Sebastian didn't sleep. Not really. Which was usually an advantage. Having those extra hours in the day allowed him to fulfil his duties as the Phantomhive butler even better than if he had been limited by such mortal requirements as rest.

At least that was how things were back at the manor. But now, being the guest of his young master's fiancée and her family, he had to keep up pretences. Which meant spending at least five hours of the night lying still in a bed in the room adjoining Ciel's.

So here he was, staring into the darkness, waiting for the appropriate time to pass so that he could get up and start preparing for the new day. Time seemed to have slowed down to a crawl. He was just contemplating whether he could pretend to have heard a noise that needed investigation, when he actually did hear a noise.

Then he felt a shift in the weight at the foot of his bed and raised his head to look. There, in the darkness, he saw it. The unmistakable glint of moonlight hitting a pentagonal piece of glass. And then a very pointed tooth.

Sebastian sighed. "What do you want?" he asked, sitting up.

"Don't you know, Sebas-chan?" There was just enough light to discern the wink. "You must be terribly bored in here, all by yourself..." Grell crawled a little forward.

Feeling slightly exposed in his nightshirt, Sebastian whipped the top cover off the bed to wrap around his shoulders. The fact that this sent the intruder tumbling to the floor was purely accidental.
Pouting, Grell got back to his feet and perched on the edge of the mattress. There he cheered up immediately. "Oh, you're cold!" He stretched out his arms and tried to pull the demon close. Sebastian twisted away and got out of the bed on the other side. Wrapping the cover around him, he walked over to the window and looked out at the night. "Don't be ridiculous," he said. "I don't get 'cold'."

"Of course," Grell cooed, leaning on his elbows and tipping one of his legs up. He had fallen forward on his stomach in the place where Sebastian had disappeared. "Being so hot... And you know that being standoffish like this only draws me to you more. That's why I climbed all the way to the first floor window, to celebrate our forbidden love..." He turned and got up from the bed, eyeing the tall man.

"Right," Sebastian huffed. "You never show up unless there's trouble, so what is it?"

"Can't you just enjoy my presence?" Grell asked, stepping up behind Sebastian. "I do have some news, but I don't feel like sharing it at all if you're so unfriendly..."

Sebastian gritted his teeth, but did not move. The fool did occasionally come about useful information. Playing along might just get it out of him all the sooner.

Grell wrapped his arms around Sebastian's waist and put his chin on the butler's shoulder. "So, do you want to know?" he purred.

Sebastian sighed. "Of course I do," he said. "Please... Tell me..."

"Will there be... a reward?" Grell asked, grinning.

Sebastian smiled. "That, my dear," he said, turning within the reaper's embrace so that he was facing him, "will depend on what you've got." He leaned just a tiny bit closer.

Grell licked his lips and opened his mouth to speak, but then frowned. "I know you are hard to please. I demand my payment first."

Sebastian closed his eyes and groaned inwardly. He supposed he had been hoping too much. Trying not to let his disgust show, he asked: "What payment did you have in mind?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Grell chuckled and closed the distance between their lips.

Sebastian pulled back after a fraction of a second. "Is it good? This information you have? Is it worth it?"

Grell nodded fiercely. "Very important. Your master would be so upset if he didn't get to know it."

"And there's no chance of you telling it out of the goodness of your heart?" Sebastian did a fair attempt at making puppy dog eyes.

"Oh, Sebas-chan..." Grell snorted. "You really should know better." He put a finger under Sebastian's chin and tilted his head up.

Sebastian sighed again as he let the cover fall to the floor. "If you tell anyone about this, I'll track you down and eat you. Skin, bones and glasses."

Grell smiled very widely and splayed his hands over the butler's chest. "Sebas-chan. You have no idea what those words do to me."

…

"Good morning," Lizzy twittered as she swooped into the room and settled opposite Ciel at the breakfast table. Then she frowned. "Ciel... What is wrong? You look like you may be falling ill."

Ciel shrugged. "I'm fine. Just had a bad night."

"Oh no..." Lizzy looked mortified. "Did the servants not make your bed properly? Was the room too cold?"

Ciel shook his head. "The room was alright. I think the problem was in the one next to it." He looked up and fixed Sebastian with his gaze. "Noisy. And for a while it was as if my wall was... trembling." He frowned. "When I finally did fall asleep, I was dreaming about an earthquake." He glanced over at Sebastian. "But at least we got what we came for, so the trip wasn't a complete waste."

Sebastian's eyes met those of his master for the briefest of moments. Then he turned his back to pour the tea, his hair falling down to hide his cheeks, that almost matched the piercing red glow of his eyes.