Ch. 2
Surprises Around Every Corner
Night covered the unusually well kept grounds; light by the moon and the occasional light in the ground. A lone, dark figure made his way up the gravel path that lead to the large mansion, intent eyes were trained on a window of the second floor. A large curtain was partially covering the French doors that lead to a stone balcony. That was new, the man thought. He quickly walked up to the front doors and let himself in - There's no way he would make it this easy. Such a lazy Earl. It was dark and silent in the entry way, as it was in the rest of the estate; which is what he expected seeing as it was almost 4 o'clock in the morning. He slowly walked up the marble grand staircase that glinted lazily in the moonlight coming in from various windows. He took a right at the top and continued down a long hallway until he arrived at the door he wanted - Earl Phantomhive's bedroom. The man took a breath before he opened the heavy oak door, apprehension and excitement welling slowly inside his body. He grasped the silver knob and turned it, swinging the door open silently. His gaze went straight to the large 4-poster oak bed that was pushed up against the wall in the center of the room. The white sheets lay there undisturbed, glowing in the light of the moon that entered from uncovered windows. Where has the Earl gone at this time of night? The man thought to himself for a moment, until a sly, knowing smirk graced his lips. But, of course. There is one other place... And he turned tails and walked back the direction he'd come, stopping at a large pair of double doors close to the grand staircase. The silly little boy must be in here, as I originally thought.
The man wasted no time in opening the door quietly and slipping into the study, letting the knob click closed softly behind him. Four large bookcases lined the walls, including the one to the right of the French doors. A couch, two cushioned chairs and a plain table sat on top of an ornate rug in the center of the room. And directly in front of the large doors, was a sizable desk with a few books, a stack of papers, and a half empty tea cup upon it. But that wasn't what interested the man, no; it was the one sitting in the grand chair behind the desk. More accurately, the one behind the desk was slumped forward, clearly asleep, on the polished top. Heh heh. He looks so unguarded lying asleep like that. The man took careful steps forward until he was right in front of the sleeping male. His gaze settled on dozing person, his features weren't visible since the chair cast a large, dark shadow over his figure. A slim hand reached for the one behind the desk and the man couldn't keep silent any longer. "In that same chair as always I see." At that instant, several things happened in rapid succession. The sleeping person had leapt up onto his knees on the desk; sending papers flying and spilling the last of the tea, spun the man around so that his back was to him, and grabbed a fistful of the intruders hair. He yanked back hard, exposing his neck and pressed a cold, small blade against the man's open throat. Shock played on the man's face, totally taken aback by this turn of events - he was now being held at knife-point. The papers settled on the floor and the only other thing that could be heard was the even breathing of the one with the knife. The two stayed this way for a minute or so until one broke the silence.
"State your name and why you're here. If not, then I slit your throat and that's that." He stated matter-o-factly, his voice low and deadly serious.. Only a stuttered response came from the still surprised man.
"Y-young master?" He could feel his attacker stiffen at the voice and remark. The knife pressed closer to the man's flesh, daring to bite and draw blood. The captive let the shock slip away and a large, devious smirk crawl onto his face.
"Wh-who are you?" A laugh emitted from the man's lips, he grabbed the other's hand and removed the knife from his throat, stepping away.
"Honestly, my lord. You have spent 3 years with me and still don't remember it's impossible to kill a demon!?"
"Se-Sebastian?!?!" At that, the butler, wearing the appropriate attire, turned around to lock his bright shining crimson eyes with Ciel's utterly dumfounded blue one and eye patched ones. He knelt on one knee, placed his right hand over his heart and replied.
"The one and only, young master." The butler looked the same as the day he left the Phantomhive estate; same raven black hair, red eyes, and same damn annoying smirk. Ciel, on the other hand, had changed a lot in those 4 years. He was no longer a small, weak, utterly useless boy that couldn't even change his clothes without the help of his butler. No, he had grown up in those years, much to Sebastian's amusement.
Ciel cautiously climbed down off the desk and picked up the chair that had fallen, never taking his narrow eye off of his long-lost butler. He let his body fall into the soft leather with an annoyed sigh, grumbling about something with an angry tone. Sebastian just stood there, waiting what his master would say with anticipation. He had thought out the conversation the two would have, going along the lines of Ciel reprimanding Sebastian for leaving him the night he was supposed to kill him, seethe at the butler for kissing him (conveniently forgetting that he hadn't stop him and instead kissed the demon back), and demanding for said demon to finish what he started...
"You made me spill my tea Sebastian. I wasn't finished with that. And my nicely ordered papers are all over the floor, not to mention you woke me up. I had finally fallen asleep after working for 20 hours trying to sort out a mix-up with an import of Australian licorice for a new product." Ciel stated bluntly, in a considerably deeper, smoother voice that could hypnotize almost anyone. His demeanor was relaxed as he gazed at Sebastian with a cold, annoyed, and tired expression. The demon met his gaze and didn't break contact until Ciel got bored of the staring contest and opted to closing his eyes and pushing himself out of the comfortable chair. He walked around to the other side of the desk, turned on the lights in the room, got onto both knees and began to gather the papers. "You know Sebastian; since you left I've learned a few things." He said nonchalantly, not looking up to see the demon's eyebrow rise questioningly
"Oh? I hadn't noticed." He said with mock sarcasm. Yep, same old Sebastian. "That little stunt you pulled when I came in surprised me a little, to be honest, my lord." There was only truth in this statement. Before Sebastian had left, he had never known his master to be one for having any talent in fighting back against anyone, being so small and fragile. Or growing up to be as handsome as he was. Ciel's blue-gray hair was long now, falling over his significantly broader shoulder and tied in a dark red ribbon. He was taller too - it was very hard to miss since before Ciel only rose up to just below Sebastian's chest –now he was a few inches shy of eye level with the demon. His body was lean, from what Sebastian could tell; at least his master wasn't like a twig anymore. He was becoming the perfect image of what an Earl should look like. Determined, exceptionally handsome, deadly, and many more things scrolled through the demon's mind, but he quickly zeroed in on one word in particular; one that seemed to fit better than the rest. The same feelings the demon left his master for resurfaced momentarily with the thought of that one word. Adult. Ciel was very adult now… At this thought, Sebastian's eyes went dark; I am not like that anymore. I only see the young master as a source of sustenance nothing more. If not, all that time I spent…away will have been for nothing if I cannot -
"Of course it did, Sebastian. You've never seen me do such a thing in the time that you've known me!" Ciel commented as if reading the surface of Sebastian's thoughts. He finished picking up all the papers and placed them where they rested before being knocked over, not noticing his butler staring at him with amused eyes. He rolled up the sleeves of his ash gray shirt and tugged at the crimson and black vest he wore, straightening it out a little and also untying the crimson tie around his collar. "I've learned a few tricks here and there over 4 years; all out of necessity because of your absence." Ciel continued with a hint of accusation in his voice, heavily watered down by the arrogance. He picked up the spilt tea cup and looked at the mess on the desk with no apparent emotions. "And look, there's even tea on my pants Sebastian. If you wanted to make yourself known, you should have knocked." He patted his slim black pants, feeling for where the tea had spread.
"I'm very sorry young master. I did not intend to ruin your papers or attire." He gave a little bow and noticed Ciel wasn't wearing shoes, only his socks. "Young master, where are your shoes?" Ciel snorted and pointed behind Sebastian to a couch. His knee-high black and red boots lay (as if they were kicked off rather happily) next to the black leather couch. "They are uncomfortable sir?" He asked, already knowing the answer. Ciel just nodded, mopping up the last of the tea with a rag he produced from a desk drawer.
"Will I be able to see these "tricks" you've learned, young master?" Ciel snorted again and laughed.
"With you back I have no need to do them, right?" Silence for a moment as Ciel let his tired brain think of a better response. "I might surprise you, Sebastian. You'll just have to wait and see." He said coyly, in his heart and brain melting voice, his flawless, older face displaying a devilish smile. The face Ciel made, much to Sebastian's displeasure, had a small effect on him, making him think back to the night he left - more specifically, why he left. The demon shook his head, clearing his mind and focusing on the present and not his old emotions.
"I'll be looking forward to it then, my lord." He bowed as Ciel walked past him. He opened the door and paused for a moment before continuing out.
"Finni, Maylene, and Bard have missed you terribly, Sebastian. You should pay them a visit since they'll be waking up in a half an hour or so. I, however, am going to go to bed since I was not able to get any sleep in here. And, also, I have an engagement to attend to tomorrow night. I need no help, so feel free to fix up the mansion if you feel the servants have been doing a bad job." He looked over his shoulder and said coolly, "Goodnight Sebastian." And walked out of the study, softly closing the door behind him.
The demon was left alone to think about his master. But Sebastian didn't dwell on him for too long, not wanting to get lost in his past feelings for his master and risk his restored demonic pride.
He didn't, or couldn't lose that again...
"Not even a 'Welcome back, Sebastian'." He mumbled. "Well, better go see what those useless servants have done to the estate while I've been away."
And Sebastian, too, exited the room, turning off the lights as he went.
~~Hullo readers!!! SORRY FOR THE DELAY!!!! Please don't kill me! This was way shorter than I intended it to be. I was going to add the thing Ciel had to do the next night but as I was typing it, I got really tired. So that's next chapter, which will be fun for me to write, and hopefully enjoyable to read!!! This was a betch to edit since I'm typing in on a retarded laptop and editing it on a different computer that I hate going on. Ughhh~ I hate technology sometimes… Again, sorry for the wait. I'm a slow person with weird priorities :S
Oh, and in the next chapter will begin the very awkward situations that Ciel unconsciously puts Sebastian in… You'll know it when you read it. Teehee!! :P And a better description of Ciel will be given then too, so you know. This one was a baby description. And, for the record, I looove time skips. They are the best and I wanted one with an older Ciel. So now he's 17… and not a twig. Much to Sebby's liking… Teehee!!!
Hey, guess what!!!!! If you review, it feeds the determination monster in me so I can dish out chapters faster!!! Criticism is even welcomed!! Just don't be too mean or I'll never finish this story and everyone will blame the one who was a jerk! ;3
Toddles~