"What's this?" Ciel says, when Sebastian hands him the small box.
"You showed interest in the idea," Sebastian says. Ciel looks at him doubtfully, but opens it to find two small stud earrings nestled into velvet. They are blue, two perfect star sapphires, the six-pointed shape just visible when he turns it in the light. Lessons have ended for the day and dinner has been taken away, so he is seated in the parlor, piles of foolscap cluttering up the table, covered in product sketches. A number of mock-ups have been completed, and Ciel can't wait to pick them up this afternoon before thinking of all the things he might change.
"It matches my ring," Ciel says softly. Somehow, Sebastian has gotten the shade to be exactly the same, and when he puts his thumb near them, it looks as though the designs have been created to go together. If it weren't for the fact that the earrings were made with a more delicate touch, you would never notice it wasn't meant to be a set. The sight of it staggers him, and he feels suddenly overwhelmed. He can't look Sebastian in the eyes when he says, at last, "But the other ear… I can't put it in."
"The earrings came together," Sebastian says. "If you'd like to only wear one, I'm not certain if I can return the other, but I will try…"
"No," Ciel says. "It will look better with both." He glances up at Sebastian, then, uncertain about what he means to say next.
"You can have the other one pierced during our outings today, if you like," Sebastian says. "I know of a reputable place."
Ciel holds the two sparkling gems in his palm, and puts them gently back in the box. "Yes," he says at last. "I think… I think I should like that."
He changes out of his mourning clothes for the outing. He doesn't want to draw more odd attention than he has to, and he can't help being nervous. But they set out in a cab to get the stuffed animals he has designed, and when that is done they catch another to go to the salon. The shops are bustling, despite the chill that makes Ciel's breath fog when they get out of the carriage. Well-dressed men and women are stepping in and out, so there is an ever-present ring of small bells hung over the door; and the windows are filled with the latest fashions. Ciel stops to peer in as they pass along, Sebastian holding the bags behind him, imagining how he will set up his own shops, once his business is ready to sell. It's suddenly so close to being a possibility, even as it will take ingenuity and persistence to make it. His dreams are waiting for him behind the polished glass, sparkling in crystal lights.
They take a number of steps to the first floor, stepping at last into what seems to be a waiting room, and it is some time before two young woman step out into the chamber; an older Frenchwoman who must be the proprietor is talking to them. "If there is any irritation, just soak them in camphorated water," she is saying, and the other women nod. "Thank you," they say, smiling, before leaving, their skirts trailing behind them down the stairs. At this, the woman turns to them.
"Welcome, sir," she says, talking to Sebastian. "What are you here for?"
"A piercing," Sebastian says, standing up from the low couch while Ciel hides himself behind his thick black coat, his face going red in embarrassment. He has changed his mind—he is going to die.
"You've come to the right place," the woman answers. "I do piercings, anywhere you want them. But what's this? Your son?" she asks, looking down at Ciel. "I can have my daughter wait with him in this room, if you need," she says, for the first time looking slightly thrown. Ciel doesn't get the feeling she sees children in these places very often.
"Oh, you misunderstand," Sebastian says. "The piercing is for the child."
"The child?" the woman says, blinking.
Ciel can see the moment she decides to throw them out as some kind of jokers.
"It… it was an accident," Ciel says quietly. He looks at Sebastian for reassurance, and he nods slightly as Ciel tells the story they have decided on. "My friend and I wanted to pierce each other's ears, you see," he says, brushing back the hair over his ear. "But the other one, we didn't manage it."
The woman tuts in sudden sympathy. "Oh my," she says. "Here, let me see. Do you mind?"
Ciel nods and lets her take a look at the ear. "Well," she says at last. "If you want the other one done, that can be managed." She stands up and talks to Sebastian, then.
"This was done at least a month ago…" she says.
"It took some time for him to reach a decision to come here," Sebastian says. By some time he really means only days, but the woman assumes based on their story, and makes a shrugging gesture with her hands.
At last they come into the salon proper, a tastefully decorated room with sofas set around and magazines on the tables. A young woman who must be the daughter is moving things around in the back, and she peers out when she sees them. The proprietor goes back and begins to speak with her quietly in French, telling her the whole story they've created, while the daughter nods. Then they come back out, with a needle, a bottle, and styptic wool. The woman tells Ciel how it is going to work while she puts that strong-smelling stuff on his ears, and he holds Sebastian's hand tightly as he listens and nods.
"It should just hurt for a moment, yes?"
"I understand," Ciel says. He squeezes his eyes shut as she does first the other ear—it is as quick a process as she has promised, and it hurts much less than he had anticipated, nothing like when they did it; but then, nothing like this is how they had done it. His ear feels almost numb. The other one takes longer, being a harder job presumably, but soon that one is also done. The metal of the earrings she has put in is softly cool against his skin, and slightly heavy.
"Do you want to see how you look?" the woman asks, as her daughter packs everything up and takes it away. Ciel nods, and she gives him a hand mirror. For a moment, he hesitates, but as soon as he looks in the glass that restless energy subsides and the catch in his breath seems to loosen. The blue sparkles brilliantly as though they were taking the color from his eyes, simple but ornate, and he can no longer see that hateful scar. What he sees is, instead, mesmerizingly beautiful. He reaches one hand up to that ear, his fingers barely brushing the surface, as she explains to Sebastian how to care for the piercings as they heal. The ever-present scrapes that had littered his face when he first returned are gone now, and for the first time, that sense of not recognizing himself that he constantly feels doesn't seem like such an eerie, painful thing. The boy in the mirror is not that boy, the one who had died, and he is no longer in that cage. The boy that has survived has hard, cold eyes like gems, and he does not look afraid.
On the ride home, Ciel picks the stuffed animals out of their bags, turning them around and making remarks on what he likes and dislikes about each. He stops at the last one, that sad-faced rabbit. There is still something missing, and he doesn't know what. He makes suggestions to Sebastian, but decides the next moment against each of them, until Sebastian starts to make humorous remarks of his own. None of his suggestions are any good, though, Ciel tells him tartly. Sebastian, whose mouth is curling up at the edge, doesn't seem to be daunted by this.
Ciel hops out of the cab when they reach the steps of the townhouse, while Sebastian gathers the rest of the bags. He stumbles, almost falling as a boy darts past. He is confused, for a moment—the low, muttered "sorry," the other boy gives him has a thick lower-class accent, but Ciel doesn't miss the fine clothes he's wearing or the familiar face.
"Is this yours?"
Ciel looks down from his staring appraisal to see that the boy is holding his rabbit, which has fallen onto the frozen ground. Still, it has flecks of dirt on its fur, and Ciel rubs it off, annoyed. He wants to tell the boy off, but the incongruity that has been nagging him catches more of his interest.
"William?" he says at last. "William Blackburn?" the boy looks almost as he remembers him from the few times they've met, but… there is something very palpably off.
The boy nods. That won't do, Ciel thinks. He needs him to speak again; but the boy has obviously realized his slip-up and isn't talking; he glances over his shoulder at the Blackburns' house next door.
"I'm designing this rabbit," Ciel says at last. "I'm going to make a store and sell them all around London."
"You're kidding me," the boy says, with palpable skepticism, and there it is, clear as day. He pauses after he speaks, and they regard each other, both realizing that some secret has slipped loose and is sitting uncomfortably between them.
Ciel doesn't remark on it. He looks back down at the stuffed animal and feels its fur under his hand. "It's true," he says. "But the rabbit's missing something. I don't know what," he adds, frustrated. "I thought it might be the clothes, but I like those. It just has this air of… of…"
The boy, who had looked so close to bolting a moment ago, steps forward in interest. He looks closely at the rabbit, staring into its intelligent black eyes. "I know what you mean," he says. He reaches out slightly, like he wants to touch it, but doesn't dare.
"You can hold it," Ciel says. The boy takes the rabbit, then, and holds it for a very long time. When he finally speaks, his voice is slow and thoughtful.
"It's broken," he says, "but you can't see it. It wants someone to see it."
Ciel looks at the rabbit as well, and is suddenly certain that the boy has caught on the truth. That is the look in the rabbit's eyes that had seemed so pleading. That is why it was so forlorn.
"Then what should be done?" Ciel says. "I don't think he would look good with one of his arms off."
The boy laughs, the sound startled out of him, and he meets Ciel's eyes with his own pale grey ones that are suddenly sparkling and lively. "Nah, you don't needa do anything like that," he says. "Maybe he'd look good with an eyepatch, though—like a pirate."
Ciel looks back warmly. "Thank you," he says. "I'll try that."
The door of the Blackburns' house is thrown open then, and Mary Blackburn looks frantically around before her gaze falls on her son.
"William!" she calls harshly. "Get in here, now! Have you been talking to that boy? What do you think you're doing!?"
The boy seems to shrink under the sound of her voice, standing stiff and uncertain. His gaze falls to the ground, and he starts to hand the rabbit back to Ciel with an almost inaudible murmur.
"No, that's all right," Ciel says, on a sudden whim. "Keep it."
The boy looks up. "Are you sure?" he says, and the disbelieving hope in his voice has such a familiar guarded tone.
"Yes," Ciel says. "You helped me with the design, so you should be able to keep the one-of-a-kind trial version, don't you think?"
The boy smiles at him again—a soft flash of a smile that disappears as soon as it appears, and he hugs the rabbit tighter to himself.
"William!" Mrs. Blackburn calls again, even sharper than before, and the boy dashes over to her just as Mr. Blackburn's voice rings out from down the corridor.
"What are you making such a noise about, woman?"
Mrs. Blackburn takes the boy by the shoulders and pulls him inside, her eyes meeting Ciel's for one moment. And Ciel sees something in those eyes that disturbs him, a certain kind of resigned fear that makes his skin crawl. She slams the door shut.
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Notes: for more information on piercings in Victorian times, you can read this really interesting article:
(HTTPS):/ /www. bodyartforms (slash) blog/ victorian- nipple- rings- part- one/
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