Author's Notes: So, over a month later than I would have liked to upload this, here it finally is: chapter 2 of But a Humble Servant. :-)

First, let me say that I was completely amazed at the amount of feedback, attention and love this fic got. I've never written a non-parody/humor fic that got as much attention as this one. A heartfelt thank you to everyone who has reviewed, faved or alerted this thing and a welcome to all new readers just stumbling upon this smutty tale. I am completely in awe at how awesome you all are.

...did I say smutty just now? :D That's right. This chapter is definitely smuttier than the first and while I know I may be alienating some of my readership with it, I just couldn't resist. One day, I just know it, one day I will write that completely unsmutty, well plotted-out Kuroshitsuji fic. One day, yeah.

Until then? Let's have some fun. Nyah.

(and I apologize in advance for being mean to Ciel. Again. O_o)

Warnings: M for demanding!Ciel being demanding and sexy!Seba being sexy.

But a Humble Servant


Chapter 2: Enjoy the Ride!

Something had changed between them.

Ciel had been rather slow to pick up on it; it hadn't been until a few days ago, when he'd watched Sebastian wipe off his hands with the same kind of half-amused, half-satisfied expression on his face, that Ciel had really been able to pinpoint what it was that had changed and even then, he had struggled with the right words with which to describe what exactly it was.

Ciel had eventually decided that the the words heightened tension were perhaps the best description for the changes that had infested themselves in their lives. It was like the air between them hung thick with every word spoken between them, trapped because neither was willing to open the window to resolution. Sebastian did a splendid job at ignoring the tension so casually and nonchalantly that Ciel would often narrow his eyes at his butler, feeling anger rub over his nerves like sand paper over brittle bone.

While he couldn't quite grasp the effect, Ciel was very well aware of the cause of their new level of interaction: that one morning a month ago. On that morning, they had very clearly overstepped the boundaries as master and servant they had been precariously balancing along the edges of for many months beforehand. A connection between them had been there all along, perhaps even something like an attraction, too, but that one action had stripped it of all its disguises and dragged the raw attraction into the open where it had coalesced like a malignantly humming force in the air. Its effects had been immediate, too: that day, while Sebastian had gone about his usual business with inhuman precision, Ciel had spent the majority of the day floundering on the scary possibilities the future held. He had so openly snapped and sneered and scowled at the drop of a heat that even Maylene had picked up on the mood change between them and had drawn in her head in a way that had reminded Ciel of tropical turtles.

He frowned.

When he put his hand against the window and watched the rain fall from the sky and the wind whip the trees, he forced his mind to go blank. The rain drops lolled to tears on the glass, gleaming like crystals beneath the evening sun. Ciel breathed against his own hand, feeling the warmth skitter along the surface and drawing goosebumps in its way. Ciel dimly thought that, with the way the rain was splattering against the glass, the clatter of the horses' hooves pounding the forest ground and the slight vibration pulsing through the carriage, it would have been easy to close his eyes and stumble toward the hazy embrace of sleep.

If, that was, he was ever going to allow himself to fall asleep with Sebastian sitting right across from him. At least lately.

As though he had been able to read his thoughts, Sebastian's smooth voice reached his ears. "Have you been sleeping well, young master?" His voice was as pleasant as always, but an amused tone rode atop the sweet politeness.

Ciel bit his lip, but managed to keep the moody drawl out of his voice. "Why are you asking, Sebastian? Not bad, considering." His eyes never left the window; he noticed that the hand pressed up against it was small, its palms disproportionally large compared to the short, thin fingers. The mark of a child's hand.

"It seems you've been having dreams lately. Have your nightmares returned?"

When Ciel withdrew his hand, he left a small, hazy imprint behind that soon collapsed upon itself as rain drops bled into it. "You know very well that isn't why."

The carriage was awash with a satiny blue glow as the sun light filtered through the heavy curtains. From the edges of Ciel's eyes, he could see it glint off the blue in Sebastian's hair when it wreathed around him, melting the ebony with flashes of electricity. "Are you satisfied with our purchases, young master? It does appear that the cloak we bought may be a bit too long on you; in this case, would you like me to shorten it?" Sebastian stopped, pursing his lips. "It would appear you weren't quite tall enough to purchase cloaks meant to be worn by adults just yet, young master."

"Sebastian," Ciel replied, moodily closing his eyes and suppressing the anger threatening to lace his voice. "Are you calling me a child?" He slitted his eyes open, one eye sliding to the side to fix his butler with a glare.

Sebastian flashed him his trademark smile, that little curling of his lips. Ciel had always felt that there was something so fake about it that it walked along the border to condescension. "I mean to imply no such thing," Sebastian said and Ciel could tell he was enjoying it. "However, the fact stands true that the young master is only thirteen years old."

Ciel's voice whistled between teeth of condemnation. "Shut up."

Everything Sebastian said or did should have been submissive - after all, he really wasn't in any position to rebel - but for some reason, 'submission' was perhaps the very last word to come to mind when looking at his elegant form and finely-featured face. 'Confidence', and unabashed one at that, was a far more apt word to describe him with. He was so sure of his abilities that, even when he was following Ciel's orders, something was so very supercilious about him at all times; whether it the way he held his head high, the way that skeptical smile played on his lips, the way he managed to irritate Ciel with just a few well-chosen words -

"Have I struck a chord, young master?"

There had been a time when, for all the impression the world had made on Ciel, his eyes could have been dead black holes. He had gone about his business so mechanically, with only sweets and the occasional enjoyable meal punctuating his dull gray days with moments of pleasure, that, at times, it had felt like Ciel Phantomhive was merely a vessel for whatever soul was left after the life had long been stripped from him.

Now, things were different - while the world hadn't gotten significantly more exciting, Sebastian certainly had.

Ciel, who for years had been molding his face into a perfect mask of apathy, had gotten into the habit of letting his treacherous eyes betray him with their lingering gazes, their occasional flares of unsolicited anger and their deeply-hidden conflict silently warring beyond the glassy surface. Sebastian's aura, power, presence, his everything, had gotten so quick at slipping past his defenses and wreaking their havoc that Ciel found no other solution but to make feeble attempts at rebuilding the barrier that lay crumbled around him, sharpening its edges to spires.

He felt his hidden eye burning with the magic brewing beyond as anger stirred inside him. "Sebastian." Just one tightly-corded cord, but the poison beneath was evident.

Sebastian lightly skipped over the warning. "If the young master wishes me not to shorten the cloak we purchased, I will heed his word." Again, that smile. "Perhaps I will -"

A gremlin of inspiration sparked in Ciel's brain. His face was as apathetic as usual, but his voice took on a darker, more dangerous tone. "You said about twenty minutes until we reached home, didn't you?"

"We should reach the estate in about eighteen minutes now, young master," Sebastian informed him smoothly. "Would you like me to tell you the schedule for the rest of the day?"

Ciel turned his head back to the window, seeing the sun set in the horizon and tainting it pink. "I already know." Irritation drizzled his voice. "You already recited it to me three times since I've gotten up." His eyes slipped back to Sebastian, resting there, and only the very observant would have seen the blue in his eye shift when he deadpanned, "Do it."

Sebastian understood. Immediately.

Ciel could tell from the way the understanding flashed behind his eyes like light racing along the surface of brittle glass, the way his lips dropped into a surprised 'oh'. It didn't take long, however, before the expression of bewilderment was chased away by one of placid politeness. Ciel was pretty sure he was the only one who could have seen the amusement needling just beneath the surface. "What do you speak of, young master?"

Ciel made an angered noise at the back of his throat. "You know very well. You're my servant, Sebastian." His eyes narrowed at Sebastian, daring him to refuse as he bit out, "Service me."

The words thickened in the air, solidified and wrapped around Ciel's face like a towel drenched in hot water as the seconds ticked past and neither moved. For a moment, for one terrible moment only, Ciel feared that Sebastian, against all odds, really would refuse; soon, however, as Ciel had rationally known he would, Sebastian's face split into another friendly smile and he said, "Yes, my lord."

Ciel's heart rate picked up speed as Sebastian leaned forward, bringing his by now so familiar body heat with him. A distant part of Ciel's mind wondered why no one else ever noticed that Sebastian wasn't human; his heated aura first pricked Ciel's skin, then seeped through his skin into him, filling him like a corporeal thing and making him fight against the urge to -

(snuggle up closer to)

- shrink away from it.

Ciel closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Shadows fell over both of them as Sebastian drew the curtains. When his butler leaned forward, placing one hand on the dark blue material of the seats on Ciel's side of the carriage, Ciel found himself unable to do anything other than watch as Sebastian stretched his body like a cat for just one moment before he swung over to Ciel's side of the carriage, sitting right next to the boy. To Ciel, it looked like his eyes were bright as the heart of fire.

Ciel drew his chin to the side as he felt heat ghosting its fiery fingers across his cheeks. He felt nervousness twisting in his stomach - while their 'encounters', as Sebastian liked to refer to them as, had settled into the Phantomhive estate as a practiced routine to be done most mornings and some evenings when Ciel had trouble sleeping, this situation was different in that it was the first time Ciel had ever requested it.

He had always, always, seen the potential to use it as a weapon - but it hadn't been until now that Ciel had tried to utilize it as such.

Ciel turned away from Sebastian, blue eye dismissively flexed upon the curtains. His heart was beating in tune with the sound of the hooves slapping the ground as Sebastian shifted, slowly scooting closer and closer still. A breath crushed against Ciel's teeth as he felt Sebastian's hot breath blazing along the side of Ciel's neck and -

Oh. Goosebumps.

- and the other hand was on Ciel's chest and Ciel had asked for this, had requested this, so it really shouldn't have been surprising, and it wasn't, not really, but he still couldn't help the little gasp as Sebastian's hand curled around the front of his cloak, drawing it apart as he undid it and letting his fingers slide along the material of the silk blouse Ciel wore underneath. His butler's fingers seemed to reach through the material and through Ciel's skin right to his spine, where they flicked off sparks of cold and wet showers that scuttled down his spine in periodic intervals. Sebastian's right hand slid down lower, lower, but Ciel couldn't focus on that now because his lips were suddenly next to Ciel's ear and he could feel him, smell him, and Ciel's heart pulsed in his ears.

Sebastian descended on Ciel's neck, lacing it with kisses and hot, trailing licks.

"S-Sebastian." Ciel's fingers clenched around Sebastian's shoulders as he involuntarily turned to Sebastian, seeking more contact. Ciel's voice got breathless as he cursed himself for still reacting the way he did to Sebastian's closeness, for still surrendering so much of his usual defense. "S-Seba - oh." His eyes widened a little.

Ciel could feel Sebastian grinning against his neck as his fingers slowly tweaked the buttons of Ciel's shorts open, then teased over the hem of Ciel's undergarments, fingertips brushing along the flat plane of the boy's stomach. Ciel's body tensed at the contact, his still underdeveloped abdominal muscles protruding slightly against his skin.

When Sebastian sucked a little harder on Ciel's neck, softly digging his teeth into the sensitive skin, clarity finally cut through the haze into Ciel's brain and he pushed Sebastian away with a start, hard enough for the butler to retreat with a surprised look on his face.

Ciel's hands few to the side of his neck, eyes narrowed in anger. His voice rang low and dangerous. "What are you doing, Sebastian?"

Sebastian tilted his head a little, his mane of black hair glittering against his shoulder. Ciel felt the irrational impulse to brush it away, to feel it trickle through his fingers like rain. "Young master - you were not in a state of sexual excitement when you requested pleasure," Sebastian said, in that voice that could only be described as smooth and soft or -

- or the auditory equivalent of china tea cups, Ciel thought dully. Right now, he wanted to do nothing more but smash them into a million glittering pieces.

Instead of exploding into pieces, though, Sebastian's voice was as controlled as ever when he added, "It seems my closeness arouses you."

Ciel grit his teeth. "I'm not aroused." He haughtily raised his chin, glaring at Sebastian from beneath his lashes. "Your presence makes me... nervous, that's all."

Sebastian gave him an amiable smile. "Is that so, young master?"

"Yes. Yes, it is and I -"

Sebastian's hand, which had remained in his pants, dipped lower and brushed against his - and Ciel's eyes widened because he was -

Oh.

Ciel felt Sebastian moving closer and pressing his chin against the crown of Ciel's head. His voice was so low and intimate that the slapping of the hooves almost - almost - drowned it out. "Erotic dreams at night are not the only way to get erections, young master. It appears you have started to sexually respond to me and my presence."

Ciel could practically hear the smile on his face. His stomach twisted, revulsion and darker things tying his stomach into a complicated knot.

"There is nothing to be worried about, young master. Please do not feel ashamed, for this is a perfectly natural reaction. In fact, you -"

Ciel's voice trembled with barely-contained rage. "I believe I didn't ask you to make my ears bleed with your impertinent yapping." He fixed his butler with an arrogant look and then said with as much finality as he could muster, "Get to it already."

An interesting expression surfaced on Sebastian's face; Ciel couldn't tell if it was on the verge of a smile or a skeptical sneer. Sebastian drew his eyes to the floor of the carriage in his typical brand of faux-submission. His hand tightened its grip around Ciel.

hm

Ciel's muscles snapped into tightly-corded tension at the feeling of Sebastian's hand squeezing him gently with every movement. It felt familiar by now, almost routine; Sebastian's palm was a perfect fit, but at the same time, it still felt new, exciting and so good that a sweet laziness lodged in Ciel's every muscle.

Sebastian's hair wavered in Ciel's vision, like a picture drawn in ink that had been rained on. The sun light that streamed in from outside had dimmed, bathing Sebastian in semi-darkness that seemed to close in on him. The expression on his face was - it was -

"S-Sebastian!" Ciel ground out, hand flying to his lap. He wrapped his hands around Sebastian's, stopping his butler's rhythmic movements. He felt the tide of pleasure ebb away enough for Ciel to take heaving breaths and his vision to swim back into sharp focus.

"Yes, young master?" Sebastian asked politely, one eyebrow arched in a skeptical way; Ciel felt anger buds blossoming again as his eyes fused with Sebastian's, silent electricity passing between them until the tension built up between them.

Ciel knew why he had stopped Sebastian, knew his course of action - but he drew what followed out on purpose, wanting to savor this moment and imprint every little reaction of Sebastian's into his mind, to be at his disposal for constant reruns later on. "No, not like this," Ciel said, lips pursed into a condescending sneer and head tilted back. His voice dripped malice as he added, "With your mouth."

And through the pricks and needles that followed that statement, it took Sebastian a few seconds to find his voice again. He titled his head. "You wish me to orally pleasure you, young master?"

If Ciel hadn't been a master at keeping his features apathetic, he would have gloated. "That's right."

The light of realization flooded Sebastian's eyes. "Ah, yes." A knowing smile wound itself around his lips. "I suppose humans think of it as humiliating, don't they? Do you wish to punish me for making you react to me, young master?"

Heat blasted into Ciel's cheeks. "It's got nothing to do with that. Just... just do it." His eye twitched. "It's an order."

Sebastian gave himself unimpressed. "An order, you say...Well, then..."

He leaned forward slightly, smothering Ciel with his body heat for just a moment before he slowly slid down off the bench. His knees sunk toward the floor, sly little smile on his face as he folded his hands on either side of Ciel's hips.

Sebastian's hand dropped to Ciel's ankle, then danced back up over his calves to -

gasp

- to his thighs, slipping one hand between them. And while Sebastian gently pried Ciel's legs apart and eased his body right between them, Ciel's heart was singing in his ears so loudly that he almost didn't hear Sebastian say, with a lick of his lips and a flicker in his demonic eyes, "Yes, my Lord."

Sebastian seemed completely unabashed, yes, seemed to be enjoying it, when he lifted Ciel with one arm snaked around his waist and gently pushed down his shorts with the other.

Ciel had to look away when his shorts were pulled down far enough to expose him, although a part of him knew it was silly. After all, his butler had seen him naked hundreds, thousands of times and Sebastian had always treated his naked body with impeccable professionalism, barely slipping a spare glance down when kneeling before Ciel and rinsing his body with soap. Back then, Ciel had never once felt that little burn of heat staining his cheeks with that dreaded evidence of embarrassment.

Ciel being both very breathless and very hard really seemed to make all the difference here.

Sebastian's smile was as slow and sweet as honey as he dipped his head down. Ciel drew in a harsh breath, expecting to feel the heat of Sebastian's mouth around him any minute, but -

A tremble shook through him at the touch - even though Sebastian's tongue wasn't where he had expected it to be.

"Sebastian," Ciel growled after the pleasurable chill had subsided. "What are you doing licking my thighs?"

Ciel could tell that Sebastian was smiling from the way his lips curled against the sensitive skin of his upper thigh. "I believe humans call it 'foreplay', young master."

After a while of watching Sebastian nibble at the crook of his thighs and teasing him with his breath, Ciel, with a quiet groan, brusquely bucked his hips, making his erection slip out of Sebastian's hand and up higher, actually poking Sebastian's cheek with it. "Quit this nonsense."

Sebastian froze, then raised his eyes. Their gazes, Ciel's jittery like a bird's and Sebastian's composed and unreadable like a cat's, slid together, entering a silent war.

"Young master." It was the first time in a while that Ciel saw Sebastian visibly wavering between amusement and irritation; the scales eventually dipped in amusement's favour, and he shook a strand of loose black hair out of his face. "That was not very nice." Was it Ciel's imagination or had his eyes flashed ruby red for just one second?

Ciel wrinkled his nose in irritation. "I cannot stand servants who waste time," he said, trying very hard to keep the excited tremble out of his voice. "It's truly a shame that -" He saw Sebastian smile and his head went lower, lower and - "-that you are...so -" And then there it was, that flash of pink tongue darting down to take a long lick and all of Ciel's thoughts, all to the very last, tumbled out of his head and scattered to his feet. "Mh! Uh... " His eyes widened. "Oh."

oh. wet. hot. mouth.

It felt decidedly different from having Sebastian pleasure him manually. His mouth was so much softer, the tongue so swift, probing here and there, then running along the length and circling the top. The heat of Sebastian's tongue was thick and heady and the feel of his lips soft as pillows. If manual stimulation was as pleasurable as chocolate, surely this had to be the sensory equivalent of the finest Belgian chocolate cake.

Ciel's mouth hung open and had he been able to see himself, he would have been embarrassed at how his eyes were glazed-over with lust, how a delirious expression had settled on his face that softened his lines and made him look even younger, how he made soft encouraging noises and how even the occasional mewl and feminine whimper escaped his throat whenever Sebastian's tongue -

oh. tongue.

- swirled around the tip or gave him an especially long and thorough suck with his lips locked tightly around him. Ciel jerked back against his seat, back colliding with the carriage until the vibrations of it seemed to rattle through his every bone. It was not just the sensation itself - it was also the knowledge that gave Ciel a chill of pleasure, the knowledge that Sebastian was on his knees with his lips wrapped around Ciel's most intimate body part and working his tongue and lips to give him pleasure, doing it for him, just for him, while he could lean back and enjoy the ripples of euphoria darting through his body like a little king.

Only that Ciel was so caught up in his pleasure that he would remember most of it as little more than a blur.

Some of Sebastian's silky black hair fell down like a curtain, obscuring part of Ciel's view. Even so, Ciel was mesmerized by the sight; by his pale skin, by the way his lips were pursed around him, the way his long lashes splayed across his now hollow cheek bones. Worst of all, as usual, were the -

Ciel fidgeted in his seat. so good. yes.

- eyes, of course. They were open while Sebastian bobbed his head up and down, boring themselves into Ciel's eyes without doubt. It felt so... intimate to be looking into his eyes in this situation and Ciel felt his heart surge. Something raw shone in those eyes, something almost instinctual, something -

And then the carriage hit a bump, Ciel's body jerked upward with a shriek and his erection hit the back of Sebastian's throat.

Ciel's mouth dropped into a quiet 'oh', his eyes impossibly wide and unseeing at the spark of pleasure piercing his loins.

ah. hot. tight. oh.

Ciel tangled his hands in the web of hair to his feet, grasping some of the strands and feeling them slide through his fingers. He tugged on them so harshly that he tore out a few strands they would later find scattered inside the carriage, but right now Ciel's thoughts were on only one thing: the impending orgasm that had started to build up, raising the pressure inside his body. He could visualize himself standing to the feet of a bright, glowing tower made of sparkly gold and he was constantly getting closer to the top, being catapulted higher and higher and -

Then Sebastian pulled back, tore his skull out of Ciel's grip on it and Ciel's level of arousal flat-lined.

A sparkly trail of saliva spun between the tip of his tongue and Ciel's wet erection. The smile around Sebastian's lips was slow, seductive; the gleam in his eyes, however, was wild, almost feral. "Young master, what do you wish me to do with it?"

Ciel blinked. mouth. yes. no, what? "What?"

The rope of saliva snapped. "With your ejaculate, young master. It won't take long now until you reach climax." He paused, then asked in a voice so polite he could have been asking Ciel about his preferred choice of dessert, "Do you wish for me to swallow it?"

Ciel was so overwhelmed that he even forgot to get angry. "S-Swallow?" Ciel pondered this for a moment, his hips still bucking involuntarily, his neglected erection a dull ache in his groin interfering with his higher thought processes. "What... what's it taste like?" Should he have Sebastian swallow it? But, wasn't it... would it taste gross? Or sweet like the milk it so resembled? Ciel liked milk... hm. Tongue.

Sebastian just shook his head. "It won't be too bitter, considering your diet. I'll show you, young master."

With that, he swiftly dipped his head back down and Ciel let out a soft moan as the conversation they'd just had was deleted from his short-term memory. Ciel was only half-aware of the fact that he had Sebastian's skull in a tight grip, that he was bucking his hips, that he was muttering nonsensical things under his breath - but what he was aware of was the fact that his stomach was tightening, his every muscle tensed, and since his very first orgasm at Sebastian's hand, he knew that it meant that he was close, so close, that there was no turning back now.

Ciel writhed against the carriage, his mouth hanging open and his eyes clenched shut as he concentrated on the sensations racing toward their peak. Sweat had started to pearl on his body; brilliant drops that trailed down his temples and gathered in the crook of his neck. His muscles were tensed so tightly that his entire body shivered.

And just before Ciel reached his peak, the carriage hit another bump and Ciel let out a low hiss as he was jerked upward, once again feeling himself buried to the hilt inside Sebastian's mouth. His butler adjusted gracefully, relaxing his throat muscles to let him pass, then fastened his lips around him and let out the first sound he'd made since going down on Ciel, a low little purr from the back of his throat. Ultimately, it was that sound and the way it reverberated through his body that finally catapulted Ciel toward that blinding light until it engulfed him completely for one perfect, weightless moment.

Ciel came quietly this time - after the first time, he had learned to keep the volume down - but the broken moan he wouldn't release shattered in his throat, echoing the twisting of the pit of fever inside him. While he did not moan, low mewls and quiet gasps ripped from his throat and his eyes were clenched shut as his heels drummed against the floor. Shards of pleasure flashed behind his eyelids that slowly dimmed in its brilliance and eventually scattered completely, leaving Ciel breathless and gasping, small shudders still scuttling down his spine as he rode out the last waves of pleasure.

As though it was a reflex or even an instinct, Ciel's hips kept thrusting upward in broken motions even after the orgasm had subsided completely; it was only when he felt soft pressure against his cheek that he realized that Sebastian was no longer on his knees and that he was in fact right next to him.

And when Ciel snapped his head around, alarmed at the sudden proximity, that's when Sebastian leaned into him and gently pressed his lips to Ciel's in the second kiss they had ever shared.

Something in Ciel's stomach twisted - wait a minute, kissing, they hadn't done that since - ! They weren't supposed to - ! -but when he opened his mouth to protest, Sebastian's tongue was right next to his and that feeling was back, that inexplicable little thrill that came with kissing Sebastian, like a warm sponge wringing itself out over his chest. With a sigh, Ciel opened his mouth wider to allow Sebastian entrance and noticed that Sebastian tasted... different.

Ciel gave a muffled cry, his hands digging into Sebastian's shoulder; but whether it was to push him away or draw him closer, Ciel didn't know. The fluid that had been on Sebastian's tongue slowly dropped onto Ciel's as their tongues fused, hitting the taste buds at the front of Ciel's tongue.

Ciel's body tightened at the taste and he gripped Sebastian's shoulders harder. He only noticed that he was squirming so hard he was slipping off the seat and dragging Sebastian right along with him when his knees connected with the floor.

Despite the instinct of revulsion burying itself into his stomach, curiosity got the better of Ciel. With a muffled little moan, he began to sample the fluid that gathered on Sebastian's tongue, rolling it over his own. It tasted faintly sweet when it hit the front of his tongue, but he coughed and scrunched up his face when it turned bitter at the back of it. He swallowed only a little and passed the rest back to Sebastian.

The butler graciously accepted it along with the curious tongue of his master that followed. Although Sebastian's mouth tasted overwhelmingly of ejaculate, faint traces of his unique taste were hiding underneath and Ciel set out to search for it, jabbing his tongue so messily into Sebastian's mouth that trails of mixed saliva and semen escaped, smearing both of their chins. Ciel tangled his fingers in Sebastian's hair and pulled him down, closer and closer, until Sebastian was on all fours and Ciel beneath him, weight precariously balanced on his tail bone until Sebastian gave him a slight push that sent Ciel sprawling.

Ciel's eyes widened as his back collided with the floor of the carriage, but before he had a chance to snap at Sebastian for it, his butler had already descended upon him, capturing his lips into another kiss while gently drying his chin with another tissue he had drawn from his pocket.

Sebastian's kisses were so much more refined than his own messy and overzealous ones, Ciel noticed. When Sebastian's tongue slipped into his mouth, it was less like an invasion than it was a gentle greeting and the way he would close his mouth over Ciel's and draw back his tongue to nibble on his lower lip or suck on his tongue spoke of years of experience and skill. His kisses were like chocolate, Ciel decided - chocolate was like a warm stream of pleasure flowing over the tongue that left a lasting sensation behind and Sebastian's kisses were just as slow and lingering. The total opposite, he had to admit, of how he himself kissed.

And suddenly, Ciel realized that they were total opposites in more ways than just one and when that insight sank in, he broke the kiss with a gasp.

Ciel looked at Sebastian, eyes wide and glittering, lips smeared with saliva, vibrant pink dragged over his cheek.

Sebastian looked at Ciel. Calm. Controlled. Except for... what was that in his eyes?

"Why did you do this?" Ciel hissed once he found his voice. His mouth tasted strange and he wrinkled his nose as he swallowed the rest of the ejaculate that had been left in his mouth during the coupling of their mouths.

He started to understand now.

"I merely wanted to introduce you to the taste, young master," Sebastian answered smoothly, his lips descending to Ciel's neck and the boy gave a choked little sigh as the -

(demon's?)

- butler's lips pressed against his jugular, against the heady pulse of Ciel's heart. "Demons quite enjoy the taste of human ejaculate, young master." His lips vibrated against Ciel's neck. "In the same way we enjoy that of blood. It's the taste that comes closest to that of souls."

Ciel gave a soft moan, writhing a little under Sebastian and only half-realizing he was willingly exposing his jugular.

It didn't matter that he was a child, Ciel thought. It was of no concern to the equation, because Ciel was as much of a child as Sebastian was his butler and as much an adult as Sebastian a demon. They were like two little coins with two different side someone had made a bet on spinning atop a table at a bar; neither of them could anticipate which side the coin would settle on. The two sides of who they were, the coins of their personality, were in constant rotation between them when they were together, and only when they were together.

Only with Sebastian. Only with Sebastian. And when Ciel looked down at Sebastian, at his beautiful face half-buried in the crook of Ciel's neck and his hair draped across his chest, Ciel somehow knew that Sebastian had realized it all long ago.

And while he was in the middle of this small epiphany, Sebastian, with a few well-chosen words, ran his thoughts into a wall. "Young master, we have arrived."

It was only a minor exaggeration to say that Ciel almost choked at that. "What?!" He pushed Sebastian off of him with a start. "What? Why didn't you tell me?!" He blinked, throwing dizzy glances around the carriage and finally noticing that the vibration had stopped.

"I was under the impression that you were enjoying yourself, young master."

Ciel jumped to his feet with an irritated growl, hectically tugging at his clothes and combing his hair with his fingers. "That - that doesn't even matter," he pressed out between desperate tugs at the bow in front of his cloak. "What if Finnian had come to check on us?"

Sebastian raised to his feet and gently removed Ciel's hands, smoothing down Ciel's clothes for him. "Young master, Finnian never does. It is not his responsibility to help you out of the carriage." He smiled at Ciel as he fastened the boy's shorts around his hips. "I'm sure he isn't suspicious."

Annoyance surfaced on Ciel's face. "Whatever. Hurry up already!" He moodily ripped Sebastian's hands away, then turned to the door of the carriage, waiting for Sebastian to open it.

When they spilled into the open, it was still not completely dark yet, but the chill that hung in the air was brutal, sneaking through Ciel's clothes and crystallizing along his limbs like ice. He shivered and wrapped his arms around himself, his mood hitting another low point. He was just about to storm into the mansion without waiting for Sebastian when he felt a nudge to his side and saw Sebastian gingerly holding the coat they'd bought out to him.

Ciel's heart sang in Ciel's ears, but he swallowed the sound and merely stared at Sebastian, mask of apathy firmly set into place. "Is this some kind of symbol, Sebastian?"

Sometimes, Ciel hated that Sebastian's smiles could be so unreadable even to him. "Perhaps if the young master would like it to be."

Ciel snatched the cloth out of Sebastian's hand, closing his eyes as though suffering from a migraine. "Didn't I tell you not to talk nonsense?!"

The smile never faltered and then, when Ciel slowly slitted his eyes open and met the full force of his butler's eyes, the world seemed to become insignificant. The night air that had wrapped him into its chilly cocoon dissolved, the quiet hum of the insects around them dimmed and the scent of flowers that always hung around the mansion like a shimmering veil got replaced by that of Sebastian. Their eyes met in silence; Ciel's resistant at first, hard as a steel door, but the longer they looked, the more Ciel could feel his own door cracking, splaying the first rays of light on the floor. It wasn't the first time that Ciel thought he could see something in Sebastian's eyes, something he couldn't place and something that scared him, but something he knew to be significant in some twisted way.

And as it always was with epiphanies, it didn't so much come to Ciel gently as whack him over the head, leaving him stunned for a second.

In a way, they weren't all that different, Ciel thought with his eyes slightly widened. He, Ciel, was forced to be so much more than he was and Sebastian so much less. But, for better or worse, the disguise that fitted tight and snuggled up against them had started to swallow what lay underneath, blurring the lines between truth and reality. Tainted forever, they were creatures trapped in the hazy plane of not-quites that lay cradled between reality and disguise.

Ciel swallowed, probing Sebastian's eyes with his own while one question kept echoing in his mind, replaying all over and over again in his head.

If you pretended long enough to be something you weren't, at which point did you actually become what you were pretending to be? Demon or butler, child or adult. Who was to tell you that you were lying? Who could judge? Butler or demon, adult or child. Wasn't reality... what they made it to be?

And then, just for one moment, Ciel considered saying something that, in retrospect, would have likely been really stupid. Just for one moment, emotions were bubbling in his blood and it would have been so easy to open his mouth and release them, so easy, only a flick of tongue away, nothing more -

Until, of course, the moment was sliced through by Finnian's voice with the precision of a scalpel.

"Heeey, young master!"

Ciel jumped back as though he had been caught doing something vile and whirled around on the spot, eyes searching for the source of that voice.

Finnian was running toward them with a sunny grin on his face and his blue eyes sparkling with mischief. "Hey!" He came to a halt in front of Ciel and Sebastian, scratching the back of his head, apologetic grin on his face. "I'm sorry about earlier, young master. We hit some bumps - it seems the weather was a bit rough today." He leaned forward a bit, balancing on his toes, the grin now morphing into a more approval-seeking one. "I trust you still had a nice ride?!"

Ciel's lower lip quivered. "What?!"

Finnian sent a confused look to Sebastian, who was standing to Ciel's side and suddenly seemed very interested in the manor's roof. "The-the ride, young master. Was it -"

"Oh!" Ciel's voice quivered with barely-controlled rage. "Shut up!"

With that, he turned on his heel and stormed off toward the mansion, muttering on his breath.

Finnian looked downright shocked, eyes wide and wet. "Sebastian, did I say something wrong?! Is the young master angry?"

Sebastian considered saying something then, but decided against it, settling on a mild smile. "Don't worry. I'm pretty sure he enjoyed it just fine." He didn't need to worry about the little needling amusement in his voice giving anything away, anyway - because Finnian wasn't Ciel, and there was no one other than his master who could tell.

Sebastian gave another curt nod to Finnian, then trailed after the small figure of his master walking in the distance.

Author's Notes: So, let's just hope that I won't take as long to write the next chapter... *sweatdrop*

Speaking of next chapter... *squints at crystal ball* Oh... is this - ?! I'll be damned... do I see... do I see Sebastian finally getting off, too?! :D

(And reviews make authors ecstatic in pants!)