Author's Note: This one is gonna be another doozey it turns out. Okay! Here comes Grell xDDD. He shall be in this chapter, awesome no? I love the humor he always brings to the table XD! Watched Tangled with my mumzy…sooo cute xD. Anywhooo! Let's have some more fun here shall we? After le b'day. I hope I can make Grell believable, and I can't wait to get him and Ivy in the same vicinity. I can't believe the Manga can't be updated quicker! Come ooooon the latest issue had me flipping my lid! I went crazy when I saw that zombie girl! DO NOT DO THIS TO ME DAMN IT! Nothing says classic horror like good ole' fashioned zombie killing!
Disclaimer: I own nothing and I have come to accept it long ago. I WILL send a hoard of angry nekos after the next lawyer who so much as breathes in my direction *evil glare*. It is annoying.
Chapter Fifteen: That Maid, Face of Death
"I see when men love women. They give them but a little of their lives. But women when they love, give everything." -Oscar Wilde
Ivy could see her breath, blowing puffs of it and spinning among the falling snow flakes. How long had it been since she had played in the snow? Last night she had heard the story of how Ciel Phantomhive came to be as he was. On his birthday of all days. She had not been particularly as chipper as she was before and after taking a stroll in the cold frosty air, came back inside for some hot chocolate by the fireplace, during which time she poured over Ciel's library in search of something to read before she slept. Picking out a Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens she had curled up into a ball on a sofa chair, her tail swishing.
That was when Sebastian had to show up of course. It seemed that his favorite past time included disrupting any sort of peace that she found for herself. She seethed at his antics. He had come behind the chair and flicked her ear, making her frown and turn to look in one direction, then tugged her tail and scared the living daylights out of her. The book would have fallen into the flames if she were not so quick.
Flashback:
She sucked in a livid breath of air and held it for a good five seconds before slowing exhaling and not even looking at him, instead resting her face between her hands, shaking her head. All she wanted was to keep at bay her explosive temper and the demon was not helping, in fact he was chuckling behind her. Her eye twitched. "DAMN IT!" she snapped at him with a glare. "WHY MICHAELIS? JUST WHY?" The poor girl was frustrated beyond belief from trying so hard to understand how on earth she was supposed to deal with this beast.
Her hands squeezed the handle of the mug until she was white knuckled. She flinched noticeably when his gloved hands touched hers. A heat that she could not understand was swelling within her as he took the porcelain handle from her grip. This only served to make her angry. She hated not knowing, not understanding, it made her feel helpless, something that she had become far too acquainted with in life. Helplessness. "I can't have you shattering the poor mug." He smirked at her tight faced glare, her lip curled ever so slightly. "I should tell you that, sitting in the young master's favorite chair, shedding, would affect his allergies." He waved a finger at her and she jumped up immediately. Temper forgotten.
"Oh! Bloody sodding hell-…I'm so sorry!" she face palmed. How could she have been so thoughtless? Sebastian tilted his head watching her do her best to clean off the chair. Plopping into the other one, she sulked. "Sometimes…I hate my stupid fur." she muttered, ears drooping.
"Oh my, I do believe I have mistaken the chairs, the one on the left is actually his favorite." He relished in the freshly angered expression that she now sported. Her cheeks and nose were still slightly pink from being out in the cold. She shoved the book she'd been reading back into it's place, lips pursed in a tight line. She swore that she was perfectly capable of taking his life if given the opportunity sometimes.
"In that case you can clean it yourself. I am going to bed. Now, because I am tired, and you ruin everything." She bluntly stated. He was the epitome of all things exhausting. It was clear to her that he knew that all too well. He was also possibly one of the creepiest…complete bastards that she had ever encountered. She muttered obscenities to herself with a dark pout as she calmly walked away, fists at her sides. She absolutely refused to be treated like some sort of tinker toy, for the cruel amusement of a demon. She collided with a solid chest and jumped backwards a good five feet.
"I am curious. Do half breeds feed better on souls or human food?" he inquired. She frowned at him.
"Both…however…since I have quite a taste for human food I stick with it, considering that because of the preference my palate would most likely find the taste of a soul to be akin to that of dog piss or something of the like." She drawled. He seemed amused by this. She walked around him and he fell in step beside her. "What now?" she growled.
"You dropped this." He tilted his head, with one of his beaming smiles. In his hand he held out a ribbon with a bell and Ivy swore that she had just experienced a minor stroke. How had that…? Impossible! She had tied the damn thing herself! 'He didn't. No. He didn't. He wouldn't dare!' She pleaded with the fates mentally. Mean old bats. It was not as though she could accuse him without looking like a fool either. After staring with wide unblinking eyes filled with horror, rage, and just general fear mostly, she glared at him.
"Alright. I dropped it." she answered flatly. "And I will leave it at that because I have no desire to ponder on this train of thought." The young lady almost left without it but caught herself, hating her awkwardness. "Give me that." she hissed at him snatching it. He smirked. "Goodnight." she full on stormed away now, down the halls to where she slept. The demon was satisfied.
End Flashback
That had been that, and now she found herself growing more and more afraid to be near him as time slowly passed. She was heading back inside before she got too sidetracked again. Today she had convinced the earl and his butler to allow her to take care of the horses. After having another of her horrible nightmares again…she needed to do something calming. However…it appeared that the two of them were up to something of importance today and being very much like a cat in nature she was bent on her curiosity being satiated. If it had something to do with the orphanages she refused to be left out of the loop. This was personal. It was about her. Not them.
Thus and therefore, when she was inside and noticed her young employer/kidnapper getting ready to go out for what seemed like at least a day, her attention was immediately diverted. Not that she suspected them of breaking their agreement anymore.
….
Ciel Phantomhive stood with all the grace of an English nobleman. His cane in one hand, posture rigid. Beside him stood his tall, dashing butler, prepared for duty as usual. They always did make quite the pair to look at. The two of them were looking over some sort of paper work and police reports in the young boy's office. Silent, almost as if he had not heard Ivy speaking just then at all. "I have people to visit on this trip. To bring you along would be far too difficult to explain." He answered the neko girl. This was ridiculous. She was indignant.
"This whole ordeal is my problem in the first place." she insisted. "I need closure! Besides nobody can tell you more about my clan than I. I can help!" Stubborn girl. Ciel placed down the police reports from Scotland Yard to frown briefly at her through a single blue eye. She folded her arms. Said eye narrowed itself before going back to it's original apathetic state.
"Point taken. However, I still would rather not take you along on this particular visit. You can tell me what I need to know when we return tomorrow." He responded simply. "It would still be far too much trouble to explain the random presence of some girl." He was fairly adamant for her not to come with them. Ivy gave a forlorn breath of frustration, pouting. It was probably because they did not want the house in shambles when they returned, and she understood really she did, but she needed this. It was important to her. Unshakably so. She could not just let it go. What could she possibly do though? She opened her mouth to make some sort of appeal but was interrupted. "Miss Ivy, you are not going to be joining us and that is final." He scolded. How embarrassing, being scolded by a thirteen-year-old boy. Sebastian snickered behind her and she twitched.
"Why are you going to see it now of all times? Isn't it rather late?" She placed her hands on her hips.
"Another reason you shouldn't come. There was an odd sighting there again. I was hoping Sebastian could find traces of whoever has been there."
She made one of her most devastating pouts that Ciel would not look directly at as she folded her arms. The little prince of ice was unmoved. "Fine then." She sulked. Oh she would find a way. She knew that she would. She had handled herself quite well over the years and it would take more than a week or two in a manor to quell her devious nature. She was still half neko demon, and nekos hated to be told no in general. She allowed the gears in her mind to turn without another word. The boy grunted then turned to Sebastian.
"Inform the servants of our departure and call a coach if you please." he ordered. The tall butler bowed at the waist with a smile. "Make it quick."
"Yes, my Lord." He responded, his voice always the same husky baritone. Ivy was already half out the door. As he exited behind her. She pursed her lips and grabbed onto his arm once out in the hall tugging as she made her demand.
"Let me go with you." She more ordered than stated. He raised an eyebrow before continuing to walk onward easily, with her dragging behind stubbornly from his arm. Bloody ox. He was just too strong. "Neither of you really understand why this is so important to me and I do not expect you to but I have to see Bedfordshire for myself!" She raved stumbling along after him. "The least I can do is pay my respects to the few little girls who were actually my friends as young as they were…nobody will miss them…just me!" she dug her heels against the ground. Damn him, he wasn't even breaking a sweat.
"Why exactly should I go against my master's wishes? Besides I can not very well fit you into my pocket Miss Ivy, have a good day." He spoke as he pulled her fingers from his forearm.
"Oh as though you've never found loopholes before! Besides he did not even directly order you not to take me along." She defended herself.
"I see no profit in it. It is far more amusing and beneficial to leave you here once again. The manor will survive, and the young master will remain in a good humor." He smirked.
She wanted to kill him again… so very badly, she would just have to figure out how to manage it someday. "This manor has survived for years without me already apparently, and he will not even know I'm there if I use my cat form and stay out of sight." She reasoned. There was a slight pause. "Also… this is extremely hard for me to say, and I know it is going to be painful… the words already hurt my teeth and I am not even speaking them yet… however yes this is that important to me and I will find a way to get what I want either way so listen…if you allow me to stow away…I will…" She trailed off, scratching the back of her head. God she hated herself. "I will allow you to c-… cuddle my cat form again anytime you feel like it for a day." Desperation. It comes from hell. Of that she was convinced.
Even Sebastian was surprised. Now that certainly was something. Coming from her, who absolutely disdained being touched…mostly by him. She wanted to do this that badly? She face palmed at the awkward silence. "Don't…look at me like that! I know, I know! I am really asking for it, but I have to see the orphanage. Do you agree or not?" she demanded impatiently. Hopefully she had gotten through to him just how much importance this had with her. "I mean it."
…..
Ivy had not thought this far ahead. She was sulking incessantly in her cat form, tucked snugly under Sebastian's coat as he drove the carriage. She should have known something like this would happen, now here she was closer to the demon than she had ever wanted to be. Her cheek was pressed up against his chest, warm, firm, defined…. and her worst nightmare. He was probably laughing at her right then, him with his smug expression. She could almost see it.
If she was not so furry she might have been red faced from embarrassment. Damn it she was not used to being so physically close to beings of the male persuasion! She grew up most of her life with only girls and women. No father. No brothers. Rarely did she meet boys. She had, had her friendships…like the chimney sweep who used to come to clean the orphanage chimney often. Well, and there was the kitsune sprite who served her mother. He had always been heaps of fun. Other than that nothing. The stupidity of this was complete and utter. What was going to happen next? Her fluffy tail twitched and swished impatiently. Life sucked. The trip felt like an eternity to her. It was horribly awkward. "I hate my life." she grumbled, and she was sure that Sebastian could hear her.
…..
If there was one thing Grell Sutcliffe hated it was working. The tedious hours of reaping, recording, and rechecking paper work. He had an attention span that craved a little bit of fun…on a constant basis. Sometimes he figured that he was just not cut out for this job. This boring, repetitive job. Green eyes focused on the pages of his book. He felt utterly miserable. Concentrating on something as every day and mundane as death got increasingly dull with time….and the work just never ended! You finish one job only to have a whole slew of new assignments ten seconds later. Humans really did drop like flies all around, everyday. A gal needed a break every now and then, come on.
It was not as though Grell was entirely hopeless at focusing, but he needed motivation. Some things just were not worth listening to. If he loved something, he could focus almost obsessively on it to the point where everything else mattered little. Kind of like devastatingly gorgeous demons prowling the earth, making young and beautiful shinigami hotter than Hades. He internally squealed. He would have to go visit his dark love sometime soon. Will had him far too busy with work. Probation sucks.
One thing Grell hated more than working however…was working overtime. Sadly yes, he had been forced to work overtime due an incident with an orphanage. Apparently a group of lesser demons had taken down an entire orphanage. The district was puzzled to note that not a single soul had been snagged by the beasts, so an investigation was necessary. So here he was picking up the mess and checking for any souls that might have been lost, doing paper work. He was definitely not made for paperwork at all. The red clad death god let out a long sigh as he sat atop the charred orphanage roof, resting his chin on the palm of his hand for a bit. The winter air was rather chilly, but it mattered little to somebody like him.
Staring down at the names written before him by a red quill pen with fluff at the tip, the letters began to swim. He groaned. If he did not get some form of diversion sometime soon he was going to lose his mind. Stupid William, sending him here. Nobody else wanted to go, so they dumped this job off on him; the probation gopher. In order to take his mind off of this he began to plan when he could take a day or so off…maybe then he could even go to see Sebby.
Just as this thought came to mind he heard the sound of a sneeze. His head snapped in the direction and he peaked over the ledge to see two very familiar figures. He grinned excitedly, baring his rows of sharp teeth as he did so. Work was so over today.
…..
Ciel's allergies were acting up again…. he was not pleased, that had been the last thing he needed. The ride had been fairly uneventful. Now the rolling carriage came to a stop in front of the remains of what once was The Bedfordshire All Girls Orphanage. It was mostly in shape…but blackened…and it appeared that there was nothing left on the inside. Sebastian stood beside him as usual as they gazed at the building. He sneezed once again and huffed. "Sebastian…how often do you play with cats?" he growled. "….You cat obsessed, idiot, it is Ivy's fur isn't it? Leave the maid alone damn it." he stormed toward the doors. Sebastian smirked and made no response. He stopped the boy with a hand on his shoulder.
"It would be unwise to enter a building that has just suffered a severe fire…it is liable to collapse on top of you, young master." he stated. Ciel snatched away his shoulder, but did not enter the building anyway. His eyes were burning and he gave an angry growl, wiping them. He pulled out a handkerchief and held it over his nose and mouth. Distracted by this momentarily, he completely missed the coon kitten squeezing out of Sebastian's jacket collar and hopping to the ground, scurrying off with unnatural speed.
"Then I suppose you can enter and check it out yourself." he replied flatly. Sebastian simply gave a smug expression, carrying him abruptly under his arm like a sack of potatoes. He would have to bring him inside, leaving him alone outside would be foolishness. He ignored Ciel's very vocal protests and angry struggling. Ivy had obviously made it clear that she felt she did not need any 'baby sitting' so he would simply see if that was true.
…..
Ivy's cat form was much more convenient and compact for things like exploring. Especially when one did not want to be seen while doing it. She was not an idiot…the building appeared to be sound enough but she knew better than to look around too far away from an available exit. It would not be happy fun time if this placed caved in on her. Certainly she was fast enough…but mistakes could be made. She sniffed about, withering as she noticed that cobwebs had already been made. More spiders. Lovely. She continued on her search for anything that might have been left behind. It was like having reality finally set in. This had really happened.
She crawled up to the rooms where the girls once slept. It had once felt so surreal that this place had only just existed and was suddenly…destroyed. Gone. In ruins, like a shadow of what had once been. The Bobbies had most likely cleared this place up and the neko could only imagine the scene that they must have come upon. Even among the charred remains she could see a stain of what once a blood splatter on a doorframe. Nobody in her clan was so outlandish in the society of humans…nekos were supposed to have boundaries. Secrecy like any other creature. Who in hellfire did something like this so…well…openly? Not even the Bercarius family was known to be this bold. If her mother could see this she would have been having a fit.
There were some other shuffling sounds but it was most likely just Ciel and Sebastian downstairs. She shook out her fur and sneezed slightly from the ash that still fell from the ceiling…there was nothing here of any help, if there was something Scotland Yard overlooked it would likely be at the police station with other acquired evidence. The shuffling came closer and she realized that it was somebody in the room with her…and there was no way it could have been Sebastian or Ciel without her knowing…this was somebody unfamiliar.
She crouched low, ears back as a figure rose from a crouched position behind a bed, their back was facing her so she could not see them. However, when two sharp ears flicked upwards into her view she froze, wide eyed. Another stood up then beside him. "There is nothing left here…he will not be pleased if we return empty handed…he warned us remember?" Ivy listened, in one position…her heart pounding. Slowly and surely she began to back up out of there. Perhaps coming here had been a bad idea after all. One ear twitched as she set a single paw on the ground and she winced. Silence. "I heard it too." One of them confirmed without waiting for his companion to ask in a whisper.
Damn it…she was definitely among her own kind now. A familiar voice piped up distracting them. "Put me down, Sebastian." a twelve-year-old earl demanded. She had never been more pleased to hear that grumpy little snarl. As soon as she could feel Ciel's presence along with Sebastians the two full breeds both flinched and their ears went back. "The window… gogogo!" The other whispered harshly. They were gone as the windows were flung open, like phantoms. She let out a breath of relief, but tensed all over again as Ciel and Sebastian entered the room. She gave Ciel her most innocent eyes.
Ciel obviously recognized her eyes right away by the dull, disapproving scowl on his face. "Um…hello." She laughed nervously, ears drooping. Sebastian simply smirked at her in an 'I knew it would happen' kind of way. She bit down the urge to stick out her tongue and simply changed back to normal. No point in hiding anymore. The boy glared at his butler, knowing that something like this could not happen under Sebastian's nose…he was too hypersensitive to the newest maid lately to have not known she was there.
"Put me down, that is an order." he growled. He had an attitude far too big for his size. Ivy under any other circumstance would have found it adorable. He was set down gracefully.
"Explain." He ordered.
"Don't misunderstand!" Ivy held up her hands, placating. "I was not trying to undermine you. I just wanted to get closer for myself so I stowed away, planning to stay out of it until we got back. I wouldn't have disturbed you or your associate I promise!" Her ears drooped and large eyes widened. Ciel rolled his eyes but finally let out a sigh, massaging his temples.
"This was partially my fault for not thinking about every possibility so I will overlook it this time. We have no time to make her go home…she will have to join us to visit the Undertaker." he stated. "There is nothing here for us to see anyway, as I thought. Let's go."
Ivy glared at the window as they walked down the hall. "There were nekos here a moment ago…it sounded like they were searching for something but the moment you and Mister Michaelis reached their range of detection they booked it out of here, so I have no idea what that could thing be." She pursed her lips. "By now they could be anywhere."
Ciel looked at the open window thoughtfully. "Sebastian…can you detect any sign of them?" he asked. Ivy scoffed.
"That could take months for the best of demons. Nekos may be weaker than the fire djinn by far…but we have spent most of our existence honing our skills on concealment…when a full breed makes an escape it will take a lot to find them…although if anybody could do it I'm sure your very tenacious butler probably would be the one for the job. I would give him a week." She stated. "So this Undertaker…they brought these bodies to him?" she asked. Honestly she was very inquisitive and her mind tended to jump subjects. She would be considered very odd in human society…were all nekos like that? If so they were probably worse than her considering her half human genes.
"Fire djinn?" Ciel raised an eyebrow.
"Oh right…even though nekos are very diverse from moving around and being quite social we still originate from a more eastern setting…we call the demons of hell, fire djinn…because the term 'djinn' is a term among certain eastern religions that can mean many things up to spirits, genies, and mostly demons." she shrugged. Ciel nodded. All of this was quite strange. He looked at Sebastian who seemed to find his reaction to Ivy to be quite amusing. "So then…let's go see the morgue then." she smiled sunnily. Ciel never thought he would hear anybody say that with such a cheerful demeanor.
…
Grell had been momentarily distracted by the pair of cat men bolting from the building without warning. One of them had collided with him in his hurry, nearly knocking him over. He protested at this loudly.
"WATCH IT!"
"Apologies Mis-uummm!…I mean… holy shit…excuse me." he blinked in surprise, eyes wide, before he kept running, and his partner busted out laughing at him. "Did you see that thing?" he had said in the distance and Grell had fumed. Still…he could not be deterred from making an appearance with Sebby and the Phantomhive brat. So yes, he let it slide and hurried to the window. Nothing. So he jumped back onto the roof to add more dramatic emphasis to the meeting. He hurried to the front doors with a giddy flourish and peeked over the edge.
The doors were opening and the customary top hat that Ciel Phantomhive usually wore came into view first. Then…oh yes! There he was! Well dressed, tall, dark, and sexy as ever. He nearly squealed. That was him all right. 'Sebas-chaaan…ah just look at him.' he thought to himself, allowing himself sometime to admire the man of his dreams. Come on ladies you know you would to. Thus he was fairly oblivious to the sound of bickering. 'His broad shoulders…the raven fringe framing his wonderfully sculpted face…those lips, those eyes…and….and…' he cut himself off and suddenly his expression dropped. '…and who the HELL was THAT?' he demanded to himself as not a moment too soon the figure of a soft looking, doll of a girl emerged into his vision griping something about 'common courtesy' to deaf ears.
He supposed that she could be counted as 'pretty' by many. In a cute sort of way…but Grell was not really into the cute look. His ideal beauty was the dark passionate kind. Still… she was there, with them, being pulled along by the arm. By Sebastian no less, as if it were completely normal. So like any self-respecting young lady Grell wanted to know what sort of relationship this girl had with Sebby. His Sebby. He had some observing to do. His shoulders tensed with irritation as the demon smirked at her, stating something that made her turn red and glare.
She was about to enter the carriage and he stopped her. They exchanged a few contrary words before she blinked in realization and hung her head before walking to the front of the carriage. He picked her up bridal style and sat her beside him as he grabbed hold of the reins…Grell was throwing a tantrum internally as he pulled on his own hair. He was following them! Right now!
…..
Due to Ciel's allergies, Ivy had to spend the drive sitting next to Sebastian in the front and it was a very awkward and very irritating trip. "I already know so many things about you and Ciel and how the two of you have come to be affiliated…" She stated. "So…can you answer me something? Why were the Phantomhives among the 'evil nobles' in the first place if they already had such a good living from their candy and toy company? Was all that just for appearances?" she inquired.
"Correct. Although the Phantomhive candy and toy factory has become very popular and very successful, the Phantomhives for generations have always been first and foremost the queens watchdogs." he responded mechanically. "People naturally can not know about their underground dealings, so the Phantomhive company is also the perfect cover up, especially since it has been so popular so far." he added in. She seemed to be in distant thought and yet listening completely, taking in the details around her.
"So how long has he done dealings with the Undertaker?" she asked.
"You ask a lot of questions too it seems." He remarked dryly.
"Hey, I only ask so I can be aware of all the factors around me. I'm in a very vulnerable position here, or have you already forgotten that little detail?" She raised an eyebrow at him.
"Right. How shall I ever be forgiven?" He drawled. Ivy resisted the urge to roll her eyes and just scoffed once again.
"You can bake me ungodly amounts of cookies and brownies, and then we may call it even." She retorted. He smirked. Ciel in the meantime rolled his eyes inside the carriage as two of the household servants were quite possibly just short of flirting and one of them did not even notice it. Sebastian was obviously having fun, it was not everyday that somebody poked back.
"Cookies. Is that all?" he raised an amused eyebrow.
"Pay attention to driving the coach. Anyway if I need anything else I will let you know once I have said mountain of pastries at my disposal." she stuck her tongue out as usual and turned her eyes back to their path. Sebastian chuckled. Now pretty much ignoring him, she pulled a familiar satin scarf from her sleeve and fastened it over her ears. No need for anybody to see those. For a second she felt an odd presence and frowned, looking around…but she saw nothing. For now she decided to ignore it, but keep track of it just in case.
After a while the three of them stood in front of the morgue…the letters plainly reading out UNDERTAKER above the entrance. Ivy pursed her lips, scrutinizing the place. It did look rather run down, perhaps a bit seedy, but looks could be deceiving she supposed. Still…there was a big skull sculpted above the sign for decoration. Somebody was a very morbid person with an odd sense of humor to say the least. Then again that is to be expected when one spends all day with only the company of dead bodies. Also, he had a presence like the mist hovering over the rank bogs of England, thin yet so potent… except tingling and charged. Ciel did not seem pleased to come see this man.
Still he entered with resolve and calm beyond his years. Ivy and Sebastian entered behind him, silently. "Are you here, Undertaker?" Ciel asked as if it were a routine. At first there was silence then Ivy's ears picked up eerie snickers that became even more eerie as they grew into silent almost cackles. She was not sure what to call it.
"I might have known I would get a visit from you, Earl, and look you've even brought along new friends for me, the more the merrier mmm?" A creepy, excited voice responded laughingly as a coffin propped against the wall was opening. Ivy frowned. What on earth was wrong with him that he spent his spare time sleeping in coffins? His eyes seemed to glow green in the dim light and he had a long mop of whitish gray hair flowing far past his shoulders. A long stitched up scar of some sort stretched across his face. The long hands that pushed aside the wooden lid were adorned with long black fingernails. How filthy must they be? Ivy grimaced. Ciel looked over at her momentarily and cleared his throat.
"She is a new servant… she has a valuable part in the investigation that I am taking on." The little earl spoke up. As he exited the coffin Ivy could see that his clothes were loose and the sleeves flowed past his hands, and on his head was a battered old top hat torn open at the top. He giggled as he examined her. The young lady leaned back away as he rushed over to her.
"The earl is picky with his friends. I am curious." he placed a finger on his lips. There was a silence, and Ivy as usual when she felt somebody was purposely making her uncomfortable began to feel the warning signs of anger.
"Curiosity killed the cat." Ivy frowned at him, stepping back. He laughed.
"Of all the people to say such things…hmmm."
Ivy seriously wondered on this man's approach on life. He was beyond odd. His presence was more detailed at their proximity and Ivy could not fathom this man being just a simple human. "Earl Phantomhive and his butler make a very interesting ball of yarn do they not? Little kittens should be careful when playing with such intricate balls of yarn or they may get tangled up." He said. At this the neko girl, blinked at him…was he possibly able to tell that she was…?
"I want to know how many bodies from the incident at the Bedfordshire orphanage were brought to you." Ciel broke in.
"I knew why you came here, but first…" he began to laugh once again. "I would like my compensation very much…you know how much I love a good laugh and I've been without amusement for quite some time." Was he drooling? The neko girl twitched and took a single step closer to Sebastian. A laugh? In spite of his more than odd behavior that request was actually a somewhat admirable one. Ivy had expected him to ask for some kind of fee…money, credit, or favors perhaps. What an oddball.
After watching Ciel struggle for quite some time to make the strange -definitely not human- man laugh, Ivy felt that the situation was hopeless. She had laughed quite a bit during this amount of time however, and would probably never look at her new boss in the same way ever again. He looked tired. She desperately needed some brownie points after stowing away on this little outing. It was clear that the butler was going to take it upon himself to handle the bizarre fee. Ivy couldn't let him. Not this time. It was an opportunity to gain respect and some level of trust from the boy and she'd be damned if she allowed him to get in the way. Before anything else could be done, she jerked forward.
"Alright…let me try next." The butler swiftly turned his head to look at her with a curious quirk of the eyebrow. She simply turned in the opposite direction and waved them off. "Get out, get out." They looked surprised that she dared to try after everything. They were about to say something but were cut off rudely.
"Get out and no peeking or I will box your ears right in front of your important 'connection' here, and throw your butler through that glass window." She snapped, pointing a finger. The very thought tickled Undertaker quite a bit. The boy narrowed his eyes and she smiled, placing her hands on her knees to stoop to eye level with him. "Trust me." She said, all sincerity. Undertaker gave a short chuckle as the two of them left, none too pleased.
They stood outside for what seemed like a while before the building shook with laughter. At this they took it as a cue to re-enter the establishment. As they did, they spotted Ivy in the corner with disheveled hair, dilated eyes, with some odd plant bits in her hair. She was trying to recover from some sort of haze, she herself giggling a bit. Was she drugged or something? "Ah…brilliant…I am very satisfied, earl…yes." The lunatic was sprawled over his desk. "Do not worry about her…she simply knows the look and use of catnip when she sees it." He wiped a tear. Sebastian pulled a face. Catnip? And he had missed it? "For this I will tell you everything you need to know." Undertaker composed himself. Ivy meowed sounding very much like a cat indeed and slapped herself trying to shake herself out of it. Ciel pinched the bridge of his nose as Sebastian pulled her aside and began picking the bits of the herb from her hair.
"We received exactly sixty three guests today…all girls as you know of course, the little ones have had their necks snapped and the old bats well…see for yourself." he said almost gleefully. Ivy was the first to look. Gruesome, very much so, and it was not as though she had never seen these things before growing up.
"Not necessary for the earl to look at." she stated, closing the lid of the coffin. "However…those are definitely the work of claws, big hooked ones too, like a cat…and no visible teeth marks." She folded her arms.
"She is clever earl, could that be why the butler seems to be fussing over a fellow servant? Or is it a lovely pair of eyes and girlish figure that catches his fancy?" he asked tilting his head. Ivy simply responded by throwing a jar somebody's ashes at him, followed by his bone shaped cookies when she missed the first time. He caught them gleefully and began to munch.
"Sixty three? Including me there was a total of sixty-five people in that orphanage. Thus…there is one body missing. May we see the girls?" She asked professionally, after calming herself down. Since their necks were just snapped she would be able to identify each child.
"Let's go into the back then." he motioned.
….
It took a while for her to look at all the faces, and some of them made her heart ache when she came across little girls who had actually looked up to her once. "Do you know who it is that has gone missing?" Ciel asked after Ivy was finished looking. She nodded wordlessly, with a far off look.
"I know her very well…she was a very tomboyish fourteen year old girl by the name of Roxana Carmichael…and her being very independent means that there are a number of work houses she could have gone and hid away in…however I think I have an idea where she went. Unfortunately I do not know where he lives." She folded her arms. Ciel and Sebastian exchanged glances. She was the only survivor of the encounter. Why had the child not come forward to the authorities?
"We will stay at the inn tonight and search for this girl in the morning." Ciel deducted. He was tired now anyway. "And we need to get you appropriate clothes to walk around in, the uniform will not do." He eyed Ivy's appearance. She gave a simple nod. What did she care? She was ready for a catnap, she was suddenly very aware that she didn't remember a thing that went down while she was 'under the influence' and damn it why did the pink elephants keep smiling at her?
….
"Two rooms. One for me and the other for my servants." Ciel said bluntly. Ivy blinked at him as they all stood in the inn's lobby. He smirked at her very briefly. Oh this was just cold. As if he could not afford a third one if he wanted to. He was getting her back for stowing away and threatening him in front of the Undertaker. He knew she could not very well raise a fuss in front of all of these people. Okay… it was okay… she could deal with this. Right? It was the least she could do to suffer in silence just this once.
The innkeeper said nothing about a male and female servant in a room assuming they were most likely married considering they were in the same station and general age group. Or so they thought, by all appearances. Sebastian found it very much to his entertainment. So when Ivy opened her mouth to say something he placed a hand on her shoulder with a smirk, earning a nasty glare as she shrugged him off. She decided that she would definitely be sleeping on the floor, preferably under the bed.
Ivy was pouting sulkily, before snatching the keys from Sebastian. He would have to put Ciel to bed anyway. So as they walked down the hall she gave an annoyed huff before walking ahead to her room. If only she could lock the demon out, after all he needed no sleep but alas it would probably not work out so well. The light in the halls were dim as it was night already, but it was enough for her. The thin carpeting snagged on the bottom of her shoes as she walked, some sort of strange friction that annoyed her. No first class for servants.
She ignored wherever the boy and his butler were headed, instead searching for the number of the room. Stopping in front of the door she sighed and unlocked it before entering. Hopefully Sebastian would rather lurk around the place instead of coming in here to sit around and be his normal aggravating self once Ciel was abed. She was probably quite pale, this was NOT fun. She opened the window for fresh air.
Sticking out her head she took a few deep breaths. The young girl rested her elbows on the windowsill and lowered her face to massage her temples. Roxana Carmichael…she was possibly much closer to Ivy than any of the others…and possibly the most nosy. Outspoken, loud, potty mouthed, and quite rude, but hard working, independent, and extremely loyal and trustworthy. Her thoughts were then rudely interrupted by a blur of red and a double row of shark like teeth. Green eyes popped at the sight and she jerked up. What the…!
"The face of death is at your window~! And who might you be?" Ivy twitched at the sight. She barely allowed herself time or will to think about it before she reacted as she always did when something attempted to intimidate her.
"AHHHHHHHHHH!" She snatched the revolver from her thigh holster, shooting all the while. What the hell was that thing!
Author's Note: Hehehehe cliffy. Next chappie shall be filled with Grellish humor and interaction with Miss Ivy. Then enter Sebby of course. Just in time for Christmas eh? Hope you guys liked it. Review for me peeps. If you have any funny ideas for the grell we all know and love feel free to mention it, it just might help me fill in a few gaps. XD. I'm not THAT fond of Grell but he cracks me up always, a stress reliever when he isn't in an antagonist role. Anywho…Ciao! Merry Christmas!