I decided how I wanted this story to end, so now hopefully I'll finish it.

Ciel awoke with a hollow stomach and a smarting backside. God, why did that hurt so much?

Oh. Right.

A torrent of unwanted memories poured over the bruised boy. He buried his face in his pillow, wishing he could leave this real-life nightmare and return to his horrid dreams. At least the Alois in his subconscious couldn't actually touch him with those dirty, sugar crusted fingers.

"Look who's finally awake again."

Ciel twitched with annoyance, an innate reaction to the mere sound of Alois's devious bedroom voice. He was such an act, a half-pence put-on, Ciel fumed. How did someone so predictable manage to get a collar around his neck?

Beneath all his seething lay the unavoidable question: where was Sebastian? Where was his demon, dammit? He should be bloated with Ciel's soul by now.

Speaking of bloated. An embarrassing growl emitted from Ciel's empty stomach. Neither his dreaded new master nor his own noisy hunger would grant him his brooding rights today.

He jumped when Alois's irritating giggle blew right into his ear.

"Is Ciel's tummy making the grumblies?" He chuckled.

His hot-tempered pet stayed pressed against the pillow. He ought not act so crabby considering how gracious his owner was for letting him sleep without tying him to the bed. He ought to be begging him for food if he didn't want to starve to death. If anything, he should be motivated by the searing red mark on his rump. Maybe Alois should remind him. The way Ciel lay on his stomach was too much of a temptation. He dragged up his nightgown and nudged the bruise with his finger.

"Poke!"

Ciel jumped to life. "Stop it!" he yelled, glaring at his provoker.

Alois glared back, only his glare came from above, not below. "It's wake up time, Ciel, and master wants you up."

Actions followed words as Alois forcefully pulled his angered pet up by his collar and dangled a black cherry before his starving eyes.

"If you listen to master like a good boy, he'll give you a treat."

Ciel's mouth salivated. The single cherry was the only food he'd seen in days. He couldn't stand to play another one of Alois's games, but he needed food before he lost his senses. And without his butler or access to his monetary power, it seemed his senses were all he had on his side.

Moving bitterly slow, he turned to face the smirking boy who held a bowl full of cherries to his chest. Cherries looked a bit pitiful for a meal, but Ciel was hungry enough to eat just about anything Alois offered him, aside from his own shit (which was what Ciel would have expected).

The cherry hovered before Ciel's eyes, tempting him to try to catch it with his mouth before it left his sight. Too late—Alois's teeth ripped the red fruit from its stem and spit the seed into his palm.

"Spit them in my hand like a good pet or I'll tie your hands up again," He said as he chewed, purple-red juice staining his lips.

Ciel nodded and opened his mouth expectantly.

Alois tsked. "You didn't say please!"

"Please," Ciel growled.

"Please what?"

"…"

"Mas—"

"Please master."

"And look a bit nicer, Ciel, honestly. Masters won't feed an ungrateful pet."

If Alois didn't shut up and give him something to eat soon, his pet would be far worse than ungrateful.

"Give it to me… please, master." Ciel tried to sound 'thankful,' instead sounding closer to nauseous.

Alois bit his lower lip. Just hearing Ciel say that word, no matter how spiteful he sounded, still affected the sadistic boy. He placed the cherries beside him and lay on his side, propped up by an elbow, pointedly patting the spot beside him.

Ciel refused to even glance at Alois's bemused face as he reluctantly moved closer, simultaneously drawn by the sight of food and repulsed by the person offering it. With one tug on his arm, Alois hurried him along, pulling him back upon the pillow and tucking an arm beneath his head. This position seemed a bit off for eating, though. What was a good position for eating? Alois had never fed another person before, and he'd be damned if he let Ciel feed himself. It might give him the illusion of power when Alois wanted him helpless and eating from his hand.

"Here…" Alois shifted them around until he was sitting with Ciel now in between his legs, his back to Alois's chest as though he were his throne.

From Ciel's perspective, one which could no longer see Alois's face, this was a far better arrangement. He could almost ignore the fact that they were touching. What he could not ignore was the unfortunate pain his rear end felt when it connected with the bed. His wince didn't go unnoticed by grinning Alois.

"Can you make up your mind already?" he asked, hearing his stomach churn again.

"I will when you say 'please'." Alois held another cherry just within reach.

"I already said please."

"Then you have to give me a kiss."

Fed up and underfed, Ciel swiped the cherry and shoved it in his mouth before Alois landed a derisive pop on his head. He grabbed him by his cheeks and pushed his palm against his lips.

"Spit it out!" he demanded.

Smirking with pride at his misdeed, Ciel spit out the pit. Alois threw it across the room. Another mess for his butler.

"Patience is a virtue, Ciel," Alois clucked his tongue in admonishment.

Wrists were tied decidedly tight. Yet again, the ability to piss off his kidnapper was worth the punishment. At least it gave him some form of occupation during this madness.

"And if you won't give me a kiss, I'll take one."

As quickly as Ciel stole the cherry, Alois stole a rough kiss from his stained lips, tilting his head back to confuse him, to keep him under control. He paused to push a cherry against his mouth, which Ciel accepted greedily, spitting the seed into his hand again.

They fell into a sort of dance, Ciel mindlessly devouring what Alois offered while Alois watched, occasionally pressing kisses against the back of his neck. The feasting boy consumed until his senses were inebriated with taste and touch and smell. The taste of black cherries, sweet and soft on his tongue, popping when he bit into them and bleeding down his throat. The scent of fruit on the bedspread, cherries spilling across the sheets. The touch of Alois's palm against his lips and Alois's lips against his neck and Alois's arm wrapped around his midsection, binding him like the ribbons around his wrists. He closed his eyes and felt.

"Are you thirsty?" Alois whispered in his ear.

Ciel nodded his head, spitting another pit into his hand. Yes, now that he thought about it, he was thirsty. And still hungry. And he needed to use... certain facilities.

"There's more food and drinks in the dining room. You can use the washroom first. I know you probably need to. You're behaving so well, you might even get cake."

Ciel was so overwhelmed by the possibility of cake, his tongue darted out to lick Alois's palm. Alois gasped.

"Very good, Ciel! Do that again and master shall give you all the cake you want."

Ciel reddened. It'd been an accident, of course. An instinctive reaction. He was still reeling from the generous dose of ether as well.

"Please do it again, Ciel, and I'll even give you my piece."

"No." He shook his head obstinately. No one would get that out of him while he was conscious.

"You'll do it again soon enough," Alois replied to his stubborn thoughts.

Confident in Ciel's eventual submission but still annoyed by his persistent coldness, Alois untied his wrists and rudely shoved him away.

"I'll let you pee by yourself," he said as though it was an act of true kindness. "But you'd better wash your hands. Claude will take you to the dining room."

Goosebumps prickled along Ciel's arms. A tall, dark form appeared in his periphery. Was Claude there the whole time? How had he not sensed him there? He could always sense when Sebastian was near. Or, he used to.

Alois planted another kiss on his jaw and skipped out of the room before Ciel could even dare to complain. Littered on the bed were the remnants of fruit, black stems and blood red stains smeared on satin sheets. Ciel assumed the bathroom lay behind the door to his right. Turning away from the ominous figure in the corner, he darted toward the relative safety of another room, a room where Ciel could close the door and pretend he was alone.

Resisting a glance in the mirror was a struggle. He knew it reflected the image of a tired boy with kiss marks and love bites on his shoulders and a horribly red mouth. He knew the sight would disgust him. He looked anyway.

The brand of contract still burning conspicuously on his eye was a comfort, if not a confusing remnant of his missing servant. It cheered him as much as it angered him. The rest of him looked almost like he'd imagined, though maybe less sickly than he'd thought. What truly surprised him was how small he looked in the florid white nightgown with that heinous collar around his neck. God, had he always been so small? He felt so much taller, nearly imposing in his navy blue outfit with his butler by his side. What he saw in the mirror did not look like the inheritor of the Phantomhive estate, the premiere detective for the queen, or the owner of any title. What he saw was a child playing the wrong game.