Disclaimer: I don't own Kuroshitsuji~
A/N: I've been feeling down all week and needed to write something that doesn't involve angst and violence, which is why I haven't updated Ashes to Ashes for a while, therefore I wrote a cute little oneshot. Ashes to Ashes will most likely be updated this weekend, till then, enjoy this fic~
Ciel impatiently tapped his fingers across the hardwood of his desk. His hand was cradled upon his palm with his elbow supporting the armrest. His azure eye had been glaring at the door for quite some time. Sebastian was supposed to serve his afternoon tea twenty minutes ago and the young earl was wondering what the hold up was. Before Ciel could get up and find out, there was a knock at the door.
"Young Master?"
"Come in." Ciel muttered, leaning himself back upon the chair.
Sebastian opened the door and rolled in the cart that carried the earl's tea and cake. "Pardon me for my tardiness; the servants were being a hassle."
"Humph." Ciel frowned disapprovingly. "Being late isn't like you, Sebastian."
"I'll make sure it doesn't happen again, Master." Sebastian assured as he handed Ciel his cup of tea. "Also, I have to go run a few errands."
"What errands?" Ciel asked, sniffing the aroma of the tea before taking delicate sips.
"I have to buy new utensils; we seem to be running out of them."
"And whose fault is that?"
"My apologizes."
"If you keep on killing people by stabbing them with forks and knives, I'll end up eating with just a spoon."
"Well sometimes I do use spoons. . ."
"How exactly—never mind, just go and hurry back so you can prepare dinner." Ciel instructed, taking another sip of the tea.
"Yes, My Lord."
x~x~x~x~x
Later that evening when Ciel was eating dinner with the new utensils, he noticed something even more odd. Sebastian-who was always by his side in case he needed something-was gone. Ciel presumed he forgot something in the kitchen, but his faithful butler has been gone for quite some time now, again. Ciel tried not to let that bug him as he resumed dinner, but then Meyrin stumbled into the dining room with a vase adorned with roses. She broke the other vase a while ago and had to replace it with fresh flowers.
"Meyrin."
"Y—yes!" Mey-rin squeaked as she lost grip of the vase. She gasped and quickly caught it before it could shatter.
"Have you seen Sebastian?"
"Y—yes! I just saw him running up the stairs in the foyer, he seemed to be in a hurry." Mey-rin exclaimed.
"In a hurry?" Ciel echoed with a slight frown. He pushed his chair back and was about to check what was up. But then, Sebastian suddenly appeared at the door with a freshly baked pie in his hands.
"Here's your desert, Master." Sebastian smiled humbly as he set the pie down on the table. "A lemon meringue pie smothered in rich whip cream and topped off with freshly picked strawberries."
Ciel sat back down and glared at his butler, who kept hold of a smile as he cut the pie into even slices.
"Mey-rin said you were in a rush for something . . . you recently went upstairs?"
"Yes, you forgot to close the window in your study so I closed it for you. Never know if some creep could come in to snatch you away."
"Really?" Ciel raised in eyebrow in suspicion. "You hurried off from my side for several minutes in order to do that?"
"Yes, after all I have to protect my master." Sebastian exclaimed, placing a slice of the pie on another plate and scooting it towards Ciel.
"Humph." Ciel struck his fork into the pie and kept his glare on the smiling demon as he ate the dessert.
x~x~x~x~x
Ciel woke up in the middle of the night feeling relatively thirsty. He went down to the kitchen to see what drinks were available in the fridge. He was in the mood for some milk, but when he rummaged through the fridge, he couldn't find the milk. That was strange because he swore he saw Sebastian coming back with two large cartons of milk earlier, but they were all gone. Perhaps the other servants had finished them all, or maybe. . .
Ciel slammed the fridge door shut and raced back upstairs. He rushed down the hallways before coming upon the closed door to Sebastian's room. He reached for the doorknob and found that the door was locked. Ciel frowned and knocked on the door, but there was no answer.
"Sebastian? Sebastian, open up!" Ciel yelled, banging his fists once more on the door.
"Shouldn't you be asleep, Young Master? It's way past your bedtime." Sebastian's voice was calm on the other side of the door.
"Why is the door locked?" Ciel yelled back in a harsher tone.
"I like privacy, Master." Sebastian exclaimed, keeping his calm. "Now please, go back to bed. Unless you're having trouble and need my assistance to read you a bedtime story to help you sleep."
"What am I? Five? You better let me in, Sebastian, it's an order!"
"Alright, give me a moment."
There was a subtle shuffling sound behind the door. Ciel pressed his ear against the wood to figure our what the sound was but it was too quiet. Sebastian opened the door and Ciel almost toppled in. The earl composed himself and stepped inside the room. Ciel glanced around the room suspiciously but didn't find anything peculiar that was worth questioning. Sebastian smiled humbly to his master but the earl frowned at him.
"So why are you up, Master?" Sebastian asked curiously.
"I was thirsty so I went downstairs to get some milk but I didn't find any." Ciel muttered.
"Ah, so you finally want to grow bones so you can become taller." Sebastian chuckled as he patted Ciel's head.
"That's not it!" Ciel slapped Sebastian's hand away. "What happened to the—"
Meow!
The two instantly came to a sudden halt. Sebastian broke Ciel's gaze as Ciel's eye trailed down to the floor. A little tabby kitten came crawling out from under Sebastian's bed, followed by five more kittens. The kittens all had large, glassy eyes that could easily pierce through someone's soul and make their heart melt, but Ciel was outraged.
"You brought kittens into the mansion!" Ciel shrieked, followed by a loud sneeze. "I told you a million times that I'm a—a—achoo!"
"Let me explain, Master." Sebastian announced as he collected all six kittens in his arms and set them on top of the bed. "This morning I found these kittens huddled together near the front of the mansion. It was really depressing, they looked so helpless and scared, and their mother wasn't around so I presumed they were orphans. They looked to be around three weeks old and so they wouldn't be able to survive without a mother. Therefore I took care of them and been nourishing them all day."
Ciel pinched his nose hard and groaned. "Really, Sebastian? Really?"
"Yes, Master, you see I couldn't just leave them to die on the streets, it's inhumane." Sebastian remarked as he cradled one of the kittens in his arms.
"You're a demon, Sebastian." Ciel muttered.
"Yes, but you have told me to act more like a butler so there wouldn't be any suspicion."
"But butlers don't bring in dirty cats and disobey orders." Ciel countered back, trying to hold in another sneeze.
"Master. . ." Sebastian held up the kitty so close to Ciel's face that the earl could only see the kitty's melancholy blue eyes. "These kittens have lost their parents and would've been left to die of starvation without any support at all. Would you really want that to happen to these poor, fragile kittens?" Sebastian asked.
Ciel's eye twitched uncomfortably and cringed when the kitten licked his nose. The kitten sounded out the cutest purr and tilted its head to the side adorably.
Ciel gritted his teeth while Sebastian was smiling rather proudly to himself. Ciel sighed, annoyed, and slapped his forehead.
"Fine, the cats may stay here . . . but only for a couple of weeks and then they're out of here, understand?" Ciel confirmed.
"Of course, Master." Sebastian nodded, cuddling with the kitten.
"Alright, I'm heading to—achoo!" Ciel's sneeze grew more loudly and so he stomped towards the hallway. "I'm heading to bed!" And he slammed the door shut.
x~x~x~x~x
Much later that night when Ciel was deep in slumber, the earl's bedroom door opened gingerly and Sebastian sneaked in. Sebastian crept up to Ciel's bed and gently lifted up the earl's arm as he held a kitten in the other. Cautiously the butler slipped the kitten in between Ciel's arms and watched as the kitten snuggled itself comfortably beside Ciel.
The kitten purred quietly as it curled it's body in a ball and nestled its head underneath Ciel's chin. Ciel subconsciously wrapped an arm around the kitten but he let out a small sneeze. It didn't startle the kitten since it was so subtle, but Sebastian just had to let out a chuckle. He considered bringing in more of the kittens, but he didn't want his master's allergies to act up too much.
Sebastian amusingly watched his master sleeping peacefully while mindlessly holding the cat. Ciel sneezed every once in a while, but he didn't wake up and neither did the kitten. It was quite an adorable scene that Sebastian couldn't stop smiling about. Ciel would be in a rage if he woke up to find a kitten sleeping next to him, but right now Ciel was sound asleep and it was going to be a few more hours till he wakes up. Sebastian patted Ciel on the head before walking away.
x~x~x~x~x
The next morning, Ciel woke up and found a kitten sleeping in his arms. He groaned and knew that this was Sebastian's doing. He was about to get up but found more kittens surrounding him. One had it's head nestled within Ciel's hair while the others were situated on top of Ciel in one fluffy pile. Ciel heaved out a heavy sigh and held in his sneeze as he ordered Sebastian to "Get in here".
On cue, the butler entered the room with the earl's morning tea. Sebastian inwardly chuckled to himself as he witnessed Ciel being surrounded by the kittens; this was another amusing sight for him that he would always cherish. The kittens started to stir and the one in Ciel's arms let out a squeaky yawn and stretched. Ciel glared at Sebastian as poured in the steamy hot liquid in a cup.
"Sebastian. . ."
"Yes, My Lord?"
"What have I told you about the cats?"
"You told me that the cats are allowed to stay here in the manor for the next couple of weeks."
"Why are they in here?"
"This is part of the manor, My Lord; you didn't say that they couldn't be in your room."
"Do you think that I would want them in here?"
"No, but they have taken a certain fondness of your room. They were in my room last night but it seems they made their way here this morning, they seem to have grown a custom to the comfort of your bed, or perhaps they just like your smell."
"Do I have to remind you that I'm allergic?" Ciel inquired, as proof with his watery eyes and nasal voice as he struggled to hold in his sneeze.
"Yes, which is why I need to go get you some allergy medicine. Oh and also more toys for the kittens. . .and perhaps a litter box. . ." Sebastian noticed a little accident that one of the kittens made on the blanket, but the butler refused to mention it. He just held a smile and handed Ciel his cup as he sat up. The kittens finally woke up from Ciel's movement and were rolled across the bed. The kitten that was in Ciel's arms climbed on top of the earl's lap and didn't want to move anymore.
Ciel grumbled something incoherently as he sipped his tea, but then finally he let out a huge sneeze that startled all of the cats and made him spit out his tea.
"Get these cats out!" Ciel yelled, causing the cats to jump off of the bed and rush to Sebastian's side. Sebastian first cleaned up the mess before taking the kittens out of the room. When all the kittens were out, Sebastian closed the door shut to make sure the kittens tried not to get inside.
"I'm sorry about that, Master."
"You were having way too much fun with those kittens." Ciel muttered.
"My apologizes, I'll make sure they don't go in your room again."
x~x~x~x~x
When Ciel came down to the dining room, he froze in place to see Meyrin, Finny, Bard and even Tanaka feeding the kittens with bottles of milk. Ciel tried to ignore them as he sat down at the table and waited for his meal. But then, one kitten got on top of the table and tried to crawl into one of the glasses to see if it could fit.
Sebastian came into the room and settled down the plates of food for his master. But before Ciel could get his fork, the curious kitten that wanted to get into the cup raced to the food and nibbled on some eggs. Finny swiftly got the kitten off the table and gave it a bottle of milk to feed it. Ciel pushed the plate with the scrambled eggs away and glared at his butler.
Sebastian shrugged. "You didn't say that the kittens couldn't be in the dining hall either, Young Master."
Ciel slapped his forehead. This was going to be a long few weeks.