"Fucking hell… god-fuckin'... fuck…"
Ciel Phantomhive walked at a clipped pace, which was to say – rather fast – down the crowded streets of midtown Manhattan, dodging pedestrians with ease. He only had one eye to see with, or at least it appeared that way. A long, elegant jacket didn't quite match the aura given off by his ragged jeans or expensive, well-polished boots. Despite the curses that he mumbled under his breath, the short male was actually having a nice day. Especially now that he had escaped from his dreary job of signing papers.
Well, that wasn't quite accurate. He did other things too, but today was a paper-signing-day and Ciel didn't care one bit for that sort of thing.
He brushed dark hair out of the way of his uncovered eye, squinting in the bright daylight. It was at times like this where he really wished that he could wear sunglasses but noooo that would look ridiculous. He gave a huff of a sigh, his attention suddenly distracted by a fluttering of wings in the alley next to him. Ciel stopped walking, moving close to the marble exterior of the tall building next to him. Pedestrians passed him by, but none seemed to be interested in the exotic display of animal life within the city.
That might seem like he would be peeking in on some sort of ritualistic mating ceremony, but it was in fact more gory than that. Ciel watched with detached interest, unfazed by the raven devouring the corpse of some poor animal. It might have been a rabbit… or perhaps it was a dog.
With a shrug of his shoulders, Ciel leaned up against the building and turned his attention away from the sight of nature and towards his phone. He had a meeting tomorrow that was rather important – if he bought out that company, it would boost the products that Funtom could sell. It would increase the value of his company and much more – but he had a problem.
Ciel Phantomhive needed a personal assistant – someone to manage his affairs just a little better. Sure, he could do it all himself, but if he had just a little more help, things would go much easier.
He gave another huff of air and frowned as his world was suddenly eclipsed by a shadow of a man who was walking way too fast towards him, seeming to have appeared out of nowhere. The tall man collided roughly with him, and worst of all, spilled a bright red tea all over his clothes. It was cool (thank god) but it was, without a doubt, going to stain.
A personal assistant could clean his clothes for him, he thought.
"What the FUCK is your deal? Do you think you can just run around without looking where you're going? and with a tea without a lid? What the hell is your deal?"
Ciel inhaled, attempting to calm down and glanced up at the perpetrator. He was tall, with longish black hair that framed his face and skin the color of paper. The most astonishing thing about this rude man were his eyes. Ciel swore that he saw them glimmer pink for a moment, but in the next second, they were a reddish-brown.
"Oh dear… I am terribly sorry… I wasn't watching where I was - "
"Yeah, yeah. Save it." Ciel interrupted, irritated by the overly polite British accent. Really, this guy was a piece of work.
"But- is there some way I can help?"
"No." Ciel ended the conversation and turned on his toe, heading past the corpse of the animal to one of the tallest buildings in the area. It was the Funtom headquarters and he owned the penthouse at the very top. He would change quickly and that would be that. Obsessing over some clumsy stranger would do no good.
Who drank red iced tea with no lid? That was a disaster just waiting to happen…
He took the elevator to the top of the building, sliding his id through the card reader to prove that he was, in fact, Ciel Phantomhive. The door opened and he walked out into his spacious living room, the room filled with blinding light that came from the sun that hovered above some of the smaller buildings. Ciel grumbled and turned to the left, walking past his kitchen, then making a slight right into his bedroom. It was dark in here - he liked to keep the curtains closed – but a few strategically placed lamps gave the room a perfect amount of light.
Ciel undid his buttons and zippers, tossing his clothes to the side without care. He would have to get both his shirt and coat dry-cleaned. A frown crossed his face as he knelt by them and took the stained fabric between his fingers. It was sticky and tasted metallic when he brought his fingers to his mouth.
He snarled and tossed his shirt to the side, stumbling into the bathroom to wash his mouth out. Disgusting! Was that blood? That man – what had he been doing?
Ciel reached his hands behind his head to undo the knot of his eyepatch, letting it drop to the ground. He blinked, rubbing his dual-colored eyes. His left iris was a pinkish-purple and the other was a clear blue. Ciel hated looking like a freak – so he covered his eye. There was nothing worse in this world than looking weird. He hated being taunted for his looks. It was his secret and he had hidden his eye forever, ever since he was a kid. The only people who had seen it were his parents and they were dead.
Anyway, it was time for bed. He had a big day tomorrow and he didn't want to be tired. The CEO slid under his silken sheets and turned off the lights. Tomorrow he would worry.
Sebastian stared at his empty cup and growled. He could have gone about that in a much cleaner way. And he hadn't expected the Phantomhive boy to leave so quickly. But he had made an impression and that was his goal. Close enough.
Oh, and that wasn't tea.
He snorted. Really? Tea? He was the last person ever to even consider drinking such a beverage. Sebastian had hoped to finish off the life of that poor creature, but it seemed it was destined for a higher purpose.
There was a flash of white fangs as his tongue traced over his lips to catch the last bits of the animal's soul. Reduced to eating the souls of animals? it was a ridiculous notion. But to maintain certain… agreements… changes had to be made.
Until that time.
Soon, very soon.
He had marked Ciel Phantomhive and that was all he needed to do for the day. Sebastian turned on his heel, heading home to plot for tomorrow.
He could return to the Funtom building the next day and apologize. Offer to clean his clothes or something. Ciel's thoughts had been so loud – a need for a personal assistant, some sort of merging event the next day, and other things that weren't as important. That gave him some insight on what to do.
Sebastian passed a tall sycamore and nodded at the doorman before taking the stairs up to the third floor. He paused before the door to his apartment and fiddled with his keys. This door was always getting stuck but he hadn't taken the time to fix it because they kept getting in the way.
The door finally opened and Sebastian sighed as he entered to a typical scene – a red lump sprawled over the entire couch and a figure hidden behind the sheets of a newspaper.
"Shouldn't you two be getting to work?" Sebastian slid off his shoes, addressing his question to the man behind the paper.
"Not today. The senior reapers aren't needed right now."
"Well, I suppose that's a good thing." Sebastian poked at the mass of red on his couch. "Come now, Grell. I'd like to sit down."
Grell shifted awake with a dramatic yawn, rubbing her eyes as she woke up. "Oh, that wasn't as rude as usual."
Sebastian sat down as she moved over. "Maybe you should consider drinking coffee."
"And have gross breath? No thank you!"
Believe it or not, those two were supernatural beings in charge of collecting the souls of deceased humans. William and Grell were as close as twins and as annoying as flies. William was serious and Grell was… insane, to put it mildly. Grell had finally gotten a sex change surgery to the relief of just about everyone who knew her.
They were an odd couple but they had gotten better over the years. Or maybe, Sebastian considered, he had just gotten soft.
"Did you make contact with the brat?" Grell asked, with a touch of excitement.
Sebastian nodded.
This bit of information was enough that William set his paper down, folding it precisely before pushing up his glasses and arching a brow at Sebastian.
"Really? So are you going to begin the process so we can finally be rid of you?"
Grell sniffed. "Will, darling, please don't be rude. I think it's terribly exciting news."
"I'm not thrilled for what it'll mean for the records but… whatever. A deal is a deal." He nodded at Grell. "Let's go."
The two, red and black, left, leaving Sebastian to sit in quiet and ponder his moves for the next day.
Ciel's mind had revealed that he had a meeting with the head of a rival company at 10. If he arrived at that time, afterwards he could track down Ciel and see if he could somehow become his personal assistant.
After all, that would be the simplest way of gaining his trust.
The next morning, Sebastian woke from his indulgent sleep and got ready for what he was sure was going to be an interesting day.
Sebastian straightened his tie and checked his reflection with a sigh. He looked fine. This was stupid, feeling nervous.
"Here we go…"
The morning air was brisk but nice; the heat of the day hadn't set in yet. He passed so many pedestrians, everyone on their way to work. What would they think of the secret world that they never knew anything about? What would they say if they knew that the man brushing past them was a demon?
As he entered the Funtom building, the hairs on the back of his neck began to tingle. There was someone familiar here – someone who he had thought was long gone.
Sebastian stiffened as a familiar hand grasped his tie, golden eyes blazing at him.
"Michaelis."
He easily pried the hand off his tie, brushing off where Claude had touched him.
"I see that you still haven't learned manners yet, Faustus."
The other demon scoffed. "At least I didn't lose my prey's soul."
"Shut up."
Red eyes blazed pink and Sebastian debated the consequences of beating the shit out of the other demon. It totally wasn't worth it, but oh – he wished he could. The satisfaction would be worth it but Ciel was worth more than just a petty fight.
He inhaled. He'd punch the shit out of this asshole later.
"Alois?"
Both demons turned to look towards the elevator and inhaled simultaneously.
There he was, Ciel Phantomhive.
He was still so beautiful, older now, his face handsome and angled – that baby fat long, long gone – one eye still covered, the other filled with cunning. Ciel dressed casually now, a navy tie hanging loosely over a white collared shirt, black pants clinging closely to his thin legs.
Ciel still had that delicate, noble air to him.
And then – there was also the Trancy boy. Well, Jim, but whatever. Sebastian gave a short glance to him and frowned. Something was up with that kid – well, more than usual. But he didn't care right now.
"He's beautiful." The annoying monotone of the other demon interrupted his thoughts.
"Yes." Sebastian had to agree. It was a fact.
Claude moved away from to sit on a modern square of a chair and Sebastian continued to lean against the wall.
Not too much longer now.
In Ciel's office, Alois sat opposite the CEO in a plain, padded chair. He leaned forward, resting his chin on interlaced fingers. Ciel regarded him with a thoughtful look.
"Do you really think that buying my company will make Funtom stronger? I mean, we're not exactly related to your products."
Ciel shrugged. "I don't think it's an issue. I've been meaning to expand into the video game industry, but I don't think it's necessary to create a whole new idea." He smirked, leaning back with a confident air. "Not while I can just buy you out."
"Hm – I see what you mean." Alois commented, with a flippant air, not really paying attention as he stared at the CEO. "But, isn't merging a bad idea? Like, that messed things up for the both of us?"
Ciel raised a brow. "What are you blabbering on about, Trancy?"
This fucking kid made no sense.
"I mean – like – you're always hiding stuff! There's no way you could successfully merge them!"
What?
"I've known you forever though – and you're still hiding things from me!"
"Alois – what are you doing! Stop!"
Ciel panicked, reaching under the desk for his alarm button, fingers finding nothing. Alois was crawling over the table towards him, sky blue eyes a bloody red with slit pupils. He seemed crazed and Ciel was frozen with fear by those inhuman eyes. He tried to pull and couldn't as Alois grabbed his face.
"Why do you pretend like you're normal? 'Cause you aren't, Phantomhive! You're just as strange as I am!" His face brightened as the eyepatch fell to the floor, "Oh! It's almost the same as it was!"
A dagger appeared between the blond's fingers and Ciel tried to do something, scream, move, fight, anything.
A/N - Welcome to the new version of The Face of Funtom. It's one hell of a ride.