppose you can meow once if it is that you will not, or twice if you cannot."
If she had been capable of rolling her eyes, she might have, even if it was rude. This demon always found a way to get on her nerves. Still, she complied with two soft meows.
Sebastian stood at that point with a frown. "Hmm, that is troublesome, but I suppose it is not surprising. I did not realize until we returned how close we were to your deadline." He sighed as he looked down at her. "Would two hours be enough?"
Lucienne dipped her head once, which was enough for Sebastian to understand. He shook his head at her. "I will be back to retrieve you in two hours."
Her only response to his request was to turn her back on him and jump back up on the pillow. It was only a matter of moments before she was curled up once more. Even though he was aware she was making a point of ignoring him, he could not help but chuckle. It was such a feline thing to do that he found it charming instead of offensive. Not that he got offended, ever.
Lucienne was sure it had not yet been two hours when she once again felt a finger rubbing the spot just above her nose. At least this time she was much more alert. She swiped at the offending appendage before her eyes were even open. She then stood and stretched with her back arched before she sat primly and stared up at the demon that had interrupted her sleep.
She wasn't sure what think of the near-constant smirk he wore when she was in her feline form. Knowing he had a soft spot for cats made her wonder about him, but it also gave her hope. Perhaps something could be worked out so that she could escape, or barring that, help the Earl in some way. That child surely did not deserve his fate.
She pushed those thoughts aside for the moment as he scooped her up. She hissed at him when he tried to rub her ears, but otherwise did not attack, as he had already moved to take her back to her room. It wouldn't do to have anyone catch her coming out of his room in her human form. Not that she believed the butler would allow them to be caught, but if they were, it would be no more trouble than him having to pretend to release her.
She was grateful to be back in her room when he sat her down to go. He paused for a moment as he looked back. "It seems you were not the only one under the weather this morning, so we are running late. I am sure the young master will want to make up the time, so please be quick."
Her only response was to stare at him. There was no way she was changing with him in the room, no matter if he liked looking or not. That was not an experience she was keen on repeating. He finally realized that she would not move until he did, so he smirked and walked out.
She jumped down to the floor as soon as the door was closed and immediately manipulated the magic that held her. It was only a matter of moments before a petite raven-haired woman stood where the cat had been.
Lucienne headed for her armoire as soon as she was changed, but before she could get there, she nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of a male voice behind her. She whirled around to see Sebastian standing near the door with a frown. "Your arms are bruised."
She hissed back at his presence. "Why are you in my room? You know I am dressing!"
He ignored her as he moved to take one of her arms and looked at the lurid bruises across her forearm. He did not release it as he caught her eye. "I wished to speak to you about last night before we went downstairs. This was the most economical use of both our time since we are in a hurry."
She jerked her arm from his grasp and turned to her armoire. She knew arguing would get them nowhere, so dressing as quickly as possible was the next best solution. Her voice was cold when she finally answered. "What do you need to know?"
"Why were you able to deflect the reaper's scythe? More importantly, how did you know it would happen?"
Lucienne sighed as she slipped her shift on before she grabbed her dress and turned back to face him. "It is simple, really. I have met a reaper once before. He was no more glad to see me than the one last night. He had been sent to retrieve my soul and could not."
Sebastian frowned slightly. "Why?"
She let out a bitter chuckle. "I have never had it confirmed, but I believe it is due to my curse. The reapers take souls to the afterlife, yet my soul cannot part from my body. Or at least, I have yet to find how. I have been injured to the point that I wished I could die, that I thought I would, and yet my body finds a way to recover. It is not much faster for me to heal than any other human, so it is torturous to say the least, but I have yet to figure out how to die."
Sebastian's eyes widened. Her soul was bound to her body in a way that he did not think was possible, which made the prospect of how to feed on it a bit of a quandary. Despite that, he found himself grinning down at her. She took a step back as he stepped forward. Unfortunately, he had her backed into a corner, and she could do no more than glare as he leaned until they were eye to eye.
His eyes flashed fuschia for a moment, but at least he had made no move to touch her. Though she wished he had never asked when he finally spoke. "Perhaps there may come a time that I can assist with that. I would certainly be willing to try."
Lucienne knew he had to hear how fast her heart was beating, but she managed to keep up a calm façade. "I am most certain you would, but I have no desire to find out how you would be willing to do so."
He chuckled as he backed up once more. His eyes flashed again, but that was the only indication he had not given up as he turned to go. He called back over his shoulder before he shut the door. "I will expect to see you downstairs in fifteen minutes."
Once the door was closed, Lucienne allowed her body to sag against the wall. She was sure the demon would be the death of her eventually. She only hoped to figure out how to avoid it becoming the most excruciating thing she had ever known before that day came.
A/N: Hehe, we get to see a little of their interactions when she is a cat. You know part of that has to be the fact that he knows she hates it and does it just to get on her nerves lol. I hope you enjoyed! Thanks for reading.