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A small, grey-black cat sat atop the stone wall and gazed at the vast lawns of the estate before it with disdain. And then, just as the cat looked about to turn back and slink away once more, it was joined on its perch by a pitch-black raven.
The raven looked at the cat, and the cat scowled at the raven.
And then, slowly, the raven leaned in and rubbed its cheek against the kitten’s downy-soft fur, its eyes shut in what almost looked like a blissful smile.
The cat’s tail flicked in startled irritation, and it attempted to inch away, but the raven took a hop closer and cuddled affectionately against the cat’s cheek.
At which, the cat – of course – turned abruptly and caught the raven’s head in its mouth with a vicious snap of tiny, perfect teeth.
The raven fluttered helplessly in the cat’s mouth for a few moments before finally conceding defeat and falling limp.
The cat, satisfied that it had made its point, spat the raven’s head back out and promptly began vigorously licking its fur to try to settle it back into place.
The raven, for its part, hopped on one clawed foot while the other groomed the feathers on its head back into place after their recent ordeal.
After a minute of so of concerted grooming on both their parts, the cat and raven exchanged a look, and then the cat leapt back down off the wall, and the raven flew off.
Finnie frowned at the very odd scene he’d just witnessed and dropped the rake he’d been using to clean the grounds of the Phantomhive Estate. He all but raced back to the manor house, a whirlwind following in his wake, and came to a screeching halt (with only minimal destruction of crockery) in the kitchen, where Bard, Maylene, and Tanaka all looked up at him in surprise.
“You won’t believe what I’ve just seen!” he gushed.
Three heads shook in his direction.
“The master and Mister Sebastian! They’re coming back!”
Exclamations of excitement and disbelief followed, and everyone demanded details, and when Finnie finally got around to explaining about the cat and the raven, he was getting dirty looks instead.
“But I swear!” Finnie insisted. “It was just like them!”
But they all just shook their heads and returned to work.
Safely outside the manor grounds, the cat once more settled itself onto a wall. It waited for only a moment before the raven alighted beside it once more.
“Someone suspicious,” the raven said, “might think that you wanted to be caught.”
The cat gave the raven a dirty look. “Meh, if you hadn’t butted in, he never would have noticed me.”
The raven chuckled and nuzzled the cat again. “I can’t help it when you’re in this form with your delicate paws and perfect, little ears and—”
The cat snapped at the raven’s head again, but this time the raven hopped out of the way in time. “Tch, I will eat you, you know, if you don’t remember your place.”
“Such a perfect, tiny killing machine!” the raven enthused longingly.
“Sebastian!” the cat scolded sourly.
“Right. Of course, my lord,” the raven shook its head. “My apologies. So, shall I prepare human identities once more for us to return home?”
The cat snorted, “Don’t be stupid,” and stalked off with its tail in the air.
If ravens could’ve smirked, this one would’ve. “Whatever you say, young master,” it said in a way that was all too knowing.
The cat barely resisted the urge to eat the raven’s head again. Because, of course, the raven was right.