I own nothing but my OC.
That Butler, Trick or Treat 6
'thoughts'
"speech"
"Demonic speech"
{setting/stage directions?}
SOUND EFFECTS
An entire sentence like this, without quotes, is narration for dreams or stuff like written letters.
=†=†=†=†= scene shift/time shift
Previously:
"..." Lacey said as she stared at him, contemplating what he had just said. "But from what you just said... even if they aren't the same, you do have them, don't you—'Feelings'?" Lacey said meaningfully.
"I wonder..." He said, smirking. His crimson eyes glowed slightly as 'mini-Chêne' (as Lacey had come to think of the kitten) yawned and curled up in his arms.
{Back at the LeBeau residence...}
The rest of their trip to the mall went off without a hitch, and they made it home with plenty of time to spare before Laurie, Chêne's younger sister was expected to be home once the school bus dropped her off at home.
"I think I will have Funtom launch a new line of 'build it yourself' stuffed animals, like at that Build-A-Bear store, for Christmas. The idea of allowing a customer to personalize their toys like that is quite novel, and it will be appropriate for children of all ages." Ciel said thoughtfully as he lounged on the sofa with Chêne and Sebastian.
Lacey was sprawled out on the loveseat, flipping through the TV channels while they talked business. Pomona was in the kitchen baking some chocolate chip cookies for desert after supper, and Cpt. LeBeau had gone back out to buy some last minute Halloween candy for any trick-or-treaters tomorrow night. Chêne found out that her parents had been planning on spending Halloween night and All Saint's Day on the Southshore, in their old house (since they still hadn't found a buyer yet), but they decided to buy the candy now instead waiting, on the off chance that the stores might be sold out on Halloween... It had happened to them before, but Pomona had solved that little crisis by quickly whipping up some homemade caramel covered apples.
"Chêne, since the other designers seem to be useless at the moment, I want you to start working on designs for the possible base bodies for these dolls, as well as their clothes and accessories once we get back." Ciel told her. Chêne nodded in understanding.
"Sure. I'll work on the display and the plans for the 'stuffing-fluffing' machine while I'm at it." Chêne said, smiling wryly.
"Wait, I thought you were his maid, Chêne... why are you designing toys?" Lacey asked curiously, pausing on the Disney channel. She knew Chêne wouldn't be too happy with her if she put something that would mentally scar Ciel on...
"Chêne is also working as his consultant on the designs for posters and products for the Funtom Company." Sebastian explained.
"Yep, I'm Ciel's springboard. I get to test the toys sometimes too~!" Chêne said, grinning.
"That's awesome-sauce! You ended up being able to be a graphic designer after all, huh?" Lacey said, grinning, happy that her friend was doing so well for herself.
CHAK.
They looked over at the doorway as a tall, thirteen-year-old girl entered the room.
"Mom, Dad, I'm—!?" Laurie called out, freezing in shock when she saw the current occupants of the living room. Laurie had inherited Pomona's blond hair, but she was tall and a little tan, like her father, and she had his warm, brown eyes.
"Oh, welcome home, sweetie~! How was school~?" Pomona asked, smiling as she poked her head out of the kitchen.
"M-M-M-Mooooom!? Why didn't you call and tell me that Chêne was back!?" Laurie demanded incredulously as she threw her backpack on the floor, and launched herself at Chêne, making it the third time that day that someone had tackled her. "Yaaay~! My big sis is back~!" Laurie cheered gleefully as she sat on her Chêne's lap, straddling her older sister as she cuddled with her.
"Wow, Chêne, you're getting a lot of action today, huh?" Lacey teased her, smirking. Ciel and Sebastian sweat dropped. It was like Chêne was a magnet for the weird and over-affectionate.
"I missed you too, Laurie... but you're a little old to be sitting in my lap like this..." Chêne said, smiling wryly as she sweat dropped.
"And whose fault is that? Because of a certain someone I missed out on two whole years of cuddling with my beloved Sis!" Laurie said, narrowing her eyes dangerously at Ciel as a vein mark throbbed on her forehead. They all sweat dropped.
"Laurie... it was a complete accident that I ended up in Ciel's world. If anything, I owe him for giving me a job and a roof over my head..." Chêne said, smiling wryly at her sister. "The only reason I'm hear now is because he bought an armoire that had a portal to our world in the back of it..." Lacey raised an eyebrow at that.
"Geez, Ciel, not only are you planning on ripping off Build-A-Bear, but you already ripped off The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe?" Lacey asked incredulously, raising an eyebrow at him.
"I have not the even slightest idea of what you mean by that." Ciel said, sweat dropping.
"Anyway, I know you love your sister, Laurel (maybe a little too much) but Ciel is our guest, so play nice, okay?" Pomona said, using her full first name, so Laurie would know how serious she was. "If you do, I'll let you stay up with Lacey and Chêne during their sleepover. Don't you want to sleep with your big sister?"
"More than anything!!" Laurie shouted, nodding eagerly. "I promise I'll be good! Please don't forbid me from being with my beloved (sister)!" Pomona smiled, satisfied with her daughter's answer, and returned to the kitchen so she could start cooking supper.
"... Am I the only one who thought that sounded a little wrong just now...?" Lacey asked, blinking as she turned to look at Ciel and Sebastian. The two of them sweat dropped, chagrined. No, it most definitely sounded extremely wrong.
CHAK.
Cpt. LeBeau stepped into the house, back from his shopping trip. Judging from the amount of bags he had, the Marine had decided to pick up a few extra things.
"Ah, I see you're home, Laurie. Why don't you change out of your uniform, so you can relax?" Cpt. LeBeau asked his daughter. "Sebastian, Ciel. Do you guys want to take your showers before or after supper?" He asked them.
"Thank you, Sir, but I think it would be best if we waited until after." Sebastian said politely. Laurie glanced at Sebastian with a critical eye, checking him out. She scowled at him, not liking what she saw.
"Tch!" Lacey said, frowning at Sebastian.
'Did she just click her tongue at me...?' Sebastian thought, wondering why she was glaring at him so hostilely.
"Dad, don't tell me you approve of such a lecherous looking jerk? Just look! He's already got a kid—he probably conned Chêne into taking care of that brat for him... even if he's super hot—I don't approve! Sis's purity is in danger, and he's not good enough for her!" Laurie said, glaring at Sebastian as she hugged Chêne protectively. Chêne and Sebastian sweat dropped. Lecherous...? A vein mark throbbed on Ciel's head.
'Bloody Amazon woman...' Ciel thought darkly. Who was she to call him a brat?
"Calm down, Laurie. You can tell just by looking at them that they're not related... and no matter what you may think, in the end it's Chêne's choice. Just be an adult and be happy for her." Cpt. LeBeau said firmly. "If you guys need anything, I'll be helping Pomona with supper." He said before joining his wife in the kitchen
"Ooh! Hocus Pocus is going to be coming on in a few~!" Lacey said excitedly as the commercial for it came on. "Your raging sister-complex is going to have to wait for now, Laurie. Look on the Brightside, at least she got you a hot brother-in-law." She said, smirking. Laurie scowled at her.
"Sweet, you just can't beat the classics~!" Chêne said, smiling, excited about the movie. It had become a tradition for them that they would watch Hocus Pocus every year for Halloween, and then have an 'extreme horror fest' where they watched a whole marathon of horror movies they rented from blockbuster and ate candy until they both had insane 'sugar highs.'
"Meh. I don't care either way, as long as I get to sit next to Chêne~!" Laurie said as she purposefully plopped down right in between Ciel and Chêne, separating them. She immediately latched onto Chêne's arm. Ciel decided to be the adult, and let Laurie have her way, for now. Chêne was planning on staying with him, after all, so he might as well let the two sisters be together while they could.
"It's settled then. We're definitely watching this~!" Lacey said, smirking as she set the remote down.
"Hocus Pocus...?" Ciel asked.
"Yes, it's a movie, like the Wild Earl show you like to watch, but this one has a Halloween theme. It's about a group of kids who have to stop three evil witches, and save their town." Chêne explained, smiling. "I'll go get the popcorn~!"
=†=†=†=†=
Ciel had to admit, this movie was rather entertaining, and the artificial butter flavoring of the popcorn that Chêne had 'microwaved' for them was strangely addictive. He watched as Max and the two girls ran from the old Sanderson sister's home as the witches cowered in fear of the 'rain of death' from the fire sprinkler.
—And we'll be right back after these messages~!—
The popcorn Ciel had been about to eat fell from his hands as he stared at the TV, appalled. Right when the witches were about to 'melt' the Disney channel had switched to playing commercials. It was just getting good!
"Wh-What just happened!? Is it broken!?" Ciel asked, looking to Chêne and Lacey.
"Dude, chillax! Those are just the commercials." Laurie said, rolling her eyes, as Pomona came into the living room, holding a basket of apples, followed by Cpt. LeBeau, who was carrying a large tub of water.
"The show will come back on once the commercials are done~!" Pomona reassured Ciel.
"That tub... those apples... are we finally going to do 'that'?" Lace asked, smirking deviously as Cpt. LeBeau placed the tub down on the living room floor, and Pomona dumped the apples into it.
"Yep, it's 'bobbing for apples' time~!" Pomona said cheerfully. "We decided to make Lasagna, so you can play this while we're waiting for it to finish baking~!"
"Yaaay~!" Lacey, Chêne, and Laurie cheered.
"It's just not Halloween until I've swapped spit with Chêne~!" Lacey said, grinning. Chêne sweat dropped.
"Freak." Laurie muttered, grimacing slightly.
"..." Ciel and Sebastian said. They weren't going to dispute that.
"Be nice, Laurie. And Lacey, don't be gross... I don't need to be reminded of just how unsanitary this game is." Chêne said, chagrined.
"Don't worry, Chêne. We put a few drops of wine in the water to help kill the germs, but it's not enough to negatively affect Ciel and Laurie." Cpt. LeBeau said.
"Oh, good." Chêne said, relieved. She was feeling slightly germaphobic after Lacey's comment.
"Bobbing for apples...?" Sebastian said curiously.
"Yep. Basically, you stick your head in the tub, and try to bite an apple, so you can remove it from the tub. You can use any method, as long as you don't use your hands, and we play with a one-minute time limit per turn, but you can take as many turns as you like, until you get an apple~!" Pomona explained.
"Thank you for the explanation, Pomona, but I was merely surprised that this game is still so popular after all of this time." Sebastian said politely. The last time he had played was shortly after the Romans had conquered Britain. "I find it rather fitting to be playing this game with the present company, since this 'game' was created when the Romans conquered Britain, bringing with them the apple tree, a representation of the goddess of fruit trees, 'Pomona'." Sebastian said, giving them a brilliant shit-eating grin.
"My, my~! Did you hear that, Honey? I'm named after a goddess~! My mother never told me that before, she just said my name meant 'tree that bears fruit'~!" Pomona said, smiling with the radiance of a thousand suns.
"I don't have to call you 'Goddess' from now on, do I...?" Cpt. LeBeau asked, sweat dropping.
"With a flaky goddess like that, it's no wonder the Roman Empire fell..." Laurie said, sweat dropping.
"What was that, Laurel?" Pomona asked, giving her daughter that scary 'mom look.'
"N-Nothing..." Laurie said, sinking down in her seat.
"Cool, so how did the whole 'bobbing' thing come about?" Chêne asked. She hadn't heard this story before... probably because Ciel immediately shot her down when she had proposed it before, due to him being put off by the idea of 'swapping spit' with anyone else, before she could even mention it to Sebastian...
"The combination of Pomona, a fertility goddess, and the Celts' belief that the pentagram was a fertility symbol began the origins of bobbing for apples. When an apple is sliced in half, the seeds form a pentagram-like shape, and it is thought that the manifestation of such a symbol meant that the apple could be used to determine marriages during this time of year. From this belief comes the game bobbing for apples. During the annual celebration, young unmarried people try to bite into an apple floating in water or hanging from a string; the first person to bite into the apple would be the next one to marry." Sebastian explained.
"Wow... no wonder you always beat me, Chêne! You have more Irish blood flowing through your veins than I, Lacey Bianchi~!" Lacey declared dramatically. Her ancestors were mostly Italian.
"I'm mostly French though..." Chêne said, smiling wryly.
"Getting married because you bit an apple... how stupid. I like the tradition of determining that by catching the bride's bouquet better." Laurie said.
"... Which your sister will be throwing soon." Lacey added, smirking as Laurie glared at her, and Chêne blushed. Even if they weren't really getting married, Chêne couldn't help but feel shy and happy at the thought of being Sebastian's bride... She glanced at Sebastian out the corner of her eye. He looked rather amused by Lacey's little quip. Ciel was just glad that Lacey wasn't focusing all of her harassment on just him anymore.
"So... Who wants to go first~?" Pomona asked them, smiling, and deciding to ignore the tense atmosphere.
"Chêne." Both Lacey and Laurie said, pointing at her. Chêne sweat dropped.
"... You two really scare me sometimes." Cpt. LeBeau said, also sweat dropping.
"How about we just draw straws...?" Chêne suggested.
=†=†=†=†=
"Wow, Ciel, You get to go first, how lucky~!" Pomona said, smiling brightly at him. Ciel sweat dropped. He hadn't really planned on playing, but if he was going to be coerced into it anyway, at least he didn't have to 'swap spit' with anyone. They all had different sized straws, and the shorter your straw, the sooner you got your turn.
"So, the order is: Ciel, Chêne, Sebastian, Lacey, and Laurie. Good luck kids." Cpt. Dubois said as he sat in his reclining chair.
"All right, now let's get started, shall we~? First, we need to tie your hands behind your back." Pomona said, smiling as she held up a pair of fuzzy pink handcuffs.
"..." They all said as they stared at her.
"Aaaawkwaaard~!" Lacey said softly.
"Um... ahem. Honey... Those are the wrong handcuffs." Cpt. LeBeau said, sweat dropping, as he held his face, hiding his blush. Pomona glanced at the handcuffs.
"Oh... Oops~?" She said, giving them all a brilliant shit-eating grin.
"... What is that supposed to mean?" Ciel asked. Sebastian had a feeling he knew what was going on here... but he didn't know what the significance of the pink fur was...
"Bless your heart, Ciel. You're probably the only one in this room who doesn't feel slightly dirty after seeing that." Lacey said, sweat dropping, as she smiled wryly at him. Laurie was staring at her parents, horrified.
"Wh-Why do you two have a pair of 'lover's handcuffs...!?" Laurie yelled incredulously. Her eye was twitching.
"Laurie... don't ask questions that you don't want to know the answers to..." Chêne said, sweat dropping as she, like her father hid her blushing face out of embarrassment. It seemed that Chêne inherited her modesty from her father... Pomona obviously wasn't one to be shy.
"Did you think you and Chêne were immaculate conceptions, like Jesus? You're parents are human too, you know... But I gotta say, I didn't think Mrs. P was such a freak in the bed." Lacey said bluntly.
"!?" Ciel said, blushing and flinching in shock when what the handcuffs were for finally clicked.
"I'm going to go look for a scarf or something to use instead... and maybe I'll get lucky and some ear and eye bleach will magically appear..." Chêne mumbled as she got up and left the room.
"Thanks, Mom, thanks a lot. Now I'm going to need therapy!" Laurie exclaimed dramatically as she suddenly grabbed Ciel for support, like he was her security blanket, all past differences forgotten.
"Wh-What are you doing—!?" Ciel asked, surprised as he tried to wriggle out of her grip. Why did all the women in Chêne's family have to be huggers!?
"Just comfort me, dammit!?" Laurie yelled at him. Sebastian snickered. This was turning out to be highly entertaining.
BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.
"Oh! That'll be the oven~!" Pomona said, smiling as she left to finish supper. "Honey, come help me finish the side dishes~!"
"Yes, dear..." Cpt. LeBeau said, sweat dropping.
"Okay, I'm back..." Chêne said as she re-entered the room, holding a black scarf, a towel, and an iPhone. "I didn't find any eye bleach, but I noticed earlier, when I changed in your room, that you accidentally left your phone in there... why don't you take your mind of off things with a mindless game of 'Angry Birds'?" Chêne suggested sympathetically.
"I love you, Sis!! You're the only one who's never mentally scarred me in this family!" Laurie yelled as she switched from glomping Ciel to glomping Chêne.
"Here, Ciel. Let's put this awkward revelation behind us all, and play!" She said, smiling as she handed him the scarf. "I have a towel for when we need to dry off after."
"Shall I tie your hands for you, Young Master?" Sebastian asked, smirking. He took the scarf and began tying Ciel's hands behind his back.
"Laurie's right. You do have a lecherous face... you make an innocent game of bobbing for apples sound kinky." Lacey told Sebastian, smirking.
'That again...?' Sebastian thought, sweat dropping.
"Lacey... Get your mind out of the gutter, please?" Chêne asked, chagrined
"Okay, fine... since you did ask me so nicely, I guess I can attempt to be 'normal'... for awhile." Lacey said, sighing.
"You don't have to be normal... just don't be perverted." Chêne said, sweat dropping. "Ready, Ciel? One... Two... Three—Go!" She cheered. Ciel leaned over the tub, and watched the apples floating around, waiting for the perfect time to strike.
"Just go already, you're eating up your turn." Laurie told him as she reached level 80 on the newest version of Angry Birds. Ciel frowned at her before finally dunking his head into the water.
"You know... I think this might be the longest commercial break, ever." Lacey said, sweat dropping as she stared at the TV. They still hadn't started the movie again yet...
"And... Time!" Chêne said, smiling, as Ciel stood back up again, gasping for air. Sebastian untied his hands for him, and Chêne handed over the towel.
"All that, and no apple... I thought you said Ciel was good at games, Chêne." Lacey said, smirking. Ciel scowled at her as Sebastian dried his hair for him.
"Wow... you look pretty hot when your hair is wet..." Laurie said, staring at Ciel, causing the young earl the blush, looking flustered. He was used to being called 'cute,' not 'hot.' Chêne raised an eyebrow at her sister, smiling wryly.
"I see you're finally interested in boys... but unfortunately for you, Ciel already has a 'special someone.' She's pretty cute too." Chêne warned her. Laurie pouted.
"Figures... all the good guys are either taken or gay..." Laurie said, shrugging as she went back to her game.
—And now, we're back~!— The Disney channel announced.
"About time." Ciel said as he sat back on the couch and continued watching the movie.
"Your turn, Chêne." Sebastian reminded her, smirking as he held up the scarf.
"Okay, I don't really need to see this next part anyway, since I now the entire movie by heart..." Chêne said as she put her hands behind her back so Sebastian could tie them. "Here goes nothing~!" She said, grinning as she immediately plunged her head into the tub.
"Just like that?" Ciel asked, raising an eyebrow as he glanced over when he heard the splash. "How is she going to get anything if she rushes like tha—"
"It's Chêne's special lightning-blitz attack~!" Laurie cheered.
"No apple is safe~!" Lacey declared, smirking, as Chêne stood again, grinning as she held the apple she had bitten in between her teeth.
"Ah ghot whon~!" She said as Sebastian began untying her hands.
"How did you do that...?" Ciel asked. It didn't look like she was even seriously trying... Chêne let go of the apple, and let it fall into her hand.
"He who hesitates is lost, Ciel. You have to 'dig deep' in order to succeed in life." Chêne said, grinning as she took a bite out of her apple.
"That's deep, man." Lacey said, smirking. "I just love how you make little tips and hints for games sound like life lessons."
"Thanks, I try~" Chêne said, smiling wryly.
"Yes, lovely. Now dry your hair, like a good girl, before you catch a cold." Sebastian deadpanned as he started to dry Chêne's hair for her with the towel. Chêne blushed and sweat dropped.
"I can do it by myself..." Chêne said, embarrassed. Sebastian smirked, amused by her reaction... seeing Chêne blush because of him just never seemed to get old.
"Well, I take it the game is finished since we already have a winner?" Sebastian asked, smiling one of his blindingly bright shit-eating grins.
"No, we don't really count it when Chêne wins. If we did, the rest of us would never get a chance." Laurie said, smiling wryly. "Chêne only wins if none of us can get an apple after two turns."
"That hardly seems fair." Ciel pointed out, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh, come on! You just witnessed Chêne's apple ninja skills for yourself! She's invincible! Maybe Chêne should've been the one named 'Pomona'..." Lacey said thoughtfully. "Anyway, it means you still have a chance to win, Ciel." Ciel smirked at that. He wasn't going to fail a second time.
"Anyway, it's your turn, Sebastian." Chêne said. "Do you want me to tie your hands for you?"
"No. That is quite all right, Chêne. I am going to stick to the original rules, so Miss Lacey may go next." Sebastian said. It sounded like the others weren't going to be much of a challenge anyway.
"Yes~! Tie me up, Chêne! Nice and tight~!" Lacey said, grinning, as Chêne tied her hands behind her back. Lacey closed her eyes and took a deep breath... then she kneeled down in front of the tub and practically dunked the whole upper half of her torso in it.
"!" Ciel and Laurie said, surprised.
"Geez... She just can't do anything normally, can she? Is that even legal?" Laurie asked, furrowing her brow slightly.
"Well, the only real rules are that you can't use your hands, and you have to bite the apple... so... probably?" Chêne said, shrugging. "Actually, I'm surprised no one else tried kneeling sooner." Lacey sat back up, holding an apple underneath her chin.
"Phew~!" Lacey said, grinning, as she let the apple drop into her lap. They all sweat dropped. Right after Chêne just finished saying it, too...
"Lacey... why didn't you bite it? You know you can't win like that..." Chêne said, smiling wryly.
"Yeah, but I still have another turn... I just couldn't get my teeth in it, but it'd be lame if I came back up without anything after giving Ciel a hard time, don't you think?" Lacey said.
"Yeah, good point..." Chêne said, sweat dropping.
"Your turn, Laurie~!" Chêne said, smiling. Laurie looked up from her game. She was on level 83 now.
"Sorry, Sis, but I think I'll pass for now too." Laurie said, smiling apologetically. She was feeling a little germaphobic tonight.
"Heh. Looks like it's just you and me, then. Try to keep up, Shorty." Lacey said, smirking evilly at Ciel.
"Hmph. Fine by me. I will make you eat your own words." Ciel said darkly, smirking evilly at her as a vein mark throbbed on his head. It was time for some well-deserved payback.
