A/N: I am SO terribly sorry that I've been inactive for a week. My internet got cut out because we weren't able to pay the bill on time. But during that week, I've spent my time writing near-constantly. Without the distraction of IMVU and doujinshi, I've written quite a bit. I've finished this chapter, and I am almost done with the next, which sadly, will be the last. I may or may not do an epilogue chapter later on, but don't get your hopes up, I'm moving on to something new. I have also done a loose planning for my next fanfiction and started writing it. I will be uploading what chapters I have done after this and the last chapter. I will have included the name of the new story at the end of the next chapter in a sort of farewell statement. I will announce the pairings along with the name. I plan for it to be many, many chapters, so that's very exciting. Also, with a new story comes a new pen name. I'm not changing it because I'm writing a new story, but because I've changed my screen name on IMVU, and I much like that name better than the one I have currently. Well, I think I've blathered on enough, now it's time for some Replies to Reviewers, and then on to the story!
Oh, by the way, the alternate title for this chapter was "Miserably Inebriated," but I ultimately decided on the current title, because really, 5 seconds of Elizabeth's company is 5 seconds too many, and any normal person would die of over-exposure to pink, annoying fluff. (If you can't tell how much I loathe Elizabeth, let me enlighten you with this statement: I would take so much enjoyment out of her choking to death on a bag of dicks, being sucked into hell to forever have her annoying voice parroted back to her while being beaten profusely by engorged dragon dildos.)
Replies to Reviewers:
isfantasyandlovereal: I'm so very happy that you love this fanfiction! It brings me joy to know that my fanfiction has born a love in you for this particular pairing (as they are my most favourite). And as for who I write this for, it's for both myself and my readers. I love this pairing so deeply, and I know that a lot of others do as well. I have read many fanfictions, some of them horrid and some of them beautiful. I just wanted to contribute, and if my stories can bring happiness to others, than my job has been well done, and I too, can be happy. Oh, and I do so love to write. I plan on being a novelist, it is my calling, what my heart burns for, but I will never give up writing fanfictions. They will be a break from the tediousness of writing novels, and I always go back and reread my own stories, to catch mistakes and to also enjoy them. I hope my answers to your questions suffice. Thank you for reviewing!
Aservis-Roturier: Thank you so much for your advice; I enjoyed reading it, and I will definitely use it in the future. I'm also happy that you took time out of your day to give me that advice, and that you read and enjoy my story at all.
Artemis-Phantomhive: To have Sebastian as a lover would be so... words can't even describe. But alas, he belongs to Ciel, and I would never infringe on his territory (he would probably rip me a new one). Also, I would love to see a drawing of Ciel in that outfit! If anyone out there is willing to draw him, I would love to see it!
garryxmrchairfan: Oh, Ciel would most definitely top Alois. While they are both uke characters, I feel as if Ciel would come out the dominant one, and that, well, you know how Alois is. To me, he's much more uke than Ciel could ever hope to be (not like it's a bad thing for either of them). That's just how their personalities strike me. And, I am happy you enjoyed the chapter!
Cyfernix: For some reason my fingers always type your name wrong at first. Arg, but anyways~ I appreciate that you love this story, and that you think I am a great writer. It really makes me happy to read such things, especially when I am down. Whenever I feel blue, I go onto the fanfiction app on my phone and just read all of the reviews that this story has. It truly makes me feel much better. This chapter will have a lot of emotional turmoil, and the climax will be the next chapter. Who knows what will happen? (Besides me, of course. I'm like the god of this story, heh.)
I suppose that will suffice for now. As always, thank you all for reviewing and supporting this story and my writing endeavor. I appreciate and love you all. Please enjoy this next chapter (as much is as possible with that blonde bit—ahem, Lizzy) and look forward to the last chapter!
Chapter 13
Elizabeth Overdose
"Ciel!" echoed through the manor as the main doors were thrown open, slamming violently into the walls. A thin, flat-chested girl clad in a pink, frilly dress came bounding into the entrance hall, the cacophony of her giggles grating on the nerves of the child Earl. Her golden pigtails bounced around her head in a shimmering halo of impossibly curly ringlets. Her large emerald eyes were wide with excitement and happiness, her lips stretched into a huge smile. With three hopping steps, she jumped and was atop her grouchy counterpart, squealing like a piglet being taken to slaughter. "I missed you sooo much, dear boy, you have no idea!" She gripped his arms in a bruising hold and spun him around in frighteningly fast circles, causing Ciel to pale with dizziness. For a moment he thought about vomiting on her, which brought him a momentary joy.
"E-Elizabeth, what a surprise. Does Aunt Frances know that you are here?" Ciel forced his voice to sound as if it were a happy surprise to have the insane ball of pink and cheer visiting his manor. He knew that she had most likely sneaked away.
Finally, she stopped spinning him around violently. "Call me Lizzy," scolded the blonde waif before responding to his questions. "Of course not, silly. Otherwise I wouldn't have been allowed to come here. But I just had to see you!" She went back to squealing and giggling, swinging Ciel's arms violently in her excitement.
Already a headache was beginning to form behind the young lord's eyes. He would take so much enjoyment in grabbing her by the scruff of her neck, dragging her to the door, and kicking her in the rump before slamming the doors in her face. While the mental image was very pleasing, Ciel pushed it aside with a sigh. It was his job as Elizabeth's fiancee to make sure that she was kept happy and that all her whims were followed, however tedious they were. He closed his exposed eye momentarily, taking a deep breath in an attempt to relax himself. He only had to deal with her for a few hours, and then he could send her on her merry, terribly oblivious way.
"All right, Elizabeth, what would you like to do?" Ciel sighed, allowing the fae-like girl to drag him through the halls.
"Oh, I was thinking we could play a game, since I know you love those. And then I wanted to take a walk through the garden. Afterwards I was hoping we could have some tea and sweets. Oh, and I was really wanting to..." Lizzy prattled on, unaware that the boy she was dragging along was no longer listening.
Ciel's thoughts turned inward, and he found himself remembering the events of the night before. How he was able to function properly today, he had no idea, with how Sebastian worn him out. His arse still smarted from the abuse it suffered at the hand of his butler, and he found it a bit difficult to sit in the same position for too long. Still, he had thoroughly enjoyed their risque, kinky night together. The thought that someone could hear or walk in at any moment had been dangerously exciting, something Ciel knew he could get addicted to doing if he was not careful; the risk was half of the fun, and he decided to keep the risk-taking to a minimum in his sex life. And then his mind began to wander further down lewd lane; he wondered how Sebastian would top last night tonight. Would he take his dominant role further and order Ciel to once again wear that outfit? Just the thought made a shiver dance down his spine, a tingling sensation settling low in his stomach. Or maybe they could utilize a dessert? Or, would they get even more risky and take to Sebastian's quarters, which was quite near the bedchambers of the others. The possibilities were endless, and each thought made his cheeks flush a little more than the last, his skin positively dancing with electricity. He worried his bottom lip between his teeth, starting to fantasize about how it would feel...
"Ciel, what are you thinking about?" Lizzy asked curiously, pulling the boy from his thoughts as he realised that his counterpart had stopped walking and was staring at his face. He could feel the faint burning of the blush that colored his cheeks, which only served to make him blush more.
Biting his lip, the blae-haired boy shook his head vigorously, clearing away the lewd thoughts. "N-Nothing Elizabeth, just that..." he paused scrounging around his incredibly perverse brain for a believable thing. "I was just thinking that..." He held back a sigh of frustration, looking down at Elizabeth's outfit for the first time. He searched his memory of the dresses he had seen her in, each more vague than the last. "Is that a new dress?" He asked her, looking down at the silky pink... thing, successfully distracting her.
The girl shrieked in happiness that he had noticed. "Yes! I just got it today, and I thought that you would like it. Isn't it just the cutest?" Lizzy released her snakelike grip on him long enough to twirl around maniacally. Around her breasts and shoulders the dress was poofy, tightening up around her torso and following the slight contours of her waist and hips. From there, it fluffed out, the skirt poofing out like a bell, ending a few inches above her knees. Decorating the pink silk was lace and frills, adding a girlish quality. Her pale pink socks went up to her knees and were edged in some white frills, and her brown leather shoes were laced with pink ribbons, the heel an inch taller than her normal one-inches. Upon her hands were white silk gloves. The overall look was dainty and girly, though it was a little too pink for the boy Earl.
"I... yes," Ciel said, though it sounded more like a question than a confirmation to his own ears. A girly giggle left the pink-clad girl's lips, and she blushed slightly, giving Ciel a loving look. She gripped his arm once more, flashing him a wide grin.
Already Lizzy's short attention span was onto something else as she spun to face the other direction and continued to drag the reluctant boy to the lounge. "Should we play Old Maid? Or would you rather it be Chess, though you always beat me at it and that is terribly unfun." She tapped a slim gloved finger against her lips momentarily. "Oh! Let's play Checkers, Ciel!"
With a sigh, Ciel realised that he had no say in what they were going to play, not that he expected much of one anyway. He ordered Sebastian to get the Checker set, pulling the chair out for Lizzy to sit before he took to his own seat. After the game board had been set up, Ciel began to beat the blonde girl at every game they played within five minutes. The girl groaned and whined each time she lost, kicking her legs childishly.
Finally, Lizzy had declared that Checkers was too hard and messed up the pieces (she had been on the verge of losing for the umpteenth time), announcing that she wanted to take a walk through the garden. Dragging Ciel by the arm, she guided him through the maze-like grounds, exclaiming the cuteness of every flower. She paused in her tirade when the blue rose sitting in Ciel's lapel caught her emerald eyes.
"Ciel, what is this?" She pointed her finger at it, a look of horror and disgust coloring her expression. "It isn't cute at all!" She spun away from him, picking the gaudiest pink rose from the bushel and turning back to him, grin on her lips. "This one is much cuter, see?"
As she reached forward to remove the blue rose, Ciel swatted her hand away, an angry look on his face. His fingers caressed the petals of his rose, recalling the look Sebastian had had on his face when Ciel had asked him to fetch and thread it into his lapel. His butler had seemed to be overflowing with happiness, and he could feel the presence of his butler in the garden now; he would be damned if he let Elizabeth take something so precious from him. She looked up, shocked that he would dare lay an unkind hand on her. "I prefer this one, Elizabeth. Don't touch it." His voice held a cold tone, though he tried to control his irritation.
Anger colored her cheeks, and she stomped her foot. "There is not a single bushel in your garden that grows blue roses! There aren't even any in the flower shoppes in London! It looks fake, and I can't have my darling fiancee waltzing around with a tacky flower jutting out from his lapel like some commoner! It probably is fake! How could you even think to wear such a thing?"
His eyes closed tightly and he pinched the bridge of his nose, counting to ten in an attempt to calm down. "Lizzy—" he started, but was cut off as the girl ripped the blue rose from his person, crushing the petals in her hand before tossing the now broken and bruised flower to the ground. Shock made him freeze, which the girl mistook as compliance. She threaded the disgustingly gaudy pink rose into his lapel, cooing about how cute he looked now.
Loathing and choler rose in Sebastian, who had been following the two young teens through the garden, as he watched Elizabeth destroy one of his roses and replace it with something that did not suit his Young Master at all. And when the girl threaded her finger's through Ciel's continuing to tug him unwillingly, a strong surge of jealousy raised its ugly head within him, though he tried to suppress it. The girl dared to touch what belonged to him—the thought itself was just sickening to the butler. He kept his emotions off his face, his visage a mask of amusement. Ciel looked back at the abandoned rose before meeting Sebastian's gaze, catching a glimpse of something foreboding. He quickly averted his eye, following Lizzy back into the manor.
Once back inside, Sebastian served rose-hip tea and little pastries of all kinds. He felt a soft adoration filling his chest as he watched the euphoric expressions dance over Ciel's face each time he tried a new sweet; the boy would make a soft purring sound only audible to the butler's ears. Oh, how cute, Sebastian sighed joyously. His cheeks flushed a very pale pink, his chocolate eyes full of a loving warmth as he watched Ciel. The girl's mindless chatter could not even hinder his mood—that is, until she directed her squawking at him.
"Sebastian, you do know that it is improper to stare at one's Master, don't you?" The girl's voice, low enough so as not to detect Ciel's attention, was filled with disgust, her expression holding nothing but contempt. The look on his face as he had been staring at the younger boy sent a shiver of wrongness through Elizabeth. No butler should ever gaze at his master in such a way; it unsettled her, that look of enraptured, unadulterated... something. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but she didn't like it, not at all. She raised her voice slightly, tossing in a tone of nonchalance. "I think we are done with tea. So, if you would kindly leave, I would like to have a conversation with my fiancee." Her words were full of false cheer, but she put a hard emphasis on my fiancee. As if she thought that this summed up everything so perfectly, and that the young boy actually belonged to her.
Sebastian, hiding his revulsion behind a sickly sweet smirk, bowed silently, removed the tray of sweets and tea, and exited the room, pulling the door shut with his foot. Ciel sat exasperated, feeling a strong vibe of irritation radiating of both is butler and fiance, sapphire eye wide with shock at the latter. "What was that about, Elizabeth?" He asked with perplexity laden in his voice.
The girl merely shrugged before prattling on meaninglessly. Ciel barely listened, only responding with hums when he thought appropriate. After a few hours of her shrill noise, the young Earl announced that he had work that still needed doing, and that it was about time that Elizabeth headed home. After much kicking and fussing, she finally agreed. At the door, when she was saying her goodbyes, a tall figure caught her emerald eyes. With a feeling of defiance (of what, she didn't know) a sudden impulse rose in her, and she followed it. Her gloved hands cupped the porcelain cheeks of Ciel, drawing his complete attention for the first time that day.
"Eliza—" he started, but was cut off by her lips. She kissed him fiercely, his mouth falling open in shock, which she decided to take advantage of. Her tongue slid into his mouth, which tasted like chocolate, she decided, and explored the wet orifice. The boy did not return her kiss, merely stood still as a statue. The kiss seemed to go on for ages, before she finally pulled away, her cheeks flushed pink as she gasped for air.
"Ciel, I want you to stop thinking of me as a child and cousin, and to start thinking of me as a young lady and your fiance, who has needs." She sounded strangely serious at that moment, all childish squealing not present in her voice. Her eyes flickered to Sebastian in smug satisfaction, hoping that she had taught him a lesson, whatever that lesson may be. "The next time I see you, hopefully you will see me differently, and then you will be the one initiating the kiss." She winked at her fiancee before turning her back to him.
Quite suddenly she found herself shoved out of the door, shrieking and writhing as she failed to catch herself. Luckily for her, she fell straight into her carriage; dazedly, she registered the carriage door slamming as it lurched into movement. That was curious... she thought, wondering who would ever push her, a noble lady. Deciding that she must have tripped over her own feet instead of being pushed, she shrugged it off and chucked it up to her own clumsiness.
Ciel stood in the doorway, staring down at his demon butler, who had just viciously shoved Elizabeth so hard that she flew into the carriage. His was facing away, but the boy could see his whole body trembling, with restraint at chasing down the carriage and murdering the annoying blonde or from barely contained anger and jealousy, Ciel couldn't tell. Oddly, his brain registered that Elizabeth's lips tasted like cherries, something that he found to be less preferable to the taste of Sebastian. The stupor from Lizzy's erratic behavior and kiss was finally wearing off. In it's place came anger at the butler for recklessly endangering the blonde.
"Bastard! What the hell did you do that for? Are you aware that you could have seriously injured—or even killed—her?!" Ciel picked up the nearest object and threw it at Sebastian, and the umbrella hit him squarely in the back. Sebastian turned, shock—and hurt— coloring his expression. "You insolent fool! The way you acted out, like an infant throwing a tantrum, is unbefitting of you!" He continued to chuck whatever he could get his hands on at the butler, who did nothing to block the blows.
"I'm sorry," Sebastian murmured, drawing a harsh snort from his master's lips that made the butler wince.
"You're sorry?! You precariously toss Elizabeth around like a rag doll in your jealous rage, and all you can say is you're sorry?!" Ciel's voice was reaching dangerous shouting levels, and it was soon to draw the attention of the other servants if he didn't quiet down.
"Young mas—" Sebastian started, but Ciel continued on his rant.
"How could you even allow yourself a moment of jealousy! How could you even dare to think it would be okay to act upon it, even if you could not stop yourself from feeling it?" Ciel took a deep breath, and his voice got soft and dangerously silky. "After everything, everything that has happened between us, one would think that you would know that those emotions were uncalled for. You would think that you would know that there was no other..." He voice caught in his throat and he let his words die, the look in his eyes a mixture of disappointment and contempt. "Don't even think of coming to my chambers tonight, you belligerent child." With that, Ciel stormed off up the stairs and to his room, slamming the door harshly behind himself. Later, when he had calmed down, he added the 'Do not Disturb—and that means you, Sebastian' sign to the outside of his door. He struggled to rid himself of his clothes, searching through his drawers to find a nightshirt. After clumsily buttoning it (a few buttons in the wrong hole, some not even in holes at all), he climbed into bed, and fell into a restless sleep.
That night Ciel was racked with nightmares; his memories of his capture, torment, and rape rearing their head for the first time in months, as well as ones of Lizzy, lying lifeless upon the concrete staircase leading up to the entrance of Ciel's manor (for some reason he felt a perturbing sense of relief during that particular dream, which only made the nightmare worse with feelings of guilt. By far the worst dreams were of Sebastian leaving, whether it was just one day waking up to find that he never existed, or watching him walk away, leaving his captors to torment him without glancing back once.
It was from one of those nightmares that Ciel woke up, gasping for breath as tears pricked the corners of his eyes. A feeling of loss filled him as he stared at Sebastian's side of the bed. Oh, how he wished to call his name and summon him, but his pride refused to let him; he had banished him from his chambers for the night, and he would be damned if he went crawling back to Sebastian. He sat up, deciding that a bit of chocolate cake would cheer him up, before slipping from his bed and heading down to the kitchen.
Sebastian watched helplessly as his beloved master spun away from him, stomping up the stairs and going down the hall, presumably to his room. The demon felt exceedingly guilty, recalling how he had pushed the unsuspecting blonde with a bit too much force, visions of her slender neck being snapped gruesomely with a sick sense of satisfaction. Before she even regained herself, he had slammed the carriage door and sent the driver off with that annoying thing. His feelings went far beyond jealousy and into the realm of possessive as he had watched the flouncing trout put her disgusting glossy lips on his master's. Sebastian would never think to touch something that was not his to touch, and the way the girl mistakenly believed that Ciel belonged to her was too much for the butler to handle. In the end, he couldn't hold himself back. What made him feel all the worse was Ciel's anger and disappointment in him. He hadn't wished to incur the wrath of his dainty charge. It had felt like a slap in the face when the boy yelled at him like he was a toddler.
With a depressed sigh, the butler went inside and continued on with his duties, cleaning absentmindedly. He did not yell at the servants for messing up or breaking things; he barely paid them any mind, which worried the other servants immensely. With nothing left to do, Sebastian decided to take his mind off of everything by doing the menial task of baking. By the time he was fatigued enough to quit, it was well into the night, and he had made countless sweets, from chocolate cake to extravagantly decorated flan. He left the sweets, heading down to the servants quarters, where he ran himself a bath. After soaking in the hot water, he morbidly thought about drowning himself in the tub (though he wouldn't die, it would be an excruciatingly painful experience, and the coughing up of water would leave his throat raw), but pushed it away, deciding that he did not want to trouble or scare anyone.
Draining the bath, he sighed and slipped into his nightshirt, leaving the bathroom and bringing his dirty clothing to his room. In an attempt to bring some cheer to his currently dark existence, he headed back up to the kitchen, deciding to indulge in a sinfully delicious piece of chocolate cake.
Ciel was shocked to see all the sweets decorating the kitchen. He wasted no time trying everything, hardly aware that he was getting sugary delights all over his skin and nightshirt. He opened a cabinet and found several bottles of hard liquor, opening and tasting every one until he settled upon one which he liked the taste of the most. Halfway through a piece of chocolate cake though, he sat upon the ground, staring at it dejectedly. The liquor thrummed through his veins, a pulsing warmth in his stomach, making his head spin. "Sebastian made all of this, I can taste his sadness..." he murmured to the cake. "Do you think, instead of yelling at him, I should have reassured him?" The cake gave no answer, so he sighed, lifting another forkful to his lips, chewing slowly. "I let her kiss me, you know... I should have pushed that annoying blonde bitch away. But instead, I let her kiss me with those ghastly cherry-flavoured lips. I can still taste it in my mouth, you know, and it is quite unwelcome.
"Even you, sweet cake, cannot cover that repulsive flavor, and even you..." Ciel paused to read the label of the alcoholic beverage he was currently consuming, which took him a few moments more than it normally would. "...brandy, cannot wash away my self-loathing." He took another large swig from the bottle, the burning sensation no longer bothering him; it went down as easily as water. "I feel as though the only thing that will make me forget is Sebastian's lips... But isn't that silly?" he mused to himself, before contentedly devouring another bite of his cake.
Mumbling. Sebastian paused in his tracks, tilting his head to the side. It was definitely someone talking, and it was coming from the kitchen. Slowly, he crept up to the door, stopping just outside of it, peeking in to see who was there. Ciel sat in the middle of the floor, brandy in between his spread thighs, a plate of cake in one hand, the other mindlessly gesturing with a fork. His nightshirt was haphazardly done, some buttons not tucked into their holes, leaving gaps and flashes of Ciel's pale skin. He was in the middle of saying something to no one in particular—no, he was... was he talking to the cake?
"...and I truly regret my actions. I've been having nightmares all night to prove it. You know, I even had dreams where Lizzy was dead on my stairs, and all I felt was relief; 'Thank God she's gone, leaving me and Sebastian be forever' I said to myself, which made me feel extremely guilty... But then I dreamt of Sebastian..." he paused as his voice wavered on his butler's name, a tear leaking out of the corner of his blue eye and trailing down his cheek. "You're a very good listener, cake. You don't judge me, and I like that." Ciel swayed from side to side, and Sebastian could see now that the boy was visibly drunk. "You, however," he picked up the brandy and gave it a weak, accusatory glare. "You are judging me, silently mocking me... You find such enjoyment in my misery. You relish in the taste of my tears..." He stared at it for a few more moments before shrugging and taking a large drink.
Licking his lips, he placed a large bite of cake in his mouth. Chewing, he continued to talk, seeming to have forgotten his etiquette. "But, as I was saying, cake... The dream... Sebastian left me, just, turned away and walked off into the darkness, not even looking back at me as I screamed his name, as they touched me... And I am very afraid, sweet cake, that he might do just that. What if, because I let that tart talk to him in such an unladylike manner, because I let her wreck that beauteous flower that he gave me, because I did not push her away when she dared kiss me, that he will come to hate me and disappear? All because of her, and because I chose to yell at him, instead of reassure him that he is the only one..." Tears were flowing freely now, but Ciel didn't seem to notice.
He sniffled, holding the cake up into the air and blinking hard to clear his vision. "Do you think he'll leave me, cake?"
"That would never happen." Sebastian finally pushed the kitchen door all the way open and stepped inside. He decided that he had heard enough.
For a few moments, Ciel gave the cake a look of incredulity, his lips pursed in confusion. Did the cake just speak to me in Sebastian's voice...? Slowly, he turned his gaze away from the chocolate cake, his heterocromatic eyes finally settling upon the face of his butler.
"Oh..." Ciel mumbled, shifting his weight and accidentally knocking the brandy over. It spilled all over the crotch of his nightshirt and legs. His shaking hand dropped the plate of cake with a loud clink, and his arms fell down to his sides. He felt and looked awfully pathetic, drunk and covered in alcohol and frosting. He looked at Sebastian's face, taking in his worried expression and his eyes—for a moment he thought that he saw water welling there, but figured that it must have been his own blurry eyes playing tricks on him. "So you have found me..."
And the young boy burst into tears, stifling his sobs by burying his face in his hands.