A.N – Hi guys, I'm sorry to keep you waiting and I'm sorry if this is short or rubbish or whatnot. But, I am stressed. I had half of this written and finished it off tonight in a hurry as response to my most recent review which made me feel both guilty and slightly standoffish. Longer explanation at the end.

Disclaimer – I don't own anything! I am a poor, penniless, frazzled student!

Methods of Entertainment

Sebastian was wearing a very soft grey hooded coat which had no buttons, but simply pulled over the head. Ciel wanted to dig his paws into it and squish it around to make a nice bed for himself, but had so far restrained himself from doing so. He and Sebastian were saying their goodbyes; Ciel safely perched on Sebastian's shoulder to avoid another of Meri's unwelcome embraces. Or one of Alkippe's hugs full of smothering affection. The cat was pleased to hear that Artair would be accompanying his little party home. Sebastian had to feed if he was to help suffuse Ciel's home with extra nutritious souls and Artair had recently fed. While Sebastian went off to visit the mortal realm, Artair would remain with Ciel to protect him. The cat couldn't help but feel this was all rather unnecessary but was glad for the bear demon's presence. Such a strong demon being around helped calm Sebastian, and where Artair was, there was bound to be at least a small chance of fish. In fact, he had offered to bring some along with him after spotting Ciel trying to clamber into the locked cold chest. It wasn't his fault that his finely tuned senses had led him to the sweet delicacy! After all, such a chest should have been perfectly sealed, not ajar and teasing.

"Goodbye. Perhaps I will find time to visit you. Be good Ciel, and Sebastian, you care of the kitten, won't you?" Ciel was tired of this nonsense and let his mood be known by very carefully leaping onto the sofa, then the floor, before exiting the house with an air of disdainful dignity. He wanted to leave. He wanted peace and quiet, not shrill voices and overwhelming attention. The small cat padded across the yard to where Amaya and Abraxas awaited him patiently.

"At least you are peaceful creatures." He muttered, climbing on top of the pile of luggage, up onto the fence and then hopped across the small gap to settle on Abra's back. The colt snorted and peered back at the small furred creature which smelled like his Master, but otherwise let it be. After all, it was only curling up to sleep and the warmth of its small body was rather pleasant nestled against his withers. Ciel sighed in content. He was slowly getting more accustomed to the jumping around to reach high places and found getting up high much easier than he would have in his human form. Perhaps being a cat wouldn't be so bad.

"Play with me."

"I don't wish to, I am busy."

"Play with me!" This time the demand was accompanied by a sharp prod against the male's cheek. It received little reaction.

"I told you, I am busy. I'm sure you can occupy yourself."

"I order you to play with me!" Demanded a stern little voice. At this, the male turned dispassionate russet brown eyes down to gaze at the child ordering him around.

"You are not my master. You are not my superior. You are young and foolish if you believe yourself to be able to demand my respect. I have told you that I am busy. Now, kindly leave me to my work."

Ciel stared at Artair in shock. No adult had ever spoken to him in such a manner. He had never been denied attention. Especially not in favour of a tangled fishing line. Artair didn't even use fishing lines! The speckled grey cat glowered up at the bear demon and left the room muttering.

Four days. Four days had he been alone with this rock of a man. At Alkippe's home, Artair had been genial and entertaining. Surely, as a guest, it should fall on his shoulders to at least be polite! Ciel couldn't help that he'd devoured all of the fish Artair had brought with him from the cold chest. Nor could he be blamed for the demise of the fish contained within those little sloshing bags of water. They had mocked him! He hadn't eaten all of them; one or two had been tormented until they'd drowned in the dry air. About a half dozen still remained alive, if slightly disoriented and bruised from being batted around like balls. Ciel could have sworn he'd seen Artair pouring said bag enclosed fish into a glass box filled with water and plants before placing it on a very high shelf in a locked room. All he wanted was a little entertainment. He had had enough of sleeping in the patches of sun that fell into his home. The horses wouldn't entertain him, the chickens had been locked away...as had the rabbits. And the goats were nasty vicious creature which stomped at him when he approached and nibbled on his tail and whiskers when they got half a chance.

Being a cat was sheer torture.

A week, Sebastian had been gone for a week. Ciel believed himself to be turning into a vegetable. He had never been fond of vegetables. Artair was paying more attention to the horses than he was to Ciel. And the female Tortured that Alkippe had left to care for the other animals was terrified of Ciel for some reason. Luckily, she could at least cook basic recipes. Artair had tried to produce scrambled eggs to feed Ciel, but had burnt them in a manner Bard would have been proud of. So, other than being served eggs, goat milk and the occasional rabbit, Ciel was left to his own devices. For seven long, dragging days. There was only so much time one could spend sleeping in the sunshine, and as the week had worn on, there was less and less sunshine to wallow in. He had discovered the torment of closed doors. Not only was he bereft of thumbs, he couldn't even reach the doorknobs anyway!

This was supposed to be Ciel's home, his retreat and the expression of his will. Why had it not altered to allow him free access to all of the rooms and the grounds without having to politely request Artair's aid? It was all very frustrating and Ciel was getting more and more anxious about the absence of Sebastian. This wasn't even taking into account his dubious feelings for his butler, but was more focussed on the lack of attention he was receiving. Ciel was only just beginning to realise how much he was used to being focused on, listened to and praised. He'd been the Queen's watchdog. Everyone had known his name and even adults much his senior had paused to listen to him and allowed him what he demanded. Sebastian was similar in the fact that he gave Ciel what he wanted and the boy was certain that Sebastian would want to ladle affection onto him now that he was in this irritatingly restricted form.

Ciel was bored. And lonely, never mind fed up and tired of the limited menu Artair could offer him. Sebastian had been gone for so long that he feared some human had managed to tie his butler to them in such a way that prevented him from returning to Ciel. Two weeks was inexcusably too long to have left Ciel alone. The weather had deteriorated into angry grey clouds and spats of rain and hail. Although this had originally recalled fond memories of jolly old England, Ciel had become as disinterested with the weather as everything else. The rain just meant that he most definitely did not have any inclination of venturing outside and the walls of the house were not entertaining in the least. If Ciel had believed himself to be vegetable-like after a week of Sebastian's absence, he must have quite literally turned into a potato or some other such produce by now. He spent his days lounging on his bedroom window seat, gazing out of the window as the weather lashed at Sebastian's carefully tended gardens.

"Urgh, Sebastian!" Ciel mewled out in a tone of mixed sorrow and annoyance. "Why are you not here!"

He flinched as a warm hand came down to rub behind on ear, quickly melted into the caress before spinning around to face the new presence in his room. His heart was beating almost painfully quickly in his snowy white furred chest, but calmed swiftly as he saw it was not Sebastian, but Alkippe smoothing his fur and watching him with affectionate eyes.

"Hello little one, it seems to me that you're fed up." She cooed, picking him up like a toddler, her thumbs under his forelegs. Ciel fought back the instinct to hiss and spit and writhe as Sebastian's mother carried him towards the toy room. "I'm sorry dear, Artair had very little to do with Sebastian as a child and I don't think he realises that not everyone is like a bear cub, easily amused with a cushion or a foot to wrestle with. Let's find you something to do and I will go and get you something to eat. I'm sorry I couldn't have visited earlier, but Verdelet has only just found chance to return home with Meri."

Having eaten enough deliciously prepared fish and fresh meat to cause his stomach to distend slightly in full tautness, Ciel's mood was much improved. Following this, Alkippe had tied a little fabric bag stuffed with some kind of plant matter to a long dangling set of ribbons which she was currently obligingly trailing across the floor. Ciel was slightly aware of the fact his actions were embarrassingly juvenile and quite simply foolish, but his mental state of euphoria did not care in the slightest. He scattered across the wooden floors after the ribbons, pinned one down and chewed on it for a second. His attention then moved to a fluffy feather tied to one corner of the cloth bag which he patted twice to ensure obedience. This closeness bought a tantalising scent to his delicate nose and it appeared to be coming from that bag. After rubbing his face around the pouch, prodding and patting and gnawing at it, even drooling slightly, Ciel would scamper off behind a handy piece of furniture and crouch, eyes fixed intently on the nearest ribbon. The whole process would begin again with his little bottom waving in the air and an enormous pounce and skitter across the floor, back to the ribbon.

Despite knowing in his heart of hearts that such behaviour was most definitely beneath him, Ciel was thoroughly enjoying himself. His observers were also happy, obviously sharing some part in his delight as the room was filled with his purring and laughter from his watchers.

At first, when a new voice joined in the merriment, Ciel did not notice. He was, at that moment, sprawled on his back, batting the pouch into the air and catching it with his front paws to scrabble at it with his hind legs. For some reason this action was highly satisfying and was also making him hungry. Suddenly, he abandoned the pouch to sit upright quite primly and set about rubbing his face with his paws in the hopes of drying off some of the saliva that was now making his fur unpleasant. Whatever Alkippe had put into that bag was suspicious to Ciel now that he had gained a certain distance from it. His behaviour reminded him slightly of those men who frequented the gentlemen's clubs to the point of over indulgence.

When he was once again lifted from the floor unceremoniously, Ciel let out a displeased little growling noise which aborted swiftly as a new scent filled his nose and a rich chuckle reached his ears.

"You are incredibly cute, Ciel." Sebastian said with a crooked little smile for the cat held very carefully in his hands, gently supported around his ribs and underneath his rump. Ciel's gaze met the warm red eyes of his butler and a feeling quite indescribable washed over him. Letting out a little cry, the sound a mix of a yowl and a purr, Ciel squirmed himself free of Sebastian's hands and jumped over to the man's chest. He dug his claws into the soft grey material of Sebastian's unusual coat and set about rubbing his face against any patch of his butler's skin he could reach.

Now that Sebastian was back, Ciel could analyse the deep set pain that had crept up on him over the last fifteen days. He felt that a very important aspect of his life had suddenly fallen into place. It was odd really, realising just how much he had missed Sebastian. It wasn't just the lack of activity, the boredom, the limited variation in his diet or the frustration of his new form's limitations. No. Sebastian's absence was more than an accumulation of such things. Ciel had missed him for himself, not that that made much sense to him. Perhaps it was because Ciel loved Sebastian, though that made him feel a bit too much like a character in one of Lizzy's silly girly romance novels. That said, the way he was all but snuggling (scent marking his butler as his possession) Sebastian as much as was possible for one without proper arms could, was also quite humiliatingly similar to the way a female would fawn over the return of her significant other.

That was not to say that Sebastian was not making similarly affectionate overtures. As Ciel had leapt the gap from Sebastian's hands to his chest, the raven demon had brought his arms in close to prevent the small cat from falling, making the determined grip of his claws unnecessary. As Ciel nuzzled against Sebastian's neck and face, the dark haired male trailed incredibly pleasurable fingers down Ciel's spine and murmured apologies for his prolonged absence and exclamations of pride in how much Ciel had grown, worry at the dullness of his coat and concern in the pronounced ridges of his vertebrae despite his still-full tummy.

Ciel was oblivious to the goodbyes of Artair, Alkippe and Mara the Tortured. After his reunion with Sebastian, the grey cat had refused to be parted from him and ended up comfortably draped over a strong, warm forearm. Sebastian was perfectly content to flit about the house and return it to the state of order it had been in when he'd left, with only one arm currently able to be of use to him. He visited the horses and made a fuss of them, checked on all of the animals, disapproving of the way they'd been shut away. Ciel may currently take the form of a cat, but that did not mean he'd have hunted down the rabbits and he cared a great deal too much for the chickens to fluster them, let alone prey on them. However, as he noticed the dampness of the ground and the poor flowers that had been battered by the hail, Sebastian began to feel rather angry towards his father. It was clear to him now that Artair had not been capable of caring for Ciel and it made him even more unhappy for the time it had taken him to return to his small Master. Perhaps he had over fed in the concerns of caring for Ciel during this transition. At least he now knew that he would not, under any circumstance, have to leave Ciel's side until his maturing was complete.

As Sebastian was about to enter the kitchen, Ciel stirred momentarily.

"Sebastian. Would you come and sleep in my room tonight? I've had enough of being left alone." Ciel asked, dismissing the nagging memory of how annoyed he'd gotten of Sebastian sleeping with him whilst at Alkippe's home. After so long parted from the raven demon, Ciel was not yet ready to let him out of his sight.

"If that is what you wish." Sebastian replied smoothly. Something in his tone or body language, or perhaps the sidelong glances, made Ciel suspicious of his butler. However, he shook the odd feeling off and returned to his slumber.

Ciel awoke to the scent of Sebastian's cooking. He did not even care about what he had been served. As soon as his butler deemed the meal cool enough for Ciel's delicate mouth to handle without being burnt, he consumed everything laid before him with a ravenous sort of hunger. He had missed Sebastian's food almost as much as Sebastian himself...well, not quite that much, but still rather a lot. His meal was followed by a delicious dish of something the consistency of cream, all warm and faintly spicy. Delicious!

Ciel followed Sebastian from the dining room, yawning and blinking heavy eyes. He barely reacted to being picked up, once again without having been asked for permission. When it was Sebastian, he supposed he didn't mind so much. He'd just drifted off; nose buried in the crook of Sebastian's elbow, when the sound quality of the room they entered roused him. With a lazy slitted eye, Ciel peered at his surroundings and let out an indignant yowl, springing from his supine position to full alertness.

"Young Master!" Sebastian exclaimed in astonishment, earning a hiss from the cat as both his choice of address and their current location.

"Why are we in the bathroom?" Ciel shrieked, whole body stiff in distaste or fear even as he felt the tendrils of sleep worming their way into the cracks in his consciousness. "And why am I feeling so unusually sleepy?" he questioned accusingly.

"Well, cats do tend to sleep..." Sebastian started, but trailed off at the glare he received. "Very well. I laced your dessert..."

"That creamy thing?" Ciel questioned, unknowingly licking around his mouth at the memory.

"Mmmhm. I wanted you to sleep." Sebastian continued.

"Why?" Ciel asked, warily eyeing the bath full of rose petal filled water.

"It's bath time." Came the serene response.

A.N – Seriously, I didn't realise over a month had passed. NOT quite 2 months, but getting there, I agree.

I am in the process of writing my 8-11 thousand word dissertation. I know that I promised to write a chapter a month but please realise that I WANT to be writing for you, and me, but I can't. By the end of May I reckon I'll be free. But right now I have a very poorly 100 year old great grandma and university and job hunting to deal with, so I'm finding less and less time to do anything nice.

I'm not going to full out stop writing any of my stories without letting you all know why first at least. Don't fret.

I also want to say I'm sorry for not replying to any reviews. I read them, and love them, but have NO TIME! to respond. Sorry! I hope this chapter will tide you over till the time I'm feeling slightly more sane? Saner? I realise it's a bit of a cliff hanger, but I needed to stop it at some point!

Big loves from

Dreamy xxx

P.S, I hope you all had a lovely eastery spring break holiday vacation thingy!

PPS - please lemme know if anything sounds wrong or doesn't make sense!