After leaving the performance and Sebastian, Ciel walked calmly down the corridors of the Trancy mansion. It was very elegant and seemed to give a dull ache to his head if he looked hard enough— almost as if he had ventured down it long before in some type of déjà vu. None the less, he was highly alert to the person following behind him. Alois Trancy. The Phantomhive Earl wasn't the least bothered that they were now alone; he was instead begrudgingly curious about the other. He could feel the presence radiating from the blonde and giving him an unfamiliar vibe, something he utterly couldn't identify. It was strange. It was this strangeness that reluctantly got him to want to know Alois.
Ciel's sapphire blue eyes narrowed as he turned a corner and continued down another hallway, the brilliant chandeliers and maroon surroundings pulsing a little around the edges. He didn't have time to wonder why, he felt as if whatever he did would provoke the other to say something. It was the first time he had trouble figuring out a person— Alois was certainly spontaneous to him. What would he say if Ciel paused even for a second, if he stared at a certain space too long?
"I want you, Ciel Phantomhive. That is all."
That phrase always made him grit his teeth. Why? Why him?
The younger boy glanced back at the Count, preparing to ask if he was heading in the right direction, but instead he was once again stunned by the outrageous way Alois dressed. He knew that people wearing anything that revealed their thighs were inappropriate, and yet Alois Trancy flamboyantly wore this—this—
Ciel blinked twice before he shifted back to his placid expression, except he was coyly smiling in a gracious way, playing his role as his butler Sebastian – dancing with Claude – was. "This way, Alois?" He asked. His voice was icy and his smile deepened as he surveyed the blonde, stopping and turning completely around, waiting for a reply. The smile was teetering on the edge of a smirk now.
He would play this game. It was just like chess, only Alois was a very formidable opponent.
The Count's face beamed and he cocked his head to the side like he was an innocent child, something Ciel knew he was far from. "Yes, Ciel! Would you like me to lead the way?" Alois asked, voice inkling with false curiosity. Even without a response, the older boy walked forward to stand at Ciel's side, the height difference faintly irritating. Ciel curtly nodded.
Alois swept ahead with a short glance back, a dark glint in those cerulean eyes despite the happy appearance the blonde had.
It was a brief walk before they arrived to glossy wooden doors with silver handles. The Count gracefully turned around and waved at the doors with flourish, "Walk straight through those doors, Ciel," He instructed, flashing a bright smile when he finished. Ciel was again dubious of this blithe tone.
Ciel stared hard at the blonde's face before reaching for the handle, almost as if daring Alois to follow him inside. "I'll be just a moment," Ciel said, brushing against the other's arm as he entered the restroom, cringing at the touch. He didn't like being polite to such a person as Alois, but Sebastian was playing his role so flawlessly that if Ciel decided to walk down a different path, this apocryphal pleasantness would die along with any clues to finding the history behind Alois Trancy.
When he finished, the Earl walked to the large glorious sinks and turned the handle to allow cool water to rush over his fingers. It was oddly relaxing and he felt his tense shoulders drop just slightly. Ciel paused and looked up from the sink to see the mirror; immediately his eye widened and he froze. Alois was behind him in the reflection. The golden-haired boy was smirking and leaning against the wall on the far side of the restroom, his arms crossed and all sense of the fake child innocence gone.
"Nee, Ciel?" The older asked, voice like velvet, "You're different calm." He blinked slowly, those aqua orbs shadowed over, "Unexpected."
Ciel kept in place as he watched through the mirror as Alois came closer, the clicking of his heeled-boots getting louder with each step until—! His teeth clenched shut and the muscle of his jaw jumped as Alois nearly draped himself over him with a look as sly as a cat.
"Why is that?" Alois breathed into his ear before he tilted his head to look up into the mirror.
The reflection shown back in the dim light of the restroom, and it was as if both boys were posing for a rather bizarre portrait. A peculiar feeling clutched at Ciel's insides as he gazed on. However, he couldn't quite reply yet—nor was he really planning to. He cautiously waited for Alois so say something more. Nothing came.
After a moment Alois curled himself closer and Ciel opened his mouth to demand he be released, but all words seemed to be pulled from his throat with the next statement. "We are the same, Ciel." Alois slipped his hand around and cupped Ciel's right eye, his fingers and palm hovering just above the infamous black eye-patch. Ciel glared heatedly at the mirror and Alois' reflected face but didn't say a word. Very, very slowly the Count bit onto the string that tied around Ciel's head and pulled back until it came undone. The hand that rested on the eye-patch gently pulled it away to reveal the glowing purple pentagram hidden beneath. "Don't you see?" Alois asked softly after letting go of the string in his mouth.
Ciel didn't respond.
"Your soul's color is strange, Ciel," Alois continued to murmur into his ear, "What would it be like with mine? Would that be the same color too?"
The Phantomhive Earl now had the feeling of being suffocated, of being engulfed by the boy that had wrapped around him. He didn't understand what the Count was neither saying nor what he was thinking, even after hearing something similar at the Trancy Mansion's ball days before. Alois simpered behind him before easing around to stand in front. "Say, Ciel," Alois whispered breathily, leaning close to the younger boy's face, "I wonder if the color is the same inside too."
"Wha—!" Ciel exclaimed. His voice faltered and cut off as the blonde ran his tongue greedily over his cheek until it reached the bottom lashes of his purple eye. On instinct Ciel took an uneven step backward to escape only to have a boot hook around his own and twirl him until he was leaning against the marble sink instead. "Basta…" The curse trailed off and Ciel jerked, body tensing as he was pushed further into the counter's edge, his spine giving a few unforgiving aches in reply. There was a half-hazardous possessive glitter in Alois' eyes before he pressed closer and buried his face in the gap between Ciel's neck and right shoulder, again tasting the pale skin of the younger boy.
The Earl reached a hand up to grab a tussle of Alois' hair to yank him back, hissing under his breath, but the Count merely grabbed a hold of both of his wrists and pinned them to his sides. Alois' warm lips traveled upward into the curve of Ciel's jaw until he lifted back and looked directly into those mismatched eyes. "Do you see my color now, Ciel?" The Count purred. His cool breath ghosted over the other's face.
"Release me," Ciel snarled, "Or I'll order Sebastian to come."
"And I'll order Claude," Alois replied. "Although… I didn't know the Phantomhive Earl was so incapable of taking care of himself; calling on his butler for this and that. How," the blonde grinned wickedly, "disappointing." Ciel growled, infuriated but now unwilling to call for his servant.
The older boy seemed to analyze the Earl's expression before he closed the distance between their lips with a sound similar to a dark giggle. The action took Ciel by surprise and his body locked in place, any sense of trying to wiggle free as before disintegrating with each second that fluttered by. It wasn't merely a caress that he received, it was harder, more persistent. When thought returned, the boy's back bowed further over the counter – mustn't touch! - and he gasped into the Count's mouth from pain. Alois snickered and drew back just slightly, allowing Ciel to gulp for breath.
"What the hell?" Ciel cried breathlessly, chest heaving despite being tightly held against Alois.
Again the blonde tittered to himself, smirking crookedly as he ignored the outburst. "Ciel tastes of sweets," He commented, licking his lips thoughtfully, "It must be true, then, that you love them."
Ciel shook his head wordlessly while he puffed for oxygen. Alois must have caught the slight flush of heat that lit the younger's cheeks, however, for he purred smugly with satisfaction. Ciel was beginning to feel demoralized, and that alone was urging him to want to get away. That previous taunt though, to call for Sebastian, it still prickled inside and he didn't want to give in. He would never give in.
It was just as he caught his breath that Alois dipped down again to capture his mouth, draining him of the energy to resist with each centimeter gained of violating him.
Alois… Alois was better at this game than he originally thought, and it was alarming the way he could feel himself loosing, truly being immersed in the insanity of Alois Trancy. Alois played in a completely different way… was this why he was winning? Ciel Phantomhive never lost—and he wouldn't this time either. The revelation brought a wave of ferocity to rage in Ciel's soul.
The Earl released a noise in the back of his throat and, with new fortified strength, pressed his lips insistently back. There was a small satisfying pinch in his chest from hearing Alois stutter on his own breath out of pure shock, and just like that Ciel tipped the scale. The boy was soon brutally reminded of the Count's taller body as Alois slipped his emphatic tongue into Ciel's mouth yet still managed to hold him down. The younger boy's hands twitched, as if he was going to use them, but their captivity reminded him otherwise.
Alois seemed to notice the other's inexperience and for a reason Ciel couldn't identify, he became indignant at this. Wanting to show he was able to compete and be good at it, Ciel swallowed up any bit of hesitance he still had and let his knee move just slightly, just enough to brush against Alois a couple of exaggerated times. The blonde released an unexpected quiet half-whine and Ciel took this chance to invade Alois' mouth, shifting so that his tongue curled around the other's imprinted one. The Count trembled at the touches and his cheeks flushed pink, those teal blue eyes half-lidded.
The older pulled back. "So Ciel…" Alois panted, "is capable to care for himself, it seems…?"
Ciel angrily curled his body closer to Alois and felt the dull ache of thankfulness his back gave now that it wasn't constrained to rest against the edge of the marble counter. He didn't reply but instead crashed their mouths together once more to prove his capability, and with each minute he felt the hands wrapped around his wrists loosen until…
It took longer than it should have to realize that his arms were free and that Alois was panting harder than he was. The younger boy smirked darkly to himself as they stumbled blindly across the restroom floor before slumping against the wall that Alois had been leaning against long before.
"Are you willing to give up?" Ciel asked.
Alois laughed between his harsh pants. "But the game has just begun, Ciel!" His sentence was punctuated with a loud crash from outside the mansion. The chandelier on the ceiling shook dangerously and the bottles of lotion on the sink counter rattled. "… As the dancing has for our butlers, too," He added as an afterthought.
"Despicable."
"So is Ciel unable to go onto the next level then?" Alois asked, his tone poisoned and malicious. Despite the current position with Ciel now pinning Alois in front of him, the Count still had the nerve to smirk in arrogance.
"I never lose."
"As you claim."
"I claim what is true and nothing more," Ciel spat as he took a step back. "Is the Trancy Count backing out instead?" The Earl let out one cold laugh. "Shall I call checkmate?" He sneered.
Alois looked annoyed for a moment and his brows furrowed, but then his expression melted into that deceiving childlike cheerfulness and he walked toward the restroom door. "Let's play, Ciel!" The blonde turned his head back just enough to catch the younger's eye, "After all, children do love games."