Maid Service

A/N: I'm actually wondering if I ought to make a sequel to this or not. *scratches chin*

~+~+~+~+~+~+~

It was nearing the end of the month when things took a turn for the worse. For reasons no one could explain or understand, a fire suddenly broke out on the upper floors, an echoing scream waking everyone up from sleep. Gustav, the first to wake, immediately called the fire in before waking the others to get them out. They had all gotten out safely, but by the time the fire department arrived, little was left of the entire house. Bright red and orange flames engulfed the house, working its way quickly earthbound and devouring everything it had touched.

Though it was shock that overcame each person, denial soon creeped in with anger and sadness following not too long after. It was found that the cause of the fire was unknown, starting somewhere in the attic and spreading through the house as if possessed by a malicious force. No one could figure it out, therefore they dropped the situation quickly. This had left Tom, Georg, and Gustav homeless and Bill without any thought of going back to the headquarters of his job. Spending the past three weeks with the three males was something Bill had enjoyed, far more than most of other times when the person who wanted a maid for their house was some perverted, I-want-to-touch-you-everywhere males and then more times when he was forced into something short of enslavement with some rich snob female looking down at his every move as if he was the scum of the Earth. Half of the time, Bill was forced into self-defense because the one who wanted the maid service thought the service to be something more than just cleaning their homes. Sure, Bill loved what he did, but eventually came to hate it when the occasions of using self-defense shot up like a rocket.

Bill had briefly gone back to the headquarters and told David of what happened, knowing that he could help get some kind of home for the three males because he was working for them at the time the house burned. It was things like this that could be both a pain and a blessing. Some people did things on purpose just to smuggle something out of the service, to which if it was proven it was done on purpose, the one who hired the maid got nothing.

On the final day of the final week, Bill returned to the burnt down house and informed all three males that they were moving into a new home.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*

"Bill, you really didn't have to do this." Gustav looked at Bill, then back at the colonial style two story house behind him. "We would have found somewhere to live."

Bill huffed softly, putting his hands on his hips. "With the way you three laze about?" he asked, raising an eyebrow when all three flushed. "Having little hobbies on the side to bring in a little money won't get you in this world, honey." He turned then, looking over his shoulder. "Come on into the house. It's simply amazing." With that, he walked up the pathway with the others following.

~+~

Upon entering the house, Bill removed his shoes and, slipping on a pair of fuzzy slippers, walked further into the house and turned to the others.

"In order to keep these floors as clean as possible, with minimal dirt dragged in, shoes are to be taken off at the door." Bill gestured to the three pairs of slippers lining the entry into the foyer. "Either wear the slippers, socks, or be barefoot. If you go outside barefoot, there's a hose and hand towel just outside the front door. Wash your feet and dry them before walking into the house." He turned to the loose spiral stairs. "This spiral staircase is similar to the hidden one back at your old home, leading up to the second floor and the tiny attic just above that." He then turned and walked through a doorway to the left, calling behind him; "this is the living room, come have a look."

Gustav glanced at Tom and Georg, shrugged, and followed Bill into the living room. The living room was tastefully furnished in forest green, the walls tan, the woodwork cherry oak. A sliding door off to the side indicated a porch to the side of the house, open and lightly disturbing the cream curtains with a subtle wind. Upon further inspection, the side porch wrapped around from the right front to the back left side of the house and expanded to twenty-five feet out in an almost half-moon circle. They all looked up, noting the transparent canvas/sunroof style and many small solar energy panels lining the roof of the porch.

"You guys going to stare up into the sun all day or do you want to see the rest of your home?" Bill's voice startled them all and Bill laughed. "Well, come on. There's so much more to see!"

"In a two-story home?" Tom raised an eyebrow.

"Of course." Bill smiled, wriggling in place. "I designed most of this myself and somehow got thousands of volunteers to build this in a week." He looked briefly dumbfounded, but shrugged. "Well, come on! We have sunlight to burn and so much more to see!" He turned and almost skipped into the living room, turning into the foyer and into the kitchen.

Gustav and the others followed Bill, glancing at each other with little smiles. The kitchen looked like it was taken out of the colonial era; olden style appliances with a dash of the new gave it an almost artful look of clashing times. The walls were done in a light grey with the countertops being solid, sturdy oak and polished to give it a healthy shine. Bill stood in the middle of the kitchen, behind the small island, biting his lip.

"I wasn't sure you guys would like this part of the house," Bill mumbled through his lip biting. "So I winged it and here it is."

"I like it," Georg said with a smile, poking the cook stove lightly. "Artsy, but totally you."

Bill flushed and bowed his head. "The dining room's just over here," he mumbled, gesturing to a door to the right and walked through it.

The others followed Bill into the dining room, looking around as they stepped in. It looked like they took another time travel, this time to the victorian era. The high ceiling gave way to a large crystal chandelier hanging over the albeit large and ornate dining table and chairs. The walls were done in pale cream, accented by the dark floral borders along the topmost walls. A large bay window, showing the backyard, covered most of the wall with a long rosewood table placed in the middle. Smaller, crystal-like lights were held over the doorways and two large ornate candelabras resided on the table; one at each end.

"Again, I wasn't sure about what you would like in here," Bill said, gently smoothing a hand over one of the chairs, "so I went with my gut told me and this came out." He glanced up before walking into the foyer. "If you'll follow me, I'll show you all to your rooms now." That said, he walked up the spiral staircase, dragging a hand over the railing lightly as he went.

Gustav looked at Tom and Georg. "He seems almost...upset about something," he said, leading the other two up the spiral stairs.

"He's looked upset since he came to get us," Tom put in, frowning lightly. "Do you think it has something to do with us?"

"Like we did something wrong?" Gustav shook his head. "I doubt it. The way he's acting, he seems to not want to leave."

"He did design the house," Georg said, earning a smack to his head by Tom.

"Idiot," Tom said. "What Gustav means is that Bill's probably upset about leaving us." He grimaced briefly. "Yeah, we gave him a hard time at first, but over time, we softened up and let him into our home freely."

Georg rubbed his head. "Too true," he muttered. "So, what are we going to do about it?"

"We'll discuss it later," Gustav said, reaching the final step and scowled at the stairs. "For being only on the second floor, I felt like I just climbed to the third or fourth."

"Spiral stairs will do that to you." Everyone jumped again at Bill's voice, to which he laughed lightly. "You guys are so hard to scare." Still chuckling, Bill gestured to the four doors to the left of the stairs. "Two or three of these rooms are yours and one or two guestrooms." Bill gestured to the hallway behind the boys. "Those are also guestrooms, but I guess they can be used for different reasons; game room, storage room, library, you name, it can be done." He smiled and bowed and curtsied. "I've shown you everything I can in this house, besides the backyard, which is just a backyard..." He trailed off, biting his lip. "I guess...I'll be seeing you three later." With another curtsy, Bill moved past the three boys, grabbing his jacket on the railing before decending them.

Georg and Tom glanced at each other, then Gustav, looking indecisive before checking out the rooms. Gustav watched them go, chewing at his bottom lip. On the one hand, he wanted to look around with Tom and Georg, but the other part, the more persuasive part of him, wanted to go after Bill.

So he did.

Quickly decending the stairs, Gustav put his shoes back on after nearly forgetting them, and quickly walked out of the house, hoping to catch Bill before it was too late. Reaching the end of the driveway, Gustav looked both ways, seeing nothing on the initial scan. Going over more slowly, Gustav spotted Bill's form walking hunched over to prevent being too cold in the blustery autumn day. Making up his mind, Gustav went after Bill, ignoring the chill his body felt in the wind. Catching up to Bill, Gustav gently placed a hand on Bill's shoulder, effectively halting the other male's movement. Slowly turning, Gustav could see how upset Bill was. Tiny tear tracks had made their mark on Bill's cheeks from red-rimmed eyes. His nose was an adorable shade of red; from the wind or otherwise, Gustav didn't know.

They stared at each for long minutes with the sun setting rapidly and the wind picking up, Gustav shivered and cleared his throat.

"We, meaning me, Georg, and Tom, were wondering;" Gustav brought his hands up to his arms and began rubbing to get heat; "we were wondering if you would...like to stay...at our home...without having to go back." He said it so haltingly, it brought forth a tiny smile to Bill's lips.

Bill, now shivering and chattering teeth, looked at Gustav and smiled, leaning forward to press a light kiss to Gustav's lips. "I would love to," he whispered against Gustav's lips.

Gustav grinned and embraced Bill tightly, swinging him around in circles. Bill squealed and wrapped his arms around Gustav's middle to prevent from flying off and getting hurt. Gustav eventually put Bill down, but didn't let go of him. They looked at each other before bringing their lips together lightly, both smiling. The lightest touch of ice on Bill's cheek broke them apart as they both looked up. A light snow had started, falling in large, fluffy clumps of frozen ice. Bill smiled and looked back at Gustav.

"It's like kissing in the rain," he said, "but in the winter."

Gustav chuckled and kissed Bill again. "Lets go back and get inside before we catch cold," he said, taking Bill's hand and leading them back to the house as the snow continued to fall.

~FIN~