Chapter 21
Ciel collected himself and turned away, tugging impatiently at the ribbon around his neck and quickly tying it into a bow. He watched as Sebastian passed him and he scowled slowly at the way the man was dressed. The assassin turned and caught his eye and Ciel raised his head haughtily and smiled sheepishly.
"You look disgusting."
Sebastian swung down, staring the boy down, shifting uncomfortably in the garment. "What would you have me wear?"
Ciel chuckled, almost tempted to say 'nothing' just to see the man's response. Instead, he looked down at his own clothes and said, "Perhaps something more fitting for a companion of an Earl?"
Sebastian chuckled, "I thought you didn't want anyone recognising you. And with the work we are doing, there really is no point in dressing so garishly. Indeed, why are you wearing that?"
Ciel looked down at his own clothes and frowned. He'd stashed the garment away for special occasions, though indeed tramping around with an assassin had not been what he had in mind. The garment remained a single reminder of his life when luxury was like air. It was both sickening and lovely to wear it.
"Don't be sardonic." Ciel murmured, quickly undoing the bow around his neck.
"An order?" Sebastian murmured, casually noting the sudden change in the air around his young master; the saunter and stiffness of the boy's limbs.
"Of course."
With that, Sebastian wandered to the child and helped him change. They replace the lavish overcoat with a simple brown waistcoat Sebastian found stashed at the back of the wardrobe and a particularly grotty hat that reduces the softness of Ciel's fine features and makes him seem like any other child.
But Sebastian notes well that this is not the case.
The boy passes him the garment and it is folded quickly with a few other essentials into a tiny, sickly brown suitcase. Sebastian quickly takes the long overcoat from his chair and puts it on, guiding the small child over the threshold and into the centre of the building. They passed Baron in the hallway and Sebastian thanked him for the room. He did not intend to thank the man for anything else but he noted the way he looked at him and then towards Ciel who was distracted by the amount of people passing him by.
"I've been waiting for you to kill them since the day you walked into this place."
"You don't like them?" Sebastian asks curiously, watching Ciel with a certain interest.
"I don't 'like' anything in the sense you are implying. I'm awfully laid back when it comes down to it, Sebastian. Just back sure you kill them well and", he chuckled, "don't get distracted."
He said the last line with such poise and certainty that Sebastian bit his lips in distaste and smiled it off, clutching Ciel's soldier with meaning and purpose and guided him away from the man who had taught him everything he knew.
"Dirty bastard", Sebastian murmured, removing his hand from the boy who gave him and confused and irritated glance. Sebastian greeted the look with a chuckle, farewelling the man who had been close to being of some sentimental value to the murderer.
"William?" The body jerked awake.
William paused and breathed out, "Yes, Master?"
"You woke me."
"I apologise."
There was a quiet few moments where the body rustled about in the dark pushing itself upwards into a sitting position. The smell was worse this evening, Will noted, and the groans from the body below said the parts were not working. Initially, Will had been so disgusted he was certain he couldn't do the job. He was willing to give up generations of work because of the scent of rotting flesh. Now it was simply routine, and William sighed, picking up the notepad and noting down that once again another of the Undertaker's parts had not done what the Master wanted.
William knew, however, that none ever would. The Master was completely and utterly insane, but any hint towards sanity and William would cease to exist, years of work cease to exist and quite possibly the Shinigami could be compromised.
"Are you tired, William?"
William chuckled, "Always am, dear Master."
"Then rest."
The notion of rest was so surprising that William responded with a bland and blunt, "What?", without suffix or any concept of politeness. The Master, however, did not seem to mind.
How queer, Will thought, how queer for such a thing to be said, here and now.
"I grant you leave."
William stared for a second before bowing low. A small smile crept upon his lips. What perfect, impeccable timing.
"Yes, my Master."
"I can simply sense it, my Lord, it isn't a feeling to be described."
Ciel sighed in response, walking along the open path. On either side of the gravely stream was thick layers of long luscious grass, still wet with morning dew.
"Yet you cannot know for sure that someone is watching us."
Sebastian smiled. "Yet under the circumstances it is not a possibility to be ruled out."
Ciel slows his pace and turns to find Sebastian staring off into the darkness of the forest, at least 100 m away. He slips his gaze down the man's neck to wear it disappears underneath the hideous garment and his eyes flicker up to the way his hair sits. Ciel bites his lips and reminds himself that he does not find Sebastian attractive. In fact, he is rather repulsed by the way the man looks at him. He knows he looks at him.
They always do.
Grell watches quietly from the shadows of the forest and sighs. He's well aware that behind him could be one of the Master's people, in fact, any movement in the darkness could be just that, but whilst his comrade works furiously to fight off the his fears, Grell brings his hand to his mouth and whistles once.
He giggles as Sebastian perks up and stares into the darkness. Essentially the man could be looking at him.
"My, my", he giggles again, "Look how handsome you've become, oh…" He smiles briefly to himself, "I'd have your children, you know, Sebby…" Grell murmurs something else, something incoherent, as his comrade lets out an exasperated sigh.
"We need to draw him over here. That spy from the Master could be watching them."
Grell chuckles, "Well, of course, they could be watching us as well", he tutted as Ciel barked an order and frowned at how Sebastian obeyed, "How disgusting. What is a beauty like Sebastian doing with the beastly child? Oh, I wish he could see what he does to do a lady like me, oh.."
The boy beside Grell bowed his head in defeat. "I suppose I'll do it myself."
"Oh, no", Grell giggles, "I'll help."
"Good", the boy mumurs, "Now think, something subtle, something.."
"Sebas-chan~" Grell screeches at the top of his lungs.
"Christ!" The boy beside him ducks down, "You foul idiot, what do you think you're doing?"
Grell watches as Sebastian grabs the child's arm and is about to run away when his shoulders slouch in some form of disgust and recognition and raises his hand up, waving slightly.
"Good God." Sebastian murmurs.
Ciel is still tense. "What? What is it? Should we run?"
"Good God", Sebastian says again, relaxing his grip on the child's slender frame. He can feel his heart racing so frightfully quick. "Are you alright?" He asks, and the boy nods.
"Who is that?"
"Grell…?"
"A friend, an enemy?"
Sebastian sucked his lower lip, frowning down at the beauty below him.
"I really have no idea."