Ciel watched Sebastian carefully, looking on as his mind fought a losing battle to understand what he was seeing. The great Sebastian Michaelis, impecable butler to the Phantomhive estate, servant of the Queen's guard dog, knelt motionless on the floor of his bed chambers in the servant's quarters. He was stripped of all clothing, leaving the garments carefully folded at the foot of his bed. He didn't move, and he didn't appear to be breathing, either. It was like he was a statue, kneeling in front of the roaring fireplace with his arms coiled around him and head dipped slightly, causing his long, ebony bangs to hang in his face.

Judging based on how long Ciel had allowed himself to keep standing in the doorway, Sebastian had been in and out of this state for nearly two hours. He'd only be still for no longer than a minute before he'd let out a few harsh breaths, pained breaths, by the sounds of it, and relax close to the hearth for a time before he'd go stiff again and the cycle repeated itself. If he knew Ciel had been standing there this whole time, he didn't acknowledge it, and the young earl could only guess what his loyal servant was trying to do. At this point, he'd guessed everything from a ritual demons partake in, to an ailment, to a curse. Whatever it was, it was something that even Ciel's orders couldn't interfere with.

"Sebastian..." the earl called out softly, for what had to be the fiftieth time, as he stood there, and he braced himself for the response he knew was coming.

At the sound of his voice, the demon's head snapped up and his lips peeled back in a deep, beastly snarl that sent a chill through Ciel's bones. White fangs glinted in the light of the fire, and Sebastian's nails had extended into black claws that seemed to threaten to gouge out the earl's eyes if he so much as placed one foot into the room. The butler's eyes burned, but not with anger or hatred. The look in them was defensive, weary, pained, even a little bit fearful, if it was possible; the same look a cornered, injured animal would make. It was clear to Ciel that whatever the demon was going through at the moment, he wanted to be alone.

The earl dared to take a few steps into the room, "Sebastian, it's only me."

Sebastian let out a low, defensive growl that reverberated through Ciel's limbs. His eyes narrowed as though he were holding his ground against an intruder; feral and holding no familiarity as he bared his teeth and forced himself up onto his feet, the action looking equally as painful as it was strenuous.

Ciel struggled to keep his eyes focused above the demon's waist, knowing that if he were currently in the right mind, Sebastian would never allow him to see him so indecent. As he slowly closed the distance between them, the earl scanned the servant for any obvious signs if an injury that could be causing this. He found none. The demon's skin didn't hold so much as a blemish, not even a scar. The only other thing Ciel could think it to be was some sort of sickness he was battling, and it struck so hard and so quickly that it would be out of his system before he needed him. It'd only been a few hours prior that Sebastian had come up to serve him his afternoon tea, and he'd been acting perfectly fine.

Just as he made it halfway across the room, a movement around the demon's abdomen caught his attention. The muscles there violently shot inward towards the man's spine, exposing the outline of what Ciel could only assume were the organs that sat behind the flat wall of muscle. The spasm was enough to silence Sebastian's growling, forcing it from his throat in a more human-like cry of pain before dropping him onto his knees. Taking a few steadying breaths, he shifted back over to the fireplace and went still once more.

Concerned, Ciel knelt down beside the butler and watched him carefully. Up close, he was able to see the movements he wasn't able to detect from the doorway; the way Sebastian's jaw clenched to keep him silent, the way his nostrils flared as he took silent, controlled breaths to help him cope with the pain, and the way he used two of his fingers, rubbing them around the straining muscles in his abdomen to try to ease the spasm. It was worrying, to say the least.

"Sebastian?" Ciel piped up, fixing his eyes on the butler, "Are you all right?"

The earl's own words surprised him. He'd never had to ask the demon about his well-being before. He was always all right. He was competent. He was capable. Ciel knew he shouldn't have to ask Sebastian that, and yet he just did.

Finally, the spasm seemed to release its hold on Sebastian as he let out a strained sigh. Ciel thought he'd finally get some answers out of the guy, only to find himself stunned by the words that passed through his lips.

"Get out, Master. Now."

His tone wasn't aggressive, but it didn't leave a lot of room to argue. Ciel figured his suspicions had been right; whatever the demon was going through right now, he very much felt like he needed to do it alone. And that's what kept him rooted to where he was. Something in him was screaming that if he left Sebastian alone to do whatever it was he had to do, things would end badly for the demon.

"What's happening?" Ciel asked, "Why are you acting like this?"

Sebastian glanced at him for a moment. The look in his eyes told the earl that he was clearly debating whether or not he should actually tell him.

"Don't force me to order you to answer those questions," the boy warned.

Sebastian was silent for a moment longer before he let out a defeated sigh.

"Call it a curse. It only happens to us every 125 years," he started, "Once a demon reaches sexual maturity, they give birth to an imp. Much like with humans, every demon's time is different. I just happen to have the grave misfortune of it being mine."

Ciel's face twisted in shock and worry. Had he heard him right? "What are you saying?"

The demon dipped his head down again, and shifted back into the kneeling position he was in earlier, "My 125 years are up. It's my time now."

The air left Sebastian's lungs with a pained grunt as the muscles in his abdomen shot inwards again; much more violently, this time. The spasm was so strong, the demon could no longer cope using his previous method of kneeling and concentrating. Low moans rumbled in his throat as he sat on his knees, trying to work through the pain however he could.

Ciel sat there, stunned and slightly terrified, as he eyed his butler in disbelief, "How? You're a man, aren't you?"

Even in the midst of what could have been considered a contraction, Sebastian managed to let out a laugh, "Such boundaries... do not apply to us like they do with humans. Demons die every day... and it's usually the imps that have the highest mortality rate, as they're frail until they hit sexual maturity. As a result... both sexes have been cursed with the ability to bear young."

So he had heard him correctly.

"So you mean me to allow an imp to run around my manor?"

The demon let out a breath as the muscles around his core relaxed,

"Not at all. Most imps are born completely independent, and instinctively return to the realm from which I was born. The only exception to this would be if it was too weak to do so. Frankly, I believe that's why so many die to begin with..." Sebastian paused, turning his attention to the door that was still left wide open to his chambers, "It won't be long now, my lord."

Ciel seemed to pick up on the hint as he rose to his feet and strolled towards the door. He highly considered leaving, allowing Sebastian to do whatever it is he needed to do in privacy, but he still had so many questions, and some part of him was telling him that he had to see this through to the end. If something were to go wrong, he may not have the ability to help him, but at least he could be there to comfort him; a luxury Ciel was certain the demon never had the luxury of having with any imps he might have bore in the past. And so he locked the door as he closed it, sealing them both in until all of this was over.

Sebastian was already gone with another contraction as he made his way back over to him. It still perplexed him how the demon was able to carry his offspring without showing any of the symptoms of a typical pregnancy, let alone donning the sharply curved stomach associated with it. Then again, he guessed this couldn't be considered a typical pregnancy. The person giving birth was a man, that man happened to be a demon, the child nestled somewhere within that demon was an imp, and the only person helping the parent was the Queen's guard dog.

"How long have you been at this?" Ciel asked.

"About... five hours," Sebastian panted, "Thus why I said it wouldn't be long, now... Labor normally goes pretty quickly for my kind."

The earl thought back to how often he had seen Sebastian within that span of time. From what the demon was telling him, he guessed that all of this had started around 10AM. He'd been in a meeting at that time, leaving Sebastian to start on his daily tasks around the manor. After that, Ciel realized that the only time he'd seen Sebastian since breakfast were the three or so times he'd called him to bring him tea, and when he had served him his lunch, and during all those times the demon never gave the slightest indication that anything was amiss.

"How long have you known?" the earl asked, "You never showed any symptoms, and your stomach's completely flat so nobody was able to tell."

Sebastian raised his brow in question, "How many creatures do you think would try taking advantage of my current state if I sported the physical aspects of pregnancy? There are many out there that would try to kill an expecting demon and its young, especially grim reapers, and we all know how Grell can be... We don't show the symptoms to protect the imps, as well as ourselves... As for how long I've known... I didn't... I could only wager a guess based on how many years it's been since the last time I'd spawned."

A slow breath came from the butler as the spasm passed, only to let out a gasp as it quickly returned, forcing him to double over as his arms wrapped around his midsection. A long groan roared in his throat as his hips rocked, helping guide the pressure gripping his lower abdomen down into his pelvis. A familiar sensation crashed over him; overwhelming confusion.

As a demon, Sebastian's natural instinct was to kill and destroy. Bringing death and destruction came as naturally to him as breathing, but bringing forth new life? His body loathed it. It was foreign to him, and he couldn't help but think back to the birth of his first imp, where his body rejected the sensation so much, it would have killed him if it hadn't been for the elder that had stayed beside him out of pity and assisted him. Over time, he'd learned what he could do to make the process go more smoothly, but it still didn't take away from it being the most wrong feeling he'd ever been forced to endure.

"Aren't you worried about the others?" Ciel inquired, "What if one of the other servants hears you?"

"Which is precisely why I gave them their own individual tasks that should keep them preoccupied until this is over," Sebastian grunted, wincing as the imp moved down further into his pelvis. Sweat started to bead along the edges of his cheeks and nose as he sat back on his knees, reaching with one hand to rub at the small of his back while he placed the other between his legs, "Young master... if I may, I'd like to ask you a favor."

Ciel felt the color drain from his face at the question. Judging by how the demon restlessly swayed his hips and the slight look of desperation that coated his expressions the earl though Sebastian might be ready to push and expected him to catch the child, and he forced himself to swallow the nausea that was building inside him as he responded, "Y-yes?"

Sebastian curled in on himself and groaned as his face contorted in an intense expression of pain, "Please look away."

The plea took Ciel by surprise, "But why?"

Spasms of pain seemed to be crashing relentlessly over the demon. He opened his mouth to speak, but the contractions he was riding out nearly made that impossible.

"There is a way... I can relieve the pain... make things a bit easier, but..." a strained grunt ripped from his throat, "It's highly indecent... Please, it'll be but a minute."

Ciel nodded and turned so he was facing away from the demon. He could hear Sebastian pull something from the bed before letting out a few soft cries of pain. After stopping to breathe for a few long seconds, he let out a heated moan before inhaling sharply and letting it out with a shudder. The demon instantly went quiet; his breathing still labored, but no longer accompanied by the sounds of him straining ,groaning, or crying out in pain. The only other sounds he uttered were his nearly silent moans of relief.

"Alright," he finally heard the butler sigh, "You can turn around, now, Master."

Ciel turned. The demon had placed a towel under himself, and was resting his head in one hand while the other rested over his abdomen. He no longer appeared to be in any pain, and the violent spasms that had been coursing through his abs seemed to have ceased.

"Is it over?" the earl asked, earning a chuckle from Sebastian.

"Hardly," the butler responded quietly, "I just eased the pain, that's all."

It wasn't until then that Ciel noticed a streak of red trailing down between one of the man's thighs, staining the towel beneath him, "Sebastian, you're bleeding!"

"It's normal. It'll stop soon enough."

The demon lowered his head, as he'd done earlier, as his gut caved inwards with another contraction. Rather than going silent and being still, however, he sank lower on his knees, lowering his haunches so they were closer to the towel under him as he buried his claws into his knees, took a breath, and pushed.

Ciel struggled to keep himself from panicking as he watched the spectacle unfold. Some part of him was cursing at himself for not leaving when he had the chance, another begging for him to help Sebastian instead of uselessly sitting back and watching.

"I-is there anything I can do?" the earl managed to stammer out.

Sebastian shook his head as he drew in a breath, "There's not much left to do, sir. Most of what can be done falls upon me to do. In fact, I would advise that you leave, my lord. Trust me when I say this will be no more pleasant to witness than an ordinary birth."

The demon's breathing picked up as another contraction wrapped around his core. His method of relieving the pain might have helped in that aspect, but it didn't take away the intensity at which they came, nor the pressure that now pressed against his anus, and he hoped he'd be able to deliver the imp without the pain brutally resurfacing like the past few births had. With that thought in mind, he drew in another breath and bore down once more.

Out of the corner of Ciel's eye, he caught the sight of movement around the demon's haunches. It almost seemed like his hips were trying to expand while more towards his anus the muscles tensed. No matter how much Sebastian might say that everything that was happening right now was normal, no matter how much experience the butler might have in bearing spawn, something in him was still saying that he needed to stay and help him.

"I don't care," the earl finally told him, "I think I've witnessed worse than a little childbirth. Just this once, I'll do whatever you need to ensure you come out of this well; both of you."

Sebastian stared at his master wide-eyed. The child still seemed to be deeply disturbed by this whole situation, but was still offering his help to him, a servant. It was touching, if not a little amusing.

"Alright," the demon sighed as his eyes met the earl's, "Get behind me."

Ciel felt his cheeks flush at the request, but nodded as he stepped from Sebastian's shoulder to sitting near his hips. He wasn't completely behind him where all of the "action" was, but close enough to where he could get a good idea about what was happening, though the demon kept his ass lowered near the ground, making it difficult to tell what sort of progress was being made.

"Alright," the earl asked, "Now what?"

Sebastian shook as he tried to resist the urge to push as another contraction built up, his claws digging deeper into his knees and drawing blood as his entire body screamed, wanting to join the effort.

"Put... gentle pressure... on the head," he tried to explain through gritted teeth.

"You want me to push it back in?!" Ciel squeaked.

"No, but as I push... it's going to want to come out fast. Doing so could gravely injure me, and kill the imp, so you must make sure it comes out slow."

"Sebastian," the earl piped up, "Exactly how many times have you done this?"

"This one would make forty-eight."

The words hit Ciel like a kick in the guts. He couldn't imagine anybody doing this forty-eight times. Then again, Sebastian did describe it as some sort of curse that was placed upon them for the sake of their species' survival. He wasn't able to choose whether or not he wanted to bear spawn. He could only do what his kind was cursed to do. Perhaps the demon knew what he was talking about after all.

A loud grunt snapped Ciel back from his thoughts. Sebastian's anus stretched painfully fast and wide as the demon started to push. The earl lunged forward and cupped the top of the hard mass trying to force itself from the opening. His urge to vomit returned as he felt the imp's wet, slimy black hair against his skin, and the head slowly began to emerge.

Sebastian let out a strained cry as the muscles around the opening were forced to stretch to allow his offspring to pass. It wasn't the contractions that were causing him pain now. It was sharp ache that shot through his anus as the imp's head eased out of him, agonizingly slowed by Ciel's hand. It was his hips stretching, having been broken in four places the first time he'd given birth and never allowed to completely heal, so that they could allow the spawn to pass through. It was the sense of wrongness that spat and cursed at him, telling him to rip it out of him; to rid his body of it however he could, making panic threaten to flare. He fought it. He fought it harder than he had in any war, battle, or confrontation with angels, demons, reapers, and humans alike, knowing if he lost himself now, he might not be able to pull himself back out again, and he knew Ciel would be utterly useless in trying to do it for him.

The demon closed his eyes and focused on the words the elder had told him during the delivery of his first-born, "Just breathe and give small pushes."

As he was mere inches away from birthing the widest part of the head, Sebastian let out a sigh as he let go of the push, causing the head to slide back behind the clenching muscles of his anus, drawing a hiss of pain from the demon. Ciel looked up at him worriedly, thinking that his butler's efforts had been in vain, but the demon remained calm as he breathed through his momentary break until the next contraction struck.

The imp's head continued trying to force itself from the orifice, only slowed by the palm of Ciel's waiting hand. He could hear Sebastian let out a moan that continued to increase in volume as more of it became visible. The earl's eyes widened as the widest part passed, stretching the laboring demon wider than he thought possible. His hips began to sway and rock as the eyes and nose gradually appeared, and stopped as the head left his body.

Sebastian groaned slightly as he forced himself to take a little break, his body relieved that the ordeal was nearly over. Naturally, a bit of worry pricked at his nerves, wondering if this one would be born alive, or dead like the last one. One could say he wasn't exactly heartbroken by the loss, rather he was just disappointed. Disappointed, not just because all of his efforts had been for naught but a corpse, but because he'd known that it was his fault the imp didn't make it. His picky pallet forced the imp to feed off of him instead of the souls he was supposed to consume, and the demon's body rejected it to keep it from making him too weak, giving birth too early for it to survive.

As he felt his abdomen tighten once more, the fear that history was about to repeat itself, and before his own master, too, made him freeze. He didn't want to face pity or condolences, and he most definitely didn't want to have to dispose of it himself. So, with his body protesting the resistance against the spasm, he gave a small plea in his mind and, crossing his fingers, he put everything he had into his final push.

Sebastian felt the pressure on his anus build until it was nearly overwhelming. He couldn't even tell if he was making any progress until, all at once, he heard Ciel let out a surprised yelp, and the discomfort left him. He gave himself a few seconds to recover before turning to where his master sat awkwardly holding his offspring.

Ciel looked completely traumatized, and the imp wasn't moving.

The earl blinked, trying to fathom what exactly had just happened. One moment, it was just the head, the next, it plopped into his arms with a gush of blood and fluid. The imp didn't cry, nor did it move as he sat there and held it. In the human realm, a baby born healthy came out screaming and squirming in protest of its new environment, but the imp did not. Was it dead? If it was, how would Sebastian react?

Ciel forced himself to tear his gaze away from the lifeless shape that was in his arms and looked up at the demon, only to be met with the red, feral eyes that had greeted him when he'd been standing in the doorway.

"Sebastian, I-" the earl was about to apologize to the butler when he felt Sebastian take the imp from his arms. His eyes seemed to search the body for any signs of life as he held it in his hands before sniffing it. A long tongue lolled out of his mouth and he instinctively started to clean it; clearing the airways, and trying to get the blood in it flowing.

The next minute that passed felt like the longest one of their entire lives.

Ciel could tell that the demon was about to give up and proceed with whatever it was he needed to do before getting back to work when the tiny imp in his hands let out its cry of protest. It threw up its limbs, clenched its talon-tipped fists, and flapped a tiny pair of black-feathered wings as it wailed, having been taken from the home it'd been given in Sebastian's womb, and not in the environment she was supposed to be.

The earl and the butler shared a relieved sigh the imp was pulled to its parent's chest. Ciel looked away in disgust as Sebastian gnawed at the umbilical cord, separating his offspring from the coming afterbirth.

"Well, that was horrifying..." he commented.

Sebastian let out a tired chuckle as he held the imp, a daughter, against him, "I guess it was."

"What happened, anyway? I thought for sure she hadn't made it."

"Maybe this could provide us some answers..."

The demon gave a slight push, delivering the afterbirth along with... something else. Sebastian knew that it wasn't just the bloody placenta that was lying there. It'd almost felt like something had been obstructing its path. It mostly just looked like one, big, torn up chunk of flesh, but as Sebastian looked, he could make out splinters of bone that'd had the marrow drained from them, and the shredded remains of organs.

"A twin..." Sebastian muttered, "That's a first."

"You were carrying twins?!" Ciel asked in disbelief.

"It would seem so, and it looks like, rather than feeding off of my body, the girl decided to feed off of her weaker sibling. No wonder the fluid was so bloody when my water broke."

Sebastian ignored the mess before him for a while longer to hold his newborn daughter.

"Thought you said she'd disappear," Ciel reminded the demon.

"She will," Sebastian responded, "but despite the great lengths she went to survive, she's still very weak. It might take a few days to a week for her to build up the strength she needs to return to my realm."

Ciel nodded as he stood up and carefully stepped past the leftover mess from the birth.

"Take some time off, Sebastian. Tend to your daughter and get plenty of rest. You've earned it."

Sebastian simply stared after the earl as he exited his bed chambers without another word before turning his attention back to the imp in his arms, who was just starting to calm down. This birth had been a first for him in more than one way. It was the first twin pregnancy he'd ever dealt with. It'd been the first time one of his contracts assisted with the birth. It was the first time that an imp had fed on something other than his own bodily reserves. This was the first imp he'd given birth to in a while that was born alive; the last one being around the time the Black Death was coming to Europe...

And this was his first daughter.