Chapter 35

'A few days later...' Grey eyes blinked. Maybe Luciana was truly and utterly losing her mind, because the girl swore; she had just heard SpongeBob commentary enter into her thoughts. She shook her head; 'right~ okay, may as well continue...'. As is, Luce and the other servants of the Phantomhive Household currently found themselves preparing for the arrival of the Yard's Commisioner; Lord Randall. They had arrived at the manor just the day prior and now needed to get it back into tip top shape. Suffice to say, there was a lot to be done. Only, there was one big fat problem; their two other guests. 'You know the ones actually responsible for the entire debacle.' Oh yes, Luce could see this ending in so many ways –most of them negative.

But, who was she to interfere. It was bound to be fun either way.

So instead the girl concentrated on her own tasks: Setting the table, tending to the breakfast with Sebastian, taking inventory after and seeing to it that the idiot trio don't wreck too much. It was probably the most gruelling task of all, no matter how much she loved them.

By midday when all the servants met in the kitchen and Sebastian doled out additional tasks like a parent does candy on Halloween, a certain Indian butler came by to ask for his share of work. Really, it was sweet.

"Then," the demonic counterpart held out a bucket of cleaning utensils, "would you be willing to clean the windows? Since you are taller than me, after all." Standing by Sebastian, Luce couldn't help but blink at them. Was she hearing things? Doubtfully her eyes drifted from the demon to Agni to the bucket and round back again. Yeah, no she definitely wasn't imagining it. Her lips pursed.

"Of course! Leave it to me!" As Agni eagerly left to finish his work, Luce she didn't bother withholding her tongue.

"'You're taller than me'? Are you for real!? You make me clean the windows." Her brow ticked when she was left ignored whilst Sebastian sent the others off to their places with an unperturbed smile on his face.

Only when they were alone did he turn to her, the expression falling like a mask. He stepped closer and raised a hand to her face. "Shouldn't you be pleased?-" his gloved appendage caressed the side of her face, "-Now there is one less task for you."

She could feel her cheeks heat into a blush. "Wel– Tha– " That was surprisingly thoughtful of him. Kind. Generous. And soo not him! Her eyes narrowed as she leaned away from the demon. "What are you doing?" She questioned dubiously. Call her paranoid but Sebastian was not an angel. He didn't do 'kind' without motive.

The demon in question only rolled his eyes in response. He could practically see the accusation in her eyes. Sure, he had his own motives but what kind of demon would he be if he were to simply lay them all on the table to see? "You are reading too much into it Luce." She remained unimpressed while he mentally smirked. Maybe his little mate already knew him better than he had thought. The demon stepped around her to retrieve- "I have your dessert."

'Tiramisu~' If Luce were a cartoon character, then her eyes would now be heart shaped and she'd be floating towards the delicacy, leaving a trail of sparkles as she went. In reality, there was not much of a difference.

"As promised." The butler smirked, entirely too amused.

Yet she said nothing, too busy tasting soft and fluffy mascarpone with delicious cocoa powder. It melted so perfectly on her tongue. Luce felt like she was floating on cloud nine. And with every bite she seemed to be getting closer to paradise.

– a light touch to her chin brought the girl back to reality. Her eyes found the demonic butler suddenly right in front of her and so much closer. Then his bare thumb proceeded, wiping away cream that found its way to the corner of her mouth. Her brain short-circuited for about five seconds – "Honestly, Luciana." –before his baritone voice brought her back and she had an epiphany. 'Oh, he's flirting.' And had been the entire time.

Luce grabbed hold of his wrist and just like that all motion stopped. It seemed abnormally quiet as she looked into his eyes. For once they held no disinterest, mirth, playfulness nor cruelty; they were focused – on her. Her grip on his hand twitched. Yet he continued to do nothing. It was her move. Did she want to continue? Not as a game – no, because then he wouldn't have asked – but in seriousness?

'Yes,...I do.' The answer didn't exactly surprise her. Luciana had known that she was falling for him for a while now but he was a demon and she was from the future. How could that ever work? Did she want this to work? 'Yeah...' Well, there you go. Luce closed her eyes in acceptance and licked the cream right off his thumb. They could worry about everything else later.

When she finally let go, after what felt like an eternity, her eyes opened to see his burning intensely. A pleased hum left the demon as he caressed the side of her face and Sebastian stepped back again. Clearly this development would change nothing about his work ethic. She popped another spoon full of fluff into her mouth and moaned.

"Damn girl! Don't make that noise."

The girl in question took in the face of their newly arrived chef. Luce couldn't help but snigger. It was flushed red. "Why? Ne'er 'eard a girlie do tha' before?" Bard looked so indignant; she could barely refrain from laughing out loud. Taking it a step further the time traveler dipped a finger into the delicacy and sensually licked it from her finger; more or less repeating what she did with the butler's thumb, all while never breaking eye contact. His sputtering was absolutely worth it.

A suffering sigh came from the butler beside her. "Baldroy, there are still more ingredients to fetch." They watched him leave with varying degrees of amusement.

Finishing the last of her dish she put it into the sink. "So~ just wondering, but you haven't changed your mind about the Viscount right?" Luce turned to face him, her head tilted to the side. She just watched him smirk at her in a way that said it all. "Mhm, I didn't think so." Her gaze moved to her fingers that now trailed along his hand. The demon of course followed the movement. "That's alright," the fingers trailed higher in a soft caress, "makes it all the more fun." She smiled charmingly at him as she passed and left.

The demon began to chuckle, a sharp fanged smile spreading his lips.

Thank you for reading!

I'm sorry for not updating sooner but I was a little unsure about the Circus Arc...You know how they basically murder an entire mansion full of ppl? Yeah I'm not sure how that would go down with Luce because well we millennials aren't exactly known for being good with gore. Then again she's already kinda nonchalant after working with Undertaker. And she's a demon's mate...But well I'm still not satisfied.

I'm open for opinions! Just leave them in the comments.