AN: FWI, Sebastian Michaelis was a real person! If you type Sebastian Michaelis in on Wikipedia you can read about him! - Madame Stephanie
It had been a day since Sebastian had last seen Grell, if you were the kind of person who identified "day" as the daylight hours and "night" as the dark hours. If he cared to correct himself, as it was almost 7:00 PM now, in a reasonable four hours it would have been almost a full day since that time. Sebastian would occasionally in his free-time (or even sometimes during work,) close his eyes and smile to remember his hands on his skin again – or even better – his fingers or full length inside of his hot, pulsing body that was so flexible and tight. He also remembered the sound of his soft moaning that steadily increased in volume, the breathless whispers and eventual shouting of his human-given name, and the way his thick ring of muscle constricted against him when he found his release that decorated his lithe body in a beautiful mess that was as white as his skin.
He could still remember how salty it had tasted... Although, his memory had never been allowed to continue further than that, because by then the young master needed him or the servants had made more trouble for him. How ironic, as normal servants were there to make the butler's job easier. He had noticed, while cleaning their messes and solving their problems, that he occasionally caught Bard or Mey-Rin staring at him, and once whispering to each other about an unknown topic that he was somehow a part of. He didn't care enough for human gossip to investigate, but it was still annoying, although if he ever expressed his displeasure with an angry expression in their general direction or made any sign of acknowledging them, they would look away and continue their work frantically, or even leave the room. The servants were not enough to distract him from his work though - hunger was a strong motivator - but sex was too, it had been too long since he had had a release, the memories of last night were very distracting.
As Sebastian was loading Ciel's supper dishes onto a tray to take to the kitchens for cleaning, Ciel, who still had not moved from his chair reached underneath the table and set a large gift bag and a letter on the table surface. Sebastian didn't notice that he had until his young master cleared his throat and strummed his filed nails across the fine, wooden table to draw attention to himself and these objects. This caught the demon's attention, and his disguised eyes skimmed quickly over the items, he saw his human-given name in a cursive font written on the outside of a colourful, scented envelope and a bright, expensive gift bag which revealed the top of a wildflower bouquet and something smaller fully hidden inside. Sebastian had no doubt about who they were from; they were gifts from his newest mate, Grell. Sebastian couldn't lie; it was against his principles as a demon, so he would have to be clever to keep Ciel from discovering what had recently developed between Grell and himself.
Sebastian knew that Ciel was waiting for him to say something, and so he began what he knew would be a dangerous conversation with an inquiring, "My Lord?"
Ciel sat up straighter in his chair and looked Sebastian accusingly in the eye, his face was almost blank, but there was a hint of anger in the way he looked at him now. He let a silence hang between them before he asked his question, he was not one to beat around the bush, and started with what he sincerely wanted to know, "Sebastian, who are these from?"
The young lord lifted the letter to his face and scowled at the smell of the perfume and the small, hand-drawn flower border. "I found these at our doorstep. I am aware from... previous incidents that it is in your nature to seduce and bed humans, but I was unaware that you have been exchanging letters with one. I do not remember approving this, Sebastian."
The butler was aware of his young master's scolding tone, but could not muster any guilt for his actions; he didn't understand why Ciel was so upset about a letter. "The letter and gifts are from an admirer of mine that has been pursuing me for a long time. When I was shopping for you almost a month ago, I accidently came across this admirer, and after a week we began to exchange letters. I apologise that I did not come to you first before I replied, my Lord, I was unaware that it would upset you."
"I am not upset!" Ciel exclaimed loudly, his eyes narrowing as he looked into Sebastian's own. Sebastian looked back unflinchingly, and Ciel was the first to look away. He asked seriously while distracting himself with the tablecloth, "Have you... made love to her, Sebastian?"
Sebastian thought quickly and reached a conclusion, Ciel had made this easy for him. "No, my Lord." Grell was not a "her", so this was the truth; he had not made love to any female admirer.
Ciel did not seem convinced, so he tried to ask another question regarding Sebastian's assumed female admirer. "Have you ever let her into the manor, Sebastian?"
Sebastian had to keep himself from smiling when he answered, "No, my Lord. I have never let a woman into this house without your knowledge."
Ciel knew that Sebastian could not lie to him, so that had to be the truth. He nodded, which was a signal that Sebastian could take his letter and gifts, and to leave afterward. With a bow, Sebastian informed Ciel to call on him whenever he needed him, and that he would come to him with or without a call in an hour to prepare him for his bath. Ciel made a small sound that could have been acknowledgement, but Sebastian could not be sure. He smiled victoriously and rose from his bow to collect his things and bring them to his room to see what Grell had written and had given to him. After he had taken Ciel's dirty dishes to the kitchen, of course. As always, he was very curious.
...
Sebastian hadn't known where to put his gifts when he first opened them in the privacy of his bedroom or what he would use them for. The toy knight was amusing but wasn't good for anything but that, and the bouquet of assorted wildflowers (that he imagined Grell had picked himself by the general disorganisation and unevenly cut stems) had a pleasant scent and were pleasing to look at but he had nowhere to put them in his bedroom. It had taken him a few minutes to decide, but he hid the toy in one of his clothing drawers and found an empty vase in the Phantomhive manor to place the wildflowers in. He had heard from a human, he did not remember how long ago, that sugar water kept picked flowers fresh longer and so he was sure to add that to the vase which he had decided to place on top of his drawers.
The cologne wasn't hard to place at all; he put it on the counter in the servant's dreary bathroom. He didn't imagine any of the other servants would touch it, as Bard and Finny didn't wear cologne and he doubted Mey-Rin would wear men's perfume. He had never worn cologne as "Sebastian" before (he had, of course, in other disguises) but he decided he would now, because if Grell had given this to him, he must have wanted him to wear it. He was surprised when he realised that he actually liked the way it smelt. He could detect citrus and vanilla, and also leather which made it smell more masculine, he didn't wear very much because he had a very sensitive nose as a demon and if it were too strong the servants or Ciel may have asked about it. He didn't want to explain to the servants or reopen the conversation with Ciel.
The letter was different; it meant more to Sebastian than toys, flowers, or cosmetics. It was made of earthly materials like paper and ink but it was what they produced together that was important, Grell's words in a physical form. Unfortunately a letter did not last very long, in the short space of a human life span it would be yellow and fragile and at any age it was susceptible to water. This would have to do though, until he was able to preserve not only this letter but all of the others that he and Grell had been exchanging for the past three weeks. Sebastian had never had anything of his own that possessed sentimental value to him, because these were his first letters they were also the first items he owned that he cared to keep. It was, for him, a bizarre attachment - but not particularly unpleasant.
The next two days passed uneventfully, there was of course incident, but nothing memorable. He attempted to remember the incidents of that time and faintly recalled writing and delivering the invitations for a spring ballroom party the young master was hosting this weekend, preparing and cleaning the ballroom for use, and – how could he forget? – on his way back from shopping for the same party, stopping by the jewellery store and submitting a request for two rings, which he was on his way to pick up now. Sebastian paused outside the store to straighten his woollen coat and adjust his tie before entering, he was sure that this was the same shop because of the sign outside that he had seen the day he had submitted his request. Once he was inside he rang the bell on the counter and waited patiently for the shopkeeper, in the meantime removing a stray, white hair from his coat that he was certain was Pluto's.
He was distracted from watching the counter because he was looking over his coat for more hair but looked up when he heard the footfalls of a particularly heavy human, not that many humans had light footsteps, but this one more so than others. He was the shopkeeper, Sebastian remembered him from the last time he had been here. He was the kind of person who wasn't easy to forget. As an understatement, he was a big man, his body was large and round like a wrecking ball and his head looked as if it were too small even with his large, thick beard and moustache. He was not only big, but he was rich, you could tell from the golden buttons straining against his waistcoat, the unnatural shine of his bald head that must have been wax, (he had less hair on his head than he did on his face) and even by the shop that he owned – a jewellery store.
Sebastian kept a straight face and walked up to the counter, where this burly human was watching him curiously, as though trying to remember who he was. Sebastian was taking his coin-purse from the inside of his coat when the man asked him, "Excuse me, sir, are you here to submit a request?" Sebastian did not answer immediately; he took his time undoing the drawstring of his purse before he answered, "No, I am not. I was told that my order would be ready today and I have come to pay and collect. My order should be under the name 'Michaelis'." Sebastian waited once again, but this time it was the other man who was slow to reply, he seemed to be trying to remember all of the requests he had received that week and was counting on his stubby fingers. Eventually, the man made a loud sound of remembrance, and pointed rudely at Sebastian who was tempted to bite the fat digit off.
"Oh! I remember you now, Mister Michaelis, you are the Phantomhive butler! You came here two days ago to submit a request for two engraved, golden rings." The man turned around and unlocked a small storage compartment from which he removed two black leather ring boxes. He opened both of them and read Sebastian the size, custom engraving, and price before he asked if it was his order. When Sebastian confirmed it was and was counting the human money to pay the man, as this man was the kind of human who always had something to say, asked Sebastian "So your name is Sebastian? I can't say that I've met too many of those, it isn't a very common name, what are you – you could be German? Or maybe you're from farther east? I can't tell, I've never been very good at guessing. Oh, but your name isn't anywhere near as strange as your woman's!" He took the larger plain, golden ring out of the box and squinted to see the name engraved on the inside. "G-R-E-L-L. How do you pronounce that? Grill? Grall? Grull?"
"It is pronounced the way it is spelt - Grell." Sebastian placed what he owed on the counter to distract the man from his ring. He may as well have paid the man his entire savings, not that he cared, he had nothing else he wanted to buy. The man carefully placed the ring back in its box and counted the money greedily, knowing that a butler did not have a large income, afterward storing all of it even more carefully in his cash register. As he was doing this, Sebastian removed the larger ring engraved with Grell's name and slid it on to his index finger. It was a plain, gold ring on the outside and no one would ask about it. When Sebastian took the other ring box to leave the man held him back to ask him one more question. "I have been in this business a long time and you aren't the first one who has done this. A man will come in and ask for two identical rings, with separate sizes and engravings, with intentions of wearing one ring with his woman's name and giving the other ring with his own to his woman. The rings you bought were simple, gold rings with no patterns or precious stones, why is that?"
Sebastian gave the man a suspicious look before he answered cautiously, "I could never afford that kind of ring on a butler's pay and for reasons I won't discuss, simplicity has its advantages. Goodbye, sir."
...
Sebastian could not help but notice on his way home to the Phantomhive manor that the streetlamps and buildings of London town were steadily becoming more and more concealed by a thick fog that shined silver in the light of the moon it hid. It was only 6:00 PM but the sun had set early, as it always did in spring. The humidity weighed against his shoulders and chest and caught in his throat as his sensitive eyes tried their hardest to make out the way to the manor through the fog. As a demon, he made it home safely, and in enough time to prepare dinner for Ciel. Once the young master was fed, bathed, and put to bed it was 9:00 PM and Sebastian left for his bedroom where he fed the cats he secretly kept in his wardrobe and changed their litter, before he laid down to relax on his bed.
It wasn't very entertaining, as the Phantomhive butler, there wasn't a lot he could do to entertain himself. He held his hand up so that his golden ring sparkled in the dim candlelight, and because of that sparkle, was reminded of Grell. His name was, after all, engraved on the inside of this ring. He was curious how his princess would react when he presented him with his gift, like almost anyone, he wanted Grell to like it. He imagined he would as he was easily excited, not only emotionally excited either - he remembered how quickly he had been physically excited. He smiled, allowing his thoughts to wander where they may, even into an occasional topic or memory that was in no way related to Grell but was concerned with the art of physical love – the only kind of love he knew.
He was remembering the unusual smell that was produced (strangely enough) every time, but before he could question why, his hyperactive senses detected Grell's aura - was he on Phantomhive ground? Sebastian sat up quickly and thought back to his previous encounter with Grell. He remembered that he had given him a key to the back gate, so if he was here, that was probably where he was headed. Sebastian acted quickly, once he was standing he looked himself over in the mirror, adjusting his clothes and restyling his hair, before he walked quickly up the stairs and through the backdoor (which he had to unlock first, of course) where surely enough he saw and heard the gate swing open.
The fog wasn't as thick as it had been earlier, but Grell was still too far away to make out clearly, he saw through the haze a dainty figure in what he knew was a nightgown that fluttered when he walked and with long hair that softly swayed and must have been damp from a shower and wet with beads of fog. The figure paused and Sebastian saw its head turn in both directions before softly calling out his name, he must not have been able to see him from that distance, and so he went to him as he requested. As Sebastian approached the figure became clearer and clearer until he recognised it as his Princess Grell, who smiled in delight when he saw Sebastian, but was silenced before he could speak by his knight who put a finger to his lips.
"Before you speak, I have a gift for you." Sebastian explained, watching as Grell's smiled widened and his eyes brightened in excitement and curiosity. From the inside of his coat Sebastian removed a black leather ring box and informed Grell before he opened it, "Do not assume anything, I am a demon, and have no intentions of marrying you or anyone else." When he did open the ring box, he allowed Grell to remove the ring from the box and examine it thoroughly; he decided that he would explain his reason for this. Sebastian held out his own hand to Grell so that he could see the identical ring on his finger. "I have a ring identical to the one I bought for you, the only difference between the two rings is the size and the engraving, the engraving on my ring is your name and the engraving on the ring I have given you is mine. The last time we met I made you my mate - once again, do not assume anything - I have had many mates before you and you will not be my last, but because we are so close to each other, I would like to see you again if you are willing."
Sebastian looked into Grell's eyes, which were shining with fog and dew that flowed like tears down his face, and after he had handed Grell the ring box wrapped his arms around his waist and pulled him to him. "I know that you are aware that this must be kept secret, my master and yours would be very upset if they knew, but these rings could be our symbol hidden in the most obvious place. I requested them to be plain so that no would ask about them, but because they are pure gold they are still beautiful rings. I sincerely hope that you like my gift, I very much like yours, but I will have to ask you not to leave gifts on the doorstep again – the young master found them before I did – if I were not so clever he would have found us out." Sebastian pulled Grell closer to him, allowing him to rest his head against his shoulder where Sebastian was curious if he could smell the cologne he was wearing for him.
He allowed Grell to stay there for a short time, before he took his chin in his hand and tilted his head up to look at him, his divine beauty hazy and indistinct through the fog. "If you like my gift, will you tell me, princess? If not, if indulging in sin with a demon is too deceitful and dangerous, I will give you a chance to leave now while the gate is open. I will ask you to stay or leave, but if you stay, it is your decision what we do together."
...
Sebastian had his eyes closed and was counting down from sixty silently. In the dark his hearing was more sensitive and he heard an occasional pounding or scraping on the floor or wall. 9, 8, 7… He heard a soft laugh at the end of a nearby hallway that echoed and filled the room. …6, 5, 4… a tapping sound from above him like the patter of cushioned feet. …3, 2, 1… the sound of swaying cloth on the other side of the main floor where he was counting - maybe he was listening too hard - surely he couldn't be in all of those places? …here I come…
In all of his forms, Sebastian had never played this game before; but he had seen children, adolescents, and occasional young adults do so many times. It was a popular party game or a common way to pass time for the previous list of people; adults over those ages often were not interested as they were more physically weary. Sebastian imagined that this would be a difficult game as Grell had almost the entire mansion to hide in, the only places Sebastian had told him he was not allowed to hide in were the back or front yard, (it would be impossible to find Grell in this weather) the basement or attic, (it was dangerous) any floor above the second floor, (it would take too long) and Ciel's room (for obvious reasons).
As this was a manor, even with all of those limitations, it was a large playing space. Sebastian searched quickly and silently – behind curtains, under tables, in cupboards – he knew that Grell couldn't be hiding in a complicated place because he had only been given sixty seconds to hide, even with Sebastian counting slowly. When he couldn't find him on the first floor he ascended the stairs to the considerably larger second floor. Once he was at the top of the stairs he turned to move down the hallway and immediately saw a figure in a white nightgown with red hair turn the corner, even without a good look he knew that it was Grell, Sebastian figured he must not have found a hiding spot yet and went after him. He smiled in pursuit, moving even more quickly than before, until he was directly behind the unknowing Grell. Sebastian grabbed his shoulder to hold him back with his cold hand and whispered in his ear, "Boo."
Grell did not have the reaction Sebastian was suspecting, he let out a loud scream and threw his arms up in the air, before struggling to break away from Sebastian. After Sebastian overcame his initial shock, now that Grell was in front of him, Sebastian realised that it wasn't Grell at all! It was Mey-Rin! What was she doing awake so late at night? Sebastian let go of her shoulder immediately and took a step back, where Mey-Rin, who had fought so determinedly before was unable to move due to fear. When her scream ended because she ran out of breath, she took another deep breath to scream again, but Sebastian moved forward quickly and grabbed her to turn her around to face him. "Mey-Rin, stop that this instant! Do you want to wake the young master? It is only me; you need not be so frightened!" Although he spoke angrily he did so quietly.
Mey-Rin only stared in disbelief with a trembling lip, and when she didn't respond, Sebastian let go of her and turned around to look for Grell in the other direction. He hadn't cared enough to ask where Mey-Rin was going and was only concerned with finding Grell, who hopefully hadn't heard Mey-Rin's scream.
Sebastian saw Grell further down, the real Grell, he was certain that it wasn't Mey-Rin and no one else in this manor wore a white nightdress. Grell was hiding behind a large potted plant, and although all of him but the bottom hem of his white nightgown was hidden it still wasn't a good hiding spot, because even if Sebastian did pass him, when he came back the other way he would see him clearly. Sebastian had an idea, since it would be boring to go around the plant and tell Grell that he had found him, he instead pretended like he didn't see him and walked past the plant and Grell. He walked to the end of the hallway and once he was there he turned around and moved as silently as he could in the other direction. Grell must have thought that he was searching the rooms behind him and was smiling in victory when Sebastian grabbed him from behind (and as he had learned from previous experience) with a hand over his mouth to keep him from screaming.
He dragged him silently further down the hallway until they were in a place hidden by shadow, where the candles were very dimly lit and that was far from a window. He turned him around roughly and pushed him against a wall, when he removed his hand he pulled him into a thorny kiss in which he forcibly inserted his tongue. It was a short kiss but he let out a low groan of pleasure before he broke away, he smiled widely at Grell's silence allowing Grell to think whatever he may for a short time, before he reached in to kiss him more romantically on the cheek. "You should be more careful, do you know how many people would want to steal you? You are strong, certainly, but there are things more powerful than you and not all of them have good intentions as I do."
Mey-Rin stared after Sebastian as he walked away in the opposite direction he came, what was that all about? Why did he scare her like that, and then just leave? It didn't make much sense to her, his purpose in doing that wasn't very clear - seeing that he appeared rather surprised and irritated with her reaction, but what was he expecting her to do? People don't normally grab other people's shoulders and whisper boo in their ear unless they have frightening intentions; she had every right to scream for her life! The maid didn't understand Sebastian at all… He was so strange, just where on earth was he going now? Why had he even come this way? She had simply been wandering around the manor as she liked to do at night when she couldn't sleep, and she hadn't been expecting to find Sebastian, though maybe she should have – because she never caught him sleeping before, as bizarre as that was.
The maid followed behind Sebastian secretly – as she was extremely curious, as well as bored. She was a good distance behind him, so he probably wouldn't notice her presence. Sebastian continued to walk down the hallway, until he reached the end, when he unexpectedly turned around. Mey-Rin pressed her back up against a wall beside a decorative statue to hide herself from his view, before slowly peeking out from behind the statue in time to witness Sebastian dragging a startled Grell out from behind a potted plant.
Mey-Rin wondered what he was doing here, she liked Grell, but she wished that he wasn't here – with Sebastian. Had Sebastian mistaken her for Grell? That must have been it, and it explained the reason for his reaction. The butler thought she was just some jumpy idiot, who was constantly making more work for him - perhaps she was, but that wasn't all she was either! She was pretty good at…shooting. That was the only reason she was even here, because she was good at killing – that was all she was good at, that had been her whole life up until now, and it still was in a way. It was depressing, how unfair the world could be. She watched glumly as Sebastian forced Grell against a wall not too far away from where she was, and kissed him in a way the maid had never even seen before. She had only seen short, romantic kisses between lovers in public, never had she seen such admirable passion before – it was something she had only read in books, or imagined.
She listened as carefully as she could to make out what they were saying afterward, she heard what Sebastian said well enough, and watched as Grell gave him a small, unsure smile. Mey-Rin knew what was going through his mind, he made it so obvious – it was probably something along the lines of, that's sweet, but it's not true. He didn't believe him, only because he probably wasn't convinced that a lot of people would want him for such reasons, she could relate to that – and perhaps that's why she could detect his low self-esteem so easily.
Sebastian seemed to notice this as well, of course he did - he was so observant, so intelligent… She listened again; the butler asked him a question, something like, do you not believe me? Grell shifted, as if it were an uncomfortable subject, before she managed to roughly make out him saying that a lot of people wouldn't be interested in him, but Sebastian was quick to reply – it was hard to understand, but she was sure she heard him mention gouging out people's eyes, because they wouldn't need them if they couldn't see his beauty. Grell giggled at this, but Sebastian went on further to compliment him – his hands playfully following his words as he pointed out everything attractive about Grell – using them as reasons that people would want to steal him. Mey-Rin looked away; this wasn't any of her business, why did she even watch other people like this? Perhaps it was because she had little experience with a lot of things outside of her normal life – such as love… Most nosy people were probably just curious and lonely, like herself. She was envious of Grell, how wonderful it must be to have someone to encourage him and compliment him like that, especially someone like Sebastian – he was lucky.
Mey-Rin managed to escape back downstairs without them noticing her, they were too busy with their games – and even if they had noticed her they probably wouldn't have cared. It must be nice to be carefree, to be so occupied with someone else's company that they were all you could care about in those moments, these were things she could only daydream about. She walked gloomily back into the dreary servant's quarters, where she saw Finny sleeping peacefully in his bed and Bard leaning against his headboard reading a book – until he acknowledged her presence, looking up from his book and towards the maid. She removed her glasses and placed them on a nearby table, revealing her lovely eyes which looked as if they were holding back tears, before seating herself on her bed.
"What's wrong, Mey-Rin? You look really down." Bard asked, the missy had been rather unenthusiastic recently; he was curious what could be bothering her so much – this book was kind of boring him anyway.
"Oh Bard, you wouldn't understand…" Mey-Rin repositioned herself so that she was lying down, before pulling her thin blanket over herself. She would probably feel better if just got some sleep.
...
It was about 3:00 AM and Caleb couldn't sleep… It was like a feather in his skull, tickling his brain. It caused his thoughts to wander, breaking through the caution tape and into his 'off-limits' thoughts – mostly concerning his ridiculous desires, but Grell in particular. That shinigami was a nuisance, he made his life much harder than it had to be. His nights especially, when he was left to himself and his thoughts, with no one around to distract him from them. Thoughts like these wouldn't be too much of a problem if they weren't influenced, he could avoid them with much less difficulty – making his whole life less stressful. It already wasn't easy to pretend to be straight when you're not, but to have this stimulating little creature bouncing around – tempting and teasing him, made it so hard…
Yes, Grell had to be a creature. Caleb decided that he was too enthralling to be a shinigami, he was the ideal image of male beauty - Grell must be a succubus, or a goddess of some kind. It would explain his ability to demand his attention whenever he was around (sometimes even when he wasn't), without any effort, only to become even more alluring with his movement - the soft, clear sound of his feet tapping the ground. Or even the sound of his voice, his melodic, unique purr that expressed his thoughts and emotions. Sometimes just inhaling that intoxicating aroma of his was enough to catch his attention, his natural, gentle scent was always there – often combined with an expensive perfume, fusing it into something obvious and pleasant. It was shameful, but Caleb could admit that he was absolutely infatuated, or even obsessed with this creature – whatever it was.
There was no way he was going to get to sleep with this feather in his skull (he was convinced it was red), and the fact that he was off-schedule. He had been working the nightshift for the past few days for a specific information-gathering job, and now that it was completed he had returned back to the dayshift for another job. Being as high as he was in dispatcher rank required him to work harder, and accepting jobs no matter the schedule was his expectancy. It was tough, but at least it paid well.
Caleb left his room, he had too much energy to be lying still on his mattress - it made his brain busy – which was never a good thing, because his stray thoughts almost always eventually led to Grell somehow. He continued through the doors which led into the shinigami gardens, the fog from earlier that evening had faded entirely and had only left behind heavy humidity in the air, he then advanced to his favourite spot in the gardens. It wasn't much different from the rest of the gardens, but it was close to a large, colourful flowerbed with many breeds of flowers. He wasn't sure why it was his favourite spot, perhaps it wasn't, and it was just an area he had become familiar with. But as he thought about it, he realised that whenever he remembered seeing Grell in the garden, it was in this area where he always was – playing with the flowers and the creatures residing. Caleb realised that it was not his, but Grell's favourite spot in the gardens. He frowned, the creature almost seemed to haunt him in a way, he came to the gardens to find some comfort, not even noticing while he led himself straight to the place that reminded him of it.
As Caleb mused about the creature, he caught a glimpse of something white against the green of the grass in front of the flowerbed. He looked down to notice that it was Grell – in his nightgown - lying on his side with his hair spilling around him, some in his face which was hiding his expression from view, and allover damp from the humidity.
"Speak of the devil…" Caleb breathed, kneeling in front of the still figure to brush its hair out of the way, revealing a pretty, pale face with its eyelids shut lightly, while its pouty lips were slightly parted in a way that made him want to shove something in its mouth – like his finger, or his tongue. The idiot, he must have been sleepwalking – again. What if he hurt himself? He could get himself killed if he slept-walked to the wrong place… He wasn't sure why he cared though, his life would be easier if he wasn't around. Caleb had always been one to have conflicting thoughts, he wasn't sure of a lot of things about himself, or anything. Maybe he was a bit lost in life, or maybe he was just a hypocrite – once again, he wasn't sure…
Caleb wasn't sure either if he should touch Grell, though he was tempted to. He reached out a hand as if to stroke his face, but merely let it hover over his smooth, faintly pink cheek. It accidently brushed over his soft skin for a moment, forcing him to feel the warmth radiating from the creature. He let his hand travel past his temple and slowly through the length of his hair, which was silky in texture and ran through his fingers like water. As he inhaled the creatures gentle scent, he thought of how Grell might react to what he was doing if he were awake right now. He would probably ask what he was doing in a huffy voice, addressing him as "Cookie" again. It was amusing how he called him that, though it was only because his last name was Cook – which was a stupid last name… He never liked it much. He thought that if he were to marry Grell, then his name would become "Grell Cook" – which made him think of some idiot cooking something on a grill, which was stupid, he liked "Grell Sutcliff" much better.
The shinigami smiled uncertainly, why was he thinking about marrying Grell anyway? That was probably his stupidest thought yet, like that would ever happen (Grell hated him). He wasn't sure he wanted to even if he could, it would probably forfeit the rest of his social life forever. Though the thought of Grell in a wedding dress was rather entertaining… A soft breeze blew over the two as Caleb pondered on the strange (and impossible) subject, it made Grell's hair dance and brought air into his nightgown - causing it to flutter about but not actually reveal anything but a glimpse of his feminine legs for a very short moment. This brought Caleb's attention back to Grell, as he felt a lock the creature's hair tickling him, the shinigami's eyes skimmed over Grell – he was practically in a dress now.
Caleb went to the other end of Grell, gently taking off his slipper and holding his small, dainty foot in his hands. Caleb had never actually seen Grell's feet before, and he was curious, because feet usually bothered him for some reason… He smirked, deciding that this foot was cute – it was warm and soft, and it smelt nice – like some sort of cosmetic powder. He examined the creature's foot further, relieved that his toenails were clean (unlike that frightening human he reaped recently) before lightly squeezing the creature's foot, which was actually more satisfying than he thought it would be. He put his slipper back on his foot now that his curiosity was fulfilled, deciding that he should probably take Grell back to his room before he woke up – he really didn't want to deal with Grell asking him annoying questions like – "I'm going to tell baba!" That wasn't exactly a question, but it was still annoying. Caleb went to the other side of Grell (where his head was) and pulled his small body toward him so that he was leaning on him - his hair spilling over his sides, but left him there instead of picking him up (like he had planned).
The creature's head was buried into his neck - he could feel his warm breath tickling his skin and his body slowly rising and falling against him as he breathed. He held him there, rarely ever was he able to have Grell this close to him. The wind slightly blew up his nightgown again but Caleb was on the wrong side of Grell to see anything, he fantasised himself reaching into his nightgown, but quickly burned that thought (and temptation) before it could spawn into action. He carefully lifted Grell into his arms - with some difficulty – trying his best not to wake up him, before taking the creature back to its bedroom, which was where it should be sleeping. Once he was secure, Caleb returned to his own bedroom – feeling unsure of himself. He thought over everything he did since he left his room, realising he had done nothing to try and diminish the stupid red feather in his skull, he only made it worse…
