It wasn't until the following morning that Ciel decided he would give romancing Sebastian another try. Sebastian came into his room to wake him, dressing him and serving him breakfast as usual. Neither of them bothered to mention the crossed words they had exchanged the day before.

Ciel was quite grateful that Sebastian didn't bring it up. He didn't want his butler to realise what he was up to; at least not until he had successfully done something romantic for him.

After finishing breakfast Ciel sent Sebastian on an errand to get him out of the manor. He would need his butler away from the kitchen if he was going to be able to complete the next task. Ciel took one quick glance at the next thing on his list before heading there. Homemade food.

Ciel had never had to cook for himself or anyone else before. His food had always been prepared by someone else and brought to him, which was to be expected of an earl. Members of the nobility didn't waste time slaving over a hot stove. They had servants to do that for them. But this time, Ciel decided he was going to make an exception.

He walked into the kitchen, immediately spotting his short-tempered and impatient chef standing there. The chef looked puzzled when he saw him standing awkwardly in the doorway.

"Young master? What are ya doin' in the kitchen? Is there somethin' I can get for ya?" he asked.

"Not exactly, there's something I need you to help me with." Ciel replied, walking over to him.

"Help? From me? What 'bout Mr Sebastian?" he asked, still looking as puzzled as before.

"Yes, this is something he can't help me with. You see…" Ciel trailed off suddenly, his cheeks flushing a bright shade of pink as he stared down at his feet. "I um…I want to learn how to make something. Like biscuits or maybe some fairy cakes…" he mumbled nervously.

"I can make something like that for ya!" Baldroy replied confidently, a huge grin on his face. Ciel sighed since his chef had completely missed the point.

"It's not for me! It's a present for someone so…I want to make them myself" Ciel explained, still staring down at his feet. He looked up at the chef slowly when he felt his hand being placed on his shoulder.

"A present for Lady Elizabeth?" he asked.

"Umm…" Ciel averted his gaze nervously. For a moment he considered just agreeing with him, but there was a possibility Baldroy would mention it to her. Then it would look very odd when he didn't give her anything. He could possibly make some for Sebastian and some for her as well. But then giving some to Lizzie could upset Sebastian, and he had already upset his butler enough.

"No? Got another girl ya like, young master?" Baldroy asked, pulling Ciel from his thoughts suddenly. Ciel just stared up at him with his mouth hanging open, unsure of what to say. Baldroy patted his shoulder gently, grinning at him. "No need to be shy, young master. I know how it is. Can't do nothing 'bout liking more than one pretty girl, right? It's totally normal. I won't tell Lady Elizabeth" he told him, giving him a cheeky wink.

"Uh, yes…thank you" Ciel replied. He couldn't possibly tell Baldroy who the present was really for but at least he now wouldn't have to make some for Lizzie too.

With the issue of who the present was for put aside, Baldroy got to work gathering up the ingredients they would need. Ciel wasn't sure what sweet thing Sebastian would like best but decided to make some simple shortbread biscuits. He could shape them into hearts and decorate them with red icing. It was a bit cliché perhaps but if it worked in the romance novels than surely it would in real life.

Baldroy surprised Ciel by how talented he was at baking. Everything was going perfectly and the biscuits looked even better than Ciel imagined. For a while Ciel wondered how on earth Baldroy managed to cause so many disasters if his skills were that impressive. He had his answer soon enough. Only five minutes after the biscuits had been placed in the oven and the chef started to become impatient.

"This is going a bit slow. How 'bout speeding things up a bit?" Baldroy asked as he picked up a flamethrower.

"Wait, wait, wait, no! Just leave them as they are!" Ciel shouted in a panic.

By the time the biscuits were ready Ciel was mentally exhausted. Several times he'd had to order his chef to put down various items. It worried Ciel just how many flamethrowers, barrels of gunpowder and dynamite he had. But he had managed to stop any disasters from happening, and the biscuits came out perfectly golden rather than charcoal black.

Next, Baldroy showed Ciel how to decorate them. He covered them with red icing before adding small white roses made of fondant. Ciel smiled smugly as he admired the beautiful treats. Surely there was no way this could possibly fail.

When Sebastian returned to the manor Ciel was already waiting for him in his study, the beautiful biscuits laid out on a large plate.

"Young master, I managed to…" Sebastian started to say but Ciel raised his hand to silence him. He wasn't at all interested whether Sebastian had managed to gather all the elaborate things he had requested. It had just been a ploy to get him out of the manor long enough.

"Never mind that. I have something for you" Ciel said with a huge smile on his face as he lifted up the plate towards his butler. Sebastian raised an eyebrow as he looked at the plate of biscuits.

"Shortbread hearts?" he asked in a puzzled voice.

"Yes. I made them myself" Ciel said smugly.

"How?" Sebastian asked, looking even more confused. Ciel let out an annoyed groan, shaking the plate at him impatiently.

"I asked Baldroy to teach me. Does it matter how? Just eat one" Ciel said, sounding increasingly agitated. Sebastian picked one up in his gloved hand, examining it closely. He smiled as he examined the work that had gone into it but made no attempt to actually eat it. "Oh for goodness sake, just eat it!" Ciel snapped, losing his patience. He watched nervously as his butler placed the biscuit in his mouth, chewing on it for a moment before swallowing. There was an awkward silence as Ciel waited to hear his butler's thoughts.

"Well? What do you think?" Ciel asked.

"Very well made, young master. They would certainly be considered delicious to a human" Sebastian replied.

Ciel smirked, a smug look on his face. "Well of course they are. Wait…what?" he asked, looking up at his butler curiously. "What do you mean to a human? You don't like them?" Ciel asked.

"It's not that I don't like them, young master. But demons don't have the same tastes as humans do. To me, all human food tastes more or less the same" Sebastian replied.

"Are you serious?!" Ciel shouted angrily, glaring up at him.

"I'm sorry young master. I can't help being a demon and having different tastes" Sebastian said as he gave his master a quizzical look.

"No, I suppose you can't. Well, never mind then…" Ciel mumbled softly, letting out a defeated sigh. His efforts had been wasted yet again, but he couldn't really blame his butler.

"May I ask why you went to this trouble for me?" Sebastian asked.

"Well I was… I just…" Ciel stuttered nervously, his cheeks flushing pink. "I umm… you… you saved my life at the risk of your own. It was my fault you were so badly injured so I just…those are…" Ciel trailed off once again. He looked up at his butler, surprised to see him smiling warmly.

"Thank you, young master. I appreciate the effort but you don't need to do that for me. Why don't I bring you some tea and you can eat the rest?" Sebastian replied. Ciel smiled back at him, his eyes widening a little in surprise. His butler looked genuinely happy. Even if the taste of the biscuits wasn't that nice for him, perhaps just the fact that Ciel had made them for him had made some impact.

"Yes, thank you" Ciel said with a nod. As he waited for his butler to return with the tea he leant back in his chair, letting out a content sigh. Finally he had managed to do something that actually pleased his butler.

Sebastian returned a few moments later bringing a tray of afternoon tea, although he no longer looked happy. Instead he looked incredibly displeased for some reason.

"Young master, did you not bother to clean up after you baked those?" Sebastian asked as he placed the tray down. Ciel's eyes widened as he suddenly remembered the mess they had made. When he had left the kitchen there had been flour, eggs, milk and dough all over the place. But cleaning up hadn't even crossed his mind. He had just assumed Baldroy would take care of that.

"You've ended up creating more work for me, young master. And you needn't have gone to all that effort for me" Sebastian added with an annoyed sigh.

"Well, now I wish I hadn't bothered! You're not grateful at all!" Ciel snapped back at him.

"I never asked you to make anything for me. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to tidy up the mess you left" Sebastian replied as he walked out.

Ciel groaned in exasperation as he took a bite from one of the cookies. It tasted deliciously sweet, but Ciel couldn't really enjoy it. Just when he had thought he had done something right, he'd driven a wedge between them again.