9: Eggshell
"I could've reacted better." Ciel started, as soon as he heard the door opening. He was sulking, he knew, and he was embarrassed of his pathetic actions. Weighting heavily on his arm, Ciel didn't want to meet her eyes as he felt her warmth settling against his side. He glared out of the window.
Cupping a hand over her fist, Kagome agreed, "That you could."
He huffed, but said nothing further. His lips screwed, when a warm hand brushed by his cheek. He tried his best not to respond to Kagome's gentle caressing. His resolve wavering, he sighed. Ciel turned to look at her with drawn turned brows, "You must be disappointed in me." His hand dropped to the table, his stomach twisting.
"That I am—" at Ciel's flinch at her answer, she clarified, "but you're not the only one I am disappointed in." Kagome rolled over her fingers through his hair, to comfort the boy, "I expected Lady Midford to do a better job of making her daughter to be more courteous, considering how..." She tilted in thought, of a proper word to describe Ciel's hard-nosed aunt.
Ciel frowned at the remembrance of his aunt's character, "She is rather strict."
Nodding at his answer, Kagome reclined, "Quite so." She pulled her hand back to her lap, not missing Ciel's displeasure at not having her touches.
"We owed each other an apology." Ciel stated.
Bobbing her head she agreed, "Even if she doesn't apologize, you should. It is a courteous thing to do."
"Alright." Ciel creaked his chair to stand, to heed her words, "I should find Elizabeth then."
Running a thumb over the sapphire stone, Kagome hurried, "What should you do with the ring?"
Pausing at her question Ciel turned back to his Doll and saw the broken jewelry in her hands. He turned away again, waving at it in dismissal, "Tch, throw it away. It's a silly old thing." Without further words Ciel left through the door.
Kagome blinked. She shook her head, tucking the ring inside her jacket and laid it deep in a hidden pocket there, "Throw it away, you say." When the door slammed close, she let out a small, humorless laugh, "You couldn't be any less unconvincing."
Finally shifting her legs into motion to follow the boy, Kagome proceeded ahead.
She didn't reach her destination, sensing a heavy presence. "Butler." She murmured, almost thoughtfully, when the said presence settled next to her, "How did Lady Elizabeth fared?"
Sebastian placed his hands at his tailbone, "Better. Guilty, but better."
"We should attend to both to them then." Kagome didn't resume her walk. Sebastian stayed where he was, waiting for her to continue. "Although, being a man of many talents," the butler's lips curled, "surely you can fix any old thing, yes?"
His eyes shining a wicked gleam, Sebastian met her mismatched eyes, "I suppose I could fix just about anything."
Satisfied with the butler's answer, Kagome carried on, "I'll give you the object in question after Lady Elizabeth departs to her home. But, now we should proceed to the party."
"Very well, Ms. Blackbird." Sebastian made an amused sound as he trailed closely behind.
Reentering the lobby Kagome didn't blink as Ciel and Elizabeth reconciled. She continued on to the piano, catching Elizabeth's teary giggle. She swept her long skirt over the seat and nimbly placed her feet over the pedals.
"May I have a dance then?" She heard him to say, and without prompting, her fingers flew to the white and black keys. Each music note fell into a long string of slow symphony, easy on the ears. Before long, the moans and sighs of a violin came into the blend. Sebastian's skilled fingers kept in tune with Kagome's melody.
Peeking over and without ever disrupting the music she was creating, Kagome absently noted each flaws in Ciel's footwork. Fluttering her eyes close at that brief content in the boy's eye and the glimmering happiness in the girl's expression. There was a pang somewhere inside of her chest when she acknowledged that they didn't match in their emotions.
Before long the music came to an end, to a little girl's laugh, it was already dark in the lobby and the girl having gone home to where she rightfully belonged. Kagome was tucking the boy in his bed. She didn't miss the trouble in his eyes nor his clenching his thumb, "Young Master."
"It's fine." Ciel returned quickly, rolling to face away from his Doll, "I don't need it."
Kagome patted a small spot on his downy pillow, "So you say, but I know you quite well, Young Master." Her hands deftly went to his fists and gently pry away his thumb, "But, you forget. You've the hell of a butler." Ciel gave a surprised grunt, when his ring reappeared and slide on snugly. Its blue stone glinted, almost mournfully, under dim candlelight. "And I am your Doll. It is my duty to ensure your happiness."
Trembling at this kindness, Ciel nodded, "Thank you."
"If Sebastian were in my place, he'd scold you for your facade." His Doll hummed, shifting off from his bed and took the lit candle-holder into her hand, "But, in the end of the day, you could never slip a lie through us." She moved to depart his room.
"Can you not stay by my side this night, my Doll? This ring..." Ciel twirled it on his thumb, "I can still hear them." His eyes dropped close.
Dropping her hand from the door, Kagome returned, "I can, until you've fallen asleep." She understood his needs.
There was a frown in his words, Ciel acquiesced, "...Thank you. Always." Sleep came slowly, her presence chasing away incoming nightmares.
Word Count: 1000
A/N: Do me a solid and hug your loved ones for me. Thank you.