In honor of Valentine's Day (and because I have no life other than commitment to endless homework), I present to you guys (who actually are following this- yay!):
Chapter II!
Dialogue. Not a lot of action. Just…hints and character interaction. A little bit of sexual tension maybe? (It's a treat, take it! I was originally planning on posting this March 1st...)

Disclaimer:
I own nothing but my OC(s). Everything related to Black Butler/Kuroshitsuji belongs to Yana Toboso. And all songs quoted/helped to inspire this fanfic are property to their rightful artists. I intend no copyright infringement. (Song used here: Firelands, sung by Tracy Hewat.)

Stay with Me, in the Firelands

II.

Can You Tell Me

The wooden door of the storefront creaked, clattered, and groaned as it was forced open, only to slam closed behind the butler of the Phantomhive estate. Tall and foreboding, he was a silhouette against the shadowed wood. His eyes colder than black ice, yet their red-brown nearly crackling like dying embers. He was not happy.

Abbie's head turned, peering over her shoulder, knocking loose several strands of her light nut-brown hair from the loose bun she'd been wearing it in that day. "Yes? Can I help you Mr. Michaelis?"

The black butler's eyes narrowed further. "I've been ordered by my young master to do some reconnaissance." He stepped away from the entryway, moving farther into the shop. "It appears I've finished early, and can spare a bit of time before I must return to the estate."

"That's all very interesting," the woman acknowledged with an air of nonchalance. Closing the door of an old cabinet with a creek, the heels of her shoes clacked poignantly against the step stool as she repositioned herself to stand on the floor a small distance from the butler. "But that doesn't answer the question, does it?"

"I suppose not."

Slender hands perched on curved hips. Her eyes tightened at the corners as she retaliated. "Then let me try again- why are you here?"

The butler's eyes sparked as Abbie's impatience grew. "Perhaps you could spare me the same answer, Miss Abbie."

Seconds ticked by, the sound of an old grandfather clock marking the passing of time. Finally, her face broke into something akin to humor and play. "I suppose you win this round, Sebastian."

She turned on her heel, collecting another stack of perfectly tidied files to put away in another set of cabinets. Sebastian swept the documents from her arms, putting them away- for his body towered over hers by a good five or so inches.
"Any luck on the case of Jack the Ripper then?" She inquired of him, after a silent admonishing for his handling of secure and private documents. He brushed her scolding aside, watching her from over his shoulder.

The cabinet door shut quietly. "It seems the Viscount of Druitt is the best suited match."

"Hm." She perched herself at the Undertaker's unoccupied desk, long loose sleeves wrinkling as her arms crossed over her abdomen.

One of his thin brows quirked. In a few short strides Sebastian stood before her, bent down and arms on either of the outsides of her well covered thighs. "If there's something you're thinking, I'd very much like to hear what it is." Head bending down, his lips ghosted the free strands of her hair. "Enlighten me?"

Unfazed, her arms uncrossed, allowing for her gloved hands to trail up his wrists. She spoke airily when her hands halted at the bend of his elbows. "There's nothing more to say. Not that you yourself can't figure out, anyway."

Sebastian, disgruntled but also a bit bemused, sneered. His forehead came to fall at the outer edge of her shoulder; the skin of his forehead and his black hair feathering like silk across her bare flesh. He noted the color and stitching of her dress- mint as the main palette, with ash and cream flowers to embroider the material. Her head dropped a smidgen, one hand vacating his lower arm to toy with an unruly strand of hair from his head. The core of his masculinity hummed in approval when she shifted. His left hand moving to trace the flesh of her collarbone, eyes barely peeking from behind the combined veil of their tresses. Her neckline swept low, allowing him to greedily soak up the view of her sun-kissed peach flesh. Although the knowledge that other male eyes wandered over her with hunger disgruntled him, Sebastian thought nothing more of it.

Slowly he pulled a hairsbreadth away. Eyes lidded and mouth sultry with a youthful pucker. "Whatever you're real reasons for being here are, I know you won't reveal them to me."

Her brown autumn brown eyes glimmered when he spoke. Silent laughter wracked her body from her abdominal core, but he stilled her with a stone-cold gaze.

"You put me at ill-ease for being here."

She pouted playfully, withdrawing all forms of touch between them. "You don't enjoy my presence here?"

"I did not utter such a thing." He sighed. "Stubborn girl, you're intent on being the end of me."

"If I'm a nuisance, then you're a killjoy."

The clock chimed loudly, briefly silencing Abbie and Sebastian both.

Sebastian withdrew, bowing stiffly and retreating at a march to the storefront door. "I'd best be on my way then. I've come to say what I intended." One of his gloved hands grasped the old metal knob firmly.

"Michaelis, wait."

His red eyes glanced her way, his unruly black hair masking a portion of their intensity.

Abbie's brown irises flickered in the shadowed light of the small main lobby. "Be aware of green eyes. You know of whom I speak."

Sebastian's lips curled into a smirk of utter amusement. The game had just taken an interesting turn. "My lady," he bowed, and left swift as a hunting raptor.

"Heeheheeheheehee."

"How much did you hear?"

The Undertaker swept gaily from the doorway of the office. "Enough, enough, I do say, deary." He grabbed the cookie jar on the bookcase behind his desk. "Can you be so sure the puppy's butler can crack the clue before the next one?"

Abbie traced the choker of beaded pearls around her neck absentmindedly. "There's no guarantee about the timeframe they're working in. I simply warned him of a risk he needs to be cautious about."

"Oho." The Undertaker munched on his snack of dog biscuits. "And why do that deary? He's not such a complex entity. What concern is he to you, should he survive?"

Her lips quirked at the notion, a sense of secret knowing dancing deep in her dark pupils. "What concern indeed…"

Author's Endnote:

Second chapter complete. Not much going on, just a little bit of steam, plenty of exasperation, and an almost redundant question. I know there isn't much in action. That's coming later, I promise! (Although not for another few chapters… Go read the manga guys~ That way you can start guessing as to what's going to happen and when…!)

Next Chapter:

A funeral, and the off-putting tension between them. Sebastian's loyalty lies with his next meal. But where does hers…?