Chapter Three

A week had passed since the day in the gardens, and the dreaded had happened.

Sebastian had fallen into routine.

The word was damn near blasphemy to him. Things going by schedule, no spontaneity, going through the motions, Sebastian abhorred the very idea. It usually took much longer than a week for it to happen, and it was usually about the time that well-used letter of resignation was handed in.

A part of him was irked that he was even considering throwing in the towel after a mere seven days. Then again, boredom simply could not be tolerated.

Sebastian didn't even blink at the intruder in his bed, grabbing the flaming redhead and tossing him back into his own room. With ease, he dodged what could have been a mini homemade axe (Will, feeling particularly loathing for the time being, wasn't limiting his traps to his own room any longer, determined to catch Sebastian off-guard at least once), and got dressed. Agni, as usual, was waiting outside the door for him and the two went down to 'breakfast'. As with every day so far, Ronald came down later than everyone else, was scolded by Will for being a waste of space, and promptly began using his spoon as a catapult to launch his food at Will's face. Meanwhile, Grell would be trying to feed Sebastian, managing to inappropriately touch Sebastian so much that the dark-haired man was thankful restraining orders were always an option.

By this time, Sebastian had also gotten to know the patients. At least enough to know how to handle them. They were very fond of teasing, though after not getting the rise they wanted from him during the first few days, they reverted to tearing Agni a new one, who spluttered and blushed almost non-stop.

"Mornin', Agni! Oh, and you too, Sebastian!" Soma, one of the few patients that had been missing during the initial introductions, jogged over as they entered the leisure room, face split in a grin.

Sebastian wasn't sure what he'd been expecting from the patients. Maybe after seeing Alois and his apparent hobby, he'd been expecting an entire ward of mutilators. They were, for the most part, quite friendly actually. Especially Soma, and especially towards Agni.

Sebastian didn't miss the light dusting of red across Agni's face as Soma's blinding smile was turned on him.

And Sebastian had been under the impression that Agni was completely asexual. Good for him.

"Good morning," the Indian responded with a light smile of his own, and as was becoming the norm when he was near the two, Sebastian couldn't help the feeling of being an intruder.

He didn't have to feel that way though long, as a hand sharply tapped his shoulder, and a familiar administrative voice called for his attention.

"Sorry for the abruptness, Sebastian, but I need a favour," Angela stated, ushering him towards the door and out of hearing range from everyone else.

"No need to apologise, what do you need?" Even if quitting was on his mind, Sebastian would be professionally polite to his (bitch of a) superior until the two-weeks notice was on her desk.

She gave him a tight-lipped smile, "I'm afraid Ash has fallen ill- he's rather prone to sickness- so I was hoping you could cover his shift tonight."

The tone made it clear that she was telling, not hoping.

"Of course. I hope it's nothing too serious."

The sincerity was positively dripping from his words.

Angela smirked then, and warning bells rang in Sebastian's mind. Hers was a smile that could make Satan cry for his mommy.

"No, nothing too serious at all. He should be over it in a day or two."

Sebastian would be lying if he said he wasn't disappointed at that.

"Go back to bed and rest up then. Be back here by eight." With that she stalked away, and he almost had to resist the childish urge to flip her off behind her back. Knowing her, she'd probably still manage to see it. He wasn't entirely unsure that her head couldn't turn a one-eighty.

"Agni, looks like I'll be doing the night shift instead. I'll see you later," Sebastian called over, managing the impossible task of taking Agni's attention away from Soma.

An almost imperceptible look crossed Agni's face, though it was quickly dismissed.

"Really? Why?"

"Apparently Ash is sick."

Agni frowned then, a rare thing for the usually cheerful man.

"...Oh. Alright. I'll see you later then."

Well, that was odd, Sebastian thought as he left the ward. It was almost as though Agni didn't believe him. Angela had said that her brother was prone to sickness, so surely this wasn't the first time someone from the day shift was asked to cover for him? Surely, working there was long as he had, Agni himself had done so.

"Ooh, a slacker~"

It took him a moment to place the disembodied voice.

"Hello, John."

The puppet actually looked offended.

"Arthur, idiot. Thought you were meant to be smart. That's what Charlie said. He's an idiot too, though, so can't really blame him there."

"...Which Charles are you talking about? There are a few."

"Grey, of course. They're both idiots, but Phipps is practically a mute, so it's hard to tell."

The guy probably called himself an idiot too, if his liberalness with the word was any indication.

"Well, as charming as it is talking to you, I-"

"Claudey'll be mad if he finds out you're skipping work already~"

"I'm not skipping. My shift's been switched."

"...Pardon?" the puppet was pulled back through the crack of the door, and John Brown's head popped out, the sunglasses still present even though he was inside. Sebastian almost sighed as he realised he'd actually been talking to a puppet.

"I'm covering for Ash tonight."

And again, like with Agni, that unreadable look flashed across John's face, disappearing as quickly as it appeared. As did John, slipping back behind the door.

"Then get your lazy ass to bed, Stretch," 'Arthur' dismissed, one mini-cloth hand waving goodbye.

It was just gone eight, and Sebastian was back on the ward. All the doors were locked, the patients inside their rooms for the duration, and he readied himself for a night of wandering empty halls pretending to be doing something. If this was seriously all Ash did, he had it pretty easy.

The place was pretty creepy at night. It was certainly no Gothic castle with portraits that watched your every step and phantom screams echoing the halls, though that probably would have been more interesting. No creaking stairs or tree branches scratching along the windows here. Still, it was almost eerie. It was kind of like being in a school at night. That feeling you get from a place that is usually filled with people and noise, that should be loud and bustling, and the absence of those things is so obvious it's painful. It was like it was wrong. The entire place just felt wrong in it's stillness.

"Who're you?"

Sebastian jolted, resentfully caught off guard at the unexpected voice. He backtracked a few steps to the entrance of the leisure room he'd just crossed. Somehow he'd missed that a light was still on in there, and that there was the faintest shuffle of movement. A single sapphire eye watched him, almost accusingly, and it was the type of look that made you want to apologise even without knowing what you were apologising for.

He was lounged across an armchair, back against one armrest, legs dangling languidly over the other. He was wearing the same thing he'd been wearing the first time Sebastian had seen him, though he probably had a wardrobe filled with those same clothes. The baggy and unflattering long-sleeved shirt, so white it made the already pale person look even more drained, and the drawstring pants that swamped him. His hair was all in a disarray and practically begged for a good combing, that little fact somehow annoying the well-groomed Sebastian.

"It's rude to stare," Ciel, Sebastian remembered that, stated, visible eye narrowing. Again, the look brought with it the urge to apologise for whatever unknown slight had been committed.

Sebastian wasn't the type to apologise, though.
"I'm Sebastian Michealis. I started working here last week," he responded smoothly, stepping into the dimly-lit room. A single lamp was the only source of light, leaving most of the room in darkness. The shadows almost seemed to move.

Ciel gave him a once-over then turned his gaze to the table he was sitting before, murmuring offhandly, "I had a dog called Sebastian once," then looked back at him expectantly, as though Sebastian was meant to respond to the random statement.

"I'm more of a cat-person myself."

Distaste was evident on the boy's face at that, before he gestured to the chair across from him.

"Are you going to sit or not?" he asked, exasperatedly.

"...If you don't mind my asking," Sebastian began, sinking into the plush armchair across from Ciel, "how is it you're not in your room?"

"Black or white?" Ignoring the question, Ciel busied himself with straightening out the carefully placed marble chess pieces before him, absently brushing a stray lock of teal hair from his eye.

"Angela told me that rooms are locked at eight, and it's eight thirty now-"

"My room is never locked. I'm less... high risk than the others, so my door stays open. Now, black or white?" he said in the same way you spoke to the kid who just couldn't seem to grasp that crayons are not edible, and Sebastian was further irked.

"I'm sure Angela would have mentioned-"

"You're black."

Ciel moved one of his pawns, not seeming to think through movements or strategies at all.

"I'm not playing," Sebastian informed, ignoring how childish the sentence ended up sounding. Alls that was missing was a pout.

"Yes, you are." Ciel wasn't asking.

"...No. Now, I think you should go to your room."

"You're covering for Ash-"

"Angela would have said if-"

"-And he always plays with me, so-"

"-there was anyone exempt from the curfew-"

"-now it's your job to play with me-"

"-which she didn't, so-"

"-make your move."

"-go to your room."

Sapphire and crimson eyes clashed over the chessboard. Sebastian crossed one leg over the other, raising one brow expertly. Ciel, if possible, slouched further into the chair, lips pressed tightly together in disapproval. Was this man seriously telling him to go to bed? As in, bed time, sleep tight, bed bugs and all that? They stared each other down, neither willing to submit.

Sebastian blinked as Ciel's lips curved up in a ghost of a smirk.

"Afraid to lose?"

Now, Sebastian was no fool. In fact, one could argue he was something of a genius. So he could certainly see bait when it was being dangled before his face. However, it was unfortunate that that particular quality often contradicted another one; Sebastian Michealis did not like to lose. Whether it be a game of chess, sports, cooking, even knitting, he never lost. He may have been graceful in his victories, but he did not let his challengers forget that victory either.

After all of five minutes of 'conversation', Sebastian had decided that this person was someone who was in desperate need of tasting defeat, and who was he to deprive the boy of one of life's vital lessons?

Sebastian gave a smirk of his own.

"You should know, I've never lost a game."

Ciel sat up straighter in his seat so as to reach the board better, "We'll see."

The shadows retreated to the deepest corners of the room, chased away by the first few rays of sunlight breaking through the window. The lamp was now rendered useless, but neither moved to turn it off, all eyes trained on the marble chessboard sitting on the table.

Sebastian's face was creased in a very rare frown, index finger of his left hand still resting atop his Rook, other hand poised to his lips. Concentration was obvious in every fine line of his face.

His opponent had, over the course of the night, sunken further and further into the cushions of his chair as Sebastian had gotten more and more into the game, face completely calm, his several victories over the older man coming with ease.

The click of a door opening in the distance and the familiar beeping of the security panel startled them both, and Sebastian's finger slipped from the Rook.

"Checkmate."

Ciel pushed Sebastian's King down across the chequered panels, no small amount of smugness in his voice.

Sebastian bit back a curse.

"Good morning," Angela greeted, coming into the room, and Sebastian floundered a little before realising that she didn't look at all surprised to see Ciel there.

So he'd been telling the truth then.

"The next shift starts soon, so you can go get some sleep, Sebastian," she offered, putting away the chess pieces, apparently oblivious to the scowl that sprung upon Ciel's face when she touched them.

Sebastian rose from the chair with a sigh, suddenly realising just how tired he was.

"You... actually weren't so bad to play against. Ash loses within five minutes, every time. You actually lasted almost an hour at one point... not bad," Ciel relented, looking loathe to do so, before what could have passed as a childish excitement shone in his eye, "Play me again sometime. Who knows, with more practise, you might actually win one."

Well, wasn't that almost a compliment.

"I'll definitely win next time," Sebastian stated, lips curling upwards.

"Heh. I'll look forward to it, Sebastian."

As it turned out, Sebastian would be waiting for that next game longer than he'd thought.

The next day, he returned to his regular hours. The usual morning routine went ahead before he made his way to the ward with Agni, who was immediately latched on to by Soma, chattering animatedly about something or other. Sebastian glanced around the room and it's residents, surprising himself when he was a little disappointed by Ciel's absence.

As the morning crawled on, Ciel still didn't appear, and Sebastian was starting to grow impatient. The numerous losses still stung. He'd never lost before, not to anyone. Especially not at chess. While he had to admit the game bored him to some extent, he was still proud to say that he was something of a reigning champion.

At least he was, until the one-eyed brat usurped him from his throne.

How was he supposed to take back his title if the kid wasn't showing?

"Soma? When does Ciel usually wake up?" He eventually buckled, and asked the purple-haired man, who Sebastian had learned knew a lot more about all of the other patients and even the staff than was probably good.

"Wake up? Hmm... I'm not too sure, to be honest. But he doesn't really come out here much when Alois is in the room," Soma replied, fiddling with the string on his pants, pouting when one of his fingers got caught in the knot.

Sebastian glanced around the leisure room, "But Alois isn't here."

Soma giggled, something someone his age should not do, "Not this room. The Room."

"...What do you mean?"

"Agni~ I got it knotted again!" Unfortunately, as much of an information-bank as Soma was, he also had the attention span of a squirrel, and he didn't seem to hear Sebastian's question as he shot across the room to the waiting Agni.

It would be another three days before Sebastian would see Ciel again, and even then, it was only for a few fleeting seconds. During those three days, however, it wasn't Ciel he was thinking of much, but rather where exactly Alois had disappeared to. It hadn't occurred to him until Soma had mentioned the boy, but after that incident with Hannah, Sebastian hadn't seen the boy once. Agni had led him from the room, then nothing. Almost two weeks later, and he hadn't returned to the ward.

If Soma's vague words were to be trusted, and Agni would protest very strongly that they were, then Alois was in some room. The Room. Whatever or wherever it was.

It was half way through the afternoon, around the time when the patients got lethargic and quietened down, and the staff relaxed a bit, that Claude entered the leisure room. Behind him, clinging lightly to his sleeve, followed Alois.

Sebastian had to look twice to even realise this was the same boy.

On the first time he'd seen him, although blood-stained and deranged, Alois had given off an effervescent air, with gleaming eyes and face-splitting grins. Maybe he only appeared so happy when he was gouging women's eyes out.

Now, he was meek, skin pallid, eyes dulled, hair hanging lankly around a cadaverous face.

The room went even quieter than it had already been, all eyes turning to the pair in the doorway. Claude, hand resting on the boy's shoulder, leant down and muttered something into Alois' ear. The blond nodded, pulling away from the bespectacled man, and stumbled further into the room. Eyes glued to the floor, he made his way over to the same door Sebastian had been waiting to open, and rapped on the wood.

There were only two people Sebastian had noticed approached Ciel's door; Soma and a girl who called herself Freckles. Any time they knocked, the door had never been opened. This time, however, not long after Alois' fist had met the wood, the door swung open.

No words were exchanged between the two. Alois dragged his eyes from the floor, meeting Ciel's stony gaze, and Ciel stepped aside. Alois darted into the room, the door slipping shut behind him.

Noise rose up again, an almost forced chatter amidst the patients, and the tension in the air dissipated.

Claude caught his gaze and gestured him over. Reluctantly, loathe to even be in the same room as the man, Sebastian obliged.

"Sebastian," Claude greeted, pushing his glasses further up the bridge of his nose.

"Hello," Sebastian replied.

Claude looked towards Ciel's closed door, "Keep an eye on those two, Sebastian. Alois is very easily... influenced by Ciel. I'm fairly certain the incident with Nurse Anafeloz had something to do with him."

He didn't even wait for Sebastian to respond, turning on his heel and striding from the room the second he'd said his piece.

Despite himself, Sebastian found that he did keep on eye on that closed door throughout the day. A wasted effort, however, as it didn't open again. Not once. They didn't leave the room, even when Soma knocked and jauntily announced it was dinner time. And Sebastian could have sworn that, as he passed next to the door, he heard sobbing from inside.

Sebastian Michealis had worked at St. Victoria's Institute for two weeks. After the first week, he'd begun to feel boredom in the work, and considered handing in his resignation. By the end of the second week, resigning was the last thing on his mind.

Questions were beginning to surface.

Why had the other Orderlies reacted so oddly when Ash had fallen ill and Sebastian had had to cover for him?

Where had Alois been those two weeks, and why was he in such a pathetic state when he'd returned? Even though Sebastian didn't really have a basis for comparison, something told him that that wasn't how Alois generally was.

What exactly was that room Soma had mentioned?

But more than anything, just how damn sane Ciel Phantomhive had seemed when they had played chess throughout the night.