Chapter 2

The next morning, Gilbert lay in bed – awake, but he kept his eyes closed. He felt so comfortable laying there with the early morning sunlight from the window warming him. His bed seemed to be extra soft, and he had room during the night to roll around as he pleased without having to worry about disturbing Vincent. Gilbert allowed himself a small smile, and he rolled over on his side with a sigh of content.

There was something, though… Something that was nagging at the back of his mind that was slowly pulling away the feeling of relief that had swept through him like a soothing ocean breeze. He heard the door open, and someone stepped in, shutting it against before they crossed the room.

"It's time to wake up now, Young Master."

That's right. Now he remembered the eerie butler that Vincent had hired for him. Gilbert let out a groan, and opened one eye. There stood the tall man, dressed in black. The silver chain of his pocket watch glinted in the light. Sebastian was looking down at him, grinning.

Why is he always grinning? Gilbert thought as he sat up in bed and stretched.

"Master Vincent is waiting for you in the dinning hall. Breakfast will be ready shortly."

"Right. Thanks." Gilbert grumbled, not meeting Sebastian's blood red stare.

What Sebastian said next made Gilbert turn to face him so quickly, he thought his neck was going to snap: "Shall I prepare your outfit and help you get ready for the, Young Master?"

"What? No!" Gilbert said, a little too quickly. Sebastian did not even flinch. The Nightray looked down at his lap. "Uh, I mean. N-No… I can do it myself."

"Very well." From the corner of his eye he saw Sebastian bow, and turn on his heels to walk back out of the room. Then, another thing occurred to Gilbert.

"Wait!"

Sebastian turned back around with his hand on the door knob. "Yes?"

"Why do you call Vincent 'Master', and me 'Young Master'?" It didn't really make any sense. After all, Gilbert was older than Vincent, and Sebastian was supposed to be his servant. A servant having a servant? He made a mental note never to mention this to Oz.

Sebastian smiled calmly at the young Nightray. "The term I use for you is of a higher standard in my opinion. My master before I came here always preferred me to call him 'Young Master'. I suppose I made a habit out of it. Forgive me. Does it displease you?"

YES! "No." Gilbert said as he met Sebastian's gaze for the first time that day. "I was… just wondering."

"Very well." Sebastian bowed again. "I shall be waiting for you down in the dinning hall." And the butler dressed in black turned and left the room, leaving Gilbert alone.

Gilbert let out a breath he did not know he had been holding. He got out of bed and tired to stand, but his legs were shaking. Somehow, he got the feeling that it was going to be very hard for him to be alone with Sebastian not a step behind him. Then again, maybe that was Vincent's intentions.

Gilbert buried his head in his hands as the all too familiar pain stabbed through his heart. How he wished he could have been able to stop Oz from being dragged down to the Abyss. The cut had not have been that bad; it had been merely the shock of it that had made him loose consciousness. And then he had to run away after waking up to find Oz gone…

"This is all Breaks' fault." He said to himself. Though, he knew it wasn't. Everything that had happened over the years was circumstantial; it had been no ones fault… Well, at least not until now. Sebastian's arrival had been Vincent's overly-clingy personality put to the test.

He would have to put up with it. For however long it took. He would write to Break like the told himself last night he would, and find a way to sneak out without anyone, not his brother or his servant, noticing.

This is not going to be easy.

"Good morning, sleepy head!" Vincent chimed as Gilbert entered the dinning hall. Gilbert tried his best to smile, but it turned into more of a grimace. Vincent seemed not to notice. "Did you fall back asleep after Sebastian came to wake you up?"

Sebastian. There he was sure enough, standing against the far wall. When he saw Gilbert looking at him, he bowed his head.

"Huh?" Gilbert said, tarring his eyes away from the creepy butler to look back at his creepy brother. And to think I let him undress me last night! Gilbert suppressed a shudder before realizing that Vincent was waiting for him to respond to the question.

"Oh! N-no… I was just thinking, that's all." Gilbert said in one breath as he took his place at the long table across from Vincent. Vincent laughing, and gave Gilbert a warm smile. "That's my big brother Gilbert for you!"

If Gilbert had no appetite before, he certainly didn't have one now.

Young Master!!! The little voice inside Gilbert's head wailed. Oh how he missed Oz!

"Would you like some tea, Young Master?"

Gilbert nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound of Sebastian's voice so close to his ear. He looked over his shoulder and scooted back several inches, trying to get away from Sebastian who was literally nose to nose with him. He heard Vincent laugh quietly as if from a distance. It took Gilbert a moment to realize that Sebastian was holding a steaming teapot in his hands. "S-sure." Gilbert stammered. Sebastian's hands were perfectly steady as he poured Gilbert a cup of the amber-colored liquid that was in the tea pot. "Thank you."

Sebastian bowed again. "It is my pleasure to serve the Young Master." And with that he seemed to melt back into the shadows. Gilbert raised the small ceramic cup to his lips with a shaky hand. Over the top of it, he could see Vincent doubled over with silent laughter. He narrowed his eyes at the blond and pretended not to notice him otherwise as he focused his attraction next on the plate of food that was in front of him.

He was not sure how he managed it without getting caught; but somehow, Gilbert has slipped away from the dinning hall when Vincent was distracted. A young girl by the name of Echo had just showed up at the manor. Apparently Vincent had not only hired someone for Gilbert, but for himself as well. Sebastian had disappeared sometime in between pouring Gilbert a cup of tea and the end of breakfast. Gilbert was glad for his absence, but still, he was wary as he made his way to the library. It was a room that no one in the Nightray house barley ever used, making it the perfect place for Gilbert to slip away from his 'family' for a few hours at the most.

As he walked down the nearly disserted corridor, his hairs on the back of his neck stood up. Someone was watching him. Gilbert whirled around only to face the empty hallway which he had came. Shifting his gaze from side to side, Gilbert rounded a corner and walked down a hallway that was mainly used by the servants. The doors that lined the walls were the maid's chambers. It was a longer way to the library, but no one would be here at this time of the day and there was less of a chance of running into Sebastian. The butler had only been here a day, and there was no way he could already know all the twists and turns that made up the maze of the Nightray house.

Gilbert heard voices coming from behind the door to his left. He rolled his eyes. It must have been some of the maids that had taken the time away from their work to gossip with one another. If only he had not heard Sebastian's name come up in their otherwise muffled conversation. Maybe then he would have kept walking. He pressed his ear against the door to listen closer. It sounded like there were at least three of them in there. They were whispering to one another excitedly.

"Do you see him? The new butler?"

"Yes, yes. Do tell us, what is he like?"

"Well, I…"

"Come on, tell us."

Gilbert recognized the hesitant one's voice as the one that belonged to the servant who had introduced Sebastian yesterday. Gilbert leaned in closer. Maybe this could give him a hint on what his new butler is really like.

"He's a very mysterious man. He didn't say much to me, he only told me his name. It was so strange. I was outside hanging the laundry on the line, and I turned around to get something out of my basket and there he was! He simply asked to see Master Gilbert and if I could take him there. And…"

"Yes?" The other two said, impatiently.

"Well, of course I told him I could, but he-…" She cut herself off to giggle. "But he had to do something for me." There was a fit of laughter and Gilbert stumbled backwards, wanting to get as far away from these sex-crazed women as possible.

"It's not nice to eaves droop, Young Master."

If Gilbert's heart had stopped beating for a second longer, he would have died right then and there. He turned his eyes upward, and leaped back, tripping over his own feet as he slammed his back into the wall. He stared, wide-eyed at Sebastian. The red eyed man had that same calm impassive smile on his face, only this time Gilbert could see a hint of cockiness. This had been the second time in one day that he had managed to scare Gilbert out of his wits.

"How long had you been standing there?!" Gilbert asked breathlessly. Sebastian put a finger to his lips, and beaconed in the direction that Gilbert had originally been heading. Gilbert's eyebrow twitched, and led the way to the library with Sebastian at his heels.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

YAY!!!! I have WAY too much fun. Yes, another Feathershipping fanfic. This one is not quite as intense as the Raven & the Butler, but it's nice to take a break for comic relief every now and again.

I don't really know where I am going to take this one, but please know, readers, that it is going to be a LONG fanfic.

For right now, enjoy. And please, as always, tell me what you think.