This is such an adorable idea!
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Snake was certain that he has been looking for more than an hour now, and with every passing minute his anxiety only grew further. Keats was nowhere to be seen, not only by him, but also by the other servants in the Phantomhive manor and despite Mey Rinâs kind offer to help him looking (âArenât you glasses broken again, though? Asks Oscar.â) and Finnyâs enthusiasm in this new adventure and the possibility to help a friend (âI can manage by myself, thank you. Mister Sebastian can get angry at you if you donât clean up the mess in the garden as he asked you to. Says Emily.â), Snake has to decline their propositions, aware that it was his own responsibility to not lose his snakes. Still, he was slowly starting to panic as he remembered that this evening there were guests supposed to join the young master at the dinner and the mere thought of the tragedy that could happen if he didnât find Keats at time was glooming over his head like heavy, rainy clouds.
Crawling under the table in the kitchen, he was feeling himself losing hope and instead, many horrifying thoughts started to appear in his head. What if he got lost in the forest? What if he was waiting to be found, scared and alone? What if he was eaten by a larger, stronger animal? What if he was never going to see him again?
Snake had to remind himself about breathing, the heart beating in his chest stronger than ever before, his own blood pulsing in the ears and another wave of anxiety drowning him. He shouldnât dwell in such negative scenarios for too much, Keats could be everywhere, safe and sound, maybe taking a nap, and he was probably just panicking without reason. He would certainly feel much better if he knew where his friend was, though.
The moment he heard the carriage next to the front door of the mansion, Snake could feel his heart stop for an unending second before he swiftly ran out of the basement, knowing that there was no more time for searching since the guests has arrived. It would be very inappriopriate of him to not take a proper care of them and allow the other servants do his job, so with aching head he decided to simply hope that Keats was alright. Heading toward the dining room where the dinner was supposed to be served soon, he was still completely lost in his thoughts and instead of serving the blue porcelain, there was a golden one on the table which he realized only after preparing everything, as he thought, just perfectly.
With a deep sigh, he quickly rushed to fix this mistake, thinking that without his friend he wasnât as useful but he dismissed this thought with a wave of the hand.
Wandering back to the kitchen to help in dinner preparations, he suddenly heard Sebastian call him from the main hall, which caused him to instantly stop in the middle of the step. Cold shiver ran down his spine when he was trying to remember about something, anything which he could possibly forget about, the butlerâs tone wasnât the most friendly this time, after all. Still, he was more than sure that he did everything right, maybe except forâŚ
Snake rushed toward the hall and bursted through the door only to see his second-worst nightmare come true. Seemed like it wasnât just some average guest this evening, au contraire, it was none else but you of all the people, the one he has been keeping an eye on since he first saw you in the mansion many months ago! The breath got stuck in his throat at the sight on Sebastianâs unamused expression and the Keats himself resting peacefully tangled in your armâŚ
Oh, what a cruel was the fate for him that day!ÂâM-missâŚâ Snake stuttered shyly, not knowing how to start apologizing, but before he managed to say anything more, you turned to him, now noticing his presence.
âSnake, it is good to see you,â you greeted â to his confusion â not seeming to be scared of the snake upon your shoulder in the slighest. âLook whom I found in the garden. Keats was marauding between the freesias so I thought you might be looking for him.â
He was utterly and completely speechless when you approached him, carefully taking Keats off your arm and giving him to his hands, the sweet smile on your lips causing him to blush to the tips of the ears.
He almost didnât notice Sebastian trying to hide the quiet giggle before heading out of the hall and leaving you two alone together.
âThank you, missâŚâ he answered, mentally noting to scold Keats later for leaving him so unexpectedly and without a warning.
âThat is no problem, he was truly good to me.â
âWell, are you not scared of them then? I mean, the snakes. In general.â He coughed slightly, hoping that he was not making a fool in front of you now.
âOf course I am not. All snakes are adorable.â
Goodness, his cheeks were now surely redder than Emilyâs scales. How could you possibly be so kind and not disgusted by him? Not speaking about the obvious differences in your hierarchy, you still managed to speak to him like a completely normal human, not a freak or a monster. And you liked his friends, too, if that wasnât enough to be happy about! What did he do to deserve your attention, was the main question he was asking himself for the rest of the day, alongside reminding himself about your lovely face and eyes shining with excitement when you delicately took Keats on your hands.
Eventually, you accepted an offer to personally introduce you to the rest of his snakes and when the two of you headed toward the dining room, Snake thought that maybe it would be more appriopriate to thank Keats for getting lost for a while, than to scold him for that.