Work Text:
Hidden, thanks to the dogs.
Summer meant more daylight hours and better weather, usually leading to more time spent outside in the sun. William loved the warm season, especially when his master allowed him to go outside and tend to the garden. It was still hard work, but at least he was outside in the fresh air. Sometimes Stanford joined him, but the master was often busy, leaving the demon slave alone to work in silence. Today, Will had asked Stanford if he could bring Sixie outside with him. The master had told him that it was allowed, as long as the kitten didn’t keep him from his work. “If the cat runs off, so be it, if she gets too close to the hounds, so be it. Your work is more important, understood?” Stanford had been very clear about it, but Will had accepted that risk. Sixie was still young and very energetic, it was good for her to be able to stretch her little legs beyond his room.
So while the demon slave was carefully removing weeds from the flowerbeds, the blueish white kitten was running after bugs, enjoying the sunlight and thoroughly cleaning her soft fur. Whenever Will looked up, she would run at him and demand to be scratched behind her ears. It made the blue Cipher smile. On days like these, he felt as free as he possibly could. Yes, Stanford was strict with him, but this was nice. This was proof he was doing well; these little extras. The feeling could only be beaten by a night with his master, but he was very careful not to think about that too much. He had the feeling Stanford knew exactly when he had been daydreaming about that again. And his master loved to make him wait whenever he was longing for it again. No, he had trained himself to keep it out of his head, and instead enjoy the other little extras his master gave him.
It was almost lunchtime, meaning William wiped the dirt off his pants and moved to the kitchen. Sixie didn’t follow him there; it was too close to the lab for her liking. It had happened on a few occasions that the kitten and the scientist had met. It always went the same: Fiddleford stared Sixie with a lot of curiosity on his face, and Sixie on her turn hissed at the man and ran away. She didn’t like the people in the Manor very much, only Will. The demon knew that the scientist had complained about it, but all Stanford ever told him was that Sixie shouldn’t roam the house freely. “She is your responsibility, William. I don’t want to find her in the library while you are cleaning up the dining room.” That’s what the master told him. The demon slave had taken the hint and mostly kept Sixie in his room. It was safer for everyone; he didn’t like the look on Fiddleford’s face at all. But today, he wanted to treat her too, which was why he let her stay in the garden while he prepared lunch for the residents.
Of course William didn’t forget to bring his furry friend a bowl of food when he returned outside. He found her on a bench in the sun. When she saw him, she purred loudly, making him smile. He set the bowl on the ground before sitting down and eating his own lunch. Human food was interesting, and he had come to enjoy it very much over time. He watched the butterflies lazily fly from one rose to another, gently took a ladybug off his sleeve at set it on a nearby leaf and enjoyed the short break he could take before he would have to get back to work. Sixie jumped on the bench with him once she was done eating and sat beside him, tucking her strange little paws under her body. “Imitating a loaf again, are you?” He chuckled and scratched her between her ears. She purred and blinked at him a couple of times. Will’s thoughts wandered off for a while. The sunlight, combined with the calming effect of his kitten right next to him, caused him to become a bit sleepy. It was such a peaceful moment that he almost forgot about reality around him. He closed his eyes and breathed in the warm summer air, the scent of the roses that grew everywhere around him, and listened to the buzzing of the bees. The insects didn’t bother him in the slightest, it happened daily that one of them landed on him. He didn’t mind; they always flew off on their own.
The bench he was sitting on was closer to the manor gates than he had realized. It wasn’t close enough to expose him to the outside world, thanks to rose bushed and hedges, but if there would be a visitor, he would have to be really quick to be able to hide in time. William hadn’t realized how close to the edge of the manor grounds he was, or he would have taken Sixie with him to another part of the garden. He knew how important it was to stay out of sight when he was alone. The kitten obviously didn’t care about gates or fences, but usually stayed close to her demon friend anyway. This moment of carelessness put them in a very vulnerable position. It happened way too often that curious kids from the town came snooping around the manor grounds. Usually they stayed on the other side of the fence, but all it took was one or two bratty kids riling eachother up to go further. And of course, a small group of them came in the direction of the gates while William was enjoying the sun. They were whispering, daring eachother to climb the fence and explore the garden of the mysterious Gleeful Manor. They couldn’t know that from his office balcony, the master himself was watching them. He kept his eyes on the group of boys while picking up his teacup. If they were smart and simply left, he would leave it be, but one foot on his property and they would face the consequences. Especially with William so close. This was not necessarily William’s fault; his slave had simply followed the cat. But that didn’t mean he would let it slide. After all, Stanford had warned the demon what would happen if Sixie got too close to the hounds.
Then the boys did climb the fence. Will heard the noise and immediately tensed up, his eyes darting over the garden, searching for the best way to go. Stanford took his whistle. He did not particularly care how many of the living creatures in the garden would fall prey to the hounds. On the contrary: he smiled before setting the whistle to his lips, and releasing the hounds. Will and Sixie immediately looked up. Their ears were very capable of picking up the noise from that whistle. Neither of them enjoyed the sound very much. Will knew exactly what was coming and took the kitten in his arms. His furry friend was a bit fussy; the noise had unsettled her. Before the demon was able to get out of there, he could hear the barking, growling of the dogs and he cringed. Sixie wriggled out of his arms, every hair on her body was standing up, turning her into an even bigger fluffball than usual. Will froze as the two pitch black Doberman came running around a corner, straight at the boys. The boys screamed an scattered, trying to find a spot where they could climb back over the fence.
The demon slave bit his lip. He didn’t want to leave Sixie alone, but if those kids saw him, Stanford would never let set foot outside again. One of the hounds came from behind a bush and gave the demon a nudge. Will knew how to communicate with the dogs, and understood that the animal told him to get out of there right that second, or it would be too late. His heart ached, but he obeyed and bolted over to the entrance of the hedge maze. He knew the way by heart and it would allow him to remain unseen. Yet his heart was pounding in his chest, from fear, sadness or guilt, he didn’t know. Will just prayed Sixie would get out of there as well. The dog had been so close to her, and there was no tree for her to get out of their reach. But as long as the hounds were growling, he couldn’t even go look. He was hiding, listening to the noises, praying all the kids would make their way out without running in his direction. William heard a cry in the distance, meaning the dogs had bitten at least one of the kids. Those teeth were razor sharp, and the demon silently wished the victim luck with explaining that to their parents.
Suddenly a blueish white ball of fluff shot in his direction and Will nearly started crying as Sixie took a leap, straight into his arms. Her hair was flat again, but she wasn’t completely calm yet. Will just cradled her in his arms while he was sitting on his knees behind one of the hedges. The barking got softer, more distant, and less intense. Most boys had probably found their way to the safe side of the fence. Hopefully none of them was too injured. The hounds were only doing their job, but the demon didn’t like it when people got injured like that. The slave was relieved when the growling and barking stopped completely. It was over, the kids were gone and he was safe again. Perhaps he should bring Sixie to his room, before the hounds did get to her. He carefully got up and left the maze, only to find himself in front of both the gigantic dogs. While Will had no reason to fear them, their size was intimidating, and the demon slave knew better than to cross them. They were Stanford’s hounds after all.
The dogs were sitting on both sides of the path that led to the manor. If he wanted to go there, William would have to walk right by them, and he had no idea how Sixie would respond to this. Yet the only other option he had was to wait until Stanford called them back, if he ever did. So he took a step forward, praying that they wouldn’t do anything. Sadly, luck wasn’t on his side. As soon as he was right between them, they both got up and circled him a few times. The slave didn’t move. He just closed his eyes, knowing there was nothing he could do. The dogs wouldn’t hurt him, but Sixie was in his arms, no way to escape the consequences. The hounds got closer and sniffed the ball of fluff in the demon’s arms. The kitten stared at them and meowed. Both dogs simultaneously just tilted their head. One of them gave a short, soft bark. Sixie meowed again and hopped out of Will’s arms. The demon almost panicked, because it seemed like the hounds had been waiting for this. But instead of attacking the tiny kitten, as Will had feared, they pounced on the demon, causing him to lose his balance and fall flat on his back in the grass. The dogs started licking his face while Sixie settled on top of his chest, meowing happily. She sure seemed extremely pleased with herself.