Treat Me Like A Lady 〖Claude x Alois〗

Chapter 6.5: A Lady's Goodnight

"There. I refuse to do any more."

Alois pushed his papers forward, an exhausted sigh leaving his lips. He'd been endlessly writing for an hour now, and he was... properly tired at this point. Claude stood nearby his desk and took up all the finished papers, nodding towards his master and giving a quick nod.

"I'll have them sent out in the morning, Your Highness."

"Right... Thank you..."

He dropped his pen down onto the table and sat all the way back in his chair, his body feeling completely dead.

Claude looked at him and sighed, knowing what he was going to have to do. He reached down and picked the little earl up to his lap and held him close, making sure he wouldn't slip right out of his firm grip. Alois didn't protest or say a word, his only laid his head down against his butler's shoulder and closed his eyes.

The two of them made their way back to Alois's room and plopped him right down on the bed. By then, he was practically asleep from the gentle lull of Claude's repetitive stepping.

"Master... What would you like to wear to bed tonight?"

The demon asked this question somewhat hesitantly, knowing the answer he gave may a tad... Odd. Alois's mind didn't exactly function properly after his bedtime, it was more set on going to bed.

"Mmh... Absolutely... Nothing~"

Claude sighed and looked up at the little earl'a eyes, slowly unbutton his little his little green vest.

"Are you telling me you want to sleep naked, your Highness?"

"YES. now follow orders, demon scum!"

Alois lightly smacked him on the forehead with his weak hand and a grin on his face. There was a certain... Drunkness he developed when he was sleepy that made him sound like he'd been drinking for hours.

Claude shook his head and proceeded to undress his master, knowing that he'd wake up regretting his decision. Once getting him... Well, stripped down, the demon quickly tucked him under the covers so he could avoid anything... Intimate happening between the two of them. Of course, that was his ultimate goal, but he wanted it to be nurtured. He wanted to wait and cultivate it until the moment that the blonde was begging for it.

"There we are, Master... Are you pleased now? Ready for bed?"

The blonde snuggled up to the pillow and sighed contently, a small smile on his little face.

"Mmh, yes~"

Claude bowed to him and straightened his glasses, a quiet sigh leaving his lips as he turned around and moved towards the door. Today has been a long, long day for both of them. The demon decided he'd even take a quick moment to rest as well and just let the tiny lovable brat sleep in all morning.

"Claude, wait..."

Just as he was about to leave the room, the little voice called out to him and he turned once again to face him.

"What is it, Master?"

"...I'm going to get lonely in here by myself. Will you sleep here with me tonight?"

The stoic demon paused for a moment, feeling his cold heart skip a beat. Of course... He should've known this was coming. If a seductive and half-insane child asks you to strip him and put him in a bed, was it REALLY a good idea to do as he commanded?

Claude slowly walked back over to the bed and huffed, having to close his eyes for a moment just from pure irritation. Sure, he loved Alois, but sometimes... he was a big brat. Especially when he was sleepy, then he turned into preschooler who skipped nap-time.

Hesitantly, he laid his shoes beside the bed and crawled in on the opposite side of the blonde earl, scooting under the blanket rather awkwardly. He didn't dare turned his head to look over at Alois, knowing he'd have that excited little seductive smile that he always did when he was in the mood. As soon as Claude was settled in, he grinned and scooted as close as he could to him, throwing a leg over his waist and pulling him closer with a sly smile.

"Mmmh, I'm so happy you're here, Claude... I missed your scent, you know."

The spider butler didn't respond, he simply sat there in his awkward board position and stared up at the ceiling, trying his hardest to ignore the obnoxious child that was getting on his very last nerve. 

Suddenly Alois's smile turned into a frown as he stared up at the ceiling as well, moving to grip onto Claude's hand and hold it under the sheets.

"I don't suppose you care much for my little games, do you, Claude...?"

"....No, Your Highness." 

The blonde nodded beside him, moving his head to share a pillow with the demon.

"Right... I didn't think so. No one really cares, do they...?"

Claude didn't respond, leaving the two of them to sit alone in the silence for a moment. 

"...that's what I thought..."

 Alois frowned as little tears rolled down his cheeks and hit his pillow, his bottom lip shivering and shaking a little. Claude saw that he now needed to step in and fix things, as he always did with this boy...

With one swift movement, the spider demon reached over and scooped the blonde up, then pulled him up to lay on top of him so that they were face to face. Well... Alois's face to Claude's chest, anyway, but close enough.

"Can you hear my heart beating, Your Highness?"

Alois stated at him oddly for a moment before slowly moving his head to rest ear down against the front of his suit, listening very carefully. He could hear the thumping of a heart, beating at a soft, steady pace. It actually calmed the boy down, the moment suddenly feeling as if it were paused in a movie.

"Y...Yeah, I hear it... what about it?"

The golden-eyed demon reached up and stroked the top of Alois's head gently, moving his eyes to stare directly into those big, blue ones.

"It beats for you, Master. Do you understand that? It beats for you, and you alone. It has nothing to do with your soul that it beats. It's you as a whole that it beats for." 

After that, Alois went completely silent. He simply stuck his head right back against Claude's chest and breathed gently with his eyes wide open. He stayed like this for minutes, up until he finally passed out right there. 

Although Claude had intentions of leaving right after he'd fallen asleep, he decided, just this once... he'd stay. Just for his lady.