Ciel just about felt his heart spring from his chest the moment he felt Sebastian's mouth on his own, his eyes going wide as his brain seemed to freeze up before scrambling to find a way out of the situation. He gave himself one second to think about how soft and warm Sebastian's lips were against his own, and how it actually wasn't that bad, before putting his hands out and using all his strength to shove Sebastian away from him and off of the bed. He panted a bit, still trying to get a handle on what had happened as he registered that Sebastian was on the floor, looking up at him rather quizzically.
"What the hell was that?" Ciel blurted out after a few more seconds of shocked silence.
"I kissed you, master." Sebastian replied as he sat up from where he lay on the floor.
"Yes, I know, that was extremely obvious. I want to know why." Ciel snapped back, looking over at the butler.
"Well, you kissed me first, sir. I just assumed it would be alright." Sebastian replied calmly, watching the younger man from his seat on the floor.
Ciel blinked at the reasoning, looking over at the other man and trying to figure out where his head was. It was as if he'd totally forgotten how normal human reasoning worked out.
"It was just on the forehead. It was totally platonic with no hidden affection behind it at all." Ciel replied with a small frown. "What's gotten into you, Sebastian?"
Sebastian just stayed silent, having been absolutely sure that Ciel kissing his forehead had been a silent plea for more affection. He just stood up, using the bed as leverage to lift himself up off the ground.
Ciel grabbed Sebastian's hand once the man was standing, frowning at the sight of the pure black fingernails. It was a small detail he'd nearly missed, but it lead to him looking up and noticing Sebastian's new red irises and the overall different appearance of his face. He looked a lot healthier, as if he'd suddenly lost any trace of years of malnourishment overnight, as well as totally finishing puberty.
"Tell me the truth, Sebastian, what happened to you last night?" Ciel asked with a small frown.
"The two silhouettes, evidently men, attacked me from the front and back. I'll spare you the details, since I'm sure you can figure those out on your own. I was in intense pain for what felt like forever, but then it simply stopped in the middle of the night. Some men broke into the house, but I think they were just here to remove my parents' souls. There were two of them, one with red hair and another with black hair. The one with red hair kept getting all worried and saying I was just a baby. The one with black hair didn't seem to care. He said a demon's a demon, no matter the circumstance." Sebastian explained to Ciel with a small frown.
Ciel listened to his butler, looking down at the man sitting on the floor next to him. "And what do you think of all of this?"
"I don't know what to think, sir. I'm confused and scared and very, very angry. I'm not sure what exactly I'm angry at, I just know that I'm angry." Sebastian replied honestly, looking down at his hands and black fingernails in thought. "I guess, one good thing has come out of this, though."
"Oh? And what would that be?"
"At least, now I have the capacity to truly become the best Butler in Great Britain for you. Perhaps even the world."
Ciel smiled softly at the reply and looked down at Sebastian, reaching down to mess up his dark, silky hair before holding his hand out to the other man.
"I look forward to watching you grow, then. I'm sorry I pushed you off the bed." Ciel said, helping the larger man up from the ground.
"It's fine, master. I was out of line." Sebastian replied softly as he stood up and sat on the bed next to Ciel once again.
Ciel just nodded, looking over at the taller man seated next to him on the bed. He couldn't help but notice how nice Sebastian's face looked from the side. The man had a nice, sharp jawline, a perfectly straight nose, and thick, dark lashes that fanned over his cheeks delicately when he looked down. It was the kind of face he knew any man or woman would kill to have.
"The kind of face that could get someone in trouble…" Ciel thought aloud.
Sebastian blinked at the sudden words, looking down at Ciel. "I'm sorry, sir? What did you say?"
"Huh?" Ciel asked, in just as much shock as his butler. Before he could answer, he heard a familiar peal of laughter coming from in the main entry area of the manor.
"I suppose I'd better go see to him. You just keep resting, I'll be back." Ciel said softly, patting Sebastian's lap before getting up and leaving the room.
Ciel walked out to meet the Undertaker, leading the older man up to the room where they'd been keeping the bodies of Sebastian's parents and watching as Bard and Finny helped to carry them out of the manor so the room could be cleaned and they could be prepared for burial. He silently talked with the Undertaker about funeral and burial plans.
"It'll be a proper Catholic ceremony and burial, that much is a no-brainer. I'll pay for everything, of course. I'll contact the priest at the family's church once you leave to start planning everything out. I'll have to check with Sebastian about how much he has to be or wants to be a part of everything." Ciel thought aloud, figuring Sebastian would probably know much more about Catholic funeral rites than he would.
"At the very least, Mr. Butler will have to give a eulogy at the vigil, attend the Funeral Mass, and attend the Interment as well. For two bodies, the embalming process should take a couple days. I expect they'll be ready for viewing by Wednesday." The Undertaker replied with a nod. "Well, Earl, talk over everything with Mr. Butler and keep in touch."
Ciel nodded and watched the Undertaker leave with the bodies before moving to get Tanaka to call the priest of Sebastian's family's church and heading back to his butler's room. He knocked twice on the door before letting himself inside, finding himself welcomed by the sight of Sebastian attempting to contort himself on his bed like a circus performer.
"Did I come at a bad time?" Ciel asked, absentmindedly wondering if becoming a demon entailed gaining extreme flexibility as well as turning bones into rubber, so one man could be able rest on his belly with his hips near his head and his feet resting in front of him, his toes pointed so they just barely touched the mattress.
"Sorry, sir. I got bored, that's all." Sebastian replied, falling out of the position to return to just laying on his stomach on the bed.
Ciel just shook his head and sat down next to the other man. "Well, I'll remember you can do that if we ever have to infiltrate a circus or something."
"I wonder how likely such a thing would be." Sebastian hummed in reply.
"Who knows? Circuses, cults, a lot of weird things come around in the underground of London. But, that's not what I wanted to talk to you about. I wanted to let you know that the bodies of your parents are out of the manor now and are on their way to being embalmed as we speak. They should be ready by Wednesday, and Tanaka is on the phone with your priest to start setting everything up for the vigil and mass and burial."
Sebastian listened as Ciel spoke and nodded in understanding, keeping silent.
"I need to know how comfortable you are with being involved in the planning process for these next few days. I can understand if you don't want to do much more than work on writing a eulogy."
"I want to be involved in the process, sir. I just don't want to be much of a burden if it turns out I emotionally can't handle it." Sebastian said softly, looking over at the Earl.
"You'll never be a burden, Sebastian, no matter the circumstance. You're a good butler, and you'll only get better from here on out."
Sebastian nodded and moved to sit up so he was sitting on the bed next to Ciel. "I'm going to make sure you remember that, sir."
"Oh no."
"I'm going to need a replacement sleep shirt or two, sir. I accidentally ruined one last night."
"What happened?"
"Well, I tore a couple very large holes in the back. It's beyond repair, I think."
"How did you do something like that?"
"Well, evidently, I have wings now, but I can control when they come out. "
Ciel blinked at the news and nodded in understanding. "Alright. I'll get some more made once all this funeral planning is finished."
Sebastian nodded and looked over at Ciel after a bit of silence. "Master, I think we ought to address the elephant in the room."
"You mean the kiss?" Ciel asked, perfectly happy with avoiding the topic altogether.
"Yes, I do." Sebastian replied with a nod.
Ciel sighed a bit and looked over at his butler. "I'd be lying to you if I said I hated it and didn't want to do it again. Wipe that smile off your face. We need to keep this as silent as possible. Whatever this relationship is or becomes will be kept completely between you and I. Do you understand?"
Sebastian nodded, grinning at Ciel all the while. He decided he didn't care if it had to be kept a secret and would have to consist of a few fleeting kisses and touches here and there. Just so long as he had Ciel in some sort of way, he would be happy. "Yes, sir. May I kiss you now?"
"Let me close the door." Ciel replied, getting up once again to shut the door before he seated himself next to his butler, letting the man start kissing him immediately. Without the shock that had taken over the first kiss, he found himself finally able to enjoy the feeling of their mouths pressed together. Sebastian's lips were warm and soft against his own and the butler kept the kiss nice and slow and gentle. He felt the other man raise his hands to gently cup his cheeks, loving the feeling of his warm, gentle fingers against his skin. The feeling of it was completely intoxicating, and Ciel let Sebastian pull him closer until they were both laying down on his bed, tangled up in each other.
After what felt like much too short of a period, Ciel finally pulled away and left to let Sebastian start working on writing a eulogy for his parents while he went to his own set of tasks.
The next few days kept Sebastian rather busy as he helped to plan his parents' funeral, run the manor, and spend the nights drafting and revising the eulogy for the vigil. Keeping up the act of being human was a lot easier than he'd thought it would be. However, the other servants were seemingly a lot stupider than he'd thought, so they probably might not have noticed a thing at all.
Between tasks, Sebastian would often find Ciel calling him up to his office so they could spend the next few minutes holding and kissing each other. They kept their little rendezvous' short and quiet, so they wouldn't raise any suspicion, immediately going back to work once they were finished for the time being.
Elizabeth and her family visited on Tuesday, the young woman having insisted to her family that, as Ciel's future wife, it was important to establish a good relationship with the servants. In doing such, it was only polite that they attend the vigil and funeral for Sebastian's parents and try to support him in his grief.
"Sebastian, do you know how to fence?" Elizabeth asked him curiously as the young butler served her and her family tea.
"I'm afraid fencing isn't a part of my repertoire yet, lady Elizabeth." Sebastian replied to her honestly.
"I could teach you, if you'd like." She offered with a happy smile up at the man.
"He'd have to do something with his hair, first. How any man would be able to fence with hair in his face is beyond me." Francis commented with a small frown, the woman already having forced Ciel into pushing his dark hair back away from his face. "But, then we'd have a better view of his lecherous face. So, I suppose it's a lesser of two evils."
Sebastian glanced over at the woman, silently wondering how such a straight-laced, stern woman could have raised a sweet, lovely girl like Elizabeth. Instead of paying any attention to insults, he just smiled sweetly at Elizabeth as he finished serving the tea. "I would be honored to have you as my teacher, lady Elizabeth."
Elizabeth just grinned up at him happily and patted his shoulder as she and her brother, father, and mother sipped their tea. Sebastian let them have their tea in peace, telling them to call for him if they needed anything.
"You might be a little too hard on the boy, Francis. I think he's a rather handsome young man." Sebastian heard Alexis comment as he walked away to continue working for the day until he was called back to clear away all the dishes for the family.
"Sebastian, do you want to fence now? We can keep the tips on and I'll go easy on you." Elizabeth asked him eagerly.
Sebastian smiled gently at her. "Of course, lady Elizabeth. Just allow me to bring these dishes back to the kitchen and I'll meet you wherever you please."
"How about the ball room? It'll give us a lot of space. I can ask Ciel if he wants to join us." Elizabeth asked, grinning back at him.
Sebastian nodded to her. "That sounds wonderful. I'll do my best not to keep you waiting for too long."
Elizabeth nodded and happily went off to find her fiancé while Sebastian took care of the dirty dishes. She smiled when the butler met the two of them in the ballroom, the man carrying along a few foils for them to use that Ciel usually used in his fencing lessons.
Sebastian let Elizabeth get to work, the young woman helping him with his stance, gently guiding his legs and hips into position. She then showed him how to properly hold the foil, doing the actions herself. She and Ciel taught him the basic movements and how to generally maneuver around with the foil.
"You're such a quick study, Sebastian. Now if I lunged at you like this-" Elizabeth said before lunging at the butler with her sword, the man quickly stepping to the side.
"I dodge." Sebastian replied with a small smile to Elizabeth.
"Exactly. And we kind of continue like that, trying to hit each other." She replied with a nod. "I could show you how with Ciel, though he's not that great."
"Hey, I am good! You only knocked me down a lot when we were kids because you had more experience." Ciel protested, grabbing a foil and getting into position. "I'll take you on right now, Lizzy, unless you're afraid of me."
"Ciel, I'll never be afraid of you, I'm sorry." Elizabeth replied with a happy smile, getting into position with her fiancé.
Sebastian stepped off to the side by the rest of the Midford family, watching the pair start to fight each other with the foils, taking in how the movements generally worked. It didn't take long for Ciel to wind up falling to the ground on his backside.
"Fine, fine, you win." Ciel said with a sigh as Sebastian rushed over to help his master up to his feet.
"Are you alright, sir? Do you need ice?" Sebastian asked Ciel, straightening out the other man's clothes and dusting them off gently.
"No, I'm fine. I want to see how you fare against her." Ciel replied, looking up at Sebastian. "Maybe you'll be a bit better."
"I will do my best, sir." Sebastian replied, taking his place in front of Elizabeth.
"Shall I go easy on you, Sebastian? Since you're a beginner, I mean." The girl asked with a happy smile up at the butler.
"No need, I think I understand how it all works." Sebastian replied with a shake of his head.
"Well, if you're sure." Elizabeth replied, a bit tentatively, but getting into position nonetheless.
It was Edward who made the call for the impromptu match to start. Ciel stood aside, watching Sebastian fence with Elizabeth, the man jumping away from each of her lunges, dodging each attack she made. The butler kept on the balls of his feet, moving quickly and smoothly, as if he'd been fencing since the day he was born. As the minutes passed and the match went on, Ciel could see Elizabeth getting visibly frustrated with each time Sebastian dodged her attacks. Finally, the girl lunged quickly, pointing the covered tip of her foil just between Sebastian's eyes.
Sebastian saw the foil coming and acted on impulse, quickly arching backwards, letting himself fall to his knees, bent back so his back hit the ground. He pulled himself back up as quickly as he fell and, seemingly in a whirl of black, finally landed a touch on the girl with the tip of the sword.
Elizabeth looked up at Sebastian with wide green eyes, the room staying silent for a few moments after the match ended.
Sebastian smiled happily down at Elizabeth, putting his sword down. "I'm afraid I win this one, lady Elizabeth."
"I'm afraid so. Good job, Sebastian." Elizabeth replied with a happy smile up at the butler.
"My God, boy, where did you learn to move like that?" Alexis asked.
"Why, I learned everything from Miss Elizabeth just now, sir." Sebastian replied with a happy smile to him.
"She only spent a few minutes teaching you the very basics, though. There's no way, it's impossible…"
"With all due respect, sir, nothing is ever 'impossible' for a Phantomhive servant. If I couldn't pick up a new skill such as this, what kind of butler would I be?"