Sits in a corner grumbling the word "Liar" to herself.
sighs Sorry about her. I promised that I'd get back to my TMNT stories, but...I've just lost my train of thought for them. I may return to my Coraline story and my weird Drake and Josh thing (seriously, what was I thinking...maybe I should just delete it. It's not like anyone reviews it.), but for now I'll stick with Black Butler. I plan to follow the manga for the most part, but I'll also add in episodes from the show as well. I plan to add in episodes 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 16, 17, and 18. The curry arc will follow the manga, but if I like bits of dialogue from the anime better I'll put those in.
I hate you, you know that?
I do. Disclaimer: I own nothing. If I did, Ciel would be a girl and she and Sebastian would be in love.
My brothers are going to kill you you know that right?
yep
EDIT: Due to people being...people, and not reading past the first chapter, I have changed the Ciel character's name from Sarena to Cielle, thus fully making it a SebastianxCiel fic...does this make me a Yaoi author now?
Black Butler
Chapter 4: Her Butler, Busiest
A butler begins his day early. He is the last to finish his work late at night, and the first to begin work in the morning. Such is the duty of a butler who manages the household.
As the sun rose over the Phantomhive manor, Sebastian straightened his tie at his bedroom mirror. He leaned forward and took a hold of one of his bangs, examining it in the reflection.
"Hmm, my hair has grown rather long," he said. "What a pity I cannot trim it as I please." He moved that piece behind his ear and put on his tailcoat. "Humans are most troublesome." He made sure his gloves were on straight and walked to the servants' dining room. "Now then, off we go." He opened the door to three of the servants sitting there patiently. Bard was half asleep. "Good morning everyone." They replied, Bard waking up. "It is about time you should all be getting to work. Mey-Rin, see to the linens."
"Yes, Sir!"
"Finni, tend to the trees in the garden."
"Kaaaay!"
"Bard, please make preparations for lunch."
"Gotcha."
"Tanaka, please go have some tea." The older looking man said nothing. He clapped his hands. "Provided you have understood you duties, off you go! Step lively!" The servants ran off to do their jobs and Sebastian went to the kitchen.
Once he has dispatched the servants, he prepares early morning tea and breakfast in time for the mistress's awakening.
He rolled the tea cart to Cielle's room and knocked on the door.
"Pardon me, miss." He opened the door and moved to the curtains. "Good morning, mistress. It is time for you to wake up." He opened the curtains. "It is a fine day." The young girl groaned and squinted at the bright light. Sebastian proceeded to pour her tea as she yawned.
The mistress of the house, Countess Cielle Phantomhive, rules a vast domain at the age of sixteen. She is also the president of "Funtom" a toy and confectionery manufacturer and has grown "Funtom" into a massive corporation within a very short amount of time with her gifts of cunning and management.
"Today's tea is the Assam, hm?" she asked as Sebastian handed her the tea cup.
"Just as I would expect from the mistress. I had that good tea leaves were ready in Assam, so I had some sent here." She took the cup from him and opened the paper he had brought with him.
"By the way, I've invited the children of Earl Burton's orphanage to the manor," she said before sipping her tea.
A noble's wealth exists to contribute to society. They practice charity using their abundant fortunes. The distinguished Phantomhive family also engages in volunteer activities without exception.
"That is a splendid idea. When will they be joining us?" he asked.
"Tomorrow." was her blunt answer.
'Tomorrow?' he wondered if he heard her correctly.
"To make parents buy something, you must start with children," she explained.
Why this little bra—mistress. Does she believe she can get anything done so long as I am here to take care of it? She works her people (?) far too hard.
"Very well, miss," he said with a smile. "I shall entertain even the littlest guests in a manner worthy of the Phantomhive name." he bowed. "Oh yes…" he remembered. "And the Herend Chinoiserie tea set you ordered just the other day has arrived, miss." Cielle handed back her empty tea cup. Sebastian proceeded to dress her. "Therefore, afternoon tea for today will be Keemun. We also have berries, so I think a summer pudding of currants and other berries might do nicely. What do you think?"
"Do what you will," she replied.
"Very good, miss." He finished dressing her by tying her neck ribbon. "Then I shall set about preparations for tomorrow at once."
"Nn."
Now then, here begins the butler's true work.
Sebastian closed the door to the kitchen, rolled up his shirt sleeves (his jacket discarded on a hook), tightened an apron around his waist, tugged his gloves in place, and clapped his hands together.
"Well, shall we get started?" He began to cook.
Finely chop the best dark and milk couverture and mix. Melt over a bowl of 60 degrees Cwater. After boiling and then cooling slightly, add some fresh cream. Cool while stirring, and add some cointreau when the mixture is at body temperature. Then pour into the-!
"Gyaaaah!" A sound came from the laundry room.
"What is going on?" Sebastian put down the bowl and followed the noise. He opened the laundry room door. "Mey-Rin? What is going—" All of a sudden a huge rush of bubble came at him along with Mey-Rin.
"SEBASTIAAAN!" she screamed.
"Why are there bubbles everywhere!" Mey-Rin handed him a box of laundry soap.
"This soap! I put it in! 30 spoonfuls, just as the directions say, but something seems to have gone wrong!" She continued to freak out like an idiot as he noticed something painfully obvious on the box.
"Mey-Rin. This read 3 spoonfuls, not 30."
"EH!" She started apologizing rapidly while Sebastian just stared at her with a fake calm smile.
Why, this imbec—that is to say, housemaid. It would seem the problem no longer lies in her eyesight. Why does she fail to realize that there is something clearly wrong with her own brain and not the instructions? Word has it that the public adores silly maids, but I do not think I will ever understand it. (And I have no intention of even trying to do so.) I myself would like to wring her neck.
Sebastian sighed.
"All right. For the moment, please leave this to me." As quickly as he could while keeping up the impression he was a human, he cleaned the room, washed and hung the sheets out to dry. "I still have much to do, so I shall be taking my leave. Please return to your work as well." Mey-Rin wasn't listening, she was too busy blushing. Sebastian walked briskly down the hallway to the kitchens. "Really, all this when I am running short on time." He shut the kitchen door behind him and picked up a skillet. "Now, where was I…?" He began his cooking again.
Place the butter and water in a skillet and bring to a boil. Extinguish the gas. Sift the flour and baking powder into the mixture. After stirring the mixture quickly with a wooden spatula, heat on a low flame—
He was interrupted once again when an explosion came from a nearby kitchen room.
"What is it this time!" Walking into the charcoal covered room, he saw Bard with another heat induced afro, goggles over his eyes, ash in his face, with a new weapon in his hands.
"Well, ya see, I got this new weapon from back home, but it doesn't work at all. Geez!" Sebastian was exhausted enough as he thought of all the time's this had happened before. Americans apparently made the strangest cooking tools.
"Making roast lamb with lavender does not require that much heat…to begin with, is that even a tool for cooking?" Bard removed his goggles.
"Don'cha sweat the details! Cooking is art! And art is explosion!"
"Is it now…" Sebastian muttered as Bard continued his monologue.
Why, this imbec—rather, chef. You should talk about cooking after you have actually "cooked" something. I believe EIGHTY PERCENT of what you have managed to "cook" has been charcoal, the other twenty percent being hazardous waste. Save your art for your hairstyle, and cook something edible…otherwise, I wish for you to become charcoal yourself.
He sighed again.
"All right. We still have the ground meat and vegetables, so let us make do with that." As quick as he did the laundry, he made stuffed cabbage and minted potato salad. "This should suffice for the time being. I leave the tidying up to you."
He turned to leave as Bard gave a "Yes, sir!" and quickly walked back to his preparations.
"Unbelievable! Not one shred of my work is getting done!" He slammed the door shut and picked up the brown sugar. "Let us finish this right away."
Spread the brown sugar on a baking sheet. Preheat the oven to 80 degreesC—
He was suddenly hugged from behind and when he looked, he saw Finni crying.
"…Now it is your turn, I take it…" He should have expected this.
"UWAAAAAHN! SEBASTIAAAAN!" he cried. Sebastian sighed.
"I can discern not a word if you persist with your crying. Are you an infant? What happened?" He pulled on his tailcoat and followed Finni to the garden. When they got there, all he could say was "…." He was completely speechless. The yard was completely killed and the trees were bare.
"I was going to trim the branches…"
"The lawn…"
"But I forgot about the extra strength weed killer I used a while back!" He went on with apologizing. Sebastian stood there with an even more forced calm smile than the one he gave Mey-Rin.
Why this imbec—This Imbecile! How can a gardener be so clumsy? Though the saying goes, "An idiot and a pair of scissors can both be of use," giving this useless idiot a pair of scissors is trouble in itself. He refers to something that happened two or three days ago as being "a while back." The way his brain can easily cast aside a blunder of that degree…I have surpassed anger and I am, in fact, quite impressed.
For the third time that day, Sebastian sighed.
"There is nothing even I can do about this. Go and buy some trees at the garden shop…" He reached into his coat to pull out some of his pocket money. Finni stopped crying.
"What sort of trees should I get?" he asked.
"You are the gardener. The design of the garden is your responsibility. Purchase whatever you deem appropriate." Finni perked at that.
"Then! Then! I wanna make a garden as cool as a living machine!" Sebastian just stared at him, dumbfounded.
I have lived for quite some time, but this is my first encounter with a being from outer space. How does he expect me to respond to his beaming smile?
Finni just stood there for a bit before saying "Sebastian?" snapping the butler out of his stupor. "The mistress'll get angry, so do please give me the money riiiight quick!" This shocked Sebastian, he had never spaced out before. The day was really getting to him. "Sheesh, you can't just let your mind wander off like that! You big silly, just kidding!" Sebastian handed him the money and the gardener left with a "Be back in a jiff!" Sebastian, meanwhile, could feel some of his hair falling out. He was too stressed.
I have had enough. At times like these, yes…I want to seeher.
With his demon speed, he rushed through the house.
A supple body, flowing black hair. Fierce eyes that shine like emeralds.
'I must hurry to the place where she awaits me,' he thought to himself. He shut the door behind him, a bit out of breath.
Yes…to her.
The cat in question meowed at his arrival. Sebastian smiled at the sight of her. He was in the back gardens with a saucer of cream in his hand. He placed it down in front of the cat, who proceeded to gulp it down.
"Now, now. There is plenty more, so you must not gobble it so," He told her. The cat licked up the cream on her face and started to clean her fur.
I find cats most agreeable. They only do that which is necessary. They are quite adorable. They do not exist in my world.
He looked at her, his face showing sadness at this fact.
Pets do exist over there, but…
He remembered the hideous pets they had in his world and shook his head at the memory.
…They leave much to be desired.
The cat just looked at him with confusion. He held the cat close to him and began to stroke her paw with his thumb.
"Aah, you paw is so soft…" A blush appeared on his face, as well as a content smile. "I want to hold you like this forever…" He regretfully lifted the cat from his arms and placed her on the ground. "…but I must go now." He opened the door and before he shut it behind him, he turned to the cat and said "I look forward to seeing you again tomorrow."
"Meoooww," she said in goodbye.
"Dear me." He wiped the sweat from his brow and looked at his finished product. "After countless interruptions, this was all I could manage, hm?" He heard the thumping of many footsteps behind him as the other three servants burst through the ballroom door.
"SEBASTIAAAAAAAN!" They yelled, Finni crying, Mey-Rin drenched in water with a bucket on her head, and Bard with another afro.
"Yes? Now what?" he asked turning around. The three, however, were amazed at what they saw. All around the ballroom were tables full of different desserts and in the middle behind Sebastian was a chocolate sculpture of Big Ben, London Bridge, and a horseman.
"WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!" exclaimed Finni.
"So this is what you were up to while you made us do all the work?' asked Bard, his hair back to normal.
"Made you do all the work?" Sebastian retorted.
"Are these all sweets!" asked Mey-Rin.
'We are inviting children here tomorrow, so this is for them," he explained.
"All these for just some brats?" asked Bard.
"That's our Sebastian for you!" exclaimed Mey-Rin and Finni. Finni looked up at the horseman.
"But…what sort of statue is this?" he asked.
"What do you mean?" Sebastian asked. "It's the Wild Earl, the popular children's story character of whom you are so fond…" He stopped when he saw it. The head was gone. "The head of the earl that I casted so precisely is-!" He turned to the other three with a murderous glare.
"Hey, hey!" exclaimed Bard. "We were workin' up til now!"
"Yes, quite right. We could not have stolen the earl's head!" agreed Mey-Rin. Finni nodded.
"That means…TANAKA!" They charged down the hallway to find the elderly man. They could just picture him laughing with a bit of chocolate on his mustache. Sebastian suddenly remembered something and flipped open his pocket watch. "I cannot deal with this now! It is time for afternoon tea. I will prepare it, so please do your utmost to search out Tanaka!"
They replied with a "Yes, sir!" and he headed for the kitchen to make Cielle's tea before rushing the cart to to her study.
Leaving matters in the hands of those good-for-nothings causes me no end of worry. I must return as soon as possible.
He knocked on the door as a formality and opened it without an answer.
"Pardon me, miss." When he opened the door, he saw the earl's head with pieces bitten out of it, And right behind it with chocolate on her face, was Cielle, asleep in her chair. Sebastian looked stunned for a moment, before bending over, exhausted. "Really, mistress." He went to the open window behind her and closed it. "You even left the window wide open. Despite my presence here, leaving yourself completely vulnerable will never do." He knew it was pointless scolding her when she couldn't hear him, but he didn't care. It had been a long day.
Useless servants, a mercurial mistress. Being a butler is far from easy.
He looked at the young countess with something akin to fondness on his face.
But I feel living in this manner is not too bad…for…
He thought of how closely his mistress resembled his beloved cat. Her supple body, flowing black hair, and her fierce eyes that shined like sapphires, what's more, her cheek felt just like a cat's paw. This gave him an idea.
He pinched her cheek and shouted "Mistress! Please wake up! How many times have I told you not to snack on the sly!" The girl awoke with a start.
Meanwhile, the other servants were still looking for Tanaka, who was outside on a bench drinking tea.
"Did you find him? Keep looking!" They yelled. Just another day in the Phantomhive household.
I hate you.
I know, now will you shut up? Thanks for reading guys. I'll have the next one out soon...The one after that may be on hold until I can get the Black Butler DVD, but hopefully I'll be able to get it soon. I'll be going to the Midwest for christmas so it should be fun to see my 20+ relatives again. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Later!
I hate you.
WILL YOU SHUT UP?