Filler number one! I'm going to be adapting from the manga from here on out. It is so much better than the anime! The Campania arc was great. I mean, it's basically the Titanic, but with zombies. I once read a book called Pride, Prejudice and Zombies and it was pretty good. I mean, there were ninjas, some cannibalism and hordes of the undead running around Victorian England, but it was still great.

I do not own Kuroshitsuji whatsoever.

A Phantomhive Welcome

Even though Ciel really didn't seem to care whether or not I was his family, I did notice that his approach to me changed slightly in the coming days.

For one, I kept catching him watching me during the day while I was working, or just lazing around outside. He also gave me access to his library after I mentioned how much I liked reading. I could have squeezed the life out of him with my hug, but I didn't.

I mean, I already got away with quite a lot, the teasing, the hugging, the sitting on his desk and the armrest of his chairs etc. Ciel would have scolded anyone for doing the same thing, but with me he behaved like I had the right to stay where I was.

Maybe some part of him already recognised me as family before he even knew, I considered the theory. If I look a lot like his aunt, and we're cousins, maybe some unconscious part of him recognised me.

Finally, and this might have been the biggest event, he gave me the box with Madame Red's things. All the books and clothes that the woman had left behind, he just handed them over to me one day. "If Madame Red was really your birth mother, then you'll want her things, won't you?"

There were quite a lot of outfits in the box, and almost all of them were in red. There were some other colours, but those were mostly in the accessories. I tried on one of the outfits: a white, long-sleeved top, a fitted dress and a red hat with a wide brim. It looked good, but when Mey-Rin came into the room and I turned to face her, she screamed and ran off yelling something about a ghost.

It was too bad the woman hadn't kept a diary of any sort, but she did have a lot of medical texts (so she was a doctor as well?) as well as a few books and thin pamphlets on ladylike behaviour. I had been reading one in the kitchen, and grimacing with every word.

A woman is a weak, delicate creature, whose only pleasures in life should be domestic activities, fashion and entertaining. It is their place to simply be surrounded by the finest of things, lest they break like the most delicate of china.

Who the hell writes these things? I stared at the paragraph and grimaced. That has to be one of the most pretentious thing I have ever read in my life. Why did she even have those? If she really cared so much about propriety, she wouldn't have gone around in such a bright colour like red. She would have worn things like pastel pink, or cornflower blue, or anything.

Still, I don't think that would have suited her. Red seems much more fitting for someone like her, and for someone like me.

The day dawned, bright and early. Morgan waited until I had rolled out of bed, before curling up on the warm spot left on my pillow. I bathed quickly and pulled on my maid uniform with haste. Sebastian had mentioned to me the day before that we were going to be having guests later that day, and we needed to put the place in order.

After arranging my hair into a neat and suitable style, I hurried out of my room, down the stairs and into the kitchen. Sebastian had already prepared Ciel's breakfast, so it was just my duty to bring it upstairs to him. "Good-morning, young master," I pushed the trolley into the room. "I trust you slept well?"

I'd been making an effort to brush up on my servant-skills. More specifically, this meant that I had started making a conscious effort to refer to Ciel as young master and not simply by his first name as I usually did. "Yes, I did," Ciel glanced at me, and then looked away.

Sebastian quickly removed the covers from the plates on the tray, and deftly arranged Ciel's breakfast in front of him with a mild flourish. "Today's breakfast is a ham and grapefruit salad, poached salmon, a root vegetable soup and croissants," he stepped back and, not for the first time, I wondered why Ciel wasn't chubbier/taller/heavier that he was.

Not that there was anything wrong with his general physique. I mean, for a thirteen year old boy, he was rather beautiful.

After breakfast, Sebastian assembled all the servants in order to give us our tasks and assignments for the day. "Mey-Rin, collect and launder all the sheets. Finny, tend to the plants in the greenhouse. Bard, prepare some bread dough. Tanaka..."

I stared down at the tiny, cute little steward. As always, he was kneeling calmly on a tatami mat and sipping tea cheerfully. Occasionally he would take a sip of his tea, before puffing out his customary laugh.

"...please act as usual," Sebastian finished. "Thalia, please dust and sweep the rooms." I nodded and folded my arms across my chest as he continued. "Also, we're expecting guests today," he informed the others. "So do be on your best behaviour."

Bard perked up at the prospect of having visitors that he could stun with his incredibly special cooking skills. "Then I, the chef, will make my special dinner-!"

Before he was even done speaking, the end of a rolling pin was pointed right at his face. "I said be on your best behaviour, didn't I?" Sebastian's smile was cheery, which meant that his thoughts were just a few steps below maiming you. "Therefore, the three of you will stay quietly out of sight, and not do anything uncalled for," he handed the rolling pin to Bard. "And I do mean quietly."

I watched the three of them scatter to their posts, and then I turned to the butler. "I don't know why you insist on giving them work when 8 out of 10 times, something eventually gets broken that shouldn't be," I stared at him. Don't get me wrong, I do love the three of them (especially Finny), but they were all rather inept at doing domestic tasks.

"Simple training," he replied, and then he looked down at me and arched an eyebrow. "Didn't I give you work to do?"

"Alright, alright, I'm going," I grabbed the duster and broom from the back room and exited the kitchen, leaving Sebastian to his own tasks. I made my way into the parlour room first. I had devised a system for dusting the manor. Well, I say devise when it's really just something that occurs naturally whenever i'm cleaning.

My ingenious (not really) plan was that I simply worked my way up or down, depending on where I was when I started cleaning in the first place. For example, if I was upstairs, I'd work my way down. If I was downstairs, I'd work my way up. One of Madame Red's pamphlets had said something about how it was always important to dust the bedrooms first, but the manor had far too many rooms and bedroom, and my method made for much less walking.

In this case, I was working my way up the interior. First, I dusted the parlour, then the dining room, and then I polished the staircase on my way up. The bedrooms, I always left for last since Ciel rarely went back into his room until bedtime, and there was no one else using the spares. One of the rooms was always required to be kept clean in case we had a visitor who wanted to stay the night.

As I was coming out of one of the rooms, I spotted Morgan and Minthe in the brightly lit corridor. They were both sitting on the windowsill and staring at something beyond the glass with rapt attention. Hmm? What are those two doing? I walked over to them and peered out as well.

They were staring at the trees rather fixedly, although Minthe seemed to lose interest in whatever she was looking at the second I appeared. "What is it?" I stroked the top of her head absently. "Do you want to go outside, then?"

She mewled, and I scooped them both into my arms. How odd. My eyes took in the lush greenery just a few yards away. Spring had arrived, and the trees were beginning to show signs of rejuvenation. There were flowers blooming, and some of the migrated birds had become to return home.

Several birds landed on the lawn and began to peck at something in the grass, before fluttering away. I turned and began walking away from the window. "I can't put you out right now," I put them both on the ground and nudged them in another direction. "Go entertain yourselves elsewhere. But not where Ci - I mean - not where the young master will see you, alright?"

Morgan mewed, and slunk off with her baby in tow. I watched them for a moment, and then I glanced back at the trees with a smile and moved off. How lovely.

I met Sebastian coming out of Ciel's study and I paused beside him. "I'm done for now," I squeezed the duster and placed it over my shoulder. "This manor has too many rooms."

"You certainly look like you've been thorough," he lifted his hand and brushed a speck of dust from my cheek. I batted his hand away with my free hand, and glared up at him. Sebastian just smirked, and then pulled a silver pocket-watch from his coat. "Since you are no longer busy," he tilted his head to the side in a way that made his hair fall slightly into his eyes. "Would you care to help me prepare for the evening's entertainment?"

I blinked once, and then narrowed my eyes even as I began to follow him. "Do you mean normal peoples' entertainment, or Phantomhive entertainment?"

A quiet laugh. "What do you think, my dear?" Why did I even ask? I really should have known better. "First, dish selection," he nodded to the cabinet where the china was kept. Why so many types? "We'll use playful, colourful Herend dinnerware, which suits a meeting about children's goods."

Herend? I watched Sebastian pick up each plate, before settling for pretty, white one, with a jade border, shell-pink flowers, and azure blue curls. I suppose I will have to start learning all of this, won't I?

"Next, we must polish the silverware until it gleams!" I have no idea why Sebastian said I should help him since all I did was stand there and watch him work with a bit of awe, as well as put the knives and forks in their proper places. "Thalia, you haven't arranged the silverware properly."

"Yes, well..." It's not like I've ever done this before! Before I could complete my sentence, however, a loud shriek arose from somewhere in the mansion. I blinked and lowered the fork in my hand. "Is that…Mey-Rin?" What broke?

Sebastian sighed, probably thinking something along the same lines as I was, and turned to go check what was wrong. I followed behind him, curious about the scream. Fortunately, the laundry room wasn't that far from the kitchen. "Mey-Rin?" The butler pushed the door open. "What's wro-?"

The first thing I perceived, before I even got a look as to the interior of the room, was that the air smelled strongly of washing powder. When I did manage to peer past Sebastian and into the room, all I could see were bubbles. Just a giant mass of bubbles rising from the ground in a foaming mass. My forehead scrunched up faintly in confusion. "How...?"

A head covered in bubbles popped out from the fluffy white mass. "Sebastian, Thalia!"

"How...?" I cocked my head to the side. "What happened?" Why is this room filled with bubbles?

She waded her way through the flood and began to babble wildly. "I don't know what happened!" She wailed. "I used thirty cups of detergent, just like the instructions said, and now the bubbles are out of control, yes! I don't understand!"

Thirty? "Look again closely," Sebastian sighed. "It says three cups, not thirty."

Mey-Rin gasped and began babbling apologies. I stared at her with a mix of pity and amusement. You need new glasses.

"Honestly, far-sightedness isn't a sufficient enough to excuse what a fool – no," Sebastian exhaled a longsuffering breath, and began unbuttoning his cuffs to roll up his sleeves. "Rather, what a scatterbrain you are." Nice rephrasing. "I suppose there's no help for it then. Stand back!"

In a flash, he had mopped up all the soap bubbles, washed up all the sheets, and hung them outside, much to Mey-Rin's lovestruck amazement and awe. If only you knew. Sebastian could do far more amazing things.

She really shouldn't look so impressed, I rolled my eyes internally. It just makes his ego swell. "That should do it," Sebastian turned to her. "You clean up the laundry room, please." Mey-Rin saluted hurriedly and jogged back into the house. "Honestly, it's always when I'm busy."

My back made some interesting cracks when I stretched, and then twisted around to stare at the trees and bushes in the distance. Everyone has such bad timing. "Oh look," I blinked. "It's Morgan." Seeing the large mother cat without her baby was rare. Minthe must have given her the slip. "I'll go get her!"

His forehead furrowed slightly. "Are you sure?"

I waved a hand airily in his direction and started moving in the direction of the woods. "I'll be fine." Of course I will be. The kitten curled into my arms and mewled as I eyed the men surrounding me. "Guests?" I frowned. "At this time? And we're not even done preparing."

They looked startled by my sudden appearance, but they recovered quickly. Unfortunately, not quickly enough. Guns were great, but they were pretty useless if you couldn't fire them. I dropped the cat and darted forward, fingers already out. Arm, solar plexus, neck, jugular, groin, medulla…

In a few moments, they all lay on the ground, either unconscious or mostly paralyzed. I grabbed one of the more conscious ones by the back of his neck and yanked his head up so I could see his eyes. "Who do you work for and what are his plans?"

He hissed and snarled at me. "I'm not telling you that, you freak!"

I pouted. "Freak?" I repeated. "Now that's just mean. How about I convince you?" In a second, I had the razor sharp blade of a knife pressed against his throat, just hard enough to draw a bit of blood. "Now, tell me everything."

oOo

Sebastian looked up when I returned. "That shouldn't haven't so long," he commented.

"Really?" I shifted Morgan so she would stop hooking her claws into my sleeve. "Well I also picked some flowers," I held up a bunch of white flowers in my free hand. "Pretty, right? We can always just put them somewhere."

He plucked the blossoms out of my hand and scratched Morgan under the chin, eliciting a purr from the feline. "I'll use it in the flower arrangement," he suddenly took a step closer to me and pressed a quick kiss to my forehead. "Well done, my darling."

What the-?! My face flamed and I backed away from him hurriedly. "Don't do that!"

"You're right," he nodded thoughtfully, his hand at his chin. "I missed. I should have aimed for your lips instead. Come here."

"No!"

After more yelling, and then a reminder that we still weren't done preparing for the evening, Sebastian finally backed off and I exhaled a sigh of relief. He did use the flowers I'd picked – which he told me were snowdrops – In the central flower arrangement, along with some pretty white roses.

As he was showing me how to fold the napkins into rose shapes, another loud screech rose up from somewhere else in the manor, but it sounded further away. "That's Finny," I murmured. A few moments later, we were both standing in front of the recently constructed greenhouse. "Finny?"

Sebastian pushed the glass door open and a wave of damp heat rushed out and hit us, along with loud cries. "Why is it so hot in here?!" Sebastian yelled. The flowers were clearly suffering from the high temperature. They were drooping and beginning to darken.

"Wah!" Finny launched himself onto me, still crying. "I'm sorry! It looked like the roses were going to bloom, so I tried to speed them up by lighting the stove!"

…that logic is so flawed. Still, I patted him on the head because he looked genuinely upset and he was still cute. Sebastian sighed loudly. "To carry a stove out here you would have to be brainless-" I shot him a glare and he backtracked. "Or rather, brawny. It can't be helped then."

He carried the stove out, followed by the flowerpots full of the wilting roses. I clicked my tongue. "It's a pity," I said. "The roses would have smelled so nice. Still, these things happen." They didn't, but I didn't want to make Finny feel any worse. "If you like, I'll stay and help you clean up as much as I can."

"Hurry up then," Sebastian walked off, and I could hear him muttering under his breath. "Honestly, what a pain..."

After opening the glass windows and shutters in the greenhouse, most of the humid air had been replaced with cool, dryer air from outside. I wiped a drop of sweat from my forehead and surveyed the greenhouse. It was looking much cleaner, so I turned to the gardener with a smile. "I should get back to the kitchen. Will you be alright by yourself?"

Finny beamed at me and nodded. "Yes! Thank you, Thalia!"

When I got back, Sebastian was sprinkling pepper onto something that looked like chicken. This was only strange because we didn't have chickens, or anything remotely avian. "Sebastian, where did the bird come from?"

"Ah," he smiled as he placed one of the pieces in the pan to cook. "I accidentally skewered it earlier, and decided not to let it go to waste. Also, Thalia, could you bring up more tableware?"

Why do you keep using the silverware to kill people? I wondered as I went to do as he had asked. Why can't you use actual knives, or something? "Here we go…" My voice tailed off and I blinked at the sight in front of me, and then I sighed. "Bard, why is there a hole in the kitchen wall?"

"Might as well explain yourself," Sebastian looked resigned.

In spite of the expression on Sebastian's face, Bard kept smiling anyway. "I figured, since guests were comin', I'd treat them to a new menu…"

"How many times must I tell you that cooking doesn't require actual firepower?" Sebastian's hand went to his forehead. "You're a colossal fool. Or, rather, a fool." I sweatdropped. You didn't really rephrase that. Red eyes stared up at the large hole and the trees in the distance. "Again?"

I was put in charge of watching the pheasant (it wasn't chicken after all) cook while Sebastian scolded Bard outside, and confiscated his flamethrower. Of course, this just meant that I poked through the kitchen cabinets like a five-year-old child and tasted everything I could now that Sebastian wasn't there to scold me.

When the butler eventually returned, it was with a flamethrower, and a basket of chestnuts. "What do you plan on using those for?"

"The dessert," he replied simply. "For goodness's sake, I'm getting nothing done."

"Yes," I nodded. "Today has been unusually counterproductive, hasn't it? Well," I shrugged and got to my feet. "Since I'm no help here, I think I'm going to go keep Ciel company."

To be honest, I had steadily been avoiding Ciel ever since I'd dropped the whole I-might-be-your-cousin-maybe-it's-about-95%-certain-so-yes-it's-probably-really-likely bombshell on him. A part of me was terrified that he no longer liked me, or that he might think I was some sort of gold-digger here to scheme my way into the Phantomhive fortune (if so, I was the worst schemer ever).

That was also why I had started acting so deferential towards him.

In a way, I didn't regret running away. If I hadn't, I would never have found out the things I had. Running away put things in perspective for me, and gave me a form of closure that I never knew I needed. Besides, I couldn't excuse what Ciel had done. I might be a servant, but I wasn't a slave.

I knocked on the door of Ciel's study and waited for him to tell me to come in before I did. "Good afternoon, young master."

The young boy watched me for a moment, and then scoffed lightly and leaned back in his chair. "You look so awkward," he commented drily. "You are clearly unused to behaving this way, aren't you?"

Of course I am! "Still, you are my young master, aren't you?" He was right; this was awkward. I wasn't used to this standing on the other side of the room instead of bounding forward happily, this strained, polite manner instead of my usual brashness. "I was wondering if you would care to-!"

"Stop it." What? Ciel rested his cheek against his fist and stared at me darkly out of his uncovered eye. "I don't care for this sort of attitude from you. It's strange and frankly annoying."

I stared at the earl silently. Basically, in his normal, rude and arrogant way, he had more or less confessed that he liked it better when I didn't avoid him so much, and acted in my normal manner around him.

"Also…" I came back to reality when he spoke again. "That sort of behaviour is unnecessary for someone who is expected to be a relation. Don't make me tell you this again."

…he has such a terrible personality but I still love him. "Ciel!" I flew across the room and hugged him tightly. "I love you!"

"Would you stop that?!"

oOo

Ciel and I spent the rest of the afternoon reading books, newspaper articles and random magazines. I even showed him one of my favourites: a story from a magazine by a man named Arthur Conan Doyle. A Study in Scarlet, not only was the title intriguing, but the story also featured a character that I quite liked, and Ciel seemed to share my sentiments.

"It isn't that popular though," I told him with a regretful sigh. "I think it's because the character is one a lot of people haven't seen before. You'd think people would be excited about that though."

"People are so ready to write off and disregard what they don't understand," he nodded in agreement.

Evening came, and then Sebastian instructed me to go have a bath and change my clothes because the guests would arrive any time from now. When I first arrived, I had wondered why I had received so many uniforms even though most of them looked almost exactly the same. Now I knew why.

By the time I slipped downstairs, Sebastian was just opening the door. The first guest was one I had never seen before. He had dark brown hair that was combed back rather nicely, and hazel eyes. He was American, or so Sebastian had told me.

The next guest was one I had seen before. "Ah, Miss. Maid, how are you?" Lau smiled at me. "I haven't seen you since you came to visit! Have you used my gift at all since Christmas?"

Shit, I can't kill him since there are witnesses. "The young master will be down shortly," Sebastian said, sensing my growing urge to murder the Chinese man in front of me. "Do come in." I shut the door behind us, and went to stand beside Sebastian.

A few moments later, Ciel appeared at the top of the stairs. "Thank you for coming today," he smiled genially. "I am Ciel Phantomhive, the current earl."

The strange man raised his hand to his chest in greeting. "And I am Cedric Brandel," he introduced himself. "Pleased to make your acquaintance. I must admit," he smiled as he shook Ciel's hand. "I never imagined that you were so young, my lord."

Lau waved a hand cheerily. "I told you, no need to get worked up," he smiled. "He's so small and cute!" Ciel clearly was not pleased by that statement, and neither was i. This was not because I didn't agree with the words, but more because I really just didn't like Lau and so I was annoyed by nearly everything that came out of his mouth.

But he did help you find out who Madame Red was, I sighed internally. Even though he didn't do much, I suppose I should try to be a bit more accommodating. I still disliked him though. "I've had dinner prepared for us," Ciel decided to ignore the man's remark. "Please, this way."

As part of the dinner preparations, Sebastian had set up a pyramid of glasses. The man in question then poured the champagne (and I really cannot tell when he disappeared to fetch it) into the glasses, letting it overflow into the next, and into the next, and so on, until it was a dazzling champagne fountain. Pretty…

The guests seemed to share my sentiments exactly. "I thought simply setting out aperitifs lacked flair," the earl explained, looking just a tiny bit smug. Pretty…

There was a door in the dining room that led to the kitchen. That door opened and Mey-Rin stepped in. She was shaking hard enough to rattle the plate in her hands. "Good evening, yes!" She squeaked. "Here are some hors d'oeuvres!" I tore my gaze away from the dazzling, golden brilliance to watch her.

What happened next, I'm not sure what exactly occurred. Mey-Rin suddenly tripped on something, and pitched forward. The tray of starters flew from her hands and crashed into the champagne pyramid, sending the glasses flying.

Like I said, I'm not exactly sure what happened, but my assumption is that Sebastian used his magical, demon speed to seize all the glasses in mid-air, catch every drop of champagne before it could hit the ground, and then rearrange all the glasses in two thinner but identical pyramids.

Oh, and he also managed to catch the plate of hors d'oeuvres as well. I blinked once, twice, and then let my eyebrows furrow. …the hell?

I wasn't the only confused person in the room. "What just happened?" Brandel blinked several times. The air felt sparkly, like very tiny raindrops hitting me. It was an oddly refreshing feeling.

"Pardon me," Sebastian straightened and smiled as though what he had done was perfectly normal. "This brand is a bit on the bubby side so we've given it a nice decanting. Please have a seat, and I'll bring it to you. Thalia?" I shot Mey-Rin a comforting glance, and then went over to begin serving out the drinks.

One of the annoying things about being a servant is that you have to stand there and watch other people eat food, and then you are only allowed to eat after. Do you understand how torturous it is to watch others eat and be hungry? Sebastian didn't get it, being a demon and all. Besides, his hunger was brought upon by himself.

"My lord, your home provides no end of surprises," Brandel complimented. "Everything is so beautiful I can hardly believe it was ash just three years ago."

I stared at the man out of barely narrowed eyes. Why did you have to bring that up? "This makes for dull dinner conversation," Ciel replied curtly. "Let's get down to business."

Brandel paused, and then tried for a smile. "I'd like my new company to market to children for sustained profitability," he explained. My attention was diverted to an image of Lau feeding Ran-Mao something off his plate, which was sort of cute but that still didn't make him any less annoying. "…I'd like to work with you."

Ciel nodded knowingly. "Ah yes. After all, children are better judges of both art and food than most adults realise."

"Seeing you makes me even more certain of it, my lord," Brandel said. "It must be the secret to your company's success in that market!"

"Oh?" Ciel lowered his utensils and stared at the man. "Are you implying that I'm a child and that's why my company succeeds?"

I had to admit, it was rather amusing watching him squirm. Like most adults, he wasn't sure how to handle Ciel, and so he just settled for disliking him (although that might have also been something else).

The young earl smiled after a moment and went back to eating. "Relax, I'm only joking."

Brandel looked shocked, and then he began to laugh loudly and nervously. "Ah, you're a wicked one my lord!" He resumed his meal, but with much less verve than before. For some reason, his eyes kept darting to the clock on the mantelpiece. "Excuse me, my lord," he dabbed at his mouth and got to his feet. "Would you excuse me for a moment?"

"Oh, then I might as well follow you," Lau got to his feet as well, along with Ran-Mao. Normally, I would have commented on how the doll-like girl really couldn't follow him into the bathroom, but I didn't.

The second the door shut, I glanced at the clock on the mantel. "Twenty minutes to eight," I noted. Eight was when they planned to kill Ciel. Sometimes I was annoyed by how much people underestimated Ciel simply because he was a child, and other times I found it hilarious because the look in their eyes when they realised that he wasn't just any child was funny.

"Honestly," the young earl sighed and took one last bite of his food. "People simply don't learn." I reached over to begin tidying up his place, and Brandel's plate as well. Sebastian moved to the door, probably he had used his amazing sensory skills to discern the man's footsteps, and held it open.

"Oh, what happened to Mr. Lau?" He asked, like he didn't know the man had skipped out on dessert to avoid the obvious ensuing bloodshed. Brandel gave an excuse, probably the excuse Lau had given him.

Ciel leaned back in his chair with an irritated grunt. "As usual he has no consideration."

"What a pity," Sebastian pulled out a chair for the American. "We have a sweet to suggest for your tea salon." As he spoke, I wheeled the tray with the sweet in and parked it beside him. Even though he was planning to kill us, I saw the way Brandel watched me with eyes that held a bit more than simple appreciation.

Is this a thing with all the people Ciel knows? "Ah, now I'm curious!" Two more minutes. I caught the smirk on his face before he quickly hid it when Sebastian approached again.

The dessert was a small round cake with an intricate leaf and flower design on the top. Around it was a crown made of stiff gold paper. "A galette de rois," Sebastian put a name to the cake. "It's conventional, but we've done it up with a thick crème de marron to go with your flavoured tea."

He then explained the game behind the dessert: according to tradition, one slice of the cake contained a doll known as la fève, and whoever received the slice with the doll would receive the paper crown, as well as god's blessing.

I spooned a dab of the cream onto a slice and placed it in front of Ciel, and then repeated the same with Brandel's plate. "Just the thing for children," the young earl smirked. "Who love games of chance like dice, or drawing straws." Adults like those sort of things as well. It was amazing how eager so many people were to bet everything on simple games of probability.

"I see," Brandel suddenly smirked. "A sweet with a game? Brats sure do think up things no grown up would."

With that, all his earlier pretence of politeness and cordiality disappeared. Ciel eyes narrowed. "What did you say?" My eyes went to the clock on the mantelpiece. 30 seconds.

The plates and silverware on the table clattered noisily when Brandel got to his feet. "Queen's Guard Dog or not, you're just a brat trying to show off!" He yelled. "The two things I hate the most are cocky brats, and bets that don't make money!" 20 seconds. "Drop dead, guard dog!" With that, he dived under the table.

He's ten seconds early. I could only assume that the sheer excitement of the moment had gotten to him. A moment later, the bell chimed for real, and the man climbed out from under the table. The look on his face when he saw the three of us still standing was rather funny, but I forced my expression into one of curiousity and mild concern.

"Mr. Brandel, did you drop something by any chance?" I wondered, hiding my amusement behind a worried frown.

Ciel chuckled and took a bite of his own slice. "I do believe you are drunk," he smiled kindly (which looked realistic enough, but also seemed mocking to someone like me who knew him well enough). "Please, have some of this, and no more alcohol."

Sebastian pulled out the chair for him, and I could see the way the man's fingers trembled when he lifted the fork to his mouth. He chewed, chewed, and then froze when something crunched in his mouth. "Oh?" I smiled at Brandel cheerily. "Congratulations, it seems you have found la fève."

The bullet flew from his lips when he spat it between his fingers, and clattered onto his plate. "Your friends left this behind, so we'll return it to you." Brandel backed up quickly as the colour drained from his face. "They arrived quite a while before you did, so we've already given them a warm Phantomhive welcome."

By that we mean they're either dead or unconscious. If this is our hospitality, I never want to see what we do to people we genuinely dislike.

Brandel took a step back, and then another. "Th-That's impossible!" He yelled. "There were more than fifty of them! Y-you fought them alone?" His eyes darted between Sebastian and me in horrified disbelief.

I smiled, mimicking Sebastian's cheery, close-eyed expression. "We're very good at what we do."

"Lau told me you were dealing weapons on the black market," Ciel reclined back in his chair in an almost bored manner.

Brandel jerked and snarled angrily. "That bastard!" He seethed. "He sold me out?"

"Sold you out? Don't be so foolish. He was never on your side to begin with," Ciel replied coldly. "Her majesty is very distressed by the spread of gun-related crime among the underclass society," he raised his teacup to his lips and then frowned. "Sebastian, make a new pot of tea!" He ordered. "These low grade tea leaves smell foul."

Sebastian straightened and nodded. "Certainly," he moved away from the man's side. I picked up the paper crown and stepped back when Brandel suddenly knocked his chair backwards, and whipped a gun out from somewhere in his jacket.

He wasn't facing me when he screamed: "Die!" and fired three shots in Ciel's direction.

Instinct told me to jump forward and dislocate his shoulder from behind, but then reason told me that he would be fine. "This won't do," Sebastian commented with a dark sort of smile. There were three bullets between his fingers with smoke curling off them. "I just gave you back your belongings, and you've already lost more."

The bullets clattered to the tiled floor, and Brandel took a stunned step backwards. Sebastian followed, still smiling. "Wh-What is this?" The American stammered. "How…?"

"I simply cannot be killed by such toys, I'm afraid," Sebastian explained. To prove his point, he kept moving forward, seemingly disregarding every bullet that was fired at him. "Come, put that away," he tapped the barrel of the gun with a finger, and the metal exploded backwards.

Gunpowder exploded, and pieces of shrapnel pierced the doomed man's fingers. The weapon fell to the ground as he reeled back from the pain. "Argh!" He screamed, clutching his blackened and bloody hand with his other. Darn, I leaned against the door with my arms behind my back. Now there's blood all over the carpet, and guess who's going to have to clean it up.

Pained screams and gasps came from his mouth as he tried to scramble away, but I was standing in front of the door. He backed away from me and I leaned forward. "Sir, you forgot something," I reached down and placed the crown that I had been holding on his head. "It's yours after all."

He stumbled backwards, eyes wide and terrified. "Monster!"

How rude. I shook my head, still smiling. "If you're looking for the monster, then it's right behind you."

Darkness descended on the room as all the candles flickered and went out at the same time. A dark presence rose in the air, a feeling like something out of nightmare. Sebastian's eyes began to glow with energy as he pulled off his glove. At the same time, Ciel reached up to pull his eye-patch away. "Brandel, do you know why no one knows the punishment the Guard Dog inflicts?" I closed my eyes as the darkness continued to rise. "It's because dead men tell no tales."

oOo

"Ow!" I hissed and just barely kept myself from kicking Sebastian in the face. "Can't you be a bit more gentle?"

The hand cradling my leg lifted it higher. Sebastian sighed and dabbed the wound on my leg with the disinfectant-soaked cloth in his hand. "You should have told me about this earlier, Thalia," he replied. "I could have taken care of this quite a while ago."

I frowned and turned away huffily. "What's the point? I've gotten far worse than that and I'm still fine, aren't I?" It was just a small cut, not an amputation. It had already begun to scab over anyway. What he was doing was completely unnecessary.

We were in my room, sitting on my bed after Sebastian had spotted an injury on my leg that I had sustained from my earlier scuffle in the woods. I don't know how I managed to reopen the wound, but I did. Also, I did not know this, but Sebastian could smell blood, which was why he had grabbed me on my way to bed and demanded he clean up the wound.

My leg was on Sebastian's lap and he was cleaning the area around the injury with some antiseptic. His fingers gentled when I complained, and I murmured out a quiet thanks when he finished and bandaged up the wound with some gauze. "It stings like hell though," I muttered.

"I'm sorry," Sebastian smiled. "Shall I kiss it better, my lady?"

"No thanks," I snapped out immediately. "That is completely unnecessary. You can go now."

Suddenly he yanked on my ankle, pulling me closer until I was nearly entirely on his lap. An arm wrapped around my waist, pulling me even closer. Not for the first time, I was made aware of how small and fragile I actually was compared to him. "I love it when you act so defiant," he murmured hotly into my ear. My eyes widened at his words, and his tone, and also at the hand that was steadily working its way up the skin of my leg to my thigh.

I grabbed the hand to stop its ascent. "Sebastian-!"

His fingers spread and tightened, yanking me even closer until I was almost straddling his waist. The look in his eyes was one of a predator staring at its prey. He looked ready to devour me, and I could feel myself responding to him.

I really need to think before I do things. I tried to slap at the hand trailing its way over my legs, only for him to grab my wrists in one hand and pin them to his chest. Not for the first time, I was reminded of how much larger and stronger he was compared to me. On one hand, this made me feel rather scared. On the other, I felt (and this was mortifying) excited. There was something arousing about being in the arms of someone so powerful and so...virile.

And I will never say that aloud, ever. "Sebastian!"

"Hmm?" His fingers paused a few centimetres above my knee, and a memory struck me, of the moment he had cornered me in my room. My face flamed red. Why am I remembering that again?! I had chalked that episode up to a moment of weakness. "Oh my, it seems you're thinking of something interesting," he released my leg in favour of my chin. "What is it, my dear?"

There was absolutely nothing I could say. There was no way in hell (no pun intended) that I was going to reveal to the man who currently had me on his lap that I was thinking about the time he had shoved me against the wall of my room and done some pretty embarrassing things to me. My life didn't need that sort of horror.

The man in question made an amused sound, and drew a thumb across my bottom lip. "You're not going to tell me?" He wondered. "Then it must be interesting. Mm, I never knew you had such delicious thoughts…"

We're not doing this! Sebastian didn't stop me when I wormed myself out of his arms and scrambled as far away from him as I could on the bed. "I'm not thinking of anything like that, you pervert!" I grabbed my teddy bear, the one Sebastian had gotten for me at the Ice Fair last year, and held it to my chest like some sort of shield. "I'm not thinking of anything weird!"

He arched an eyebrow and his smirk widened. "Are you sure?" He asked tauntingly, and then he chuckled when I growled at him. The growling stopped and I eyed him warily when he got off my bed and turned to me. "You should get some sleep."

It was getting rather late, and I nodded in agreement. "Alright. Thanks for cleaning my wound, at any ra-!"

My words were cut off by a mouth suddenly covering mine briefly. Teeth that were just a bit sharper than normal bit down gently on my bottom lip and drew it out. A tongue lapped at my mouth, and then Sebastian's lips were suddenly at my ear. "Sleep well, Thalia."

In the next second, my room was empty. I stared vacantly at the wall, eyes wide, mouth tingling, and I don't think my brain had caught up with the events.

…why am I affiliated with such a person?!

Two more filler chapters to go! Also, I got a review that my Ciel was a bit warmer and less distrustful. I just feel that Ciel would be a bit less cold to someone who was family. I mean, he treats Elizabeth pretty well. Thalia had more or less attached herself to his side as someone who would stay by him and protect him, even if she got nothing out of it.

Please read and review!