A/N: Heheheh... Hi? I'm sorry it took so long to update this story. Bard is hard. *frown*

Title: Ethereal

Author: liketolaugh

Rating: K+

Pairings: Rachel/Vincent, onesided Madam Red/Vincent, and onesided various!characters/Ciel, Ciel/Elizabeth

Genre: Oh, god, I don't know. Family/Romance?

Warnings: This could easily be counted as excessive fangirling... that wasn't my intention. Promise! Oh, and implied pedophilia, too.

Summary: The Phantomhive family was special. Undeniably human, but very, very special, and many fell victim to their Pied Pipe. Because each and every one of them was spellbinding... Ethereal, one could say...

Disclaimer: Sadly, Black Butler is not mine.


Bard had other thoughts about Ciel, but he, too, was trapped by the little lord. Because Ciel was very good at trapping.

This was something that Bard admired about Ciel. He was steady, he was firm, and he was very, very good at trapping. Bard had a lot of experience in spotting traps, and so every time that Ciel set one, Bard knew.

That didn't mean that he could do anything about it.

Flashback

Bard shuffled after Sebastian, his head down.

They had lost. He had known it was coming, known that it was a trap from the start, but still, they had lost.

Now everyone, save for him, was dead. Out on the battlefield, with no way of obtaining food, water, or shelter, he'd known that he was going to die, too.

And then Sebastian had come, offering this job at this manor. As a chef, and, more importantly, as a guard.

He couldn't even cook.

Sebastian reached up and knocked on the door lightly. "Young Master?"

"Sebastian," a voice returned from inside, sounding annoyed. "Come in, what is it?"

Sebastian gave Bard a sharp look, a silent warning to remain respectful, before pushing open the door. Bard didn't know what he expected to find; it wasn't this.

On the other side was a boy. Not a man, as he had thought this 'Earl' would be, but a young boy, who looked delicate, fragile, even. As he turned his head, Bard saw a cold blue eye and an eyepatch. His own eyes widened a little.

Despite the clear physical fragility of the Earl Phantomhive, equally clear was a hidden strength, a spirit of steel, visible in that one blue eye, which turned to him and narrowed.

"Who is this, Sebastian?"

The question was sharp and expectant, his gaze unwavering, and Bard decided, in that moment, that he didn't mind this job as a guard.

A spirit that strong didn't deserve to be done in by a fragile body, and so he would do his best to protect both.

In the next moment, he realized that Earl Ciel Phantomhive had trapped him, too.

End Flashback

Ciel had trapped Bard, not with anything physical, just by way of his personality, and Bard knew it. But still, he felt that he had to protect him. And he had. He had protected Ciel, his new Young Master, and hadn't once regretted it. Ciel wasn't what he showed to the world. He wasn't as fragile as he looked. But still, something in Bard wanted to keep him from harm, and so he did.

There was something to admire in Ciel Phantomhive. Strength of spirit, strength of will, and weaknesses hidden away, out of sight, out of mind.

But Bard saw, if only sometimes. Not always, but sometimes.

Flashback

When Ciel returned after one of his absences, late in the summer, during the time of Jack the Ripper, he was tired. That much was clear.

Not just physically tired, Bard realized. Bard glanced at Mey-rin for confirmation, and her worried eyes, almost invisible behind thick lenses, gave him his answer. She had noticed, too.

Ciel's eyes were dull, his gaze flickering over them before seeming to accept their presence without a word, just looking back up to Sebastian and giving a quiet nod.

"Young Master?" Bard asked, almost tentatively. "Somethin' wrong?"

And something flickered back to life in Ciel's gaze at being questioned. His head lifted and he glared at Bard, arms crossed. "Nothing that concerns you," he snapped, gaze fiery. He let out a huff as Bard backed away and looked back to Sebastian, his eyes no longer dull or lifeless. "Sebastian, I am retiring."

Sebastian inclined his head. "Yes, my lord," he acknowledged, voice almost quiet, and Bard realized that yes, something was very wrong, no matter what Ciel said.

Later, Sebastian quietly informed them of Madam Red's death, and Bard realized that Ciel was strong even when he was weak.

He wondered why Ciel felt that he had to be.

End Flashback

And yet, as strong as Ciel was, there was clearly something – Bard didn't know what – that he couldn't overcome, some part of his past. There had to be.

Because Bard had rarely seen him smile.

Mey-rin, forced to be a sniper for many years of her life, killing to make a living, smiled and blushed and loved all the same, despite a past that would justify otherwise.

Finny, who had spent most of his life locked in a small white room, and much of that being experimented on, was one of the most lighthearted people you could find.

And Bard, who had lost everything, smiled, too.

But not Ciel.

And Bard wondered what was in that boy's past that kept him from letting go, because he was strong, and he may brood, but he didn't linger. Not on regret.

Not like Bard did.


Hm. It's normalish again. I wonder if this trend will continue... Ah, well. I hope Bard was in character and that you liked this! Please review!