Chapter Two

Ciel Phantomhive stepped into their private compartment just as the train rumbled into motion beneath his feet. It had been more of an adventure getting here than he thought. The trio (of idiots) had somehow caught wind that he was leaving and decided to throw him a farewell party that morning. Breakfast had been a charred broken mess, the great hall had paint splatters everywhere, and the garden... the garden... Ciel put a hand to his temple.

Needless to say, it had been a mess. It was fortunate that he actually did have a demon of a butler - no human could have fixed all that in the span of 30 minutes: exactly the time it took their coach to arrive.

Ciel took a seat near the window, felt the familiar weight of his pistol push up against his skinny waist. He took a breath and decided to focus on the case instead. Anything to get the sight of the garden... the garden... out of his mind.

It went without saying, as well, that even Sebastian had been impressed with the amount of damage that Finny had managed to wreak upon the Phantomhive estate's poor, unsuspecting flowers. When he had looked out the window after the gardener finished his happy chattering, even the demon hadn't been able to hide a well-bred wince.

But things had managed to be salvageable, and the butler could only hope that his employees wouldn't pull the mansion down about their ears while he and the lordling were conducting business on the Continent.

As Ciel made himself comfortable, Sebastian stowed their carry-on luggage up in the overhead compartments, keeping his tea service out for later.

A few hours and an entire pot of English Breakfast later, Ciel looked up from his reading - a bland text about the history of alchemy. Though it was nowhere near dinnertime, he was rather hungry - his morning meal had been entirely inedible and he had dismissed Sebastian's suggestion to stop for lunch while on the carriage in favor for time.

He looked around the compartment and found his demon sitting on the opposite side from him, his eyes neutrally lowered. It was an odd sight to see that mask of face so still - usually Sebastian was so perfect at his farce of pretending to be human. However, no human would sit so, or at least without trying to stare out the window.

Then, the demon's eyes met Ciel's. Sebastian's face animated into life with that knowing smirk. Ciel found himself unconsciously breathing a soft sigh of relief.

"Do demons sleep at all?" he found himself asking, and then immediately regretted it.

"In our human guises, we can sleep if we wish to rest," the demon answered, silent for a moment more before shrugging idly. "But it's not necessary."

For Sebastian, he hadn't slept in weeks, not since the newest threat had appeared and Sebastian returned to a razor sharp readiness to keep his bocchan safe.

Idly, the demon reached out and trailed fingertips lightly over the edge of the boy's jawline.

"Why the sudden interest, bocchan?"

The earl turned his head toward the window, pulling away from Sebastian's touch.

"Well, you can sleep if you want," a small furrow appeared between his brows as he focused on the passing scenery, tried to ignore the small embarrassed flush on his cheeks, "Unless you're creepy and sleep with your eyes open or something."

"How sweet of you, bocchan, to be so concerned over me," the demon murmured with a slow, wicked smile. He chuckled, a muted sound, and started to prepare Ciel's afternoon snack-knowing that the teen wouldn't last until dinner.

Soon, the butler presented his master with a cup of Darjleeng tea and rum cake.

...unaware that Bard had tried to "help" with its preparations while the annoyed demon was fixing the garden.

Ciel gave a small "hmph" and stabbed his butler with a glare. It wasn't exactly that he was concerned, but, it was... disconcerting. The earl never had any illusions that Sebastian was anything but a demon. But there were moments when he was too convincing as a human and Ciel found himself floundering. Just what were the extents of the human guise "Sebastian"? Where there any overlaps between the butler and the demon or did one just seamlessly flow into the other?

Ciel knew never to voice these questions. The phrase "curious as a kitten" was dangerous around Sebastian.

Instead he took a sip of tea and a bite of cake. And blinked. The cake had a surprising amount of heat to it, warming Ciel as it melted sweetly against his tongue and slid down his throat as he swallowed.

It was... good.

He took another bite. And another. Felt his face flush. It was very good.

It had been a long time since Ciel had immediately dug into the sweets that the demon had prepared-sometimes Sebastian wondered if he was losing his touch.

...but then there would be a time where Ciel seemed to very much like the treats that he prepared. It was rather exasperating not knowing what caught his master's attention and what didn't.

"I'm glad you seem to like the cake," Sebastian commented neutrally.

Little did Sebastian know that his sweets were always delicious, but Ciel forced himself to eat it slowly, trained himself to savor it without expression. He couldn't give his demon too much ammunition, after all. Besides, the first mocking comments Sebastian had given a younger Ciel about eating his cake too quickly had stung. It was unbecoming and childlike - and childishness was the first thing that Ciel strove to flay off. Children were far too powerless.

None of this, however, was currently on Ciel's mind.

The earl finished his last bite, loosened his collar a bit - was it getting hot in here? - and held his plate out.

"Another slice," he ordered, his glare daring his butler to do otherwise.

The only commentary that Sebastian offered up to Ciel's order was to slightly lift an eyebrow. "Of course, my lord," the demon murmured quietly.

He quirked a small smile then and cut another slice of the cake to place upon Ciel's plate. Anticipating what the boy would say next, Sebastian made sure that this slice was much bigger.

Ciel found himself taking another bite, and then another. It was odd how Sebastian's face was fuzzy. Ciel squinted and odd things came into focus: the light shining off Sebastian's hair, his lips, that little bob of adam's apple that peeked up over his collar. Ciel loosened his own collar, pulled off his cravat, and gave his butler another glare for good measure.

Sometimes, he wanted to give Sebastian a piece of his mind! Ciel took another bite of cake, licked sticky sauce off his lips. In fact, now was a wonderful idea to do so! No one else was around, Sebastian couldn't weasel out of it by claiming he had to tend to the house or the idiots - this idea was perfect!

Ciel Phantomhive set down his now-empty plate and walked over to his butler. (It surprised him that it took him so many steps to reach Sebastian - had the compartment always been so big?) But what pissed him off more was the fact that even standing, he was barely taller than Sebastian sitting.

"Sebastian," he glared, his hands on his hips, "I order you to be shorter than me!"

Sebastian blinked, then blinked again as his eyes slightly widened in non-feigned surprise. "Bocchan, you order me to... what?"

Never before had his master acted so irrational; it was almost as if he was-

The demon stilled and glanced down at the cake. Tugging off a glove, Sebastian dipped his fingers into the sauce, licking his skin clean.

The rum cake that he had prepared wouldn't have made Ciel at all intoxicated. The cake hadn't been tampered with, but the sauce... The sauce had been left unattended while he went to deal with the garden.

Bard.

The demon butler growled in irritation.

"Well," Ciel raised an unimpressed eyebrow, "I'm waiting."

After an awkward pause, Ciel frowned further and swayed forward, only saved himself by grabbing onto his butler's shoulders, "You're not going to do it, are you? You know why? Because of your stupid demon aesthetics! Imagine if my butler were shorter than me! Then you-you couldn't intimidate me with your smarmy smirk! I hate that smarmy smirk!"

Ciel took a breath - the room was spinning - and took another. His fingers dug into his demon's lapels, wrinkling fine fabric, "You never tell me anything! You're just playing with me and I hate it that I still trust you so much!"

It was... surprisingly... just how much Ciel was giving away just now. The demon had known that they had played games with their words, had always played because he knew that the boy could hold his own. But now... But now.

But now Sebastian was hearing his contractor's inner thoughts.

"I play games because I know that you are equally talented at playing them, my bocchan. I tease and taunt and don't always tell you everything because I know you capable of handling it."

Sebastian shook his head then, scooping Ciel up to settle the boy against his chest. "Never forget that I belong to you, Ciel Phantomhive. I enjoy our contract and I enjoy our small games, but you can still trust me."

The reminder that his master truly was barely more than a child... it was shocking and unsettling both.

And endearing.

"No," Ciel pulled away from his demon, struggling dizzily against his arms, "I... can't trust you. We'll use each other - that's all there is. You'll be my-my gun when I take revenge and in return you take my soul. It's... it's... that's all."

The room was warm and suffocating and Ciel couldn't stop the stream of words flowing from his mouth. He should have been embarrassed but instead, he was just hot. And weary.

But there was no way he could stop - not when he had chosen this path. Knew that he couldn't stop, otherwise the demon that dogged his footsteps might abandon him. Still, there were times when he accidentally slowed down and fear whispered into his ears to look back. Look back and regret.

He never did - won't do so, even now. The boy stopped struggling, slumped slowly against the demon's shoulder. His head felt too-heavy on his thin neck.

"Sebastian," he murmured long lashes fluttering against pale cheeks, brought delicate hands chained with heavy rings to clutch at the front of his butler's vest. "If I ever stop moving, kill me."

"No," the demon said simply, bringing up Ciel's hand to press a kiss to the boy's knuckles.

Ciel pressed his face against Sebastian's chest, listened to his demon's unrelenting heartbeat, "It's an order."

"Why?" the demon murmured, voice soft and muted as he trailed his fingers through his master's hair. Seeing the boy so vulnerable... It was a reminder of just how young Ciel truly was.

Ciel, despite the numbing warm haziness spreading through him, scoffed. It was something he would never say - ever. Even the room was drowsily spinning and his face felt flushed, he acknowledged it.

He was afraid of losing Sebastian. It was ridiculous, because who in their right mind would be terrified that their demon would grow disinterested in him, abandon their contract, and left him live a long, bountiful life without the means to have revenge?

And at that moment, he would cease to be Ciel Phantomhive, would be forced to going to back to "boy," and would be tormented with regret. Compared to that, he would rather have his soul devoured a hundred times.

Ciel gave a harsh bite of a laugh -truly, he must be insane. The crest of Phantomhive on his butler's lapel scratched against his cheek.

"Are you questioning your master?"

"No," the demon answered softly, letting Ciel's hair trail through his fingers strand by strand before pressing a soft kiss to the muted silk. "I only wish to better understand my master and why he would wish to give such an order."

Lashes lowering to veil his gaze, Sebastian gently tilted Ciel's chin upwards so that the young earl could meet his eyes—wanting to see what it was, exactly, that Ciel was thinking that would make him say such things.

Ciel met his demon's eyes without hesitation. His face felt hot and a tiny rational part of his mind told him that he was probably embarrassingly flushed.

Usually, meeting Sebastian's eyes were a battle of wills - it was a physical effort not to drown in those deep reddish-brown eyes. Yet today, they looked... gentler than usual. Then again, the entire compartment was fuzzier. Ciel's logic was flawless.

"I can't -" a pause. Then, slowly, like a dawning realization, Ciel gave his demon a soft, smug smile, "It's a secret."

"Is that so?" Sebastian asked in return, bemused by his bocchan's particular reply. "Then perhaps I can try to coax it from you."

Fingers still gentle, he tilted Ciel's chin upwards a bit higher, dipping his own head to steal a kiss: it was chaste, one might even say sweet—just a light pressing of the demon's lips against the boy's.

Ciel blinked. And blinked again.

The light pressure against his lips wasn't bad - although Ciel was honestly surprised that Sebastian's lips were so soft. And warm. He'd always imagined those lips as sharp and cold as metal. There was no way that Sebastian would coax anyth-

...

Was Sebastian just- did Sebastian-

Ciel blinked. Forced himself to blink again.

Sebastian was kissing him. Kissing him. It took a few tries before his brain finally digested this piece of information, but when it did, it took immediate action.

SLAP! Ciel's palm rang out against his butler's cheek.

Most of the alcohol's influence was driven out by sheer anger, instead leaving a fuming boy in Sebastian's lap.

And Sebastian's cheek turned bright red from the force of his contractor's slap; it stung, just a little bit—used to his bocchan's tendencies of lashing out whenever he was upset. It wasn't the first time that Ciel had slapped Sebastian and the demon knew that it wouldn't be the last.

Instead, the butler gave a softly bemused smile, head tilting to the side. "It seems as if the anger has taken the place of your drunkenness," he murmured, voice quiet as he continued watching the lordling for further reaction.

It was surprising, though, that despite how upset and fuming Ciel currently was—he hadn't made a move to take himself off of the demon's lap. And the fact that it had taken more than a moment for Ciel to actually lash out…

With that particular knowledge, the slap was adequate payment due.

Ciel's hand stung as his fingers balled into a fist of shaking anger. His nails dug into his palms and the sharp pricks of pain sobered him up quickly

The fact that Sebastian had kissed him so casually. It... it was-!

It was first time?

Ciel stopped dead in his thoughts. It was his first kiss? Lizzy had kissed on the cheeks as children. That didn't count then. And when- during- in that dark cage, he hadn't been kissed. They'd forced his mouth open though, even didn't care that he couldn't breathe and-

The boy wrapped his arms around himself, hands clenching into his shirt sleeves until he was sure they would rip, wanted them to rip.

"Don't..." Ciel whispered, harsh and desperate, "don't touch me."

"Bocchan," Sebastian murmured, pitching his voice soft, trying to be soothing. The demon's breath lightly fanned over Ciel's throat as he spoke his quiet words, lashes still keeping his gaze veiled. "Bocchan."

He didn't touch Ciel, though—kept to the other's request, but still hoped that his voice, the sound of the name that he had first called the earl, would somehow reach the boy.

"Ciel."

It was his name, so rarely uttered by his demon, that pulled Ciel from his waking nightmares. Like the strand of spidersilk that he had grasped to pull himself out of hell on that day, Ciel found himself clinging to Sebastian's voice.

With a startled gasp, he forced himself back into reality, unclenched his fingers from his shirtsleeves, his small body panting with effort.

"That's my contractor, my bocchan," Sebastian purred softly, voice dipping lower into something infinitely… tender? His fingertips lightly trailed over the edge of the boy's jawline, settling just beneath Ciel's chin to gently tip it upwards so that the lordling could once more look the demon in the eyes.

"You are mine, as I am yours—everything that I am is yours. There is nothing to fear from me: I have seen you at your worst, just as I have seen you at your best. There is a connection between us, my little lord, and it is a connection not easily broken. I am yours, I am patient, and I will wait."

The last was said with a quiet chuckle as the demon did as demons do and stole what he wanted: one last kiss, this time to the corner of the boy's mouth, letting his teeth scrape ever-so carefully: pointed canines and a tongue that was silken with lies told over centuries. And finally Sebastian pulled away.

Surprisingly, the boy tolerated this last kiss - a kiss sharper and infinitely more gentle than he thought the demon capable of. Ciel held his back ramrod straight, forced himself not to react into that touch.

"I don't believe you," he met the demon's eyes unblinkingly.

Yes, he knew that this demon was infatuated with him, but for how long? Ciel knew better to believe in the promises of a demon, knew that his contract - his power over Sebastian - would only last as long as the demon's interest in him. And to keep that interest, Ciel would have to be unhesitating. Ruthless.

Still, for the moment, caught between the after effects of adrenaline and the soporific edge of the rum, Ciel found himself leaning onto his butler. The train rattled soothingly around them.

Sebastian just quirked a small smile at that, slightly shaking his head in exasperation at his stubborn bocchan. Ciel was Ciel and though the demon wouldn't want his lordling to change—except in more interesting ways—the boy still had the habit of being annoyingly stubborn at the most inopportune times.

Still, though…

The demon smoothing the pad of his thumb over Ciel's bottom lip before sliding his hand to cup over the nape of the boy's neck, fingers massaging. "Go to sleep, bocchan. When you wake up, the effects of the alcohol will have dissipated."

"Alcohol...?" Ciel started, then started putting two and two together (albeit a bit slower than he would have liked). Eventually, he shot the half-eaten cake a glare, which he transferred to his butler. It probably wasn't his demon fault - if Sebastian did it, Ciel knew full well that he would have taken better advantage of the situation.

Still, his butler should have noticed. How would he be able to call himself a Phantomhive butler if he couldn't do even that?

"Well," Ciel gave a little pout, ignored the muzzy warm feeling behind his eyelids, tried to make his mind work in a logical fashion, "How do you get rid of it?"

"You sleep it off," Sebastian said with a bemused chuckle. His amusement very obviously danced in his gaze: didn't bother trying to hide his entertainment because Ciel would have known, anyway. "Sleep for a bit, bocchan. I'll wake you once we arrive—and I'll consider an appropriate punishment for Bard once we return back to the Phantomhive estate."

The demon's smile at that particular statement was enough to make a cold shiver run down most people's spines: the promise of wicked things, horrible punishments to come.

Still, though, Sebastian's touch was careful, infinitely gentle as he threaded his fingers through Ciel's hair, coaxing the lordling to sleep in the way that he knew best—the way that Ciel wouldn't ever admit to aloud for fear of being seen as weak. But the demon knew his master, knew him well: and so he easily soothed and coaxed the boy to slumber, keeping Ciel comfortably tucked against his chest as his contractor slept the journey away.

And it was a long journey—

It wasn't until nearly a full day had passed that Sebastian once more ran his fingers through Ciel's hair, head dipping down to lightly murmur against his contractor's ear: "Bocchan, wake up. We've arrived."

Rome, the heart of the Catholic religion.

And evil's favorite hunting grounds.

Ciel awoke the same way he did every morning: slowly and to the sound of Sebastian's voice. He blinked grogginess from his eyes a few times before he came to his surroundings. His gaze traced the inside of the train compartment, now dark except for the station lights filtering through their window.

"We're here...?" he shifted blearily.

His pillow was warm. Ciel blinked. Then blinked again. Then realized.

He sat up with a start, nearly banging his head into Sebastian's chin. He hadn't- he just- a glance confirmed that he just slept the afternoon and a good part of the night on Sebastian's lap. Ciel felt his face flush despite his vehement orders for it to stop - if only his body behaved as well as Sebastian.

"I'm thirsty," he announced suddenly, anything to distract Sebastian. It was just his luck that his demon saw too well in the dark.

Unfortunately for Ciel, Sebastian did see well in the dark—how could he not, when it was his native environment? Also unfortunately for the Queen's Watchdog, he couldn't see nearly as well as his butler in the dark, and so Ciel missed the subtle glint of amusement that deepened the mahogany of Sebastian's gaze.

Still, as much fun as it would have been to tease his bocchan over that blush, Ciel had mentioned a discomfort that the butler was duty-bound to address. "What would you like to drink, bocchan?" the demon murmured, moving to stand and taking his tailcoat from on top of Ciel—used as a makeshift blanket to keep the boy warm. He shrugged into it, movements economical and yet graceful despite it. "I can prepare some tea for you, or I can fetch water or fruit juice from the dining cart if you wish for something else."

He waited for the lordling to express an interest, expression neutral though Ciel wouldn't have been able to see. (But that was besides the point since Sebastian prided himself on his aesthetics.)

Ciel was inwardly grateful for those exact aesthetics: It made Sebastian a little more predictable.

"Tea," he rubbed at his eyes and tried to stretch away the uncomfortable feeling of having slept in his clothes. Ciel quickly decided that... rumpled... was not a good look for him.

"What's the situation in Rome?" he asked, hearing the porcelain clink of Sebastian brewing tea more than actually seeing him in the dark. He had no doubt that his butler would already know the details.

There was a brief pause in the soft sounds of the porcelain of the tea service clicking gently together.

"I cannot be completely sure, since I haven't yet left the train, bocchan, but..."

Sebastian fell silent for a moment, taking the time to light a match and set the wick of the compartment's lantern to burning. The still-burning match was then used to light the traveling stove, and Sebastian began to heat the water for Ciel's tea.

"There have been rumors, ones I have been able to neither confirm nor deny, that the Queen has set your counterpart into motion, as well."

It was just a feeling, true, but Sebastian had learned to trust those inclinations when he had Fallen so long ago.

The last time he had come across that demon had been in Rome, too, and Sebastian knew that the other loved ironies.

Just a feeling, true-

But there had been spidersilk in the darkness when last he had looked.

"The Spider...?" Ciel frowned. The Watchdog and the Spider had never met in any situation. Ciel would have not known of its existence if it weren't for the hidden records he found in his father's study. After all, the Spider was supposed to clean up his cases. However, Ciel (and therefore Sebastian) never bothered anyone to do their own dirty work. Clean up, Ciel had assumed, was a necessary part of his duty. It had been unnecessary, not to mention a waste of time, to contact someone else for it.

Briefly, Ciel wondered what the current head of the Trancy household was like. The previous had apparently had a range of disgusting hobbies that everyone gossiped about behind perfumed fans and laced gloves. No wonder the man had been a social recluse. Ciel had thought that the Her Majesty the Queen's Spider would have died out with the unsavory man.

He watched Sebastian's movements, his single eye reflecting the amber of the stove. There was something... off... about Sebastian this time. It was hard for Ciel to put a finger on it, but there was something his butler wasn't telling him.

Sometimes, Ciel wondered if Sebastian knew that he wasn't as unreadable as he thought he was. For as much as Sebastian watched Ciel, was attentive to his every needs, Ciel watched Sebastian tenfold. It was his responsibility to know ever nuance of his weapon, his demon - even Sebastian's fake, bland, practiced expressions hid something under the surface.

It was the most complex puzzle game that Ciel had had in a long time.

It was easy enough to feel Ciel's gaze upon him, the sharp eyes, the rush and retreat of the boy's thoughts.

Sebastian bowed his head, hiding his face with the dark silk of his hair-hiding the wicked smile that quirked the corners of his mouth upwards just the littlest bit.

"A shilling for your thoughts, bocchan?"

Ciel raised an eyebrow. He laced his fingers together and rested his head on his hands, his mouth quirked in a smug, challenging smile.

"Isn't that my line?"

"Ah, but I've beaten you to it this time around," Sebastian retorted in kind, hair still veiling the smile that had deepened from Ciel.

Gesture graceful, Sebastian picked up the pot by its handle, pouring the lightly steaming water into the travel-sized teapot.

Soon enough, the calming scent of jasmine green tea filled the compartment.

The corners of Ciel's lips softened slightly, just as it was wont to do when his demon said something particularly ridiculous. The fact that Sebastian had basically told him "but I asked you first" was amusing. It was something unthinkable a few years ago, at the beginning of their contract. Back then, Sebastian had been stiff, almost mechanical in his role.

And his cakes had tasted bad.

Now, his companionship was much more interesting. Even preferable.

Ciel gazed away from his butler, mirth still dancing in his eye, "Something's bothering you about this case."

Ciel's words finally caused Sebastian to look up, eyes slightly wide.

He had always relied heavily upon watching Ciel, knowing his master's moods, gauging and guessing at the thoughts that went on within that chess-like mind.

It surprised him at times, like now, to realize that Ciel had just as quietly, as intently, been watching right back.

Knowing that he had given an obvious stumble and irritated at himself for it, the butler glanced away and instead began to pour the tea into the young nobleman's cup.

"Oh? And why do you think that?" Sebastian idly asked as he handed Ciel the teacup.

Ciel smiled into the teacup as breathed in the delicate notes of jasmine, balanced by the earthy aroma of the green tea before taking a sip. It was perfect, of course. He took another sip, bemused.

"You're being purposefully vague," he finally decided on, "and avoiding the question."

"Ah, but you are also fully aware, bocchan, that I am a demon-and demons always ask for bargains before giving over power or information," said demon responded with as he lightly quirked an eyebrow at Ciel, putting the tea set away now that he had a pot ready for his contractor.

"Of course," Ciel's teacup clinked gently as he set it upon his saucer.

It would have been easy enough to order Sebastian to tell him, but Ciel was willing to play this game for as long as it was entertaining. The banter between was both comforting in its familiarity and exciting in its challenge.

"And what else could I bargain with?" Ciel met his demon's eyes with a small, wry smile.

"A kiss," Sebastian answered simply with a slow curl of a smile, eyes sparking eerily in the lamplight. "A kiss willingly given, willingly participated in."

"Hmm..." Ciel gave this some thought and tried not to blush as he recalled the rum cake incident earlier. He cleared his throat.

"Since you've already stolen a kiss from me, I'll only meet you halfway," he announced, his eyes cool and challenging, daring Sebastian to argue. "A kiss willingly, but not participated in."

"Ah, but you've already got your retribution for the stolen kiss and defended your honor when you slapped me," Sebastian rebutted, giving a small, coy smile as his eyebrow quirked higher, head tilted to the side so that the strands of hair that were perhaps getting a bit too long brushed over one shoulder.

"Are you afraid, bocchan, that you would like the kiss too well should you participate in it?" the demon challenged back.

"That's true," Ciel allowed, a small exasperated smile playing over his features, "Unfortunately, it wasn't that kiss that I was referring to."

Ciel took a silent breath and decided. He wasn't exactly sure why Sebastian was choosing to initiate this game - he had never expressed interest like this before. But there wasn't a game that Ciel couldn't win, and now that Ciel had chosen to participate, he wouldn't hold back.

The young earl stood in a fluid motion and walked over until he stood in front of his butler. With a single, lace-cuffed hand, he reached up and freed Sebastian's tie from his vest and jacket, tugged on it until his butler's face was level with his own.

"You misunderstand. It wasn't my participation that I was denying," he gave a bemused, indulgent smile despite the pattering of his heart.

"Don't move," the boy murmured as he leaned close and kissed his demon.

It was always so much more entertaining, so much more engaging when either he or the boy upped the stakes in their game: challenges and mocking that only the other would understand, comments worded to raise the other's hackles—manipulations all gained so that one or the other would come out the victor in their game.

Despite the fact that Ciel had given him an order to not move, Sebastian still considered this a win in the way that it was Ciel who had instigated the kiss, not the demon—it was a change, a shift in their dealings with one another.

And though Ciel said not to move, he hadn't ordered the demon's silence: to which, Sebastian gave a low, rumbling growl that was all bestial—a demon's purr of pleasure.

Sebastian's lips were warm and surprisingly soft against his own. Ciel moved his mouth hesitatingly and was entirely unprepared for that... raw, carnal noise that his demon made. He took a sharp intake of breath and pulled back, less confident than when he started but determined to see it through nonetheless.

It was with both surprise and relief that Ciel realized nothing about the kiss had reminded him of his past.

"Well," he was losing the fight against the heat on his face, "live up to your end of the bargain."

Sebastian's smile was slow in coming and perfectly sensual when he saw the blush upon Ciel's cheeks.

"There was a demon that I had met once long ago. We had… a dispute, the last time that we had come into contact with one another. I do not know what name he will go by now, but I do believe that he will probably be in the city. I've felt his power as we came closer and closer to Rome."

"'A dispute'..." the earl repeated, meeting Sebastian's gaze.

It was odd, somehow, that Sebastian had a life other than the one he had dedicated to Ciel. Logically, Ciel knew that his demon had lived millenniums, perhaps longer. But the strange possessiveness that he felt over "Sebastian" was so complete that it was hard to consider the demon in any other time or form.

He voiced none of his doubts out loud, and instead asked the most pressing question: "Will he be a problem?"

"If he is as I remember him to be?" Sebastian asked, expression vaguely irritated. "Then yes, perhaps." Not that the demon intended to let the other complicate Ciel's mission here in Rome. If the spider demon decided to stick his web-covered fingers in the bocchan's business, then Sebastian would just have to break them off.

One by one.

"But as you've realized, my Lord, I'm rather talented at dealing with problems."

"So you are," Ciel let his eyes soften in acknowledgment, before schooling his features, "Dress me. I want to be off this train and starting the investigation."

"Yes, my Lord," Sebastian said as he knelt upon the ground before the boy.

So self-assured, always stepping forward, always ready to meet the next challenge. The hunger stirred within Sebastian, and when he glanced up, shadows flickered and stretched around his body—reaching out with sliding, subtle touches to extinguish the flame of the lantern and bring the cabin into darkness so that Sebastian could dress his bocchan in privacy.

For a moment longer than usual, the demon's fingers lingered over Ciel's scar.

The compartment was thrown into darkness once more.

Slowly, his vest was unbuttoned, his shirt beneath with the same, almost-neutral touch.

Ciel did not flinch then, nor when Sebastian's hand mapped the grotesque bumps and ridges of unfeeling flesh. He found it odd that somehow, because this was Sebastian, he didn't mind the touch. Briefly, he considered if it was because he'd overthrown his trauma of it, but the mere thought of anyone seeing this disgusting symbol made him nauseated.

There was a time when Sebastian's touch had been clinical, and Ciel now realized that it hadn't been for a long time.

"Careful, bocchan," came Sebastian's quiet murmur in the darkness of the compartment as the demon steadied his contractor so that Ciel could step into a new pair of shorts. His touches were equally careful as he guided Ciel's hands into the sleeves of a new shirt, guiding the boy's limbs with an expert touch that didn't presume to be commanding.

When he finished redressing the young nobleman and had put away the travelling kit for the tea service, Sebastian relit the lanterns (the normal way), and opened the door for Ciel. "Shall we be off?"

Sebastian's gaze was heavy as he watched Ciel make his way forward.

The earl stepped out of the compartment, made his way down the hall with only the heat and flickering orange glow of Sebastian's lantern at his back. It wasn't until he stepped off the steps into the night - much warmer than he was used to in London - that he turned back to Sebastian.

"Call up a carriage. We'll start at the Vatican."

"As you wish," the nobleman's butler answered promptly, giving the lantern to the early morning porter on shift; once his hands were free, Sebastian stepped up to the curb, hailing a hackney almost immediately—despite the fact that all of the other customers were each vying for transportation, and all with no luck.

Giving a cat-got-the-canary smile, Sebastian ordered the drive to place their things atop the carriage before turning to Ciel to help him inside and following soon after. It wasn't much long after that that they were both underway to the seat of the Catholic Church's power.

Sebastian snorted suddenly, looking over at the young nobleman. "How familiar are you with the Catholic faith, bocchan~?"

Immediately, Ciel remembered his mother's voice, soft and lilting as she helped him recite bedtime prayers. She would clasp her warm hands over his own little ones as they prayed, and afterwards touch their foreheads together. Sometimes, she would rub noses with him and he was so ticklish that he'd end up giggling. Once, Father had heard him, joined in and the both of them had tickled him until he thought he would burst from laughing and happiness.

He pushed the memory away.

"Not much," Ciel looked disinterestedly out the small window, "It's just people willingly deluding themselves in the end anyway."

Sebastian couldn't help but laugh quietly at that, the rough sound of a raven's caw slipping into the normally composed sound.

"Not quite," the demon corrected with a slow smile. "After all, I exist; correct?"

Ciel turned and quirked an eyebrow at that, "I didn't think that you followed religion. Or that religion created you."

It was odd. Sebastian had never seemed to be a typical demon described in the texts. Then again, Ciel had never met any demon other than Sebastian. Who knew - maybe all demons had smarmy smirks.

"Ah, but now you're just deliberately misunderstanding me," Sebastian said with a soft snort, purposefully echoing Ciel's earlier words. "Religion did not create me: my brethren and I were here long before humanity came to be. However, religion believes in us—in me. Doesn't that make you wonder what else religion might also be right about?"

The demon quirked an eyebrow in challenge and in return, waiting to see how Ciel to rise to his words and answer him.

The earl sitting across from the demon considered, "I highly doubt that you exist to 'test humanity's faith' or anything as compassionate as that." Ciel scoffed. If anything, that logic would be used to justify those who had brushes with demons, or simply to use the concept of demons as a deterrent for bad social behavior. Accusing witchcraft and Satanism was still a good scapegoat excuse to persecute anyone - except those who had the wealth, of course.

"But the other, less moralistic ideas, might have merit. Then... demons have a hierarchy, perhaps. And are organized in a militaristic fashion, with legions to command."

This time, Ciel's lips twitched upwards in a smirk, all sharp edges and bemusement, "Did you abandon your position?"

Sebastian laughed at that, caught off guard by the question and openly filled with amusement. "Of course not," the demon said with a sly smile in return. "What's the point of desiring, of gaining power, if you don't have the ability to keep it once you have it? I still have my position, bocchan. I just prefer a more hand's-on approach to how I conduct my business."

The butler leaned back against the seat of the hackney, humming softly for a moment before posing his next question for the young nobleman: "If what you say is true and that demons have a hierarchy—and if it really is true—where do you suppose I come in?"

He knew that he was flirting with dangerous information there, knew that a demon shouldn't ever give away more information than was bargained for, but Sebastian also knew that his young contractor was incredibly intelligent: the fact that Ciel had brought up the structure of the "aristocrats" obviously was done with a point.

This time, Ciel gave an outright grin, his left eye a piercing sapphire - all sharp edges and brightly cut.

"The top. Otherwise, I'll be severely disappointed in contracting you."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Such an ego you have, bocchan," Sebastian chided in answer, smirking as he reached out and trailed leather-covered fingers over the edge of Ciel's jawline.

Here, though, Sebastian's smile quirked just a bit more wickedly—knowing full well that he was skating on thin ice and slipping into a dangerous game. "I wonder if you can guess my name, Ciel Phantomhive."

~TBC~