"I don't think I'm gonna write anything for Devil's Day this year," I said, as I opened a new doc... Maybe next year I'll resist temptation. I hope y'all enjoy!
Thank you to the ever-lovely javajowgie for betaing for me! 3 3 3
As umber eyes narrowed and a seductive smile formed before his very eyes, Ciel began to see red.
It was a shame, really. It had been such a pleasant evening…
The air had been tepid as the sun fell on the city of Florence, casting an orange glow-oh, so similar to that created by the fireplaces in his old manor-on the young demon as he walked in peaceful silence with his mate. He had thought it a good idea to visit some of the locals' favourite shops and cafés while they were in the city, places that were crowded enough to provide them with a decent selection of prey-it had been far too long since they'd had a proper meal.
A small discussion on the matter had led them to a decent-sized club by the time the sky had darkened completely. Everything was fine in the beginning. Sure, the music was loud, its obnoxious beat irritating every heightened sense Ciel possessed, despite Sebastian's insistence that it was fascinating rather than revolting.
His mood had soured considerably by the fifth song they endured, his temples seeming to throb to the rhythm of whatever horrid music the DJ currently blared. If it could even be called music...
"It's proof of how much mortals change over the centuries. In your time, the closest equivalent to this would have been galas, or pubs for the common people," Sebastian had remarked, amusement shining from the sly smirk he wore. "Though, you never enjoyed those much either."
A chuckle had followed his statement, and the younger demon merely huffed, crossing his arms as he stood from the uncomfortable seat he'd found himself in. The sable cushions were hardly better than the steel frame of the barstools.
"I'm going to get us more drinks. As soon as we find someone with a decent soul, we're leaving."
"As you wish," Sebastian crooned, cerise eyes closely following every step his little mate took. He wasn't worried for the boy's safety. If anyone should cross him, they would lose a finger before even noticing the inhuman flicker of Ciel's eyes. That was, if his master was feeling particularly kind. Considering his agitation, it was unlikely that anyone who dared to touch him would lose anything less than an arm.
Settling back into the booth, he admired the way that the tight, black denim hugged his mate's arse, as well as the angry scrunch of his face when he shoved his ID in the bartender's face for the third time.
Even after his transformation, his contractee had retained his fiery soul. Despite his initial wrath at the loss of such a thoroughly prepared meal, he found that the boy's company was a fair trade-off. Eternity would have been rather boring after spending so long with this fierce little creature. It also helped that every kiss, every tremble, every moan, was filled to the brim with flavourful fragments of his undying soul.
He would savour the taste of it long after the Earth and all of its denizens crumbled to dust.
As lost in his thoughts as he was, Sebastian did not miss the way a young man eyed him from across the room.
He was a simple man. Brown eyes, dust-blond hair, tanned skin. A foreign-exchange student, if his conversation with the girl at his table was anything to go by. By human standards, he would have most likely been considered handsome. But to a demon, one already bonded to another, at that, he was as lacklustre as mortals came.
His soul was dull, nothing noteworthy. It was unfortunate, he would have been easy prey.
The brief moment his eyes had lingered, taking into consideration the weak, orange glow radiating from beyond his ribcage, was unfortunately taken as interest by the man.
Oblivious of the demon's blatant disinterest, the human dared to approach, a smile on his lips and a confident air that only made him seem more foolish. The man's presence would not go over well with his mate, who was already watching the approaching mortal with mounting anger. How cute mortals were, always walking into their own grave.
The flashing lights did nothing to brighten the darkness festering behind Ciel's human guise. In fact, Sebastian could see the way the mortals around him began to shift uncomfortably, as if sensing the unholy energy radiating from him.
The older demon knew it would be best to flee while they could. His mate, while over a century old, was still a young demon, not yet able to fully control his abilities when emotions ran high.
In the midst of their coupling, the earl had once scratched a fairly decent chunk out of their hotel bed's headboard; in a moment of sadness, when he learned of Lady Elizabeth's passing, his loss of control over his demonic form had left a window in their home shattered by the sudden appearance of his wings.
If overcome by wrath, Sebastian was unsure what would take place, considering the suffering that the boy's anger could cause when he was a mere human. Whatever it was, he was sure the scene would garner the attention of reapers, something neither of them needed in the least. But he was curious to see how Ciel would handle this issue should he remain silent.
Before Sebastian could make his decision, the human was standing at their table, and Ciel had already abandoned the bar.
He supposed he would find out how his lover would react to the clearly drunken man's attempt at wooing him.
Ignoring the calls of the bartender, who had only just placed his customer's two glasses of brandy in front of him, Ciel strode up behind the interfering mortal with a sharp smile that didn't quite meet his eyes.
The human opened his mouth-his hip cocked and his flirtatious gaze on Sebastian's black-clad form-only for his poor attempt at a sultry tone to be silenced the second the word "dance" sounded over the thumping of the song's bass.
Goodness, his mate didn't care to even let the human speak. He always did prefer to cut to the chase.
"I see the bartender gave you a bit of trouble," Sebastian chimed in a nonchalant fashion, eyes brightening at the way Ciel's visible brow twitched. His comment roused the scent of exasperation from the smaller immortal, but ultimately went ignored.
"You think to approach my husband?" the boy growled, hand still clasped over the human's mouth as he used the other to tug the man down until they were face to face. The man's height made it a bit of an awkward angle, and if anything, his attempt at intimidation did nothing but make the man laugh.
With a fair amount of effort, given the boy's restraint on his demonic strength, the man managed to wretch free from Ciel's hold.
The human's following words thinned that restraint, and the young demon's claws made themselves known, spilling bloody droplets from his palm as they bore into the soft flesh. They formed small puddles on the worn, concrete floor, the coppery scent instantly drawing a purr from Sebastian's chest.
Ah, how magnificent his master looked this way. He had always been ever so lovely when overcome by anger, big eyes narrowed to slits, arched nose flared with heavy breaths, pink lips bitten red in a poor attempt to hold himself back.
"Aww, c'mon, man. Don't be so selfish. I'm sure he wouldn't mind you sharing him for the night," the mortal laughed, breath reeking of alcohol as his lecherous eyes trailed hopefully to the silent demon. "I don't mind you joining in too if ya must."
"How vulgar You are no better than the drunkards I used to pass on the street, begging for a harlot who wouldn't accept the man between her legs for five guineas," Ciel growled, claws aching to rake down the torso of the horrid man. He couldn't help but wonder how talkative the man would be with a gaping hole in his chest. He assumed he would be speechless, or perhaps screaming; the thought that brought a dark, twisted smirk to his delicate features.
"I don't want to cause a scene, so I will give you one chance to turn around, go back to your table, and forget about this."
Sebastian's brows raised at that, he had not expected a chance at mercy, and the human would be wise to accept the begrudging offer.
From his place at the table, he could see the way Ciel's features teetered dangerously between his mortal guise and his demonic one. His hair had parted ever so slightly with the tiny protrusion of his horns-the small bones attempting to manifest despite their bearer's struggle to keep them at bay. His shoulders twitched, as if attempting to keep his wings from springing free with his following sigh. His pupils flickered erratically, unable to settle on a catlike slit or a circular shape, causing unease to unfold in Sebastian's chest.
His eyes did not do that when he was angry, they did it when he was hungry.
Moving to stand beside his lover, Sebastian wrapped an arm around Ciel's waist, leaning down to graze his lips along the twin points beginning to sprout from his crown. "Let us leave, my soul. Do not waste your time on him when we could be finding a suitable meal."
When Ciel did not turn his glare from the human, who looked to be seconds from falling on his face, he gently cupped his mate's cheek, garnering his full attention.
The older immortal had seen the young demon's reaction, but it had not been as amusing as he had initially assumed, given the boy's hunger.
Ciel shakily nodded at his words, eye returning to its sapphire shade for the breadth of a second.
Sebastian had almost managed to convince him to leave, to abandon the mortal where he stood, still babbling nonsense that they had both drowned out.
But the mortal had the gall to push on, daring to lean forward in a sudden attempt to claim Sebastian's lips. The immortal's eyes flashed carnelian as he easily stopped the man with a single palm against his chest, sending him falling back onto the cushion of the seat that Sebastian had only just risen from. The man stared up in shock as the demonic pair looming over his intoxicated form, eyes wide with a mixture of disappointment and fear.
Despite his failure to smash his lips against the taller man's, his intentions were clear, and the damage had been done.
Fury flared anew in Ciel's chest, the blazing inferno singing his veins until he could take no more and clasped his clawed fingers around the mortal's fragile throat. Squeezing just hard enough to draw a faint whine from the swaying man, Ciel's lips pulled back in a vicious snarl, fangs clearly visible as he spoke. "I gave you the chance to run, human. You will not be offered another."
Tugging the man to his feet by the front of his shirt, it took only a thread of his powers to silence the man, momentarily stealing the breath from his lungs when he tried to cry out. He was intoxicated, stumbling helplessly after the young demon and his mate, and yet he was still able to realize the grave danger he had gotten himself into.
Though no words were spoken between them on the short journey to the dank alleyway at the far end of the street, Sebastian could feel the tension seeping from Ciel's body. His silhouette wavered unsteadily with every breath, and the second they were masked by brick walls and the thin mist shrouding the city, darkness encroached on his mate's form from every angle.
Crimson eyes became alight as the trembling mortal was dropped to the ground, and as Ciel stared down at him, two magnificent wings sprouted forth from betwixt his shoulders. Though they were significantly smaller than Sebastian's own-bearing a shine of deep blue rather than pure darkness-they still managed to block out what remaining light poured from the moon overhead.
Crouching before the human, whose eyes now clouded with fearful tears as he murmured apologies in a mantra of sobs, Ciel growled, the sound far closer to that of a rabid animal than a man. "You dared to lay your filthy lips upon my husband, attempted to take him from me… You will pay dearly for it, mortal."
With his horns now fully protruding, curling back and away from his elegant features, Ciel lashed out with all the determination of a lion claiming it's kill. His fingers pried into hot, wet, weak flesh, savoring in the rip of muscles and tendons, the splintering of bones, and the bursting of veins as he grabbed onto his prey's trachea and pulled.
The hex he'd placed on the man to keep him silent had slipped away, and his bellowing wails now filled the air. They were hoarse, brimming with despair, and yet, they could not convey the depths of his agony. His body felt as if it were on fire as he was brutally torn from life by the possessive hands of the devil whose trap he found himself wound in.
And as he saw the wide, fang-filled grin of the man behind him, he was almost certain that he had planned this, if indirectly. However, he was not offered the time to feel betrayed by his own foolish instincts in thinking the pair harmless, for he was fading fast. Before he could draw another breath, release another scream, he felt his throat crushed beneath the palm of his demise.
The last sight he saw were cold eyes boring down on him as small, plump lips neared his own, hovering just inches away as the devil inhaled heavily, siphoning out the very essence that had kept him alive for twenty-seven years.
"Your soul is of poor quality, as weak and watered-down as the earl grey at the coffee shop down the street. But it shall do..."
With his lips parted and fangs glinting beneath the faint ochre glow of the life essence he held, Ciel swallowed it in its entirety, watching as the light faded from his meal's eyes. Despite the lack of flavour lingering upon his refined palette, a renewed sense of energy filled him, warm and buzzing in his chest as he turned to his lover's Cheshire Cat grin.
The corpse fell from his grasp, leaving blood to pool at his feet, but he couldn't bring himself to care.
"Wipe that smile off of your face, Sebastian. We could have gone about this much more discreetly had you not-!"
With a chuckle, Sebastian stepped nearer, his own talons lengthening as his long fingers curled around Ciel's jaw. "Had I not what, young master? You know as well as I that I did not encourage his advances for a single moment, nor the bloodshed that occurred after."
Large eyes narrowed dangerously, fang gliding across the thumb holding his chin in clear warning. "But you did not outright reject him either. You indirectly provoked me."
"I will admit, I was a touch curious to see how you would react. I had not expected this, however. You put on quite a show," the older being crooned, hot breath fanning over Ciel's alabaster cheeks as small fingers reached out to thread through his ebony locks, using them to pull him closer.
"I assume you find this terribly amusing then? Typical. Bloody demon."
"Only a bit. But it also seems that the soul that we were meant to find and share was devoured by you alone," Sebastian chided, his words lacking ire as he captured his mate by his waist, pulling him flush against his chest. He silently noted how divine the younger demon smelled this way, spicy with irritation, sweet with budding traces of lechery, and covered in blood… "How greedy, my dear."
"Greedy, hm? Perhaps. But surely you have learned by now, Sebastian…" Ciel suddenly purred, smearing bloodied hands along Sebastian's cheeks as he crushed his lips to the older being's. "I don't share."