Sebastian frowned a bit as he watched his parents fret over the money they'd earned that month and try to mentally prepare themselves for the visit from the debt collector that would be coming at any moment. When they'd had to give away the kittens, his mother splurged a bit and went out and bought him a small stuffed cat from a toy store to help him feel better about parting with the felines. Now, his parents were worrying if the toy and their other expenses that much had drained them of too much of their money.
He just kept to himself in his corner of the house, hugging the toy close to himself as he listened to his parents fretting with each other for what seemed like forever until a telltale rapping came on their door, making them all jump.
Sebastian's father moved to take care of the door, his mother walking over to her son in the corner to gently hold him and let her husband handle everything. The collector said a simple 'Good evening' to the family before heading straight to work of sitting at their dinner table and counting up the money the family was able to pay. The man's face was smooth and emotionless all the while until he finally stood up from the table and turned to the family.
"The monthly quota wasn't met. The Master will be coming around tomorrow night to negotiate some sort of agreement with you." The man said to them before tipping his top hat to the family and taking his leave, leaving the little family in shock behind him.
The rest of the night was spent wondering what on Earth the Earl's terms would be when trying to come to some sort of agreement on how they could pay back their debt.
Sebastian went to bed, partially wanting to escape for the night to the brothel again, but he knew the money wouldn't help anything. What was done was done and now all they could do was wait and see what the Earl would do. Plus, his hips and lower back were still sore from his last night there, and he wanted to give himself some time to recover.
So, he just hugged his stuffed cat close to himself and curled up under his blanket, tucking his long legs into himself as he slowly fell asleep.
He woke early, just as he always did, his mother gently shaking his shoulder to wake him up, his hair tousled and messy from sleeping. He ate their morning bread with his parents easily.
"Sebastian, try not to worry too much about the Earl. I know how you can get sometimes. Just have a good day at work and we'll see you at dinner, alright?" His mother said to him, straightening his dark hair gently as they all got ready to leave for work together.
"I'll do my best, mother." Sebastian replied with a small smile to her, kissing her cheek softly after he let her fasten his cloak around his shoulders. He bid his parents goodbye easily before leaving for the day to walk through the snow to the bakery.
The day was busy enough to keep his mind occupied and off of the impending visit from the Earl and his big blue eyes. It was only as he was closing up when Sebastian started thinking about the Earl once again, wondering how they'd be able to come to some sort of agreement with him. The last time they'd had to sell their house. If they sold their house again, they wouldn't get a whole lot for it, if anything, and they'd be practically homeless.
Sebastian yawned as he got home, sitting down to have dinner with his parents, the air around them unusually quiet as they all waited to see what their fates would be.
The Earl didn't keep them waiting too long, the sharp rapping of his walking stick against the door breaking the silence in the little house. Sebastian watched his father get up and get the door, letting the young earl inside, watching as the young man walked inside, followed by a tall, elderly, Asian man, who stayed silently standing behind him.
"So, you weren't able to come up with this month's money, hmm? I can't say I'm surprised, it's not like any of you have really good jobs." Ciel commented with a small frown as he looked around the tiny house. Really, though, it was more of a shack than a house. "Well, you can't very well sell this place. You'd barely get a penny for it."
Sebastian frowned a bit, watching as the Earl looked around their home in disdain, his perfect little nose wrinkled a bit in disgust. How such a beautiful person could have such a disgustingly ugly personality, he'd never know. Either way, he didn't really like the way the other seemed to be looking down on them as if they were some sort of burden.
Ciel frowned in thought, glancing up at his butler behind him, then around at the little family. His eyes stopped at the son, looking him up and down curiously as an idea started to form in his head. The other was just a little bit older than he was, but was still quite a bit taller than him, and it seemed like most of his height came from his long legs. He wasn't very muscular, but then again, he didn't have much fat on his bones either. He was thin, obviously malnourished, but surprisingly, he wasn't that terrible to look at. With some time and regular, larger meals, it would be easy to get him up to a healthy weight. The young man was a hard worker, he could tell from the way he'd seen him work at the bakery.
"How about this. My butler, Tanaka, is getting old and has served my family for a long time and now it's time for him to retire. Sebastian young and able bodied. Give him to me to be my butler, and I'll reduce your monthly quota to a third of what it is." Ciel said to the little family after a bit.
"We don't exactly have a choice, though, do we?" Sebastian piped up as he felt his mother wrap her arm around him and start to rub his back.
Ciel looked over at him and frowned. "Excuse me? I didn't know you were the head of this family. Just be happy they've abolished debtors' prisons, or I'd have your entire family rotting in one by now. Now, be a good little boy and sit quietly or get out." He snapped to the other man, not really caring that he was a year older than him. He was still the child of the family and needed to get a better understanding of what his place was.
"Sebastian, please. Don't embarrass us." Sebastian's father said sternly to his son before apologizing to Ciel for his son's insolence.
"Well, that's all well and good, but I'd rather hear it from him." Ciel replied, crossing his arms over his chest as he stared Sebastian down.
"I thought you didn't want to hear me at all." Sebastian replied, matching Ciel's stubbornness.
Ciel's frown hardened and he stood up from his chair and walked over to Sebastian before purposefully using his ringed hand to slap him harshly across the face.
"You really are a burden on your poor parents aren't you? It's because of you that they're in debt, you know. It's your fault. If you hadn't been born, they wouldn't be in this mess. So, if you have a brain, you'll use it and you'll know your place." He spat to the young man sitting in the chair who's eyes widened substantially, a look of shame washing over his face, along with hurt as he started to shrink back in his chair and subconsciously leaning closer to his mother.
"I'm sorry." He said softly.
Ciel sighed as he sat back down, accepting the apology. If Sebastian was to be his new butler, the younger man could very well do with a few lessons on discipline and respect. It wasn't anything he hadn't dealt with, though.
"Excuse me, but will we be able to see him again? He will be living with you, right?" Sebastian's mother asked as she stroked her son's hair soothingly.
"If he does well and behaves himself, I don't see why he can't visit you occasionally." Ciel replied with a nod to her.
"And, of course, we can always write to him." Sebastian's father spoke up, looking over at his wife who looked very uncertain about seeing her little boy go.
"I suppose you're right about that. And it is a very kind offer." She agreed with a small sigh, looking over at her teenage son, scrubbing a bit of dirt off of his cheek with her thumb. "I suppose you were going to leave the nest eventually, anyways."
"Is that an agreement, then?" Ciel asked curiously as he watched the family.
Sebastian watched as his parents exchanged a look and a nod, sealing his fate without so much as giving him a say in it.
"Yes, we'll agree to your terms." His father said to Ciel easily.
"Wonderful. Have him at my manor no later than six tomorrow morning." Ciel replied to them easily, standing up from the table, shaking the father's hand and then moving to leave the little family and the little house.
"My little boy, an aristocrat's butler. I can't wait to tell the other ladies at church." Sebastian's mother said, breaking the silence, kissing her son's cheek gently.
"It is a very respectable line of work. Plus, at your age, it's even more impressive." His father agreed as he sat down with his family at the table.
"You'll be a lot better off living with the Earl than you ever would be here. Think about it, baby boy. You'll have a good, warm bed and enough food to fill your belly. You'll be able to have baths far more often and you'll probably even have custom tailored clothes to fit you." His mother said with a smile to him.
Sebastian nodded and couldn't help but smile a bit at the thought of a warm bed, a wardrobe filled with clothes that fit him properly, meals that consisted of more than bread and maybe soup, and a big bathtub filled with hot water that he wouldn't have to share with anyone else, as well as proper soaps to clean his hair and his body. While he'd still be a servant, and still lower class, he'd be an upper level servant, so it wasn't that bad. Plus, butlers were generally rather well respected. They weren't as highly respected as the masters they served, but they weren't really looked down on too often.
That night, they all shared a bed, the little family snuggling together and keeping each other warm all through the night until they woke in the morning before the sun had even started to rise. They broke their fast on bread, as per usual, and Sebastian gathered up the few belongings he had. He donned his cloak, and took his stuffed cat, the blanket his mother had swaddled him in as a baby, and the few articles of clothing he had.
He headed out with his parents, walking with them down the streets and through the snow, walking for a few miles to the Phantomhive Manor until they stopped at the large, iron front gates, seeing the older man from the previous night emerge from the manor and walking over to them across the huge front yard.
"I suppose this is where we'll leave you. Here, take these too." Sebastian's mother said with a small sigh, handing him a copy of the Holy Bible along with a string of rosary beads.
Sebastian nodded and took them from her, letting his mother hug him tightly, tears springing to her eyes as she held him, his father joining in and hugging him as well.
"You need to promise us you'll write often, alright?" His mother said to him, pulling away from the hug when Tanaka came up to the gate, unlocking it from the inside.
"Of course, mother." Sebastian replied to her with a small smile, kissing her cheek gently.
"Be good, alright? I know how headstrong you can be. Be good and do as you're told so we can see you again soon." His father said to him easily, both of them giving their son one last squeeze before finally letting him go to go through the front gate and into the large manor with the older man.
Tanaka lead the younger, taller man into the house, glancing over at him and noticing the telltale wrinkle between his thin eyebrows that showed how he was trying to mask his distress. He decided not to make any mention of it, though, not wanting to embarrass the younger man.
"I never did get a chance to properly introduce myself last night. I'm Tanaka, the current butler. I'll be helping you get used to everything, and if you ever need help with anything, you can come to me." The older man said kindly to him.
Sebastian looked over at Tanaka at that and smiled a bit to him. "Thank you. I'm Sebastian." He replied, walking with the other man through the manor and down a few hallways until they stopped outside a plain white door that Tanaka unlocked easily before letting them both inside.
The room was a nice sized bedroom with hard wood floors, a bed big enough for one person, a wardrobe that looked to be made of good quality wood, a small desk, and a fireplace with wood ready inside it for him to light to keep him warm in the room at night.
"This will be your room. As of right now, you won't find anything in the armoire, because we didn't know your measurements. So, our regular tailor will be coming around later on today to have your uniforms made. Just a fair warning, the tailor, Miss Hopkins, can be rather overbearing. I advise just cooperating and letting her work the way she sees fit." Tanaka said to him easily as Sebastian set his things down on the bed easily, getting a feel for the room. "Until then, I have orders to get you ready and presentable. I'll get a bath drawn for you in the servants' bathroom. Try to wash yourself quickly, as I'll have to cut your hair and that will take some time. Then I'll introduce you to the other servants and we'll wake the young master together."
Sebastian nodded and walked out of the room with Tanaka, letting the man lead him off to the servants' bathroom, the man drawing the bath for him and getting out a clean towel.
"I'll be back with some clean clothes you can wear. I apologize, though, if they don't fit you. You are a rather tall man, but I'll do my best." Tanaka said to Sebastian with a small smile.
Sebastian nodded and watched as Tanaka left the room, the bathtub filling with water as Sebastian stripped off his old, dirty clothes. When the tub was full, he turned the water off and stepped into the tub, humming at the feeling of the hot water on his skin. He wanted to be able to soak and relax, but he knew he didn't have much time, so he got to work washing his hair with the shampoo and conditioner provided, lathering them into his dark hair and dunking his head back in the water to rinse it all out. He then set to work on washing off his body, looking up when Tanaka walked back into the room.
Tanaka kept his face smooth despite his shock of seeing Sebastian's nude body. It wasn't the fact that the other was nude that shocked him, of course, but the fact that he could see nearly each of his ribs. He averted his gaze to give the other privacy, though making a mental note to make sure he had breakfast with the rest of the servants.
"When you're ready, here are some clothes you can wear. Change into them and then meet me outside." Tanaka instructed.
Sebastian nodded easily to the older man, waiting until he was out of the room to get out of the tub. He towel dried himself and his hair before putting the clothes on that Tanaka had laid out for him. The clothes were a bit loose on him and the pants were a bit short, but otherwise, they fit relatively well. He looked over at himself in the mirror over the sink, making sure he didn't look too terrible before he left the room to meet Tanaka outside.
"Wonderful. I'll cut your hair while it's still wet, then you'll have breakfast and meet the rest of the servants." Tanaka said to him, leading him to an empty room.
Sebastian sat down in the chair Tanaka had pulled out for him, letting the other drape a cape around his front, tying it behind his neck and pulling his long hair out from underneath.
Tanaka walked out in front of him and tilted his head up a bit to examine his face and his dark hair. "I think I have an idea for something that might look good on you. However, it is a bit unconventional. Is that something you'd be alright with?" he asked curiously.
Sebastian looked up at the older man and nodded. "I think I'd be fine with anything, sir."
Tanaka smiled at that and nodded before heading to work. He started off by layering the other's hair, giving it a bit more texture. He then cut the back of his hair a bit shorter so that it ended at the nape of his neck. He trimmed the sides and shaped them up a bit, though leaving them chin-length. He trimmed the rest of his hair that seemed to always want to end up in his face. When it was all said and done, Tanaka stepped back to look at his work.
Sebastian's hair was shorter but it seemed to suit him more now, than when it had been simply been laying flat on his head. It was nice and textured now, albeit a bit messy, bits and pieces of it curling upwards and sticking out.
"You know, I like it. I think it really suits you." Tanaka said, helping the other out of the chair to lead him back to the bathroom so he could see what his hair looked like for himself.
Sebastian blinked at the sight of himself in the mirror. He did look rather different. He looked almost more put-together, and he looked a bit older than he used to. "I like it, too. Thank you, it's very nice." He said to Tanaka with a nod and a smile, unaware of the three pairs of eyes watching them from the doorway.