Written for the 12 Days of Sebaciel event. Day 5: Island of Misfit Toys. Setting: Modern AU
"Ciel, we may have a problem…" That was the sentence that filled Ciel with dread on Christmas Eve. Had it been from anyone other than his loving fiancé, he wouldn't have felt such fear weighing on his mind, but as it was, he had a feeling he knew exactly why Sebastian had such a remorseful - and quite frankly terrified - expression marring his fair features as he grasped a perfectly wrapped present betwixt his long fingers.
They were currently in the English countryside enjoying Christmas with Ciel's family, and along with their thickest winter coats and three dozen Christmas cookies, they had brought along their gifts for each other as well as the Phantomhives. At Rachel's insistence, they had brought everything in boxes so that she could wrap them herself with paper to match that of the gifts ensconcing the base of the massive faux fir adorning the corner of the fairly sizeable living room they currently sat in. That was grand and all until Sebastian remembered the special gifts he and Ciel had wrapped for each other. The ones that he had unintentionally placed on the counter for Rachel to wrap alongside several other boxes with name tags labeling who they were for. The imminent disaster could easily be avoided if his future mother-in-law used the right name tags, but in his haste to finish setting them down to help Ciel with their suitcases, Sebastian had forgotten to specify which tags went to which boxes before leaving. Because of his blunder, the risqué gifts were now buried somewhere within the perfectly innocent offerings piled beneath the tree, leaving both Ciel and himself with a fifty-fifty chance of everlasting humiliation.
"And what exactly is that problem, Sebastian…?" Cidl sighed, setting his cup of hot cocoa down on the coffee table beside the couch where he currently sat in wait of the rest of his family. He watched Sebastian set aside the small parcel he held before plopping down beside him, a sweater-clad arm immediately finding its way around Ciel's waist as if the physical contact would soften the blow of the words he was about to utter. If anything, that only made the smaller male's anxiety increase. "Please tell me you just forget a gift again and that it's nothing more serious..."
Sebastian rubbed his neck nervously, giving a sheepish grin as he pulled his lover close to his side while he nursed his own warm apple cider. "No, I definitely brought everything. In fact, I brought too much… It seems that those special packages we wrapped for each other have ended up wrapped with the other gifts. There's a possibility your sister-in-law may get a cat tail buttplug." The dark-haired man cringed as he spoke, trying not to imagine the horrified expressions his fiancé's parents would wear should the secret side of their more intimate moments be exposed.
Despite knowing that would be the confession to spew passed Sebastian's cherry lips, Ciel groaned. "Sebastian, you didn't! I thought we had separated those from the rest of the presents before we left! Oh god, this will be a disaster…" He buried his face into his future husband's shoulder with a shake of his head, knowing it was far too late to pick through all of the gifts in search of it. The warm lights on the mighty tree twinkled brightly as if taunting them for their mistake, glinting off of the shiny red and gold paper masking the toys they chose with their lover in mind. Oh, how he dreaded the thought of one of his family members opening a box to receive the golden gilded cock ring he had bought for Sebastian. He silently prayed to whatever creator there may be that Sebastian would be the one to unwrap it and that he'd be able to hide it before anyone else could see it.
"We did, but we added a few more things for your dad and I must have picked those up too whenever I was trying to set yours aside. But… In all fairness, it's a very high quality tail. If nothing else, your family will find out I spoil you," Sebastian could only chuckle at the scathing glare his comment garnered. After all of this, he had a feeling he would be making Ciel some spiked eggnog to help soothe him of his worry over this potential catastrophe.
"Oh shut up, we both know you bought that for your own enjoyment, cat freak."
Sebastian's sly grin only proved his point further, but it soon fell when one by one, the rest of the Phantomhives began to filter in through the garland and mistletoe swathed doorway. Now he was the one worried.
Everyone took their places on the sofa and both Sebastian and Ciel moved to perch on the soft rug instead, leaving space for everyone else to set aside their opened boxes on the cushions rather than in the middle of the floor where someone would be walking to gather packages from beneath the tree. "Now that we're all here, we can hand out the gifts!" Rachel exclaimed jovially, her emerald winter dress splaying elegantly around her legs as she knelt to grab an arm full of gifts. She carried the small pile hugged against her chest to the couch, passing them around to their rightful recipients.
Ciel gave his mother a grin as he accepted it and heard Sebastian's polite "Thank you, Mrs Phantomhive", relief filling him as he realized that none of the gifts currently being opened were anything remotely inappropriate. Perhaps this wouldn't be so bad; The tags had most likely ended up on the right gifts and there was nothing to worry about. His shoulders relaxed as he discarded torn shreds of amaranth paper that almost perfectly matched his lover's eyes, revealing a new hardback edition of the Sherlock Holmes collection. He peered at the new charcoal beanie Sebastian now held as he leaned against his side, momentarily glancing at everyone else to see what they received. A headband for his sister-in-law, Elizabeth, wool sweaters for his dad and brother, and a new pair of heels for his shoe-obsessed mother.
All was fine for the next five sets of gifts, however, it all went to hell whenever Vincent brought around the next round of boxes. When Sebastian ripped into the gold gift wrap and spotted the item inside, he immediately knew something was wrong. Rather than a new scarf or a CD, there laid a purple, squeaky dog bone along with a note clearly marked from himself to Ciel - it was his way of announcing Ciel's main present from him: A black German Shepherd puppy who currently sat in Ciel's old room waiting to be brought down and handed to her new owner. Though it ruined the surprise of Ciel removing the paper himself to reveal Sebastian's offering, he could still easily pass the gift to his fiancé. What he was more worried about was the fact that it also meant at least two tags were mixed. His gaze quickly darted to Rachel whenever she gasped, Vincent's laughter filling the temporary hush as said woman's cheeks became dusted in a bright cherry and Ciel's eyes grew wide in horror. No.
"I don't think this was meant for me," She choked through barely restrained giggles of her own, lips thinned into an expression meant to hide her amusement as she looked over the intricately etched cock ring she held in her palm. "I have a feeling I know exactly who was supposed to get this," She said with lips curling into a small, flustered grin when she noticed her youngest son's handwriting on a note folded beneath it. She said nothing more to avoid making Ciel more uncomfortable than he already appeared as she handed over the toy meant for her soon to be son-in-law.
"Happy Christmas" Ciel sighed, eyes not meeting that of his parents as he pushed the toy into Sebastian's waiting hand. He saw said man look over the object with rapt interest, studying its fine details before setting it aside to be examined in full at a later time when they were once again alone.
"Thank you, dearest," Sebastian crooned with a blush of his own, glancing at where it was settled beside the high-quality headphones Ciel had also given him. He placed a quick kiss on his cheek when he noticed everyone else was too involved in opening their newest packages to notice as his hand stroked over the side of his beloved's thigh. "I look forward to trying it out tonight." He whispered, chuckling at the bright pink dusting Ciel's porcelain skin from ear to ear. "Here, this was meant for you," He smiled, handing Ciel the dog bone meant for his big reveal.
Ciel's eyes widened, almost comically, as he took the dog toy and read the note. A sound not unlike a squeak parted his lips, and had he been any further from Sebastian when he suddenly launched himself at him in a tight hug, the taller man was sure that they would have both been knocked to the ground. Straddling Sebastian's lap, he pressed his lips to his own adoringly. "Oh, I can't believe you! You don't even like dogs and yet you got me one! Thank you so much!" The boy beamed, nuzzling against his neck as he ignored the chatter from the rest of his family. Luckily, none of them seemed to notice the extremely suggestive position they had ended up in with him draped across Sebastian's lap. "When can I see it?"
Ciel's reaction to his surprise was more than enough to make up for him having to get used to the canine that would now be sharing their home. "You're welcome, Ciel. I know you've been wanting one for awhile and thought it may have been a nice early wedding gift as well," Sebastian hummed, stroking his lover's back slowly before carefully maneuvering Ciel so that he would be flush against his side. "I can bring her down as soon as everyone is done opening things. She's very young and hyper, I don't want her to break anything if her tail knocks something over." He passed Ciel a bigger, rectangular box next, knowing very well what was inside as he handed it to him. If Ciel got his dog, then he needed his kitten. However, his excitement was quick yo dissipate when Ciel revealed a blue hoodie meant for his twin instead. Fuck.
As if on cue, only seconds after Ciel gave Sebastian a confused look in response to the smirk he was given over a hoodie, a voice similar to his lover's rang out in place of his own as a long, fluffy item was pulled from the box given to him by Elizabeth.
"Ciel…" Cedric deadpanned, meeting the wide, mismatched eyes of his twin as he raised a smooth, slate tail connected to a silver bullet into the air. Though his cheeks were as red as the ornaments on the tree, his ocean eyes twinkled with wry amusement as he stared at the gift obviously meant for Ciel.
Flinching at the strained call from his brother, he reluctantly turned to face his sibling, disregarding Sebastian's equally mortified expression as he met the shared shocked and humorous gaze of his entire family. "Yes, Cedric…?" He simpered nervously, knowing deep down that neither he nor Sebastian would ever live this down.
"What the fuck, brother?"