'What...?' was the only thing that came to the lord of the house's mind. How could this even be occurring right now was beyond him. The last thing he was doing was finishing up some paperwork with a new partner business and he believed that he fell asleep. So...why? Why was he not only in the bed but laying on top of the very person he'd been having trouble with keeping his mind straight about?This had to have been some type of cruel joke if anything. Nothing he could think of would logically explain this...

Calming himself with a deep breath (or five) he decided to check on the other. Looking down at him, he was still dressed in the maid's uniform and not the sleeping gown so he must've come in before going to bed last night. If he'd noted the shoes on the side of the bed, that would've proved it. He got a bit sidetracked as he stared at his face. Unlike most people, his mouth was completely shut as he breathed almost silently through his nose. His bangs seemed almost messy across his forehead but that though gave the wrong idea almost instantly.

It was then he had a dangerous thought. He'd moved this much and the other remained soundly asleep so maybe he could try...it wouldn't hurt and what would be the most Emil could really do in retaliation? He shook his head. That would only prolong this in a bad way. Pushing back all the answers he didn't want, he leaned down, stopping right before the other's face in a slight hesitation before placing his lips against Emil's almost timidly.

There was no instant reaction, which both calmed and dejected him. But at least this way he could take the time to remember things about this. The boy was soft under him, the body he was laid against and the lips pressed on his own and just like before, he smelled of the cleansers he used almost daily though that might just be the clothes that smelled that way. It was when Emil's eyes cracked open that he felt the immediate need to stop.

He leaned back, sitting up and looking at the other for some type of reaction but all he got was a half lidded blank stare. The blonde then closed his eyes again, head lulling to the side Richter occupied earlier, which left the man himself very confused but he at least understood what it was that happened. The other wasn't awake in the least and had only given him a scare. At least, that was the thought until the blonde suddenly jolted up, looking around almost frantically.

"Emil." emerald eyes met with jade in a clear panic.

"I-I'm sorry! Last...last night I-I came in and saw you asleep at your desk and-and I tried to, um-" he looked down then over and seemed to be avoiding his stare so Richter clasped both sides of his head to get him to look straight at him.

"Calm down, there's no reason for you to be that flustered. Now speak clearly."

"W-Well, o...okay. You were sleeping so I was trying to get you to the bed... I did the but way I did it got me stuck under you and I didn't know if you would be mad at me when you woke up..." he looked up at the red-headed man in concern.

"That was an honest mistake out of goodwill, there's no reason for me to be cross about that or for you to be freaking out."

"That wasn't it... I..." he hid is face in his hands although Richter himself was still holding onto his cheeks.

"Yes?"

"Do I...have to say the rest of it?" nervousness on top of embarrassment, this boy was sure to have a lot of problems, that was for sure.

"If you want me to understand, then yes."

"W...well...there's no way you would've but...I think a had a dream that you..." he grew quiet, as did Richter. The boy was out of it but he was just a bit conscience during that scare earlier. This was his fault it seemed. Knowing so, he shook him lightly, urging him to continue. "I...in the dream you..." he made a muffled noise and only received another shake of the head. "You...kissed me...I don't even know why though..."

"For one thing, that wasn't a dream. You were half-asleep when I did that. Secondly, I'm not exactly too sure why I did it myself." he let go of the younger boy's head, taking a deep breath and leaving Emmy to fully realize things on his own.

"Ah well you-" he instantly shut up as his face turned a more vibrant shade of pink. "You did it on purpose?!" he clasped his hands over his mouth in shock alone. The older of the two found it adorable actually but that wasn't to be said aloud. Instead he simply nodded to answer the question. Emil was so confused. Why him of all people? Emphasis on the word "him", a guy...a cross-dressing guy at the moment to make it all worse! Aqua was going to kill him. She'd skin him alive for Richter even if she didn't want to be around him. He closed his eyes and breathed in deep. "Um...can I...can I ask if you really had a reason? Like...sometimes even though you don't know why you did something, there's usually still a reason..."

"That's true enough. The reason is you though. I've grown quite fond of you to the point of distraction. Even so last night. It's mostly the reason I send you away, in suspicion of myself and what I'd end up doing without warning. It's bad enough that I'd even done that really..." he put a hand against his forehead as he turned to sit on the edge of the bed. "I should have better control than that."

"It's...alright..." his voice was low and a bit shaky as he said it, causing Richter to look up.

"You shouldn't try and force yourself to do it. It's implausible really."

"I..." he looked down for a moment. That was technically true but at the same time, it didn't really seem wrong to him, it was just more surprising than anything. The whole time he'd just been under the assumption Richter disliked him when actually it was the complete opposite. And in the weeks he's been there he's found himself quite at peace with his new lodgings and ever more curious about the man that owned them so...it should be okay, right? There also wasn't any way around the fact that yes, he had found the lord attractive at most times which would lead to staring and mind straying on his own part. Well, he figured to know for sure now there was only one thing to really do. "I would say it was alright unless I'm okay with it so you shouldn't worry..." his voice left him suddenly after that when Richter's gaze changed from the barely worried mask to one of honest interest.

"You say that but you don't sound too sure." he brushed some of his hair back and over his shoulder, leaving his other hand to slightly caress the face still in his grasp. "You're not too confident, are you?" The boy himself started to curl up as he usually did when he didn't know what to do. His legs were partway to his chest, he was literally only a movement away from curling into a blonde ball but he tried his best not to do it. Instead he just kept his hands nearby to his chest as he shook his head to answer the question. "You're positive you're okay with this? Meaning things it implies as well?" he raised a brow at the boy that wouldn't look at him. Emil nodded twice slowly, looking off to a corner somewhere. He'd cover his face if he actually looked at the one in front of him. "So if I tried to kiss you now, would you turn away?"

Out of surprise alone, Emil looked up at Richter, whose expression held the seriousness of the question. 'He already agreed to this, so why would he?' was what the logic told him. Every one of his main emotions on the other hand were a whirlwind, giving him a fluttering sensation which he couldn't place. Inhaling, he did one of the simplest of motions, just shaking his head for an answer. Richter quipped his brow for a moment, part of him playing at the fact that the other would deny his request but was oddly satisfied that he hadn't. He moved the hand from the lightly tanned cheek to his chin, urging the boy forward while moving closer as well.

Being awake surely changed your reaction to things, that was for sure. Part of Emil began to panic as his heart began to speed up. He shut his eyes tightly, trying to calm himself but his nervousness was overwhelming him. He felt like his heart would stop just as the young lord's lips just grazed his own. He seemed to hover there for a few seconds before actually kissing him lightly while using his finger to trace along Emil's chin.

Richter was a bit surprised to feel a tug at his shirt along with the timid movement of the other as an attempt to kiss him back. The hands against him trembled lightly as did the lips on his own. He allowed himself one of those inappropriately timed and rare smiles, of which he was sure Emil could feel. He wasn't laughing at him but it was more of an appreciation for the blond's compliance. This really was one of the oddest things that could happen with anyone, but here he was, as nervous as could be and trying his best while being scared at the same time.

"Emil..." he said his name so lightly it was almost a whisper. He slowly peeked open an eye at him in response, still fighting that urge to just cover his face, which that was stronger than ever now. Sitting straight now, Richter turned to look at his desk. "If it's alright with you, you can go back to doing your usual tasks. Since you're here now, I haven't gotten my breakfast." Emil blinked but couldn't help a small laugh. He supposed that was the closest thing the red head would get to joking around so he stood quickly, giving him a "Okay!" and heading out the door. Today was already starting off okay. Strangely, but it was good so far and that was already better than what he expected.

~Food Tray~

"Emmy, you're really spacin' out. Did something happen?" Chocolat inquired as her current favorite guy was gathering things in the kitchen. "Not only are you extremely late this morning but all that pep is gone, you're moving so slow today."

"Not to mention your face is flush..." Aisha added. That got a rather quick reaction as he turned to her quickly with a look of slight fear. "Ah...I was going to assume you were sick but that tells us otherwise." she teased with a chuckle.

"So tell us what happened!"

"There is nothing to tell you! I just woke up late." he half lied. Still at some point of disbelief with himself, he wasn't going to go around spreading tales like that.

"Yeah, yeah. It's dropped for now but just you wait! For now, do you know what's wrong with Aqua? She's been holed up in her room for some reason or another." the brunette rolled her eyes, dismissing it as drama from Aqua, as was usually that girl's problem.

"I do believe that's my fault. She's been set on avoiding me to the best of her abilities. I barely ever see her anymore. It's quite saddening..." he sighed to himself. She was the first person from this place that he even came into contact with and she was resolved to stay away from him. He found his hand wandering to his mouth. If she'd known about earlier... A quick shake of the head got rid of that thought. That is not the right thing to think about with these two around.

"That sounds like her. That girl has got a serious guy complex but we don't even know why. With as much as she likes Master Richter, it's strange she hasn't gotten over it."the blue-haired woman added. "It seems as if she sees him as the only good man period...she's not that far off with that thought though, not even lying." Chocolot laughed lightly.

"Pretty much. Someone who's not a total scumbag is hard to come by."

"Thank you so very much you two. I really appreciate it." Emil mocked offense in his voice as he added the coffee to the tray. Both the girls laughed at this as they tagged along with him yet again.

"Sorry, we forget sometimes. You're just...so convincing like this." the female teen grinned, forwarding to the ensemble of his.

"I'm sure. Wait here for a minute, I just have to-" he stopped after cracking the door open. Speak of the devil, Aqua was inside with the young lord. Considering the timing, she must've been waiting for him to leave earlier. She looked almost happy looking over at him working at his desk. He found himself staring down at the tray. She looked happy... He turned suddenly, handing the tray to Chocolat. "Could you go in there for me?" she blinked, more than confused.

"What's wrong?"

"Well, Aqua's in there and she seems to be in a good mood. I have a feeling if she sees me she'll get upset again. Do you mind?" Both girls shared a concerned look. Even though he smiled at him, this time it seemed a bit stressed. Though she understood where he was coming from, Chocolat didn't really feel like having any of it.

"She could just deal with it like any normal person. That's not even asking too much. You don't have to-hey!" the tray was taken from her by the older of the three, which sighed at her.

"I'll do it. Is there anything else?"

"Aah. Uh, you could tell her she could take over things if she likes. I don't mind. Speaking of which, I should be finding something to do right about now so I'll see you two later and thanks again." he walked off quickly, waving to them before disappearing around the next corner. As Aisha began for the room, Chocolate gave a lingering look at the last place the blond was. She shook her head as she followed the other in the room.

"Knock knock, breakfast for the Master." the older bluenette called, causing both people in the room to look in her direction. Richter's eyes narrowed slightly as Aqua pointedly raised a brow.

"Where is Emil?"

"How mean! You wouldn't want to see another pretty face every now and then?" she teased. Richter still caught on to her dodging the question though her expression never faltered, unlike the bored looking teen in the back of the room. There was something he apparently didn't know but for now he could leave it that way.

"I meant no offense really. It's just that he went to get my breakfast and yet, you're here. Why is that?"

"Oh? Well Emmy just felt he had to go find something to do as soon as possible and off he flew. Is that a problem?"

"Is there a reason he couldn't come do it himself?" his stare began to grow more suspicious of this girl. What was wrong with him? And considering what happened earlier...could that be the reason...?

"Oh, I can't be too sure. Is that all that you'd like?"while Aisha was talking, Chocolat rolled her eyes. They could just simply bow and leave but Aisha was playing around. He stared at them both for a moment before deciding against anything else.

"If you run into him again, tell him that the new shelving for the library is to be coming soon so he can start work in there if he's still without anything to do. You two and whoever else he wants are allowed to go in there with him if you'd like though considering he's working on it, it might not be necessary..." Aisha bowed correctly while Chocolat lowered her head then they both began to leave the room. The brown haired girl stopped quickly, to their surprise.

"Oh yeah. You're on personal duty if you feel like it or something." she shrugged and walked out before they could question her on what that even fully meant. He figured just to ask the boy about it the next chance he got.

The boy in question they were looking for found his way to a high room in the estate that was empty but airy so no dust was really settled. It seemed to once have been used as a bedroom of some sort considering there was, of course, a bed with a vanity nearby as well as a large standing mirror that reflected large amounts of light from the window. He told himself he'd have to come up here at night to see how it reflected moonlight into the room, a romantic type thought on his part. Shaking his head to himself, he went to fluff up the covers so that anything that had settled would be shaken off and he also dusted the mirror a bit.

"...I really do look like a girl in this..." from the poof in the skirt to the wrist long gloves, he looked feminine alright. Part of him wondered why he hadn't just asked for normal clothes at this point. There was no way for him to get his own back and so the only thing he came here in was a dress and so that was what he wore. He fell back on the bed and took a deep breath. The covers were just as soft and puffy as they looked so he just relished in the feeling for a little while. Closing his eyes, he just laid there, not thinking about anything in particular but just relaxing. If no one stayed in this room, he wouldn't mind getting away to here every now and again. Only just then a sudden shout jolted him.

"Emmy!" he stared dumbfounded towards the open door. That was Chocolat's screaming but where was she? He was on the top floor and that yell was piercing even there. Sighing to himself, he decided to go find her. To his amazement, she was on the second floor.

"Y-yes?" he called, stepping down the stairs quickly. Spotting her wasn't hard as she waved at him constantly. As he neared the duo, she grabbed his wrist and began walking.

"Orders from the Master, let's go to the library." pulling him along quickly, he was a confused.

"Is something wrong?" he looked back and forth between the two girls to be met with a smile from Aisha and saw nothing but the back of Chocolat's head.

"Oh, you know her. She's just being fussy, don't worry too much. Let's get started soon though. The replacement shelves will be here soon so the faster the better."

"R-right!" and for the next couple hours, the three worked. With the girls grabbing books and scrolls and such and putting them in piles by the first letters of the last names and Emil cleaning everything in a timely fashion while still helping them, they continued doing so, progressing to mid library when they had guests. Only announced by a quick knock, Richter and Aqua entered.

"I've come to check the progress you've gotten. Huh..." pushing his glasses up, he inspected the clear visible difference between what they had and hadn't worked on. He stepped up to a now empty shelf, touching the wood lightly. These were old, that was fairly obvious and had been attempted to be fixed many times. Truth was he only stopped coming in because there was always a chance of a shelf falling when he went to look through their contents. How these three managed to get all the books off without that happening so far was quite amazing. "You done quite the work in that time. And it's only the three of you?"

"Yup! Though Emmy's working the hardest. All that dust has got him sneezing." Chocolat answered, fanning the air in front of her, suppressing a cough. "It's so stuffy in here."

"Only because you haven't been working on the windows." Aisha laughed, flinging open a pair of curtains and attempting to raise one. "They're heavy though..." The teen was quick to join her, both of them still having trouble lifting it, only raising it a bit.

"Ugh...where is Emmy? This is ridiculous without him!"

"He's working on things in the ba-ah!" she all but let go of the window when it suddenly went up. They looked over to the red-headed male who dusted his gloves a bit.

"I can take care of these. Just make sure all the books are off the shelves, the movers should be here quite soon." hearing a sneeze from the further end of the library, he added. "Be sure to tell him to stop and help. Aqua can as well and I'll be over there shortly."

"That's quite alright, you two don't have to. Come Chocolat." she grabbed the other and shuffled to the back to avoid any other questioning. His eyes narrowed in on her. What was her deal today? He already was suspecting her for having some type of reasoning for being the in between for Emil and now this. Trying to ignore things to the best of his skill, he continued to open the drapes and raise the windows until almost all of them were open. Figuring that should be enough, he figured to drop in on the others. When he got there, he pretty much noted Aqua working by herself while the trio was a little ways away from her.

"Oh! Master Richter, are you helping too?" she was smiling about it while the other three simply looked up because she'd suddenly started talking. He nodded to her then looked over at the three. The moment he did though, Emil looked down and the brown haired female to him.

"How about we go a little further back since these two should have this covered?" the blonde nodded and they proceeded a further.

"I...um Master, are you alright?" he looked down to the only girl left, seeing as she looked at him with actual concern, he pushed up his glasses and went back to grabbing books to join the piles on the floor.

"I'm fine, why do you ask?"

"You look angry."

"That's normal."

"No. You actually look genuinely angry right now. Did something happen?" he blinked. It wasn't a surprise that she could tell the difference. It was more shocking that he'd actually let his expression slip. He cleared his throat, still avoiding eye contact with her.

"There's nothing in particular that seems to be the matter. Just continue about your work." she looked at him a bit questionably before deciding to just abide by his wishes. This continued until they were almost at the end of the library, Aqua and Richter on the seventh row and Emil and the girls were on the fourth, with the young lord facing the trio in the further back. Once again, he found Emil looking at him for a moment and just when he noticed the other looking back he turned his gaze again. Clenching his teeth for a moment, he gave in to his fit, going back where the other was, grabbing him by the wrist and taking him to the furthest untouched corner of the library.

"Ah! Wait, what are you doing?" the blonde asked in a panic as the young lord pinned him in place against a row of books by the shoulders. If the action didn't scare him enough, the glare of pure annoyance sure did the job.

"I should be the one asking that. Why are you suddenly avoiding me?" menacing jade eyes continued to stare at the wide emerald ones. Why did he look so shocked when he was the one doing it?Deciding to take a breath and assume a more rational train of thought, he exhaled, his grip loosening and sliding down to the others arms. "It seems that you've been trying to stay away from me to the point that you wouldn't even look me in the face."

"That.." considering what he was doing, he was indirectly avoiding Richter as well. He swallowed, trying to gain a bit of courage under the other's intense stare. "I wasn't avoiding you. Not on purpose anyway. I was just helping Aqua avoid me. Ah, wait..." The lemon haired boy scratched his head. "That sounds kinda stupid once I say it out loud... Well, pretty much all in all, I think she hates me or something because she tries her best to never be around me for more than a minute and she's been kind of depressed lately and I figured since she was always happy when she was with you that I could just not bother her so long as I could help it but that turned out to make you upset so I'm confused and just unsure of what to do now I guess..." his hand had gone to slightly cover his own mouth from his slight ramble. Richter lightly held onto the hand the younger held up.

"So that was it..." this boy was entirely too simple minded with his thoughts but at least he was trying to be considerate. That almost made the young lord smile. Moving the other's hand further, he leaned down and claimed more space on the other, but of course...

"W-wait! Y-y-you can't!" the lemon haired boy backed up to the book brims out of surprise, which wasn't very far but was quite impressive.

"Why can't I?"

"Because they're...right...there..." he snuck a nervous glance over his shoulder, as if they would be seen through the row of books that still rested there.

"And?"

"Th...they could hear or come back here and see."

"So? I'm not worried about that though." before the blond knew it, Richter's hand slid to the small of his back, pulling him away from the shelf without warning. Widened eyes coupled with a surprised from one and glinted over glasses from the other until he leaned down far enough to where they could be seen over the lenses. He was stuck staring back due to him seeing something he didn't really expect. Even though his face was impassive ninety percent of the time, his eyes, normally hidden behind the glare of his glasses, clearly told on him.

He was happy about something, that was for sure. Those jade orbs of his seemed almost...light as they looked at him tentatively, seeing if he would move away again. He didn't but instead found himself unable to look directly. To his surprise, what reached him first was not the kiss of the other but instead was their foreheads. Richter simply leaned close, nothing more. Once that caught his attention though, the lemon haired boy realized that was to make him look at the older man, seeing as he hadn't stopped staring at him with slight expectancy.

Being nervous was an understatement. Instead of speaking, he simply grabbed the man's shirt as he had earlier that day, his same silent permission along with him looking down but found his eyes closing anyway as he neared the other, not brave enough to actually touch. That, of course wasn't a problem as Richter closed the gap easily, pushing Emil back against the bookcase again, him following without separating. The younger found little sighs escaping him during the brief moments of parting just to be kissed again and again. It was only when the young lord's mouth trailed from his own he found himself a bit worried. It was a quickly paced trail from the side of his mouth to his jawline to his neck but stopped almost instantly. Placing both hands on his shoulders, he leaned back, clearing his throat.

"Maybe you were right earlier," he pushed his glasses up, which is when he'd notice the slight flush on the older's cheeks. It was also when he noticed that Richter wasn't quite staring at him. Letting his gaze turn as well has slightly turning his head, he looked behind him to spy that under the shelf and over the book brims there were two faces staring at him, one with unabashed amusement and interest and the other with an all knowing smile. If it wasn't before, Emil was more than sure his face red by now, shock clearly evident on his face.

"Guys!" sliding away from the red-head, he went around to the two girls, minorly relieved that only those two had been the ones to see instead of the third in the room. Grabbing them by the forearms lightly, he pulled them to the middle of the library and away from the rest in the room. "Not a word." he tried to emphasize this with a glare but it didn't last very long as he ended up putting his hands over his face and slinking down and murmuring something of disbelief into them.

"Wow, Emmy. Didn't know you'd be the one the master'd go for out of everyone, man." Chocolat started with a smile, clearly ignoring the warning. "But it's funny. You act so much like a girl, what's so different?"

"It's his natural timid charm and curiosity. Not to mention his caring." Aisha chipped in, smile still the same as earlier. The teen looked over to her.

"What makes you so sure?"

"Because...he has that frightened air about him that makes people want to protect him. He probably had others that looked out for him back when he was home too. And they would either fuss about him or just not leave his side. He attracts people to him." she stated matter-of-factly.

"I feel like you're giving me some odd opinion..."

"But it's true. Isn't it, Emil?" she crouched over and down a bit to smile at him. He looked up a bit reluctantly over his fingers and sighed.

"I suppose that's true. My oldest brother was kinda that way. And the maid we had liked to stick around though she claimed to be learning things from me." he smiled a bit, thinking back to them. Again, a worrying thought lingered from somewhere as to if they were doing alright but another said he should be more concerned with himself for now. Even though this current...relationship or something had come up, he still wasn't too sure as of what Richter was going to doing about him in the long run. Then again, he was the type to take things as they came after all, so...

"Oldest? What about your other one?"

"Oh, he just sticks to teasing. Now that you mention it, I'm not to sure of what he actually thinks of me...he calls me things like a housewife or whatever but that's mostly to bother Ratatosk."

"Rat-a-what?" Chocolat asked confused. If that name wasn't the oddest thing...

"Oh, we call him 'Tosk for short."

"Hey, Emmy, come to think of it, you haven't told us a real thing about em, like how they look or act or anything. Then again, we never mentioned anything either so I'm the pot calling the kettle black, ain't I?" she grinned.

"I don't mind telling you about them though." since he'd finally calmed down, he figured he could stand again. Trying to use one of the nearby shelves to stand he reached back, and applied a bit of pressure just to have the part of the plank he was leaning on to break off, causing him to fall back. His mind moved quicker than anything as he was set into panic. A domino effect was coming, that was sure and he was stuck right on top of it. His wrists were grabbed and he was yanked from the falling structures but as soon as he was stable he ran off quickly towards the end of the room with them following suit.

"Emil? What's-" the master of the mansion was standing near the window, having left from their hiding spot from earlier after the blond slipped away.

"Richter, get away from there!" he yelled as he continued running, barely running faster than the ragged heavy shelves were falling. Where was she, where was she where was- "Aqua!" He slid to a semi stop before quickly lunging towards her seeing as it was too late to actually get her out of there. "Get down!"

"What?!" she was tackled down and could only feel him holding her close to him before the only other thing she could take account for was the books she couldn't reach and the thing that held them came crashing down...

A/N: Kill me and my writers block. Most of this was done for the longest time until the middle of the library and I'm really sorry about that lol. I can't make any promises that my updates will be faster but I will do the best I can...

~Ruru out