Ciel Phantomhive found himself in particularly foul mood this evening. In an attempt to distract himself, the earl had shut himself in his study, throwing himself into his Funtom work. His concentration was forced, his mind -distracted. As he poured over stacks of tedious documents, a soft knock broke him from his straying thoughts. Ciel drew in a sharp breath. Marvelous. Just what I need now.
He gritted his teeth and pretended as though he hadn't heard the door in a foolish attempt if he did not answer the summons, perhaps he'd be left to himself. To Ciel's dismay, the rap on the door did not cease, but now grew louder. Ciel slapped his hands on his desk and exhaled.
"Oh, alright, come in." The earl feigned a bored voice to cover up his frustration.
A tall man with porcelain skin and obsidian hair glided into the room, the back of his tailcoat gently lifting in the air as he closed the door behind him, wheeling a trolley cart with tea service. Even when performing a menial task such as this, the butler looked elegant as ever.
Ciel flashed Sebastian an irate stare. "What do you want, Sebastian? Can't you see I'm busy?"
"Precisely. Since you've been hard at work all day, young master, I've taken the liberty of preparing you a evening snack." A dim smile graced Sebastian's lips. Ciel lowered his eyes to his butler's slender, satin clad fingers which held onto a Swiss Meringue, decadent with whipped cream and a dozen maraschino cherries neatly placed along the edges.
Sebastian set the delectable dessert before the earl, however, Ciel did not even make a move to take the succulent dessert. The butler raised an brow and tilted his head. "Is something the matter, sir? It is not like you to refuse dessert. You seem…rather preoccupied, if I do say so."
"It's nothing," Ciel said quietly. "I'm just not particularly hungry." Without even glancing at Sebastian-or the dessert-he put down the paper. A barely audible sigh escaped his lips, but Sebastian, of course, caught it.
The butler scrutinized his master with an odd stare; Ciel reciprocated him with a dark one. Like the earl ever tell his butler what was really in his mind. Besides, if he did, he had no doubt the demon butler would ridicule him.
Sebastian lifted a brow in mounting skepticism. "Are you sure-"
"Of course I'm sure! Besides, it not as if you could help me with this dilemma."
"Master, you realize I cannot help you if you do not speak to me of what is troubling you." He paused upon noticing the earl's silence and then his voice dropped an octave. "If there is anything the young master needs," said Sebastian, a lilt now coloring in his tone, "I am all but ready to assist him in any manner he desires me to..."
With cheeks aflame, Ciel jerked away, averting his butler's amused eyes of crimson.
"If -if I told you. I'm certain, you'd only laugh at me as some sport."
"I will not," said Sebastian at once.
Ciel eyed him doubtfully. "Really...?"
Sebastian smirked. "You know well enough that I cannot lie, young master."
"Fine," muttered Ciel, pressing his hands together. He could hardly look Sebastian in the face. "It's er, about…Lizzie."
"Lady Elizabeth?" repeated the butler, mildly surprised.
Ciel gave an unsteady nod and unlaced his fingers from underneath his chin. A flush crept over the boy's pale face, tinging those round cheeks a deep, rich pink.
Sebastian's lips curled. "May I inquire what exactly is the young master's problem concerning the lady?"
Ciel fiddled with his hands, embarrassed and unsure of how to phrase it.
"Lizzie and I have gotten into some childish squabble recently. She has complained to me about my indifference towards her affections, and how I lack a romantic bone in my body. She is so worked up over this little matter she even had the brazenness to question me if...if young ladies weren't my cup of tea."
"Well, are they your cup of tea?"
With force, Ciel stood up erect, his hands thudding on the mahogany desk. "Is that any way to address your master?" he whispered in frosty accents.
"Please pardon my jesting, sir." Sebastian bowed. "That is quite the predicament the young master has found himself in."
Ciel glared, picking up on his butler's usual sarcasm masked in a veil of concern. "In any case, I've been thinking of ways I could remedify that in order to pacify her and set things right…however, given my lack of knowledge in these things, I fear I am at a loss on how to proceed…" Ciel's voice trailed off. He tightly curled his hands, for he knew what he was about to request would amuse the demon butler to no lengths.
"I…" he began, "I…need lessons in baser manners, Sebastian. I need to learn…the moves…"
Ciel shut his eyes. There, I said it. He slowly opened his eyes and what he saw infuriated him. Sebastian's lips quirked the moment the words slipped his lips; some unspeakable gleam stole across those vermilion eyes. Ciel swore. "You...blasted...dem-"
"The moves, my lord?" interjected Sebastian. He traced a finger along his curved mouth, a movement Ciel found rather distracting. "If the young master wishes a lesson in baser manner, he only need but to ask. Heavens know, you could learn a thing…or two."
"You teaching me -in these...sorts of things?"Ciel forced a sarcastic laugh. "Don't be absurd. You're a demon. What could you possibly know about baser manners?"
Sebastian's lips twitched. "Well, I'm not one to brag, my lord but..." He flitted past Ciel without a second glance. Ciel arched an brow as Sebastian picked up …the cherry Meringue?
"I had prepared this for tonight," Sebastian murmured, plucking two cherries by their stems and raising them into the air. Then he glanced down at the two pockmarks in the cream with a sigh. "A pity that some of the décor is missing now."
Ciel tore his gaze from the dessert and narrowed his eyes at Sebastian. "What the deuce are you planning to-"
But before he could finish his sentence, Sebastian lowered his raised arm and dropped the liquor soaked cherries into his mouth.
Ciel blinked.
Sebastian began masticating the fruit. His mouth moved in slow, deliberate movements, a serpentine smile breaking out across those sinful lips. Though he couldn't see it, Ciel knew well enough that Sebastian's skilled tongue was at work, swirling around the fruit and devouring the cherries with avarice.
Vermilion eyes bore into cerulean, almost smoldering. The butler lowered his lids, letting his thick, dark lashes fan out. His eyes glowed with humor as his master watched on transfixed, beads of sweat forming along his cupid's bow, those mismatched eyes not leaving Sebastian's lips until the butler pursed them open. Ciel's breath caught as Sebastian inserted a long, slender finger into his mouth and retrieved two cherry stems, tied together, from the tip of his tongue.
At the sight of the double knotted stem in Sebastian's outstretched hand, Ciel's midnight blue eyes widened like saucers.
Sebastian bent down over the mahogany desk until he was eye to eye with the boy. "A small display in baser manners, young master," he whispered. He purposely exhaled as he spoke, letting his moist breath ghost across Ciel's face, the scent of cherry sweet on his tongue. Ciel's chest rose sharply; his muscles coiled, ripe with tension. It took all his restraint to keep a straight face; to keep his pride intact from Sebastian.
Sebastian looked down at Ciel, eyes glistening with mirth. "Have I passed the test to start teaching the young master, his lessons in baser appetite?"
Ciel took a deep breath, trying to regain mastery of his voice and his controlled demeanor once more. He gave a reluctant nod. "Yes, Sebastian, you may...proceed."
"Very good, young master," said Sebastian, the depths in his eyes glimmering fuchsia. "In that case, let the lessons begin."
