They walked into the kitchen together to prepare the morning staff meal and the young masters' breakfast. Sebastian held her as she cut the bacon and dropped kisses on her neck as he listened for the footfalls of the staff. He almost took her again as she looked over her shoulder and kissed him deeply, her eyes full of desire. He kissed her nose and slipped the glasses back on as Baldroy came down the stairs.
Sebastian did not miss the look that Baldroy gave him as soon as he saw that Mey-Rin was not alone.
"Morning," he grumbled and grabbed a piece of buttered toast and walked outside.
The cook muttered a few words and Sebastian chose not to hear any of them. He sneered; of course he was being petty and had asked Mey-Rin to join him for a quiet dinner before the cook could even muster another word of admiration toward the maid. His hands flew as he diced the chicken to make lunch.
Mey-Rin had fully recovered after being impaled to a tree, held in place with a spear in her left shoulder. She had been delighted when Baldroy had asked her to join her on the firing range, on a piece of property the young master owned in the next county. Sebastian had not felt any jealousy as he watched them leave; Mey-Rin had left his bed only moments before they had left together. He kept an eye on the pair, respectful of Mey-Rin's decision to entertain the cook, but always was delighted by her body and kisses when she returned, each time a bit more like the focused and exited woman he had bedded before the incident.
"A penny for your thoughts, Mister Sebastian?" Mey-Rin said, looking up at him through her milky glasses.
He knew she saw only the blurred outline of his face, and felt the weight of the metal frames on her nose. Both caused her headaches and her to stumble into things, or over nothing.
"You can have them for free," he breathed, leaning down into her ear. "I was thinking of us, as usual."
She delicately shivered and blushed. Ah, the blush of an innocent woman, who isn't innocent. He brushed a piece of hair that had escaped her usual hairstyle out of her eyes and kissed her forehead, pulling back as both Baldroy and Finnian walked toward the kitchen. "And here comes the rest of the circus," he muttered.
Mey-Rin giggled and moved around him to find a bowl.
"Mey-Rin!" Finnian said, a hint of delight in his voice. "Mister Sebastian!"
Sebastian turned and scooted out of the way of the maid, who had found a bowl to break the eggs into and had swung around, almost hitting him in the stomach. She really was a different person when she was wearing her glasses. It was like she was pouring all her concentration on seeing, she missed a lot. He smiled a bit; she missed nothing behind closed doors.
"Finnian," Sebastian said now. "Would you go and fetch the morning paper?"
"Oh," he said, his face falling a bit. There was a desperation in his eyes as he looked between Mey-Rin and Sebastian. Sebastian sighed and shook his head.
"Never mind, I can do it," he said, smiling. Leave the servants to pry and gossip.
He walked out of the kitchen and down the hall, and heard the men ask questions of their night out.
"Did he dance with you?"
"Did he touch you?"
"What did you eat?"
"Where did he take you?"
"Was it oh so romantic, like you hoped?"
"Jeez, Finny! She looks like she is about to have a nose bleed! Quit asking questions."
Turning he dashed to the end of the manors' lane and retrieved the wrapped paper and undid the twine as he dashed back, standing beside the back door and flipped through the pages, listening once more.
"We had a lovely evening - and no, he was not improper, Bard," she was saying. She was right, Sebastian mused, he was not improper. It was she who begged him to fuck her. He shivered at the memory, one of many.
"Did he cook for you? He is an amazing cook," the teenage gardener said, his voice laden in admiration.
"Yes, salmon, very well done," she responded.
"And he was a perfect gentleman?" Baldroy asked. Sebastian felt himself ruffle his feathers. If he could walk into the kitchen, his demonic wisps and feathery touches of darkness surrounding him, he would. But Mey-Rin most likely would scold him. He paused. It would be worth it.
"Yes, Bard, he was. Mister Sebastian made sure I got into bed at a reasonable time, unhurt, as you can see, and still in one piece." She sighed and he moved down the hallway a bit, peeking around the doorway, catching her standing between the two men. "If he asks me to dine with him again, I would say yes."
Finnian clapped his hands to his chest and sighed a Mey-Rin worthy sigh. "You are finally so happy."
"He's a damn intruder," Baldroy muttered.
"He is the head butler! He hired us," Finnian gasped. "You should not say things about Mister Sebastian. He has always been good to us. It's us who have failed and make more of a mess. I don't want to think about going back to where I was before he and the young master took me in."
The mood soured and Sebastian chose to walk back into the kitchen, among the staff, and flip the paper over the iron board and take the iron to the paper. The three were silent and he felt them watching him. He straightened and folded the paper neatly.
"I was thinking of impressing upon the young master to go to the river," he said, looking at them. "I would think he would wish you all to come as well."
Baldroy crossed his arms and Finnian's face lit up. Mey-Rin smiled slowly and nodded her head. The mood lightened, he gathered the eggs and fruit that had been cut and put in the ice box.
"Prepare the carriage and your selves than."
"And if he says no?" Baldroy said huffing.
Sebastian turned and pegged him with a look. "The young master shall not say no to me."
Baldroy seemed to shirk a bit as the gaze between the two lengthened. Sebastian scooped up the tea cup and tea and walked out. He would have to try a new method to speed up his and Mey-Rin's 'courtship.' He was tired of putting her into a more and more improper light in Baldroy's eyes.
"And what does it matter what he thinks?" Mey-Rin had scoffed once when they discussed the situation over dinner last night. "Eternity is with you, not him. Unless you are holding something about Bard I don't know, he is human. He will die."
He let his demonic mind ponder over the last words. Yes, he would die. Sebastian just had to make damn sure it was not because his hands wrapped around the cooks neck and took him to hell himself.
