Hahaha! It's the third chapter! Woo! The fourth chapter will hopefully be published during the weekend, so you still get to look forward to that. There are some mistakes this chapter, I don't have a lot of time to reread what I wrote so I haven't edited this yet.

Please ignore my mistakes, leave a review, and as always enjoy the story!

Review response:

To Guest: I'm sorry to say there probably won't be any pairings besides Sebastian x Claude, as that is the main focus of LS. However, you can still leave a request for me to write that pairing in my story collection Reclaiming Innocence. Hope you have a good day. ^^

~*~ Line Break ~*~

It wasn't quite late enough to demand they go to bed, but it was slowly getting there. Alois and Ciel seemed to think picking his clothes for tomorrow after today's disaster was completely necessary, and we're once again picking their way through his closet.

He really should have gone and hidden all his clothes before Alois got to them. He could handle the lacy shirt and the gloves and the heels (he actually loved those boots) but going after his few colored shirts and the sashes and scarves...

Alois had managed to find a black button up shirt that had a dark, rich purple vest to go with it, a dark purple sash that matched the color of the vest, and a pair of shiny black shoes that were similar to his usual ones. Ciel had immediately rejected the pants the blond had offered (for which Sebastian was grateful. He wasn't sure why or how he had pants that had rips along the calves and thighs).

In place of those, the earl had found a pair of black slacks that had purple lace embroidery on the pockets and seams. It would do, though Alois was obviously disappointed in not getting his way.

Sebastian watched this all happen from his seat on the bed, hands neatly folded in his lap and legs crossed at the knees. Occasionally, one of the servants would poke their heads into the room, but other than that, no one had come to disturb them.

"I still think the other ones were better." Alois sniffed in disdain as he and Ciel finally emerged from the closet, the clothes they'd chosen draped across their arms (though, Ciel was carrying the shoes, which didn't drape).

"Maybe for you, but I'd rather my butler stayed a butler and didn't turn into a showy prostitute." Neither boy saw Sebastian flinch or the way he immediately tensed at their not-so-hushed conversation. Oh, how little his young master knew. The boys continued speaking, though the demon had tuned them out. He...He didn't wish to hear whatever they said next.

A knock at the door startled both Alois and Ciel, and caused Sebastian to stand up straight, hands held almost defensively in front of himself. Claude stepped into the room, wary eyes taking in the mostly black and purple decor. For a moment, the spider's gaze paused on the rival butler before he turned to his own master.

"I'm afraid it is time for you to retire. It is late and we'll be going into town rather early..." Alois huffed, about to argue when Ciel nudged him with a bony elbow and gave him what could be a shut-the-hell-up-right-now glare or just a look.

"Fine fine, let's go. I can't wait to see our handiwork tomorrow! Night Ciel~." Alois giggled, dropping his haul on the bed so he could latch onto Claude's arm. The demon said nothing, but he did glance curiously at the pile of clothes. Luckily, he was dragged (more like he let himself be dragged) away by his master before he could ask.

Which Sebastian saw as very good.

After sorting out tomorrow's clothes he escorted Ciel down to his bedroom and prepared him for the long night. As he tucked his young master in, the room only lit by candlelight, he finally asked why he and Alois were insisting on dressing him.

"Mm...can't tell you." Ciel yawned, snuggled underneath the heavy comforter and head resting on the plush white pillow. Despite his obvious fatigue, the little earl still managed a mischievous little smirk. Brat.

"Oh, a secret then?" The demon teased, closing the curtains with a soft rustle of cloth. Ciel made an affirmative noise, and when the demon turned around he was slipping off into sleep. Sebastian smiled, tucked the blankets more firmly around the earl, blew out the candles, and left as quietly as he could.

"Goodnight, my young master."

~*~ Line Break ~*~

The next day, and Sebastian was loading up the carriage for a ride into town, working alongside Bard and Finnian to get everything in before it was time to leave. As promised, he was wearing what had been picked out for him, though he'd had to roll up the sleeves of the shirt to load the carriage. Occasionally, he'd catch the others glancing at the new wardrobe, especially at the sash tied around his waist.

It was amusing when he could get them to blush and stammer just by tightening it or undoing a single button in his shirt. It was much more amusing when Claude tripped down the stairs upon seeing him. Sebastian actually had to turn away to keep from laughing, and if the stifled giggling from Finnian and Mey-Rin were anything to go by, he wasn't alone.

The butler ignored the angry gaze burning into his back and opened the carriage door for his young master and Alios, smiling pleasantly at them both. The brats had the courage to look smug, more so when Ciel told him to stay up front with Claude.

"What are those two plotting..." He mumbled in thought, closing the door behind the two young lords before making his way to the front. He slid into the seat and picked up the reigns, waiting for Claude to join him before they set off.

The first few minutes were blissfully quiet, almost comfortably so. Sebastian had been about to attempt a conversation when Claude beat him to it, taking the crow by surprise.

"Er, that color suits you." The spider demon refused to look at his rival, mouth pressed into a thin line. He had just the slightest flush to his face, which was a bit hard to not at least chuckle at.

"Thank you. It...was not my first choice." He would've preferred something black or white instead of the dark purple. It clashed with his eyes and he'd always liked the softer shades over the darker ones.

Claude seemed relieved that his compliment was taken well, leaning back against the seat. Sebastian smiled and turned his attention back to the road. First they'd be dropping Claude and the Trancy brat off to some shopping district, then he and his own young master would be investigating a recent string of crimes.

For some odd reason, he found himself disappointed that he wouldn't be spending the day with the other demon. Mm, perhaps he was getting soft in his old age...

~*~ Line Break ~*~

Alois desperately wished that he could listen to the two demons driving the carriage. He kept peeking through the window of the door, though it seemed like it was taking forever to get anywhere close to town.

"Calm down, you'll alert them to-"

"Operation Get the Butlers Together?"

"Why do you insist on that silly name?" Ciel rolled his one visible eye, though he couldn't quite hide his smile. If he hadn't been seeing things earlier, he could've sworn that Claude was looking at Sebastian in a new light.

The lace had probably made more of an impact though, they'd have to find something for that...wait. Alois was going to the shopping district, they already knew what shirt size Sebastian wore (they'd looked), it would be easy to get something new for the demon...

"Alois, I have an idea...and it involves shopping and ditching Claude all at the same time."

"I'm already into this idea. Proceed."