This is a snapshot of a conversation between Ciel and Tabby, and views upon humanity, more or less. It takes place during chapter 13 of Tabby Cat, which is recommended you read to understand the relationship between Tabby(my oc) and Ciel. To further specify when this takes place, it is between the time they arrive home, after dealing with the Azzurro Vanel situation, and before Tabby's nightmare.

Ciel, that night, could be found in his study, bandages sporadically covering his small body. The game with Azzurro Vanel had not been particularly difficult, nor enjoyable. He might have hoped for a small semblance of a challenge, but his request was, once more, not granted.

He was however, curious about the black and turquoise haired girl who had taken a kick to the stomach, which, if had landed on its intended target, might have severely injured him.

She had no reason to that he could fathom; certainly, he allowed her in his home, and she had told him that she was the reincarnation of a little sister he had no memory of. But why did she feel it necessary to protect him?

He had very little worth protecting.

Thinking of the girl had almost summoned her, it seemed, for without knocking, the door swung open, her hair bouncing as she bounded in clad in her night gown. "Ciel," she chirped, plopping undignified in the seat before him. A wince pulled from her throat, and she immediately arched her side away from the chair, muttering to herself. "Gotta get used to that bruise..."

He made note that she was indeed injured from that kick she had taken for him. "Tabby," Her gaze turned from glaring at the chair's armrest, to Ciel's own mismatched blue eyes. His eye patch had been forsaken due to a cut under his brow, leaving the iridescent sigil carved into his eye free for all the world to see.

"Why did you protect me?"

If anything, it looked as if she expected any topic but that to be brought up.

"Why? That's what people do." She had said it so matter-of-factly, that he realized she truly believed this.

He corrected her instantly. "No. People cheat; steal; lie. They destroy those unfortunate enough to be below them, and make attempts to woo those above them so they themselves are not destroyed. They protect no one but themselves, and step on those who provide avenues for protecting themselves."

Her gaze, which he had expected defiance, as tended to be her usual reaction, was full of pity, something he never wished to be seen directed towards him.

"You truly believe that." She whispered, quoting his earlier thoughts about her. "Perhaps, in the world you've seen. But you've never really sought to see the good in the world- after all, the last time you saw it was when you were nine." He could feel his jaw tighten. "Afterwards, when you became cynical enough to actually take note of the evil, you had casted away the belief of the good."

He sent the girl a hard glare, angered at her analysis of him.

"It is difficult to believe in the good, when it was a demon that saved you."

If possible, the pity in her eyes worsened. "Did Sebastian save you?" were her light words, almost inaudible, as if she were talking to herself. "At what cost? You traded one hell for another."

The truth of this was well known to him; but he hadn't expected her to know it, let alone throw it back in his face.

"This hell is more tolerable."

With a nod, she conceded his point. "I suppose, in comparison, it is. But then, you gave up your chance to be human."

A small sneer curled on his lips. "I have no wish to be human. I told you- people cheat, steal, and lie. Destruction follows in their footsteps, as well as their path ahead. There is no such thing as the good you attempt to convince me to see."

"Then what am I?"

The softness of the tone halted him, and he peered at the girl who had spoken quietly, despite the hard edge in her eyes.

"I suppose..." He considered both her and his next words carefully. "...that if it were necessary to put a face to a name, you would be good."

She nodded seriously, her expression flat while she crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm glad you can see it. Now, I'm going to tell you a couple secrets: first rule of life, everybody lies." He blinked. "Even the good. I lie. Finny lies. The little girl selling oranges lies. Does that make them any less good? Any less pure of heart?" She cut him off before he could answer. "No, it doesn't. And that question was rhetorical. Second: I've cheated before. All through Spanish class, I cheated off homework and tests. I've cheated out my mother, by pretending to be sick so I didn't have to go to school. I'm still good though, no? After all, it was you who said so. And thirdly: I've stolen. I stole my best friend's favorite shirt because it was my favorite shirt. Granted, I was six at the time. I stole twenty dollars from my father because I wanted to go out with my friends, and he wouldn't give me any money." Her voice, which had been of normal volume, dipped.

"I've stolen a piece of my family's love, by coming here. Some of their life. I've stolen a bit of their happiness. Does that make me less good?"

Ciel didn't answer her for a few moments, his gaze hooded from hers. "That is beyond your control. From my understanding, you did not intend to travel through time by nearly drowning in the Thames."

"No, I didn't." She conceded, and his eyes jerked up to look back at her. "But I chose to walk along with you, who's every foot step brings not only destruction, but despair. I chose to walk along with you, knowing that you aren't good, and that by the end of it, nor will I be.

"That, Ciel, is why I protected you." She must have seen something flicker in his eyes, because she elaborated. "I chose to follow you. I chose you, and the path you lead, over the ignorance of what is good. By doing so, I decided that we will be, eventually, one in the same. And a person, no matter their virtues and vices, will protect someone that reminds them of themselves."

Seeing her little speech done, she stood up, the slight contortions of her face telling Ciel she was withholding a wince. Despite seeing this, he made no comment, analyzing her, and her words. Indeed, he would have hidden his pain, as she tried to. She wasn't like him yet, but she was on that path. Perhaps not walking beside him, hand in hand, but half a step behind, the good he supposedly saw in her tainting with each step she took.

"I suppose, over all," Tabby said, opening the door. "That's the niceties of it."

Once she left, likely to head to bed, Ciel allowed himself to ponder her words, as well as his own. He had said, if one must give a face to a name, that she could be described as good. But she herself had spoken truer words.

The first rule of life: everybody lies.

So, sorry I haven't updated in almost two months; I've been a bit depressed, and reading lots of fanfiction in an effort to avoid being social. To be honest, my 1st person writing style has degraded drastically, and I've been rather upset by it not being up to my personal standards. (oh, and I've been procrastinating because I dont want to write the Abbey Arc)

In all fairness though, I think my 3rd person is at its current best. Which is why I did a 3rd person pov.

I really enjoy Tabby and Ciel's relationship, even before its really developed. I expect to do more of these sidefics, because they seem great for writers block, and give me reasons to explore different aspects of the characters.

Anyways, sorry I haven't updated TC yet, there's some feels because (gasp!) Tabby has a problem with Ciel's actions. And Ciel, despite his best efforts to appear older, is still a 13 year old boy with an ego the size of Russia.