This archive is still so tiny, so I thought I'd do my part to expand it. This is going to be a thirty kisses fic to begin with, but when I hit thirty, if I still have more ideas or just want to continue on, who knows, it could be forty kisses, or even fifty! ;)

The kisses are drabblish, so they'll be pretty durn short. I don't intend to go over 1000 and at all.

Owah for OOC Ciel, OOC Sebastian all that rot~ plus I wrote this entire thing in two hours flat, so it's really bad. :S I intend on spending more time on the upcoming chapters, though. ^^;

Disclaimer: I do not own Kuro Shitsuji.


Title: Red
Fiction Rating: K
Genre: Angst/Romance (obviously)
Word Count: 891


Red


"Leave it on the desk."

Sebastian flinched at the unexpected sound of Ciel's voice, coming from behind his desk in his large, cluttered study. He sat quietly in his oversized rotating chair, facing the window in front of him that let him view his vast front yard. Recovering from the slight shock of the Ciel's voice which he hadn't expected, the butler realigned his smile on his face and continued his trek of pushing the stainless silver cart towards his young master.

He'd been sitting there all day, staring outside at absolutely nothing. Earlier in the morning, it had been pouring rain outside, setting everyone on the edge, but the storms had subsided, the sun had shown it's face, and now it was just a warm, dry, nice day outside. Meirin and Finny jumped around excitedly outside on the grounds, their work until dinner time finished for the day, playing around with a childlike jubilance.

Sebastian had stopped trying to understand Ciel ages ago. After a few weeks of his employment, he had come to accept that the young estate owner's mind was on so much of a different level that trying to comprehend it would only give him a lot of work that he didn't need to do. As if he needed any more work around the mansion.

Like a good butler, Sebastian obliged his master by putting the tray of steaming hot tea on the desk, not oblivious to the fact that his presence was not needed or wanted.

It was not his place, and yet…

"Penny for your thoughts?"

"Nickel for your sins?"

Sebastian chuckled, striding to the other side of the desk, where he stood beside Ciel's large chair. He wasn't surprised with Ciel's retaliation. It was something Ciel would say.

"What's on your mind, Young Master?"

"A troublesome butler, speaking out of turn." Ciel propped his head up on his hand, pointedly looking away from Sebastian.

Sebastian chuckled again. "We both know that that sort of bluntness won't get you anywhere with me."

Ciel sighed, and blinked at the window.

"The red… is disappearing."

Sebastian blinked confusedly until his eyes followed where Ciel's small hand was gesturing, out the window. Surely enough, one of the large tree's feeble red leaves were getting carried away by the wind, floating through the air lazily, and out of sight. Truly, the red was disappearing, and yet Sebastian knew that the leaves literally fluttering out of sight was not the real meaning of "The red is disappearing." The truth was, "the red" in the form of Madame Red was long since gone.

"Young Master, if I may… it's been weeks; isn't it time you've turned your attention to something else?"

Sebastian took a step back as he watched Ciel's hand grip angrily around the arm rest of his chair. What he mumbled sounded something like, "This is why I don't speak to you…"

The servant sighed; apparently he was going to have to break this into human terms.

"Master," he repeated quietly, taking another step towards Ciel, "If I may…" Gently he took Ciel's hand in his own, lifting it up to where they could both see.

"The red, you see," he said slowly, "May appear, on the surface, to have vanished. But it's always just below, in the inner core of each of your bodies. The warmth and purpose that pump through your very veins; the persistant life that keeps you living on day to day." He turned Ciel's hand palm-up and traced the intricate lines with his index finger.

"Sebastian," Ciel snapped. "That's the worst analogy I've heard in my life."

"Hm?" Sebastian dropped his hand.

"If the red is right below the surface, butler, then tell me where it is."

Sebastian fixed him with one of his signature smirks… the ones he tended to give out right before closing in on a victim, which he promptly did, leaning closer and closer to Ciel until their faces were inches apart. "The red?" he repeated. "In humans? Oh, it's very easy to find."

And with that, the demon pressed his lips against the young boy's, causing the Phantomhive to flinch and almost pull away, but only almost. Instead, he reacted as though his lips were glued to the butler's, not moving them, but not pulling away, either.

Sebastian did that himself after a few seconds.

"Wh-What was that for?" Ciel spluttered, and Sebastian could tell his systems were struggling to get his heart back to a normal pace.

"That?" Sebastian repeated, spinning Ciel back to face the window where his reflection dimly stared back at him. "I was merely helping you to find the red."

In his reflection, Ciel could see that his cheeks were stained as red as blood with a heated blush, a reminder of the nerve-wracking kiss.

As any good butler pleased with his work would do, Sebastian walked over and began wheeling the cart back out the door. His work was done for the day. Ciel spun in his chair to watch him gather his things and leave, the ruby-red blush still in play on his cheeks.

"Any time you need me to help you find the red again," Sebastian wheeled the cart out of the room, "Let me know."

And with that, he closed the door behind him, leaving Ciel stuttering in the dark.



So, how'd I do? I always update faster when I get more reviews!
Hope you enjoyed.

~Moony