Farroel's bedroom was quiet for the entire night and the next morning. It was completely still, having been untouched despite being in complete disrepair. The maids had just now gotten to tidying it up, but with that came silent questions that they not dare ask. The majority of the maids were succubi, all under the command of Sir Lexington. Some of them were even his own children, but none of them were allowed to rock the boat in the household under his direct orders. He could not have the higher ranking Philosophers be angry with him, after all. He recognised that all he really did was provide a base for them. If he or any of the servants made a wrong move, it could put them in jeopardy. That is why they tidied up in complete silence. After all, the sister of the man who stayed in this bedroom was watching them.
Claire didn't know how much they knew. She herself didn't understand why he left, but she could tell by the way he did that this was no mere trip he was going on like he said. Farroel lied to her. He never lied to her. Something must have been troubling him deeply for him to leave like this. From the way things looked at that moment, it looked to her like he had no intention of ever coming back. She was alone in this house.
Her father was not going to be pleased. Farroel was nothing more than a means to continue Feargus Whelan's bloodline and a means to perpetuate the existence of faoladh in this world. He was never a person to their father. He was a means to an end. He needed to be controlled and he needed to perform his duty without question. Claire didn't really blame him, if that was his reason for leaving. Now that he was gone, however, she didn't know what her father would do. As terribly as their father treated him, he was still the "favourite" of the two Whelan children, as he was the most "useful." Claire was disposable and she knew it. She and the other women knew it.
Faoladh cannot pass on the ability to shapeshift at will with a bite like regular lycanthropy was transmitted. When they tried, it would result in only a run-of-the-mill werewolf. Faoladh had to be born, not bitten. Now, female werewolves of all subspecies had difficulty carrying children to full term. The monthly transformations put too much strain on the child, so it was not unusual for them to die. That is why the men had to be protected. That is why the women needed to protect them. Claire knew that she was canon fodder and that ultimately, if she were to die, it would not matter. At least, that is what her father continuously reminds her. "Protect your brother at all costs. The fate of your kind depends on it."
But Farroel was gone, now. She didn't know where he was. She didn't think he would be coming back either, so what would happen to her, then?
She didn't know. She would probably go fight on the front lines with the other women. There weren't many other options for her. Her father would probably take on a new wife and have another son, if Farroel didn't come back. That is the way things were. She had accepted it a long time ago. It was nothing worth crying over, yet with her brother gone, somehow she still found herself feeling sad.
She had no idea what sort of face she was making, but realised it must have been quite something, given how concerned the maids were. "Miss Claire?" one asked, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Are you alright?"
Pulling herself from her trance, Claire blinked and righted her posture. "I'm fine." she replied. "I just didn't get a lot of sleep last night."
"Neither did Carol." Jested one of the succubi, prompting the first one to scold her.
"Shut up, Nico!" the first said. "Go back to putting away the stuff on the floor."
"But I can't tell what's clean and what's dirty! I don't want to sniff it to check, either!" complained Nico.
"Then wash them all." Carol instructed before turning her attention back to Claire. "I'm sorry, miss. We'll get this room sorted as soon as possible for Mister Farroel's return."
"Alright..." Claire answered, not wanting to give away how she didn't think he was coming back. "Just be careful with everything."
"Will do, Miss Claire." Carol replied as the other woman walked toward the door, only to hear a squeak sound off from behind her. Both the head maid and the werewolf looked back at a younger maid with her arm firmly wedged underneath the mattress of the bed while wearing a flushed expression.
"What happened?" Miss Whelan questioned, now facing the inside of the room again.
"O-oh! It's nothing, Miss Claire! Nothing to worry about!" urgently waved off the younger maid, but her nervousness only put the faoladh on high alert.
"It doesn't look like 'nothing.'" Claire pointed out. "Show me."
The maid looked to Carol first, silently asking her what to do in this situation, but it was too late. Claire had already walked over to the young maid and had her hand outstretched to take whatever it was that the other woman found. Hesitantly, the maid retracted her arm and carefully put the item in Claire's hand. They were magazines and ones that Claire couldn't wrap her head around at first. All of the maids looked horrified, their mouths open in shock as they all stared at the Whelan's face in order to decipher what she was thinking. Claire didn't know what to think, really. They were magazines, she could tell, but they weren't like ordinary ones. They all had very muscular, half-naked men on the covers, but Farroel didn't seem to be the type to be into workout magazines.
It was agonising. Beads of sweat built up on the maids' foreheads and occasionally fell down their cheeks. They were succubi. They knew what had been going on with Farroel for a while. They just didn't say anything. After all, who would believe them? They were mere servants.
Suddenly, the gears turned in Claire's head, causing her face to redden. Looking up at the others, she asked: "Are these… dirty magazines?"
"...Yes..." Carol answered, earning a nod from the Whelan.
"And are these… Pictures of naked men?"
"...Yes..."
"Under my brother's mattress?"
"...Yes."
The gears ground to a halt as the Whelan had reached her conclusion. "Wait..." she began. "Is Farroel… Into this sort of thing?" she asked. "Is he… Wait… That means..."
Of course! That is why this was happening now! Farroel's wedding to Evangeline had been moved up, so if he wasn't attracted to women, that would mean that he would be trapped. He already was trapped, but he escaped. He ran away with Philip, but since he did that, did that mean that Philip liked men as well? She saw them holding hands as they ran to the car when they left, so that would mean that they were lovers!
Gently, Claire waved her hand, to make the maid scoot out of the was so that she could sit on the edge of the bed and process all of this. She sat down, staring at the floor as the realisation washed over her. She really didn't know anything. She didn't know anything at all. Farroel knew that she was loyal to their father, so he couldn't tell her. He was worried she might snitch. She understood why he couldn't tell her, but still, it hurt. It hurt that she was lied to. It hurt that she was abandoned. Farroel was the only person in that house who really cared about her- or so she thought. His betrayal was unprecedented.
"Miss Claire?" the head maid spoke up. "Are you alright?"
Claire was quiet for a long time. She didn't want to talk about her feelings. She didn't want them to know her pain- that she was weak when she was supposed to be strong. She couldn't trust them with that information or the fact that Farroel had fled.
"Did you know about this?" she finally asked. When the other women guiltily looked to one another as they searched for permission to speak, Claire had her answer. She allowed them to talk anyway.
"Yes." Carol answered, her voice quiet. "We knew for a very, very long time… We're succubi. Our kind can tell what a person is into from a glance. It wasn't our place to say anything, however, and… If we exposed Mister Farroel, we worried about what might happen to him."
"So you won't tell anyone about this?"
"No, Miss. Not a soul."
"Not even Sir Lexington?"
"No. He already knows as well. He doesn't want to disrupt the harmony of the house, however, so he didn't say anything." explained the maid.
Letting out a breath, Claire thought for a moment. The only person outside of Lexington's circle who knew was her and the Lexingtons had no intention of revealing the Whelan man's orientation. That meant that as of right then, the choice was hers whether or not to reveal it. What would she gain if she did so? It was her duty to report anything that would hinder or harm the family. It was her entire purpose. The right thing for her to do in this situation would be to inform her father immediately of what had happened. Yet, why didn't she? She had ample opportunity to do so by now. Why didn't she report it to him yesterday as soon as Farroel left? Why did she wait? Damn it. Even after all of this time and effort, Claire still wasn't strong enough. Her father would not be pleased with her if he were to find out she knew about this. Her duty is to both the family and the ideals of King Abhartach first, yet she still found herself bothered by it.
Ah, yes. Abhartach. Philip was his son and Philip left with Farroel. If they really were lovers, it would hinder his majesty's plans as well. Betraying her father would also be betraying the crown in this instance. She did not want that. She wanted them to succeed! For the ideal future they strive for where the faoladh would prosper and grow in numbers, for the future where supernatural beings no longer had to hide from humans, and for the future where she had finally realised her purpose and was happy, she must obey!
Yet, what came out of her mouth instead was: "Let's keep this between us."
It surprised the others. It surprised her! She certainly didn't mean to say that, yet she did! Somehow, she did! Others had heard it, so she was honour bound to it, now. She thought she should feel anxious, but found herself feeling relieved as she stood up and began walking toward the door. "No one needs to know about this."
"What about the princess?" Carol inquired. "What about her?"
Claire hesitated for a moment in order to think about it, but shook her head. "No. She doesn't need to know. It's Farroel's business and no one elses'. Understood?"
"Yes, Miss Claire..." the succubus replied, giving the werewolf a curtsy before Claire left.
It was decided, then. Claire would do this one thing for her brother and simply ignore what she had seen. If she simply forgot, then there is no need to report the matter. She cannot betray her father or Abhartach if she knows nothing of the matter. Ignorance was her and Farroel's salvation in this case. Just this once, she would shirk responsibility. Just this once. One time won't hurt anything, will it? She hoped not.
As for the man himself, his treatment after leaving wasn't exactly as he expected it would be. The night he arrived as HELLSING headquarters, he was made to sleep in what was essentially a prison cell, separated from his beau, who was treated the same. Needless to say, he wasn't happy about it. Yet, when they were interrogated again that morning, he swallowed his pride and irritation and went along with it, being as helpful as he could. He was asked things about the leaders of the group and their temperament, along with further interrogation about the interpersonal dynamics of the household. There were also additional details about how many soldiers the Philosophers possessed and he answered honestly, admitting he only knew a rough estimate of the faoladh soldiers.
Afterward, he was reunited with Philip as they were escorted to the Supernatural Relations Department. There, they were somewhat surprised to find a rather normal-looking office. There were people at desks working and answering calls, while others were on their computers or fussing with paperwork. They seemed to be hard at work until Philip and Farroel walked in. Then, they had to look up and investigate, watching as the pair were escorted by guards to the office in the back.
It was the only station that was separated away from the others, so it must have been the office of someone important. Yet, when they were nudged through the doorway, they found it practically barren with just a filing cabinet, a desk, a chair, and a computer being the primary components of the room, while a few other bits and bobs that were the bare minimum of what was needed for the occupant to do his job filling the space!
At the desk, there was a blonde man, who sat at the desk and was busily clicking around on the computer when they arrived. He looked up at them before smiling in a friendly manner. "You're Philip and Farroel, right?" he asked.
"Yes." Philip replied, answering surely.
"Good to meet you! I'm Jim Phantomhive, I'll be helping you find a place to live after all of this mess. Please, take a seat!"
They were confused by his pleasant tone, after having endured the treatment that they had thus far. Hesitantly, they did as instructed and sat in the two chairs on the side of the desk opposite to the menace, where they patiently waited for him to attend to them.
"Sorry about this, but I need to find the stuff I need." Alois apologised. "I usually work from home, so I never use this office. Quite frankly, I don't know why they still have it when someone else could be using it, but whatever..."
That explained the décor. "It's alright." the faux-prince replied. "We're in no hurry."
"Thanks! They kinda asked me to do this last minute, I'm afraid. I just walked onto base, and they were like: 'hey, can you do this real quick?' They did brief me a bit on what I've missed."
"Did they tell you that we were put in prison cells?" Farroel questioned, only to be nudged in the arm by his beau.
"I'm not surprised. They don't really trust you right now. Tensions are still too high, so you're gonna be under heavy surveillance for a while." the blonde answered. "That's gonna be your biggest problem for a while, now. Even if I do set you up with a place..."
He trailed off, leaving the pair hanging for a moment before he looked away from his screen. "Okay, look:" he began again, "I know noble-types are really proud of their names and such, but I would honestly recommend that when I register you into the system, you consider changing your surnames."
"What?!" the wolfman immediately gawked, but the other was calm.
"Do you think it will somehow hinder us living wherever you put us if we don't?" questioned the dark-haired man.
"Exactly. I've focused my search outside of Gehenna, since your people… Are not liked there. In the end, I'm going to have to put you in another town called 'Pyestock,' but even then, you might run in to people from Gehenna there. My concern is that they may make your life difficult if they immediately know whose sons you are."
"How will they make our lives difficult?" asked Farroel.
"Oh, it could be anything." Alois said casually. "People ignoring you, denying you assistance, being generally rude, or even harassing you… Maybe some social ostracisation."
"Wait, you're serious?!"
"Well, if we're going to be married after this, we might as well decide what our name is." Philip suggested, garnering his beau's attention and the attention of the menace. "Even if it's not the name of our original families, it'll be the name of our new family. It'll be another step towards a brand new life."
"Oh… That sounds better..." Farroel answered somewhat bashfully, having simmered down. "I'd be okay with that, I think..."
"Though, I haven't the foggiest idea as to what we would change it to, I'm afraid..." the other man confessed.
"You could go with a reference to something." Suggested the demon.
"Oh! Like a legend?"
"Sure! It doesn't matter. You could be 'Bumblebranch Carpetcleaner' and I could make that happen."
"Who the hell would pick a name like that?" inquired the wolfman.
"You'd be surprised..." was all the demon said in return.
Despite this, the pair stopped and thought about this very seriously. There were all kinds of legends that they could reference, but one came to the forefront of the wolfman's mind. He was hesitant to say it, however, out of fear of seeming silly.
"Uuuuh..." he began, sparking a bit of interest. "How about… Fáelad?"
"'Fáelad?'" echoed the other.
"Yeah, like as in 'Laignech Fáelad?' He's a legendary warrior of the faoladh, so my mind jumped to him."
"Oh, is he one of the werewolves of Ossory?" Philip asked.
"Yes!"
"'Philip Fáelad.' 'Farroel Fáelad.'" the dark-haired man said aloud. "It certainly flows well..."
"Or what about 'Ossory' itself?" Farroel suggested.
"'Philip Ossory.' 'Farroel Ossory.' It fits, too, but it's not as concise."
"So… 'Faelad,' then?"
"Right. Yes… I think so!"
The two smiled at one another and reached for each others' hands while the menace began digging around in a filing cabinet. After rummaging around, Alois set a few packets of paper on the desk in front of the two men and scooted a mug full of pens in their direction.
"Alright, with that settled, I need you to fill out this information." he said. "At the first part where it says to put your name, put the name you started with, not the one you're changing it to. That's on a different page."
With that, the men took the pages and a pair of pens before starting to write. As their pens touched paper, the menace added: "I can also have you married while we're at it, if you want to elope right now."
"Wait, you can?!" While the werewolf was more vocal in his surprise, the demon's suggestion surprised his beau as well.
"Sure! It's actually a much shorter document. You can fill it out first, if you want." the blonde suggested.
The two looked at one another and silently thought about this. They didn't expect a large wedding, given that they had left everyone behind, but they still hadn't wrapped their head around the idea that a marriage could be anything but. After a while, they began to discuss.
"What do you think?" questioned Philip.
"I mean, it's not what I expected, but who would we invite if we had a wedding, anyway?" replied the other.
"We can still exchange rings later, if you'd like."
"I would." Farroel answered before hesitantly asking: "So… are we doing this?"
"I believe we are." the faux-prince answered, prompting them both to laugh. Meanwhile, the Phantomhive had already begun digging for the documents.
Now Alois believed he knew what it was like to hang out with himself and his own spouse, as he felt a bit awkward, being the third wheel in all of this. "Here we go, then!" he declared anyway, pulling out a single piece of paper. "Alright, so sign the name that will be your official name in the registry, and then basically write the same names here in these other lines because you're not changing them any from that. Then, both of you give me your signature on this line and give it back to me."
Demons certainly liked their contracts, and this was no different. In under a minute, the document was filled out by both parties and given back to Alois. From there, he signed his signature, indicating that he had officiated it before giving it his seal. Ordinarily, these documents were stamped with a red or black Hellsing family crest, but Alois used a Phantomhive crest in purple ink. Any other variation would be incorrect and invalid. It was, however, leaving Alois to cheerfully say:
"I now pronounce you husband and husband. Please save the snogging for outside my office."
As he carefully put the paper off to the side to be filed later, the two men grinned widely at each other, taking it all in. They leaned over and hugged each other in spite of Alois' instructions, but Alois didn't mind. It was asking a lot of someone to not act happy upon getting married. He would have to ask Elizabeth to give them a little bit of a break later, or at least let them have a bottle of champagne together.
They practically flew through the rest of the paperwork, filling it out as quickly as possible so that the blonde could file it. Rather, when they were done, Alois picked it up and handed it to someone else to enter into the computer. From there, the menace cracked his knuckles and actually got to work.
"Alright! Next order of business, Mister and Mister Faelad;" he began, rubbing his hands together, "I'm going to tell you your housing options and you're going to pick from them. Exciting day, isn't it?"
"It's moving so fast..." Farroel replied. His eyes were wide and he looked as though his head was spinning. He and his partner smiled, however, but excited as they held hands and carried on.
"Are there limited options?"questioned Philip.
"Well, there's always limited options, so that's nothing new. I did narrow it down a bit, though." Alois explained. "I excluded housing that sits in the woods, because I'm pretty sure that HELLSING doesn't want you to be that hidden. Sorry. Not fair, I know, but that's that. But, it's not like you're stuck with rubbish, either. There are a lot of smaller, one room houses made out of old equipment from the original base that Pyestock is built on in the air house. When I say 'small,' though, I mean it. They're also pretty tightly knit together like this, so I don't know how that will suit you."
Pausing, he turned the monitor toward the pair in order to show them before carrying on. "Since one of you is a werewolf, I'm concerned that this may be a problem. I'm not sure, though. Maybe you're fine with that."
"Forced transformations are pretty painful, so there might be some yelling involved..." Farroel stated. "I'm worried about bothering the neighbours."
"Understandable. If that's the case, then apartments may be tricky as well. There is a specific block where a lot of werewolves live, though." Pulling up that option, Alois showed it to the pair.
"Maybe?" the wolfman said.
"What about the neighbours bothering me, though?" Philip questioned.
"There is a handful of houses up for grabs. There's a few in particular that meets those requirements..." Alois spent around half an hour going through each house with them one by one, watching the clock while they struggled to make their choice. He had already spent a bit longer here than he wished to.
Really, the whole reason why he turned up to the base that day was because Ciel had to go to visit Finnian. He was curious about Ciel's past and wanted to make a better impression with the other blonde than he did the day before. He felt as though it could have gone a lot better, although none of it was directly his fault. Really, he was having no trouble finding fault these days. Although he was courteous to the two men, he still didn't like them at all. The sister of one of them cut off Oliver Midford's right arm while both of their parents killed Baldassare. Still, he was a professional and did his job to the best of his ability. As much as he blamed himself for Baldassare's death, however, he also wanted to blame them.
His husband was faring a lot better that day, having parted with the menace in order to talk to Finnian after his first round of exercise. Finnian's face was still flushed from working so hard when Ciel walked in the room, although he was in high spirits. As it turns out, Finnian can stand on his own a bit, although he lost balance eventually, but it was more than anyone expected. More importantly, however, the pair still had a lot of catching up to do.
"...So Jim said: 'Fine, I'll give you one free hit. But if you hit me, I get to hit you.'" Ciel quoted, trying his best to imitate his husband's accent, only to earn a laugh from his old friend. "Naturally, the man hits him and it does nothing, so Jim knocked him out with one swing. It was still a lovely evening, regardless."
"Does this sort of thing always happen to you?" Finnian inquired with a grin as he sat up in bed.
"No, usually our dates are perfectly ordinary. It's just the occasional nonsense." the Watchdog explained with a wave of his hand. "That time, it only happened because Jim is particularly nosy when it comes to that sort of thing. There is not a man in the country who can get away with harassing a waitress while Jim Phantomhive is in the same restaurant."
"He's pretty impressive, isn't he?"
"He sure is… His accent sounds a lot cuter coming from him, though. I just sound silly."
"You do, but that's alright." laughed the blond. The brightness of his grin soon softened, however, as he couldn't help but shake a certain thought.
"We've never been able to talk like this before." he observed. "I'm glad we can, now. I'm so happy to see you able to be yourself around other people."
"Yeah..." Ciel answered, looking down a bit and fiddling with his hands. "I'm sorry I couldn't, before. I was in a bit of a bad place."
Finnian shook his head. "Don't worry about it! I could still tell what kind of person you are! In fact, I'd say that a lot of you is actually the same!" Pausing, he reached over to put a hand over one of Ciel's. "I'm really looking forward to getting to know you better, young- I mean… 'Master.'"
Putting on an air of faux-seriousness, the Watchdog put his nose up in the air and replied: "I'm not your boss at the moment, so 'Ciel' is fine..." Then, he peeked at the other man's smile and smiled in turn.
"I don't know if I can do that." Finnian answered, but his words and his facial expression didn't match as he oozed excitement with sparkling eyes.
"It's fine. You're my friend. It's okay for you to use my name." When the bluenette said that, the blond practically looked like he was going to burst. Leaning over, the man wrapped his arms around Ciel, nuzzling his cheek with his nose.
"Young masterrrr~!" Obviously, the rather excitable man was very pleased. Ciel had never called him a friend before. In fact, Finnian couldn't remember the last time he heard him call anyone that!
That said, it would be a while before Ciel got used to receiving hugs from anyone else but his spouse. He had gotten accustomed to Elizabeth's hugging, but this was still a bit of a new concept for him. Still, he went along with it, even though he was being squeezed rather tightly.
"I see you're still pretty strong!" he noted, alerting the other man to the fact that he was stronger than he realised.
"Oh! Sorry! I forgot." Finnian bashfully replied, letting go of the other man.
"The hug was fine, it was just that you're still pretty strong, even though you haven't been active in a while."
"Yeah, they picked me to clone because of my strength, so it's only natural that this body still has it, right?" After pausing, the blond said: "I want to live peacefully again."
"Well, you know how 'peaceful' the estate is." Ciel replied. "Usually, it's great, but sometimes, things happen. I'm still dealing with other people's catastrophes and sometimes, work follows me home. Little has changed in that regard."
"Master- I mean… Ciel… It's very strange. It feels like things have changed so much, but at the same time, like they haven't at all. I think that's fine. I mean, it's not great that occasionally, things are dangerous, but that's just the way things have always been for the Phantomhive household, hasn't it? I'm fine with that. I still want to live there."
"Then by all means, go wild." the Watchdog invited, raising his hands as he shrugged.
"I'm very happy for you and the life you've built, however..." Finnian trailed off before his face got a little bit questionable. "Jim seems like a nice person. He really does. However, it's hard to wrap my head around the fact that you married the guy who turned you into a demon..."
"Ah. That. We're both over it, already. In fact, I'm actually glad it happened, since I got to do all of this." the bluenette waved off. "He's not dangerous to us at all. He's only dangerous to people on the wrong end of his fist. He is a very good man, a great husband, and I'm pretty sure he was good back then, too, although dealing with his own problems with the same amount of success as I was. Really, it was all a very big misunderstanding that we would have avoided had we known the whole story. In fact, I'm sure we would have probably been friends as well, had we met under better circumstances."
"Apparently, you did when you brought him back from the dead." the other man replied. "Gosh, that's a crazy-sounding thing to say..."
"It's the truth, though." Ciel shrugged again. "We hit it off and now seven years later, we're happily married. Life is crazy and unpredictable like that. One of the things I've learned after all of my years on earth is to just deal with it as it comes."
"That's true!" Finnian laughed. "I have to say, though, even with my concerns, I'm sort of disappointed that I didn't get to see your wedding!"
"Oh! We actually have a wedding album! I can bring it tomorrow, if you like." suggested the demon. "Or, if you're planning on coming to my birthday party, I can show you, then."
"Of course I'm going! I wouldn't miss it for the world!"
"That's great to hear! Normally, I don't have a party. Just a little get together where we all just eat cake. This year, though, with you turning up and everyone being busy lately, we've decided to move the annual Christmas party up and combine the two."
"You never did like parties, did you? It's a real shame. We really wanted you to enjoy them like a regular kid."
"I was never a regular kid. By now, you should accept my strangeness."
"I do! We were just worried at the time! But… uh… who all is coming to the party?"
"Just my other friends and extended family." Ciel bluntly replied, shocking the other man for a moment. "Elizabeth's granddaughter is invited, along with the descendants of her brother, my other cousin. I feel like I ought to warn you, however, most of my friends are actually like Jim and I- they also like the same sex, so don't be surprised by that."
"Well, as long as none of them flirt with me, I don't mind..."
"Not every person who is attracted to the same sex is attracted to everyone of that sex. Besides, a few of them are in committed relationships." The way the bluenette said that made Finnian question what he had just said and reevaluate it.
"Oh! Sorry, was that offensive? I didn't mean to be..."
"It's alright. Just keep that in mind. I, for example, am not attracted to you in the slightest."
"Yeah, and you have Jim, so there's that, too!" the blond said, although he added somewhat sheepishly: "I have to admit, though, I can't say that I understand being attracted to men, and it's sort of hard to wrap my head around the fact that you're with one."
"You don't need to 'understand.' All I require of you is to accept it and carry on your merry way."
"I think part of it is just that I still want to picture you as a boy instead of a man. It's been a hundred years, but still, my mind wants to say 'you're too young for that!'" Finnian jested.
"Oh? And who was it the other day who was telling me about how he tried for a very long time to have children with his wife?" prodded the Watchdog in turn.
"Now you're making dirty jokes, too! This is all going to take a while to get used to..."
"Likewise. I still remember when you got all flustered about that maid in Houndsworth. I feel like I must say, however, that she was in fact an angel in a literal sense."
"Really?!" gawked the other man, his eyes widening as he leaned forward. "How do we miss all of these things?!"
"Because I was a terrible person who liked to tell porkies instead of actually deal with the trouble of explaining things."
"Like how Sebastian was a demon all this time?"
"Well… Yes..." the Phantomhive stated, looking down at his hands for a moment. "Who told you about that?"
"Johnathan did." Finnian informed. "He said a lot about you. He's the reason why I knew you were alive. He… He said a lot of things about you..." He paused, looking down for a moment as well. "Are… Are they true?"
"Depends on what he said." Ciel answered. "If he said I killed his father, then 'yes.' I did. He was going to bring in a large shipment of illegal firearms into the UK and it was my job to stop him. I also killed his father's bodygaurd, who eventually started working for HELLSING and took care of Johnathan after he reappeared as a demon. His name was 'Heinrich,' and he abandonned the mission at hand because he saw a chance to get revenge on me for killing Johnathan's father. Last I saw, Johnathan was also angry when he found out that I was involved in his own death, but I did not cause it. He only has himself to blame. He decided to take some of his fathers guns to school and try to shoot his fellow students. I had to stop him. After getting rid of the gun, he pulled out a knife and started swinging. I told him to stop or else he might accidentally fall on it. Sure enough, he did and he died as a result of his injuries."
"I see..." the blonde replied, nodding slowly. "He also said that you lied to him so he would help you escape capture once and so he would join HELLSING..."
"By omission, yes. It was either that or possibly die, in the moment. Then, I just let him continue on. I thought it would be best for him to have a second chance at life. The truth might hurt him and cause him to go back to being violent. Turns out, I was right, only it was worse than I expected because I waited so long…" Twiddling his thumbs, Ciel let out a breath. "I don't think I could have ever helped him. He was angry from the start. All I did was give him more of a reason to be. I'm still not the best of people, Finny. I'm trying, but… I don't always do a good job..."
"I don't know if you could have, in that case..." Finnian offered. "To tell you the truth… I think Johnathan is kind of nuts. He rants and he raves about how he's going to enact his revenge like it's all a game to him. I always thought that you were always someone who likes to give chances to people who have no chances left. In the case of us servants, it worked out well. In the case of Johnathan… Not so much. If he is half as crazy as he is now when he started, then I don't think you could have won that. It's not your fault."
"I hope it's not. I didn't think so, but… After a while, I wasn't so sure anymore." the bluenette confessed. "I'm doing my best to become a much better person than I was before. Sometimes, I make some rather serious headway, but then, occasionally, I feel like I take a few steps back."
Blinking, a thought occurred to the Phantomhive. That must be how his spouse felt with the death of Baldassare. It was a step back, even if it wasn't entirely his fault. Ciel thought that he needed to talk to the menace later about this.
"I'm sorry, I'm talking about myself too much." Ciel said.
"No, it's alright!" Finnian replied. "I haven't heard from you in forever, so it's fine! But… I have to warn you, though… Johnathan? He's bad news. He doesn't want to just kill you, Ciel. He wants to hurt you instead. He wants to destroy the people and things you care about most and he wants you to be vulnerable so he can kick you while you're down. It's… It's scary."
"Let him try." the Watchdog said. "As awful as I would feel if my house was destroyed, it can be rebuilt. Sebastian has the Mackens rather well protected and Jim can handle himself. I'm not worried.
That is what he said and for the most part, he believed it. It was a perfectly rational way of thinking. Yet, there was a small part of him that existed in the back of his mind that thought otherwise. It was the part that fussed over the worst-case scenario. He had lived it once before and never wanted to again. If he did, he didn't know what would happen or how he would react. He never wanted to find out, either. That was something that he didn't even want to think about, so he crushed it down as far as it would go and hoped that it never resurfaced to interrupt the life that he had.
Johnathan, however, disagreed entirely and wished to bring that part of Ciel to the very forefront of his mind. He wanted to make the mighty, noble, Sir Ciel Phantomhive fall from grace once more. If he could bring down the demon master down from his place on his throne made of bones, then it would be Johnathan who held the title of the most terrifying man in England! The ones he had lost would be avenged and his own disgrace would be rectified with him standing triumphantly over the destruction he had wrought.
That is why the younger demon must work hard if he is going to achieve his goal. He stood in the glass box that he had put together, having finished with the ventilation system as he worked on other essential items he must prepare. Tugging on a chain, he made sure it held before standing back and contemplating what else he needed to add. As he furrowed his brow and rubbed his chin, his new accomplice walked into the large room.
"I mixed that juice like you said. Can I have the wi-fi password, now?" asked Lord Merritt, capturing the demon's attention.
"Did you burn the clothes you were wearing?" Johnathan questioned without looking at him.
"Yes! Why are you having me mix rosemary extract and water, anyway? You didn't bring me here to do that!" Caesar complained, putting his hands up in the air.
"You were convenient." the demon answered, controlling just how much information he gave the other man. Caesar didn't need to know that Johnathan couldn't mix the rosemary, himself. "I don't understand why you're so desperate for wi-fi that you'll willingly do whatever I say for it?"
"We all have our vices. Now give me the password."
"It's over there on the desk." Johnathan stated, prompting the other man to briskly walk over to it. "Be sure to use a proxy if you're gonna be using anything that can be traced. I don't want it to wind up back here."
"Is the government really going to try and track a premium PornHub membership?"
"If they know you have it and they have half a brain, they will."
"Ugh… It's going to be so slow, then..." the baron complained.
"I could always bewitch you so you have no free will." reminded the demon.
"Ooh~! Kinky~!" Caesar replied as he walked away, leaving the demon baffled at his response.
Johnathan was not exactly pleased with the man living in his lair, but he didn't exactly have any other option. He needed the man's expertise, as irritating it was to hear the other's pornography addiction seeping into every conversation. As much as Johnathan wanted a girlfriend in his youth, he was not desperate enough to take up the baron on his many not-so-subtle offers, leaving the demon anxious for the day where he would no longer need him and could snap his neck.
That was not going to be today, however, or tomorrow. Hopefully, it was soon, however. Hopefully, the pieces would fall into place and his plan would move smoothly into action. His, however, was not the only plan that needed to take effect. The wheels were in motion for the Philosiphers to make their next move. All that was left was for them to go forth and conquer.
A/N: Hmmmmmmmmmm... I had stuff I actually wanted to say here but I totally forgot... Ugh, this story is moving SO SLOW! I wanna get to the good shit because I'm not done fuckin' with y'all yet, but there's still more setup I need to do... I think maybe one or two chapters should set us on track, and then I can jump into it? I dunno. That's the plan, anyway. We'll see how it goes. I'll try to make it one.
I feel like there's quite a bit of character development, here. Some things you didn't know. Some hip, new, shit for us to play with. I also planted a few seeds for possible ways this could turn out, but hey, I dunno if I'm gonna go that way yet. It will make more sense if I do now, though!
I love writing for these bad guys so much... I hope they're fun to read. They're fun to write. I don't know how this is all gonna turn out, though. I'm still working on it. That's how this fic goes. Sometimes, I lay out a plan, and... the rest is improv. It's going, though. We're getting there.
Until the next chapter, my duckies~!
