This was probably my favorite chapter to write :D Please review!
IV. Little Red Riding Hood
"Young master, if I may speak freely, I'm concerned about the impression this may make at the races."
"I do not care in the slightest what gossip-mongers may say of me," Ciel replied in a self-satisfied drawl, "and neither do you."
Sebastian regarded his smirking master, lips and eyes carefully flat so as not to betray any emotion. "And what precisely is the reason for this?"
"No reason in particular," Ciel replied, fingering the length of shiny silver chain in his hand, "it's just that sometimes, dogs need to be reminded of their place."
"I see."
"I'm afraid it's non-negotiable."
Ciel was obviously very pleased with himself. He was wearing red today—Sebastian had never liked that color on Ciel—from his scarlet brocade jacket to his gaiters and the dyed plume of feathers trailing behind his riding hat. Fashion was important when one went to the horse races, and Ciel had been coerced into attending such an event by his fiancee. As such, that wretched Nina Hopkins was called upon to design Ciel's clothes for the day, the result of which—all that damned, bright, ostentatious red that seemed to swallow up Ciel's delicate form and features—was anathema to Sebastian's eyes. However, those articles of clothing were not nearly as repulsive as the one Ciel currently dangling before Sebastian's eyes.
"Of course," Sebastian gathered his energies to pluck the accessory deftly from his employer's hands and smile his thousand-watt smile. "It is a highly...peculiar request, but as always I am happy to comply."
Ciel was unaffected by Sebastian's patronizing tone and applied bravado. He watched with an unrelenting blue eye as Sebastian sighed, unhooked the modified dog collar, and slid the supple leather band around his neck. Ciel let out a breath, ruffling the black fringe of lace that hung over his eye-patch. He tightened his hand around the end of the chain.
"Well. Let's get this over with then," Ciel said after an instant had passed, and for once Sebastian was thinking the exact same thing.
The boy strode through the door and down the stairs at a fast clip. Sebastian followed closely behind, drawn by bonds both physical and supernatural. On the way out of the mansion, Ciel's gave a little hop down the stoop, and the chain went taught. As Ciel yanked the leash, Sebastian suffered the briefest of stumbles. Miniscule as this slip-up was, it gave Ciel a secret thrill. With another tug, Sebastian's unamused face was dragged within an inch of Ciel's smirking countenance.
"Keep up," Ciel breathed. Sebastian met the boy's eye with a steady, emotionless mask that barely concealed the roiling black-and-red animosity simmering beneath the surface.
They carried on like that, a cherub-faced, red-clad child and his captive, collared wolf.