Work Text:
Ruskin, the secretary of Charles Augustus Milverton, walked through the corridor and kept peeking into every room, searching them through. He was looking for something, but he unfortunately had no luck. He closed the door with growing annoyance. Nothing again.
What he kept searching for was one of his employer's cats. Ruskin was never fond of cats - for his taste, they were too independent and they made too much mess which was a pain to clean up. He occasionally damaged Mr. Milverton's special belongings, but his employer just laughed at them. He always said that the cats reminded him of himself - they were easily bored, mischievous predators who always needed to hunt something down. Mr. Milverton really loved cats and he kept several at the house. It was not Ruskin's job to take care of them as Mr. Milverton saw his antipathy - but a day ago, Mr. Milverton got sick and the responsibility was passed onto Ruskin. Luckily, it was merely a light cold, so Ruskin didn't need to worry about his employer's health too much, but Mr. Milverton only agreed that he would remain in the bed and rest if Ruskin looked after his beloved cats.
"Fine, sir." Ruskin answered obediently. "I will do it."
He didn't like this job, but at least, he could keep Mr. Milverton in bed with fulfilling the order. He would have done everything for his employer to heal as fast as he could. And as Mr. Milverton trusted him, he wanted to do the task perfectly by making sure that his employer's beloved cats would not lack anything until he is bedridden.
But now, one of them had suddenly gone missing, so Ruskin spent the last few hours searching through the entire manor for the cat. He would have never forgiven to himself if he lets Mr. Milverton down. The cat needed to be found. Ruskin looked and looked, in every room, in every hole, but his search was still unsuccessful which made him slowly lose his patience. The cat in question was the shyest one in the household, but Ruskin knew about every possible place where a cat could hide.
Seriously, where could that damn cat go? He checked everywhere and there was nothing.
Suddenly, he got an idea. It seemed impossible if the cat didn't learn how to turn over the door knob, but it was worth considering the option. He went upstairs to Mr. Milverton's bedroom. He quietly knocked - then, as he heard no answer, he carefully peeked into the room.
Mr. Milverton was sleeping in his bed - and the missing cat was curled up on his side and kept purring. Maybe it went inside when he took in Mr. Milverton's breakfast, Ruskin thought. He wondered if he should bring the cat out so it would not disturb his employer - but from the scene, he could clearly tell that it was the opposite. There was a smile at the corner of Mr. Milverton's mouth. The cat's presence seemed to comfort him and made him feel better - which was the step to recovery.
Damn cat, Ruskin cursed silently when he closed back the door, but he wasn't angry. He accepted that there was a time when Mr. Milverton needed his cat and not him. He walked away on the corridor and his peacefully sleeping employer's picture just didn't get out of his mind.