"How did it go today, Finnian?" Sebastian asked as he shed his coat and hung it up.
"Just fine, Mr. Sebastian. Little Cinder had the time of his life hanging out with me."
Ciel pretended to sneeze, knowing Finny would perceive it as a snort of indifference. Sebastian had just come home from work. The Leonards had come back to the apartment in the afternoon for lunch. The rest of the time they had spent just talking, Finny answering Ciel's questions for hours. Ciel had realized more than ever just how little he had known about his own race. According to Finny, they had covered all the basics of Leonards themselves, and the next time he was over the lesson would be on Leonards in history. Ciel was just about to protest this when they heard the key in the lock, and Ciel shifted into his feline-form quickly.
"How's my Cinder, eh?" Sebastian asked, coming to take Ciel from Finny's hands. Ciel felt like he was in a giving mood, so he threw out a paw to softly bat Sebastian's nose. The man's face was undeniably priceless as his eyes grew all liquid and his mouth opened and drooped like an enthralled imbecile.
"Finnian, thank you for watching him today."
"No problem, Mr. Sebastian. It was a pleasure. That's one smart fellow you have, there." Finny scratched Ciel's head as he spoke, and Ciel purred against him.
"That he is," Sebastian said, tucking Ciel into his elbow as he made his way to the table. "Give me a moment and I'll write your check for today."
Sebastian began rummaging through his briefcase, but after a moment he stopped and muttered under his breath, before turning and saying,
"My checkbook must be in the kitchen somewhere, give me a minute to find it."
Finny followed him into the kitchen, where he dug through a draw that was full of miscellaneous office supplies next to the phone.
"Blast…where'd it go…come on…" Sebastian kept up his muttering, before finally pulling a checkbook from the far corner of the drawer.
"Found the beggar! Ok, here we go, pen…pen…"
"Did…something happen at work today, Mr. Sebastian?" Finny asked suddenly, in a cautious voice. Sebastian turned around to look at him, surprised.
"What on earth gave you that idea, Finnian?"
Finny shrugged and twisted his mouth slightly before answering,
"I could just tell that someone was troubling you, I get hunches like that about how people are feeling."
"Does that have anything to do with 'smelling evil' on a person?" Sebastian asked, seriously. Now it was Finny's turn to look surprised.
"Where did you hear about that?" Finny asked, "I didn't think many humans knew about it."
"May told me just today, because…yes, something did happen." Sebastian sighed before he said slowly, "Alois' former owner came to see me."
Finnian let his lip curl back as he hissed, his brows furrowing for a second.
"My thoughts exactly." Sebastian said coldly, "he had the nerve to ask me to keep an eye out for Alois, and to tell him if I'd seen him."
"Well, with all due respect Mr. Sebastian, you should have told him to shove it!" Sebastian looked at Finny for a moment, and then burst out laughing.
"Yes, Finny my boy, that was exactly what I did, but I definitely did not use those words."
Finny was smiling now too, catching the laughter.
"What words did you use then?" Sebastian lifted his eyebrows innocently and replied in an airy voice,
"Oh, it was all about working in the words 'lawsuit' and 'scum'." Finny actually giggled.
'Oh God…' Ciel thought, unable to believe how girlish that had sounded. Finny really was too good a person to ever hate. Sebastian placed Ciel lightly on the table as he laid out his checkbook and a pen. Ciel rubbed his sides against the man's arm as he wrote, purring at his presence. He couldn't believe it, but he had actually…missed him.
'You're turning soft, Ciel,' he thought to himself, 'these people are turning you into a well-mannered house-cat.' He surprised himself even more when he realized he did not care. After having so many of his questions answered that day, and so many of his uncertainties addressed and explained, he felt almost like a new person. Finny was right; knowledge changed how he viewed everything.
"Aw, Cinder, do you want a check too, little thing?" Sebastian asked, rubbing Ciel's head with his free hand as he finished writing the check.
"I think he just wants you." Finny said, and the grin that could be heard clear as a bell flared Ciel's irritation.
"Well, that's my boy." Sebastian said, tearing out the check and picking Ciel up. "Here you go, Finnian. And I'll see you, what…tomorrow or the day after?"
"The day after most likely, I have a class to take over tomorrow so if I did come it wouldn't be until later in the day, and I don't know if you'd want that."
"As long as you're willing, that would be fine."
"Ok, then I'll stop by when I'm done at Angel Wing. Thanks Mr. Sebastian." Finny grabbed his coat off the back of the sofa and as he was slipping it on he said, "Bye bye Cinder!" Then he was out the door.
"I'm so glad you had company today, Cinder." Sebastian said, as he began climbing the steps to his bedroom.
'It was nice, once I got used to the idea of actually having someone I could call a friend.'
"It's a shame that you'll be alone most of tomorrow, though."
'A shame all right; I have to study.'
Sebastian sat him down on the bed and he began changing out of his stiff business clothes.
"I tell you Cinder, that Claude Faustus had better hope that he doesn't do anything more to actually provoke me. I'll break his nose, the bastard! Of course, Alois already tried to beat me to it."
'Alois? Break a nose? I can't see him as being good for anything but looking pretty!'
Ciel realized how nice it would be to actually be able to hold a real conversation with Sebastian. It was becoming frustrating. His own plan was folding on his emotions, that damn Finny had planted all kinds of positive and trusting thoughts in his head that he couldn't expel now. When Sebastian closed the bathroom door, Ciel sighed to himself. It was actually becoming very hard to act stupid. It was more work than he cared to admit.
Tired of his own thoughts after taking in so much information through the day, Ciel curled up next to Sebastian's pillow, getting comfortable in the folds of blanket. His last thought before drifting off was,
'I can't keep doing this.'
000000
When Finny opened the door to his room he found Bard sprawled out on his bed, reading one of the books from his shelf.
"Hey, I don't allow loiterers in my room!" He called, making Bard roll his eyes at him.
"Then don't leave your door unlocked."
"I didn't."
"Then tell Evan not to leave his door unlocked."
Finny grinned and kicked off his shoes.
"And what's with everyone calling me a loiterer? I do actually work here, you know. Have you been talking to Anne lately?"
"No, why? Did she call you a loiterer?"
"None of your business. So, how did it go today?" Bard asked, sitting up and closing the book.
"It was wonderful, actually." Finny said, pulling his shirt over his head and off. "That Cinder sure is a different person when you feed him some truth."
"What does that mean?" Bard asked.
"Well, I could tell that he was second guessing his stance on a lot of things based on what I told him. He had never heard about our chemical attraction to humans, dating back through the ages. He had always thought that there was something wrong with him because he wanted to hate humans, but always felt a need to be near them."
"So you told him about the co-dependency?"
"Yea," Finny said, pulling on a loose sleeveless red pajama shirt and slipping out of his jeans. "he scoffed at first, like he does to everything that he feels threatened by, but eventually accepted it."
"He said that?" Bard asked, sounding suspicious.
"No, but I could sense it." Finny answered, now running his brush through his wind-blown blonde hair.
"Well, you always did have the gift for reading people." Bard said.
"Why are you saying that in such a weary voice?" Finny asked with a smile.
"Because it's almost like it's too easy for you, that's why." Bard said, scooting over so that Finny could plop down heavily on the bed next to him. "My behavior just recently should be a testament to how it's hard to believe you can be right about someone so quickly without seeming brash."
"I understand that," Finny said, leaning his head back onto his pillow and stretching out his tired legs behind where Bard was sitting on the edge of the bed. "It's nice to hear you say it, though."
"Yea, well, if I go off on you, you should at least know how it seems to me, right?
"That was our agreement, yes."
"So what are you thinking right now?"
"I'm wondering what you really came in here for."
"What, I can't be genuinely interested in your first day luring the prey to the pen?" Bard asked with a smile.
"What a terrible way to phrase the work I'm doing with Cinder!" Finny said, though he was smiling as well. "I know you really care, but there's another reason you're here. What is it?"
Bard took a deep breath and his smile grew even warmer.
"The adoption papers went through today…" Finny's eyes widened and he sat up, watching Bard's face like his very life depended on it, holding his breath for his next words, "it's official now…little brother."
Finny' face lit up like a candle as his smile grew huge on his face. He couldn't find any words, he simply threw himself forward into Bard's strong and laughing chest, where he was held tight.
"Can you believe it, we're a family now, Finny! You can come live with me for good!"
Finny felt tears running down his cheeks, and tried to keep from crying, but the joy that overwhelmed him was too great, and soon he was sobbing and laughing at the same time. Bard was doing the same. After a few moments Bard stood up, literally lifting Finny from the bed in an even tighter bear hug and carrying him quickly into Evan's room.
"Evan, the adoption is finalized! I'm a big brother now! I'm a big brother!" Bard cried as he disturbed Evan from his guitar-strumming by swinging Finny about while both of them laughed and cried.
"Wonderful," Evan replied, nearly having to shout over the noise, "And here I thought your mum was too old to have any more kids."
"Shut up, Evan!" Finny laughed, as Bard put him down at last and he wiped his eyes.
The second he hit the ground he heard Bard's laughter come to a halt. Another split-second later he realized why; Alois was sitting next to Evan on his bed, watching them with eyes that were more than a little sorrowful.
"Alois! We, um…" Finny started.
"Oh, heck, kid, I…" Bard began, but Alois cut him off.
"It's alright, Mr. Bard. I'm happy for you two. Honestly." Alois did manage to muster up a smile, but then he rose from the bed and silently left the room. As the door clicked shut, Bard closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Damn…"