#also sorry for always making finny bleed

[literatureluver]

remember that i love you ♡

[bapydemonprincess]

Saving Mey Rin

Hello everyone!  ❤️ Got another AMAZING collab story to share with you guys!! Another Sebagrellerin story with my lovely partner in crime @grelleswife!! There’s LOTS of hurt/comfort in this one to please the eyes, and I’m pretty sure this takes place in basically the same universe as the others! ;) I hope you all enjoy our little masterpiece!! 😘

Sebastian continued to smirk as he raced downstairs, tossing out another batch of knives at the next group of foolish humans to come parading in. It was fascinating that some had managed to get in at all, what with Finny out there tossing as many heavy objects (usually tree trunks) as he could and Mey-rin already on the roof taking out men with her perfect crack shots.

But oh well, this would clearly be the end of their sorry attempts now.

What also amused the demon was that they always seemed startled when they were met by the head butler. Were they expecting the Earl himself to be coming out and attacking as well?

While the young master did know by now how to shoot someone with a gun, he definitely was not ready for this level of combat.

Some, of course, had the artillery available to rattle the demon’s human form with bullets, but by now it was an easy fix; just expelling the bullets and tossing them back to the poor horror-struck mortals.

It was all just a typical day, really. Once all the forces were cleared he could get right on to serving lunch.

Hm, what to make today…

But before Sebastian could come up with any likely options for his master’s meal, the unmistakable sound of a window shattering in another room met his fine-tuned hearing, and Sebastian whirled around just in time to see Grelle Sutcliff’s grand entrance from the drawing room.

“Miss Sutcliff? I wasn’t aware you’d be joining us, at least not today…” Sebastian responded, quirking an eyebrow almost casually. Then there was another man barging in, uncaring of if he were interrupting two lovers greeting each other. Sebastian kept his eyes locked right on Grelle, awaiting her response as he grabbed the man by the back of his jacket and simply sliced his neck clean open.

“I saw that quite a few humans on the daily to-die list were scheduled to meet their end here, and I just knew there would be excitement in store! Can’t a woman have a little bloody fun with her lovers?” Grelle laughed. Another attacker entered, lunging toward her. Grelle whirled around with the fluid grace of a tigress and plunged her scythe into his midsection with gusto. Crimson blood sprayed from the wound. When Grelle turned back to grin at Sebastian, he saw that a fair amount had spattered her face. She reached up and deliberately smeared it down her cheek. “My favorite makeup…the blood of my enemies!” she trilled, striking a pose.

“It’s a good look on you,” Sebastian smiled, his eyes turning scarlet. Grelle Sutcliff’s vicious beauty in combat always filled him with dark exultation. A worthy mate! “But I wouldn’t want you to get in trouble for killing these mortals prematurely, rufina.”

Grelle waved aside his concerns. “Nonsense, darling! They’re going to die anyway, so no one will care if I off them a little ahead of schedule. Now, onto more important matters, where is our Mey Mey?”

Sebastian’s eyes crinkled fondly. “Most likely still on the rooftop, picking off these vermin one by one.”

“Let’s keep her company, then!” the reaper exclaimed. “A threesome with my loves!”

The demon chuckled. “Always happy to oblige a lady.”

Grelle grabbed ahold of his arm above the elbow, and in a trice they had “leapt” to the roof. Some distance from where they were standing, Sebastian saw their Mey Rin. Her glasses were pushed to the top of her head, allowing those owl-like eyes to scan the ground below for intruders. Sebastian only sensed a few souls racing desperately about the premises—she had done her work well, it appeared.

“Deadly gorgeous,” Grelle sighed dreamily, and Sebastian couldn’t help but concur. Russet hair blown back, gaze steely with determination, that delectable figure shown to perfection as she stood silhouetted against the sky…exquisite. They watched proudly as she took aim and fired. Sebastian sensed a pathetic life snuffed out of existence a few moments later.

Suddenly, Grelle swore. Sebastian’s head whipped around, and he saw what she had spotted. Crouched in the shadows on the rooftop not too far behind Mey Rin, a figure stealthily pulled out a pistol. Sebastian froze in horror.

“Fuck,” Grelle snarled, racing forward in a desperate attempt to halt the attack. “Watch out, Mey!” Sebastian shouted as he took off after her. His heart lurched painfully in his chest as he saw that cursed finger pull the trigger.

For once the bullet seemed to outclass the demon’s supernatural speed, as Mey-rin’s body lurched within seconds of hearing her loves as well as the sound of the gun going off.

Pain exploded in her shoulder region before her legs could even move, and a scream of agony escaped her as she went down on the rooftop.

All the maid could do now was lie there and listen to the roar of Grelle’s death scythe tearing at flesh, along with a barely garbled howl from the man while it happened.

Next thing Mey-rin could make out was Sebastian’s voice, frantically speaking to her, and touching her arm and shoulder carefully as he did. He must be trying to free her arm from the confines of her dress sleeve, to inspect the wound thoroughly. But Mey-rin was only aware of so much, as it was suddenly like there were plugs in her ears, and shoved in tight, keeping her from making out any exact words at all. The part of her mind that WAS aware of all this, tried to make sense of it, and all she could come up with was it was just her body being in shock, nothing to do with the noises of the gunfire or the bullet, but just the whole situation itself.

“THERE!” Grelle roared, finally pulling away her scythe from the gruesome remains now splattering a corner of the manor roof. “That’ll show you not to mess with a lady’s true love, you bloody bastard.” She growled, and whirled around to get back to the love in question.

Her heart lurched at the sight as she ran closer, though, and she slowed down and dropped to her knees next to her demon.

“Bassy, please tell me she’ll be alright!!”

“She likely will be,” Sebastian confirmed, a hint of a bitter growl in his tone, though. “However we must bring her inside to get the bullet out safely and to assure her recovery comes sooner than later.”

“Oh my Mey-Mey! Her eyes look so haunted, is she in shock??” Grelle got up in sync with the demon as he cradled their precious human so close to his chest.

“Yes, and it’s no surprise that she is, as this has not happened before…” The demon’s eyes glowed with a raging hellfire the likes only those few who truly were damned had ever seen. “When I get my hands on whoever sent that man, I will make sure this never happens again.” He promised, voice dipping even more.

Sebastian pressed his hand firmly to Mey Rin’s wound to quell the flow of blood. His glove was instantly stained crimson, a sight that caused his stomach to tie itself up in anxious knots. The demon’s heart pounded as furiously as any mortal’s. If that bullet had struck an artery…but they didn’t have time to spare. He carefully picked Mey Rin up, cradling her awkwardly with one arm while his other hand continued to apply pressure. Grelle hurried to his side to help him support Mey Rin, whose face had gone chalk-white. Those beautiful brown eyes were glazed over in uncomprehending pain.

“We need to bandage her up now,” Grelle said, voice strained with tension, though Sebastian could tell she was trying to put on a brave front for their injured maid.

“Can you take us to the kitchen? We have gauze and disinfectant there.”

Grelle nodded. “It’ll be all right, my sweet girl,” she whispered to Mey Rin. After planting a quick kiss on her forehead, Grelle grabbed Sebastian’s shoulder (physical contact was required for a reaper to take a companion when they leapt), and, after a blurry few seconds, they stood in the kitchen.

Sebastian closed his eyes, forcing the whirlwind of frantic thoughts to settle into some semblance of calm. He directed Grelle to the appropriate cabinet, and she frantically rifled through its contents before dashing back—deadly efficient.

Sebastian gently lowered himself and Mey Rin to the floor so that the maid lay across his lap. The fear and pain emanating from her soul were excruciating, as were the tears that sprang to her eyes.

“I’m…it ‘urts, Sebastian, it ‘urts so bad…” she whispered. Her lips trembled, and the tears began streaming down her face.

“I know, dearest, but Miss Sutcliff and I are here. There’s nothing to fear, I promise,” the demon said, as much to convince himself as Mey Rin. His free hand moved to caress her cheek, and Grelle knelt beside them.

“Deep, calm breaths, my sweet. Being shot is terrifying as hell, but it’ll be harder to stop the bleeding if your heart’s going a mile a minute,” the reaper said soothingly. She met Mey Rin’s panic-stricken gaze. “Inhale, hold, exhale. Can you do that for me, darling?” she coaxed, holding the maid’s hand. A wobbly smile appeared on Mey Rin’s face, and her ragged breathing began to settle down.

Now that that was taken care of, Sebastian needed to assess the damage. What if the bullet had ricocheted, fragmented…? He concentrated on the presence of the damned thing that had harmed his beloved. The demon let out a shaky sigh of relief when he detected the lead object lodged in Mey Rin’s shoulder. Though uncomfortably close to a few of them, it hadn’t ruptured any of the major arteries and seemed to be intact. Thank the nine circles! His mind raced to decide on the best course of action. Although they could leave the bullet at it was, Sebastian didn’t like that prospect; the lead might leach out and poison Mey Rin a few years later. Having far keener senses than a human, Sebastian was confident that he could extract the bullet without causing further injury, but would kitchen knives be sterile and precise enough? He didn’t want to take any chances with his precious Mey. Of course, when you had a form you could change at will, there were…alternatives.

Sebastian spoke to the maid as tenderly as he knew how. “I’m going to see if I can remove this wretched bullet, dear. It may hurt, but I’ll be done in a trice, I swear it.”

“O-okay,” Mey Rin squeaked, though she couldn’t stop herself from trembling. Grelle squeezed her hand and smiled encouragingly. “Relax and focus on me, Mey Mey. Don’t you worry about a thing. If Bassy couldn’t handle a little bullet, what kind of butler would he be?” The last sentence was uttered in a perfect imitation of Sebastian’s voice, and Mey Rin giggled in spite of the grave circumstances. Grelle beamed, even as shadows of worry lingered behind her eyes. Meanwhile, Sebastian swiftly removed his hand from the wound, and a dark, shifting tentacle rose to plug the gap, reaching deeper for the offending object.

Mey Rin indeed continued to look into her reaper’s beautiful gaze, having gotten used to the strange sharp teeth long ago, by now all the maid saw above her was a beautiful, sweet and emotional woman who was clearly trying her best to comfort her. And this was much appreciated, especially now as she started to feel the strange sensation of something else entering the wound where the bullet was.

Her teeth gritted and her eyes began squinting, as she tried all her might to hold back shouting, to hold back from jolting up and away from the uncomfortable situation.

Grelle was lowering her head further, nearly draping and enveloping her poor girl’s face with nothing but her own and her long, right red locks.

“Shhh, it’ll be alright, it’ll all be fine..” The reaper was cooing, moving her hand to stroke that sweaty jaw and brow.

“Almost… almost..” Sebastian hissed out, for all three of their sakes as this tiny bit of his essence encircled the bullet and very, VERY carefully pulled it out.

Sebastian had never had to do this. Not like this. With his own body, it was a simple reflex to push bullets and other such things right out and get them out with no issue.

But this was a human.

HIS human.

At this point the demon admitted he knew if he were to ever harm Mey Rin, even just by accident, he would be filled to the brim with regret.

Thankfully, centuries of learning to be careful when it was truly required finally paid off as his black essence slipped out, quickly reforming to a hand holding the dreaded bullet, and looked instantly to Grelle to help get the wound disinfected and covered up in bandages.

By now, Mey Rin had lulled her head up, eyes still open but looking quite glazed again.

“Sweetie?” Grelle asked as she noticed this. “Mey Mey??” She asked again when suddenly Mey Rin’s body drooped entirely in their demon’s lap.

“It’s alright, rufina. It’s alright.” Sebastian quickly called her while adjusting their poor human’s weight a little. “She’s simply passed out. I think that it’s fine in this case, though, now that the true danger is out of the way. Let’s let her rest and recuperate.”

“Oh thank goodness.” Grelle sighed out. “I swear, this poor thing is going to be the DEATH of me…”

“Hush now, you know as well as I by now how fragile humans are.” Sebastian smirked despite his sass, confidence that everything was alright now starting to return as they both stood from the floor.

However, that was very short-lived as the head chef took that moment to rush in.

“Oy, Sebastian! Where the hell were you?? I thought we were keepin’ the plan for you to take the main floor covered, why’d you–”

Bardroy’s voice left him instantly at the sight of the butler standing there with an unconscious Mey Rin in his arms, her arm out of it’s sleeve and covered in a bloody bandage wrap. Not even the vibrant red-headed oddity that was Grelle Sutcliff surprised him more.

“Holy shit,” Was all he could utter next, and scratched his scruffy head frantically. “What the hell happened?!”

“Mey Rin’s been shot,” Sebastian replied. After the ordeal they’d all been through, he frankly didn’t have the energy for a lengthy explanation.

Bard’s cigarette fell from his lips. He viewed Mey Rin as a sister, not just a comrade-in-arms, and distress smothered his spirit like the smoke that permeated a burning building. Bard had lost his share of friends on the battlefield; did this spectacle bring back those tragic memories? “Is she—” he croaked out.

“Yes, she’s alive, and should recover, but it will some time, I fear,” Sebastian said. The demon gathered Mey Rin in his arms and gingerly got to his feet, as did Grelle. “Has the enemy been eliminated?”

Bard ran a hand through his hair and cast another worried glance at Mey Rin. “Got all the bastards…well, Finny an’ I kept one o’ ‘em alive in case ye wanted t’ interrergate ‘im.”

Sebastian felt his lips curl in what, if Bard’s disconcerted expression was anything to go by, must have been a devilish smile.

“It would be a delight,” the demon hissed. They’d pay for hurting Mey Rin. Oh, how they’d pay.

“I trust you’ll let me join you?” Grelle purred in his ear. “After we’ve tended to Mey Mey, of course.”

“By all means. But onto our first order of business—we need to put her to bed. Bard, you come with us; we’ll need someone to keep watch over her while Miss Sutcliff and I question our uninvited guest.”

The three quickly made their way to Mey Rin’s room. Sebastian laid her down with the greatest of care, and he and Grelle tucked her in. Her face retained the pallor it had acquired, but she seemed peaceful. Grelle bent down to press a quick kiss to her cheek. Sebastian petted her hair compulsively—he needed confirmation of Mey Rin’s presence, proof upon proof that she had survived. It was with great reluctance that they withdrew, leaving Bard to pull up a chair and take one of the maid’s hands in his.

Still, as demon and reaper strode towards the room where the sole remaining miscreant had been bound and gagged, Sebastian felt a twinge of dark satisfaction. After the fright they’d all suffered, he intended to return the favor with interest. Grelle’s eyes glittered like those of a predator that had just spotted its next meal.

“How I love to play the butcher! We’ll paint his final moments pretty, pretty red, shan’t we?”

Sebastian sensed his teeth sharpening to fangs in vicious anticipation.

“Most definitely.”

---

After cleaning up the mess they’d made (they’d gotten a bit carried away, but Sebastian wasn’t sorry in the slightest), the two made haste back to Mey Rin’s room. Bardroy still sat alert, a faithful sentinel.

“How is she?” Grelle and Sebastian both asked at once.

“Sleepin’ like an angel. No fever or nuthin’, neither,” Bard reported with a smile of relief.

“Well done. You may go now—you and Finnian should try to get some rest for tomorrow.”

“But Mey Rin—”

Sebastian held up a hand to ward off his protests.

“Miss Sutcliff and I will tend to her for the rest of the evening. I can assure you that we’ll give her the best of care.”

Bard wavered, but finally relented. With a quick “G’night, Mey Rin,” and a brotherly squeeze to her hand, he departed. Grelle and Sebastian sat on the mattress on either side of her and gazed down at their human. Her breathing was slow and even. She looked surprisingly peaceful, considering how close her brush with death had been. The reaper gently reached out and lightly placed her hand on Mey Rin’s chest, over her heart. Sebastian instinctively put his hand atop Grelle’s. I’m still here, Mey seemed to tell them with each rise and fall of her chest. Sebastian heard a sniffle, and looked up to see that Grelle had tears in her eyes.

She trembled. “Oh gods, what a night. Bassy, what if we’d lost her?”

Sebastian touched his forehead to Grelle’s, noticing to his chagrin that his own eyes had grown watery. How peculiar.

“I know, I know.” His free hand moved to stroke Grelle’s hair. “But we saved her, Miss Sutcliff, and I swear on my aesthetic that we will heal her.”

The reaper huffed a quiet laugh at that particular phrasing.

“Just on your aesthetic, little Sebas?” She simply asked while wiping her eyes.

Sebastian openly looked confused at this question, and out of nowhere as well.. the reaper had known by now how important such things meant to the demon.

“Of course, what else would I swear on?”

Even as he asked, truly curious where she was coming from, there was a nagging feeling coming on that he should’ve understood already.

Grelle seemed to take that in a moment longer before smiling to herself and closing her eyes. She shook her head briefly and replied with a quiet “Oh, nevermind.”

She definitely didn’t feel like going into that just yet. They’d cross that bridge eventually, but for now their focus should remain on their human.

After another brief peaceful gap of time where they sat in the same spot on the bed and kept their eyes glued on Mey Rin, Sebastian broke the silence with a sigh, taking out his pocket watch.

Grelle knew what that meant.

“Time to face the bratty music, eh?” She quipped sadly

“Unfortunately,” Sebastian muttered, and then promptly leaned in to kiss his saddened lady. “But you know I will return once he’s in bed.”

While Grelle accepted the kiss, she still frowned with concern.

“If he will go to sleep once he knows there was a bloody sneak attack that took out Mey Mey and caught you, his demon butler, off guard.”

“Now Grelle– ”

“Don’t “Now Grelle” me, Sebastian, you know damn well I’m right!“

Sebastian grimaced with the prospect that she was right in this vein, his mind once again racing to think up a fix for this…

“Well, we are certainly not going to force Mey to continue working while she heals. I’m sure even my young master, despite all his cruelty, is not that unfair. He will understand she may be inhumanly efficient with sniping, but is very much human in other respects. Even if, as I said earlier, this has… Never happened before.”

The demon’s eyes drifted back to the sleeping human in question, once again that strange feeling of constant concern rising in his gut. It made him almost want to grab it, check his own vitals to see if everything was still intact.

“Oh! Oh!” Grelle gasped out of nowhere, breaking the demon’s train of thought just in time before he felt too enveloped in these emotions to even risk leaving the bed.

“Yes? What is it, rufina?”

“I know this is a long shot, darling, I know, but.. what if I offered to take her place for the time being!”

Sebastian’s glowing eyes bulged in the darkness of the room.

“You- you want to take Mey’s place, and help guard the manor and the young master?!”

Grelle instantly struck a brave pose while still sitting, of flexing her arm out, bending at the elbow, and putting her hand over her upper arm as if there were an impressive but of muscle there standing out.

“Why not?! I may get into a little trouble back at work, but it’ll be worth it to stand in for my precious Mey Mey!”

As much as Sebastian inwardly wanted to embrace and cheer his beloved on for this sudden display of kindness, his mind reminded him instantly of why this couldn’t possibly work.

“As much as I’d love to be wholly on board with this Miss Sutcliff, aren’t you forgetting you severed any chances of my master trusting you when you killed his aunt?”

Hence why they always had to sneak around like this in the first place…

“Oh come on, what other option will he have? Just go with one guard short? Give that little snake guy from that circus a gun??”

Sebastian instantly snorted at that, the mental image of Snake with a gun quickly taking over, but he shoved it back just as fast and cleared his throat.

“Of course not, but I still doubt this’ll be an easy sell all the same, rufina.”

“Maybe so, but.. it’ll be worth a try, won’t it?” Grelle decided to attempt puppy eyes, as well as pulling Mey Rin’s limp hand up, gently rubbing her own cheek over it while she looked up into the demon’s cat-like eyes. “For her?”

A loud, long suffering sigh answered her, but the demon smiled all the same.

“Very well, I will try my damnedest to sway him.” He gave the delighted reaper a kiss, and then also moved to kiss the soft, cool hand she was still holding as well. “Stay here and watch over our human, my dear.”

“Gladly, my sweet, soft Sebby.” She couldn’t help but purr out.

This, of course, got the result she had been hoping for. The demon’s face flaring up with heat. He gave her a look at that, then stood from the bed and hurried off to do what he intended.

-

Ciel may have gotten a little suspicious and impatient after another hour of waiting for someone to come get him and confirm that everything was clear.

It certainly sounded like everything was settled, no shouts were heard echoing from outside or downstairs, no gunshots either.

But that did not explain why his usually perfect demon butler was not arriving straight after to make sure he was alright and to take him to bed.

The boy was seconds away from finally commanding the demon come when he did come, just as he was, nothing missing or out of place that he could see.

Stopping in front of him, Sebastian bowed deeply at the waist.

“My sincerest apologies for the late arrival, my lord. Unfortunately a matter came up that I had to see to at once in the midst of battle.”

“And what “matter” would that be?” Ciel responded flatly, the obvious translation being ‘What was so much more important than coming to your master?’

“Mey Rin had been attacked from her position on the roof, my lord.” Sebastian opened his eyes and stared at the boy, making sure he knew how serious this “matter” was indeed. “A surprise attacker somehow got up there and managed to wound her in the shoulder blade with a pistol before he was.. taken care of.”

“They what?!” The boy instantly roared, straightening up from his slouched position and planting his hands on the arm rests.

“Do not fear, Mey Rin was seen to. Hence why I took much longer than usual. I managed to get the offending bullet out myself, and her wound was quickly sanitized and dressed.”

“Will she be alright to carry on, then?” The boy had to ask straight away, propping up his elbows this time and putting the tips of his hands together in a steeple pose in front of his mouth.

“That is the current issue, I believe she needs bed rest for the wound to heal properly, or else it’ll be aggravated if she has to still work with it.”

“And how long will that take, Sebastian?”

“In her case it will likely take up to ten days for the wound to properly heal.”

Ciel’s eyebrows scrunched up, his eyes going off to look away into space as he thought on this. But his next words were not exactly what the demon had expected..

“Where were you when Mey Rin got attacked like this, Sebastian?”

Sebastian’s mouth opened and, as per the order to “never lie”, he was about to say exactly where he had been at that moment, but after five years of playing this game with this brat, he knew that the boy already had the upper hand.

“I was clearly unable to stop the bullet from hitting it’s target, if that is what you’d like to know, my lord.” He decided on.

“You claim you know it was a surprise attack, Sebastian. How would you know as such when the likelihood that Mey Rin herself would able to tell anyone after being shot is very low. You must’ve had to have been there on the roof yourself to have known it was a surprise attack, if it was.”

Sebastian felt irritation shooting straight to outrage, but he quelled it, and kept that perfect poker face of his.

“You are a very good detective, my lord, as you have proven time and time again, but I frankly do not see why you must resort to such now when I am merely telling you what has happened to your loyal servant, and the current situation.” He smiled a little, tilting his head. “Do you still doubt me after all these years?”

“Oh shut up, Sebastian, this is a matter of uncovering what your roll was in all this.”

“I told you, sir. I took care of her wound.” He even raised his hand, revealing the still blood-stained glove he hadn’t had a chance to throw out yet. “Do you believe me now?”

The sight of the blood made the boy freeze up entirely. He had seen blood about a million times by now, and so the fact that this hit him so hard was confusing even to him.

“What happened after you took care of the wound?”

“Bardroy met me in the kitchen, and informed me that all was clear. He also told me that he and Finny had kept one particular unfortunate soul alive for interrogation.”

Ciel decided to skip any in between details at this point.

“What did the bastard say, Sebastian?”

This made the demon smile, “Oh not much. He was quite stubborn up until his last breath, I’m sorry to say. But from what I observed from him, he was new to the area, and the likelihood that so were the rest is very high.”

“A new group trying to rise up in the ranks, perhaps?”

“Perhaps, and they certainly have advantages.. Seeing how I must confess no other crime families have ever snuck up on one of our own like that before.”

Ciel lifted an eyebrow, immediately hearing a mild bitterness rising in the demon’s tone. He had a feeling it was not related to anything involving himself, but concerning what had happened to their maid.

“So, this means we have to be on high alert for more sneak attacks..” Ciel frowned thoughtfully. “And with our sniper out that’ll be harder to manage for sure.”

And so Sebastian saw his opening for Grelle’s idea.

“I have a suggestion, if I may be so bold, my lord.” He carefully spoke up before the young Earl could come up with anything himself.

“… Out with it.”

“You and I are both aware of how dea- Ah, efficient grim reapers are, yes?”

“… Considering one almost killed you, yes.”

Sebastian instinctively wanted to argue that he most certainly hadn’t, but no, no no.. He needed to stay on topic!

“Well, young master, what if we were to try allowing a reaper to help us during these ten days that Mey Rin is down?”

The boy’s eyebrow twitched noticeably.

“You, a demon, actually suggesting the help of a grim reaper?”

“Yes, I know it seems odd, but it seems far easier than hunting down another unique human like the ones we have gathered so far. Especially considering reapers tend to usually come to us.”

“You mean Sutcliff, don’t you, Sebastian.”

“Well, that’s-”

“Sebastian,” Suddenly the boy was out of his chair, blue eye blazing with indignation. “Why do I get the strangest feeling that that reaper is already HERE?!”

“Now my lord, there’s no need to get so riled up, especially so late at night.”

“Sebastian-”

“Even if the reaper was here, she is currently not in this room with us, yes?”

“SEBASTIAN!”

“Please lower your voice, the other servants have likely retired by now. You wouldn’t want them to-”

“I ORDER YOU TO TAKE ME TO WHERE EVER THAT BLOODY REAPER IS NOW, SEBASTIAN!”

---

Grelle heard the young earl several seconds before she saw him. Judging from his tone and volume, he was in a state of high dudgeon.

“I don’t know what the hell you were thinking, letting that person muck about in the middle of an attack on the manor!”

“My lord—”

“I don’t want excuses, you bloody demon!”

This wouldn’t do at all. Really, the little brat was going to wake dear Mey Mey if he kept this up. Sighing wearily, Grelle rose and flung open the door. An actress should always make a grand entrance. The earl skidded to a halt. A sorely chastened Sebastian stood at his side, looking like he’d been through a war. Grelle shot him a sympathetic look before turning her attention back to the wrathful bluenette.

“Good evening,” she said in as cheerful a tone as she could muster. Might as well try to keep things cordial.

The Watchdog shot her a withering look that would have felled a more timorous soul. “Spare me the pleasantries, Sutcliff,” he spat out contemptuously. “You have no business here.”

“My business, as you may recall, is death, and there’s certainly been plenty of that at the Phantomhive manor tonight. I just so happened to be assigned to reap the souls of those buggers who came to call.”

“And flirt with my butler, no doubt,” the earl interjected, wrinkling his nose as if a foul odor had just assailed his nostrils. “Come to think of it, that’s probably why he let Mey Rin get shot—because you were running around making a bloody nuisance of yourself.”

Both demon and reaper went stiff with rage, and Grelle thought she saw Sebastian’s eyes darken with remorse. He was supposed to be the perfect butler…of course he blamed himself for Mey Rin’s injury, and here the damned brat was rubbing the salt in the wound.

“YOU—” Grelle started to shout, before Sebastian shook his head firmly and pressed a finger to his lips. The reaper exhaled slowly through her nose and crossed her arms. Only with difficulty did she rein her temper in. Do it for Mey Rin, she reminded herself.

“Demons have their flaws, but Bassy didn’t let anything happen to Mey Me—to Mey Rin. He helped save her. But she’ll be out of commission for a while, so why not let death lend you a hand in the meantime?”

The child sneered. “If your performance as a butler is anything to go by, I’d rather do without. Besides, do you expect me to trust the person who killed my aunt?”

The words hit Grelle like a punch to the gut. She’d been expecting this, of course, but that did nothing to dull the pain of lost love. Despite her resolve, she flinched.

“Those were vastly different circumstances, young master, and Grelle bears us no ill will. She’s also far more competent than she initially led us to believe” Sebastian jumped in. Grelle felt a warm surge of gratitude. Her Bassy always had the right words for any occasion.

“But why would Sutcliff care about Mey Rin in the first place? What were you doing in her room, anyway?” the earl asked crossly, clearly unconvinced. A sharp little blighter.

“We ladies are sentimental creatures, and helping a dear acquaintance is the least I could do,” Grelle purred. Far too complicated to explain that she and Bassy were both Mey Mey’s lovers; the pipsqueak probably wouldn’t know what to make of that!

His icy blue eye glowered silently at Grelle before he spoke. “Take me to her. I want to see her condition for myself.”

As they entered the room and the Phantomhive caught sight of Mey Rin, his mouth set itself in a thin, worried line. The boy hurried to her bedside. For a while, he just stood there, gazing at the slumbering maid with a deeply troubled expression. He was a fragile little thing, and Grelle imagined that seeing one of his private soldiers in this battered condition must be a harsh blow.

“You’re certain about the ten days?” he asked finally, that blue eye downcast.

“At the very least, my lord. Considering the forces this new enemy has at their disposal, it’s inadvisable to be one staff member short. Grelle’s expertise would be a benison to us.”

The earl pinched the bridge of his nose with a weary air. Fatigue was probably getting to him at this point.

“Sebastian, if I did let Sutcliff…assist us…can you keep the reaper in check?”

“Most definitely.” The demon winked at Grelle behind his master’s back, and she had to suppress a giggle.

The boy straightened. Fixing his butler in an imperious gaze, he declared, “Very well. I shall allow this miscreant to substitute for Mey Rin, but you must ensure that Sutcliff does not cause any trouble. If the reaper poses a threat to us at any point during Mey Rin’s recovery, I expect that threat to be eliminated immediately. This is an order.” Sebastian’s jaw tightened. One of the dangers of their unconventional courtship was the possibility of him being commanded to oppose Grelle. But with Mey Mey’s well-being on the line, Grelle was willing to take the risk.

“Now that that’s settled, you really should be getting to bed, young master,” Sebastian added. “Grelle, can you stay with Mey Rin in the meantime?”

“Anything for you, my dearest darling Bassy.” She grinned at the earl’s nauseated expression. Oh, she’d toe the line, but the next few days were going to be interesting.

---

Even later on into the night, Mey Rin finally stirred, as one does when passing out much earlier in the day than to be expected.

She felt absolutely horrible too.

What time was it? What day was it? What had happened while she was out?

The girl grumbled and rubbed at her eyes, though she knew it would do nothing for her eyesight in such complete darkness.

But suddenly, a flicker of candlelight came on in the corner of her vision, and she turned a little to see a form lying beside her, mostly in all white, with black blotches here and there..

“Sebastian..?” She mumbled out, her own voice so weary and tired and dry that it surprised her.

“Yes it’s me, don’t worry dear.” The demon responded in such a gentle whisper Mey Rin physically felt it, and lowered her head back down on the pillow.

Sebastian’s hand came out to gently run through her messy locks, and the girl sighed, feeling herself calm even further.

“How is your shoulder, may I have a look at it?”

The girl took a moment to answer, as her mind needed to recall why Sebastian was asking her such a question.

“Oh,” She finally got out, and then tried to instantly sit up, so she could look at the shoulder in question.

“Easy, easy, now.” Sebastian was going on, shifting so he was in even closer and grasping her arm with tenderness to hold it steady.

His now bare hands took hold of the bandages, unfurling them slowly and just enough to get a peek.

And then his fingers of one hand very carefully pushed on the area surrounding it.

And that was all it took for Mey Rin to suddenly jerk away, a noiseless yelp coming from her mouth.

“Mm, wha?? Mey??” Grelle uttered as she was woken up, feeling the girl inadvertently push herself into the reaper’s body on her other side.

“Oh dear, my deepest apologies,” Sebastian immediately said, trying to make up for it with moving closer to the poor human again and hushing her once more, dipping his head to kiss her face, especially where he felt it heat up and her tears slip down. “Shhh, it’s alright. I won’t do it again, I promise. I was merely trying to check how tender it was now. Shhh, please, I-I’m sorry, Mey. Please let me just redress it and I’ll let it be.”

“Oh my poor little Mey Mey,” Grelle cooed as she came to grips with the situation and also encircled the girl in her arms. “It’s still very painful, isn’t it?”

“Y-Yes…” The girl whimpered, nodding and trying not to spaz out any more as she let her demon get some new wrapping to redress the wound. It a lot harder to deal with that she thought it’d be.

But now that they were all awake, Mey Rin had to take the chance to ask her bedmates some questions.

“How.. l-long was I asleep?” She started with.

“Roughly twelve hours I believe, give or take.” Sebastian immediately answered, but even saying it himself made the demon actually realize how bad that sounded for a human to be unconscious for so long. Especially when said human was very important to him..

“Can I get you anything dearest? Food? Water?” He had to ask her now.

Mey Rin ran her hand up through her hair and groaned. “W-Water please,” She managed.

Instantly the butler was gone, and only a second later he had returned with a glass filled with water.

Mey Rin gratefully drank it while Grelle couldn’t help chuckling. “Show off. I thought you weren’t allowed to do little things like that.”

“For the young master, yes, I have to resort to doing things as humanly as possible. However, he never said anything about anyone else.”

Especially anyone else important to me, He added in his mind as he slipped back into bed and curled up close again to the girl, starting to purr almost instantly as she cuddled back after she’d drank her fill of water down and handed the glass back.

“So.. does the young master… know about what ‘appened?” She continued on, though this question clearly made fear and anxiety rise up in her. Not everything was coming together yet, but the implications of what had happened and how the next few days would likely be were beginning to come to the forefront of her thoughts.

Reaper and Demon glanced across the way at each other, both pairs of glowing eyes riddled with concern over this topic. They knew their human so well by now. Knew the girl did her very best each and every day as the head maid, as well as the group’s sniper. She had so much more pride than one would imagine at first glance. After everything she’d been through to get to this point in her life, she never wanted to take it for granted, or lose it. The demon especially always felt the roiling, beautiful passion, pride and happiness Mey Rin had gained, embodying her soul as he had come to be closer acquainted with her.

Unlike other times with such similar souls, he never wanted his Mey Rin’s soul to ever be manipulated or damaged.

“Yes,” He finally managed to sigh out. “I’m afraid so. I had to relay everything, and well.. I’m sure you know by now how sharp he can be.” Sebastian sensed tension building in the girl, and had to reach around to hold her, trying to soothe as much as possible despite still having to tell her all this. “He eventually figured out that Miss Sutcliff was here and insisted he be allowed to see her as well as what became of you.”

Mey Rin stared out into the darkness of her room. “Was… he angry at me? A-At Grelle??” She whimpered, fearing what would happen next despite half her mind knowing logically it must’ve not been too bad if Grelle was still there beside her, also moving in to cuddle her close.

“He was definitely sore with me, my dear, but I assure you that that brat was not angry at you.” Grelle told her firmly, and kissed her head for good measure. “AND.. guess what, Mey Mey?” She sung out softly, trying to get to the actual good part.

“Um, w-what issit, Miss Sutcliff?” She simply squeaked out.

“I’m not going anywhere any time soon, my sweet. I’m staying right here with you both, and I’m going to be deadly efficient in making sure you heal up right as rain!”

Mey Rin’s beautiful big eyes went even bigger at that.

“Wh-What?? Really?? H-How is that??” She asked, feeling elation briefly dominate her focus.

“Bassy and I managed to convince that little brat that his very important maid and sniper needed some time off while she healed, so of course, I get to stand in for you!” The reaper gave the girl a wink, hoping to delight her further.

Mey Rin’s mouth opened and shut continuously like a fish, looking from Grelle to Sebastian on her other side… and the more she looked the more her chest heaved and her eyes grew misty.

The two immortal beings found themselves baffled as their beloved human started to weep, but they both moved in even closer to hold her, both also covering her emotional visage in kisses and nuzzles and trying to comfort her in every way they knew.

“I… I… I am so happy.. to have you both, yes.” She gasped out, an emotion brewing so close to the surface she wanted to scream, but…she didn’t know if she could say the other thing that was right there, painfully obvious, in her mouth, just yet. It almost made her cry more at just being unable to say everything else she wanted to say.

---

The next few days were a mixed bag. The gunshot wound was awfully painful. Agony burst in her shoulder if was touched in just the wrong way. And being bedridden when she should have been up and about working for the young master was so bloody frustrating! Mey Rin couldn’t stand feeling like a burden and having people wait on her as if she was a fine lady. Still, it wasn’t all bad. Bard and Finny came to visit throughout the day. Bard would share the wildest tales from his army days, which made Mey Rin laugh so hard that she nearly forgot her pain. Dear Finny was sweet as an angel, far too scared to touch her for fear of causing harm, but showering her in love all the same. Like the little brother she’d never had.

Grelle and Sebastian had been just wonderful. Although his duties kept him busy, Sebastian checked on her every chance he could, even if he could only snatch a few minutes here and there. He inspected and dressed Mey Rin’s wound, which he said was healing just as it should. The demon would ask how she was and keep her abreast of what was happening in the manor, all the while holding her to his chest and stroking her hair. Sometimes they’d just sit like that, the companionable silence only broken by Sebastian’s purrs. Mey Rin merely had to say the word, and he’d be at her side in a flash with tea, biscuits, or whatever else might whet her appetite. He also insisted on bathing her. “You mustn’t overexert yourself, Mey,” he’d insist before scooping her up bridal-style and carrying her to the tub. His touch was gentle, gracious. Sebastian’s tenderness filled her heart with the same overwhelming emotion that had made her weep on the night of her injury.

Grelle’s vivacious presence never failed to take Mey Rin’s mind off her troubles. The reaper regaled her with stories of how she was getting on in the manor—she’d even helped the young master with his dancing lesson, would you believe! Grelle smothered her in cuddles and kisses, though Mey Rin certainly wasn’t complaining. She’d braid or comb Grelle’s hair, which the reaper inevitably adored, and Grelle painted the maid’s nails with the most intricate designs to help her pass the time. Of course, the very best hours were at night, when both Grelle and Sebastian could be there. Mey Rin’s contentment at being nestled between them was the best feeling in the whole wide world. Yes it was!

On one such night, though, Mey Rin couldn’t contain her restlessness. She shifted uneasily on the mattress. Oh, she hated being out of commission like this! How much longer would it go on?

Grelle lightly touched her good shoulder. “Something’s wrong, darling.” It was more a statement than a question.

The maid swallowed nervously. She didn’t want to seem petulant and ungrateful after what they’d been doing for her, but she had to get this off her chest. “I just feel so useless!” She burst out. “’ere I am, makin’ things ‘arder for everybody, and takin’ you away from your work at that dispatch place, an’…an’ I can’t stand it, sometimes!”

“It’s no trouble to me, darling. To tell the truth, I rather like having a little holiday from that boring old office, especially when I get to be with my loves!” Grelle assured her at once, wrapping her arms around Mey Rin’s waist.

Sebastian was quick to join in. He held them both and kissed Mey Rin’s cheek sweetly. “Dearest, we’re just happy you’re here. I’d wait on you hand and foot for the rest of my days if it meant you were alive and well. We were both scared as hell that night…I don’t know what I would have done if we’d lost you.”

Mey Rin’s eyes widened. Sebastian sounded more vulnerable than she had ever heard him.

“You do realize how much you mean to us, don’t you?” he continued, eyes glowing red in the darkness. “We’ll do anything to protect the woman we love—”

He broke off, seeming to realize just what he’d said. Mey Rin was speechless. They…they loved…her?

“Exactly right! We adore you, Mey Mey, surely you know that,” Grelle added. Her hug tightened, and Mey Rin’s emotions once again spilled over and turned to tears.

“I love you, too! So, SO much! I can’t imagine my life without you, now…an’…an’ I’m so grateful you’re here, I am! I’m the luckiest girl who ever lived!” she sobbed, clutching at the demon and reaper who meant the world to her.

Sebastian blinked dazedly. I actually said that. Ironic that, swept away by thoughtless sentiment, he’d finally recognized the feelings he’d been harboring for who knew how long. Though supposedly anathema to his kind, “love” had to be the only word that could describe them. He cared about the woman in a way he’d never cared for other mortals, and her near brush with death had forced him to come to terms with how precious Mey Rin truly was. And dear Grelle…perhaps Miss Sutcliff was right about the “red string of fate” that she claimed bound the three of them together. The trio nestled close in the darkness, exchanging three little words among themselves like a marvelous treasure that they had unearthed after much struggle and travail.

“I love you.”

“I love you.”

“I love you.”

[thedeviltohisangel]

He’s A God, He’s A Man: 8

It’s a delicate business.

masterlist is my url/writing

send me your thoughts!

Lydia could have basked in the new glow of love that surrounded her and Tommy for the rest of her life. Just the two of them standing nose placing gentle kisses to each others lips. It was soft and sweet and safe and so unlike the real world that they found themselves living in.

“I have a meeting soon,” he murmured as he tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and let his hand rest there. 

“Do you need anything from me?” Lydia couldn’t help the bit of the thrill she got from being involved in the Blinder business. Not only did it show that she was capable of playing these games in a man’s world but it also showed she could fit in the Shelby’s world. She also thought that if Tommy would let her be involved then she could help to keep him safe. It didn’t take long to understand he didn’t have much of a regard for his own life.

“No, just work your shift like it’s a completely normal day,” he brought her hand to his mouth and placed a kiss to it, “afterwards we can go see a picture. Can probably get the room to ourselves if you’d like.” He grinned cheekily and she grinned right back. Tommy kissed her one last time on the forehead before dipping back into his private room. He wanted to show off the fact that he was happy and in love with the whole world but also keep her safe from those that would wish to use her in order to hurt him.

Lydia could clearly tell his business was with the Irish when she heard the thick accents of the men who walked into The Garrison. She knew Tommy was considering them for the guns he was still in possession of and also as allies against Campbell. The bruises on her wrist had healed but Tommy could still see them every time he looked. He would see them until Campbell paid for it. She pressed her ears to the thin wall that separated her from the meeting and listened, trying to understand as much as she could. Campbell had sent a messenger to her the night before. Telling her that if she didn’t start providing him information, he would terminate her. She believed him to be a man that followed through on his threats. She heard the man mention The Black Swan as a place where him and his men gathered. It wasn’t intelligence on guns or the Blinders but it was about the IRA. Perhaps that would be enough to satiate him.

Tommy came out shaking the man’s hand before turning to watch Lydia wiping down a glass. “Shall I tell Harry to give you the rest of the day off?” 

“Let me bring the garbage out and I will tell him myself.” 

“I can do it.” Tommy moved towards the bag of waste that sat at the end of the bar.

“I got it. Let me be somewhat useful and productive before I get stolen away,” she teased. Tommy smiled and pecked her quickly.

“Be fast. I’m not a patient man in general but knowing an empty theater with you awaits me does nothing to help the fact.” She laughed as she stepped out into the back alley where Harry had the waste collect before someone came to collect it.

“You enjoying spying on conversations, lass?” Lydia froze and looked to see one of the men Tommy had just been meeting with.

“I’m not sure what you mean, sir.”

“I know what pretty girls like you do in bars owned by men like him.” He produced a knife from the inside of his jacket. “Taking your tongue should keep you quiet.” Lydia ducked as he lunged at her, rolling away from the man but also farther from the door back into the pub. She grabbed the handle of a broom on the ground and blindly swung it at him as she continued to scramble backwards. One particularly hard swing to his wrist knocked the knife from his grasp. 

“Tommy!” she screamed. Just as the man bent down with his hands poised to enclose around her throat, she felt the knife in her fingertips. Without even thinking about it her hand grabbed the knife and plunged into her attackers neck. He looked at her with absolute shock on his face. Tommy appeared in the doorway as the man stumbled backwards with a hand to his neck and blood trickling between his fingers. 

Tommy was able to understand what had transpired within seconds and stalked over to the wounded man. He removed the knife from his neck and the bleeding increased. “I’ll make sure you bleed out slowly.” He dropped him before looking back at Lydia who had blood spattered across her face and blouse. She was breathing heavy and couldn’t look away from the man slumped against the wall.

“Did I kill him?” she whispered. She didn’t kill people. She helped them. As a nurse she had taken great pride in helping men who were wounded. In prolonging their life. Now she was responsible for ending one. Tommy crudely wiped his hand on his pants to get rid of the blood that had been on the knife when he grabbed it.

“Don’t look at him. Look at me. You protected yourself, yeah? Did what you had to do in order to keep yourself safe.” He shrugged off his coat and wrapped it around her shoulders, tucking her against her chest so she didn’t have to look at the dying man. “Let’s go home and get you cleaned up.”

Tommy brought Lydia to Watery Lane where he left her in the care of Polly before enlisting Arthur and John to help him dispose of the body. They didn’t even bother to bury it. The man didn’t deserve it. They threw him in The Cut instead.

“Where is she?” Tommy asked when he walked through the door and saw Polly drinking tea by the fire and Lydia nowhere in sight.

“Still having a good wash. She stopped shaking once all the blood was off. Asked me to burn her clothes.” Tommy looked to the fire and saw the pile of ash from her skirt and blouse.

“Thank you, Pol.” His aunt merely nodded as he took the stairs two at a time. He paused in front of the washroom. It would be wrong to just barge in like a bull in a china shop. She needed calm and support. Not a man on the edge with the gleam in his eye he got after a night of business. Tommy swallowed, rolled his shoulders and raised his hand to knock gently at the door.

“Who is it?”

“It’s me. Tommy.”

“Come in.” Lydia sat up straighter in the basin and took a deep breath as Tommy stepped into the room, shutting the door behind him.

“Is the water warm enough?” he asked. She nodded. “I’m sorry that happened to you today. He’s been dealt with.”

“You have some blood on your face,” she said with a wave of her hand. Tommy sat down next to the basin as she moved a dap cloth to his cheek, tenderly wiping away the blood. He closed his eyes as she dropped her forehead to rest against his. “It had nothing to do with you, Tommy. He didn’t try to hurt me because of your feelings. He thought I was spying on your conversation with him. Wanted to keep me quiet.” Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew Tommy had been beating himself up over the incident. She knew he was blaming himself. Blaming his love for her. 

“It’s my job to keep you safe. I won’t let anything like that come close to happening ever again.” If it was the last thing he ever did, she would never feel hopeless like that ever again.

“Forever and ever?” she teased. She was absentmindedly scratched his scalp and it was making him feel sleepy.

“Forever and ever.”

----

“Lydia, can you help me make breakfast?” She looked up from where she had been reading the paper on the couch to see young Finn Shelby looking distraught in the doorway to the kitchen. “I can’t reach the milk.” Lydia smiled. After Finn had knocked over the last glass bottle, Polly had taken to storing it beyond his reach.

“Of course, Finny.” She ruffled his hair as they both went back into the kitchen. “What if we make ourselves a nice proper breakfast?” Finn nodded excitedly. Lydia had decided to take a couple of days off from The Garrison in order to relax after the ordeal she had just been through. Tommy had tried to convince her to quit altogether but she needed something to do besides lurking around Watery Lane.

“I like my toast with extra butter,” Finn informed her a little while later as the two of them sat down with their proper English breakfast of beans, toast, eggs, bangers and tomato.

“Here you, sir,” Lydia said handing him back his piece of bread. Finn smiled wide before digging into his food.

“Thank you, Lydia. You should stay here forever,” he mumbled around a bite of his breakfast.

“Would you like that?” Now that things with her and Tommy were official, she was doing her best to be on the top of her game around his family. Their acceptance was incredibly important to whatever future they hoped to have together.

“You could be like my sister!” he pointed out happily. Lydia beamed with pride.

“I would love that very much, Finn.” She reached across the table and Finn met with halfway, letting her grab his hand and give it a loving squeeze.

“Lydia! Finn!” The gentle moment was broken as Ada came running frantically into the kitchen. “Have you seen Tommy?” Lydia shook her head, swallowing the bite of food she had in her mouth and wiping the residue off her fingers with a napkin.

“Is something wrong?” Ada’s tone was concerning. And it was natural in this family to need something from Tommy if things were going horribly wrong.

“I think him and Freddie are going to kill each other,” she groaned. Lydia stood and led the Shelby girl out of the kitchen so Finn could continue to eat his meal peacefully.

“Tommy probably just wants to scare him a little bit. You’re his little sister and deep down Tommy knows how you and Freddie feel about each other.” Tommy had mumbled late at night when they were in bed together and his guard was down that he wasn’t necessarily upset that his sister was married or pregnant. He was upset that Freddie and his lifestyle would prevent his sister from being happy, always. “Why don’t you take a seat, Ada?” Lydia was also thinking about the impending addition to the Shelby-Thorne cadre. All this stress and anxiety couldn’t be good for the little bub.

“I have to find them,” Ada muttered weakly as Lydia gently stroked her hair and her eyes felt heavier.

“Have a rest, Ada, I’ll handle your brother.”

----

Tommy felt the weight of the world lifted from his shoulders when he entered Watery Lane to see Lydia minding the fire. Everyone else was off doing their own thing, Finn having been tucked in with chocolate on his face from the cookies they made, and she was enjoying the peace of the quiet and domesticity.

“This is a lovely sight to have at the end of the day.” After stumbling upon her in the alley yesterday, Tommy was just happy to see her sturdy and in one piece. The color on her cheeks was a good sign as was the pile of books on the center table.

“Did you have a good day?” 

“Stressful but better now.” Tommy was warmed by the mundane comfort someone asking how is day was brought. Normally people jumped down his throat as soon as they saw him. Lydia was patient. Took her time. It was what he needed. 

“Shall I poor us a drink?” She didn’t wait for his answer, taking two of the nice crystal glasses in the corner and filling them with an amber liquid, bringing them to him for a cheers. “I missed you today,” she mused after a sip.

“Did Finn behave?”

“Like an angel. I kept him fed and busy.”

“Well, we can’t be letting him get too used to it,” Tommy said, downing the rest of his drink and placing it on the mantle. He went behind Lydia and pulled her back to his chest, kissing the side of her neck.

“And why is that?”

“I’m going to get us out of here, one day. Buy us a beautifully big home in the country with lots of grass and fresh air.” Tommy began to sway the two of them from side to side. Lydia closed her eyes and relaxed into his touch and the soothing motions of his rocking. 

“I like the sound of all that. Our own little castle,” she mused. It sounded like a dream. She could live there in her head forever. “For the sake of our happy little future, Thomas, would you be able to cut your sister some slack?” Tommy pulled back from her ever so slightly.

“So she’s gotten to you.” It wasn’t a question but a statement of fact. He pulled himself away and went to pour another drink.

“She was so worried you and Freddie were going to kill each other today. She loves both of you and it hurts so deeply to see you aren’t getting along.” Tommy scoffed. 

“It’s because I love her that I won’t leave her be. Freddie has a target on his back and associating with him puts one on her as well.

“I just think, before the baby comes, everyone should try to work out their differences.” Lydia approached Tommy slowly and used her hand to direct his face so he was looking at her. “He loves her the same way you love me.”

“No. It’s very different. I would know when to walk away for your own safety.”

“And you know that I wouldn’t let you.”

“Because you’re stupidly stubborn,” he stated back, downing his drink all in one go.

“Because I love you. The same way she loves him. You’re just trying to delay the inevitable.” She softened her voice. Lydia knew Tommy loved his sister and was truly doing what he thought best. The thought warmed her heart.

“Perhaps I can consider loosening my ban on Freddie Thorne.” Lydia smiled.

“Tommy Shelby, going soft for love,” she teased.

“For the woman I love,” he clarified. Without a second thought, he reached forward and brought his fingertips to her waist, tickling in the same spot that made all of them laugh. Lydia squeaked and tried to push him away but it only spurred him further. Maybe Tommy was going soft. But only for her. Only around her. He thinks her love made him stronger. And he was going to need it.

@flecksphoenix​ @girl-w-a-quill​ @odetostep​ @itsilvermorny​ @shadow-of-wonder​

[adisgracetomyrace-blog]

The Haven- Part 8

Dew awoke to the sound of tweets and caws from birds, and her eyes widened at the sight of a huge, multicolored black raptor’s face only inches from hers.

“G-Gah!”

“Hey, hey, it’s okay, it’s just Finny.” Ash said, who Dew now realized was carrying her.

“Y-YOU HAVE A BIRD-” “Shh! Quiet, technically I’m not supposed to be here!” hissed Ash. “But yes, I do. This is Finnegan. I think I heard Lady Red call him a grackle. I have no idea what a grackle is but in my opinion that’s a stupid name for a bird that has shiny feathers-” she said, rubbing the avian’s neck and head as if it were a harmless creature.

“W-why’re we here....?” Dew muttered as a sparrow hopped up and tried to tug at Dew’s sleeve.

“To bust Finny outta here. Oh, and to get him used to you. But you should be fine, he’s dealt with people shorter than me before.” Ash responded, putting Dew on Finnegan’s back. “Just don’t pull too hard on his feathers.”

“W-w-w-wait you ride him, what kind of a borrower are you, we don’t ride birds!” Dew squeaked, hugging onto Finnegan’s neck as Ash brought out her huge x-acto blade and began cutting at the yarn keeping Finny tied to the walls of the area.

“Well, I am what my parents would call, a disgrace to my race. I don’t live in a cult or under the floorboards of some dumb human, I travel freely with Finny and go wherever.” Ash explained, pulling the yarn off as Finnegan trilled in delight. “And I also don’t kill people like the assholes running this place.”

With that, Ash climbed onto Finnegan, and was about to motion for Finnegan to take off before Dew said, “Wait... they’ll catch us too easy.”

“What?”

“If they see anything flying in the sky they’ll be super panicked and everyone will be out for us, but.... if we set free the rest of the sparrows and have several birds flying throughout the Haven.....”

Ash and Dew silently looked around, before Ash climbed off of Finnegan and brought out her x-acto blade.

“Don’t kill either of them- Bring them both back alive to me.” Lady Red hissed. “I want to make sure that damned little brat suffers and I will personally make sure she does!”

“Okay, but what about Ash, then?” Flicker inquired.

“Bring her to me as well, and I’ll teach her some manners or two about who’s in charge. Besides, she’s just my type, I don’t want to kill her. Just instill terror into her and abuse her a bit.” she explained casually.

It was then Clawface poked his head through the curtains. “Lady Red, please don’t be mad at me.”

“Oh I swear on all that is holy if Geoffrey’s back to complain about the Ash incident again-”

“No, no, it’s not Geoffrey. ...It’s worse.” Clawface said, before exiting as quickly as possible before Lady Red could take out her anger on him once she looks outside the window.

“What do you mean by that?” Lady Red snarled, about to follow him until she heard several bird calls from her window. “What on earth...?”

As she approached the window, Flicker took the opportunity to slink out and retreat to hide with Clawface. He was halfway down the stairs before he heard Lady Red shriek and pull her chandelier made of glass beads onto the floor in anger.

“GOD FUCKING DAMMIT!!” she roared, knocking several trinkets over as Flicker quickened his pace to the safety spot behind the stairs made of boxes. “GUARDS!!!”

“So, do you know a way outta here?”

“Wh- no! If I did, my parents and I would’ve escaped, alive, and unharmed ages ago! Now they’re just burnt corpses in an alleyway and-”

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked.”

The two were silent for a moment, looking down upon the city made of boxes and cans and empty guitars and other items now erupting into chaos just because of a few sparrows rampaging around town.

...Okay, they might’ve released more than a few sparrows.

Dew and Ash might’ve set about 20 sparrows free before they lost count.

“I think if we go to Lady Red’s place, we might find the exit.” Dew suddenly said.

“What? Are you insane?”

“She and her guards are probably out looking for you and dealing with sparrows, they won’t expect us there.”

“.....You might be right about that....” Ash muttered.

“Besides, if we break in, we could snoop around to find any maps and whatnot.”

“....Ugh, fine.” hissed Ash, nudging Finnegan with her right foot to cue him to fly to the right.

Once they arrived, Finnegan forced his way through the open window carved out from the wooden box Lady Red’s main office was set up in, and Ash and Dew hopped off to start tearing apart the room in search of items.

“What’re we looking for, exactly?” Ash asked, tossing out some beads and clothing.

“Some maps or blueprints.” Dew responded, scanning through Lady Red’s papers at her desk.

“Okay, uh... what do those look like?”

“..You don’t know what a map is?!” Dew gasped, peering up from the desk’s edge.

“I know how to kill a mouse in 5 different ways without hurting myself, do you think I can afford to know what a map is when I literally live outside?!”

“Ugh- listen, it has pictures on it! Pictures and words!” Dew hissed, diving back down to pull out papers.

“I have no idea what a picture is-”

“ASH!”

Suddenly, Dew heard footsteps and the sound of a curtain being drawn back. “Lady Re- OH MY GOODNESS!” a female voice exclaimed.

Dew peered up and Ash glanced over her shoulder to see a female servant staring in horror at the sight of the overweight, now wanted rebel, the dirty and pale child, both rummaging through her boss’ stuff, and an over sized black sparrow with piercing yellow eyes staring straight at her.

“G-Guards! Guards!” she cried, fleeing the room.

“Hey hey hey HEY!” Ash snarled, running after the lady and tackling her.

“....It’s probably better this way.” Dew muttered, going back to glancing at papers for maps that her mother could’ve written. Her eyes widened as she pulled back another one of Lady Red’s weird drawings of Clawface and Flicker without clothes on, and she found herself staring at the map. “Oh my gosh- O-oh my gosh! Ash! Ash!” she exclaimed, clambering onto the desk and jumping off of it.

“I found it, I found the map!” Dew said as she walked in on Ash raising the woman above her head. “I- ....What are you doing.”

“....Throw her into the water down below.” Ash responded.

“What?”

“Hey, it won’t kill her! It’s just water!”

Dew rushed over to the edge, and gasped as the lower levels were filled with rising water. “O-oh my gosh, no...! We started a flood!”

“What?”

“The lower ranking guards maintain the water levels to make sure the Haven doesn’t flood! But with the guards dealing with the sparrows and trying to find you..!”

Ash’s eyes widened as she realized the severity of the situation. “...O-Oh fuck.”

“We have to get out of here!” she exclaimed, pointing back to Finnegan in Lady Red’s office.

“Okay, okay, I’m on it!” Ash exclaimed, before throwing the servant into the water and running behind Dew.

As she did, she heard the sound of footsteps pounding behind her, and she shrieked as she saw Clawface and Flicker rushing towards her.

“Fuck!” she yelped as Clawface grabbed her by the arm and pulled her to the ground. Meanwhile, Flicker leaped over Ash to deal with Dew and Finnegan.

“C’mon, Ash, we got-” Dew broke off with a gasp as she saw Flicker enter the room, with Clawface and Ash wrestling behind him.

“Hello, little child.....” Flicker wheezed, Dew trembling and backing away into the wall. Finnegan cawed and charged at him with his talons, knocking Flicker down, but Flicker drew out a knife and began to slash into the dark colored bird. Drops of blood splattered onto the wood, and Finnegan backed away, screeching in pain with his head held down.

Dew realized what had happened once she saw the blood pooling around Finnegan’s lowered head. Flicker had gotten Finnegan in the eye.

“Oh, how it’s always little childish bastards like you who cause such a mess...” Flicker snarled, pulling out a match from his belt. “Lady Red told me to keep you alive, but honestly.... She won’t torture you enough. She’s never heard the screams of a borrower or a human burning alive as their body’s consumed by the flames...” And with that, he struck the match.

“No, no no no no no, no, please...!” Dew whimpered, backed away into a corner now.

“Let’s see where to start the fire.... How about your pretty hair?” he snarled, grabbing her and yanking her closer to him. “After all, a dirty little street child has more flammable hair than a human child.... That’d be a great place to start. It’ll spread from your hair, to your face, to the rest of your body....”

Dew was sobbing uncontrollably as Flicker lowered the match closer and closer to her, feeling the heat of the gently bobbing flame increase. Then, suddenly, she heard the sound of talons clicking on wood behind her, and Flicker cried out in pain as Finnegan charged beak-first into him.

Flicker released his grip, and Dew pulled back, noticing he had dropped the match and the fire was starting in the corner Dew had previously been in. The fire, like a snake, slowly began to spread and slither about the walls and objects of the room. Dew, bathed in the flame’s glorious light, crawled away from it, and stared in concern as Finnegan remained by the fire, still bleeding heavily from his right eye. Until she noticed Finnegan had his foot pinned down on Flicker, refusing to let him up.

He was waiting for him to be consumed by the fire.

The air was filled with blood curdling screams as the flames reached Flicker’s body, and Finnegan backed away, knocking a rather heavy box onto Flicker to keep him held down. With that, he turned to look at Dew with his left eye, and ushered her out of the room, nudging the trembling child with his beak.

Once there, they had noticed Ash and Clawface still wrestling on the ground. Except Ash was on the bottom and she appeared to be holding Clawface’s knife away, which was inches from Ash’s face.

Finnegan charged forward and grabbed Clawface by the arm, ripping him off of Ash with extreme strength neither Dew nor Ash could imagine a bird could possess. Clawface was flung off of the edge, and fell onto one of the levels far down, down below not yet flooded. Ash hesitantly crawled to the edge and peered down to see if he was going to spring back up to try to kill her.

Then, the railing holding him up (composed of string, mind you) broke underneath his weight, and he fell face-down into the water with the servant still helplessly wading in the water. She tried to sit him up, until she felt his pulse, and she shrieked.

Clawface was dead.

Now, with the sounds of shrieking from down below and Flicker dying in their ears, Ash grabbed Dew and placed her on Finnegan’s back, followed by Ash. “W-we’ve got to get out of here...”

“I have the map,” Dew responded, showing Ash the now crumpled wad of paper.

“G-good.... C’mon Finny, let’s fly.” Ash whispered, stroking the grackle’s feathers. The bird approached to a balcony, and was about to take off until a guard from below shot at him, making Finnegan screech in pain again as he was hit in the wing.

“Back up, back up!” Ash hissed, as they re-entered the safety of the building. “Shit, okay okay okay, new plan, new plan, we’re just gonna... keep going up.” Ash responded, jumping off and leading Finnegan up to the higher levels, to avoid the fire, the smoke, the rising water, and the shrieks of that servant.