Days went by. Fall was concluding into a bitter winter, as apparently every cold season had been. The colorful leaves of red and orange and yellow had began to rot, sitting in piles under tarps to be burned for fuel in the servant's quarters. Sticks were picked up on the daily, a chore that had been neglected, set in covered bins that would also eventually end up in ashes. 'Spring' cleaning had began to take place, as Sebastian said that cleaning in the winter would avoid the hassle in the beautiful spring (as if he knew anything about beautiful things). The jobs that the servants had previously carried out were already set in stone, meaning that Ciel got the jobs that they all had to participate in the previous year. These tasks included going through the attic and basement, clearing out insects and arachnids or dead rats and rats nests, moving emptied bird homes to the outside shed. It was arduous work for the small boy, considering he had never even thought of how they took care of the rodent problem in his manor. It sickened him, the thoughts of their broken necks and the feeling of the contorted ribs and limbs that had broken in the struggle of getting out (which implied that they in fact had not died!). There wasn't too much blood, but one incident made the job seem even worse.

"What do we do with it?" Ciel asked, standing a little behind the older French boy as he examined the struggling rat. Ciel had found it under a few boxes that apparently had fallen from the shelves and trapped the thing with a broken foot and a few damaged ribs.

"We gotta kill it." Laurent said, brushing the white coat of fur with his fingertips.

"But we can't take care of it? Keep it in a cage, or something?" Ciel asked worriedly, watching the rat. He had already picked out a few names for it.

"Nah. It's already starving, it'll be dead in no time. It's sufferin'." Laurent stood up, pushing the rat gently with the toe of his boot.

"Vincent'll live, really!" Ciel exclaimed, tugging on his arm a little. He received a scowl.

"You already have a name for that damned thing?" Laurent asked, and it rose a little heat in Ciel's face.

"Yeah. It's a little stupid." Ciel admitted. He looked at the rat, watching each struggling breath and each gasp for air, barely holding on to life. "How'll we kill it?"

"We could, um…" Laurent looked around, and he disappeared behind a shelf of boxes. When he returned he held a shovel in his hand.

"We're not burying it alive!" Ciel snapped. Laurent have a sad smile.

"We're not burying it. We're gonna have to smash it to death, no other way." Laurent said.

"We can't even break it's neck, or something?!"

"Ciel, listen to me. It's gotta be this way. But we both gotta do it, you know, split the blame." He held out the shovel with one hand. Seconds passed before ciel nodded and took it with his right. "We'll hit it together, as hard as we can. On three, okay?"

Ciel nodded, licking his chapped lips. "Okay, Laurent." He said quietly.

"Alright then." He got into a stance that would include Ciel, so they could equally put in force. "One….. Two….. Three!" Simultaneously, the two brought the shovel on the rat five times. The crunching of bones and the squeals of the rat subsided by the third blow. Ciel had his eyes closed, face turned away.

"He's dead." Laurent said, looking at the pile of bloodied fur and guts that had spilled out. A sniffle passed Ciel as he tried to calm his breathing, upset for some reason. He wasn't going to cry, but he was sure damn close. Laurent sighed softly before he let go of the shovel handle, pulling Ciel close to a hug. "Stop your crying, Vincent's gone to another place now." He said quietly, softly, comfortingly. Ciel took in a deep breath, swallowing the lump in his throat down.

"I wasn't crying." Ciel protested, but wiped his eyes just in case. "I was just, sweating from my eyes."

"Crying doesn't make you weak." Laurent said, watching the boy.

"Yeah it does."

"Does not. You know how I know?" Laurent tilted his head a little as he sat down on a box. Ciel shrugged softly.

"Are we really sure of anything?" Ciel mumbled, only getting a French-filled murmur from Laurent.

"You're born crying. You know that? When you come out of your mother's womb, you're crying - as soon as you take that first breath. You're all blue and stuff, and then the doctors cut the little cord and they smack your behind and you start to cry." Laurent said.

"'Cuz you're just a baby." Ciel interjected, and Laurent scowled.

"Dieu bon sang!" Laurent snapped. "That isn't the point! Maybe you wouldn't be so bitter in life if you wouldn't take the world through cynical thoughts!" He stood up, stepping around Ciel. Ciel jutted his jaw slightly, and he didn't fight with the boy.