Ciel understood that he needed to be more careful. Really. He did.
With Mey Rin accidentally letting his mother know that he hadn't "outgrown" Sebastian, the pair needed to lay low. Although he was concerned, he knew his mother wouldn't actually do anything about this "problem". She had the tendency of pretending that everything was ok and of drowning any concerns in alcohol. Still, they didn't want to end up breaking the almost nonexistence barrier keeping her at bay…
Yes… Ciel understood this… and yet…
"Sebastian. Turn like this." The boy spoke suddenly in the middle of a movie, a spark lighting in his eyes. He demonstrated by changing his position on the couch. He lifted his legs onto the couch and leaned his back against the armrest. "Facing me." He spoke now looking directly at the demon.
Sebastian did as he was told, also bringing up his legs so as to move his torso to face Ciel. Their legs tangled easily on the couch.
"Now." Ciel spoke with a serious tone. He took a single popcorn kernel out of his bowl. "Open your mouth."
"We both know you'll fail at this." Sebastian said with ease, immediately understanding Ciel's intentions. He leaned forward and tried to take the bowl from the boy, who scowled.
"Go back to your post!" He said as he lifted the bowl out of reach.
"I'll just have to make some popcorn for myself then." The demon said with a shrug.
"Don't you da-" But in Ciel's next blink, he was gone. The boy rolled his eyes. "Stupid demon." He threw a popcorn kernel into the air and opened his mouth to catch it. It never reached its destination, though, because Sebastian caught it in his hand. "Hey!" Ciel said with annoyance.
"You will only eat the ones coming from my hand." Sebastian stated with a sly grin.
"Careful, or I'll think you're all talk." Ciel gave a challenging grin of his own. The demon left once more, but promptly returned with freshly popped corn. "Now sit. You've delayed the game long enough." Ciel said with fake disapproval.
"My apologies." Sebastian said with just as fake remorse. They each took their positions and plucked a kernel from their bowls.
"Ready?" Red eyes flashed with determination.
"Damn right. Remember: you can't move to catch. It's all about aim."
Sebastian was the first to shoot. It twirled gracefully through the air, right into Ciel's waiting mouth.
"Not bad." The boy said as he munched on the corn. Ciel lifted his own hand and aimed at Sebastian's mouth. The kernel reached its target perfectly, surprising Ciel himself.
"Not bad yourself." Sebastian teased. "A lucky shot, perhaps?"
"Oh shut up." He threw one again, Sebastian opening his mouth right on time. Ciel realized something. "Can you even eat human food?"
"It disintegrates the moment it enters my mouth." He threw a kernel at Ciel, who munched thoughtfully after the catch.
"Huh…" Then his eyes widened. "That could've happened to my finger?!" He threw a kernel harder than before, hitting the corner of the demon's mouth. He smirked before throwing one back.
"Of course not. It's a conscious decision." Sebastian opened his mouth as he received the next kernel.
"What would happen if you didn't disintegrate it?" Sebastian threw him a kernel.
"Well, I said conscious but it's not exactly that." His nose wrinkled as Ciel's kernel hit his face.
"Sorry." Ciel saw in the demon's eyes the intention of throwing a kernel at his forehead. Ciel lifted the palm of his hand. "Don't start a war!"
Sebastian's eyes narrowed before he relaxed his arm and instead threw the kernel perfectly into Ciel's mouth.
"As I was saying, it's more like an automatic function. Like breathing. You can control your breathing if you become conscious of it, but it is natural for it to work on its own." He threw another kernel at Ciel.
"So you shouldn't eat human food?" Ciel threw more popcorn.
"It is not in my nature, no." Throw.
"But do you know what would happen if you did?" Catch.
"Would you like me to try?" Sebastian asked with a humored look. Ciel frowned.
"Um…"
"Here." Sebastian picked a single kernel from his bowl. He held it tentatively between his fingers before slowly nearing it to his mouth.
Ciel felt like the whole thing was overly dramatic, and yet his own heart seemed to beat faster at the suspense. Suddenly, he panicked.
"No!" He threw a kernel right at the one between Sebastian's fingers, efficiently hitting it out of the demon's hand.
There was silence as Sebastian stared at his empty hand. Ciel could practically feel the figurative storm forming.
Finally, the demon looked up at him with a challenge in his eyes.
"You've asked for it this time." He said, narrowing his eyes yet smirking.
Ciel gulped as he quickly got on his knees and took a better hold of his popcorn bowl. He took a handful of kernels and prepared himself.
Then the battle began, and for a moment Ciel forgot about everything else. Popcorn flew both past him and at him. The boy laughed as he shielded his face and continued to throw kernels mercilessly at the demon, who was showing no mercy himself. As Ciel moved to avoid popcorn, he crushed some that were littering the couch, but he didn't even care. He was laughing so hard he almost felt like nothing could ever matter again.
He should have realized the noise would have started Mey Rin.
"Young Master! Is everything all ri- AAAH!" The poor woman was a victim of stray bullets… which had been evidently thrown in the direction opposite to where Ciel was throwing.
The battle stopped. Ciel stared at Mey Rin in horror, cheeks burning up. Sebastian carefully placed the bowl on the sofa.
"M-M- wwh-what's going on here!" The maid shook kernels off her hair. She stared nervously at Ciel, who was also quite covered in corn himself. Not just him… but the entire living room! It was a strange position to find him in…
He was holding a popcorn bowl, but she noticed a second one lying on the couch. Ciel cursed inwardly.
"O-oh! Is someone here with you?" Mey Rin asked with a smile, glad to make sense of it. She was, after all, sure that the popcorn she had been hit with had not been thrown by her young master but actually at him.
Ciel sighed, knowing it would do him no good to try and make up a person.
"No… it's… just me…." His cheeks darkened terribly, and he heard Sebastian snicker. The boy was too mortified to be angry.
Mey Rin stared at him blankly before falling into light panic.
"W-what! B-but then… h-how…!?" She stared at Ciel, who looked away. Sebastian was seriously having to fight laughter now.
Shaking a bit, Mey Rin forced an unconcerned laugh.
"O-ok young master! J-just let me know when you're d-done… so I can… clean up…" Then Sebastian actually started to laugh. As in, out loud. Ciel wanted to be swallowed whole by the ground.
Once Mey Rin left the room, Ciel waited for a few seconds before tackling the demon off the couch as violently as possible.
"STOP LAUGHING YOU IDIOT!" Sebastian in turn just put his arms around Ciel's waist and held him close. "LET ME GO! AND SHUT UP!"
And to think that was the least worst moment. Ciel was cornered into worse situations… which actually means Mey Rin was cornered into worse situations….
Ciel sat on the kitchen table, calmly reading a book and sipping his tea as Sebastian prepared dinner.
The atmosphere was peaceful and homey… and that was when Mey Rin ran into the house.
"I FORGOT TO TURN ON THE WASHING MA-" She froze as she saw pans on the stove, in the midst of cooking a meal, with Ciel sitting down and paying them no heed. She blinked in confusion, knowing that the boy was alone… or at least…
Ciel froze as well, before snapping out of it and standing up with a forced smile.
"O-oh Mey Rin! I-I was just-" He turned to look at Sebastian, who pointed at the food. Ciel's fake grin grew. "-In the middle of dinner!" He quickly moved to the stove, reaching for the nearest pan, which he almost burned himself with before finding the handle. Taking the spoon Sebastian had been using, he mindlessly began to move the food around. "T-the washing machine huh?" Ciel said, trying to distract Mey Rin from how obviously clueless he was about what he was doing. "You should be more careful!"
Yet Mey Rin seemed to disturbed by the sight to move along.
"Um… I-I think those onions are ready…"
Ciel looked at the food, and in fact they were onions already crispy and about to burn.
"A-a you're right! I-I'm just going to…"
"Add those other vegetables I cut up." Sebastian said, pointing at them.
"… add those o-other vegetables I cut up!" Ciel reached for them and was about to dump all of them into the pan when Sebastian suddenly took a hold of his wrist. "H-hey!"
Mey Rin gave a jump. Ciel cursed inwardly before glaring at Sebastian.
"There's a process for these sorts of things." The demon said seriously but Ciel could clearly hear his amusement.
"Y-young master?" Mey Rin said quietly. That was when Ciel realized that his hand was just lifted up, holding the vegetable bowl. He panicked slightly.
"R-right! I'm going to…" He tried moving his hand, but Sebastian wouldn't move. "T-to…!"
That was when a diabolic glint shown in Sebastian's eyes, and Ciel knew he was up to no good. Suddenly Sebastian was behind him, Position his legs before Ciel's own, taking control of each small hand with his own, and playfully setting his chin on the boy's shoulder.
Ciel yelped (making Mey Rin yelp as well) as his body began to move against his will along with Sebastian. There must have been something obviously unnatural in his puppet-like movements, or maybe Ciel just had a greatly panicked look, but Mey Rin looked horrified as Ciel "cooked".
Sebastian moved him from one side of the kitchen to the other, getting ingredients and giving fancy twirls before splashing olive oil onto meats and flawlessly cutting up even more vegetables. Sebastian's fingers, legs, and arms moving Ciel's own.
He noticed Mey Rin's expression, and tried to show some normality.
"Y-yeah so now I'm going to… move this around!" He narrated as Sebastian moved his hand up and down, making the ingredients on the pan fly into the air before being caught perfectly. The demon began to move him away.
"A-and now… now…" Ciel reached for a wine bottle. "S-some of this…" Sebastian chuckled against the boy's ear as he brought him back to the stove. "So I'm going to put this d-" Ciel expected Sebastian to set the bottle on the counter, but instead he opened it. "…or not." Ciel tried to make up for that. "So…. So im going to lightly pour it over the-" Sebastian happily splashed the pan with the alchohol, making a colum of fire rise.
"GAH!" Mey Rin yelled, Ciel opening his own mouth in shock.
This went on for some time. Mey Rin was simply unable to look away from the spectacle of Ciel's body moving limply yet agilely and looking mostly confused and horrified.
Soon the food started to come along. Sebastian cheerfully dipped Ciel's finger into the sauce.
"N-no!" Ciel stuttered. "I´m n-NOT going to taste that! I'm no-!" Then his finger found itself in his mouth, then back out again. "and I did it…." Ciel sighed in defeat. Sebastian chuckled.
Mey Rin stayed there until the food was finished and ready to serve. She was practically trembling.
"I-I think it's t-time I go ch-check the laundry!" She ran off as quickly as possible.
Sebastian let go of Ciel, the sudden weight causing the boy's knees to buckle. The demon caught him effortlessly before he hit the ground, leaning Ciel's body against his own.
"Thank you for your hard work today." Sebastian said teasingly against the boy's neck.
"Was that really necessary?" The boy muttered tiredly. "You're such a show off." He tried looking at the demon out of the corner of his eye. Sebastian intertwined their fingers. "You're being touchy today." He hummed, and Ciel could feel him smile against his skin.
And yet, that wasn't the worst situation…
This was totally and completely Sebastian's fault, according to Ciel.
"Brush your teeth."
"No."
"Ciel."
"I don't want to move."
It was barely mid day and Ciel already felt drained. He could seriously cry out of how relieved he was that it was Saturday, cause otherwise he would have not been able to function. He had barely had the motivation to eat lunch, and the moment he was done he dragged himself back into bed, ignoring Sebastian's insistence on hygiene.
"If you don't care for your teeth now, you will regret it later."
"I'm immortal. If it hurts too bad I'll just kill myself."
"Ciel." Sebastian said in a tone of warning. The boy whined as he clung to a pillow with all his might.
"I can't do it, Sebastian. Don't ask the impossible of me." The demon stood there and watched him for a long time. Ciel could almost feel his eyes burning the back of his skull. "Sebastiaaaaan! You're being mean and annoying!"
"And you are being childish."
"I'm sorry..." And that was how Sebastian knew that the boy was genuinely beyond exhausted: he would never apologize for something like that. " I'm just so tired…"
Sebastian sighed and patted the boy's head. Ciel's body lost some of its tension, and the pillow in his arms didn't look like it was suffocating anymore.
"I've thought of an idea." The demon slid his hands under the boy and picked him up. Ciel whined lightly until his head was against Sebastian's chest and he was resting once more. "This way you wont make any effort."
"thstpd…" Ciel muttered. Sebastian fought a chuckle.
"What was that?"
"this…is stupid…" the boy repeated, burying his face against the fabric of Sebastian's clothing.
They were almost at the bathroom, when a sudden scream shocked Ciel to his senses.
It was Mey Rin, who had just dropped the basket of laundry she had been holding as she stared at her floating young master…
Oh shi-
The maid turned around and ran away, another scream escaping her.
"Should I go after her?" Sebastian asked with a bored tone.
"This is all your fault!" Ciel scowled. Sebastian was about to argue, but Ciel just shook his head. "Later! Put me down! I need to deal with this."
"If you insist." The moment Ciel's feet touched the ground, he began to run after his maid. "I'm right behind you..." In those words, Ciel clearly heard the warning "If she doesn't calm down, I'll deal with her..."
"Mey Rin!" He called out as he ran. He was about to go out the door, when a flash of pink caught his eye. She was sitting in a corner of the kitchen, clutching her head.
"C-ciel!" The boy's eyes widened, considering she had only ever called him by his name once before. He should have acted with caution, but for some reason he felt no fear towards Mey Rin. Maybe it was just like with Sebastian: he was simply too close to them to fear them. He quickly neared her, and she gripped onto his shirt.
"I-I think I'm going insane…" She sobbed, tears dripping from her thick spectacles. Ciel felt terribly guilty at the amount of relief those words brought him. He petted her head.
"It's ok, Mey Rin. Take a few days off." With that, the pink haired girl hugged him tightly.
Thankfully, those incidents never reached Mrs. Phantomhive's ears. If they had, then everything would have gone downhill much faster than it actually did.
WELCOME TO IMAGINE ETERNITY!
I'm so excited about these little fics! Some are going to be just plain and pure fluff while others will lead to a bigger plot.
Some info about Ciel's state as an "immortal".
- He doesn't have his purple eye anymore since it was the seal of the contract which is no longer necessary since Ciel's soul is already in Sebastian.
-Sorry Ciel, but you are just as human as you were before! He still feels pain and everything just the same. His body is physically the same.
- I have a theory that if Ciel and Sebastian are far away enough from each other, Ciel's soul, no matter how incredible, would not be able to influence Ciel's body anymore and he would fall into a sort of vegetative state. Sadly (luckily?), they were never far away enough for this theory to be tested.
-The only difference Ciel can tell is that he feels lighter.
In a later chapter we'll get more information on what would happen to Ciel if he were to die! Till then, enjoy the fluff!