#sebmey

She almost leapt out of her skin when she heard the knock at the door. Mey-Rin stood and put her hairbrush away, before shuffling over to the door to let him in. As she placed her hand on the doorknob, she drew in a quavering breath. This was it, the moment her whole life had been leading up to. "Sebastian..." she murmured when she saw him on the other side of the threshold. "Please come in." Stepping aside, she allowed him entrance, then locked the door behind him. In the off chance that someone else happened by, neither of them needed to be interrupted or spied upon. Once he was in her room, she fidgeted with her hands, unsure of how to progress. Should she kiss him? Should she let him take charge of everything? Should she lie down, or undress, or both? What would he prefer? "Er... Sebastian, what would you like me to do?" Mey-Rin was steadily turning redder as the anticipation mounted.

She was as nervous as a rabbit that caught the scent of a dog but didn’t yet know which direction to bolt. He grinned at her and trailed his fingers over her shoulders as he walked past, inviting her to follow.

He smoothly shed his tailcoat, folding and placing it on her bedside table without slowing his elegant journey to her bed. He sat down on the thin mattress and leaned back, knowing he made a fine feast for the eyes.

“Would you care to come take a seat on my lap? Perhaps it would spare us suffering the stiff necks our height difference might otherwise induce.”

"You did?" Her breath hitched in her throat. Her gaze was caught in his, the way a rabbit locks eyes with a predator and knows it can't afford to blink. "No one has ever thought I was beautiful." Mey-Rin swallowed the lump of tension that was growing in her larynx. "To think someone like you could see beauty in the nothing that I was then, let alone who I am now..." Her chest rose and fell in rapid succession. She fought not to blink, lest she weep again. It would not do to cry so many times in one day, whether it was out of happiness or not. And she knew she was definitely very ugly when she cried too much and her face became red and distended. His request brought her back to the moment and the need to act. She nodded and slipped the coat off her shoulders, handing it back to him. It was then that she felt rather exposed to his vision, with merely her nightgown on to cover her body and the room being well lit at the moment. On the roof, there had only been the stars and the moon to illuminate the scene. Mey-Rin hunched her shoulders forward and held her arms out to cover herself. Despite having just seen more of him, she didn't want to seem completely shameless and cause him to think less of her. "I suppose I ought to be going to bed. And you probably want to, as well. I shouldn't keep you up any longer." She looked down once more. "Thank you for everything, Sebastian. I truly owe you my whole life."

Such self-doubt, such low self-esteem, it lent such a beautiful air to the moment between them. He brushed his gloved fingers against her bare hand as he took his jacket from her, making a mental note to clean it before the morning to wash out the clinging scent of human from the inner lining; it wouldn't be appropriate for a butler such as himself to smell like a woman.

It wouldn't have been appropriate for a butler to openly admire through his lashes what the maid was trying to shelter, but he made a point to do so anyway as he pulled his coat on one sleeve at a time.

"What a conundrum I find myself in." He murmured, a rueful smile ghosting on his lips. "On the one hand I want to soothe that pain of yours and tell you how wrong you are about no one else noticing your beauty, but on the other I find myself so jealous at the prospect of others noticing you now that you're mine."

He turned towards her bed as if flustered by his own admission of less than ideal emotions, focusing on plumping her pillow and shaking out her sheets, the same domestic routine he performed for the Master, here in their private space rendered so much more intimate.

She nodded and smiled to show Bard everything was fine. "Yes, it's cleared. I heard the commotion while I was trying to get to sleep. And that's why I rushed out in only my nightclothes, you see. I took out at least three of the intruders, I did. And got the guns reloaded and put back, too. "When it was all over, Sebastian showed up to speak with me. We had a small row earlier over one of my mistakes and I didn't take it well... But we talked things over and it's behind us now." She noticed Bard's eyes focus in on Sebastian's coat draped over her shoulders and hurried to address it, as well. "Oh, and he let me borrow his tailcoat as it was so chilly up there and I wasn't exactly decent... Sebastian has been completely gallant and honourable, so please don't worry yourself about that, Bard. I's all right." Mey-Rin gave an exhausted sigh. "Nevertheless, I's sorry I did not report to you at once. And thank you for checking on me, in case something had happened. I appreciate you looking out for me, I do." While Bard probably didn't care about any romantic impropriety between them, he might tease her about it or even gossip to someone, which neither her nor Sebastian would like.

Whatever was going on, Bard decided, it wasn't something bad for the manor. He shot them both a tired half-grin, sinking back into his off-duty persona now the soldier was no longer required.

"Glad to hear it, wouldn't want that going on for days."

Sebastian nodded, his bland smile cranking up a notch in insincerity. "Go to bed, Baldroy, we still have to be up early."

Bard nodded and turned to walk off with a wave goodnight, hesitating slightly when he realised Sebastian wasn't following him back down to the men's basement quarters before going on, knowing that it was better just to let it go.

Sebastian slipped his arm back round Mey Rin's shoulders as soon as his back had disappeared, leaning down to murmur in her ear with a sly grin.