Chapter Title: Chance Encounters

Anime's: Kuroshitsuji and Pandora Hearts

Pairings: CielXOz

Chapter Summary: Ciel and Oz meet at a party neither even wanted to attend. Once together, they instantly lock in a game of strategy, of mind, and of getting into your opponents head the best way you can. "Chess anyone?"

Quote: I met Oz today. We are playing chess.

Their meeting had been coincidence.

Ciel had been avidly avoiding the type of social situations that type of party had entailed. All that yelling, and laughing, and shouting, and running around. Honestly, there was no need for such barbaric chaos. It was only a birthday party, and truth be told, Ciel didn't even know whose birthday it was. He had been invited; he had shown up, now all he had to do was wait out the rest of his accursed three hour stay. Damn that Sebastian for leaving him there on his own.

Oz had gotten lost. The mansion he was in was unfamiliar and so much more twisted in construction than his own home. It was probably due to the fact that the little boy who owned this house had a very twisted mind to begin with. Marques, the birthday boy, had always been such a disturbed little child. He took great pleasure in dismembering and disfiguring various inanimate and …not inanimate… objects and seeing how long it would take for his victims to either die or blow up. He had, as of late, shown much interest in the young Bezarius . Especially Oz's deep green eyes and perfect golden hair. Marques had made mention of how lovely they would look in red.

Oz cursed his uncle for making him attend the party. Marques had done everything in his power to see that Oz and he were left alone. It had gotten so nerve wracking that Oz had to make up some excuse about needing to use the restroom. Not only did he never even find the bathroom, but then he had gotten lost in a sea of odd hallways.

Ciel had entered the quietest room he could find. Suspiciously, the room had held all of the belongings of the guests attending the party down on the first floor. Ciel caught sight of his coat and cane lying haphazardly against the only window in the room. In fact it seemed to him that they had just been thrown there. How rude. Looking around he noticed a particular set of objects packaged carefully on one of the couches. How odd. He had seen that dark blue coat somewhere, on one of the guests, but who-

"Oh, sorry. I didn't know anyone was in here."

Ciel turned around to land his gaze on a semi familiar blonde haired green eyed boy. Said boy quietly stood at the doorway peeking around the room. "Am I interrupting?"

Ciel shook his head. "Come in." Ciel had no idea why he had said that, as the reason he wandered over to this floor and this section of the house was to be alone. Yet this boy did not seem like too much of a bother. A bit too bright as far as personality went perhaps, but tolerable, at least much more so than the other pipsqueaks running around downstairs.

The blonde happily ducked inside and closed the door. He stepped to Ciel happily, holding out his hand. "I'm Oz Bezarius . Nice to meet you."

Ah, that's right. The Bezarius family had met with the Phantomhive family briefly many times in the past. It was mostly for small occasions and business parties. Neither family had ever interfered with the other or caused the other to stop the type of business they concocted. Oz looked similar to the last Bezarius Ceil had ever been acquainted with. Oscar something or other.

Ciel took Oz's hand politely. "Ciel Phantomhive."

Oz looked as though he meant to respond, when he caught sight of the package on the nearby couch. "Wha-"

Ciel would not admit that the sudden retraction of Oz's hand made him frown.

Oz was too busy franticly trying to rip open the parcel to notice.

"Is there a problem?"

"These are my things!"

Ciel took a seat on the couch. Might as well make himself comfortable. "And?"

"I gave these to the butler downstairs. Why are they here?" Oz quickly went through his belongings. Everything seemed to be in order. His coat was alright, his gloves placed together, his scarf…where was his scarf?

He dropped down to the floor. Once on all fours, he began to scour the room for his lost article of clothing. Uncle Oscar had given him that scarf. The last thing he wanted to do was lose it.

Ciel raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing?"

"My scarf is missing." A small growl escaped his lips. "I'll bet you anything that stupid Marques de la loco took it."

Ciel tried to stifle a laugh as he followed Oz's search with his eyes. "Does this Marques have a problem with kleptomania?"

"Only when my things are concerned." Oz looked up from the floor with a pout. "Can you help me look for it?"

Usually Ciel would demand that the other look for it himself. However this boy was awfully amusing for reasons the young Phantomhive did not seem to understand at the moment. Still, what harm would looking do? "You search below and I'll search above."

For a few minutes the two young heirs scoured the room for Oz's missing scarf. During that time the two fell into light conversation. Oz talked about his little sister, his uncle Oscar, who as it turns out Ciel had met before, and he seemed to speak a lot about his servant. The boy was apparently around Oz's age and was as loyal as they came. The two of them were best friends.

It was an odd concept to Ciel. His servants were not his friends. He especially wasn't best friends with the most loyal of his staff. Sebastian and he…well he could not really determine what kind of relationship the two of them shared. He momentarily wondered if that was a bad thing.

At one point Oz had finally decided that the small article of winter wear was a lost cause. He suggested that they instead play some sort of game to pass the time. Ciel had laid his eye on a chess board with its pieces already set out. It was not long before the two young heirs were absorbed in an intense game of mind and strategy.

"Neh, Ciel?" Oz questioned as he took hold of one of the others pawns. "Why do you wear that patch over your eye?"

"An old injury." Was the lie that came with practiced ease. Ciel had uttered it so many times it was basically second nature to answer the question in such a way.

Oz frowned. "Sorry. Such a shame."

"Really?" Ciel took one of Oz's nights from the board. "Why?"

Oz's bright smile caught the Phantomhive off guard. "The one eye I can see is lovely. It would have been a treat to see them both."

Ciel had to turn away to hide the blush forming on his face. "Casanova." He muttered under his breath, much to the amusement of his companion.

"You think so? I didn't think I was so charming."

Ciel let out a puff of air. "As if such a thing were possible. Those with charm are very much aware of the talents they posses. Just as those with power are very in tune as to what they control."

Oz stared at Ciel for that comment. After which he quickly took hold of Ciel's queen. "Check mate."

Ciel looked from the board, to Oz's face, back to the board again. "How did you?" He had only taken his eye off the game for a few minutes, and never at consistent intervals. How had Oz managed to beat him like that, without him even becoming aware of it?

"You're too serious Ciel." Oz said with a smile just this side of mischievous. "Spend too much time trying to beat your enemy at his own game, and you might make the mistake of overestimating his movements. By the time you've unraveled the most complicated plan he might win with, he's already seen an obvious way to beat you." He pointed down to the board on the table.

It was then that Ciel realized what had happened. He had early on in the game made work of Oz's pawns. He had laid out an extensive strategy that took out most of the board's imaginary army Oz had surrounded his queen with. He had yet to notice that, in a fit of what he had believed was stupidity, Oz had started moving his own queen around the board. Ciel had let it come closer in the belief that the blonde had some big plan in store for the young Phantomhive. His real plan had been obvious. Get the opposite sides queen with her opposite. Ciel had become distracted with the conversation just enough at different points of the game to lose sight of this small detail. He had still been waiting for Oz to put some brilliant plan into play.

"You beat me."

Oz stood up to stretch his muscles around. He had never had such an intense game of chess before. Ciel was a good opponent. "It was a good game. We should play again sometime."

Ciel looked up, a gaze that said he was ready to try again right then and there.

But Oz merely shook his head. "The party is over and done with." He pointed towards the door as the sound of footsteps running towards one room, near the entrance, was heard. "Time for us to go home."

Ciel wanted to argue. He had never been a very good loser and he wanted to take a swing at Oz again. But it was getting late, and that damn butler would be arriving shortly. So he reluctantly helped Oz put the game away before grabbing his cane and coat from near the window.

When the two arrived downstairs, everyone was just getting into their carriages to head home. Sebastian waved his master over with a smile that Oz could not help but feel uneasy about. Despite that, he walked Ciel to the carriage and was about to bid the other a friendly goodbye. That was until he realized his own coach had yet to arrive.

Confused, he turned, very reluctantly, towards Marques to ask if his uncle had said anything about being late.

The boy let loose a smile even creepier than Sebastian's. "Oh, didn't you know? You're carriage had an accident while on the way here. I'm afraid they won't be able to send someone for you until tomorrow. I suppose you'll have to spend the night."

Oz visibly shook. A night in the same house with that lunatic, who knew every nook and cranny of the place, no doubt with a key to the room Oz would be staying in, did not sound appeasing at all. And he had the feeling that the carriage mishap had not been an accident at all. But, what other choice did he have?

"Oh, didn't you know, Marques?" Ciel said before Oz had the chance to speak. "In the event that Oz was unable to return home, he was told to lodge at my mansion for the night."

Oz blinked, and Marques sent a rather evil glare towards the boy who spoke.

Yet Ciel smiled in the face of it all. He did not like his host very much. He was sure something very unpleasant would happen to Oz if he were to remain here of all places for even an hour. Ciel was unready to lose such a possible equal playmate. "Did you forget, Oz, what your uncle said before you left this evening?"

Oz did not need to be told twice. "Oh!" He quickly turned to Marques in an amazing show of false forgetfulness. "I had completely forgotten. Uncle Oscar was afraid that there would be a terrible storm this evening and had feared that I would not return home. Ciel volunteered to let me impose upon him if such were the case." He scratched the back of his head while chuckling nervously. He saw Ceil raise an eyebrow at his new speech patterns but he blatantly refused to meet the others gaze. "This might not be a storm, but I think it calls upon the same arrangement."

Marques looked less than convinced.

Ciel turned to Sebastian, authority radiating off his small form. "Sebastian, I trust Oz's room has been prepared to his liking."

"Of course young master." The butler said quickly. "The arrangements have already been made."

Without waiting for any arguments, the two boys, plus one very strange servant in Oz's opinion, climbed into the carriage after a swift polite farewell to the birthday boy. The horseman gave a loud call to the horses and they were off.

Inside the carriage Oz and Ciel sat side by side while Sebastian sat opposite of them. Ciel avoided his servant's gaze for as long as he could. There was a teasing question within them that he did not want to answer.

Instead he turned his head towards the window. "You really will have to stay with me for the night." He told Oz. "We'll send word to the Bezarius family right away. Until then, feel free to use a guestroom. It might-" Suddenly he felt a weight on his shoulder. Curious, he turned his head to see Oz's sleeping form leaning against his, head resting on Ciel's shoulder. The Phantomhive should have felt repulsed by someone else touching him, but he simply smiled and let Oz be.

Sebastian chose that time to ask the impending question. "What did you do at the party, young master?"

Ciel continued to stare at the sleeping Oz. "I met Oz today." He said. "We are playing chess." No, they had not finished their game just yet.

MistressOfTime1218: Well this is a series that came from messing with a quote generator I found a link to on DeviantArt. It looked like fun, so I input the names of, what my friend Storm likes to call, my OTCP (One True Crossover Pairing) Ciel and Oz. Various situations will occur throughout the course of this series as I went a tad bit overboard with getting quotes.