Author's Note: aaaa~ You guys make me so happy! Every email I got because of a review/follow/favorite brightened up my day. :3 I love you all!
-A huge "thank you" goes out to tapion580, Unknownme (a guest), graciekit99, and GreatTheWayIAm for reviewing! :D
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Now here's chapter two~ I hope you like it! :D But I've been listening to "The Darkness Within" for a while on repeat, so it may or may not affect my writing. I think I'll need to apologize if it does. XD
Ciel woke up some time later to - go figure - even more pain. Something else severely uncomfortable as well, though he wasn't quite able to put his finger on what precisely it was. He opened his eyes - then quickly remember he wasn't by himself and closed the eye that the contract seal was on - and sat up.
"You're awake." Elizabeth's voice sounded as if she had just woken up as well. "I was going to get you up when I did, just a couple minutes ago, but I thought I should let you wake up on your own. Sorry if you think I should have gotten you up..."
Why on earth was she saying sorry for something like that?
"And you're apologizing why...?" Ciel mumbled.
"Isn't it obvious? You wet the bed, silly."
Ciel could feel his cheeks heat up, and he turned onto his stomach to hide his face in his pillow in hopes that Elizabeth wouldn't notice. Even as a young child, he could hardly remember having any accidents like that. Now here he was, thirteen years old, wetting his bed like a toddler. How pathetic.
"I had Sebastian draw you a bath," Elizabeth continued. "I told him you requested to have one ready before you woke up, and I insisted on taking care of you."
The earl didn't respond. He wanted to thank his fiancee for going through whatever trouble she had for him, but he was also partial to the idea of curling up in a ball under the covers and not moving until she left. Since he didn't quite want to talk to her, - she must be silently calling him out for something so childish, after all, and that idea in itself was terribly humiliating - but she certainly wouldn't leave, either, he just chose an option that was pretty much a median.
"Thanks," he said, though his voice was heavily muffled by the pillow pressed against his face. He pulled the blankets up over his head, then drew his knees up to his chest.
"There's no need to thank me," Elizabeth replied softly. "I did it for you, so I was happy to do it." She pulled the blankets off Ciel entirely. "And could you please stop acting like this...? It's making me feel bad. It's not like you did anything wrong, it was only an accident." She leaned down and kissed the top of Ciel's head.
Ciel wasn't usually one for kisses, even just ones like that. He loved Elizabeth to death, of course, but it just wasn't really a form of affection that he was typically too crazy about. He did, however, quite like that little kiss, though he doubted he would ever admit that out loud.
"I suppose..."
"Good!" Elizabeth grabbed Ciel's arm and pulled him out of his bed. "Then let's get you in the bath!"
Ciel groaned as he was pulled to his feet. He collapsed to the floor as a strong jolt of pain hit him. This was certainly a horrible problem, and he hated it. Elizabeth immediately dropped down next to him and put her arm around his shoulders.
"Here, let me help," Elizabeth offered. "Just lean on me as heavily as you need to. I'll make sure to hold you up."
She put one of Ciel's arms over the back of her neck, holding his hand gently, and used her free arm to help support his body. It took a few minutes, but the two both eventually got the the bathroom.
Elizabeth sat Ciel down on the toilet and carefully removed his clothing, just as Sebastian always did before putting him in the bath. It was, to be honest, a little bit awkward for him. Elizabeth, on the other hand, showed absolutely no hesitation and didn't seem to have any problem whatsoever with it. She didn't find helping him into the tub odd, either. They were to be married, after all, so there was no reason for them to be uncomfortable around each other, whether they were clothed or not.
"I'll go fetch you more tea and a book, all right?" she suggested. "That'll keep you busy while I clean your sheets."
She left the room and came back several minutes later with another tray with a teacup and teapot upon it, and holding a book with the title Jane Eyre printed on the cover. She set everything on the toilet, then set a small towel on the side of the tub for Ciel to dry his hands off on.
"Do you need me to get anything else?"
Ciel shook his head. "No, this is all I need."
"Great! I'll be back once I'm finished with the cleaning. If you need anything at all, just call for me."
With that, she left the room. As a Lady, Elizabeth never was required to do chores - unless, of course, you count getting into a corset, which Ciel most definitely did count. Rather, then, she was never required to do any cleaning, cooking, or anything else such as that. Still, though, she was catering to all of Ciel's needs as if it were her duty to. Had it been anyone else, she would have let the butler or the maid have the responsibility to take care of their master, but since it was her fiance, she was insisting on taking care of the master herself. It was greatly admirable, the things love could make others do.
The earl sat all the way up, dried off his hands, picked up the teacup, and took a sip of the tea. He wasn't thirsty at all, but the tea was delicious. He then picked up the novel and, leaning back against the head of the bathtub, opened it to the fourth chapter. He hadn't finished it, and he hadn't read it in several months. He actually detested it, as Jane put too high of a value on other peoples' opinions, and early into the book, also proved to have, in a sense, a somewhat hypocritical way of thinking. It was horrible, but he didn't have anything else to do, so he decided to continue reading it.
Who-knows-how-long later, Elizabeth returned.
"Okay, I've got everything cleaned, and now Sebastian is hanging all your sheets up to dry," she said. "Are you ready to get out just yet?"
"Not quite yet, no," Ciel replied, closing the book and setting it back on the top of the toilet to get another cup of tea.
Elizabeth then began removing her clothing, though her dress seemed like it a pain to get off, and got into the tub with Ciel after making sure everything was neatly folded. The water was quite warm, which was quite pleasant.
"Your body is so adorable, you know," she said, for once not squealing as she stated something like that, as she pulled Ciel into a hug. "It's so soft and perfect!"
Ciel couldn't help but blush a little at that statement, so he was a bit thankful for the fact that Elizabeth was hugging him from behind. It was, however, very pleasant to be able to have this sort of physical contact. It was comforting to have her so close to him, to have her chest pressed against his back to feel her slow and steady heartbeat, to know that he didn't have to ask for this sort of closeness from her, to know she enjoyed loving on him like this.
"Um...thank you?" he half-asked in reply, adding silently, I think...?
The only response he received was a giggle, and a spurt of water in the face when Elizabeth cupped her hands and squeezed them in a way that caused a small jet of water to shoot from them.
"What was that for?"
"Sorry! I didn't mean for it to hit you." She shot another spurt of water with her hands, this time hitting Ciel's chest. "But look! It's a little gush of water! Isn't this cute?"
Cute? Ciel didn't know what about being able to shoot water from your hands could be considered "cute." But her dainty little hands were quite adorable, so he wouldn't technically be lying if he gave the answer she wanted, right?
"I suppose so," he replied.
"Here, let me show you how to do it." She moved so as to be sitting in front of Ciel, and grabbed his hands, positioning them in the same way hers were. "You have to hold your hands like this, or else it won't work. Now squeeze your hands together!"
Ciel did as Elizabeth instructed and squeezed his hands together. Water gushed from them and hit one of Elizabeth's ponytails.
"Careful!" she exclaimed. "I won't look very cute if you get my hair wet! And it won't curl again until it dries!"
"It You won't look cute?" Ciel cocked his head slightly to the side. "I somehow doubt that. Why not show me so I can see?"
"But it's true! I don't want you to see me like that..."
"It's not like I'm going to be taking any pictures, and you're going to be my wife, so there's no harm in showing me."
Elizabeth hesitated for a moment. It was just getting her hair wet, wasn't it? It would just flatten her curls, and it would only last until her hair was dry, so it shouldn't really be as much of a big deal as she was making it out to me. She pulled out her hair ties, plugged her nose, and dunked her head under the water.
"See?" she prompted, with a hint of a matter-of-fact tone. "Not cute."
"I beg to differ."
Elizabeth's eyes lit up at Ciel's comment. It was actually quite a surprise that he found her cute at all, even if it wasn't a very big change. She couldn't help but squeal and hug him tightly.
"E-Eliza-" Ciel's protest was cut off by a violent coughing fit.
The earl's fiancee immediately released him, her eyes widening in shock and panic. "Ciel!"
He hardly heard her yell. His head fell forward, both his eyes opened - fortunately his hair was long enough to cover the contract seal from Elizabeth's view - in the fear that took hold of him. It hurt, it hurt, it hurt, it hurt. Each of his coughs got more and more violent, and the pain he felt with each one grew more and more intense. A drop of blood hit the bathwater. Was that his blood? Nothing was very clear at that moment. He put both hands over his mouth, as it felt like he was about to vomit, but the only liquid that spilled through his fingers was blood. He didn't see it, no, but he could taste the metallic tang on his tongue and in the back of his throat.
Everything began spinning, and everything he saw in front of him was beginning to slowly dim. And it hurt.
"CIEL!"
Author's Note: Ahahaha...that got a little bit dark, didn't it? Just a bit. XD Ah~ but it was certainly fun. I hope you guys like it.
Please review, follow, and/or favorite~ It makes me so, so, so, so happy! And I con't know exactly what you think if you don't leave a review to tell me... So yeah~ :D *blows a kiss* Love ya guys!
