7.

The next few weeks passed rather quickly. Ciel found his time was stretched pretty thin. After that leisurely first day, school had resumed at full throttle and he felt that the workload had increased significantly from previous years. He thought that it should perhaps have been the opposite since he was now a senior, but guessed that the institution was trying to better prepare it's graduating class for the demands of college.

Extra curricular activities had begun to resume as well. Ciel always participated in these things, not because he was social but because he knew they looked good on admissions applications. He picked things that were of interest to him though, fencing and chess, and so it wasn't as though he had to suffer through something he hated.

Claude had continued to remain busy at work. He left at the normal hour each morning but his return varied considerably. Sometimes he was back just after Ciel got out of school, other times he wouldn't be back until almost dinnertime. There were even a couple of nights when Ciel had heard him arrive after he'd crawled into bed. Thankfully, the other had just let him sleep and continued on towards the shower.

Ciel was curious about what was going on at the lab, but Claude had become tight lipped about his work. He wasn't sure when that had happened, but supposed it was probably around the time that Claude stopped treating him as the doting boyfriend and more like a benefactor. Someone that he should be grateful paid any attention to him at all. So he didn't ask, but merely tried his best to stay out of the other's way, indulging in acts that no longer gave him pleasure when he had to.

In spite of this whirlwind, Ciel still carved out a portion of his schedule to be with Sebastian. It unfortunately didn't happen every day, but often enough that it made the more difficult moments bearable. There was nothing he looked forward more than being with the alien, even if their activities weren't always the most exciting.

He found himself spending long hours inside the craft, simply talking with Sebastian and enjoying the other's company. The alien, he found out, could make more than eggs and he was soon being treated to delicious meals that he thought rivaled even Claude's cooking. He certainly made more decadent desserts. Sometimes he brought along his homework, which Sebastian was more than happy to lend a hand with, or books he was currently reading. All of the furniture inside the ship was very soft and comfortable and he'd find himself lazing on the bed, novel in hand, thinking that memory-foam couldn't even rival the material.

He remembered when Sebastian had crawled up next to him for the first time. He'd paused, peering around the cover of the book, feeling his heart leap and his stomach knot nervously all at once. The alien was respectful of his space, and kept his distance, but a tiny part of Ciel wished that he wouldn't. He knew it was wrong to want such things while he was still with Claude even if he didn't want to be.

"What is it?" Ciel asked.

"Not much," Sebastian said. He stretched out lazily on the bed and Ciel couldn't help but stare at the way his clothing stretched tightly over his body, muscles rippling under the shiny fabric. "I'm bored."

Ciel couldn't help but laugh. "You're bored? You? The one who could probably teleport himself to—I don't know—Australia in the blink of an eye, or make like a four course dinner in an hour. You are bored."

"Yes," Sebastian said. "There's a lot of things I can do, but a lot of them don't seem appealing right now."

"Well, I can't go out," Ciel said. "It's Wednesday and I need to read three more chapters of this book before tomorrow."

Sebastian glanced at the cover. Farewell to Arms. "Catherine dies after giving birth to a stillborn baby and Frederic must return to their hotel without her in the rain."

Ciel glared at him. "Thanks for spoiling it. You're lucky I read it a few years ago or I'd be pissed."

"Then why read it again?" Sebastian asked.

"I happen to like it," Ciel said. "Not to mention I am going to have to write an essay on it next week as part of my Advanced Placement preparations. I need to review it more critically."

"It's been so long since we've gone out and done something fun," Sebastian said. He moved a bit closer to Ciel and tugged the book away.

"Are you actually whining?" Ciel raised an eyebrow. "I thought you were more refined than that."

Sebastian smirked. "Perhaps it's just you who brings out a different side of me, Ciel."

Ciel cleared his throat and grabbed the book back. "Maybe when things settle down at school. I promise we'll go out soon."

That had been a week prior and Ciel still had yet to take Sebastian anywhere. He knew that the alien went out on his own during the day. As the other had pointed it out, it would be "a colossal waste of time" for him to spend his days sitting around waiting for Ciel. The younger knew this was sensible of course. Sebastian wasn't like some fawning lover in a romance novel. However, the alien said that he liked going places with Ciel, and the other understood this. He enjoyed Sebastian's company as well.

Ciel was not the only one who was struggling under the increased assignments. Elizabeth and Soma were also in danger of collapsing under the weight. Due to this, they'd seen little of each other outside of school. Elizabeth was busy with her role as the editor of the school paper and Soma had been elected captain of his competitive dance team.

There were few evenings they were all free, but the opportunity had presented itself on Thursday. A water main broke in the early morning and flooded part of the school. Classes and activities were to be canceled for Friday as well while the mess was cleaned up. Operations would resume as normal on the following Monday.

Elizabeth declared they were getting brunch and within the hour they were seated in a booth at Sniper's, a local diner run by award-winning sharpshooter turned cook, Mey-Rin. She greeted them from her place behind the line, very familiar with the three of them for their patronage over the years.

"I have no idea what to get," Elizabeth said as she studied the expansive menu. Ciel knew that she was merely going through the motions. She hadn't ordered anything except the blueberry pancakes in years. "What looks good to you, Ciel?"

Ciel always had a difficult time deciding. After sweets, breakfast foods were his favorite, so there were many items in his rotation. He smiled as the waitress brought over a glass of orange juice. That at least, always remained the same.

"We should go somewhere fun this weekend," Elizabeth said. "Now that we won't be at school for two whole days. No homework and I'd of course finished everything, expecting it to be due today."

"Like where?" Soma asked.

"Well, fall is in full swing," She said. "What about the orchard? It's always fun this time of year."

Ciel did enjoy the apple orchard. Not only could you pick several varieties to your heart's content there was also a bakery there that made the most delicious cider and cinnamon sugar donuts. His mouth watered at the thought of them. Then of course there were other activities like a petting zoo, a corn maze, and a haunted house. They usually went a few times throughout the season, but this year they were a little late on their first visit.

"Sounds good," Ciel said. "Saturday then?"

Elizabeth nodded. "It's nice to have some time off. I feel like we've been so busy I've only seen you in class or at lunch. Thank god we all got the same meal period this semester."

"Agreed," Soma said. "Even our group chat had been a little dead lately."

"That's mostly Ciel's fault," Elizabeth laughed. "What's going on? Claude keeping you busy?"

Ciel felt himself blush. Claude was doing the exact opposite. The older male was so invested in his work he barely spent time with Ciel anymore. They'd had sex earlier in the week, but he could tell Claude had other things on his mind. It had been over pretty quickly and the most exciting part was when Claude had bitten him on the collarbone hard enough to bruise. He adjusted his jacket, hoping that it wasn't visible. It had definitely been better than when Claude had slammed him against the wall that morning for some offense he didn't even remember. His shoulder ached, but he ignored it. Nothing some ice later couldn't fix.

"Not really," Ciel said. "He's been working a lot."

"Would he like to come with us?" Elizabeth asked. "It's been a little while since we've seen him."

"I don't think so," Ciel said. He responded a little too quickly and Elizabeth got that funny look on her face, the one she always got when she suspected he wasn't being honest. She appeared to let it go and merely shrugged.

"Oh this is going to be so much fun!" She squealed. "I can't wait!"

"Shouldn't you be in school, little sister?" A young blonde man swiveled on his stool at the counter to glare at them. It was Edward. His police cap rested next to his cup of coffee.

"Shouldn't you be working, brother?" She countered, green eyes narrowed in playful disagreement.

Edward Midford huffed. "I'm on break. Anyway, I'm not needed right now. I'm supposed to be keeping watch on things in town. Most of us are up the road a ways. At the dairy farm."

"Annafellows?" Soma asked. "Why?"

"I'm not really at liberty to discuss the matter with citizens," Edward said. "However, I can say that it appears we might have some sort of wild animal on the loose."

"Animal…" Ciel's voice trailed off. He wondered what Edward could mean by that. "Is something attacking the cows?"

Edward's eyes narrowed. "Why would you ask that?"

Ciel could tell that he most likely had hinted at some information he probably shouldn't have known. He thought back to when he had first befriended Sebastian. Well, actually, it had been before he befriended him. When he'd only had experience with aliens through what he'd seen in movies and books. He'd thought about cows being turned inside out. It was even on an episode of South Park, an annoying addiction Undertaker had.

"Well," he said with a shrug. "There's nothing else at the Annafellow's farm besides cows. It is a dairy farm after all."

Edward huffed and turned back to his coffee. "You kids just be careful. Don't go wandering around too late at night. I have to get to a meeting with Animal Control."

He drained the last of his mug and stood up, straightening his hat as he did so. The officer nodded toward his sister and her friends before he departed. Ciel watched him leave and get into his squad car. He would have resented being called a kid, if what the other had said hadn't rattled him.

Ciel was fairly sure that Sebastian hadn't attacked the cows, but he couldn't be sure. After all, he and the alien had still only been friends for a little over a month. He hadn't seen any sort of violent tendencies from the other in that time, but there were many hours he and Sebastian spent apart. He wasn't going to pretend that a being from another planet might not have some more savage traits that he had yet to witness. Sebastian did eat meat and large quantities of it from what he'd seen in the fridge in the craft.

He placed an order for an omelet and pancakes, figuring he would go and ask later. As long as Sebastian weren't harming humans, he supposed it wasn't that big of a deal. Though the dairy was sure to suffer some heavy losses if it continued.

"I saw that man again," Elizabeth said after the food was brought.

"Which one?" Soma asked.

"You know," Elizabeth said. "The dapper one from the first day of school. The one Ciel got his knickers in a twist over."

Ciel rolled his eyes but his heart plummeted. He hadn't seen hide of hair of Agent Spears since that fateful first encounter and he had hoped to never do so again. He busied himself with sorting the jelly packets in the container while he waited for her to continue with her story.

"I was in the bookshop and he was there too," Elizabeth went on. "Actually, it's rather embarrassing. I ran into him. We were coming around opposite corners and I just full on smacked into him. I fell down and books scattered everywhere."

"Were you alright?" Ciel asked.

"Yeah," Elizabeth said. "It'd take a lot more than that to hurt me, but he did feel rather terrible about it. Helped me up like a perfect gentleman. Then we had to go through the sorting of whose books were whose. He was reading some rather strange things."

"Like what?" Soma asked. Their food arrived and he wasted no time digging into his granola. "Was it a kama sutra book?"

Elizabeth pinked slightly at this but she laughed. "Hardly. He was looking at books about space and conspiracy theories and aliens. I'll admit it really doesn't match his outward appearance at all. He seems so orderly and businesslike."

"I don't know that there's a certain type of person who can believe in the improbable," Ciel said.

"Do you think it's true then?" Elizabeth asked. She glanced at the seat her brother had vacated. His mug and plate were still sitting on the counter.

"I'm saying it's not impossible," Ciel said. "I know my father was a skeptic, but I think that it's rather naïve of us to believe that we are the only kinds of beings out there capable of intelligence."

"Perhaps you're right," Elizabeth shrugged. "Nothing has happened though since that blackout, so why's that guy still hanging around? Unless he knows stuff we don't."

"I couldn't say," Ciel said. He resumed eating his food, hoping that the conversation would die off.

Soma spared any further discussion by announcing he wanted the theme of that year's competition dances to mimic the routines of classic pop stars. Elizabeth immediately dove into the conversation, declaring that the costumes had to be sexy but still cute. Ciel alternated between eating and staring out the window as though he half expected something to happen. He didn't know what it was, but this business with the cows still unsettled him.

They finished their breakfast amid more ordinary chatter. Even though they had toured the downtown area millions of times, Elizabeth convinced him and Soma to join her on a window-shopping excursion. Of course for Elizabeth this meant she was going to say she didn't want to spend any money but would inevitably do so. Ciel enjoyed spending time with his friends no matter what they were doing, unless it involved Elizabeth wanting to dress him.

They parted after a quick lunch a few hours later, with promises to meet up on Saturday. Ciel sighed and went to go unlock his bike from where he'd left it down the block in front of Sniper's.

"Excuse me sir, perhaps you might be able to help me," A voice said as he knelt to undo the chains. "I was wondering where I might find Ciel Phantomhive, I've got some questions for him."

"I told you I don't know any—" Ciel practically spat and turned so fast he ended up on his backside on the sidewalk. He stared up at the figure looming over him, their features obscured by the late afternoon sun, until they leaned toward him.

He took in familiar dark hair and ruby eyes but that was where the similarities ended. It was definitely Sebastian but he was dressed…like a human. He'd traded the sweeping robes and tight cat suit with stripper heels for a more domestic appearance. He was wearing dark pants and shoes and a white button up that was artistically wrinkled, the top two buttons undone to expose his pale throat. Ciel realized he was staring and averted his eyes, pretending to search for something in his bag.

"Where did you come from?" He asked, accepting the hand the other offered him. "And where did you get those clothes?"

"I was taking a stroll about town," Sebastian said. "I got the clothes from a store. You know, where one buys things? Did you bump your head?"

"No," Ciel's eyes narrowed. He wondered how Sebastian had made it into the shop since it was clear he'd not gone in naked. "It's just different, that's all."

"Do you not like it?" Sebastian said. "Because I can take it off."

He made to start undoing more of the buttons but Ciel reached out and grabbed his hands. Then, as he realized what he'd just done, he let go and let them fall to his sides with an exasperated sigh. Why did the alien always try to rattle him so?

"I think the better question is, what are you doing here?" Sebastian asked. "You're usually in school right now."

"It was canceled, as are classes tomorrow," Ciel replied. "I was out with my friends who could have seen you."

"Well, I think I blend in a bit better now, don't you?" Sebastian pointed out. "I'm not your bizarre extraterrestrial friend anymore, right?"

Ciel stared at him. "What?"

"Well, I assumed that was why we didn't go out anymore," Sebastian said. "Afraid that I'll draw attention to us?"

"Is that what you think?" Ciel asked. "I mean, maybe a bit, but only because I don't want you to get caught. That agent is still around here, Lizzie just saw him at the bookstore and the police…"

His voice trailed off and he crossed his arms over his chest. "Actually, I have a question for you. Have you been eating cows?"

Sebastian stared at him as though he had just grown two heads. "I—I eat cows, yes, but I don't see what that has to do with—."

"There's a dairy farm a few miles outside of town," Ciel said. "And right now, there's police swarming all over it because something has been attacking the cows there."

"And you think I did it?" Sebastian said.

"I'm asking if you did," Ciel said. "I don't care, you need to eat, but if it was, just be more careful."

"No," Sebastian shook his head. "No, it wasn't me. A lot of the meat you've seen in my craft was hunted from the forest. There are plenty of wild animals there, I don't need to take from humans."

Ciel was momentarily distracted as he tried to imagine what Sebastian would look like hunting something. He supposed that it would be both stunning and horrible all at once. He noted that Sebastian had stopped looking at him and he was staring into the distance. There was a small crease between the alien's brows, as though he might be worried.

"I didn't mean to sound accusatory," Ciel said. "I just want you to be safe."

The words drew Sebastian from his thoughts and he refocused on Ciel. A small smile graced his lips. "Well, now that it appears your day is free, shall we enjoy it?"

Ciel nodded. He'd been planning to spend time with Sebastian anyway. With the promise of no homework and an unexpected four-day weekend he felt ready for anything.


Thank you to all of my readers as always.

promocat: indeed. Things will probably get worse before they get better, but that makes it my satisfying.

ran: you're very welcome. Here's hoping.

Madison Angel Kaiba: thank you so much. I'm enjoying writing this one but it doesn't seem to be as popular on here as my other one.

Dardar1: yes he is in this story. For now anyway. Gotta keep him at least a bit in character.