Chapter 10: Beatitas Virtus

Ciel ate his meal with Angela standing behind him; her eyes intently locked on him to see just in case if he would need any form of assistance. Though it was nice to have someone concerned for him, her stare was similar to that of the Iron Queen, Persephone; the souls of the dead dining under her dread gaze. Though her intent gaze was not dread, the feeling sent the hairs at the back of his neck stand on the ends.

"Is something wrong, young master?" Angela asked when she saw him stop midway from sipping the soup. He shook his head and continued consuming his soup.

The dining room area was far too grand for someone to eat alone. The windows were mostly adorned with crimson velvet curtains; the walls had interesting tapestries showing a crest of some sort. The crest consisted of a tiny shield with a huge and long, regal key occupying its center; there were a pair of eagles at the back of the shield, facing against each other and each spread a wing to their corresponding sides; also the shield had rose thorns as its outside design; at the bottom of the shield, there were the words "Potentia Regere" printed on a banner. Perhaps that is the crest of the Phantomhives?

Moving on, the long vertical table had the same crimson velvet as the curtains. Candles, candelabras, tableware and silverware occupied the table as though expecting quite a number of guests but in reality, there was none. Ciel alone had managed to use the laid-out tableware set out at the head of the table. His meal consisted a full set of 3 courses; soup or appetizer, main course and dessert. And to be honest, they were just completely a meal of eye-candy; they did look exquisite and finely cooked but when it comes to taste, all were terribly bland. It was embarrassing to reject the meal since the maid seemed to have made a lot of effort to prepare them. Also, he had skipped meals and it would not do if he'd just run around the castle being hungry.

"I'll just save this pork tongue stew for Sebastien." Ciel set aside his whole plate and looked at Angela. "May I?"

The maid nodded and proceeded to give him his dessert. Ciel's eyes lit up upon seeing custard and sherbet being served. But the moment he had inserted the spoonful of dessert into his mouth, his face slowly toned down into disappointment. The cold custard and sherbet were as bland as the rest and Ciel only felt a wave of brain-freeze rather than a sugar rush. Needless to say, he was excited to finish his meal as soon as possible and finished gulping down the water in a flash. "Thanks for the meal, Angela. Though…" He dabbed his lips with the napkin. "The meal was kind of bland. You need to put in a little bit more of salt."

Angela was shocked upon hearing the comment so, Ciel proceeded to reassure her. "I'm sorry if I had offended you, but I just want you to hear my honest opinion."

"Please forgive my failure, young master." She said as she collected the plates. "I will strive to improve my cooking, next time."

"Thank you, Angela." Said Ciel happily as he took the plate of tongue stew with him. "Oh and by the way, Sebastien and I need to take a bath. Would you please show us the way to the bathroom after you've finished the dishes? We'll just be waiting inside my room."

"Yes, young master." The maid bowed. "I'll prepare the water for you and your dog right away."

Ciel exited the room after thanking her. When he was completely out of sight, Angela took the spoon he had used and licked the remnant of custard left on it.

She tasted nothing.

"Yes master." She answered as if somebody had spoken to her. "I will do everything to fulfill the young master's wishes." And then, she bowed.

"Sorry if the food's tasteless, Sebastien." Ciel apologized as he set the plate before the wolf. "Don't get mad; I've eaten the same tasteless food."

Sebastien sniffed the plateful of food for caution.

"You're not a picky eater, aren't you?"

"There's something in the food." Sebastien barked softly as he recoiled from the plate. "But I can't tell if it's a harmful thing or not…"

"Don't turn your nose up at it." Ciel scolded him, but in a gentle kind of way. "That's all we got."

Sebastien internally shrugged and immediately consumed the plate of stew the boy had given him. Whatever that 'mix' in the food, perhaps it's a harmless thing since nothing was happening to the boy yet. He didn't mind the bland taste of the food as well, since he had gotten used to it. Before Ciel had arrived in the castle, the maid had been giving him left-overs to feed on. Those left-overs were just as tasteless as the complete one; but taste doesn't matter if you're terribly hungry.

After a few minutes, Sebastien had finished his food. Then, Ciel immediately followed the staircase beside them to be able to go back to his room. Since he was getting more familiar with the castles passageways and staircases, he felt slightly more at home and he was now able to walk around the castle with a bit of confidence. But still, he had to watch out…

"It got hot all of a sudden…" He worked his ribbon to loosen it up a bit. "Weather, perhaps…"

He walked back to the bedroom with ease and confidence. Upon arriving in the room, he fell on his bed in a heavy and fatigued sigh. "Phew! What a day." He curled up on his bed without even removing his boots. "I'll just take a short nap, Sebastien. Would you mind?" He told the wolf who was sitting on the floor. Sebastien replied with a gentle bark.

"Why do you keep on talking to me even if you know that I couldn't talk?" The wolf wondered as he guarded the slumbering child.

…He couldn't breathe…

"Ciel! Hang on!" A blurry voice called out.

…The water he had painlessly breathed for endless times before had begun to burn his insides. He tried to find any corner of his container where there was no water. But, there was none...

"Why can't you just open up, damn you!" He heard the man slam something on the glass.

He began to cough out something warm… something foreign… it dissolved in the cold water. He clenched his mouth shut and held his breath as hard as he could…

"Help me!" The man frantically called out to somebody.

Another man replied. "It can't open!"

"Then I'll break it myself!" The man snarled and hit something at the glass. He continuously hurled the object against the glass but the glass remained intact.

His held breath escaped in a gush of bubbles and red fluid. He couldn't keep himself from breathing in the water; he coughed out some more red fluid and bubbles.

"Ciel! You won't die!" The man said in determination as he continued to hit the glass. But his efforts remained futile.

…He felt his vision spin and his head felt a splitting pain. He couldn't survive in this cold water any longer. He felt his eyes close into darkness…

"You won't die!" The man yelled as he hurled the object against the glass with all his strength…

…He heard the glass break and the gushing of water…

…Coldness came over him…

"Ciel, breathe!" The man frantically called to him. "Please…"

…He stopped breathing…

Ciel shot up awake, gasping for breath. He was drenched in cold sweat; his chest had a bursting pain and he took in air in large gulps. The dream seemed so real that he had hardly slept at all. This was the second time he had dreamed of floating inside a water-filled container and the man behind the glass watching over him…

… That voice was familiar, too…

"Bad dream?" Sebastien barked at him. "Maybe it's the effect of that thing in the food…"

Ciel groaned as he held his head. "It hurts…" He flopped back on the bed; he seemed fatigued from the intense dream. He wanted to close his eyes and regain his sleep but the thought of being inside the glass container restrained him from sleeping. He got out of bed; brought out the note and key from his pocket and deposited them inside the drawer of his bedside table. "Now what should we do now, Sebastien?"

The wolf stretched out his front limbs. "Why don't we just continue getting the things mentioned in the note?"

"Hmm… since I'll take a bath a little later, I'd better prepare my clothes." Ciel said as he approached the dresser behind the bed's headboard. The clothes were conveniently sorted by type; the half side of the dresser had drawers and the remaining half was a closet. The first drawer had shirts, cravats, coats and vests. The second had shorts, suspenders, belts and underwear. The third had black and white stockings, broaches, chokers and other strange apparel. The closet contained the footwear which mostly contained pairs of boots. He chose a set of clothing by getting whichever clothing his hands touched. "No pants?" He frowned as he rummaged further in the second drawer. "I just don't feel right running around with my legs exposed all the time… Hey, what's that?"

"Why not?" Sebastien thought as he watched his dilemma. "You have nice legs. Why be shy? Arghh!!" The wolf snorted. "What am I thinking?!!"

"Look, Sebastien!" Ciel pulled out a headband with a pair of animal ears, a strange-looking belt and dark articles of clothing and apparel. Sebastien stared at the apparel in fascination. "Cat ears?"

Ciel put on the cat-eared headband and a black eye-mask with gold trimmings. "I'm a cat-boy!" He said in an amused manner and laughed. "Mraow!" He meowed and imitated the slashing paws of cat albeit in a gentle manner. Sebastien retreated. "Stop that, you idiot!"

"Hang a minute, Sebastien." Ciel said with a plan in mind. "I wonder what I'll look like?" He started taking off his ribbon and undoing his vest and shirt. Sebastien stared at the stripping boy. "What are you doing?!"

Ciel started putting on the black and leathery apparel he picked out of curiosity besides the casual clothes he had chosen to wear. The 'cat suit' as Sebastien termed consisted of a clingy hanging leather top with lace-up strings in the chest area; arm-length, leather gloves with buckles; tight, low waist shorts and a belt with the cat's tail; and a pair of high-heeled boots. The bell choker Ciel put on completely emphasized the fact that he was a little, black, cat-boy.

"Urghh… on second thought." Ciel slightly cringed at the sight of his own reflection. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea…" Not that he looked bad in it; the outfit wasn't just comfortable being tight and clingy in all places. "It got a little hotter, too." He pathetically fanned himself with his hand. He looked like somebody's sexual fantasy material; his body was perfect enough to be compared to a girl's though he doesn't have any breasts.

Sebastien stared at him avidly. First, the boy had stripped in front of him; then, dressed up as a cat-boy with an outfit next to nothing. The wolf couldn't help staring with a fascinated sense at his slightly curvy figure. Ciel must be the most beautiful creature he had ever seen; beauty in terms of the inside and the physical. Sebastien wagged his tail and, true enough, submerged into a slight haze of fantasy for the cat-boy. He must be the luckiest wolf alive. "…Unbelievable!" He howled and panted madly; completely aroused.

"Na-ah!" Ciel pointed a snake-skin whip at him (wherever the whip came from). "You naughty wolf, don't howl!" Though he firmly said those words, a hot blush was spreading across his cheeks. He was completely embarrassed by the clingy suit; but he was fortunate enough that nobody else could see him like this. "Better take this off…" So, he immediately took off the mask, gloves, top and boots; his skin had started to look pink in the areas where the leather apparel was. He pulled the zipper on his shorts but unfortunately, it became stuck for some reason. "Uh-oh…" He pulled at it harder. "Why now?!" He pulled harder and harder until his legs tottered aimlessly about in his indignation about the zipper. He stumbled and squirmed on the bed and fussed in frustration about the stubborn zipper. Sebastien had no initiative to help because his eyes were following the swishing motions of Ciel's fluffy tail; and besides, he has no ability to help since he had no hands.

"Dammit! Just… Argghhh!!" The boy growled in frustration as he pulled at the zipper as he continued to fumble about. "Just move!!!"

"Young master?" The keeper of the castle appeared from the receiving area. In Ash's point of view, the boy looked like he was 'busy', as what masturbating people call. Sebastien immediately turned his head at the white clad man; alert and annoyed. "Just great…" He inwardly groaned.

Ciel stopped holding the zipper and took five seconds to absorb the presence of the person in front of him. He blushed and quickly gathered the blanket to cover his body. "A…a…ah… hello!" He stuttered.

"Am I intruding your… privacy?" Ash tilted his head.

"NO! No…!!!" Ciel pulled the blanket tightly around him. "Nothing! I'm just having problems with… uh…uhmm…"

Ash approached him; armed with a reassuring smile. "Can I help you?"

"NO!" The boy yelled at him and blushed a deep red. "Noooo…! It's fine! Just a good pull at it and I'm already fine…!"

Sebastien snorted. "What kind of nonsense…"

"Ermm…" Ash blinked. "What are you talking about, young master?"

Ciel blushed in embarrassment and let the blanket fall away from him. "It's my shorts…" He pulled at his shorts a bit. "It's stuck."

The silence that prevailed was more than awkward; it was EMBARASSING, to say the least. Ciel was wearing only a tight pair of shorts and the rest of him was clothed with NOTHING. What was worse was the fact that his problem lies on the shorts; around the area which was… the most delicate part of his body. "Come here… I need your help…" He mumbled; his blush deepening into scarlet. "The zipper's stuck."

"I'll do what I can." Ash said as he took of his gloves. He climbed on the bed and semi-crawled to where Ciel was sitting. The boy held his bare legs close in embarrassment.

"Well…" The boy blushed a hot pink. "It's kind of awkward, but it's around… here…"

Ash stared. Ciel's eyes looked down at that area. "You know where! Now don't think about it." The boy blushed and looked away.

"Well, young master." Ash said as he semi-crawled closer towards the boy. "I need you to spread your legs a bit."

"Huh?!" Ciel turned beet red. He bunched his legs closer and tighter to himself. "What are you…?"

"I can't see the zipper…" Ash immediately answered. "Would you please?"

Ciel demurely opened his legs. "I-it's here!" He pulled the man's hands to the zipper to avoid further embarrassment. Ash nodded and started pulling, but to no avail as was Ciel's first attempt. Both took turns in pulling and sometimes, formed strategies to pull the zipper off; but the result was the same: failure.

Sebastien was getting impatient. "You'd better not do anything obscene, or else I'll…"

Ash frowned. "It's quite stubborn…"

Ciel said nothing. His face was red; deeper than the color of a tomato. Mainly because of how Ash stared at that particular part of his body and how suggestive their positions were; Ash was positioned in between his legs and there he was, almost naked… and wearing a bell choker, cat ears and a tail. "Ah, I left it on…" His hands gripped the headband.

Ash lips curled into a smile. "Were you completely curious as to wear that cat suit, young master?" He tugged at the zipper once more.

"Well, ye –Ah!" Ciel gasped in slight pain; Ash had finally pulled the zipper down. The boy blushed and immediately put his hands to cover that area in embarrassment. Nothing much to see there; thankfully he was wearing underwear or else, unthinkable things might happen. "Th-thanks!"

Ash's fingers traveled gently from his abdomen, up to his lips. "You're arousing, my Lord." His eyes scanned the almost naked boy from head to foot. Ciel couldn't help but blush and move backwards. "Eh?"

Sebastien's ears lied back. "Don't you dare do anything funny…"

"It suits you." The man said to him in a whisper. "Your feline-like prowess." He moved even closer and stroked another gentle finger up to the boy's body from his waist and to his sides. "Lusty, gentle and a tempting tom… it definitely suits you." He said in an almost hushed and suggestive tone.

"Sir…?" Ciel moved back a bit; the man was motioning closer to him. "I… I don't think I…" He stopped when he felt the cold wall collide gently with his back. Ash prowled closer and stared a lustful gaze at him. "Hmm… where should I start, I wonder?"

"A…Ash?" Ciel gasped as the man enclosed him in by placing his hands on either side of him. The heat, along with the calming scent of lavender that radiated from the man's body made him feel hazy and close his eyes in pleasure and comfort. "Please… n-no…" He whispered in a breathy voice. Ash gently brushed off his band of animal ears and unfastened the choker and let the apparel fall off with a soft thump on the bed. "I could eat you alive." The man's breath tickled his ear.

"…What are you talking a- Ahn…! S-stop...!"

Ash trailed light kisses to his cheeks, jaw line and down to his neck. Ciel moaned when he felt the man's hot and wet tongue caress his skin; especially on his neck. He felt so faint and unbearably hot that he could not even think. His hands subconsciously gripped Ash's suit and froze; whether he would push him away to stop or, pull him closer and let him in for more. The man inhaled his intoxicating scent of blooming roses; the very attribute of the boy that he desired the most.

Ciel lost control of himself and submitted to the pleasure of the man's heated kisses and gentle caresses. His hands remained stuck on Ash but they were loose in submission. "More…give me more…" He pleaded in his complete daze.

"My lord?" Ash smiled. "What is it?"

"Please..." Ciel whispered to him. "Kiss me…"

Sebastien almost jumped in shock. He circled about frantically. "What the…! Hey! Stop it! Snap out of it!"

Ash pulled the already drowsy boy to his body and continued to let lust take over him. He crushed his lips onto the boy's own and didn't give him a chance to breathe. He forced his tongue to pry open the boy's lips; Ciel was obliged to let him in. He moaned in pleasure with Ash's soft caresses in his mouth although, he needed to breathe so badly. His head was starting to pound painfully and tears were welling up through his closed eyes but he remained stubborn and gripped hard at his suit to hold on.

Sebastien growled. "Ciel! What the hell is wrong with you?!"

Ash finally pulled away and the boy drew desperate gasps of air. "Breathe while you can and take your time." He said to him in a teaseful tone while also panting for air, though he seemed to be more cool and calm. With Ciel being distracted, the man's hands went down to his shorts and started to pull it down; the action also caused the boy to slide down and lie back on the mattress.

Sebastien's eyes were full of burning jealousy and rage. He was furious upon seeing Ciel taken advantaged of. He growled. "Hey Ciel! Snap out of it!" His teeth bared and readied himself to attack the offender. "Hey you! Get your filthy hands off him!" He jumped at Ash and dragged him away from the boy by biting his suit and flinging him to the floor; though quite impossible, he managed to because the wolf's strength was fueled by rage. The man painfully fell off the bed before he could completely pull the boy's only clothing away. Sebastien furiously barked at him; his barks had snapped Ciel out of his trance. "Grrrr… How dare you do that to him?!" Sebastien growled at Ash. "How dare you…!"

Ciel's eyes were wide open; either in shock or terror. "N-no… no… no… I- I'm sorry…" He started to shake and gathered the bed sheets to cover his body in shame.

"My lord… forgive me… I…" Ash stood up and immediately apologized. "I… I do not know…"

Ciel turned away from him. "Leave me alone… please…"

"But I…"

"Just leave me!" Ciel yelled; neither in anger nor shame. "Leave me alone!"

Ash said nothing and did what he was told. A shameful silence lingered in the air. Ciel was completely stunned at what had happened. It was wrong; yet the desire remained in him. He knew beforehand that it was completely wrong, but he allowed the desire to prevail. The scent, heat, kisses and caresses meant almost everything to him and his heartbeat was so fast and pounded heavily. He felt somehow violated, but at the same time he felt that it was alright. He shook his head and covered his face with his hands. He was ashamed of himself but he did not have any urge to cry or feel anything at the mistake. Sebastien hopped and stayed beside him as if reassuring him. "Are you alright?" He gently nudged his arm.

"Why did I do that?" Ciel whispered. "Why?"

"I knew it." Sebastien remembered the meal. "It's the food. Something's in that food that caused this mayhem."

Minutes passed by and after regaining his composure and a stable state of mind. He got up and started to get dressed to his default clothing. He gathered his white shirt, shorts and boots and put them back on. "That was a mistake… I will not let it happen again… it will not happen again…" He muttered. He left the cat-suit lying around. He didn't feel like seeing it for the moment. He found it hard to forget what had happened.

"Young master." Angela's dreary voice sounded in the room and broke Ciel's musings. "Your bath has been prepared."

He nodded and gathered his newly prepared clothes. "Please show me the way. Sebastien, let's go." He went beside the maid and followed her path.

As he followed her, he thought he had heard her say something but perhaps it was just his thoughts.

"…Such a filthy little princess…"

A/n: I think I did a terrible job at that (T_T). Please excuse me! (begs) It's seriously my first time to write something like that! Anyways, we have a terribly jealous Sebby and Ciel in a cat-suit and a pervy Ash. What more can we ask for...? hmm... (muses)

Replies:

Yana5 – Yes, Sebby will eventually turn into that. But we all have to wait for that, ne?

Chu chu banato – Thanks! Now have another one! (:D)