A/N: This took so long! Sooooo sorry! I had a lot of stuff to do for college and was super busy. But I'm on break now, so I'm going to try to be better. Thanks so much for your support and your patience.
Tanaka smiled softly to Sebastian. "Come along, then. I'll introduce you to the others and we'll have breakfast." He replied easily to the younger man, moving to open the door, though pausing when he heard a few gasps, followed by graceless thuds.
Sebastian looked around Tanaka as the man opened the door further, looking down at the three people who'd all fallen to the floor when the door had opened so suddenly.
The trio comprised of two blonde men and a red headed young woman. The smaller of the two blondes looked rather young, and Sebastian decided that he couldn't have been any older than he was. He had big green eyes and his blonde hair was a mess on top of his head, tamed only by the red clips he used to keep his hair out of his face.
The other blonde seemed much older than Sebastian. His blonde hair was just as messy as the other blonde's, though was shorter and had nothing to tame it at all. His face was scruffy and unshaven, and he wore a chef's coat like he'd seen the chefs in the bakery wear. However, this man smelled strongly of smoke and tobacco, rather than anything you'd want to find in a kitchen.
The young woman was dressed as a maid with boots laced up to her knees. She kept her hair up in pigtails and kept her eyes hidden behind large, round glasses that seemed old and had a crack in one of the lenses. She looked up and made eye contact with him before her cheeks grew pink and she quickly looked away.
"Well, It seems we don't have to wait too long to meet the others." Tanaka mused. "Sebastian, this is Finnian, Baldroy, and Mey-Rin. Finnian is the gardener, Baldroy's the chef, and Mey-Rin's the maid. Everyone, this is Sebastian Michaelis, I'm going to be showing him the ropes today and tomorrow, and then he'll be in charge."
Sebastian stood a bit awkwardly as the other three servants took the new information in. Baldroy stepped forward after spending a bit of time sizing the new man up. He grabbed the other's wrist, easily wrapping two of his fingers around it.
"God Almighty, you're puny. No wonder those clothes look kinda big on you. Okay, let's go have breakfast." The chef said, patting Sebastian's back and leading him off down the hall and into the kitchen, the other servants following along behind happily.
"You're gonna be the new butler? That's so cool! Wow, you're so tall! Say, how old are you, Mister?" Finnian asked as soon as they'd gotten to the kitchen, looking up at Sebastian with a big grin on his face.
Sebastian blinked at the sudden enthusiasm, looking down at the other. "I'm seventeen."
"Whoa, really? That's just one year older than me!" Finnian exclaimed happily, bouncing up and down with glee.
"You're only seventeen? Geez, you're just a kid. What're you doing working in a big old place like this?" Bard asked as he started cracking the eggs, cursing under his breath when he had to start picking the shells out of the bowl.
"It's a rather long story." Sebastian replied with a shake of his head, moving over to gently take the egg from the Chef's hand. "You don't need to be so forceful with the egg. It's delicate enough to crack easily." He said, showing the man how to properly crack the thing open.
Bard blinked when the newest servant slid the egg from his hands and flawlessly cracked it into the bowl. "…Right. Gotcha." He replied a bit awkwardly, letting Sebastian take care of the eggs.
"Mr. Sebastian, you're really tall! How tall do you think you are?" Finny asked, more and more enthralled by the shiny new servant.
"I'm not all that sure, really." Sebastian replied honestly to Finny as he took care of cracking the eggs.
"Let's measure you against the wall like we do with Young Master, then!" Finny suggested, grabbing Sebastian's free hand and tugging at it a bit. "Mey-Rin, get the tape measure please!"
Sebastian finished with the eggs before giving in to Finny's rather forceful tugs as the gardener lead him off to a spot on the wall, pushing his shoulders back so he had his back flat against the wall. Finny then got up on a chair and used a pencil to mark where the top of Sebastian's head had been.
"Okay! Let's measure now!" Finny said as Mey-Rin came back with the tape measure.
Sebastian stood back and watched as the pair put the end of the tape measure to the mark, letting the roll drop to the floor. Finny held the top while Mey-Rin knelt down on the ground, holding the measure taut against the wall to read the number at the floor.
"I-It looks like you're about 185 centimeters, Mr. Sebastian." Mey-Rin read off, looking up at the tall, handsome young man standing above her.
"I see. Is that good?" Sebastian asked curiously.
"Yeah, that's good. You're a pretty tall fella." Bard replied to him, taking over the cooking when the other servants had stolen away their new butler-in-training. "Probably has something to do with the fact that you're about seventy five percent leg."
Sebastian looked back at Bard, and then glanced down at his legs. He'd known they were relatively long, but he hadn't known they were that long.
"That tailor's gonna have her work cut out for her when she makes your uniform. I think the pants will have to be custom made and patterned and all that." Bard commented as the all got back to work on their breakfast.
"I suppose it will take quite some time, then?"
"Well, supposedly, yeah. That lady's like a tornado when she gets going, though. I've only seen her in action once before when she was making clothes for the Young Master. I feel like she'll be done in a few hours, but it certainly won't take all day."
Sebastian cocked an eyebrow at the idea of one tailor being able to make a whole uniform from scratch in only a few hours. He honestly didn't think it would be possible whatsoever, especially since he would need more than one uniform, since he would be wearing them every single day. He decided not to question it too much, though, figuring he'd just have to see it for himself.
They worked together to make the breakfast together until they'd finally set the little servants' table in the kitchen. With that, they all sat together at the table and started to eat together contently.
Sebastian ate his fill, unable to eat too much of the food as he wasn't used to eating too much just yet. When they'd all finished, he prepared Ciel's morning tea and breakfast with Bard and Tanaka helping him along while Bard cleaned the dishes.
He did his best to remember everything as they taught him and, soon enough, he had a tray with tea and fresh scones in his hands and was following Tanaka out of the kitchen. The older man led him down the hallways of the huge mansion and then up the grand staircase to the second level. They went down yet another hallway and stopped in front of one of the doors. Sebastian couldn't help but notice how plush the carpeting was under his shoes. Part of him wondered what it would feel like if he stood on it with bare feet and how much it would squish under his feet and how soft it would be.
He watched as Tanaka silently opened the door and let the two of them into the bedroom that was about the size of his family's home, if not bigger. He looked around it in awe, noticing the doors on either side of the room, wondering where each one lead. In the room was a bed that seemed absolutely colossal and he couldn't wonder why any one person would ever need a bed so large. He then spotted the small form curled up under the blankets that was fast asleep in the middle of the bed. As he walked a bit closer, Ciel's face became clearer and he couldn't help but smile softly at the sight of the other's rather adorable sleeping face. He stayed off to the side as he watched Tanaka draw open the drapes and let the sunlight into the large room.
Ciel stirred in his bed and groaned in protest, turning over to bury his face into a pillow.
"Young Master, it's time for you to wake up." Tanaka said to Ciel and gently shook his shoulder before pulling the blankets off of him. "The young master likes to be stubborn and try to stay abed. It will be your job to match his stubbornness and insist he gets out of bed so we can keep on schedule." The man said to Sebastian as Ciel groaned some more before finally cracking his blue eyes open.
Ciel opened his eyes and blinked a bit before rubbing them as he sat up in his bed, getting adjusted to the bright light of the morning. When they'd finally adjusted, he looked over at Sebastian, who was standing clueless behind Tanaka with a tray of tea and scones. The man was nice and clean with a new haircut that seemed to suit his face much better.
"Once the young master is awake, always pour his tea and serve it to him." Tanaka instructed, moving to perform the task so Sebastian could watch and learn.
"No, " Ciel said, cutting the older butler off. "He should do it. There's no need to baby him."
Tanaka nodded and set the teapot down onto the tray again. He took the tray from Sebastian and gave a nod to him.
Sebastian couldn't help but start to feel nervousness and the pressure to do well start to set in. Tanaka and the other servants had seemed patient, but the hard frown on Ciel's face and the way he stared at him made his heart start to beat faster. However, he was generally used to his heart beating faster whenever Ciel was around.
Sebastian took the teapot and teacup and poured the liquid into it before carrying it carefully over to Ciel so it wouldn't spill. He did his best not to pay it any mind when Ciel's fingers graced over his own for just a moment before he took the cup and pulled his hands away.
"Now, we'll set his scone on his bedside table and let him eat while we get his clothes for the day." Tanaka said to Sebastian, watching as the younger man nodded and promptly set the little plate with the scone down onto the bedside table.
"This tea is nice, but unfamiliar. What kind is it?" Ciel asked while the two butlers went to one of the doors that lead to his dressing room.
"That would be chocolate mint, sir. It struck me as something you would enjoy." Tanaka replied easily to Ciel, letting Sebastian into the dressing room. He explained all the components Ciel would need to wear to be properly dressed and let the new butler choose the ensemble.
Sebastian looked through the large selection of shirts, pants, coats, hats, and all sorts of clothing, noticing that all of them were in darker or neutral colors. He figured it was for the best, though, as Ciel wouldn't look as good in bright, ostentatious colors.
He chose an outfit he figured would look nice on his new master. With a history in decorating cakes, he had a good idea of how colors worked with and against each other. While he didn't have much of an idea about how fashion generally worked, he figured he could do his best with his knowledge of colors. So, he chose an outfit that was mainly black and white with a royal blue as an accent color.
He walked back out to Ciel as the younger man sipped his tea and ate his scone easily.
"Alright, now go ahead and dress him." Tanaka instructed gently to Sebastian, who looked a bit shocked when it sunk in that he'd have to strip Ciel nude in order to dress him for the day.
"But, isn't that indecent?" Sebastian asked a bit worriedly.
"Not if it's your master. You are here to serve him and make his difficult life easier. It's your duty to help him wherever he needs it. Dressing and undressing him is simply one of those duties." Tanaka replied to him before nodding to him to silently tell him to continue on.
Sebastian swallowed and nodded before obediently moving to start unbuttoning Ciel's long nightshirt. "Excuse me." He said as he unbuttoned lower and lower on the younger man until the nightshirt was off and the young earl was seated before him in his underwear.
Ciel stood up for Sebastian when the other man moved to remove his underwear for him, not missing the way Sebastian flushed and averted his eyes. He couldn't help but wonder if it was possible that any one person could be so chaste. Sebastian seemed to be trying rather hard to preserve every ounce of chastity that he had.
"It's not like you're undressing a woman, you know. I have everything that you do." He commented as the other helped him into his new, clean pair of underwear for the day.
"I-I'm sorry, young master." Sebastian replied, a bit embarrassed of himself as he moved to help Ciel into his white button down shirt.
Ciel said nothing in reply and just watched as Ciel dressed him in the clothes, the other man seeming hesitant to put his hands on his hips at all when he went to tuck his shirt into his pants.
Sebastian couldn't help but feel a bit nervous as he gently set his hands on Ciel's hips and tucked his shirt into his pants, hoping Ciel wasn't bothered by the feeling of a strange man's hands on his hips. The thought of it seemed to trigger memories of his own recent past of all the strangers he'd allowed to touch and feel his body for the sake of his family.
Soon, that part was over, though, and he moved on to finish dressing him with his coat, socks, shoes, and the large blue ribbon he tied around his neck.
Tanaka smiled softly to Sebastian and handed him a comb for Ciel's messy hair. Sebastian took it easily and moved to start combing through and taming Ciel's hair for him, making sure it was absolutely perfect.
"Now, lead him to the mirror in his dressing room to see if it meets with his approval." Tanaka directed.
Sebastian nodded and gently let Ciel take his hand and slide off the bed before walking with the younger man to the large mirror to let him look himself over.
Ciel examined himself in the mirror carefully before nodding in approval. "It's fine. I want breakfast." He said after a bit before turning to leave the room, knowing his butlers would follow behind him like a pair of shadows.
"You serve him his breakfast, and I'll call the tailor." Tanaka said softly to Sebastian with a reassuring nod.
Sebastian nodded and moved to go to the kitchen to get Ciel's breakfast for him. He gladly accepted the small shot of espresso Bard offered him, having started to feel the effects of the long morning. It didn't help at all that the rest of the day would be even longer.