{ At last, there's a new chapter! }

Ciel couldn't sleep.

For as many nights that the lazy demon had spent unnecessarily resting, there should have been no reason for that night to be any different. Still, he found himself laying in the comfortable, velvet-lined coffin, starring up at the dark ceiling of the Undertaker's shop with his arms crossed over his chest. Red eyes swam with discontent as he laid there, his lips contorted halfway between frowning and pouting.

All he wanted to do was shut his eyes and go to sleep until day-break, but he couldn't. He was restless, something that had quickly turned into annoyance. The worst part was that he knew exactly why he couldn't sleep—

His stomach growled to remind him and the demonic child clenched his teeth in irritation. Of all the times to be hungry, why did it have to be when he was trying to sleep? The last thing he wanted to do was wake the mortician by leaving, but this was getting ridiculous.

The substances that humans called food had long-since stopped being a necessity, of course, but that didn't mean the demon could live on nothing. He had to feed, just like any other demon, but the fact of that matter was that their species could go years without doing so. Having fed just recently, during the time he'd been away from the Undertaker, there was no reason in the world for Ciel to feel this insatiable hunger…

Well, there was one reason.

He'd called the Undertaker sick, albeit in a playful manor, but that hadn't stopped him from drinking the rest of the tea. The blood in it was surprisingly pleasant, but he hadn't realized just how nice it was until he'd finished the tea and set the vial to the side. He noticed his fangs had formed in the same moment that the Undertaker had casually pulled him in for a kiss, cloak wrapping around the both of them.

Maybe he should have pulled away, but he hadn't wanted to, and he hadn't honestly thought the kiss would last very long. Still, as far as kisses went, it slowly deepened, the passion flickering around them like electricity. Soon, Ciel found himself with his arms around the mortician's neck, pressed tightly to the elder as their tongues intertwined.

He could feel the other smirking against their kiss and Ciel knew, as strongly as he'd ever known anything in his life, that the Undertaker had noticed his fangs. Instead of taking the time to blush, he slowly pulled back, resting his head on the funeral director's chest so that he didn't have to look at him.

The Undertaker hadn't said a word about it, so neither had Ciel. He expected that it would fade into the background, like a bad dream, never to bother him again… Clearly, he'd been wrong, because as they laid down that night to go to sleep, that was all the demon could think about.

That unfamiliarly marvelous taste of copper returned to the back of his throat at the thought. Gritting his teeth quietly, he shot a glance at the sleeping mortician before muttering to himself, "Damn him. Morbid bastard… This is the last thing I needed and now it's keeping me awake."

His stomach churned, the craving sensation becoming familiar far too quickly. The room lit just slightly as his eyes gleamed with desire. Sighing, he glanced down at his hands to see that his fingernails were sharpening into claws; he could feel his fangs against his tongue yet again.

Thoroughly frustrated, Ciel got out of the coffin, grumbling to himself as he made his way to the door. He threw his coat on, then grabbed his cane before slipping out the door, taking the spare key with him so that the door could stay locked while the Undertaker slept. He'd decided that he'd go out and find some helpless soul to sate this strange craving - hopefully…

Two devoured souls later, Ciel Phantomhive was beyond frustrated. His usual, demonic diet was doing absolutely nothing to sate the craving he'd developed. Then again, why would it have? It wasn't the same thing, not even close, but he'd still hoped…

What did it matter? It hadn't worked and now he was out in the cold for no damned reason. Not that he really noticed the winter chill, but he was still annoyed by it somehow. Everything was irritating at that point.

Pacing listlessly in the street, he was surprised when a voice interrupted his silent fuming to say, "Young master? What are you doing out here?" He turned his head to watch as Sebastian leaped off a nearby roof to land at his side, hand to his heart in that mock-butler way as he added, "Trouble again already?"

"No," Ciel grumbled, returning to his pacing as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his black coat, "Just hungry." It was a vague way to put it, so he hoped that Sebastian would assume something and then go about his business. As it were, the butler wasn't born yesterday.

"And pacing in an alley solves that problem, how?" Sebastian asked with a frown, leaning against the brick wall as he watched the younger demon pace. Alright, so the elder had a point there, but damn him, why did he have to be right?

Mumbling, Ciel replied, "It doesn't." He paused for a moment, walking a bit quicker now as he added, "I needed to think. I couldn't think in there."

"Again I ask, trouble already?"

Sighing heavily, Ciel flopped onto the snowy ground of the alley and spat his reply, "No, there isn't trouble. I'm just—off kilter right now, that's all." He paused, shook his head, then added, "Forget about it, Sebastian. It doesn't matter."

"Obviously it does or you wouldn't be out here," Sebastian pointed out with a sigh, "Of all things, young master, why won't you talk to me about this?" For a moment, the alley was silent, and then the ultimatum came, "You've said enough already that I can figure it out on my own, one way or another. Save us both some time and just tell me."

{ Reviews are appreciated as always! I'll try to update again soon!

Oh, and a special thank-you to Deumos for all your help with the ideas for this chapter! More of your ideas'll be used in the following chapters, I'm sure! ^^

I'd also like to thank Teal The Banned for your ideas! The angsty-fluff will come soon, I assure you! }