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It was already late at night by the time Charles Augustus Milverton and his secretary, Ruskin, came back from the ball. Though, if anyone could see them, they would have agreed that the word "come" only fit to Ruskin. He was dragging his employer along with himself due to the man being slightly dizzy from the time he spent listening to boring people - at least, that's what Milverton said, feeling the need to clarify his state. Ruskin didn't say the truth out loud but he thought that for Mr. Milverton’s dizziness the reason rather was that he was drunk from the amount of alcohol he had drank.
"The plan was suc... successful." Milverton rambled, his words flowed into each other, making them barely comprehendable, but Ruskin understood him nevertheless. He was able to under his employer without words, after all. He put him down in the bed and only after that, he answered with some annoyance.
"Yes, sir. But I would be happier if next time you wouldn't drink that much. It is not healthy for you and you don’t handle alcohol well - besides, I am your secretary and not your babysitter. For that, I needed to sign a very different contract." He pointed out vehemently. "Carrying you around is not in my job description and I refuse to do it again." He stated.
"It was necessary to get the information." Milverton complained and he let out a chuckle. He reached out to touch Ruskin's face but his hand fell back when he realized that he couldn't reach him. "Haven't I made you my lover? Lovers are supposed to carry each other around - at least, that's what is in those ridiculous movies."
"Those are indeed ridiculous." Ruskin agreed and took his employer's fallen hand. "That is why I am never going to do it again."
"I am sure that there is a Ruskin in another universe who would not complain about this. He would even die for me." Milverton tried to raise his head, but he grimaced from the nausea.
"Dying for you and carrying you like you are a baby is not the same." Ruskin reminded him. "One of them is extremely humiliating."
He let his employer's hand go and stood up to get some water for him - and a bucket if Mr. Milverton had the urge to vomit. It was better to be prepared than cleaning up after him.
But before he could step out of the room, something hit his head. It was a pillow - and the one who threw it at him was Mr. Milverton.
"What was this for?" He looked back at the other man, raising his eyebrows.
"I didn't finish my speech." Milverton noted in a whining voice. Ruskin rolled his eyes and he wished he didn't need to deal with his drunken employer late at night and they could sleep already.
"I merely wanted to get you medicine to make you feel better." He told him and evaded from the second pillow which was thrown at him.
"Stay. This is an order." Milverton said and he was ready to throw the third pillow, when Ruskin thought that he would return the attack.
"Are you sure that this is what you want?" He asked in a sarcastic tone and dropped the pillows back at his employer who caught one of them and immediately threw it back to Ruskin.
"I thought that we were too old for a pillow fight." Ruskin rolled his eyes, but he needed to admit, even if he didn't show it, that he started to have some fun.
The pillows kept flying here and there in the air, until after a returned attack, Ruskin saw that Mr. Milverton didn't pick it up again. He stepped there to check if his employer was alright - but he saw that the reason for it was only that he fell asleep during the game. Ruskin ordered Mr. Milverton's head on one of the pillows and he sat down on the bedside. He softly brushed his employer's messy hair.
He knew that he would never work for anyone else aside from Mr. Milverton - his Mr. Milverton. Even if he was sometimes hard to comprehend - especially if he happened to be drunk - but they still belonged to each other. And he never wanted to change this.