“Are you sure you aren’t going to the Halloween Party, Kat?” Meyrin asked over the stack over wobbling dishes. “Its going to be so much fun, even us servants got invited, yes we did. You should go with Sebastian.”
Kat smiled and took the stack out of her hands before depositing them in the hot water of the wash tub, “That’s okay, you guys go and have fun. I have too much to do, to catch up on.”
“You cant have that much, Kat.” Meyrin said, drying the dishes Kat finished washing.
“But I am. I have to finish the dishes, the laundry, the upstairs library, dinner, the garden and the last of its harvest, Plutos bath, mph.” A gloved hand covered her mouth, cutting her off. She tilted her head back to see Sebastian’s ruby eyed gaze.
“We do not require your schedule, we get the point that you are busy. Now kindly shut your mouth and work.” With that he released her and went to prepare the lords afternoon snack.
Kat stuck her tongue out at his back, “You cant be a grouch the entire week.”
Sebastian ignored her and continued icing the Earl’s cake.
Timidly Meyrin asked, “Is there anything wrong, between you two?”
“Sourpuss there is mad at me for letting Serina spend the week with her grandparents, he doesn’t like the idea that she is more than, oh….ten minutes away.”
Sebastian stiffened, “Excuse me for being a good parent.”
“A good parent knows that the child cant rely on the parent forever.” She shot back, her temper flaring, “They have to learn to be their own person, without the father forever growling at every person who comes within a feet inches of her. For god’s sake her only friends are her cousins! And you don’t even like letting her over there to see them!”
“She’s perfectly safe here.” He muttered under his breath.
Kat dropped the plate she was washing down into the tub, and walking over to Sebastian, she turned him about, “Listen to me, you overgrown idiot, we cant be there for her forever, there will be one day that we might not be able to fight her battles for her. I want her to able to have some modicrum of social skills so she can at least communicate with people!”
Sebastian roared back, “ I at least will be there for her always! Not everyone is a pathetic orphan!”
A shiver of pain went through Kat, his words having struck a chord. Wordlessly she let her hold on her rage drop and she shifted, her panther form hissing and spitting angry. With a rapid swipe of her paw she left three deep scratches across his chest before she turned to run from the kitchen.
Her legs surging beneath her, Kat leapt from the first open window she came to out into the cool crisp fall air, and then into the forest, where the trees provided security.
“Sebastian are out of your mind? ‘ow could you say that to Kat?” Meyrin protested, her hands on her hips.
This is hardly any of your business you little human, “If her feelings were hurt because of what I said, there is a problem. I just said…” , his voice trailed off, as what he had said finally came to home. Had he really called her a pathetic orphan?
Damnit, I shouldn’t have said that… He knew full well that Kat had been abandoned by abusive parents to a death dealt by a group of attacking bandits. Rhose had found her, and taken her in out of pity. The details were something Rhose refused to tell her, but she knew that she was, originally, an unwanted child.
I really shouldn’t have said that.
“Meyrin, can you watch the pot for me? I believe I need to find Kat.” Not waiting for an answer, preoccupied, by his own thoughts, he left the kitchen, and the house and wandered out into the forest. Kat always went to the same place whenever she was upset.
And sure enough he found her, still in Cat form, curled up on top of a giant rock that jutted out of the green carpet of the meadow. Her tail twitched, the only sign of her acknowledging his presence.
“Kat?” He asked hesitantly, reaching out towards her.
Her ears went back, and she growled softly, still refusing to speak.
“Kat, please, allow me to apologize. I did not mean what I said, I spoke out of anger, nothing else.” Please answer me, its not a simple matter for a demon of my stature to apologize for anything. But as a husband, your husband, my pride, can by damned.
“Then why did you say it?” Her voice was soft.
Sighing inwardly with relief, Sebastian slowly sat down beside Kat on the rock, taking her head and forepaws onto his lap. “I was upset that you sent Serina away, Ive never had a child. I suppose I am frightened that I may turn out like….like your real father. I want to be there for my daughter whenever she needs me. I do not wish to leave her alone.”
She was silent for a moment before changing back, her head still in his lap, she turned onto her back to look up at him. Her eyes were filled with tears, “Sebastian, you know that you could never…you are a fine father, as good as Rhose.”
Smiling gently he wiped away her tears, “Im not sure that’s a compliment.”
“Coming from me you know it is.”
Sebastian hugged her close, “Yes, yes, now you know I was only teasing. Now up we go, we have a lot to do if we are going to attend any Halloween party.”
“But-”
Using his gloved fingers he covered her mouth, stopping her midspeech, “No, Buts. I have decided that you and I have not had any time together for a while, just us. Besides I have to attend with the young master. I might as well take you along.”
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“I hardly find this outfit terrifying Lizzie.” Kat said as she readjusted her sleeve, it kept falling down past her elbow, driving her insane.
“Oh, but absolultely no one is dressing up like that this year. Its all the rage to dress as a highwaymen or a pirate, you know all those uncute things. I decided that I would not stand for it! Im going as a swan, see my feathers?” Lizzie shoved a bouqet of long white feathers into Kat’s nose.
“Yes, My lady, but why do I have to be a …a….what did you call it?”
“Its not an a it’s a who. You are dressed as the greek goddess, Aphrodite.”
Kat looked down at the long white gown that twisted up onto one shoulder and cinched in the middle. The top dropped awful low for it to be called sensible and when Kat pointed this out, Lizzie laughed and said it would be fine, just not to bend over unnecessarily.
Kat bit her lip and glanced in the mirror, terribly uncertain. It was one thing to dress up in a gown, but to wear something like this? In front of her husband no less?
__________________________________________________________
Sebastian took a deep breath to keep from fidgeting with impatience, he knew Kat took a long while to get ready, especially, no specifically because Lady Elizabeth took the duty of preparation as her personal duty.
He couldn’t help himself though, ever since he had…to put it frankly, messed up royally with Kat, he had thought over what she had said about Serina, about being there, but giving her the room she needed to grow into her own person. It had scared him, yes, but after much thought he had seen the wisdom behind the words.
And now he couldn’t wait to spend some time with Kat, he had his duty to the Earl yes, but the boy was only a moment away, and between him and Kat, there couldn’t possibly be anything that could harm the young noble.
“Are you looking for someone?” Sebastian jumped as Kat’s soft voice sounded from behind him. He turned to see a Grecian goddess, in a simple white gown with ebony hair piled atop her head in an elegant updo. She looked beautiful in the costume, but when he opened his mouth to say so, he found his voice couldn’t be found.
Kat laughed as his voice came out a croak.
Grinning ruefully Sebastian took her hand, and laid a kiss upon her bare knuckle, “My Lady, may you be so kind as to give me this dance and all the others after it?”
Mischief sparkled in her blue eyes, “My dear sir, you may have this one, but Im not sure about the rest.”
Sebastian led her out to the dance floor where other couples already were waltzing, “You should be sure, because I see a short fate for any other man who so much as thinks of dancing with you this evening.”
“Is that so?” A mocking voice called from the opposite side of the dance floor. Rhose and Nevaeh waved, both dressed in white clothes with small white wings attached to their backs. They made their way over to Kat and Sebastian.
“Gattino you look beautiful, a true goddess of love.”
Sebastian tightened his grip on his wife, “Thank you, but-”
Rhose glanced at him sharply, “You are not a goddess of love, far from it.”
“As I was saying,” Sebastian continued, “Where are the children? Serina?”
Waving the question away Rhose grinned, “I am not sure, probably off playing with knives.”
“Not funny,” This time it was Kat, not Sebastian, who spoke, whose grip tightened on her spouse.
Elbowing Rhose in the stomach Navie smiled apologetically, “Please excuse my big….idiot. He means that Serina and the other children are safe. They are upstairs in a room Miss Elizabeth set aside for them to play in tonight.”
Both of Serina’s parents exhaled a sigh of relief, Sebastian rested his chin on Kat’s head, rumpling her hair, “I truly hate your father sometimes.”
“Some days I don’t claim him either.” She muttered back.
“I am still here you know gattino.”
“Yes, we know. Now please contain your…humor for the rest of the night please.”
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“That was fun.” Kat relaxed against Sebastian’s chest as the Earl’s carriage jumped and jolted down the lane back towards the manor. The Earl sat comfortably inside the carriage while Kat and Sebastian shared the Coachman’s seat.
Sebastian threw his arm around Kat’s shoulder while keeping his hands on the reins, “I thought so, but did you really think it was more fun than doing the laundry?”
“Perhaps,” she laughed when Sebastian cast her a confused look, “Im just kidding, I meant what I said. It was fun.”
“Well…what is that?” The butler gestured to a black mass that stood in the center of the road. The horses snorted and tossed their heads, nickering nervously.
Kat slid her hand up her thigh, feeling for the short pistol she hid there, the familiar cold still felt comforting in her hand. “Im not sure, but I have a feeling its not friendly.”
Sebastian nodded, not saying a word as they approached the unmoving mass.
A thread of fear went through Kat as inhuman red eyes flared to life. The horses reared and screamed, flailing their hooves madly. The entity swayed a moment before them before disappearing from the road.
Kat stood up and scanned the forest, “Where did it go?”
“Kat!” A cold arm wrapped around Kat’s middle, tugging her out of the seat. Her hand automatically fell to her waist, digging into the tender muscles of her assailant’s wrist. There was a cry of pain and the arm released her.
She fell to the road, landing on her feet, her pistol at the ready. Her anger, beginning to simmer, brought her animal side to light, giving her the cats vision. The vivid blacks, browns, and greens dazzled her eyes as Kat scanned for the mass. Spotting a darker than black patch in the midst of it all, she pulled up and fired.
The black mass doubled over and heaved in on itself, there was a muffled curse.
“Come out whatever you are!” She demanded and her eyes not leaving the blob of darkness she called over her shoulder, “Sebastian is the Earl okay?”
There was no answer.
“Sebastian?” She chanced a look over her shoulder to see the carriage seat empty, the demon butler nowhere to be found.
“I didn’t believe what Rhose said, I mean how could Kat, his disciple and daughter settle down with a weaker than weak demon?’ Kat turned back to the mass to see a man step out of the shadows.
His black hair hung down his back in a long braid, while a single thick lock of crimson red fell over his eyes. He towered over her, over a head and chest taller than her and at least twice as broad. Seeing him Kat blinked in surprise.
“War? Is that you?”
War grinned out of the corner of his mouth, “Who else could it be babe? By the way, love your hubby, hes a real catch. If you want to keep him, you’d better keep him away from me. He’s about to try and ‘Protect’ you” he made air quotes around the word protect earning a true smile from Kat.
“Sebastian, its okay, I know him,” the butler reluctantly stepped out from behind War, eying him distastefully.
“Another Rider?”
War’s grin turned evil, “You know it brother.”
“Wonderful, another idiot to deal with, may I ask how you know Kat?”
War’s lip twitched in irritation but he answered, “I’m her overly protective, mildly psychotic, antisocial uncle.”
“So basically you are just like Rhose.”
Kat punched Sebastian in the stomach for the last comment, happy when he doubled over gasping for air. “Pay no attention to my wonderful fellow here, I have to watch him, he says a lot of things he shouldn’t.”
“I can tell.”
“So what are you doing in England?”
War shuffled his feet and looked down, “Honestly? I can’t…say. Whole cosmic interference and all that. But….” He hedged, “I can say this to a certain nephew in law, hint-hint butler, there are trying days ahead in England, and if you let my darling niece here get hurt…well….I’m afraid I may have to-”
“War!” Exclaimed Kat, stamping her foot, “He gets enough death threats from Rhose; he doesn’t need any from you!”
“Rhose is the nice one, my brother is too soft, as long as you ask for it Kat, he won’t do anything against you. Me on the other hand…I will deliver on what I promise to do. So if I say butler that I will disembowel you with a rusty tea spoon, I will do so. Kat got her inability to lie from me.” He grinned maliciously.
“War!”
The Rider of the Apocalypse waved away Kat’s irritation with a flick of his wrist, “But as my niece here asks I will absolve of the threats for today. I actually wanted to come and meet the little one, Serina is it?”
Sebastian put a restraining, and comforting, hand on Kat’s shoulder, “Im afraid she is not with us at the current moment. She is at her Grandfathers, most likely bouncing off the walls in her latest sugar fit.”
“She has a sweet tooth does she?”
Sebastian nodded gravely, “She must have some form of desert with every meal, regardless if its breakfast, lunch, or dinner. It is a full time job keeping her out of the sugar jar. Rhose allows her to do as she pleases and will most likely bring her home tomorrow after giving her the equivalent of two pounds of sugar in cookies and candy.”
War grinned, “That sounds like my brother. So while the youngster was out where were you two?”
“A Halloween Party.”
“Sounds like fun, so what were you planning on doing on your night alone together then?”
War wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, “Something…adult, romantically so?”
Kat and Sebastian both snorted, “Hardly, we have laundry, gardening, and a whole manor to clean. There’s no such thing as romance.”
Arms crossing his chest War looked at them, “Is that so? Then why don’t you do something now? Kiss, I mean. It’s a beautiful night and-”
“My dear man, Ive been trying to do that all night, Im glad you suggested it.”
Before Kat could react Sebastian twisted her about, and kissed her, pulling away reluctantly. Kat glanced up at him, War forgotten she said, “Well that was a treat, wheres the trick?”
“Getting my job done in time to spend the night with you?” He suggested, his ruby eyes dark and glittering.
Kat wrapped her arms around Sebastian’s neck, letting him pick her up, “That sounds like a treat too.”
Sebastian sat Kat down on the Coach seat before climbing up after her and turning the horses towards home.
War meanwhile stood watching them go, “I didn’t mean for you to leave me here!” He kicked a rock down the lane with his heavy black boot, “Oh well, I guess I’ll have to pay them a visit at the infamous Phantomhive estate then. That should be fun.”
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Here it is as promised! Thanks again for reading! I really appreciate it! If you have any other ideas for one shots for Kat and Sebby you would like to see feel free to give me a Message. Also if there are any other characters you would like to see a pairing of. It doesnt have to be just from Black Butler, it can be other animes and mangas as well, I am open to all genres.
Thanks again for reading
-Shadowquill