"Sebastian, where is Ciel? Elizabeth should be here in about half an hour."
You really called me in here just for that?
Sebastian smiled politely.
"I'm sure he knows, my lord."
You can't keep watch over your only child? Didn't you lose a wife?
"Yes, well, please find him anyway. She's...the kind of guest that requires one to be prepared."
Is that how you would say you can't stand your sister's daughter? Fair enough.
"Of course, my lord."
Sebastian bowed and let himself out of the room.
Ciel's voice echoed down the hallway, drawing Sebastian easily.
He knew Ciel would be here, but considering that he'd only bothered to follow him once, didn't know where he usually spent his trysts.
"What? You're silly." Ciel was telling someone, in that same bubbly voice he'd used on Bard.
A child's laughter followed, leading Sebastian to an open doorway.
"Youwe siwwy!" The child's voice shot back, a shriek of laughter echoing as Ciel gave an exaggerated grunt of effort.
"Oooof! You are getting too big! Soon we won't even have to try to get you down for naps!"
Sebastian peeked in.
Ciel had hoisted a little girl above his head, lying on the floor. His hair was mussed around his face, sprawled out across the floor and reflecting light from the high window like a halo, bouncing the little girl with sporadic and confident movements, ensuring that she would not fall. Her crib was nearby, and a young woman was rocking idly in a chair in the corner. There was another crib on the other side of the door, empty, and a toy train, one Sebastian recognized as having been donated by the Phantomhives, on its side near Ciel's elbow.
He suddenly tossed the girl into the air, sending her up substantially, then sat up smoothly and caught her. She shrieked in delight and the young woman in the corner laughed, standing from her chair and coming into the light.
Sebastian recognized her, then, as the little girl who had spoken to Ciel the first time he had come here.
Ciel held the small girl in his arms like a bride, rocking her from side to side as she laughed, her little fingertips reaching up to touch Ciel's cheek, his lips, holding onto his earring.
The young woman knelt, wrapping her arm around Ciel's shoulders and lifting the girl with her other arm. Ciel's arm tucked around her waist, and he passed the girl on.
"I have to leave." Ciel said quietly.
Under the girl's protests, the young woman murmured back,
"I know."
"No! Don't go!" The little girl whined, sitting up in the young woman's lap and reaching out for Ciel.
He dipped in gently and kissed her forehead.
"I'll be back soon, I promise." He told her, a sweet smile encouraging her to giggle again.
Ciel pressed a quick kiss to the young woman's hair, standing.
Her fingertips held his wrist, and tangled into his fingers, for just a moment before he straightened.
Without turning, he began to speak.
"Well, Sebastian, did Father really notice I wasn't around, or is he worried I won't keep Lizzie busy?"
Ciel turned, a knowing and clever smirk exposing the right half of his teeth as he slunk towards the door smoothly, crossing his arms.
Sebastian backed into the hallway, and Ciel passed him easily.
"The second option, I think." Sebastian answered slowly, still processing what he had just seen.
Ciel hummed lightly and swaggered his way down the hall, that tenderness given to the girls he'd been with fading into the atmosphere.
Sebastian followed Ciel at an admittedly confused distance.
"Do you really walk all the way here?" Sebastian asked as Ciel stepped out into the daylight, blinking it out of his eyes.
"I get help, usually, but I think we can afford to walk the mile. I mean, it's not really like you could get tired from it."
Ciel turned slightly to Sebastian, surprised. "You're hesitating." He said flatly.
"How could you possibly tell?" Sebastian responded immediately.
"Sebastian," Ciel's voice dropped and he slowed, coming to walk much closer to Sebastian as they were passed by another streetgoer, "I know your tics. What's the matter?"
Sebastian hesitated, even he could admit it.
"That little girl is quite lovely." He finally said.
Ciel smiled sweetly, just to think of her.
"Lucille. She's a little angel...er, I don't know if that saying translates to you…"
Sebastian made a short, amused sound.
"She bears a striking resemblance to that young woman."
"Doll? You think so? I don't see it." Ciel responded, not understanding Sebastian's implications.
"Except the eyes, I think. Her eyes are very blue...a lot like yours, when you were younger."
"Do you think? I think her eyes are rather greenish. She's one of the youngest children there, father killed mother only a few months ago. She's adjusted well, I think."
Ciel didn't notice Sebastian's relief, and immediate self-chastising.
Of course Ciel doesn't have a child, he would never bear to leave one in a place like that when he could do better.
But that still doesn't…
"And Doll? You spend a lot of time with her?"
"She practically runs that place. She's done very well; more children are being adopted than ever before."
"You sound very admiring of her."
"She's worked hard for it. She's a good person."
"I just couldn't help but notice…"
Ciel's arm slid around Sebastian's as they left the city, heading out towards the manor.
"What?"
"Well, you were very close to her."
"Sebastian, I know you want to ask me something; just ask it."
"You seem intimate. You don't treat her like you treat others."
"What does that mean? You think I'm going to the orphanage to see her? Oh god, Sebastian, you can't really think Lucille is ours-"
"-Well, I mean, I don't anymore, but-"
"-Sebastian. Let me make this one thing very clear."
Ciel stopped walking, taking Sebastian's arms and staring fearlessly into his red, inhumane eyes.
"Yes, of course I love Doll. She is my best friend...the only friend I can reasonably say is proper for me to have. But she is nothing more than that to me, and I no more to her. We treat those children as well as we can because there isn't a child in the world who deserves to be treated poorly, not because any of them are ours. If you must someday tell my Father where I disappear to, then so be it. You cannot ignore orders from him, I know. But know that what I am telling you is the honest truth. Do not tell my Father anything that isn't true."
Ciel's fingers tightened in Sebastian's sleeves. "Please."
Sebastian gently lifted Ciel's hands. They were trembling, and cold, colder than even Sebastian's.
"Never." Sebastian promised.