Candle:
The storm blew through London mercilessly, and as the heavy raindrops pounded on the rooftops of the nearby villages and churches, it reached the outskirts of London – even to the roof of the Phantomhive Manor. The darkness was pierced by a series of needles of blinding light, and the silence was shattered by deafening thunder.
"Young Master?" Sebastian gently knocked on the door of his master's study. When no reply came, he turned the doorknob and the door eased open, the hinges silent. The butler walked into his master's study to see the one-and-only Ciel Phantomhive asleep peacefully in his desk chair.
Sebastian sighed. "I told you it was past your usual time to retire, and look where your defiance got you… Asleep, in your chair, in your day clothes and likely to have a kink in your neck. What am I ever going to do with you?..."
Sebastian slid Ciel's chair out along the carpeted floor. Sebastian slipped one arm between Ciel's back and chair, the other under the crook of his knees. The butler then lifted the dreaming Earl into his arms, carrying him 'dutifully' to his chambers.
Sebastian lay his master down, hoping to get him changed without waking the tired boy. He stood and retrieved Ciel's nightshirt before returning to the boy's bedside. The demon removed Ciel's laced boots before removing the sock garters, and then, of course, the socks. He leant over his master and gently undid each button on his master's coat, hanging it back in the wardrobe. Sebastian returned to Ciel and continued undressing him, sliding the knot in his ribbon-tie undone and unfastening the smooth, stone-like buttons on the boy's undershirt. As each button slid undone, Sebastian let his fingers drift and linger longer than necessary; the Earl would never tolerate such, had he been conscious.
Soon, Ciel was changed and his butler was pulling the knot on his eyepatch undone, placing it neatly on the bedside table. Next came the two prized Phantomhive rings; one gold with the Phantomhive crest that always rests on Ciel's right middle finger, and the blue hope ring; his father's, the one that is always haunting him from his left thumb.
Sebastian stood once again, taking his master's used day clothes and walking through the manor to the washroom. He noticed that the hallways were still illuminated by the soft, ominous glow of the candles that still burned, resting in their sconces. He thought the servants had extinguished them, but knowing them, they probably would have set the Phantomhive Manor on fire for the second time, had they tried. Sebastian soon reached the washroom and deposited the clothes in the wash-basket. The butler picked up a candelabra and placed the wick of one candle in the flame of an already-burning one on the wall. He lit the next candle from that one, and the next from the latter, putting them back in the candelabra. The demon then began the tedious walk back to his master's chambers and, without effort, extinguished the flames on the wall one by one, with power only a demon could harbor.
When Sebastian reached Ciel's chambers, he set the candelabra on the bedside table. The lights in the boy's chambers extinguished slowly with a hiss, and before they could all die out, Sebastian walked toward where his master slept. He took his master's face in his hands and silently pressed his lips to Ciel's forehead. The Earl's breathing remained constant, so he knew that he hadn't woken. The demon stood upright once again and lifted the covers to Ciel's shoulders. He took candelabra off of the night table and his feet ghosted their way to the door. Sebastian heard Ciel's breath hitch a mere two paces from the exit. The butler swiveled instantly.
"Young Master?" his voice was a smooth mix between a whisper and mutter.
"S-Sebastian?" Ciel's reply was reluctant, disappointed that he had been caught.
"Is all well? I heard your breathing change…"
"It's just the storm… I don't want… to be alone. S-stay here tonight, please." The boy's voice echoed in the room, joined by quiet footsteps moving towards him.
Sebastian sat politely on the other side of the bed, extinguishing the candelabra and waiting for his next orders. But instead of ordering anything, Ciel simply stared, making a gesture with his hand as if to say 'What is the holdup, demon?'
The butler then stood, sliding his coat off his shoulders and slipping his shoes off, before smoothly removing his gloves. Ciel reached out and grasped Sebastian's wrist, coaxing him to lay next to him. The demon lay down next to his master wordlessly. He closed his eyes; he may actually get a night of sleep. He felt a body curl up into him, the proud Phantomhive by day, naïve child by night.
Sebastian wrapped his arms around Ciel, surprised at the gesture. Ciel looked up at his butler, his mismatched eyes marking him as Sebastian's and Sebastian's only.
"Is all well, Young Master?" Sebastian's worried whisper echoed coldly in the room.
"Huh? Oh. Uh- I…- Y-Yes. It's fine, I was just thinking." The boy replied hastily.
"Of course. Pardon my asking." The butler continued smoothly.
Ciel knew that he was acting in a way unbefitting of his status as Earl. But he was still a child. He still had memories, a past. Dreams. Nightmares. He had his reasons. And now, finally, he had someone he could trust again. Someone he'd be safe with. Someone who, even if it be selfishly, cared for him. Someone that he knew he, most likely foolishly, cared for. More than any other. His butler. His demon. The one being that would be his savior and undoing. The one being he found himself secured to, by faith, by contract. And something he wasn't sure he quite recognized. His Sebastian, who followed every whim that he could possibly have. The demon in the form that was made precisely for him. The form that was holding him securely and lulling him to sleep with his scent of anise liquorice.
Ciel inhaled deeply, savoring the scent of Sebastian, letting it coax him closer to sleep, to dreams, to his butler. He felt warm air flow past his cheek and ear.
"May I?" a whisper.
Ciel couldn't have heard what he thought he had. He decided to ignore it, and let the dream fully immerse him, instead of blurring into reality.
The voice of his demon continued to whisper to him…
"For a Phantomhive, you appear rather indecisive…" Sebastian's voice taunted him, even now. Half-asleep, naïve and shaken by the storm.
"Don't be foolish! I just didn't hear you." The boy snapped somewhat groggily.
"Ah. Of course not. What could I have been expecting?" The butler's voice slipped through the night like a hot knife through butter.
"If you're so persistent, then… Then repeat it." Ciel was wondering now if the sweet whisper he had heard earlier was more than blurred dreams.
Then came the faintest whisper.
"May I?"
The boy was sure now. His butler was speaking these words to him. Not his subconscious, no. To the boy he served. Ciel Phantomhive.
To this, the Earl nodded, still unsure if he was making the next move correctly. Whether or not he just moved into a space vulnerable enough to hear the word 'Checkmate' come sweetly from his demon's mouth.
As the boy let his eyebrows furrow and hope he hadn't made a wrong move in the darkness of the night, of the storm, with his revenge almost complete… He felt a warm, gloveless fingertip smooth out the wrinkled skin between his brows, causing the boy to open his eyes, surprised at the gesture. The smooth fingers lightly trailed along Ciel's eyebrow, over his cheekbone and along his jaw, where it stopped at his chin, enticing it gently to tilt up. Before the boy could question Sebastian, the demon leant in, and ever so gently, ever so softly, sweetly pressed his lips to those of his master.
Ciel's thoughts and senses went into overdrive. He'd had this moment on his mind, in his thoughts, in his dreams for a while now.
He saw Sebastian's face only inches from his.
He heard their synchronized breathing.
He smelled the scent of anise liqourice on his butler.
He felt their hearts beating, he felt Sebastian's lips on his.
And he tasted the most wonderful taste, the one that could only ever belong to his demon. One he could not describe. It didn't have a distinct flavor, at first. At first, it was just sweet. Almost like eating raw sugar. But then… Then he tasted it. Just like his scent, only better. It was more real, it held more depth. Black liquorice.
And all of these observations had been drawn in within seconds.
Within the few seconds before Sebastian's lips left Ciel's own.
Sebastian lay fully back down again, his hand drifting back to his side, resting next to him on the bed.
Ciel rolled over so that his back was facing Sebastian, embarrassed.
Although he had expected the candles to be fully extinguished, fully darkened, leaving no trace of light, of purity, of anything Holy in it's wake… there was one candle, at the far end of the room, nearest his bed chambers' door, that Ciel could barely see. The wick was still glowing, an orange-red color.
Suddenly, Ciel jumped with a start as the candle reignited, the wick crackling with the sudden change in temperature. The flame was tall and bright, and had reignited in a split instant. Ciel was almost more shocked when it extinguished loudly, the piercing hiss echoing sharply and coldly around the room. The boy looked over his shoulder to see Sebastian's eyes in their demonic, cat-eye shape, pinkish-red color, glowing to an exceptionally bright degree.
Another hiss glided through the room very quietly, this time emanating from Sebastian's mouth as Ciel lay his head back down on his pillow, ending in a whisper that was exorbitantly quiet.
"You are tainted with a burning for revenge, yet you stand so tall, and only the few who look ever so close would see that you're slowly melting, waiting to be extinguished. I am the one who ignited you when you had almost burned out, just as you expect me to be the one to extinguish you. But those are expectations set by contract, and, even if nothing can be done to change the fact that I have to fulfill those expectations, at least until then, I will catch the parts of you that melt and fall. I will bring it back together, to be the Earl Phantomhive that I know. That is mine. You are the burning candle. My burning candle"