Chapter Two
Sebastian froze. What was that demon doing back here? Was he not happy with the soul? Was he after Grell. His eyes narrowed, flashing a dangerous pink. This would not do at all. Gently prying Grell's hand from his sleeve, he placed it onto Grell's chest as he walked towards the window and opened it. Looking around, he opened all of his senses to their full extent, watching, waiting. There. With a feral growl, he launched himself from the window and towards the sound of another twig snapping.
The two demons wrestled for a moment before the intruding demon seemed almost to slither away like a snake. Sebastian jumped back, narrowly avoiding being bitten by a rather large black snake with piercing blue eyes, a silver flash of patterned diamonds across its back. A snake demon then... He could not say he was pleased to the least bit about this. As he landed gracefully on the ground, well out of reach of the snakes ferocious jaws there was the sound of someone clapping slowly in a sarcastic manner. "Well done, well done." Came a smooth, tenor voice.
The voice sounded slick, persuasive, and seemed to emit a sense of security, a false security obviously. Sebastian knew better than to let his defense down, especially in the presence of a snake. "I must congratulate you on your... Success in saving the little redhead. Quite the interesting person I must add, a fighter." The voice seemed to sneer at Sebastian, taunting him to react.
Sebastian kept a level head, throwing several knives in the direction of the voice, only to be met by a velvety laugh. "My, my! Some butler you turned out to be, so rude to a guest. Tsk tsk!"
The demon butler watched as the other finally revealed himself, his long raven-black hair coming down in waves to around his waist or so. His features were acute, well refined and sharp, with his cheekbones set high. His eyes were a piercing silver with flecks of ice blue, small pupils enhancing the effect. The demon's thin lips were pulled into a teasing smirk and his eyes danced with icy flames. He clothed himself with a suit, expensive from the looks of it, and he walked with his head held high. "If I could not defend the home against intruders, what kind of butler would I be?" Was Sebastian's cold reply, as he made sure to punctuate the word intruder.
The other demon scoffed, rolling his eyes in a cocky fashion as the snake on the ground wound its way up his body and settled around his neck, equally piercing eyes staring at Sebastian. They stood with a few meters distance between them, Sebastian poised for a fight while the other demon seemed relaxed, looking rather smug. "My name, is Sollas. A pleasure." He purred out as the snake let out a low hiss.
Sebastian had to suppress an eye-roll. This demon was more obnoxious than Claude. "The sentiment is not returned." Replied Sebastian, his voice flat as he stared with hatred towards the demon.
"Now, now... No need to get all riled up. I merely wanted to visit the sick patient. See how he's recovering. A chainsaw wound is a grave thing, wouldn't you think? I brought a get well gift as well, see?" Sollas produced a dying black rose from seemingly thin air, a petal drifting to rest on the ground.
Now it was Sebastian's turned to scoff. "Be gone. Do not go looking for trouble where you shouldn't. I could easily rip your arms and legs from your body."
"A challenge then?"
"Quite. The Phantomhive Manor frowns upon trespassers greatly."
"Engarde then!" Sollas smirked, launching himself towards Sebastian with the speed of a snake.
The two demons fought, the only sounds of them whooshing around the grounds or the brief growl or hiss. Despite Sollas' cocky outside, Sebastian held more power and soon enough he was pinned to the ground with Sebastian's hand around his neck. There was no way Sebastian was going to let this demon get away with hurting his Grell… Wait, his…? "The soul." Sebastian quickly distracted himself from his thoughts, and ground out the command as Sollas coughed and hacked, trying to squirm away.
Letting out a hiss, Sollas unhinged his jaw in an inhuman manner and soon enough the soul appeared, a glowing blue sphere with a tail. Sebastian smirked and plucked it from the air, his grip on the other's neck tightening as he placed the soul within the safety of his pocket. "Goodbye then, Sollas." Sebastian said in a too cheerful tone as he drove his hand through the other's chest, and snapping his neck at the same time.
The piercing eyes now held shock and surprise, that could almost bring them to be pathetic as Sollas gave a gurgling hiss, his jaw hanging slack as his body began to dissolve into the blurry mist of a demon transporting itself back to the depths of Hell.
"A demon, caring for a reaper... how pathetic..." The thick hiss resonated from the Phantomhive grounds around them as the demon, disappeared with the mist fizzling out behind them. Giving a sharp, pink-eyed glare to the black and silver snake, Sebastian watched as the reptile quickly slithered off, fading into the shadows and obviously returning to its owner. The demon then stared a few more moments at the spot where Sollas and the snake had lay, but with a small, disapproving shake of his head he gracefully leapt back through the open window, quietly approaching the slumbering reaper.
"Grell... Grell," Sebastian whispered, wanting to avoid scaring the redhead as he brushed some of the crimson hair from his face where it had fallen over his features, "Wake u-" The emerald eyes snapped open, widening slightly at Sebastian looming over him before lashing out,
"G-Get away from me!" Grell clawed at Sebastian's front, but froze and whimpered with fear once more clouding his eyes when his hands became tangled in the chain of Sebastian's pocket watch, preventing any further movements from the redheaded reaper. He trembled slightly as white gloved hands moved to his, flinching again with another whimper as they clasped around his wrists,
"Shh, Grell, calm down..." Grell raised his head to meet the red eyes of his 'attacker',
"S-Sebas-chan...?"
"Yes, it's just me," Sebastian allowed Grell's hands to rest on the reaper's chest again as he slipped his hand into his pocket, closing it around the soul, "I believe this would be rightfully yours," Grell's eyes widened as Sebastian brought his hand back out and uncurled his fingers, giving way to the bright, glowing blue soul,
"Y-You got it back...?" Grell stared with wide eyes at the gleaming soul before moving his gaze to Sebastian, a thousand silent questions burning within them as he continued to gaze up at the demon.
"Of course I did. A Phantomhive butler would not be worth his salt if he could not even perform the simple task of retrieving an item of such importance to someone," Sebastian allowed a small smirk to cross his features, watching rather curiously as the reaper sent the soul back to the realm with a small wave of his hand. The demon then nearly stumbled back as Grell threw his arms around his waist tightly, burying his nose into Sebastian's tailcoat,
"Thank you…" Grell murmured, hands gently fisting at the fabric. With a small sigh, Sebastian bent over slightly and allowed the redheaded reaper to hug him, gently stroking the other's hair as he felt Grell trembling lightly once more. After a few more moments of allowing Grell to cling to him in a hug, he gently pulled Grell's arms from around him and guided the reaper to lay down on the bed.
Emerald eyes glanced to Sebastian with a rather alarmed expression as Grell struggled against Sebastian's hold on him.
"Grell, settle down, you need to sleep more if you want to heal quickly…" Sebastian sighed softly, in which the red headed reaper finally relaxed, allowing the demon to drape the warm comforter over him and brush a gentle hand across his cheek. "I'll see you in the morning, should you need me, I'll be right here…" He murmured, once more sitting down on the chair beside the bed with his sewing kit and tailcoat.
"O… kay, Sebas-chan…" Grell eyes drifted closed, the reaper falling almost instantly asleep due to the exhaustion that had been clinging to him for so long after the soul collections and attack. Sebastian watched as the reaper slept seemingly peacefully, chest slowly rising and falling underneath the blankets. Slowly, a white-gloved hand reached out and brushed the red head's pale cheek, in which the reaper suddenly flinched away with a whimper.
"No…" Grell mumbled in his sleep, giving a small squirm, "N-No! Please, s-stop!" He suddenly lashed out, struggling against some invisible force in his sleep and pleading.
"Grell… Grell! Wake up!" Sebastian quickly set down his things and moved to the thrashing red head, gently shaking him by his shoulders for a few moments. After being trapped in his nightmare a few more moments, Grell's emerald eyes snapped open with a gasp,
"Are you alri-" Sebastian was cut off as Grell clung to him in yet another hug, his chest heaving and trembling against the demon. Rather surprised, Sebastian gave a small sigh before slowly moving to sit down beside the terrified red head, wrapping his arms around Grell and gently rubbing his back, whispering quiet words of comfort in his ear. He hoped he wouldn't regret this later… After a few long minutes, Grell slowly raised his head from burying it in the crook of Sebastian's neck before looking with teary emerald eyes to the demon,
"Sebas-chan…" He trailed off, hesitating and looking away slightly,
"Yes?" The simple question brought the reaper's attention back to Sebastian, surprising Grell at the fact Sebastian actually cared to answer.
"W-Why… Why a-are you acting so k-kind to me…?" He asked, voice rather soft.
Giving a small shrug, Sebastian sighed softly as he wiped the tears from Grell's pale cheeks with a handkerchief he produced from his pocket,
"To be honest, I really don't know Grell…" He murmured, the small sniffles not going unnoticed from Grell. The reaper really wanted to believe Sebastian was helping him, that he truly cared about him, but at the same time he had heavier thoughts weighing him down, the sinking feeling that Sebastian was simply building up his trust, only to be planning something later on with the reaper. Emerald eyes peered up at Sebastian as Grell studied him, unable to see the truth, or anything for that matter, behind Sebastian's eyes other than the usual emotionless void.
However, those cold amber eyes easily picked up on the doubt in Grell's eyes, and he pulled the reaper close once more, gently pressing Grell's head back to his shoulder and running his fingers through the long, soft, red hair. "I'm not exactly sure myself, but I can assure you, Grell… It's genuine…" He explained, voice continuing to stay soft as Grell nuzzled to the demon's warm shoulder.
"Well…" Grell's voice came muffled from the fabric of Sebastian's waist coat and dress shirt, "It may not be the romance I've always been hoping for between us, but I'll take what I can get."
Giving a rather amused smirk at Grell's comment, Sebastian knew the red head was slowly but surely returning to his playful, frivolous self that the demon was so used to.
"Oh~? And what do you mean by that? Is this what you wanted?" Sebastian purred, slowly tilting Grell's head up from his shoulder before gently pressing his lips to the red head's and earning a small gasp of surprise. He felt Grell's frail arms moving up and draping over the demon's shoulders to pull himself closer, therefore deepening the kiss between them as his eyes slowly drifted closed.
Smirking lightly against Grell's soft lips, Sebastian pulled the reaper even closer before sneaking his tongue out to flick across Grell's bottom lip before pulling his tongue back and earning a small squirm from the redhead. Quickly his tongue darted forwards once more, this time earning an impatient whimper from Grell as his lips parted obediently, eager for Sebastian. He gave a small noise of surprise as the demon's tongue was quickly forced into his mouth and his emerald eyes snapped open before he quickly tried to battle against Sebastian's surprisingly talented tongue; however he quickly surrendered into submission as Sebastian gave a low growl and forced the red head's tongue back into his mouth. A low moan made its way from Grell before he pressed up against the demon, only to find himself being pushed backwards to lay down on the bed before the kiss was parted and Sebastian's forehead rest against his, both demon and reaper panting, Grell's cheeks flushed with a rather arousing blush.
"M-Maybe we shouldn't do this right now… I don't want you to reopen your wound…" He murmured, gently stroking Grell's cheek and pressing his lips to the reaper's own. Grell nodded, seemingly disappointed,
"I-It's probably better that way…"
"Oh, no worries, I don't believe this is a simple one time thing, Grell…" Sebastian whispered, lips meeting Grell's yet again… Good grief his kisses were addictive…
"Then I'll be in even more of a rush for this wound to heal~" Grell purred, "I'm sure it'll be worth every minute though…" The reaper gave a vixen-ish smirk, eyes sparkling playfully.
"Well, better get your rest now, I'm not exactly sure how much you'll get once you're better~…" Sebastian smirked, nuzzling the other while adding a light nip to Grell's neck, earning a deep purr in response.
"Oh? Becoming a master to someone like the little brat is a master to you?" Grell grinned, looking up to Sebastian with a still-visible blush,
"Mmm, yes~ My little kitten is very well behaved…" Sebastian smirked, a light air of teasing to his tone before he lay down beside Grell, allowing the reaper to snuggle against him.
"It'll only be a week, not too long of a wait~"
"Good… Now go to sleep, you need your rest~" Sebastian purred, pulling the blankets over he and Grell as the reaper rest his head to Sebastian's chest, falling easily asleep within a few moments of his eyelids fluttering closed, "Good night, Grell…"