a/n: I wrote this as an assignment for a college writing class. I had to write a story centered around my thesis for a research paper, and as I wrote it Ciel and Alois demanded to be in it...-facepalm-
AU: somehow Alois ends up being a demon as well, and has made it a habit of following Ciel around. That's really all you need to know. Oh, and it's the 21st century.
Hand-Held News
"Oy Ciel, what're you doing?"
"Watching a news report."
"Oh? On your phone?" The blonde dropped down onto the brick walling next to his dark haired companion. "I didn't know you could do that." Never one for personal boundaries, he leant against Ciel's shoulder, shading the tiny device with a hand to better see against the sun's glare.
"Mm. I thought one such as you, Alois, would have already gleaned that, the way you collect things that are on the cusp of technological advancement." Cerulean sparked between obsidian; The singular eye left uncovered acknowledging the presence for only a moment before returning to the earlier interest.
"Ehhh, the news is so boring though! Why would I care where it magically appears?" Alois righted himself, slumping back into the railing separating them and someone's lawn. "Only you would care about something so inane, Ciel."
"Tch. And only you would think it inane. You love this centuries technologies, but only the ones that are flashy enough to catch your eye. If you loved them all for the reason you say you do, you wouldn't pass it off."
Alois crossed his arms indignantly, tossing his hair and staring pointedly at a lamppost down the street. "So mean. It's a wonder I let you follow me around."
"I wasn't aware I was the one doing the following. Rather paradoxical of me, trailing my own shadow."
Scrunching his face, Alois cast a sidelong glare back at Ciel, who seemed quite unaffected by the disruption to his news watching. "Yes, I wonder what Sebastian must think, his Master following around his sworn enemy like a stray dog looking for a biscuit."
"A stray dog huh…You're right. Perhaps we should alleviate this problem right now." Without looking up, Ciel raised a hand, lazily waving it in a dismissing gesture. "If you walk away now, I promise not to follow you any longer. So be gone, Alois Trancy."
Clasping the hand within his own, Alois laughed, patting it reassuringly. "Now now Ciel, don't be so severe! I don't mind! You may follow me all you like!" He smirked at the blank stare his actions had earned, releasing the other boy only to take up his previous leaning position. "So what particular piece of world strife has such a hold on your attention?"
"They're saying that nuclear radiation from the reactors in Japan will make it's way overseas to the western coast of the United States of America. The public there is being cautioned to take pills to negate any possible side effects."
Gasping, Alois leaned closer to the tiny screen. "Really? What do you think will happen to the people there? Will they grow extra limbs? Perhaps, another head? Oh Ciel, we should go there once it's safe, I want to see what the American's look like after-"
"Nothing."
"Huh?" He turned his head to look up into Ciel's one good eye. At that point he'd leant so far down that he was practically in his companion's lap.
Ciel was still watching the part of the screen not obscured by Alois's head, unphased by the blonde's sudden excitement at the prospect of mass mutation. "This is an old report, by some woman who talks about things she doesn't understand. Taking into account the level of damage to the nuclear reactors, and the possibility of catastrophe on such a scale, you come up with only one answer. The American's are worrying over nothing."
"Aw, and here you got my hopes up for nothing, Ciel!" Alois straightened, stretching as he sighed in disappointment.
"I didn't get anything up, you did that on your own. And I swear-" Ciel's glance flitted to the blonde dangerously. "If you turn that around into some form of dirty comment, I'll have Sebastian take your tongue so I no longer have to hear them. Really, I thought you would have grown up some within the last one hundred years or so."
Giggling, Alois tapped his heels against the wall, legs too short to reach the sidewalk below. "Ah, but I think you've grown up enough for the both of us! However, I'm curious now, so you may enlighten me: why should I be so awed by seeing the news coming out of that little 'talkie-box'?"
Ciel tapped a couple of times on the screen, before holding up the phone for Alois to see. "This video was aired as it was recorded in Japan. The video information was sent via satellite feed to a studio in America, who then promptly aired it for the public. Once the video was sent to the American studio, it was also uploaded onto this webpage, so that anyone in the world could watch it. Do you see the date/time stamp on it Alois?"
Cocking his head, Alois read it off, blinking a few times as the information sunk in. "Hey, that was this morning!"
"Actually, given the relative time difference, it was only an hour or so ago. That, Alois, was impossible in our time. To get news from around the world within hours of it happening, unthinkable. And yet here, little over a century later, it's a common occurrence. One that many take for granted. In fact, many of the earlier videos of this disaster came from the Japanese news itself. And some of them came not from reporters, but from citizens caught up in the middle of it. In this day and age, anyone with a camera can be a reporter, anyone with access to the internet a journalist. Even you Alois, if you wished it." Ciel flipped the phone so Alois was staring into it's eye. "Or me. 'Ciel Phantomhive, reporting on the existence of the demon child Alois Trancy of Great Britain'."
"Ha, what are you playing at Ciel?"
He flipped the phone with nimble fingers, the screen now facing the curious blonde.
Alois's smirk died as Ciel's finger taped at the screen, and he was met with his own face, Ciel's words floating around in the background.
"With a simple push of a button I have captured your moving image, and with another I can send it out for all the world to see."
"Ciel you wouldn't!" Alois grabbed for the phone, only to have it moved easily from within his grasp. Stretch as he might, his arm wasn't long enough to close the distance between his fingers and the hand held parallel to him.
"Oh? And why shouldn't I?"
Coming to the conclusion that climbing onto, or around Ciel would get him nowhere, Alois gave up trying to steal the device away from it's owner. Instead he switched tactics; Crossing both his arms and legs, Alois flicked his hair from his eyes, doing his best to look down condescendingly at Ciel despite their similar heights. "Because then you might as well be wearing a target on your forehead. People will wonder how you know what I am, and more importantly, will want proof. So even if you give them proof, you'd still be putting a bounty on your head, and Sebastian's as well as mine."
A light smirk on his face, Ciel brought the phone back to his lap, tapping the screen here and there before slipping it back into his pocket. "I believe the only argument you really needed was 'no one will believe it.' Human's haven't gotten more trusting, they've simply become more skeptical. I'd need something more interesting than just your face and my words to start a good old fashioned witch hunt."
Alois huffed. "Perhaps for that comment I'll give them something more interesting! Bring out that damned little 'picture box' of yours Ciel, and prepare to entertain the world with my hands wrapping your intestines around your-"
"Are you ready to go, Young Master? "
Both boys turned their attention to the man that had appeared seemingly from nowhere, bags hanging from the crook of his arm.
"Hmp. About time. Surely the simple tasks I assigned you weren't troublesome, Sebastian."
The butler gave a slight bow. "Of course not, Young Master, but what kind of servant would I be if I didn't complete the requested task as thoroughly as possible?"
Ciel appraised the evil smirk that hid in his butler's maroon gaze, at the same time catching Alois's wrist before the hand could find it's way into his pocket. "Everything is in order so that our next move will go smoothly?"
"Yes. I am one hell of a butler, after all." Sebastian flashed the slightest of toothy grins before straightening.
Ciel dropped Alois's arm back in it's owner's lap before sliding off his perch to join his servant on the sidewalk. "Good. Let's go home, Sebastian. I tire of this place." Without waiting for either of his companions, Ciel set off toward the car.
a/n: well there you have it, my first forey into this fandom, using a homework assignment no less. Ah, and because of that, if for some reason decides to screw with the already fucked up formating, I apologize. The way I format fics and the way i format school work is different. Same with writing styles. But whatevs, I don't really feel like rewriting this specifically for this outlet.
Ah, well, I'm out. Tatty-Bye!
deadpan_riot