What Makes a Monster

♱Sixty-Nine♱

Malatis really is a cat. The moment I make the bed and move on to cleaning the windows, he's on the mattress.

"Malatis!" I hiss, hands on my hips, which is not a threatening stance when standing against a magical creature that has deemed himself tired and in need of a nap. He rests on the bed, the sheets now wrinkled under him.

"Get off the bed, I just made it!"

He does no such thing.

"There's a perfectly comfortable couch across the hall."

He yawns and settles his head atop his paws.

"Once I'm done with this room you're going to have to move so I can re-make that bed."

As if to taunt me, he rolls onto his back, pulling the sheets from beneath the mattress and getting his dark fur all over the place. I guess I will be doing the laundry again too.

"You really are a demon," I growl and, I swear on my life, he smirks at me. He's definitely smirking! But Soran doesn't believe me no matter how much I tell him. Whatever, he just can't believe his precious Malatis is secretly evil since he's all rub-a-dub-dub when Soran is around. Purring, rubbing against his leg, wanting to play with scrunched up pieces of paper while laying at Soran's feet.

Maybe that's why he's being a little jerk. Soran has made Malatis follow me around for the last four days. The first day resulted in many co-workers avoiding me like the plague. When I entered the kitchen or the lounge, they scattered like roaches. Malatis never seemed to mind until he learned that, if people were around, there were more crumbs on the floor for him to lap up. And maybe I've been trying to win him over by giving him food but, as of now, it's yet to really work.

Whatever, I'll win his love eventually.

Work at the mansion has finally calmed down after a little more than a week of work. Construction is still ongoing, but almost all broken furniture and ripped rugs or curtains have been replaced. The estate is looking gorgeous as usual, a few new carved moldings and staircases thrown in. The carpenters work with slow precision, leaving dusts of wood or stone that we're all more than happy to clean up considering how gorgeous the finished pieces are.

My co-workers, however, have not calmed down. Since Malatis' appearance, the avoiding has gotten worse. Hael hasn't made a verbal complaint to me, but I know he dislikes Malatis guarding outside the door. Not sure if that was Soran's order or Malatis feels better being out in the hall. Personally, I'd like it if he slept on the bed or by me so I could pet him in his sleep, maybe win him over that way. See, I'm working really hard at this!

Anyways, Malatis is further proof that I am no longer "just an employee." The quiet stares and obvious avoidance from my co-worker's say, "this is His Grace's lover so keep your distance." There's no denying the sting that comes along with this new form of loneliness. Perhaps I was too naive to not consider this more seriously. I thought maybe we could all continue joking around and working as usual, but that isn't the case. Higra gives me work, mostly to do on my own, since we both know if I'm with another they'll try to do the work for me. Earn some brownie points or out of fear that I may say something to Soran.

In a way, I'm agitated; agitated that they'd see me as that. In another, I completely understand. I've even heard tales of workers among the estates that one wrong move could lose them their job, or their life. They rather be safe than sorry.

"Why don't you make yourself useful and carry the sheets?" I request, watching Malatis slip off the mattress when I tug on the sheets. I hold them out to him, wondering if he'll take them in his jaws.

He turns and walks away, nose up in the air.

"I'm not giving you any treats for dinner!"

His tail swishes through the air as if to say, "sure, sure." I almost hate that I understand his unspoken language.