A Demons Mate

Before they wake.... Enjoy

 Serena checked both directions of the hallway before sliding out and shutting the door as quietly as possible. She had heard the servants retreating into their own part of the house hours ago and hoped that they were now asleep. Ciel was still keeping Sebastian occupied with his nightly routine before bed and the girl took this chance to sneak into the servants' portion of the house.

The door at the end of the hallway led into the back of the house and up to the servants' bedrooms that took up half the attic. She had seen the door when looking for decorations and Meirin had explained what lay behind it. Walking as quietly as possible, Serena was glad that this portion of the house was kept up as well. The bare floorboards hardly creaked with her steps and she hoped that if someone heard them, they would think that it was only Sebastian and not come out to investigate.

'Why do I hear the Mission Impossible theme in my head?' She laughed and flattened herself against the wall.

Coming to the first door, Serena opened it and peeked inside. The room was small, but still nicer than what she had expected and only held one bed, a nightstand, a desk, and a small wardrobe . The bed was occupied and the gray haired head she saw on the pillow told it was Tanaka's room.

'Good, he really should have his own room.' Taking one of the boxes from her stack, she left the rest in the hallway so as not to run the risk of dropping them and making a ruckus. Remembering what Undertaker and Haagenti had said about her ability to calm people, the girl thought only of Tanaka staying asleep as she tip toed across the room. She laid the box next to the bed and hurried out with a smile.

The next room held two beds and she assumed that this was where Bard and Finny slept. The two men were out cold as she crept in and out as quickly as possible. They didn't even move when she had knocked one of Bard's shoes. Picking up her remaining boxes outside the room, Serena stayed to the sides of the hallway as the boards creaked less.

'But where does Snake sleep? Wait, the manga said something about the greenhouse as it was the warmest room. He must be there.'

She moved his box to the bottom of the pile, there were only three left, and went to the next door. It was another room of two beds, both empty and stripped of sheets. The next two were the same way. It almost to the other end of the attic that she finally found Mei-Rin's room. The maid was sleeping with a book laying on her chest and a candle still lit on the nightstand. Serena smiled as she set the gift on the nightstand and took the book from the sleeping girl. She recognized the title as one of the romance novels that had been in the servants' parlor before. The red head shook her head as she blew out the candle and left the room.

The rest of the doors yielded nothing but empty rooms and Serena was left with two boxes.

'The butler's room is always on the first floor, duh. He's supposed to be the closest to the silver and the wine.'

Going back down, she decided to hit the greenhouse first before searching for Sebastian's room. She entered the warm and humid building expecting to see a cot or something. Instead, Snake was stretched out on the soft moss next to a little indoor pond. Several of his pets were coiled next to him as the footman slept easily and lifted their heads as she came closer.

'Well, they're not rattling or anything. But I guess that's only rattlesnakes that do that. I want to leave it where he'll see it, but how close will they let me get?'

Serena noticed a small branch that had fallen from one of the bushes and came up with an idea. Setting the box on the ground, she used the branch to push it closer to the sleeping man. All the snakes watched her, their tongues flicking out to taste the air around them. The box was only a foot away when one of the snakes, that she recognized as some kind of cobra, stretched out it's hood. She stopped and put her hands up while backing away. The hood came back down and she turned to hurry from the greenhouse.

'Alright, now to find Sebastian's room.'

Since the butler was supposed to be close to the silver and the wine, Serena figured that she would start with the kitchen and work her way through the first floor from there. Looking into the various doors, she found a set up that was close to the townhouse. At the very end of the hallway was a door that looked interesting. There was no possible room in the noble's part of the house that would be there. When she touched the doorknob, she felt a design under her palm. Stamped into the metal was the Phantomhive coat of arms.

'Okay, now that almost screams 'Ruler of the House.''

She turned the knob but it wouldn't budge.

'Of course it's locked.'

Still holding the package, Serena ran through other options of where to leave the gift. She could always leave it in her room. Sebastian was sure to come see her after Ciel was asleep. Or there was the kitchen, but what if one of the others went to the kitchen first. The box did have his name on it, but still, she didn't like leaving it in such an open space. She could leave it in front of the door, but again, what if someone else found it.

Giving up, she decided to take it with her to make cookies and if she ran into Sebastian, she'd give it to him then. In the pantry, she looked for the ingredients that she would need. After seeing the massive bag of flour and the thigh high container for sugar, Serena decided to just bring her bowl in here to get what she needed.

'Now, if I were a mixing bowl, where would I be? And measuring cups, I hope they have measuring cups. Then I still need to find the butter. That would be in that ice chest thing that Bard got the meat out of, right? I have a feeling this is going to be harder than I thought.