His Butler, Pleasing

by Angel of Nerdiness

The job of a butler is to fulfill all orders laid out by their masters, and Sebastian never fails in any job he is given. But when Ciel gives an unusual and difficult order, the demon butler turns to his fellow servants to aid. (Warning: FinnyxSnake implied, don't like, don't read)

(A/N): I AM ALIVE! Sorry for being gone so long but I return now with a new Black Butler story for ya! Enjoy! Reviews are always welcome!

"How many times must I urge patience for letting the oven do the cooking, Bardroy?"

The sharp voice of the phantom hive head butler, Sebastian spoke amongst a kitchen of grey smoke. His reply from the smoke was the coughs of the incompetent, trigger-happy cook Bardroy,

"Time….got away from me….fixing up the batter for tomorrow's pastries took longer than I expected." The cook hacked a bit emerging from the smoke sporting the same colored dust and grime on his person, "-and I needed a way to prepare the young master's lunch quickly, so….why not use the fastest firepower in the manor?"

Sebastian scowled silently and with two brushes off his arm through the kitchen, cleared the smoke and all dust scattered atop everything, leaving only a stunned and worried Bardroy with dust, "So…..what now?" He asked, expecting a punishment.

Sebastian simply walked past the cook and lit the oven, "Now you will fetch me good meats from the freezer and collect the needed spices for a succulent lunch for the young master, meats need time and care to be Phantomhive quality, not firepower, Bard." The butler spoke with his usual air of calmness hiding a hidden monster, literally and figuratively.

The soldier turned cook nodded rapidly before running inside the walk in freezer, returning with a raw steak. Sebastian took it in his gloved hands and tossed it in the air, grabbing a steak knife and slicing the meat into perfect square shapes, "I shall only require a few of these cutlets, thank you." He smiled to Bard, who returned the rest of the meat to a fridge, bagged.

Sebastian took pride in when more a human patience and timeframe could be used rather than his….special dose of speed and expertise, it made most moments in this manor easier to face; one could say along with cats, cooking was therapeutic to the demon.

Then came the ring, that made the demon flinch the slightest bit and look to the bell from the study, pulled once, twice, three times. 'You sense my calmness, don't you, dog?' The demon thought as his eyes shifted to the steak then to Bard, facing away from the butler in the spice cupboard. Sebastian took the moment and placed his hand inches above the steak, and it went from raw to perfectly crisped in a second.

"There we go, all cooked." Sebastian commented, placing the smoking cutlets on the counter next to Bard, "Spice them and I will finish the rest once I attend to the young master's needs."

Bard turned to face the butler confused, "How are you going to recook the spices in already cooked meats?" He asked, slightly angered by the butler's never-ending confidence in himself. Sebastian merely smiled at the doorway, "What kind of butler would I be if I couldn't do such a task?" He said, shutting the door silently as he walked off to the study.

—:—

The light shuffle of black coat tails and tap of shined shoes on clean manor floors broke the silence of the many halls as Sebastian pushed a tea cart to the study. Whatever the young master required would usually involve tea or a sweet snack by this time of day. So he gathered the tea cart and ready made chocolate cookies before heading to the study.

Knocking on the large doors before entering, the black butler saw his young master where he always was in this room, sitting before the currently unlit fireplace reading a book, 'The Portrait of Dorian Gray' to be exact. Sebastian had heard of this novel's premise and immediately knew its draw to the young master,

"It would be quite interesting to see what your portrait would look like under such circumstances, my lord." Sebastian spoke calmly with his cheeky smile. Ciel scoffed under his breath and marked his page setting the book down,

"I don't need a portrait to show what I am, Sebastian." There was a silence between the two for a moment before the boy's eye shifted,

"What did you bring?"

"Earl Gray tea and chocolate cookies, a small snack before lunch, my lord." Sebastian bowed reaching his master with the cart, "I hope is all to your liking."

Ciel eyed the sweets and took them with his cup of tea,

"Yes." He muttered. Sebastian smiled, "Excellent. Now if I could be excused, the meat will need final preparations for ser-"

"I have a job for you." Ciel interrupted calmly, sipping his tea. Sebastian stopped short and his face went stern as he turned back around, "Yes, my lord?" He asked. The boy eyed him for a moment then turned his head to the window,

"Make me smile." He whispered and Sebastian's eyes widened a bit, for the first time during his contract to the Earl, he actually believed he misheard him,

"Beg pardon, Master?" He asked in slight disbelief. Ciel merely frowned turning back to the butler,

"You heard me. Make me smile." Ciel knew all too well to choose his words carefully around his butler. Not only to keep his normal desires precise and without confusion, but in this case, not to send too much emotion in his request, "I desire entertainment."

Sebastian's brow furrowed, "What makes you make such an order, my lord? Is there anything the matter?" The butler asked pointlessly, knowing he'd get no real answer from his master.

"Perhaps you can involve the servants in it, make a group effort out of it." The boy commented lazily, turning his chair and going back to his book. Sebastian stood pondering the reason behind the boy's orders, but decided it would be much easier to simply follow the order. With his trademark bow, Sebastian left the study quietly.

—:—

Walking back to the kitchen, Sebastian checked his pocket watch, "11:17" The butler stated to himself, "Not enough time to prepare lunch and this apparent entertainment, especially if I must be working with those idiotic-"

"Something the matter, Sebastian?" A calm, aged voice cut off Sebastian's rant and the demon butler turned to see Tanaka at the corner of the hall, looking to be in the middle of a stroll through the manor. Sebastian took a small breath and smiled to his predecessor butler,

"The young master requested a form of pleasing entertainment, and for the whole Phantomhive staff to take part." Sebastian quickly caught Tanaka up as both butler's walked down the staircase side by side. Tanaka chuckled,

"This sounds to be hardly a challenge for you, you have entertained the young master many a time, and I was once told by young Snake that during your investigation of the circus you were a grand crowd pleaser."

Sebastian nodded but kept a thinking look and far gaze on his face, "I pleased the circus-goers, the young master isn't going to be entertained by my theatrics or any possible talents from the others, that I know. Hmm." Sebastian let a small smile graze his lips now, muttering under his breath, "Giving me a challenge, are you?"

The two butlers reached the bottom of the staircase, where Tanaka walked to stand in front of Sebastian, "I'm sure you will come up with something. Young Finnian and Snake are in the garden's, you retrieve them and go to the billiards room. I shall find Mr. Bard and Ms. Mey-Rin and we can form our thoughts there." Like many with at least a history of being head butler, Tanaka didn't even wait for Sebastian to respond and walked off to fetch the cook and maid. Sebastian smiled again, warmly this time as the older butler walked off before heading to the gardens.