A/N: A snake's mating season is in the Spring so there is an interesting situation that occurs.
Finny's Confusion: part 3
That darkness I was plunging towards was to be my destiny. I grabbed for the brass bars of the cage. My hands were scorched as if they were on fire. I thought about letting go, but it was the pain of the bars or darkness. At least the bars of the bird cage I knew! The darkness was the unknown, and I was terrified the darkness would totally consume me.
I'd lose myself and be devoured by someone else in that murky darkness below. Someone was waiting in that darkness for me. I could see amber, glowing eyes, now. He was waiting for me to fall. He was watching me. He was getting to know me. When that happened... I just didn't know him... What did he wanted from me?
What was that person in the murky darkness teaching me about myself?!
The days stretched into two weeks since Finnian had gotten back from the woods. Both Snake and Finny were kept very busy. Finny, in particular, had many tasks, because the winter was fading away. Therefore, they didn't have any time to talk private, and Bard, with Mey-rin, kept interfering, too. Because of that, he was getting very irritable.
His irritation was complicated, though. He'd never been bothered at the Spring time of the year until this one. Before, he had been aware when snakes had their urges to mate. Now he was starting to feel the urge to find a mate, as well. It was starting to hit him hard.
It was a mild April, and he found himself wanting to find physical companionship so badly. His reptile friends were pairing up, and that created an irritating throbbing in his head. He needed to relieve himself of his sudden, lustful desires! Coupling was more and more on his mind.
Finny was the only one in his head, though. He ached and desired and wanted to... mate! Just like his reptile friends. It was Finnian he kept wanting to be with when he thought on it for any length of time. He was afraid of putting out the offer to be with the younger gardener, because Finny was a boy. He knew that wouldn't be accepted, typically, in the city and society.
Living in the countryside at the Phantomhive household, they had a chance at making something work, if they were discrete. After all, Snake had traveled around with the circus and wasn't surprised at the idea of a male and male coupling. He'd seen many different things.
Doll had mentioned this type of relationship a few times, but Snake was surprised his own desires went that way, too. Before, he hadn't cared one way or the other.
He knew what he wanted! He really didn't give a damn about society if he chose a male for a mate. He'd been rejected over and over by society at large just from his appearance. What was one more thing to the list of things that made him different from other people?
The only thing that held Snake back was how it would affect Finny if they were to grow even closer. Finny appeared normal and harmless. Having a male lover could draw attention to him if they were accidentally discovered. Snake worried about that.
He wanted Finny to be safe and above any criticism this overwhelming attraction could bring. There was a part of Snake that admitted he was actually grateful for Bard and Mey-rin's interference. It caused him to slow down and think things out carefully.
He started thinking of mating as something different, something deeper. Maybe there was something more in Finnian he was seeking out than just what his reptile friends did with each other. He missed talking to Finny, too! He didn't want to feel alone anymore. He had so much loneliness in his life.
He had left the circus to find revenge, but he knew Finny was a rare and precious find in his travels. He had the urge to properly court Finny, not just move on after coupling. That boy was going to end up being his mate come hell or high water, Snake finally decided! Now to plot around Bard and Mey-rin...
"I don't care what you are. I like you anyway."
I was so startled when the murky darkness beckoned me with this. I fought! How could I trust it when I was tumbling towards it against my will. I fought to cling to the blazing hot, brass bars again. My hands burned as the cool voice below beckoned me with promises of comfort. But I knew the brass bars! I didn't know what lay below!
"Finny! Pay attention!" Bard demanded, waving around his own straight razor. "You'll be sprouting hair on your chin soon enough, and you'll want to be rid of it."
"But you don't get rid of your chin hair very often," Finny pointed out with a frown at the chef's stubble.
Bard lathered up Finny's chin with a brush coated in white shaving cream from a mug. Finny's chin was totally smooth and hair-free, but Bard felt obligated to introduce him to one particular ritual of manhood: shaving.
"You never mind my habits and pay attention to what I teach you, kiddo!"
"Yes, sir," he said, feeling ridiculous with a bunch of foam on his face. He guessed Bard was right. He'd be sprouting hair soon, so shouldn't he learn to do this? It seemed like such a pain. He started contemplating growing the longest beard in the history of mankind when it did start sprouting.
He never saw Snake do this, or Sebastian for that matter. Tanaka did shave on a regular basis, but kept a mustache, and Bard was hit and miss with his shaving habits. Finny hoped he was like Snake and Sebastian and wouldn't have to bother with this irritation.
He listen to the shaving instruction about going with the hair and straight down, never at an angle. He scraped the foam off his chin with the razor to Bard's satisfaction and was finally dismissed from his annoying, but kind, lesson.
He launched himself outside and felt great and rejuvenated. Nature always did that for him. It was late afternoon and Bard only let him go because he had to prep dinner. He looked around for Snake. He should be home by now. He was hoping to finally get a moment alone with the former circus performer.
His brow furrowed, he spied around, and decided to go check on Snake's progress home. Over the last several weeks he'd wanted to spend more time with Snake, but now it seemed as if he was avoiding Finny. It was as if Finny were the Black Death! It hurt, and it caused a bit of guilt. This was probably how Snake felt when Finny had gone into the woods. But he couldn't have helped it!
Finny shook his head and ran towards Lord Randal's home in hopes of finding Snake. They could chat on the walk home. He had to make things right between them!
Snake was holding up his hands and scowling at the four highwaymen with drawn pistols. The idiots didn't care he was Lord Phantomhive's footman. It wasn't as if he held anything of monetary value. It was just a verbal message he carried, and he wasn't about to divulge that.
Smile... Lord Ciel... had given him so much that he'd defend the young lord to the death. That time on the cruise ship had cemented his loyalty towards Lord Ciel and Lady Elizabeth, too.
"The money or your life!" a rough looking man with a sneer and a lofted pistol demanded.
"I have no money, says Keats," Snake replied to the demand.
The burly, grungy men snickered and approached Snake. He was about to send his adders after them, but then something happened to stop his orders to his reptile friends. He kept his snakes near by his feet. He was afraid his reptiles may accidentally hurt the new person on the scene.
Finny had dropped from the trees behind the highwaymen. They startled and turned towards the young teen. It was the look in those green eyes that caused Snake to keep a tight, mental leash on his friends. Maybe he should be more afraid for his reptile friends than his human one.
Heaven knew Snake despised this look in Finnian's eyes. It was such a strange and disturbing, wide-eyed look that almost seemed soulless, wide and empty, as cold and hard as emerald stones. Snake even wondered if Finny could really process what was going on at the moment. So this is what he had heard about Finnian!
Sebastian had made Snake aware this could happen to Finny every now and again. This switch in Finny's mindset was out of necessity to keep the Phantomhive household safe. Somehow, it was designed in his head.
Snake knew he had to keep Finny's back safe. But he had never really witnessed this Finny firsthand. He'd heard what had been whispered by Bard and Mey-rin. Now he knew what they had meant: Finnian could be reduced into a killing machine when provoked.
"Let him go," Finny said in an firm, cool tone with clenched fists.
The four highwaymen laughed and the leader said, "Or else what? You weigh one-hundred pounds soaking wet? What are you going to do to us, boy?"
"Hey, I say we take them down to the docks and sell them off to scrub decks," another highwayman said with an ill-concealed greed that infuriated Snake! It was too much like something Lord Kelvin would do.
"Yeah, come on. We'll get some money out of these two one way or another," a third one said and approached Finny.
Snake was absolutely shocked at what came next. He was about to enter the fray to defend Finny, but that wasn't necessary in the least. Now he witnessed Finny fight for the first time.
It WAS as if Finny was a thoughtless machine. He killed all four with an unnatural speed and strength that was frightening to behold. He whirled through the highwaymen with punches and kicks. Just eight blows were thrown. All by Finny.
That was all Finny needed, it seemed, to take them down. In the fray, skulls did splatter with the force Finny was able to command. It coated Finny in crimson, but the boy didn't back down in the least. The highwaymen tried firing at him, but nothing hit him. Finnian, literally, had snapped all four necks and cracked their skulls in under two minutes. Without a hesitation.
That's when it flooded into Snake's head that, yes, Finnian was extremely dangerous. Now he felt foolish over trying to have coaxed Finny into believing he and his friends were harmless. It really was the other way around: Finny was more deadly than any adder.
Finny, his delicate face covered in blood, looked over to Snake with those eerie, wide eyes. "Are you safe, Mister Snake?"
All Snake could do was nod. Finny crouched down in front of Snake and hunched over as if he were trying get back to his normal self.
Snake was already hearing back reports in his head from his reptile friends. There was no one else around to worry about. They were all safe to move around freely. It even seemed they were shocked at Finny's sudden appearance. That, alone, surprised Snake.
After all, defending Snake was his reptile friends' job, so they were a little miffed. It was their single-minded, animal loyalty to their care-giver. Still, they liked Finny, so they got over it quickly and moved to also try to protect the younger teen, too, if need be.
Snake went over to Finny and drew him away from the four, dead bodies. Finny's eyes were growing from soulless and determined, to baffled and soft. Snake clenched Finny to his chest roughly, because he had an instinct to protect his desired mate. Even though said desired mate was coated in blood.
He detested the fact that Finny felt as if he had to kill on Snake's behalf. It was like being at the circus again, so much bloodshed. He would have killed those men himself to spare Finny. Now Finny had more trauma heaped on his young shoulders.
"You don't have to kill people anymore. I never want to see you kill people for me. Do you want to leave Phantomhive? You'll not have to do that again if we go," Snake said in hushed tones, clenching Finny around his shoulders. Snake buried his face in Finny's soft hair. He was starting to worry because the gardener's body tensed.
"No, for the young master, I will kill. Phantomhive is my home, and I don't want another. That won't change, and I can't be convinced to live anywhere else."
Snake panicked when those beautiful, green eyes rolled upwards. Finny's slight frame collapsed forward. Snake eased him to the ground. No, such a gorgeous face didn't deserve all those blood stains across its alabaster surface. Snake wanted to vow Finny would never suffer like this again, but Finny was determined to stay with the earl. Besides, it wasn't as if Snake had anywhere to take the gardener...
He picked up his intended mate and went towards home when he was sure Finny was stable and only unconscious.
"Sebastian!"
"Yes, My Lord?" the dark butler replied after Ciel slammed the letter on the dinner table.
"Madam Red is coming for a visit in a couple of weeks. Prepare a guest room for her."
Sebastian sighed and said, "I assume she has the same attendant? Sutcliff?"
"Yes, so make it happen. By the way, where is my footman?"
"Still on his way from Lord Randal's I assume."
"Tomorrow morning I want him to deliver a letter to Madam Red. Let him know when he gets in," Ciel said and then started his dinner.
"Yes, My Lord."
To be continued.