Lesson Seven: Life is but a Dream

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"Goodnight, little master." Sebastian said pleasantly as Ciel opened the door of his suite. Just as the boy was about to go inside, he was stopped by the red-eyed one. He held out a small, square tin.

"For your troubles today." he explained, after Ciel had accepted the offering. Sebastian had no idea of the troubles he'd seen today.

Once safely in his room, Ciel took a closer look at the tin, giving it a shake to determine the contents. When he heard rattling, he lifted the lid and peered inside. He picked up one of the boiled sweets inside and compared it to the picture on the tin. Tea-flavoured candy from France – Ciel was mildly impressed. Two of his favourite things rolled into one. Though he figured Sebastian was just being patronising, he couldn't deny how thoughtful the gift was. Holding back a smile, Ciel placed the tin on his bedside table and prepared himself for bed.

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Although he knew it was bad practice to eat after brushing one's teeth before bed, the temptation was too great. Sitting up from under his duvet, Ciel lifted the lid of the tin, which sat next to his music box on the bedside table, and picked out one of the round, sugar-dusted drops. He popped it into his mouth and savoured the semi-sweet, almost bitter flavour before lying back down and drifting slowly to sleep.

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The air was heavy, and even the breeze was sweltering. It was so hot that he'd even had to discard his wig. This was not the right day to be studying out-of-doors, but Sebastian insisted on it anyway. Perhaps this was punishment for falling asleep during their last informal tutoring session. What was worse, Ciel had had little sleep the previous night. It could have been that he'd slept during the tutorial, or it could have been those damned tea-candies Sebastian gave him. That, combined with the blistering heat, made it a struggle to keep his eye open and his mind focused on the lesson at hand.

He'd never noticed that Sebastian wore glasses. They suited him well, made him look more mature and civilised. Ciel was impressed. The stray strands of hair that he'd tucked behind his ear completed the elegant look.

"I wish you'd pay attention to your work instead of admiring my dashing good looks."

Ciel snapped out of his daze and, after only a second's confusion, went into angry-mode. "I'd be wide awake by now if you hadn't given me those candies last night!" he pouted and turned his head away, nose in the air. "And you're a horrible tutor!"

Sebastian chuckled sheepishly. "No," he said, lowering his head in uncharacteristic meekness. "I'm just a deer."

Ciel whipped his head back around and to his horror, in the place of Sebastian's head was the head of a deer.

Another timid chuckle, and Sebastian lifted the deer head off. "Well then," he began. "It's almost time. Shall we be off?"

The question surprised him. "Where are we going?"

"The town house, of course. You have important matters to attend to, little master." Sebastian took off his glasses and tucked them into the inside pocket of his jacket, which Ciel saw was not the Stoneleigh Park Academy uniform blazer, but a simple black tailcoat. He took a moment to inspect his upperclassman, whose attire made him look like a butler.

"Your coat, little master." Sebastian announced before placing a heavy coat on Ciel's shoulders. Despite the heat, he felt great security wearing it. The taller one bowed and gestured with his hand for Ciel to lead the way.

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The town house was not as he remembered it to be. Elephants and tigers wandered the grounds leisurely, kicking up no small amount of dust. Vendors selling exotic fruit littered the front entrance. All this, along with the hustle and bustle created by avid shoppers, made his once-stately town house look like a marketplace. Soma burst forth from the main door with Agni by his side.

"Ciel! You finally visited me!" he ran over to his classmate and gave him a tight hug.

The grey-haired boy struggled against the tight embrace. "What the hell are you clowns doing here? And what of all this?" he pointed at the traders and zoo animals on the front lawn.

The Indian boy laughed heartily. "Don't you remember? You left me in charge! I am the dutiful steward of your London house."

Ciel rubbed his temple irritably. "Let's just go, Sebas—"

He looked around. His butler was nowhere to be seen.

"Where is that stupid demon…?" he muttered under his breath.

"That stupid what?" said Soma.

He stammered, only just realising what he'd said. "I'm…I'm not really sure."

Soma invited him indoors to escape the heat, suggesting that maybe Sebastian had gone to the kitchen to prepare a snack for them. Once inside, they were met with the pungent aroma of spices. The interior had been redecorated and the walls were now lined with paintings depicting various Hindu gods and mythological heroes. Somehow this was to be expected, given the chaos outside.

Still, there was no sign of Sebastian. They sat together in the guest room as Agni served them cups of tea. Soma chatted away about this and that, while Ciel gazed indolently out the window. Through his half-lidded eye, he spotted a pair of soft, long, white ears poking out from a bush just below the windowsill.

How curious. He left his seat and shuffled towards the window to take a closer look. The ears twitched under Ciel's scrutiny, and the rabbit popped out from the bush…except that the rabbit wasn't a rabbit. Instead, the rabbit was, in fact, Sebastian. Ciel took a stunned step backward.

Sebastian pulled a pocket watch the size of his face from his tailcoat and flipped it open. He pushed his spectacles up his nose with a slender, gloved finger. "Oh dear me, it's that time already."

Ciel opened the window and opened his mouth to demand to know what Sebastian thought he was doing. However, he was hushed by the rabbit-butler who smiled and simply said, "I can't talk now, I'm late." and hopped away.

"Wait!" Ciel cried. Without thinking, he jumped out the window and ran after him.

He didn't know that butlers sporting rabbit ears and oversized pocket watches could run so fast. Thankfully, although he huffed and puffed as he ran around the garden, he didn't feel the least bit tired. At last, he caught sight of a white, fluffy tail and polished black shoes disappearing behind a tree. Ciel leapt after it, but in his fervor he didn't notice the large tree root that stood menacingly in the way of him and his upperclassman.

Before he knew it, he had tripped and was falling, as he often did – down, down, down…

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It felt like forever before he finally landed again, awkwardly, in an expansive net. His stomach lurched.

"Oi, you! That was shabby!"

Ciel looked around to find the source of the familiar voice. From the net suspended in mid air, he saw Joker, feet planted firmly on the ground below, staring angrily at him. The costume he wore was bright and flamboyant, and painful to look at. In one hand he held a whip and in the other…

That was odd. Ciel knew Joker had bony hands, but not to the extent where they were nothing but bone…

A crack of the whip brought Ciel back to attention. "If you don't perfect that lame excuse for a tightrope walk, consider yourself booted out of my circus!"

He blinked a couple of times. Circus?

Joker sighed. "I'm not mad at you, Smile," he said. "But if you're not up to scratch by tomorrow, we'll have to find a replacement for you." he shook his head sadly.

Ciel nodded, feeling dazed and empty in the head. He crawled off the net and climbed the adjacent ladder up to the tightrope. He'd never been the most nimble child. How on earth did he end up in a circus? (And since when did Joker start calling him 'Smile'?) He stood nervously on the small platform grasping a parasol he'd found, and opening it carefully. He took meagre, tentative steps onto the wire, one foot gingerly in front of the other, stopping whenever he wobbled ever so slightly.

Sweat trailed down the side of his face. It hurt to swallow. There was no way he could make it to the other side. No way. But for the sake of his pride, he kept going, slowly, awkwardly, reminding himself to never look down. When he paused for a second to catch his breath, his trembling ankles gave way, and he was jerked off the wire abruptly. Squeezing his eye shut, Ciel braced himself to land in the net again. But instead, he felt a sharp pain in his lower back, and he returned to his original position on the tightrope.

Ciel didn't have a chance to remain puzzled, when suddenly he was hit many more times with this stabbing pain, all over his back and sides, as he walked steadily across the wire. Somehow, every time he slipped, he was struck with that same pain, and he would return to a stable stance again.

Once he'd climbed down the ladder and shuffled towards Joker, his feet adjusting to being on solid ground again, the former simply laughed.

"It was a bit scary to watch, but I guess it'll do." he then said to Ciel, ruffling his hair fondly. "It'd be nice to see you smile though, Smile. You could learn a thing or two from Black." Joker motioned behind Ciel before pacing out of the tent, his bone-fingers tapping at his side as if they had a life of their own.

Ciel turned on his heels to face 'Black', or rather, Sebastian, with a none-too-impressed scowl. Sebastian's reply was an oblivious grin, though the boy knew he was anything but. He bent down and picked up several small pebbles that Joker had not noticed.

"Do you mind?" said Ciel huffily, thrusting the handful of pebbles at Sebastian's face. "I'm going to be bruised all over!"

His red-eyed companion's smile didn't falter, as he plunged a gloved hand into his coat pocket and extracted millions of tiny pebbles, confirming Ciel's accusation. "Even so, I managed to keep you upright on the high-wire, did I not?"

Ciel frowned and looked away, mindful of his defeat but not wanting to admit it.

Sebastian pulled out his pocket watch again and took note of the time. With dynamism he shut the watch and clapped his hands once. "At any rate, time does fly. I have prepared elevenses for my little master and his guests."

"Guests…?" Ciel's voice trailed off as he walked almost involuntarily past Sebastian to an opening in the circus tent. Sebastian bowed low as Ciel glided by.

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Ciel was led (or, more rightly, he led himself) to a small garden just outside the circus grounds. In the middle of the garden was a table on which four places were laid out. Oddly, only one seat was occupied. Two rag dolls lay on top of the other two plates; one with a mole below its left button-eye, and one with long, golden hair. The one sitting at the table was Ash, wearing a white suit, with downy white feathers stuck in his hair.

Without acknowledging his guest, Ciel sat himself down in the last unoccupied seat as Sebastian appeared with an ornate dining cart and proceeded to pour tea for all four at the table.

A loud revving noise sounded, causing Sebastian to spill hot tea just millimetres from Ciel's hand. Before Ciel could scold Sebastian, another noise – no, a voice – sounded, and long, spindly arms wrapped in red sleeves grabbed the butler from the side.

"Sebastiaaaaaaaaaaan~!"

Sebastian held the teapot above his assailant's head and emptied the contents. Grell let out a cry of agony, hands fanning his scalded head frantically.

"Mister Sutcliff, please return to the gardening and refrain from disturbing the little master and his guests." said Sebastian in a voice so level, one wouldn't believe he had just tipped a pot of boiling water on Grell's head.

The green-eyed one wrung the tea out of his red hair. "Fine, but first, I will be taking back my things." he strutted to the dolls on the table and eyed Ciel with a toothy grin. Those teeth were even more shark-like than the boy recalled. In one clean motion, he swiped the dolls from the table and pocketed them in his long, red trench coat.

"These belong to me~" Grell chirped darkly. He pranced away to a nearby hedge and began to trim it with a chainsaw that he'd pulled out of nowhere.

Ciel stared at the now empty places. Somehow, it made him sad.

Ash cleared his throat, turning Ciel's attention back to tea. Sebastian had laid out a platter of assorted tarts and miniature cakes. The boy felt his stomach growl. It had been a long time since he'd eaten such nice snacks – Aunt Anne was a bit of a health nut.

He made eye contact with his guest, but no verbal contact. This, he felt, was quite commonplace. Though the feathers in Ash's hair were peculiar, Ciel didn't feel obligated to inquire. He didn't need to, when out of thin air popped a tiny angel, no bigger than Ciel's own hand. She looked exactly like Ash, only with bigger eyes, and she wore a long gown of white feathers. He watched in wonderment as she flew several laps around Ash, giggling like she was on helium. Every time she flapped her wings, a few feathers would fall and land on the stoic one. He took no heed of the angel, calmly sipping his tea. When it seemed that she couldn't have his attention, the little angel picked up a desert fork from the table and hurled it at the white-haired boy's head.

Ciel's hand flew to cover his mouth. He couldn't believe what he'd just seen.

Ash removed the fork from his eye as if nothing had happened. He set it down next to his tea on the table and looked at Ciel. "Is there a problem?"

"Your eye! Is it okay?"

The white-haired one smiled. "Is yours, O wretched one?"

He was taken aback hearing the retort. His hand once again moved to his face, this time to tug at his eye-patch. Sebastian briskly walked past him, toward Ash. Ciel forgot he was standing there. The black-clad butler stood tall next to Ash, casting a shadow on the latter's stark white attire. He looked down his nose at the guest.

"I believe you are due to take your leave, Mister Landers."

It was half-expected for an argument to ensue, but none did. Ash stood from his chair in one swift motion and Sebastian escorted him out of the garden. Ciel watched them leave, until he could no longer see them. He wrinkled his nose and picked up his tea cup, but noticed a mirror that was not there before. Lifting it tentatively, the grey-haired boy gazed into his reflection for a time, before his hand went to the back of his head to untie his eye-patch. When he saw in the mirror what was underneath the black silk, he reeled back in horror. The orb that stared back at him was a dull shade of purple, save for an inverse pentacle that appeared to have been carved into the pupil, exuding an unearthly glow.

Was this his eye?

"Oh dear, little master. You didn't actually listen to that man, did you?"

Ciel looked furiously up at Sebastian. "What is this?" he hissed, pointed at his right eye.

The smiling butler knelt and took Ciel's hands in his. He stroked them reassuringly, and even though Ciel hated being touched, he didn't react. "Close your eyes, little master."

"You didn't answer my—"

"Please close your eyes." Almost immediately after he said this, he used his hand to cover Ciel's eyes. Ciel felt sleep creeping upon him. Vaguely, he felt himself being bundled up and carried away, bridal-style. He heard birds chirping and grass rustling underfoot, as Sebastian took him out of the garden.

Then, he felt himself slip out of wakefulness, his body and mind exhausted.

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When he opened his eyes again, he was back in his suite at Stoneleigh Park Academy, with the bitter taste of tea in his mouth.

"A dream?" he mused.

Narrow slits of sunlight bled through opening between the curtains and onto his bed – it couldn't be this late in the day already, could it? He checked the time on his phone – it was half-past nine. Class started thirty minutes ago!

Ciel jolted upright and clambered off the bed, grabbing his eye-patch on the way to the ensuite. He simultaneously brushed his teeth and hair, and then donned his wig whilst washing his face. He slipped off his nightshirt and slipped on his wig and uniform.

His shoes were barely on his feet when he rushed out his door and ran straight into Sebastian.

Ciel wanted to kick the older student. "Idiot! As if I wasn't late enough!"

Sebastian gave an amused chuckle, but didn't offer Ciel any help. The boy ran past him and had almost reached the elevator when Sebastian called out to him:

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"Skye, today is a Saturday."

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A/N: The crack chapter! Even though I tried to use a bit of symbolism and stuff, this still is just a dream. I just wanted to write it as a tribute to the canon, and I wanted to fit "No, I'm just a deer" into the story somehow. XD

Poor Grell has been having a lot of drinks spilled on his hair! And Ciel thinking it's a school day. Admittedly, I've been guilty of waking up late in the weekend and panicking about missing lectures…

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This Lesson's Playlist consists entirely of D! (For some reason I always associate Asagi with Sebastian.)

D – Yami no Kuni no Alice

D – Akaki Hitsuji ni Yoru Bansankai

D – Mad Tea Party