"Become my servant!" the purple-haired teen demanded of you, a clear blush on his face.

"Sorry?" you questioned, thinking you'd misheard him. You were a beggar, slowly starving to death as you were unwilling to steal. The teen clasped your hands with a grin.

"Please, you must! You are capable, yes? I can tell just by looking!"

"Huh?"

"Maybe you should not persist, my Prince," a worried-looking white-haired man interjected, and the other Indian man glanced back.

"What? No way! How can I give up now?"

"C-Can I have food... if I work for you?" you asked hesitantly, and teen who had been trying to hire you brightly smiled.

"Of course! Come on; come with me," he encouraged, holding out his hand for you to take. All of a sudden, Prince Soma was surrounded by a corona of light. It was beautiful... You grasped his hand and carefully stood on your unsteady legs, following the sun.

<><><>

"F/N!! Ciel's being mean to me!" Soma cried weeping into your shoulder.

"So it was not Mr. Sebastian this time, but Earl Phantomhive?" you inquired, and he nodded. "How so?"

"He said I'm a childish, immature brat!" You chuckled.

"He speaks the truth."

"Fffff/Nnnnn!" Soma whined.

"But," you continued, and he looked at you curiously with tears still on the edge of falling. "You are caring, considerate, and willing to learn." You hugged him, grinning. "And that is very admirable." Agni smiled at you; he had been worried that you would not like serving Prince Soma at first, but you found you two had something in common; Prince Soma was the sun to the both of you.

"Thank you, F/N!" Soma expressed happily, and you giggled. He was easy to cheer up, and you were thankful for that; you couldn't bear to see him unhappy.

Without warning, you were thrown onto the floor by what seemed to be a large explosion, landing you and Soma in quite a... compromising position.

"U-Uh, my prince, can you please get off?" you asked, your face heating up by the second, and his blush was exactly as, if not more, severe. Soma stood up faster than when Agni told him he had cooked his godly curry and looked away. Still not looking at you, he offered his hand, and you smiled as you took it to stand.

"So what do you think that was?" Soma asked, breaking the awkward silence.

"So much work..." a familiar voice said tiredly. "Why can't they do their jobs correctly for once...?" As the voice sighed, you caught Sebastian walking by the doorway to the sitting room you had been lounging in.

"Oh, Sebastian! What happened?" Agni asked, and the black-haired butler stopped and looked in the door. Soma hid behind you, but you weren't afraid of him—well, you had been at first, until you saw him with a cat.

"Idiot num—ah, do excuse me. Our chef, Bard has made a slight mistake. It seems he used dynamite instead of the stove, so the kitchen has partially exploded." It seemed as if Sebastian was brimming with irritation when he suddenly turned his head and appeared to be more irritated. "One moment please." He darted out of sight, and you heard a yelp from the maid, shortly followed by a stern scolding.

"We can help you clean up, if you like," you suggested after Sebastian had returned, and Agni nodded in agreement. His eyes widened.

"I do appreciate the thought, but it would be very rude—"

"Come on, Mr. Sebastian! We've gone over this so many times! If you need us, just ask!" you interrupted cheerfully, and he chuckled.

"Yes, I do suppose I am repeating myself. Come with me then, Agni, F/N. I will show you the damages. And F/N?"

"Yes?"

"Haven't I told you already that you don't have to refer to me as your senior?" You laughed.

"But you are my senior!" Sebastian began walking, and you and Agni shortly followed.

"You don't call Agni 'mister'. Am I some old man?"

"What, you jealous?" you asked teasingly, and Sebastian sighed.

"No, of course not."

"Though I am surprised you don't have gray hairs, considering the amount of work you do around here. You're what, 30?"

"Yes, that's right; how old are you, Sebastian? I'm 31, by the way." Sebastian didn't respond right away, continuing to lead you through halls.

"I forgot," he said, making both your jaws drop.

"Agni, call the doctors; I think the stress got to his mind instead of his body."

"It's around 30, I suppose," Sebastian muttered, placing a knuckle to his mouth as he stopped in front of a burned door. "Come to think of it, when was my birthday...?"

"You don't know that either?" you asked almost incredulously.

"That's terrible, Sebastian; when did you last celebrate it?" Sebastian didn't answer, only opening the door to show the terrible, blackened mess that was once a whole kitchen. And in the center lay an unconscious, blond-haired man with an afro. Both you and Agni were speechless.

"Rethinking your desire to help?" Sebastian asked, slinging the immobile Baldroy over his shoulder and proceeding to set him outside the room.

"What do we do first?" you questioned purposefully.

"First, we'll have to fix the floor and walls that were damaged, and then we'll clean it from top to bottom. I have all the materials here; please ask me if you have any questions." With that, the three of you set to work on repairing the kitchen.

<><><>

"F/N, rest, please; you look exhausted," Agni pleaded as you were about to help Sebastian with supper.

"But you two are still working," you said stubbornly. "I would be a disappointment to my prince if I just left after some measly cleaning up." Agni started tearing up as Sebastian inspected a knife.

"While I understand what it is you want to uphold, you will disappoint your master more if you take on more than you can handle and make mistakes. Furthermore, that was not simple work; the sheer fact that this kitchen has been completely restored in a few hours is astounding. I also insist that you rest."

"Not in a hundred years," you grumbled, kneading dough that Sebastian had prepared. You supposed this was your greatest flaw: tiredness made you incredibly stubborn, to the point where you would have to be knocked out to sleep.

"F/N, our prince would not want to see you so exhausted. I beg you; rest."

"No, Agni. I will help." Surprisingly, your instincts were still strong enough to catch Sebastian's hand right before it hit the back of your neck. "It's not going to work this time, Mr. Sebastian."

"Agni, I believe you should restrain her while I knock her out."

"S-Sebastian, I think that's a little overkill..." Agni spoke worriedly, holding his hands up.

"Do you have any better ideas?"

"I'm still here," you muttered as you continued to form the bread for tonight's supper. Again, you stopped Sebastian's hand just before it hit the back of your neck.

"Who taught you how to avoid that?" Sebastian asked irritatedly.

"Mmm... Agni." you replied, moving on to the next part of the meal as you put the bread in the oven, burning your finger as you did so. Tired mistake no. 1. "Though he didn't really do it intentionally. He had to keep knocking me out during the early days when I tried to impress my prince."

"Do you have alternate methods of knocking her out, Agni?" Sebastian asked, returning to his vegetables. You glanced at the open recipe book on the workspace, seeing that today's dessert was to be a raspberry trifle and started washing the raspberries.

"Well no; she's only been able to block it recently..." You accidentally stubbed your toe on the corner of the counter. Tired mistake no. 2. You sighed.

"Give it a rest, will you?" you complained, beginning to whip some cream. After a little while, there was silence, and you continued in your tasks, though you almost dropped the cake layer of the trifle, only saving it as you bruised your elbow to keep hold of it. Tired mistake no. 3.

"Good grief. I didn't want to resort to this, but you leave me no choice, I'm afraid." Suddenly, Sebastian was hugging you, though it would have been more accurate to say he was restraining you. He took both your wrists in one hand and held them to the side as he quickly knocked you out, the last sight you saw being Soma looking at the scene from the doorway.

<><><>

"I ASKED WHAT WERE YOU DOING TO HER, NOT WHAT HAPPENED!" Soma shouted, and you sat up, seeing Sebastian nurse the bridge of his nose.

"And I just got her to go to sleep..." Sebastian grumbled as Agni looked between the pair, conflicted. You yawned.

"What's this about?" you asked, and Soma looked back at you.

"What did the butler do to you?"

"Hm? He knocked me out. Said I was overdoing it," you replied, feeling as if your head had been stuffed with cotton. Soma's eyes widened.

"You mean he wasn't...?" You rubbed your eye, standing up.

"Wasn't what?" Soma blushed.

"Nevermind. Stupid guess."

"With all due respect, Prince Soma, there are three things wrong with your assumption: firstly, do you not think Agni would have stopped me before I did something that you would not approve of? Secondly, I am a butler, not a cretin; any sort of indecent act you are thinking of would shame the Phantomhive name."

"Wait; what's the third thing?" Soma asked confusedly, and Sebastian grinned at you mischievously.

"I am not interested in someone that has already been claimed."

"W-What?" both you and Soma asked, your faces becoming redder and redder. Sebastian chuckled evilly.

"I think you should take her back to her room to rest properly, Prince Soma."

"A-A-Are you suggesting something perverted, Mr. Sebastian?" You questioned. He glanced back at you with his grin seeming to spread wider.

"Oh my, what did you think I meant by that? I simply recommended that he escort you to your room." Your blush darkened, and you covered your face embarrassedly.

"Sebastian, you're going too far..." you heard Agni reprimand as Soma took you by the hand, wanting to escape the butler.

"Nonsense." His reply was barely heard as you were herded along, finally arriving at your door.

"Your sense of direction has gotten better," you commented as he was about to open the door. "Can you find your own room now?" you playfully mocked, and he blushed.

"Y-You should go to bed." You chuckled, bowing to him.

"As you wish, my prince." You paused as you walked through the doorway. "But wake me up for dessert, okay?" Prince Soma was about to close the door when you opened it back up again. "I almost forgot." You lightly kissed his forehead. "Goodnight, my prince."