Warning: Fluuuuuuuuuff.

Chapter 22

"We haven't found anything else," Lau said, one eye open to scrutinise his beverage as if it had a tendency to bite.

"Why not?" Sebastian asked politely. Ciel was sitting next to him, a mug of hot chocolate between his hands, and didn't glance at either of them, choosing to look around the café as if someone had just died.

Lau leaned back in his seat and hummed. "Because there is nothing left to find. We've even got his school records. He was a 'free spirit' from grade one, if you wanted to know that. Nothing strange about him, but he had good marks. He skipped two classes."

"I'm… not interested in that," Sebastian said flatly.

Lau shrugged. "Too bad, because I have pictures of his prom night."

Sebastian waited.

Lau laughed. "What do you want?"

"You know what we need."

The Chinese man opened his other eye and looked between him and Ciel. "But the boy's a minor."

Ciel blinked slowly. "What."

Sebastian smirked. "I'm afraid I have to pass. No dealing for today. But please tell me about that fight between Aleister and Rachel."

"We found nothing out," Lau said. "Just that it was there. It might have to do with…" He tilted his head to the side. "Well, I don't know."

"You are being very helpful," Sebastian said dryly.

"I could supply you with his school career."

"No, thank you." Sebastian watched Ciel take a sip from his beverage. The boy certainly wasn't happy about the lack of information. "You could do us a favour."

"Always, old friend." Lau smiled winningly.

"Prove that he is or isn't Edgar's and Maurice's abductor. Keep him under constant surveillance."

The man closed his eyes again. "What would he gain from kidnapping his brother and/or his brother's boyfriend?"

Sebastian grimaced. "They weren't… aren't a couple."

"Oh," Lau said in faint surprise. "But that makes them good actors. They should pursue an acting career."

"This isn't even important," Ciel cut in, his eyebrows furrowed. It had taken him long enough to interrupt the conversation, Sebastian thought. Maybe the artist had done everything right up to this point? "He simply thinks that there are older songbirds in the Viscount's house that may or may not be male."

"He lets them go as soon as they turn eighteen," Sebastian added. Since he had failed to supply Ciel with that piece of information, the boy gave him a long, hard stare.

"How old are those two?" Lau asked.

Sebastian didn't answer.

"I'll find out," Lau said before Ciel could make a scalding commentary. "As for your cultist, boy, please stay assured that we'll do our best to find him."

Ciel glared at Lau.

"He does this because of that night, huh?" Lau muttered in Sebastian's direction, but he said it loudly enough for Ciel to hear. As soon as the words came out of the criminal's mouth, Ciel stiffened in his seat. "Please tell him that I was just doing my job. I never thought I'd see one of the traded… uh, goods… again."

Ciel got up and left the café quickly. Lau followed the retreating figure with his gaze. "Not good?"

"The worst apology that I've ever heard," Sebastian replied. He fished for his wallet and put a few pounds on the table. "My treat. We'll talk again."

"Take care of him!" Lau called after the artist, and Sebastian was almost sure he'd heard a smile in that voice.

The message ringtone of his mobile went off and Sebastian glanced at the display just as he caught up with a furious Ciel. It was from Aleister. This was not the best timing. However, Sebastian was lucky that Aleister hadn't called. He stuffed the mobile phone back into his pocket and carefully touched Ciel's shoulder. Finally taking notice of him, Ciel screeched, "Don't touch me!"

Pedestrians turned around to stare at them and Sebastian smiled at them tightly and in a way he hoped was apologetic. He took his hand away from the boy and clasped it with the other behind his back as an afterthought. He didn't want to appear aggressive or dismissive right now.

"I thought we were past that stage."

Ciel glared at him angrily. "I don't want to work with him anymore!"

Sebastian wondered what people were thinking right now. Of all the times he could have done it, Ciel had to be a spoilt thirteen year old in the middle of London while the majority of people came home from work. "Let's discuss this in the car, Ciel."

The boy looked around and pursed his lips. His shoulders sagged a little but his stance told Sebastian that this wasn't over. As soon as they were in the car, Ciel started afresh: "Who does he think he is?"

"Oh, I don' know," Sebastian replied dryly, a small smile touching his lips, "he probably thinks he's some gangster boss."

"Is this a game to you?" Ciel asked. "Is this a game to him? I must say I have a different opinion."

"This is a free country," Sebastian replied evenly.

The boy stared at him. Before Sebastian could blink, Ciel had unfastened his seatbelt, one hand ready to open the door. "Okay, let me out. Stop the car and let me out."

The artist sighed. "No, I won't." When they stopped in front of a traffic light, he locked the car from the inside.

"Let. Me. Out." Ciel glared at him. "I swear that if you won't let me go right now, there will be consequences."

On the verge of rolling his eyes, Sebastian didn't follow Ciel's order. He shouldn't tease the boy when he was agitated already. Ciel seemed to forget on whose side Sebastian was in those moments. "I take this seriously. If you are certain that this man is around, I'm going to help you find him until we can put him behind bars. Because of you, I re-established my contacts to Lau. A criminal. Please do not think that this is a fun game to me."

Ciel snarled at him, but he was refastening his seatbelt now. Without realising it, Sebastian let out a soft exhale.

"As for Lau," the artist continued, "I don't know how he perceives this… affair. But since it was me who asked for his help, I'm sure he doesn't view it as silly. He just forgets that not everybody shares his sense of humour. Besides, he apologised to you in the café."

"Don't try to fool me," Ciel retorted. "That must have been the last thing he tried to achieve."

"It wasn't," Sebastian countered. "He was saying sorry for not having done anything back then. But you cannot blame him for having done his job."

"He didn't say that."

"You need to learn how to read between the lines."

"You need to not over-interpret things."

"I must say that I know Lau better than you."

"People change in the course of a decade."

Sebastian frowned at this, thinking back to his teenage self. Ten years ago, he'd been quarrelling with Claude, he'd hated William and his father had recently destroyed his anatomy sketches of Joker. While his father wasn't around to throw his sketches into a fire, he was still in a very bad relationship with his cousins and overall the rest of his family. He still didn't feel different about it. And he certainly didn't feel different about a muse's death, just like he hadn't cared when his mother had informed him of Beast's death when he was even younger. His body had changed, but Sebastian still had kept his values and passions and thinking patterns from his teenage years. "I seem to be in a stasis," he said.

This was what calmed Ciel down considerably, judging from the way his shoulders sagged and how he turned to face him. "What did you just say?"

"I asked you whether you feel like sleeping at my place."

"You didn't say that."

The artist nodded. "If you know what I said, then I fail to see the reason in repeating my statement from earlier. Are you going to stay at my place or not?"

Ciel sighed. "Buy me some clothes first."

"Okay." Sebastian made a u-turn and searched for the nearest garage.

Ciel spluttered. "What are you doing, you idiot? That was a joke."

"It sounded like a criteria. I must admit I fully agree. You need clothes at my place apart from your school uniform. Gregory has clothes at Undertaker's, too, you know. It makes sense."

"It doesn't. Drive to your house right now! I don't want you to buy clothes for me."

"But dressing you up must be a fun pastime, I'm sure of it."

"I do not need clothes at your place!"

Sebastian suppressed a smile. "I wholeheartedly disagree."

OOO

Going shopping was most amusing when Ciel was sulking, Sebastian realised. Being a practical shopper usually, Sebastian discarded that trait as soon as Ciel had left the fitting room wearing his first outfit. It was too much fun to drag the boy from shop to shop and have him try on everything that Sebastian chose for him. Ciel quickly understood that the artist was happy at his expense and ruthlessly compared him to Alois. That did offend Sebastian a little, but not enough to cancel the shopping trip.

As they returned to the Michaelis estate that evening, the artist carried a load of shopping bags. Ciel apparently did not even dream of offering his help. He might as well sit on the artist's back and order him to carry the bags faster.

Seeing that Ciel didn't even feel like taking the keys and opening the door for the two of them, Sebastian had to do that, too. When he entered, the boy smirked at him dirtily. Oh, that brat was well aware of how infatuating he was.

"Are you going to cook?" he asked as Sebastian dropped the bags in the entrance hall. The head of the Michaelis family stared down at his son disapprovingly.

"Yes," the artist answered, taking his gaze off his father. "Is there anything you want?"

"Cake." Ciel grabbed two bags. He went to the stairs and just when Sebastian wanted to thank him for the help, he set the bags down again. "That was exhausting. Call me when the food is ready. I'll be in the music room."

Sebastian gaped at the boy but caught himself quickly. "I've got this new recipe for chocolate cake, but it doesn't look like you want to try it."

"Excuse me?" Ciel turned around to frown at him. "What makes you think that?"

"Oh, I don't know." Sebastian picked up the remaining bags standing by his feet. "I don't see why I should bake a delicious, creamy first-class chocolate cake for some lazy brat. So I changed my mind. You're getting salad today."

"What?" Ciel scrutinised him with squinted eyes as he walked past the boy, leaving the other two bags by the stairs. "I won't eat salad."

"Go hungry, then," Sebastian replied. "I'll give that cake to your cousins. I'm sure they work harder than you do. Aren't they good at martial arts?"

"Sebastian."

"Such hard-working people. They deserve a tasty chocolate cake. You on the other hand just lazily sit around and do nothing."

There was a sound of quick footsteps and then Ciel was up the stairs and had taken the turn into the guest room that was now his own room, carrying the two bags from earlier. Sebastian chuckled. "Thank you for the help you so freely gave me."

"Shut up!" Ciel called from inside the room. "Bake that stupid cake for me."

Sebastian grinned and hurried to bring the bags to Ciel. "Everything for you, my gracious and well-meaning lord."

The boy glared at him.

Sebastian left the room smiling.

OOO

During dinner, Sebastian found out about Ciel's nasty cake-eating habit: Despite his impressive table manners, Ciel sometimes just liked to eat his dessert with his fingers. The artist couldn't help but gape at this because it surely wasn't happening, but here Ciel was, licking chocolate from his fingers and eyeing the cut cake on the table contemplatively.

"What does your aunt say about this?" Sebastian asked.

"She doesn't bake," Ciel answered. "I told her I'm at your place."

Sebastian blinked. "Oh?"

"There's a picture that you want to finish, so I offered to stay around."

"She allowed you to stay?"

"My uncle did. " Ciel shrugged.

The artist nodded, watching Ciel finish his piece of cake and going for the third slice. The boy himself should know when he's had too much, so Sebastian wasn't going to comment on it. He cleared the table as soon as Ciel pushed his plate aside, telling him to bake that cake again. The artist smirked as he picked up the plates, not expecting the boy to help. They had eaten together on numerous occasions by now, and Ciel had never even crooked a finger during the preparations or while setting/clearing the table. Usually, the boy was more of a hindrance, sitting on the kitchen counters and staring into the pots and watching Sebastian cook until it became slightly unnerving. It seemed to have become a new hobby of Ciel's. Sebastian didn't particularly mind, nor did he wish that Ciel ever lent him a hand while he cooked. In fact, he didn't even mind that the boy was incredibly lazy when he saw that he could help with something.

"I'm going to bed now," Ciel announced as the artist was about to leave the room with the plates.

"Sleep well," Sebastian replied.

"We'll see about that," he heard Ciel murmur before the door fell close behind him. Sebastian pursed his lips at the boy's words, but continued his way to the kitchen.

After having tidied up, Sebastian went to his atelier to work on his most recent painting. He was pleased with himself, for he had created so many works in the course of the last months that there would be more than enough pictures to choose for the exposition. Ciel had truly helped him by just being there. And the boy was still helping him. They'd known each other for half a year by now and unlike Irene, Ciel was still very fit. There were no cracks to detect that hadn't been there before Sebastian.

Yet?

For the first time, Sebastian hoped that this would last. Wanting a muse to stay with him had never been a conscious thought on his side, but Ciel definitely deserved surviving. Sebastian wasn't even trying to make Ciel dependent, he wasn't trying to make the boy feel what he felt, this fixation that spurred his insomnia, 'blessing' him with less hours of sleep and giving him more hours of work; this need to touch Ciel and mark him. The heavens knew Sebastian would love that.

Speaking of sleeplessness, it was getting late and Sebastian was already hardened against the signs of sleep deprivation – he was, after all, doing this for years - but when his body really needed its rest, it usually expressed this need in a way that always kept Sebastian from falling asleep. So when he felt the soft twinge somewhere inside of his head, the yawn growing in his chest, and the way his limbs became heavier, he washed his painting utensils and tidied everything up before going to the bathroom attached to his bedroom where he quickly changed out of his clothes and got ready for bed.

Just when he crawled under the covers, there was a knock at the door to his room. The artist didn't bother looking up as he rested his head on the fluffy pillow beneath him, but he smiled to himself. "Come in."

The door opened and Ciel entered slowly, scowling at the room's interior design as if he'd never seen it before. Maybe it looked different at night when Sebastian already was lying in bed. "Are you aware of the time?" the artist asked politely as Ciel closed the door. "It's-" He shot a glance at the digital watch by his bedside, before looking again. It was half past five. Already.

"I know what time it is," Ciel said, glowering at Sebastian. He went over to the bookshelf by the window, examining it. "I had a nightmare."

Ah. A nightmare. Sebastian regarded the boy as he dragged a small musician's finger over the spine of a book. "What do you want me to do about it?"

"You look as if you're going to bed," Ciel said to the bookshelf.

"I was about to, yes."

"I'll be going, then."

Before Ciel could reach the door, Sebastian made up his mind. He was a gentleman, of course he was, but he was feeling selfish. "You could sleep here."

Ciel stopped in the middle of his tracks and stared at him as if he'd grown a second head. "What?"

"Oh, you know, get into bed with me."

"… So you are into people half your own age. My aunt has warned me, you know."

Sebastian chuckled. "Sorry to disappoint her, but I'm just offering you to sleep here. Don't act as if we haven't done that before."

"Once," Ciel said. "And that was because you were too stupid to remember how to climb out of a bed."

"Now, let's not put it that way. You seemed happy to cuddle me."

Ciel grimaced at him. Due to the only source of light being the little lamp on Sebastian's nightstand, he couldn't say whether the boy was blushing or not. "It was cold."

"Sure." Sebastian grinned. "It's cold now, too."

Ciel raised an eyebrow. "Will you shut up if I sleep here?"

"On the spot," Sebastian replied.

Ciel regarded him suspiciously while he walked over to the bed's other side. As soon as he slid under the covers, Sebastian switched off the light and immediately turned to move closer to the boy, resting an arm on his side. Ciel gave a sigh that could mean 'I saw this coming, I really did' or 'not that again', but what he said was: "This proves that you are the cuddler. I now have evidence."

Sebastian smirked to himself. Let the boy think whatever he wanted so long as he didn't turn away.

What did surprise him was that the boy lifted his upper body a little to touch his lips to Sebastian's cheek. The artist went still, frowning at this development, before he filed it away under 'very good'.

"Goodnight," Ciel grumbled and rested his head on the pillow.

"Actually, it's mo-"

"Shut up."

"You sleep well, too."

Even in the darkness, he was sure that Ciel was glaring at him. How he enjoyed spending time with this talented teen.

Falling asleep was too easy.

So, yeah, we've got some relationship development right here! I'm glad I could let them slowly take the next step, it was about time. I'm sure you'd agree.

Next week's chapter will hopefully creep you out a bit. This is the moment where I almost regret my month-long hiatus, because the creepiest chapter will be somewhere in act V and it would have been fitting to post it on Halloween. Oh, well, I'll just post the creepy chapter when its time comes. For now I hope you enjoyed this chapter and the fluff and the hugging. Yep.

As always: Thank you for your kind reviews! I love all of them.

See you next week!