Shieru: I think that this little drabble of mine will be more than just the oneshot? A little mini-series, I guess you can call it? This first chapter is easily dedicated to my Sebastian, as he actually inspired this first chapter.~
Disclaimer: I do not own diddly squat of anything that is Kuroshitsuji.
Black: The color of death.
Sebastian sighed to himself and expertly ran a white-gloved hand through his darkened hair of an onyx black. He slipped his glove into his pocket, bringing out his favorite golden watch and flipping it open, reading the numbers and silently calculating the events of the day. With a snap, he closed it and continued his walk down the hall, stopping and knocking on his young master's bedroom, opening the door after he waited a minute or so, walking in and seeing his young master still so peacefully asleep.
"Young master, it's time to wake up." Sebastian went over and opened the curtains, the Earl stirring and slowly fluttering his eyes open, the child sitting up and yawning, being tired and still groggy from his sleep. The butler chuckled to himself, receiving an angry glare from the child but before the Earl could retort, the butler had already begun explaining the events of the day, mapping out every minute of every hour on the Earl's busy schedule. "How would-"
"Sebastian." The Earl interrupted, sitting on the side of the bed, legs dangling over the side as Sebastian went over and knelt before him, dressing him simply in his usual attire, the Earl lingering with silence. "I..want you to know something, Sebastian." The child stated simply and had his teacup set into his hands, the Earl only staring down at the wavy reflection of it. "Sebastian.."
"Is something troubling you, young master?" The demon butler asked, having since gotten up to his feet and preparing the Earl's breakfast, listening to the Earl quietly as his back was turned to him. Sebastian heard the child rise from his bed, walk a few steps before the demon felt a slow circling of the Earl's small arms around his waist, feeling the Earl dig his head into the demon's back, a tight hold coming from the child. "Young master..?"
There were no words, only silence as the child only held onto the demon, face contorting into a pained expression, though the demon could not see it. Sebastian slowly turned his head to the side, setting gloved hands over the young Lord's delicately, as he often did when it came to his young master. He said nothing, eyes softening and smile playing across his lips. Sebastian then turned in the Earl's hold, kneeling down to his eye level and gently cupping the child's face, slowly pushing his own forward, the Earl closing his eyes in anticipation as their lips were close, so close, to touching.
And then he blinked, and his false reality dispersed around him. Sebastian, if he could be called that anymore, took slow, long steps down the charred halls of the burnt down manor. He stopped and slipped his hand into his pocket and opened the now broken pocket watch, staring down at it with empty, crimson eyes. His eyes turned up as he slipped the watch back into his pocket, the demon knocking rhythmically on what remained of the door before opening it a minute later, though the debris broke around his hold, the handle breaking and falling to the floor as the demon passed through it.
The demon continued to walk, going over to where the curtains would be, fleshed hand running over the air where the curtains would be, as if he was opening them on a regular day in the Phantomhive manor. He turned his hollow gaze to the flamed down remains of the once plush bed, slowly walking over and reaching his hand out, placing a hand where the pillow would have been, running it across where he knew his head would be, and his hair would be, the demon brushing away the dark locks and smiling gently down at the false image he planted in his head.
The demon watched in his false images, imagining him waking up and yawning, seeing him sit up and stretch from a long night's rest, looking to the demon with that same angry and annoyed look that was signature to him. But the demon wouldn't mind it, for it was a part of him that the demon had rather become fond of, and he would have it no other way.
The demon lowered his gaze, long eyelashes shielding the sweet but fake view of him. He was quite aware now, that what he wanted, no matter how badly he desired it, would not magically appear. He knew, he knew it so well, but he didn't want to believe it. No matter what, he didn't want to believe it. It was just not something he could fathom and there was no time soon that he would attempt to.
Moving out of the once extravagant bedroom, the demon walked down the hall once more, going down the broken stairs and into the kitchen, preparing an afternoon snack as he always did at this time of day, though one couldn't quite tell the time of day as gray clouds had rolled in overhead and blocked out the sunlight, a light snow falling from the dark clouds, blanketing over everything with a white purity.
About an hour or so had passed and before he knew it, the cake and tea were done, having prepared a fancy cake that he didn't bother to explain, having even decorated it with a familiar design that was so nostalgic of..of him, of Ciel Phantomhive. Sebastian Michaelis was no more. He was just a nameless demon now, going about the motions that had become so familiar to him, so much the norm, that he didn't know anything else.
The demon set the Earl Grey tea down besides the cake, staring at them forlornly. He took the frosting from the cake into his flesh index finger, having long since gotten rid of his white gloves. He stared at the white substance on his flesh for but a moment before he brought it into his mouth and tasted the familiarity, wondering briefly why his previous master loved the taste so. "It was you who said it, correct? You would only ever eat my sweets, as they were your favorite."
The demon turned away from the cake and tea, walking away from it and into where the foyer would have been, standing in the middle of the wreckage and turning his head skyward, watching the snow fall and cover the once glorious manor in white flakes of ice. He set his hand out and turned his head back down, dark eyes widening slightly and heart stopping as a single, beautifully unique snowflake fell right into his palm, the demon found himself smiling then, staring down at the snowflake warmly as his heart swelled in his chest, glad that he really gave off no such heat the way a human would, lest this beautiful snowflake melt in his palm and leave him.
"What did I feel for you..? Why do I constantly think of you, even now, after so much time has passed? Your presence has become something I easily grew fond of, and something that I could not easily forget, nor would I want to." He spoke to the snowflake, lifting his palm to his eye level and watching it lay there on his skin. "Is it wrong for me to think upon you still? ..I have never felt such human emotions before, and I don't know what to make of them. What could these feelings mean, I wonder?"
The demon held onto the snowflake still, not caring that his shoulders and the crown of his head had begun to be covered lightly with other snowflakes. He only cared for the one that was brave and bold enough to call out to him and land in his palm, daring the dangers and threat of vanishing from this world. "I suppose you could call it caring, but..that doesn't seem to fit for what I..feel, when I think upon you after all these years. There is another emotion I suppose would fit much more better, but..would it make sense to you should I say it? Would you dare to repeat such words back to me, even if I was only but a mere servant?"
A smile creased his lips, bringing the snowflake slightly closer to his face, his vision filled with it only now, speaking to the pure white coldness that laid still in the palm of his hand. "I love you." He said the words, almost expecting the snowflake to answer back, but of course, it didn't, though it did move slightly in his palm, inching closer to the demon's face, as it was only inches away now. Sebastian Michaelis lowered his voice to only a whisper at this point, "I miss you, young master." That said, the forever-faithful butler of the Phantomhive household pursed his lips and kissed against the snowflake, glad that it didn't disappear upon the contact.
"I think, I'll keep you forever."
Shieru: My goodness. This like, pained my heart to write this. And I was tearing up while writing it too. I hope everyone enjoyed it, and reviews would be greatly appreciated. I'm not sure if I should write about Ciel, or maybe Grell? Possibly..Undertaker? I'll probably end up writing about that little shota next.~