I'm catching a little cold :( Nuuuu! Being sick right now is the last thing I need…
This little 'arc'… is kind of an extremely slaughtered version of episode 21. It's a small filler to add some comedy back to the plot because from here on out, I think the episodes are mostly really just serious/depressing/dramatic/action, so this is a tiny break from the plot.
Ello: Uhm… yes. That is kind of random XD Sam's character song… hmm… if it's a Japanese song, the one that I think fits her best would be Hello by YUI. Even though it would seem a bit sweet for Sam, it talks about the desires of her crush, how she sees Sebastian throughout their experiences together, and even can be referenced to Sebastian's little 'leave of absence' later on in the episodes. The end of the chorus changes each time, starting as "You, gentle demon, who led me astray" to "You, cold demon, who led me astray" to finally "You, smiling cute demon." When I first read the translation I "aaaaaaawwwwed" at the fluffiness XD (plus, the fact that Sebby's actually a demon, not just metaphorically like whatever guy the song in talking about, helps too)
Some Random Fan: Perhaps… perhaps… XD After all, if Sam stays human, she'll die on Sebby after God knows how numerous or how pitifully few years (and we can't have that now, can we?). Oh, for your legit question… Yes, I suppose Sebastian could get hungry again. Actually, logically, he would have to get hungry again at some point; however, the only reason a demon contracts a soul is if they want to twist/prepare it a certain way (like with Sebby and his preparation for Ciel's soul). Sebastian could probably just swoop down and gobble up whatever soul he wanted… but, he could want another contract, couldn't he? Maybe? I haven't decided yet :P
Onward!
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"I'm kind of in the mood for cheese…"
Sebastian sighed and placed a kettle of water on the stove to boil for Ciel's morning tea. Sam gazed absent mindedly out the window, kicking her feet back and forth and twirling a stray strand of hair around her finger.
"Cheddar would be nice- a hard, sharp cheddar. You know, the kind people eat with wine and crackers? I think that's the kind people use in mouse traps…"
"Yes, Sam. I am quite aware of what cheddar cheese is."
"Hmm… Do we have any?"
"Not that I know of."
"So, that's a… no?"
"Correct."
"Too bad," she sighed, letting her head fall to rest on her arms. "I really wanted cheddar cheese… do we have any stuffed olives?"
The demon sent her an odd look.
"No."
"Pickled eggs?"
"No."
"Man, is there crave-satisfying stuff in this manor?" Sam groaned.
"You have cravings?" Sebastian frowned.
"Yes."
"Don't women only have cravings when they are expecting?"
"No," Sam answered, shaking her head. "There's plenty of other times we crave certain food. I-for instance-crave salty or cheesy foods when I have…" she trailed off. "Err… Never mind."
Sebastian's eyebrows furrowed.
"When you have what?"
"…"
"Sam, you can not let a sentence hang. It's fairly frustrating."
"Well, I just did," she huffed.
"Sam."
The strawberry blonde scoffed and crossed her arms stubbornly over her chest. Her gaze landed on the butler and she sighed.
"Trust me, Sebastian. You really don't want to know," she warned.
"Ah, but I do," he smirked.
Sam frowned.
"Honestly, you don't… so let's drop it, shall we?"
"No."
"Sebastian, I will get my brother."
"He left yesterday."
"Don't think he won't race back here the second I say you're bugging me."
"I wouldn't question it," he frowned, picturing the overactive male giving him yet another painful promise of death. The threats were all together meaningless and they didn't worry the demon at all, but the obnoxiously loud and grating voice of the elder Quenell wore at both Sebastian's nerves and patience. "But I am still curious."
Sam leered at the butler for a moment before looking down with a scowl, crossing her legs awkwardly.
"Don't do that!"
Sebastian raised an eyebrow at her when he noticed that her cheeks were tinted a light pink.
"I don't quite understand."
"That face! Stop making that face!"
"Face?" he repeated.
"That one!" Sam seethed, jabbing a finger at his head. "That stupid, head-tilt 'oh, I'm so innocent and have absolutely no idea what you're talking about' face! It's not fair!"
"Not fair?"
"Yes! Not fair! It's worse than Alex's puppy dog eyes!"
Sebastian smirked.
"Ah, so you find my-what was it you called it?-'stupid head-tilt' irresistible then?"
"N-No! O-Of course not!" she spluttered. "It's just a-annoying is all…"
"Oh, really?" he grinned. "Would you care if I pressed you on the subject, seeing as your answer was quite obviously a lie?"
"Very much so."
"Well, perhaps I will ignore your little lie if you will elaborate your 'what' from earlier."
Sam looked away and chewed nervously on her bottom lip.
"It's not really proper to tell you."
"And when has being proper stopped you before?" he mocked.
"This is kind of different," she flushed. The strawberry blonde twisted the fabric of her shirt nervously between her fingers. Damn it all! Why did I have to bring it up in the first place?
"Perhaps I'll understand if you explain what is so different," he suggested.
"…You're not going to let up until I answer, right?"
Sebastian's closed-eyed grin shone down on her.
"Of course not."
Sam sighed and looked awkwardly to the side, continuing to fidget with the edge of her shirt.
"I…ha…ve…my…"
"I'm sorry. I didn't quite catch that."
"I said," Sam growled, teeth grinding together in frustration and cheeks stained red, "I. Have. My. Period."
Sebastian paused, smart-alecky comment dying on his lips.
"…I see."
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"Good morning!" Mey-Rin, Finni, Sam, and Bard chorused.
Ciel walked past them with a slightly glazed look in his visible eye.
"Good morning…"
The four looked up at the young Earl with worry filled eyes.
"Ciel…?" Sam called. He didn't reply, only trudged silently into the dining room with Sebastian on his heels. The strawberry blonde and her three companions exchanged concerned looks as the door shut behind him.
"He's a bit down in the dumps, he is," Mey-Rin sighed.
" 'fraid so," Bard agreed.
"Oh? How can you be so certain about that, Bardroy?" Tanaka spoke up, voice tinted in curiosity.
"Well, 'e may look the same as eva' to an outsider, bu' we can see the difference clear as day!"
Finni, Mey-Rin, and Sam nodded enthusiastically in agreement.
"So we'll just 'ave to do our best to give the young master's spirits a boost!" Bard cheered.
"That's a brilliant idea, yes!"
"We're going to throw 'im a party!" Bard grinned.
"PARTY!" The three beamed.
"Equanimity," Tanaka stated solemnly before deflating into his usual, tea-loving, self.
Mey-Rin and Sam frowned in confusion.
"What's equanimity?"
"I think it's ta' do wit' equal nimieties."
"I think Tanaka means we should help the young master relax by keeping things normal!" Finni piped up, joyful grin on his lips.
"Oh… hey! We can do that, yes!" Mey-Rin smiled. "I'll polish the manner until it gleams like new, yes I will!"
"And I think it's time ta' pull out a few o' my special secret recipes."
"I'll make sure all the trees on the ground are as healthy as can be!"
"And I'll annoy Sebastian until he attempts to murder me!"
"Let's go!" Bard shouted.
"RIGHT!" the other three chorused, punching the air.
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"I imagine this year's Exposition will be a grand affair," Sebastian commented, handing Ciel his daily newspaper. "It is the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. I hear they're building a colossal tower in Paris for the World's Fair. The Eiffel Tower, I believe they call it."
Ciel examined the blotchy ink letters on the paper with a critical eye.
"Quite."
"Doesn't it remind you of the Tower of Babel, when the people incurred God's wrath for attempting to build a tower to the Heavens?"
"Quite."
"…Ash has informed me that Her Majesty will be traveling covertly to Paris to see it for herself."
"Quite."
"Will Earl Grey do today, sir?" Sebastian asked, pouring the steaming brown liquid into a porcelain tea cup.
"Quite."
Sebastian walked over to the dining table with a pleasant smile on his face, placing the cup down on the polished surface.
"Once upon a time in a land far, far away, there lived an old man and an even older woman."
Ciel turned from the newspaper to leer at his butler.
"What the devil are you talking about?"
"Ah, so you are listening to me, my lord."
"Naturally," Ciel scowled, taking a sip of his tea. Sebastian frowned lightly. "Has there been any from Her Majesty about the incident last week?"
"None, my lord," Sebastian answered curtly, turning to restack and organize the plates and cups on the small tea cart.
"I see…" Ciel murmured. "…Good then."
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"I'll make it all sparkly clean, yes I will!" Mey-Rin hummed, happily scrubbing away at the railing.
"Mey-Rin."
The maid looked up with a start, cheeks coloring as she turned to the butler.
"Y-Yes, Mister Sebastian?"
"What are you doing?" he frowned.
"W-Well, I'm cleaning! I'm polishing the railing, yes I- WAAAHHH! I mistook the shoe polish for wax, yes!" Mey-Rin sobbed.
Sebastian pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance.
"Do I mind if I ask you something…? Are you in need of a new pair of spectacles?"
The maid jumped back with a squawk, hands coming up to secure her glasses to her face.
"N-No, no! These were a gift from the young master, yes they were! Please don't take them away from me!"
Sebastian sighed.
"Very well, just clean this off as soon as possible," he frowned, running a gloved finger over the black stain.
"Yes, sir! Right away, yes!" Mey-Rin scrambled up the stairs, grabbed a rag, and immediately began to scrub at the black goop.
The demon turned with a light frown and began heading towards the kitchen.
I should see if lunch preparations are underway, I supp-
BOOM!
Sebastian flinched as the mansion shook and smoke permeated throughout the air. Bard emerged from the grey veil, hacking and hair a frizzed out mess.
"Bardroy!"
Bard grunted in acknowledgement, peering over at the butler with murky eyes.
"I've told you a thousand times that I do not approve of dynamite as a cooking utensil."
"Sorry, jus' thought it'd cook faster is all," he grumbled reaching up to rub at his singed head.
"Why must you always be in such a hurry?" Sebastian chastised. "There's plenty of time to get everything done."
"Yeah, I guess logically I know that's true," Bard pulled out a match from his pocket, lighting it against his hair, "It's jus,' in the past, if I didn't hurry up making my food, I didn't eat, ya' know?… So I always end up rushin' and messin' things up."
Sebastian blinked.
"Problem is, I never got used to peace… so I don' really know what to do wit' myself in a place like this." The cook took a long drag from his cigarette.
"I'll prepare lunch."
Bard flinched lightly.
"You stay here and clean this place up."
Bard chucked his cigarette to the floor with a long strand of colorful curses and stomped over to the largest chunk of damage.
"Dammit!" he sighed. "…All right…"
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Poke.
Sebastian's eyebrow twitched.
Poke.
He twitched yet again.
Poke.
"Do you need something, Sam?" he ground out, lips strained in a polite, closed-eyed, smile. The servants had already worn away his quota of patience for the day, and he was in no mood to deal with the infuriating strawberry-blonde at the moment.
She shrugged.
Poke.
"Not really."
"Then why are you following me around the manor?"
Another shrug. Another poke.
"I'm bored… and Tanaka told us… Equanimity."
"Equininimity?"
"To make Ciel feel better, Tanaka thought we all should just act like our normal selves," Sam explained, jabbing Sebastian's side yet again. "That means" poke "I have to" poke "bug you."
The butler frowned.
"Perhaps you could not 'bug me' for once and see if the young master's mood improves."
Sam shrugged halfheartedly.
"Nah. He probably won't care either way… so I choose to be obnoxious."
Poke.
Sebastian turned on her with an icy, warning glare. Sam stared back at him indifferently.
"My current mood swing due to my hormonal imbalance is apathetic," she drawled. "You will not be able to threaten, seduce, excite, or terrify me for the next few hours or so. No reaction what. so. ever."
Poke.
Sebastian's eyebrow twitched. Sam reached out to jab him again and he caught her wrist. The black clad butler took a breath to begin a long rant about her childish behavior when a better idea flickered through his mind and he smiled, pulling Sam close.
"No reaction, hmm?"
Sam blinked calmly, unperturbed.
"Nope."
Sebastian leaned in, brushing his lips over her forehead.
"Are you positive about that?"
Sam blinked lazily again.
"Yup."
He frowned, trailing his lips down the side of her cheek.
"Still positive?"
"Bored, actually," she yawned.
Sebastian twitched in annoyance and Sam broke out in a grin.
"GOT 'CHAAAAA! YAY! You fell for that soooo easily!" she burst into a raucous fit of laughter. "I mean," her face twisted into an angry glare, "how could you fall for my act that easily? Are you that pathetic?" She paused, eyes moistening with tears. "Sorry! That was really, really mean and hurtful! Please forgive me!"
The demon sighed.
"I do not enjoy your mood swings."
Sam clung to his side.
"You know you loooove me!"
"I am questioning that at the moment."
"So you do love me?" Sam gasped. "How could I have not seen it before? I'm so stupid!" She sobbed. "No! It's you that makes me seem stupid, asshole!"
Sebastian's eyebrow twitched.
"Ha! That mood swing was fake!" Sam beamed. "And you fell for it!"
The demon leered.
"Do you act like this every time you go through your menstrual cycle?"
"You've known me for how long now, and I've gone through it every one of those months."
"So why is this one so different?" he frowned.
"Because I looove you, Sebby dearest!"
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Sam grinned, relaxing perfectly calmly at the kitchen table with Mey-Rin, Finni, and Bard. She nibbled happily on her cheddar cheese sandwich (courtesy of Sebastian), and smiled contently.
"Why are you so 'appy?" Bard asked, chomping into his own lunch.
The strawberry blonde's grin widened.
"Because, Bard, I can now order Sebastian around and have him actually listen to the demands. For example, he went all the way to town today to buy me some cheddar cheese."
The cook raised an eyebrow in disbelief. A female? Having Sebastian bow to her whim? Never!
"How'd ya' do that?"
"Simple, Bardroy, simple," Sam smiled. "All I had to do was act overdramatic and know one fact. That fact is, how does Sebastian control Pluto and the rest of the known world? Fear."
Bard scoffed.
"Right. And what is Sebastian afraid o' then?"
Sam's lips spread in a Cheshire Cat grin.
"Ah~ That's easy… The same thing as every other male on the planet: a woman on her period."
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XD
This chapter was really, really fun to write. It was inspired by my friend's shout across the school cafeteria "I HAVE my period! Give me the goddamn chocolate!" Sam's mood swing moment was also based off of said friend who was screaming at her boyfriend one minute for not tucking in his shirt and then sobbing into his shoulder the next only to break out in hysterical laughter seconds later about the color of his shoes.
o.0
My friends are strange… but so am I ;D
By the way, randomish thought… Sebastian isn't actually as whipped/terrified as Sam makes his out to be in her little blurb (just saying it so people don't think "Oh! Here comes the OOCness!"). That's just Sam's pride egging on how 'pathetic' he is for giving in to her cheese demand… He probably just wanted her to shut up and leave him alone, haha.
Hope everyone enjoyed part one of the filler! Until next time~