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After living as a servant for the Vessalius house for so long, Gil had gotten accustomed to rising at 8:30, just half an hour before the young master, giving himself more than enough time to freshen up and get dressed before waking up Oz himself.
Straightening his outfit absentmindedly with one hand, Gil knocked on Oz's bedroom door with his free one.
“Young master, it’s time to wake up,” he called.
Silence.
Gil’s brows furrowed together. He knocked again.
“Young master? Are you in there?”
Worry knotted in his stomach.
“I’m coming in,” he announced, turning the door handle.
He surveyed Oz’s room, taking in the tidy bed with shock. He walked inside further. Oz’s ensuite and wardrobe were empty too. This isn’t good. Gil’s mind went wild as he imagined terrible scenarios. What if the young master was kidnapped again? What if they hurt him?!
He took off towards the drawing room, running as fast as he could. Anxiety took over, making him fumble with the door handle with sweaty hands for a second before finally tugging it open.
“Master Oscar! Master Oscar! Young master Oz is-!”
“SURPRISE!!”
Gil tumbled back with a yelp, tripping over his own feet in the process, and landed on his butt. He looked up. Oz stood in front of him, hand reaching out, ready to help him up. Ada stood to the left, a plush toy in her arms. Oscar was on the right, giving the boy an amused smile.
“Oz is what?,” Oscar asked with a chuckle.
“He…,” Gil let Oz pull him up, a light blush dusting his cheeks as he looked away from the young master, “He wasn’t in his room… I thought…”
“You worry too much, silly! I’ve been helping with the preparations!,” Oz said.
Gil turned his gaze around the room, noticing the hand-drawn decorations by Ada on the walls, and a small strawberry shortcake on the main table.
“What… What’s all this?”
Gil was shocked as Oz’s cheeks grew slightly rosy. Was he… embarrassed?
“Well… I know you don’t remember your birthday, but it’s been exactly six years since you’ve come here, so you’re basically fifteen, yeah? So I thought I’d… I thought all of us could celebrate together…”
Gil almost couldn’t believe it. Looking at the ground, one hand still holding Gil’s while the other fiddled with the bottom of his shirt, the quiet voice… Oz was so cute like this. He felt heat rise to his own cheeks as he realised what he was thinking. He’d known he liked his master like that for a while, but it still felt so wrong to him. After all, even if Oz said they were best friends, that didn’t diminish their difference in status in Gil’s eyes. And, of course, the fact that they were both boys.
He smiled softly.
“Thank you, young master Oz.”
After a second, Oz regained his regular energy and grinned back.
“Of course, Gil!”
Gil felt an arm land on his right shoulder and a hand dig into his ribcage from below, the latter action making him squeak. He turned to see Oscar’s sly smile and Ada pouting indignantly.
“What about us, Gil! We helped too!,” Oscar teased.
Oz laughed boisterously as Gil apologised and thanked them.
It was hard to rank his favourite memories because to Gil, any moment with the Vessalius family was a good one, even if he was being bullied, but this had to be one of his best ones. He laughed and played without any worry of being scolded, he got teased happily by Oz who was gracious enough to not threaten Gil with a cat, and he even got to have cake!
The strawberry shortcake was small enough that cutting it into quarters gave everyone a reasonable amount of cake. The three kids ate their slices quickly, licking their lips when they were done.
“Here, Gil.”
Gil turned to look at Oscar and his eyes widened when he saw the man offer his own slice of cake.
“M-master Oscar? You should have it!”
“It’s your special day, Gil, you deserve to have an extra treat. Anyways, I'm getting too old to be eating like this!”
"Master Oscar, you're not old!," Gil objected before a small smile formed on his face, "but thank you."
Oscar stifled a laugh when Gil split it with Oz and Ada anyways. The boy's constant attentiveness to the Vessalius children was always endearing. His eyes drifted to the side, catching the time on the clock.
"I should get going now," he announced, "Don't get into too much trouble while I'm gone!"
Oz tugged Gil's sleeve, grabbing his attention and pulling him to the side before he could go to Oscar.
"Hey, Gil, come outside with me?"
“Was there something you wanted, young master?”
Ignoring the berating from Oz to just call him Oz, Gil began to think. What was so private that he couldn’t talk about it in front of Ada? If it was to tease Gil, he would have no qualms about saying it in front of her, so surely it was something more serious, right?
“Gil…,” Oz began quietly, cheeks flushed.
Gil couldn’t help but once again admire the view of his embarrassed master. He quickly sent a thank you to the universe for allowing him to see it twice in one day.
“I want you to be honest. I only want you to reciprocate if you really mean it, okay? And if it turns out you're lying, I’m gonna shove a cat in your face!”
Gil’s appreciation withered away as fear took over.
“O-of course!”
Satisfied, Oz leaned forward and kissed him gently on the lips, pulling away quickly from embarrassment. He watched Gil intently as the boy stood there in silent shock. Finally, the boy reacted, cheeks filling with heat in a way that Oz just had to smirk at.
“Y-young master?!”
“As of now, you are my servant and my best friend,” Oz said, “but now, I want you to be my servant and my… my boyfriend, if you feel the same way.”
“Me? But I’m… I’m just me…”
“Gil, please! Yes or no? Don’t leave me hanging…,” Oz whined, “I don’t care if you feel like- like you’re below me or something! You’re you and I’m me, and that’s what I like about us!”
The words were so simple, yet so ground-breaking for Gil. He smiled and leaned in, revelling in the way his master became slightly flustered again.
“Then… yes. I’d like that, young master.”
He finally closed the small distance between them. The kiss ended quickly when Gil felt a smack to the back of his head. Oz began to scold him as he groaned in pain.
“Then call me Oz!”