Thanks for reading! I don't own any of Black Butler! Please let me know if you enjoy!
—
"Hey Ciel, let me help you with that~." Alois Trancy purred as he stepped between the bluenette and the bookshelf, pressing the petite Phantomhive up against the wall as he placed his hand beside her head, blocking her escape.
"Alois!" Ciel exclaimed.
Slowly, with his free hand, the blonde reached behind him and pulled down the book Ciel wanted.
"Your eyes are such a pretty blue, Ciel~." Alois sighed as he leaned in to sniff her perfume.
Ciel's pretty blue eyes widened and quickly, she grabbed the book from Alois's hand and made her escape under Alois's outstretched arm, fleeing from the Trancy library.
Ciel scowled as she dashed back to the parlor.
She should have never wandered off without Sebastian…...
Since Ciel and Alois had met years ago, the blonde seemed to take an….unhealthy interest…...in her.
Maybe he loved her…..
Maybe he was just lonely….
Regardless of the reason, Alois was constantly attempting to win Ciel's affections.
But Ciel would have none of it and none of him, no.
Today, Ciel had come to Trancy Manor to borrow a rare edition of a novel written many years ago.
It was the same novel that Sebastian had said would be key in their search to find those who had murdered Ciel's parents.
Sebastian had stayed in the kitchen on Ciel's command to keep an eye on the Trancy butler, Claude Faustus.
Ciel had gone to the library to retrieve the book while Alois had said he would go and "rest his eyes".
He hadn't been resting his eyes anywhere other than Ciel's lithe, petite frame.
Thunder crackled outside in the oncoming twilight of the evening as Ciel skidded to a stop outside of the kitchen.
"Sebastian! Let's go! Trancy gave me the book, quickly!" Ciel commanded.
"Yes, my lady!" Sebastian nodded, rushing to her side.
"Wait! Ciel, please!" Alois shouted, running down the hall after her. "Don't go now! Look outside! There's going to be a terrible storm! At least stay for dinner! I'm sorry! I…...I didn't mean to offend you~!" Alois exclaimed, offering the bluenette a meal as a gracious host would under such circumstances….
But Alois wasn't being a gracious host…..
He just wanted to stare at the bluenette longer…..
To have her company a few minutes more…..
"Earl Trancy is right, my lady." Sebastian said as he looked outside. He nodded to Ciel. "If we leave now, we will be certainly be caught in the storm on the road. We may have to pull over for the night."m
What could he say?
It was Sebastian's duty to keep his master safe, although he had no desire to linger in the Trancy manor.
Alois made Sebastian sick, almost as much as Claude, but the butler would never say that, no.
Not even to Ciel…..
Sebastian had too much decorum.
Besides, the bluenette was so adorable when she was irked.
Ciel scowled and huffed for a moment.
Ooh, she did not want to stay, but what choice did she have?
"Very well, Alois. We will stay until the storm passes." Ciel sniffed.
"Oh, that's wonderful news, Ciel! I am delighted to hear that!" Alois smiled brightly, clasping his hands.
Ciel crossed her arms.
Alois didn't care.
Ciel…...
If only Ciel looked at him the way he looked at her.
At least she would be staying longer!
Ciel in his home…
Sharing dinner with him…..
Sleeping in one of his beds….
Alois hoped the storm raged all night…
—-
Trancy manor shook with the force of the storm as Alois and Ciel dined together.
As lightning flashed in the windows, Ciel ate her meal silently, occasionally glancing over at Alois.
The blonde noticed how she shifted uncomfortably in her seat.
He thought it was because of the lustful stare he was giving her…
And yes, the hungry look in his ocean-blue eyes did make Ciel blush, that was not what was making her so uncomfortable.
Shortly after they had begun to eat, a strange, annoying pain had suddenly started in Ciel's lower right abdomen.
It was a very odd pain, Ciel had never felt anything like it before, and so, she attributed it to digestive issues.
Sebastian raised an eyebrow though when she chose to forgo dessert.
"Thank you for your hospitality, Trancy, but we need to go home." Ciel scowled once dinner was finished.
"Ah, but Ciel, you can't leave yet! The storm is at its worst!" Alois cried happily, clapping his hands together just as a clap of thunder rocked the large house.
"I need to go to bed, Sebastian." Ciel whispered quietly once her butler came to help her out of her chair.
Concern was starting to take root in Sebastian's mind.
Ciel wouldn't take her hand off her side.
She also didn't seem to want to sit still.
Whatever was going on, with the weather, it would still be best if they stayed.
"Earl Trancy? Do you have a room my master may sleep in tonight?" Sebastian asked Alois politely.
Claude adjusted his glasses, the stoic butler standing behind Alois as a joyous grin broke out across the blonde's face.
"Oh, Sebastian~." Alois purred, his eyes on Ciel. "I thought you would never ask~!"
—
"Is everything alright, my lady?" Sebastian asked as he tucked Ciel into bed.
She had seemed uncomfortable all evening and once she crawled into bed, the bluenette curled into a ball.
"Yes, I'm fine, I just ate too much, I suppose." Ciel sighed as she closed her eyes.
Sebastian looked at her for a moment.
No she didn't.
Ciel had barely eaten anything at all.
Sebastian frowned as he watched Ciel, her eyes were closed but her face was taut, her jaw clenched tightly against the pain that had remained constant and sharp.
"I shall stay close by in case you need me, my lady." Sebastian replied before he took the candelabra and left the room.
Alois had been kind enough to lend Ciel a lovely, large bedroom for the night that was covered in purple and gold decorations.
Only the best for his precious Ciel~.
The bluenette rolled over in bed and rocked back and forth.
The pain had gotten worse.
Nothing she did seemed to make it better.
Not sitting, not standing…..
Ciel sighed in her bed.
What was wrong?
She heard her door open.
Sebastian could tell she was hurting…..
He had come back….
"Sebastian, I…." Ciel called out hoarsely.
"It's just me, Ciel~." A voice purred at her, thick and sweet like honey.
Ciel's eyes widened and she flipped over on her back to see Alois staring down at her greedily.
"I came to see if you wanted to cuddle~." Alois cooed.
The blonde wasn't going to force himself on her but he was certainly going to try to seduce her…..
He couldn't pass up a chance this good.
"Alois! Stop!" Ciel protested as the Trancy Earl began to gently scoop her into his arms.
Ciel was off of the bed and across the room in an instant.
"Hold still, Ciel. I promise, I'm not going to hurt you." Alois narrowed his eyes and chased after her.
Ciel was just about to call for Sebastian when the pain crescendoed to such an intolerable level that it stabbed, white hot and nearly blinding, from her abdomen all the way to her back.
Ciel's eyes and mouth opened in shock as she fell to the floor.
Alois saw her plummet and he dropped all of his games.
Even the blonde could tell by the look on her face that something was badly wrong.
"Ciel?" Alois asked worriedly as he knelt down beside of her.
"Nnn…..nnnn…..A….Alo…." The bluenette gasped, grabbing Alois's wrists and squeezing them hard.
Alois saw her face contort, her body rigid.
That was his signal to call….
"Claude!" Alois shouted.
Silence.
"Claude! Claude get in here! Claaaaudddeee!" The blonde screamed, terrified.
Oh dear!
What was wrong with his poor Ciel?!
Sebastian was returning the borrowed candelabra to the spider butler for the night, but both men blinked when they heard Alois scream from Ciel's room.
In a second, Sebastian and Claude were both racing down the hallway.
Both butlers burst through Ciel's door.
The bluenette was lying on the floor with tears streaming from her eyes, Alois reaching out, touching her gently, unsure of what to do.
"My lady!" Sebastian cried when he saw Ciel. "What have you don't to my master?!" Sebastian growled at Alois, his face twisting into an angry scowl.
Claude blinked.
"I haven't done anything! I would never hurt Ciel! She's in really terrible pain! You have to do something! Please! I don't know what's wrong with her!" Alois shouted, frantically looking from butler to butler.
Both men stood.
Claude didn't care.
Sebastian was also afraid, his mind racing as he thought of the best course of action to take…..
Ciel groaned from where she lay.
"Do something!" Alois shouted again to shake the butlers out of their stupor.
"Call a doctor!" Sebastian shouted at Claude.
The other butler quickly ran off towards the phone as Sebastian bent to examine Ciel with Alois.
His face didn't show it, but behind his mask of calm composure, Sebastian was just as worried as the blonde.
Sebastian gently stroked Ciel's hair as she grit her teeth. The Phantomhive butler whispered quietly, "Just try to hold on, my lady."
—
Everyone at Trancy manor was convinced Ciel was in grave danger.
Including the physician that arrived to examine her.
Ciel desperately clung to the sheets, staring straight ahead, lost in a world of agony.
She wept and wept…
Hot tears of pain.
Miserable…..
The pain was intense and even her skin was heated from it, as if her body was simply trying to endure.
Ciel kept complaining of nausea but no sickness came.
Sebastian stayed right beside her, watching her closely.
Alois looked on and cried with her.
This just couldn't be…...
He couldn't lose his darling Ciel!
Claude watched the scene and adjusted his glasses.
The physician kept doing exam after exam on the suffering bluenette and it became apparent to everyone that he seemed to have no idea either.
Gallbladder?
Appendix?
Intestinal distress?
Pancreatic problem?
The doctor did not know what was the matter with the bluenette, and worse, he did not know what to do.
No medication the doctor gave Ciel seemed to have any effect.
Sebastian had just helped Ciel finish her third glass of water when the doctor made his final determination.
"We have no choice but to take her to London hospital. To confirm a diagnosis, they'll have to do exploratory surgery." The doctor concluded.
The pitiful whimper, as wrenching and sorrowful as that of one condemned to die, left Ciel's lips and it broke Alois's heart.
Even Sebastian frowned as he began to whisper soothing words to his master.
Surgery?
In the pre-antibiotic era, surgery was very dangerous, not to mention how dirty London's hospitals were…..
Poor Ciel….
Alois gasped helplessly as Sebastian scooped the bluenette up.
"I need to go to the bathroom." Ciel said quietly.
Sebastian nodded and carried her into the washroom. He adjusted her skirts and sat her down gently on the porcelain toilet. Sebastian even let her squeeze his hands while the sound of liquid splashing liquid filled the room.
The entire evening, Ciel had also been complaining that urinating made the pain worse.
So, Sebastian stayed to support her.
He could tell by the pressure she squeezed his hands with that she was not lying…..
It was alright that he was there, he was used to being this close to Ciel.
Besides, Sebastian knew everything about….
Clink
Ciel instantly looked up at Sebastian.
Sebastian blinked.
Both were silently asking the same question.
Clink?
The physician was called in the room.
"I….I feel better." Ciel said quietly as Sebastian placed her back in bed.
Everyone waited.
From the toilet, a single object was extracted, dried, and placed in a clean bag for examination.
"That's a rock!" Also exclaimed when he saw it.
"It looks like a pebble." Sebastian commented.
"That is a kidney stone." The physician concluded, pointing to the small evidence of Ciel's ordeal he had retrieved from the toilet.
Everyone looked at her curiously.
Ciel blushed.
"There will be no need for surgery now. Just watch her diet." The doctor cautioned as he packed his bag. "Lots of water, fresh lemons. Absolutely no spinach, beets, peanuts, chocolate, or tea."
The first part, Ciel mostly tuned out.
Her eyes widened to the size of saucers as he finished speaking.
No chocolate or tea?!
Sebastian stifled a chuckle at her reaction.
"Wait, Doctor! No chocolate or tea for how long!?"
Ciel asked the physician as he opened her door to leave.
"Kidney stones are reoccurring. Normally we see them in older patients, so…..considering your age, young lady... I'd say…..never eat any of those things again." The man spoke very matter-of-factly, stepping out of the room after he devastated the bluenette with a single statement.
One of Ciel's eyes twitched as Alois gave her a gentle, relieved hug.
"You had us so worried, Ciel~!" The blonde cried.
No…
No more…..
Tea?
No…
No more….
Chocolate?
—-
For weeks after Ciel and Sebastian returned home, the bluenette was so grouchy, she was almost intolerable.
Sebastian took it in stride, although he kept thinking how nice it would be if his master had some respite…..
Something to take the edge off….to calm her increased moodiness…
Ciel had always been the brooding type, but being cut off from her favorite pleasures had practically turned her into an insufferable monster.
Meanwhile, in London, Alois marched up and down the streets with Claude.
They were in search of a particular apothecary.
One that Alois had heard about from a certain member of the aristocracy.
A guest that had recently been to his manor…
If Alois found what the shop he was looking for, Ciel may just find some peace after all….
—
"Ah, Trancy, let me get that for you~." Ciel practically purred at Alois as she reached to button his shirt up for him.
"Oh, thank you, Ciel~." Alois purred, letting his lover's hands slowly fasten his white shirt.
Ciel leaned into Alois's neck and took a deep breath, closing her eyes.
Time had passed since her diagnosis, and her moodiness had indeed improved.
Alois found that apothecary in London, the one he had searched for…
That apothecary specialized in perfumes, colognes, and aromatherapies.
Alois had custom ordered a special cologne, one that had an aphrodisiac base and gave off the exact scent of chocolate and tea.
It smelled so accurate, so heavy and indulgent, that those present could almost taste the dark, decadent treats on their tongue….
Alois's plan had worked.
When he introduced Ciel to the cologne, wearing it at one of their visits, whatever inhibitions or grudges the bluenette had previously held were tossed away….
Her lips had crushed against the blonde's the second they were alone….
And now, as they stood so close together, having ducked into a linen closet for a passionate moment of privacy, Ciel's eyes were almost dilated from the pleasurable scent coupled with Alois's sweet, addictive kisses.
Why they hid, neither of them really knew…..
Their butlers either didn't know or didn't care.
Maybe it was just more entertaining to keep their trysts a secret.
Ciel thought it was all a natural progression, this thing between her and Alois…..
She had no idea he had purchased a special cologne.
Alois didn't knew the scent was what drove Ciel into his arms, but, Ciel was coy, and he wondered if there was another, stronger feeling the bluenette held for him that the scent had simply brought to the surface…..
Regardless, Ciel often wondered why it took her all these years to discover…...
Kissing Alois was like kissing chocolate.