*Ciel's POV*

Demonic lips ghosted over Ciel's without warning. Despite the Earl's exhaustion, adrenaline rushed through him; it was like a forbidden fruit, flawlessly addicting and horribly, horribly sweet. He'd tried to pull back, but sleep was tugging at him with a vengence; he wasn't used to staying awake this long. Sebastian had been very strict about the master's health, after all… But thoughts of Sebastian had no bloody place here, did they? This… this had to be a dream. Claude had no reason to kiss Ciel…

The Earl woke with a gasp, lurching from the dream that had enraptured his mind so completely. He twisted against what he presumed to be blankets holding him, only to hear a tired mumble that had said something along the lines of, "How the Hell did I fall asleep?" Jolted further, the master's azure eyes flew open to see that it wasn't sheets holding him in place; it was his butler's arms, secured around him. Sometime during the night, they'd wound up lying down with Ciel curled up on-top of the demon, rather than merely leaning against his side.

It hadn't all been a dream, then…

Claude had kissed him, after all…

"Sir?" Claude's voice was tired still, but quickly growing with coherency as he moved to halfway sit up, elbows supporting both their weights as he looked up at Ciel. "Are you alright?" the demon was frowning, and it was only then that Ciel realized he'd been frozen in place, blue eyes wide and blank with shock.

Shaking his head swiftly to clear the haze, the Earl's voice was a croak, "Fine… I'm fine." With that, he moved to push himself up off the demon, then brushed at his clothes in an attempt to straighten them out as he stood next to the suite's sofa. His eyes traveled back to Claude for a moment, curiosity sparking as it occurred to him that the demon had, in fact, been asleep. It seemed their kind could, in fact, do so, though the butler had certainly seemed surprised that it had happened.

"Allow me," Claude's voice was an abrupt wake-up call to the once again day-dreaming Earl. While Ciel had been lost in thought, the butler had stood from the couch and grabbed Ciel's things from the connecting bedroom. Now, his fingers worked effortlessly to undo the buttons of Ciel's shirt, gold eyes too deep to even try to read the emotions in them. The Earl was, yet again, as still as a statue, watching as Claude meticulously undid his master's clothing and folded it, setting it aside before moving to dress the young human. When he was finished, he finally looked at Ciel's face again, "My lord?" he asked, frowning again, "You seem horribly lost in thought this morning. Something's troubling you?"

A blink.

"It's nothing," Ciel insisted a second too soon, taking a step back before excusing himself, "I'm going to see if the Inn's received any mail for me." Not giving the butler the chance to offer doing so himself, the human scampered off, out of the room and down the stairway. Once he was in the lobby, he took a moment to lean against the wall, flashing a fake smile towards anyone who looked at him with concern.

Claude had kissed him last night. But why? Had such an innocent thing as curling up at the demon's side been taken the wrong way? And why had Ciel done that to begin with? Was he really so lonely that he found the need to indulge in something as pointless as cuddling? It seemed absolutely ridiculous. And yet…

Memories flashed before the Earl's mind, of a night just after a ball that Lizzy had held at the Manor. She'd shattered that precious ring, only for Ciel to later find that his butler had mended the cracks. He still hadn't a clue how he'd done it… Later, that night, ,he'd asked Sebastian to stay in the room until he'd fallen completely asleep. The demon had taken it as weakness, and he'd been right, so…

Was last night with Claude just.. that weakness, come back with a vengeance now that neither Elizabeth or Sebastian were around?

"Bloody Hell," the Earl muttered under his breath, pushing off from the wall and going to ask the receptionist about his mail - just in case. There was nothing, of course, so he found himself making his way back to the suite, forcing a false confidence into his appearance as he pushed open the door to their room.

*Claude's POV*

Claude glanced up as he'd just finished pouring a cup of tea for the young master, holding it out to him, "Your tea, my lord?" This new air of cockiness seemed interesting, having noted it from the second his master had walked into the room. "Was there any mail?" he asked dully, scanning Ciel for clues.

"No," Ciel replied absently as he took the tea from Claude, sipping at it. He turned and walked to the tiny office-space they'd set up in the suite; it was really just a desk with a chair, but it worked. Sitting down, the human was silent for longer than the demon liked before eventually saying, "Oh, and Claude? New rule."

"Yes, my lord?"

Looking over the rim of his tea-cup, the Earl looked for all the world like one of those private-investigators you so often heard about. His voice was slightly curt, but also sugary-sweet as he announced, "Please refrain from kissing me without my expressed permission from now on." Just like that, Ciel was back to drinking his tea and shuffling through the the small stack of paperwork he kept on his desk.

The demon was left to stare, wide-eyed,trying to come up with a suitable come-back for what his master had just shot at him. It hadn't really been an order… he'd said 'please', but he'd also called it a rule. Technicalities were such a bother… "Yes, my lord," he muttered finally, turning his golden eyes downwards in thought.