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Ciel was small.
Now, Sebastian knew this, had known this for a long while. Still, as he held the young earl, he couldn't help but to muse over just how small his young master was. Compared to himself, to anyone really, the boy was tiny, with narrow shoulders, bony limbs...
The demon shifted his grip on the little human boy, who was sound asleep after having hosted a rather late party for the season. He smiled fondly at the memory of his young master dancing across the hall with Lady Elizabeth, remembering when he had to teach the boy to dance.
Ciel stirred and yawned before he snuggled further into his butler's chest, settling back into sleep. Sebastian had to bite his lip to refrain from making a comment about the spectacle. He didn't want to wake his young master, no matter how amusing he felt that this was.
He passed by Claude in the hall, barely acknowledging the other demon - most of his attention was on the frail body in his arms. Somewhere in his whirlwind of a mind, he registered the way the Trancy butler looked at him, looked at Ciel, but at the moment it didn't stay long in his thoughts.
It took a bit of effort to open the door to Ciel's room, but Sebastian managed and quietly entered the room. He gently set the sleeping boy on the bed, removed his shoes, stockings, jacket and eyepatch. He laid each piece of clothing on the nightstand in a neat stack, and set the shoes down where they belonged.
Carefully, so as to not wake the boy, he slid the covers up and over the earl, tucking the warm blankets just underneath his chin. He knew his young master would be upset about waking up in his party clothes, but there would be no helping it tonight.
Sebastian smiled down at the young boy, one hand still resting on his shoulder. Gently, oh so gently, he leaned down and placed a single chaste kiss on Ciel's forehead. He shut the blinds, checked the slumbering human child once more, and left.
He didn't notice the faint smile on the littlest earl's face as he did any of this.
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The mornings could be worse, Sebastian idly thought as he caught yet another falling dish. At the same time, he caught Mey-Rin around the waist, keeping her from hitting the floor.
She stammered an apology and rushed out of the room; Sebastian wasn't surprised. He only sighed and put the dish back into its place. He turned to snatch up the rest of the clean dishes and put those away as well, only to find that his shoe had snagged in the edge of the carpet...
...and that Claude had caught him and prevented him from falling. The demon butler yanked his arm back, a little faster than he had intended, and glared at the other butler.
"Isn't there something you should be saying right now?" Claude smirked, obviously smug that he'd witnessed the seemingly perfect demon trip up. Sebastian, however, had been playing this game far longer. He simply smiled and turned back to his previous task.
"Mm...playing the silent game, are we?" Claude stepped closer, close enough that Sebastian could catch a whiff of his scent - slightly intoxicating, something minty and strong - and placed his hands on the the demon's shoulders.
"You know it only -"
"Sebastian, Bard's on fire. Again."
Sebastian had to strangle his sigh of relief before it left his throat, though he was quick to move away from Claude and make his way to the kitchen. Where, as Mey-Rin had just said, Bard was on fire.
He made haste in putting the so called chef out, check to make sure the kitchen wasn't damaged, then ordered the mess to be cleaned. As an afterthought, he checked to see if Bard hadn't permanently damaged himself, and only then did he return upstairs, armed with tea and a chocolate cheese cake.
He completely ignored Claude's attempts to speak with him as he cruised past, though he did point in the direction of where he knew Alois was spending his time. Some people should be working, in his opinion.
Ciel hadn't moved from his desk, writing a letter to some English nobleman, probably. Sebastian knocked to gain his young master's attention, waited for the boy to tell him to come in, and poured a cup of Earl Grey for the boy.
He set the cake down, along with the tea, on the desk, within reach of the small earl and far enough away from his work so as to not threaten staining. Ciel reached for the tea first, taking a sip and relaxing almost immediately.
He watched his butler tidy up the room, a welcome distraction from his tedious work. He set his tea to the side, sliding his cake a little closer so he could pick up the fork. He took a bite, chewed and swallowed, still watching Sebastian move about the room.
"Has Alois already left, or is he still here?" Sebastian paused, straightening from where he'd been returning a book to its shelf. He glanced at his master, tilting his head as if to think.
"I believe he is in the library. Would you like me to fetch him for you?"
"No, I'll go down there myself. Have any letters from the queen arrived?"
"Not today, young master." Sebastian walked back over to the desk, waiting for further orders. If there were none, he could get back to work...Ciel waved him off, and he was all too happy to pick up the now empty plate, pour his young master another cup of tea, and leave with the tray.
Now, perhaps he could find that cat he'd seen the other day...
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Alois was ecstatic about spending time with Ciel despite the other boy's constant protests. Even now, he'd managed to drag him all the way up to the earl's room where they sat the table by the window, playing chess and talking.
"Sooo...I'm pretty sure Claude has the hots for your butler..." The topic didn't come as a surprise, as they'd spoken about this before, but still, Ciel gave a long suffering sigh and moved his knight to take out one of Alois's pawns.
"I am aware. He's not subtle about it." Alois studied the chessboard, then turned his attention back to his kind of sort of friend.
"I think we should do something to get them together. At least it would get rid o that awful tension between them." He leaned forward, over the chessboard, the game forgotten.
Ciel, in turn, leaned back, eyeing the blond with a wary gaze.
"And what, exactly, is this idea of yours to get our butlers together. And mind you, Sebastian isn't exactly the type to be easily impressed."
"He doesn't have to be! All we gotta do is make it so Claude makes a move...ever wanted to play dress up with Sebastian? I'm sure he's got something cute in his closet..."
And thus, when Sebastian came in to tell them lunch was ready, he was promptly told that his outfit for tomorrow...would be picked out by his young master and the Trancy brat.
Wonderful.
