The rest of the day went rather well. That is until Ciel checked his schedule.
Somehow, in all his fuss over the situation with the Michaelis family, his newest servant, and getting his company back off the ground, he'd completely forgotten the fact that Elizabeth Midford's birthday was in less than a week. She would be paying him a visit for tea that day, and no doubt was expecting a nice gift. After all, he was her fiancé.
Ciel groaned and rubbed his face at the thought, not knowing the first thing to buy for her. Funtom primarily made toys, so he knew what young children liked, but not young women. Especially not young women who would one day become his wife.
Lizzie seemed to like anything cute and stereotypically girly. However, the very notion of 'cute' was subjective. For example, the first thing that came to mind when he thought of the word 'cute' was the image of Sebastian's rich brown eyes seeming to brighten and sparkle and dance whenever his face lit up with a smile. The little crinkles that formed at the outer corners, then the way his long lashes rested on his cheeks when he smiled wide enough to push his eyes shut.
Ciel lost himself for a moment as he thought of his butler before catching himself and shaking the thoughts from his head. He sighed a bit and rang the bell to call the young man up to him. He waited a few moments, smiling softly when he heard footsteps rushing up and pausing at his door. Another moment passed as Sebastian made sure his new suit was straight before lightly knocking on the door and pushing it open.
"You rang for me, master?" he asked, letting himself into the room.
"Yes. I need you to prepare a carriage for tomorrow morning after breakfast. We're going out into London." Ciel said to him easily, forcing himself to look busy and focused on his paperwork so he wouldn't get distracted by those eyes again.
"Of course, sir. May I ask why?" Sebastian replied curiously as he watched Ciel work with his head down to his papers.
"I need to get a gift for Elizabeth Midford, my fiancée. Her birthday's coming up in a few days and I've been so busy I completely forgot." Ciel explained.
Sebastian felt a pang in his chest at the word 'fiancée'. Of course, he should have seen it coming from a mile away. Most aristocrats were engaged since childhood, to keep the family money secure. Besides, it wasn't as if his romantic fantasies of his Blue-Eyed Boy would ever come true, whether Ciel was engaged or not. The whole idea was idiotic and childish.
"Sebastian? Is there something wrong?" Ciel asked, snapping his butler back to reality, his eyes going from distant and thoughtful to present and a bit shocked.
"Ah, no, not at all. I'll schedule the carriage right away, sir." Sebastian said to him with a shake of his head and a small, hasty bow before leaving the room, still obviously nervous about doing well and pleasing his new master.
Sebastian sighed softly as he left down to the kitchen to use the phone he'd used to call Nina to the manor to call the carriage to pick them up the next morning. Once everything was in order, he went through the motions of the rest of his duties for the day, making sure to check in on Nina every once in a while until she'd finished and had handed him a stack of identical suits. He thanked her and made sure she had a way out of the manor before putting the suits in the armoire in his own little bedroom. He hung them all up neatly, smoothing the fabric out and stepped back to look at them all as it finally started to sink in that that manor and that room would be his new home from then on. When he went to bed that night, he would be doing so without his parents kissing and bidding him goodnight or praying with him. If he had a nightmare, he wouldn't have his mother nearby to comfort him. Then, when he woke up, he wouldn't see his parents at the breakfast table. For the first time in his life, he was alone.
Sebastian frowned and sat down on his floor against the wall at the thought, feeling loneliness and fear start to wash over him. He couldn't think of anything but how much he missed his mother's touch and smell and how suddenly alone he felt. He pulled his knees up to his chest and held himself close as he felt tears well up in his eyes. He wanted to go home, but he knew he couldn't. He'd already committed to being Ciel's servant for the sake of his family. It was far too late to turn back and change his mind now. The only thing he could do was write letters to his parents and hope he'd be able to see them in the future.
He found himself remembering the feeling of his mother stroking his hair, hugging him, and telling him how proud they were of him. The memories pushed Sebastian's emotions over the edge and he found himself covering his face with his gloved hands and starting to weep into them.
"Mr. Sebastian? Mr. Sebastian?" Finny called as he walked through the manor, looking for the new butler. The blond stopped outside the butler's bedroom when he heard the soft sobs coming from inside. "Mr. Sebastian?" he asked softly as he let himself inside and moved to sit down on the floor next to the other man. He didn't exactly know what to do when someone was crying. However, he himself had wept quite a few times and he remembered how Bard, Mey-Rin, and Tanaka had helped him. So, he could do his best to replicate the actions.
Finny moved to wrap an arm around Sebastian's shoulders, keeping his touch light and gentle so he wouldn't accidentally shatter the other's bones and make things worse. He wrapped the other arm around his front to embrace him. "It's going to be okay, Mr. Sebastian, I promise. I know it's scary now and Master's pretty scary, too. It'll get better, though, I promise." He said softly.
Sebastian sniffled at the feeling of the arms around him and the gentle words as Finny worked to soothe him. He pulled his hands from his face and looked over at the blond boy next to him.
"There we go. You'll see your family again, don't worry. Master may be hard on you now, but he's not cruel. He won't keep you from them forever. He knows how it feels to not be able to see your parents when you really want to." Finny said gently to Sebastian, gently wiping away the tears on his cheeks with his thumbs.
"I've never been away from home like this before," Sebastian said softly, letting Finny coddle and comfort him.
"I know. It's going to be okay. It'll take a little while to get used to, but soon enough, you will. If you want, Bard and me and Mey-Rin and Tanaka and Master can be your family here."
Sebastian blinked at the offer before smiling softly to Finny. "Thank you."
Finny grinned happily at him and patted his back gently. "No problem, Mr. Sebastian! We can just sit here for a while longer, okay? Don't force yourself and bottle it all up, that's no good. We can just sit here for a while longer and then we'll get back to work."
Sebastian nodded and let Finny do all the talking as they sat together on the ground, the smaller man's arms around his skinny, bony body sweetly.
"Your new suits look really good, by the way. Now you're practically the real deal! All you need is Mr. Tanaka's pin and you're the servant in charge here." He praised happily as he admired the new black suit the butler now wore. "I like the tails on your coat. They kind of look like a bird's tail."
"Well, it is called a swallow-tail coat," Sebastian said after a bit of silence. He couldn't help but smile softly with amusement at Finny's comments.
"Oh. Well, you know, that makes a lot of sense." Finny said with a small smile back to Sebastian and a laugh at himself. "Hey, what say we get back to work now?"
Sebastian nodded, feeling much better after the time he'd spent with the young gardener. He moved to stand up and stretch his limbs out a bit before offering a hand to Finny to help him up as well. Finny grabbed it happily and got up with Sebastian before heading back to their duties together.
Sebastian went through everything he needed to through the rest of the day, feeding Ciel dinner and helping him retire to bed. He washed the younger man and helped him get into his nightclothes, letting Tanaka help him with the bathing portion.
"Sebastian?" Ciel asked as he climbed into his bed and let his new butler get him tucked in under the covers.
"Yes, master?" Sebastian asked, holding the candelabra up so he could see Ciel's face.
"You did well, today," Ciel said honestly to the other man, holding eye contact so his new butler knew he was being sincere.
Sebastian blinked at the little praise and expression of gratitude. He then broke into a happy smile to the younger man, his heart soaring in his chest. "Thank you, master. I do my best."
Ciel nodded and yawned a bit. "Goodnight, Sebastian. "
"Goodnight, my lord."
Sebastian blew out the candles and made sure his master was properly tucked in. He then silently left the room and finished with his duties, seeing the other servants to their own bedrooms. He was the last of the people in the house to bed.
He stayed up just a bit longer in order to write a letter to his parents to tell them about his first days in the manor. In his own nightshirt, he walked out to the mailbox to send out the letter the next day. He made sure all the doors were locked before finally heading to bed.
Sebastian knelt next to his bed and started to pray, praying for good fortune for his parents and to be able to get used to being away from them soon. He apologized for his sins, made the sign of the cross, and blew out his candle so he could crawl into his bed.
He fell asleep rather quickly and easily though waking up when he heard a rapping on his door before Bard let himself inside.
"Oi, Sebastian. We have company." The chef said to him, pulling the shocked butler from his bed, despite both of their states of undress. "You're new here, so I'll tell you what you need to know fast. The manor's under attack and this kind of happens a lot. Here's a pistol, fully loaded. Finny, Mey-Rin, and I will be outside trying to take them down. Your job is to make sure no one gets to the master."
Sebastian took the gun with shock, having never held something like it before. "I-I can't kill people. I don't want to murder anyone." He finally spoke up as Bard pushed him towards Ciel's bedroom.
Bard sighed a bit. The cook couldn't help but feel sorry for the young, wide-eyed Catholic boy who'd suddenly been pushed into something much more complex than serving the owner of a toy company. "I know you don't. But, as servants, our main priority is the safety of our Young Master. If that means shooting someone so they can't touch or hurt him, it just has to be done."
Sebastian frowned and looked down at the gun in his shaking hands. "If I must, then I must. For Master."
"For Master," Bard said with a nod, patting Sebastian's shoulder. "Just stay in his bedroom and keep an eye on the door and windows and pray you won't have to use that thing."
Sebastian nodded and watched Bard hurry off to go outside before he slipped inside of Ciel's room to guard the young earl as he slept. He couldn't help but wonder how the boy slept so peacefully and calmly despite everything that was about to start going on outside. He forced himself not to look out the window, knowing it was probably a picture of Hell when he started hearing gunshots going off faintly in the backyard.
"God save us." He said softly without really thinking, his legs shaking as he waited in the bedroom, completely alert and on edge, all his senses seemingly heightened.
He could hear the sounds of the fighting outside, the soft sounds of Ciel's gentle snores and little mumbles here and there as the boy slept. The room smelled nice, like roses and clean linens. The chilly January air was filtering into the room just a little bit, making his bare shins and feet even colder. He couldn't imagine actually being out in the snowy backyard without any pants on at a time like that.
Ciel stirred a bit in his bed, waking up slowly when he heard someone talking softly and pacing around at the foot of his bed. It didn't take long for him to determine the source of the voice, watching the skinny figure pace around and mumble a soft little prayer.
"Sebastian," Ciel said after a bit, smiling a bit when he saw the figure jump about a foot in the air. "Hey, it's cold. Get over here."
Sebastian moved to look over at Ciel, walking over to the side of the bed to the younger man. "Yes, master?"
"I mean get in the bed."
Sebastian blinked in shock at the words. "Master, are you serious?"
"Of course, I am," Ciel said, scooting to one side of the bed to give the butler some room under the large, plush covers.
Sebastian set the pistol on the bedside table and moved to crawl into the bed, feeling his cheeks burning. He was glad the room was rather dark so Ciel wouldn't see.
The butler crawled into the bed, letting Ciel pull the fluffy comforter and soft, silky sheets up over the two of them.
"There, isn't that a lot better?" Ciel asked, watching the man next to him settle into the soft mattress and pillows.
"Yes, it is. Thank you, master." Sebastian replied with a nod to the younger man.
"It's not a problem. Good night, Sebastian." Ciel replied easily before he let himself fall asleep while his butler protected him from his side in the bed.
Sebastian kept himself awake until Bard came in and whispered to him that everything was done and taken care of. He moved to leave the bed but found it rather hard when an arm wrapped around him from behind.
"No…" Ciel said softly, seemingly in his sleep, his breath hot on the back of Sebastian's neck.
Sebastian shivered at the feeling of Ciel breathing on his neck and holding him from behind. Soon enough, he felt his master curling up around him from behind, pressing into him just a bit.
He frowned, remembering the way all the men in the brothel would hold him around the abdomen like Ciel's arm was as they pressed into him from behind, curling around him. He suddenly felt conflicted. He wanted to leave, to get those terrible, sinful memories out of his head. He wanted to forget the pain of being taken, often roughly, the feeling of tears running down his face, then hot semen on his thighs a bit later. He wanted to forget the humiliation of selling himself for the sake of his family.
However, Sebastian also wanted to stay there with Ciel. He wanted to snuggle into the younger man in return. When he woke up, he wanted to feel Ciel's lips pressing soft, sweet kisses all over his face until his eyes fluttered open. He wanted Ciel to push his inky locks from his face and, smiling at him, wish him a good morning before both of them got started with their days.
In the end, the bad memories defeated his dreams of making happier ones and he wiggled out of Ciel's arms, making sure he didn't wake him up again. He took the gun, convinced himself that Ciel wouldn't miss him when the other woke up in the morning and returned to the servants' wing. He slipped into Bard, Finny, and Tanaka's room to return the gun, then returned to his own bed.
He tried his best to get a bit more sleep, finally passing out from exhaustion for a few hours until his clock's alarm went off and woke him up early in the morning.
Sebastian splashed cold water on his face to wake himself up, quickly took a cold bath to get clean and wake up further, got dressed, and got started with his duties.