*Ciel's POV*
It had occurred to Ciel that he was dreaming maybe a few moments ago, after the first part of the dream had collapsed into the next. It was continuous as everyone he'd known came as phantoms to argue with one another over Ciel's choices…
When he finally awoke, Ciel sat up quickly, his eyes scanning the room as a sharp, burning pain struck his shoulder. He flinched, then felt a pair of arms wrapping around him; pulled back against the demon's bare chest, the child's whimper couldn't be stifled. "C-Claude—" he gasped, shutting his eyes tightly and expecting any of the horrible nightmares he'd had to become reality.
But the demon only kissed his shoulder and let him go as the pain that had formed in the bite-mark disappeared. "Morning," his butler yawned, sitting up on the sofa as Ciel relaxed, leaning against him again.
"Claude?" the Earl began, chewing at his lip out of anxiety.
Absently, the reply came, "Yes, my lord?"
There was a pause as the child tried to form his thoughts correctly. A moment or two passed before he finally decided that being blunt was his best bet, "Correct me if I'm wrong, but spiders kill their mates, do they not?"
"Well, yes—"
"—I thought so, " Ciel interrupted whatever the butler had began to say, standing from his seat and quickly pulling his clothes on, snapping the last button of his shirt as he added, "I'm going to get some fresh air, clear my head." With that, he moved swiftly out of the library, not wanting to be in the same room as the spider for the moment.
Spiders kill their mates…
Spiders are poisonous…
How did this get so out of my control?
It wasn't until he ran into somebody that he realized he'd been running through the garden's path. Stumbling, he would have fallen if the other hadn't grabbed his arm and steadied him; that's when he realized it was Sebastian standing there. Recoiling, he sighed, "What is it now, demon? I've got enough problems right now, I don't need anyone adding to them."
"You seem…different," Sebastian observed, resting a finger under the human's chin and forcing him to look up. This revealed the bite mark on the space between his neck and shoulder, which had been craftily hidden by his shirt's collar before then. Immediately, the demon's eyes widened as he took a step back, looking at Ciel as though he'd burned him, "What the Hell?"
The Earl's legs gave out underneath him from all the stress so that he fell onto his knees, looking up at his first butler with tired eyes, "Things have gotten really out of hand, Sebastian…"
Frowning, the demon replied, "Clearly." Then he looked like he was about to walk away, but turned back a second later to say, "You know well that mixing business and your personal life is a bad idea; you might see about terminating your contract with him before that becomes an issue." A shrug of the shoulders passed through the raven before he added, "Call me when you want your butler back." Like that, he was gone, leaving Ciel alone to his thoughts.
I mean you no harm.
Claude's voice passed through the Earl's memory then. Sighing, he found himself wondering if the spider had really meant what he'd said or if it had been a trick, a rose infested by mites…