Author's Note: Hey kids, welcome back to another installment of "Yaoi and Sadness", it's your host, Mary, back at it again with a six-month late chapter.
Thanks to Resistant Raisin, as always.
One more thing- this chapter is short, but that's because there's gonna be another one within the month. And at this point, the plot is kind of wandering away from canon, but it's gonna be ok, don't worry. I got it under control. Mostly.
Chapter Eleven: Sam Gets Into It, a Little
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Ciel stomps into the foyer to find his fiancé attempting to wrestle Mey-Rin into a puffy, elaborate dress done in pastel purple chiffon. He blushes a little when the dress rides up, revealing the layers of petticoats underneath, but quickly recovers.
"Let her be," he sighs, and Elizabeth stops fussing over Mey-Rin, who adjusts her hair and pushes her glasses up, looking down at her new outfit and shaking her head.
"What do you think?" Elizabeth coos at the maid.
"It's… why, it's lovely, my lady." Mey-Rin replies through clenched teeth.
Ciel reaches the bottom of the staircase only to be engulfed in another suffocating hug.
"You're so cute, Ciel! I told you that you would, didn't I? Oh, what a lovely pair we'll make!" Elizabeth releases him long enough to dance an imaginary waltz, a dreamy expression on her face.
"Everyone will be so jealous of us! We'll be the envy of the whole party, just like Aunt Rachel always was-"
Elizabeth goes abruptly quiet, realizing her mistake almost immediately. Ciel's fists clench. Lizzie's eyes are drawn to the motion and she clucks her tongue, taking his hand in hers.
"Where is the ring I bought you? The one that matched your clothes?"
Ciel scowls. "This one suits me just fine, Elizabeth."
"Call me Lizzie. You won't be cute at all like this! Give me your ring, I'll replace it with the new one," she says, and goes to forcibly remove the ring from Ciel's thumb.
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"That will not end well for her," Castiel rumbles. Dean nods idly in response, eyes focused intently on the currently-human kid in front of them.
It's like watching a soap opera. Dean loves soap operas.
Sam, however, is bored out of his mind. He amuses himself by watching the servants in the background. They keep stumbling everywhere, breaking things and then frenzying to clean them up before anyone notices.
He's never met a cleaning staff so hopeless, and he's been in enough shitty motels that that title is an accomplishment.
He laughs out loud when Finny trips over his own feet and ends up putting a two-foot crack in the floor when he lands on it. Dean glares, shushing him and gesturing to the flashback scene playing in front of them like an irritated movie theater patron.
Sam sighs and settles in for a long night of demon-watching. Hopefully Ciel has some interesting memories coming up soon.
Bobby is having similar problems paying attention. He can't help stealing glances at Sebastian and the unconscious version of Ciel that are sitting off to the side. They're not as uncomfortably close as before, thankfully, but they're still putting off a feeling of creep.
Maybe it's a demon thing. Bobby hasn't hung around many demons for long enough to find out. But somehow, even asleep, Ciel still manages to exude some weird aura that makes Bobby's skin crawl.
Ciel's face contorts in his sleep and Bobby shudders.
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"You'll be much better off without this," Elizabeth says, turning Ciel's heirloom ring over and over in her palms. "It's too big for you, anyway. In fact, I don't know why you even own it."
A strange expression comes over her face, like Edward's when they all three used to play together in the gardens and he would shove Ciel to the ground. Spoiled. Dark.
She raises her arm above her head and slams the ring to the tile.
"I've always hated that ring," she says, pleased. She doesn't seem to notice Ciel's expression as he stares at the broken shards of sapphire scattered across the floor.
"That was mine," he says dimly. "That was mine and you broke it, you stupid, stupid girl."
Elizabeth's face crumples, her eyes brimming with crocodile tears. She sniffles.
"How could you be so cruel?" She wails, and Ciel is so sick of dramatics.
He stalks forward, feeling the annoyance he's been experiencing all day come to a head. He's angry. He woke up angry and he went through the day angry and now he's mad enough to do something drastic.
He lunges for Elizabeth, his hand raised, about to deliver a blow.
His hand is stopped inches from her face.
"Young master, you've forgotten your cane," a cool voice interjects, and Sebastian steps into Ciel's line of sight, erasing the red that had been blurring Ciel's vision by virtue of his mere presence.
"Ah, yes," he replies from somewhere far away. "How could I have forgotten? Bring it here, Sebastian." His hand slowly drops back to his side.
Inhale. Exhale.
When Sebastian hands him his walking stick, it takes him a few tries to grasp it properly. All he can focus on are the broken pieces of metal on the ground and the silk baritone of Sebastian's voice.
"Lady Elizabeth, I believe it would be best for you as well as my lord if you left the room. I'm sure there is more decorating to be done in the parlor."
"Why… yes, I think so, too." Elizabeth stammers, taking a moment to come out of her shock. Ciel's never come so close to hitting her before, and she's having difficulty processing it. She walks out of the foyer almost in a trance.
That leaves Sebastian and Ciel alone in the room with the remains of Ciel's connection to his family. They stay there together for a long while, Sebastian's hand on Ciel's shoulder grounding him to reality.
"Breathe, my lord," he says, too loud in the silence of the room.
Ciel takes several long, shuddering breaths. Then he stoops over and gathers up the pieces of jewelry in his hands. He walks over to the window and pushes it open.
He flings the bits of ring into the garden.
"And what was the point of that, may I ask?"
Ciel turns around, back straight and prim and proper. Just as usual.
"It was just a useless ring. It no longer held worth, so I threw it out. Even without that thing, I am still the head of the Phantomhives. And," he steps out to the parlor. "Elizabeth is still my fiancé. It is the greatest shame to make a lady cry."
"Indeed. Shall I prepare tea for the parlor?"
"Two cups, if you would."
Ciel strides into the parlor to find Elizabeth, sitting in an armchair and dabbing at her makeup with a handkerchief. She tries to smile when she sees him, but she can't quite manage it. She takes her hands and folds them in her lap, tucking the handkerchief away.
Paula is glaring at him from her spot behind Lizzie. Ciel ignores her.
"It's just a useless old ring. It doesn't matter. Even without it, I am still head of the Phantomhives." He takes her hand in his. "And you are still my lovely fiancé. So stop crying, Lizzie. Please?"
Elizabeth laughs wetly.
"Anything for you, Ciel."
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"Is it weird that I'm glad they made up?" Sam asks. Dean shushes him.
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That night, the shadows cast on Ciel's wall seem larger. More imposing. Creeping and dangerous in the flickering candlelight.
Sebastian comes in to change Ciel's clothes. He finishes buttoning up Ciel's nightshirt, and then he takes Ciel's hand and slides a perfectly intact ring onto his thumb.
Ciel gawks at his butler. Sebastian just smirks.
"This is important to you, yet you showed off for Lady Elizabeth. A Phantomhive butler who can't do this isn't worth his salt. This ring exists to be on your finger. Cherish it."
He blows out the candles and leaves without another word.
Ciel doesn't sleep for a long while afterwards, just stays awake running his hands over the ring, searching for any flaws. He can't find even one nick in the metal or the gem. It truly is a perfect recreation.
He finally falls asleep with the ring on his thumb where it's meant to be, like it had never been broken in the first place.
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Next chapter is going to have a LOT more of the Supernatural boys. I know that some of you guys were upset that they didn't get a lot of time last chapter, and they didn't really have a lot in this one either, but next chapter. Oh boy.
