Author's Note: My friend and I were making (ridiculous) speculations about Kuroshitsuji II, and a very late hour of the night, and I suggested that Sebastian and Claude might already know each other. I mean, they're both demons after all, right? This is the result. And I haven't watched the newest episode yet, so if I'm messing things up, that's why.
It had been a long day, but then again, it always was. Sebastian Michaelis had rarely needed to sleep before, but since he had begun working for Ciel Phantomhive, he had needed rest more and more frequently. Not that he minded, overmuch. Of all the humans he had signed a contract with over the centuries, Ciel Phantomhive was the one he was more proud to serve.
Sebastian removed his formal white gloves, and unbuttoned his crisp white shirt before laying down on the bed, with his hands behind his head. He would have liked a cup of tea before sleeping, but he just couldn't face making one more cup of tea that day, and unlike Ciel, he didn't have anyone to make it for him. The butler closed his red eyes, and was drifting towards sleep, when he heard something… unusual.
Someone was tapping a fingernail against the glass of his bedroom window. Normally, this would have been alarming, or at least out of the ordinary, but the longer one lives, the less one is surprised. Sebastian climbed out of bed and pushed aside the heavy curtains.
"Claude," Sebastian said, recognizing his visitor. A small smile crept onto his face. He unlatched the window and swung open the glass. "It's good to see you again."
Claude took Sebastian's hands and climbed down into the room. When he had two feet safely on the carpeted floor, he threw his arms around Sebastian's neck. "Claude," Sebastian said gently, "This isn't just a normal visit, is it?"
Claude raised his head from Sebastian's shoulder. Tears glistened in his golden eyes. Sebastian sighed and pointed to the bed. "Sit. I'll make us some…tea." He barely managed to suppress a shudder. Claude laughed weakly. "Perhaps some wine would be better?" Sebastian nodded gratefully. "Then I'll go raid the cellars instead."
He returned with a well aged bottle of red Italian wine, and a pair of crystal glasses. With an expert twist of a wine cork, he opened the bottle and poured, handing Claude the first glass. He sat down on the bed next to him, leaning against the headboard. "So?" he asked.
Claude shivered, looking down into his wine. He lifted the glass and drained it in a single gulp. "I just can't take it any more, Sebastian."
"Take what?"
"Alois. I can't stand him. I can't serve him. He's…he's… He puts out people's eyes for fun, Sebastian!"
Sebastian put his goblet aside, reaching over to take Claude's face in his hands. "I told you not to sign a contract with him, sweetheart. I only wish you had listened to me."
"I missed you. It was the only way…"
Sebastian laughed bitterly. "The only way? We'll live forever, Claude. You couldn't wait for me for one mortal lifetime?" The only way for a demon to leave Hell was with a signed contract in hand. Claude hadn't been to discerning in his choice of a master in his rush to see Sebastian. And now he was paying for it.
"Sebastian? You know that everything I've been doing, encouraging that woman to murder, that thing on the train, it's all because Alois orders it so, right?" Even though he was a demon, Sebastian had a strict sense of… not of right and wrong, exactly, but of justice and honor. Claude was afraid that Sebastian would reject him for his recent doings in the mortal world.
"I know, Claude, I know. When is Alois expecting you back?"
Claude removed his glasses, and lay down, resting his head against Sebastian's chest. "He doesn't know that I've gone. He would never have allowed it."
"Claude, don't leave me alone!" Sebastian put on a high, mocking imitation of Alois' voice.
Claude snickered. "Exactly. I don't suppose that Ciel requires another butler? You seem to be doing well here."
"Alas, no. Poor little Ciel only has one soul to sell, and it is mine, though I admit, that I fear I might regret taking it. Ciel is so entertaining alive."
"I shall relish devouring Alois. Absolutely relish it."
Sebastian brushed a stay lock of black hair out of Claude's face. "Don't sound so bitter. It's not like you, my tap dancing Claude."
"You always did like my tap dancing."
"Well," Sebastian said. "If Alois doesn't know you're gone, then he won't be expecting you until morning. We have some time to ourselves."
Claude raised himself to his knees, pressing his lips to Sebastian's while working out the knot in his tie. "Excellent. That's exactly what I had in mind for this evening."
Sebastian's plans for an evening's rest were ruined. Not that he minded.
XXX
"You're late this morning, Sebastian."
His young master was already awake, sitting up in bed when Sebastian arrive with his morning pot of tea. The butler covered his yawn with one white gloved hand, the tea cup and saucer he held in the other rattling slightly, an unforgivable error for a butler of his caliber.
Ciel raised an eyebrow. "Is something wrong, Sebastian?"
"Not at all, My Lord."
"Of course." Ciel smiled to himself, careful to hide his face with his teacup. His Sebastian was seeing someone. He only wondered who the lucky woman was.
XXX
Claude knew that no matter how little sleep he had gotten, he could not make even the slightest error in front of Alois. That would only lead to interrogation and unpleasantness. He handed Alois a perfectly brewed, perfectly sweetened cup of Darjeeling tea. "Good Morning, Your Highness." Claude was perfectly aware that the proper way to address an earl was as 'My Lord,' Alois' preferred title was only a further sign of his madness. Claude turned away, to pull Alois' clothes for the day from the mahogany wardrobe.
Something hit him in the back of the head, with a shattering of porcelin. "I'm sick of tea!" Alois screeched. "Bring me coffee instead." Claude didn't flinch, even as the scalding liquid dripped down the back of his neck. "Yes, Your Highness."
The weeks passed. Ciel thought that Sebastian was in a consistently better mood than usual. The manor seemed to be running more smoothly, and if Ciel's teacup happened to rattle in Sebastian's hand on the occasional morning, he didn't mind overmuch.
"So who is it, Sebastian?" Ciel asked one afternoon, nibbling on the corner of a petit four.
"I beg your pardon, Young Master. I do not know to whom you're referring."
"Of course you do, Sebastian. I know you've been seeing someone. You're tired in the morning at least once a week, and Meirin said she's heard an extra person sneaking around late at night. Your guests don't have to sneak, you know, Sebastian. They could use the front door."
Sebastian ducked his head, minutely adjusting a fold of the table cloth. "Yes, My Lord."
"You never answered the question. Who are you seeing?"
"If you'll forgive me, Young Master, I prefer not to say."
Ciel stood, dusting a single crumb from the cuff of his sleeve. "Very well, Sebastian. I'll let it go. For now."
Sebastian watched his master head back up towards the house, struggling to keep a smile from his face. For a demon, he doubted his life could be better. Now if only he could manage to extricate Claude from his sticky situation with Alois.
XXX
((Soon to be followed by Chapter Two: In which Claude gets a backbone and stands up to Alois. Yeah, that should go well))
