Chapter Four
The young earl merely raised an eyebrow in question. Despite the tantalizing details of the photographs fluttering to the ground, Ciel found himself unwilling to bend to this earl who behaved like a commoner to pick any of them up. He could have simply ordered Sebastian to do it, but he despised the idea of even his butler bowing down to Trancy.
On one hand, it would be easier to capitulate and obtain information faster. From the smug smile that the other boy was giving him, it was clear that these pictures and whatever was in that sealed envelope were vital hints to this case. However, there was a chance that these had been tampered with. Ciel much preferred gathering his own information and conclusions.
So, instead, he waited with a sardonic expression for Earl Trancy to make his move.
The fact that Ciel Phantomhive said nothing would have discouraged a great many people. But though Ciel said nothing, he still stayed. And that was enough for Alois to be willing to tip his hand, though it was still early on in the game.
Alois laughed softly as the silence stretched on, giving a satisfied little purr as the letter and its envelope fell from his fingers to join the pile of photographs on the floor. Silently, with eyes demurely downcast, Hannah stooped down and began gathering all of the bits of paper that Alois had carelessly let slip away.
"Stay the night here, Ciel. Just tonight and without your butler. Play a game of chess with me~"
The boy's smile deepened at that, and Alois stood, though he was slightly unsteady on his feet. "Agree to that and I'll give you the folder." And because Ciel was an overly suspicious brat, the second contractor made sure to add on: "The folder and everything that's been collected and placed in it."
The look that the blonde boy gave Ciel was beneath his thick lashes was challenging, was openly mocking: Agree to my bargain... unless you're afraid.
And Alois knew that Ciel hated it when enemies taunted him about being afraid of them, of feeling fear and letting intimidation settle deep in his belly.
The young earl's dislike of the taunt was entirely stemmed from his unwillingness to back down from challenge. And it was exactly that which was reflected in the mocking gaze of Alois Trancy.
Ciel took a moment before pulling his mouth into an answering smug smile, "Very well then. A game of chess it is."
He re-seated himself languidly: crossed his ankles, rested his cheek against the cold ring of his family crest, artfully arranged his limbs in an array of indolent confidence. He paused then, tilted his head up to meet his demon's eyes.
"Go on first to the hotel."
Despite the flippant order, Ciel's gaze was sharp. The unspoken 'you know what to do' filled the air between demon and contractor, soft and insistent as a butterfly's wing beat.
And the glance that Sebastian gave to Ciel beneath his lashes let the young nobleman know that his butler was definitely not happy about being ordered away—no matter the fact that Ciel had ensured that there would be a loophole in that order.
The boy had a tendency of getting kidnapped, and Sebastian just couldn't bring himself to approve of a situation where it seemed as if Ciel was practically begging for it. Add on to how leery he already was of the kumoshitsuji and his contractor…?
Still, an order was an order.
"Yes, my Lord," the demon murmured with a slight bow, inclining his head. He left Ciel's outer wear near the boy, settling them neatly for when Ciel would want to leave; a glance at both Alois and Claude came with the pause at the doorway, but then Sebastian finally left.
When he was alone with the other teen, Alois grinned and reached out to wrap his fingers snugly around Ciel's wrist, his hold on the dark-haired boy possessive and strong. "Your demon seems to be more of a nanny than a butler," the Earl Trancy taunted further, voice soft.
"Hmph," Ciel freed his hand with a jerk, the corner of his mouth quirked sharply upwards. "This from someone who gets fed from his."
He took a sip of tea that Sebastian had prepared earlier. It was tepid, but none of his discomfort reflected on the sardonic expression he wore.
"So, let's begin."
The dishes were cleared in a flurry of activity from the servants, food replaced with a heavy marble chess set.
Claude remained in his proper place, a step behind his master's chair. His face was a mask of granite, as cold as the piece that Ciel Phantomhive picked up. The demon watched as the boy examined the black king with an expression of bemusement before placing it with a solid click on his side of the board.
From above his own contractor's head, Claude regarded the other boy with an odd sense of curiosity. He wouldn't have thought that Sebastian Michaelis would have been dismissed so readily and easily. Was the boy simply reckless or just naive to walk so willingly into the spider's lair?
But as the pieces were lain out and put into play, as black overtook the board and forced Alois' shining white into corners, Claude began to suspect that Ciel Phantomhive's smug, silent arrogance stemmed from competence. Claude found himself wondering if why this capable, confident boy needed to summon a demon in the first place. It was interesting, to say the least.
As Ciel's pieces began to overtake the board and Claude began pondering dangerous thoughts—dangerous thoughts to Alois—the blonde paused for a moment to look the chess game over, head tilted to the side. He knew that he was going to lose; Alois knew that he was going to lose even before he stated that he wanted the game. The thing was, though: so many people played the traditional game with Ciel. But Ciel was one of the few who could step away and play outside of the box, was one of the few who saw things in a different perspective.
Alois smirked and then moved one of his rooks diagonally to overtake Ciel's black knights.
It wasn't cheating if both players refused to play by the rules.
"Check," the blonde murmured, voice mockingly demure as he threatened Ciel's king. The symbolism wasn't lost on him—Alois had actually done it on purpose—and it was ever so much fun to see how Ciel would move in answer. As the other boy contemplated his move, Alois asked, "What's it like to have human servants?"
Ciel raised an eyebrow at the other boy's move. A rook illegally overpowering his knight? The earl's lips twitched into a small smile, this one genuine. He wondered if Sebastian would be amused if he were here. Which wasn't to say that his butler wasn't already back from "going first to the hotel" and watching from outside the window like some curious, stray cat. The thought was particularly entertaining.
Meeting the other boy's cerulean blue eyes, Ciel gave him a considering smirk before picking up his own rook. He moved it in an arc -in the same way his dead knight would have moved- and took Trancy's white rook.
"Human servants?" Ciel paused as he set the captured piece against the polished, mahogany table. He had never considered the idiot trio as humans - more like well-intentioned natural disasters. Ciel had no doubts that the only reason he still had a household (and for that matter, a house) was because of Sebastian. Still, they were his and he saw no reason to tell Trancy about their shortcomings.
"They're about as useful as can be expected," he settled on. This time, Ciel's gaze traveled around the room to Trancy's own servants as he considered the nature of the other boy's question. Their mirror-like eyes reflected nothing back, "And you with your demon servants?"
"They're about as useful as can be expected," Alois repeated in answer, giving an enigmatic smile that would have impressed Sebastian, should he have actually been in the room. The blonde contractor's head tilted to the side as he looked the chessboard over, lashes lowered to half-mast to veil his gaze. What piece to take next? There were so many options and it was fun to weigh options to decide where to start.
Amused by the symbolism, Alois took his last bishop and moved it straight down, making it move vertically instead of diagonally. Smile sweetening to spun sugar as he looked Ciel in the eye, Alois took the dark-haired boy's second knight. He lightly pushed both pieces over once they were side-by-side on his area of the table, murmuring in a lilting voice as his gaze slid to Claude for just a moment, thoughts flickering quickly through his blue eyes, "—take a key and lock her up~"
Laughing quietly, Alois rested his chin in his hand and gave Ciel his full attention.
"I heard that Funtom is getting even more profits of late. I've been considering buying shares in the company, Ciel," the older boy commented, smile once more as enigmatic. He waited for the other boy to answer and make his own move, body indolent and lazy in a feline-esque as he sprawled in his chair. It was fun to finally engage in and play with another human being; Alois had known that he had been around the demons for fair too long, and spending this time with Ciel was further evidence towards that.
"Our profit margin has been increasing with recent products. If you're interested, I can have our Finance Director speak with you." Ciel responded automatically, with as little interest as Trancy to continue in that conversation.
His gaze roamed across the board, calculating possibilities in consideration to their new rules. He always viewed the chessboard as a battlefield, one that his black pieces always dominated. Now, however, the white pieces were unpredictable as his own, their movements constrained only by whimsy and ruthlessness. All in all, Ciel found himself much more engaged that he expected to be.
The fact that Trancy had taken both of his knights was interesting. They were Ciel's favored pieces: he always relished in the unnatural movements, angled and unexpected compared to the more straightforward moves of the others - not to mention the irony of comparing them to his own "dark horse."
After a moment, he reached over and moved an inconsequential pawn a single block forward. It was a move that adhered to the original rules of chess and was as much as a taunt as the first step in Ciel's plan.
"Mmmm~" Alois hummed disinterestedly as he eyed the pawn from beneath his lashes. It was unusual that Ciel had decided to move the pawn in the appropriate, actual manner—it hinted that the dark-haired boy had something in mind.
That was all right, though. It was more fun this way, this uneasy blending of unnatural and natural movements, shifting things into a dark melding of chaos—the fact that the game was now even more unpredictable quickened both Alois' breath and his heartbeat.
He moved a pawn forward, slipping into the knight's typical "L" shape, to claim Ciel's queen for himself. Taking the black piece, Alois smiled lasciviously at the other contractor, licking his prize. Ciel wasn't the only one who enjoyed taunting.
Ciel made a small noise in the back of his throat; whether it was from losing his second most important piece or from Alois licking it, was anyone's guess.
Instead, of wasting more his breath on idle chatter, Ciel picked up his bishop and moved it straight forward, like his lost rook or queen, directly into Trancy's side of the board. He placed it in an open square behind a line of white, neither threatening nor taking any of the other boy's pieces in the process.
Alois watched the bishop from beneath his lashes, head tilted to the side as he contemplated his next move. A smile idly crossed his mouth as he picked up one of Ciel's knights to look it over, fingertips white against the darkness of the piece. "Then I saw three evil spirits…" Alois began, murmuring to himself as he was lost in thought. "They came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet…"
He chuckled softly, exchanging the bishop on his side of the board for the knight that he had stolen away from Ciel. With quick movements, Alois plucked his king off of the board, reaching up to grab Claude by his tie. "þǣm mūðum dēofla," he said with a purring laugh, tightening his hold on Claude to drag the demon down further. The blonde slipped the king into the butler's coat pocket, stealing a slow, wet kiss—letting his teeth nibble over Claude's lower lip, tongue sliding teasingly against the golden-eyed man's own—and eventually broke the kiss with a husky moan.
Glancing over at Ciel from the corner of his gaze, Alois smiled charmingly and settled his chin in his hands, expression expectant. "Your move, Ciel~"
Ciel blinked, then frowned. His burst of outrage stemmed more from the fact that Trancy just hid his king in his butler's pocket than Trancy slovenly kissing his butler. The nonsensical words sprouting out of the other boy's mouth made about as much sense as Trancy's moves. The irony of being given back his knight, only to lose sight of his victory was not lost on Ciel, however.
Still, the earl had no intention of resigning.
A quick glance across the board confirmed that his plan was still in workable condition. Using his now-restored black knight, Ciel was in a perfect position to take Trancy's queen and did so. The only white pieces remaining on the board were a rook, a bishop, and a small handful of pawns - definitely not an adequate defense. Even with its warped rules, a game of chess was a game of chess and Ciel Phantomhive never lost games.
Ah, but how could Ciel win when it was now impossible for him to take the king from Alois' own knight?
So Alois let Ciel take his queen, idly moving his rook diagonally; there wasn't any concern in his moves, the small smile still playing about his mouth as he continued to participate in the game. At the very least, there would be neither a loss nor a win: both boys would be forced to call a stalemate.
And the blonde contractor was willing to accept that.
…for now.
It was quite easy afterwards for Ciel to take the remainder of the white pieces, even without breaking any rules. Trancy was barely putting up a fight, smug with the knowledge that his own king was safe in his butler's pocket.
After the last white piece fell, Ciel reached for the pawn he had previously positioned in Trancy's territory. With one soft, staccato tap, he moved it forward, directly into the space that Trancy's white king had occupied.
"My pawn can be promoted to any piece now, Earl Trancy. And I believe I'll switch it for your king." Ciel laced his fingers together and rested his chin on them, "Checkmate."
Alois tilted his head to the side, gaze weighing the other boy. Instead of lashing out in frustration, however—perhaps a move that Claude would have expected from the blonde boy—Alois leaned forward and gave Ciel an affectionate peck on his mouth.
"Well-played, Ciel," Alois murmured, smile wicked and eyes dancing in amusement as he settled back into his chair. Idly, he reached up and plucked the king from Claude's pocket, tossing it over to the other.
Ciel caught the king and clenched his fist around it, nails digging into his own palm as he felt his face heat. How dare Trancy take such liberties! If the blond boy hadn't moved as quickly as he had, Ciel would have slapped him soundly on the cheek. Scowling, the earl stood abruptly, the heavy chair beneath him scraping shrilly in protest.
He walked over to the window and was surprised to find the scenery outside bathed with the orange light of a sunset. Had they really played five hours over one game of chess? Ciel was rarely immersed in a game enough to lose track of time: even his best opponents never lasted past the hour.
"Well, Earl Trancy," the boy kept his back towards Alois, his small figure harshly outlined by the reddening sky, "do you have any other entertainment or should I turn in for the night?"
"Alois," the boy corrected, finally bored with the title of his role within society rolling off of Ciel's tongue. It wasn't who he was; it wasn't him. He was Alois. "And I do have other entertainment—a game that will let us get to know one another and become the best of friends~"
The older contractor chortled in amusement, slumping down in his chair so that he could pillow his chin atop his crossed forearms—proper posture be damned. "I'm sure that you've heard of the Two Truths and a Lie game, correct? Shall we play Two Lies and a Truth?"
Suddenly, however, Alois eyes sparkled and danced beneath his thick lashes, the color brightly gleaming with wicked delight. "…or we could always play Le Truc."
And instead of money, the appraising look that Alois gave to Ciel let the dark-haired boy know just what Alois would have dared Ciel to bet in place of monetary wealth. Of course it would be Alois to suggest a Victorian Era game of strip poker.
The black-haired boy scowled back as their gazes met. The fact that Alois Trancy had just raked his eyes across his body sent a shiver of disgust through Ciel. His fingernails, cutting sharp half-moons into his palms, were the only thing that kept him still - he wouldn't give this lewd, commoner earl the satisfaction of seeing him react.
"Truth and lies it is then," he replied a beat later, his tone of voice even as he smoothed his face into a neutral expression.
The smile that Alois gave to Ciel in answer was coy, pleased at Ciel's decision; perhaps the dark-haired contractor would have realized that that was the game that he had truly wanted.
His time with Earl Trancy—the old, now-dead bastard—had left him rather numb to sex, interest only truly peaking when it was with Claude. The demon had been the first person to have made Alois come, and it was the demon who Alois was intrigued in seeing nude—though, of course, that may have had something to do with the fact that the blonde had never seen Claude naked.
Besides, Ciel looked to be too scrawny to be "appetizing."
"Leave us," Alois ordered with a glance over to the demons. Waiting until the five of them were gone, the blonde once more watched Ciel from beneath his lashes, smile softening with some unknown emotion. As he spoke his statements, he lifted a finger from his right hand. "I'm not the Queen's Spider. My favorite game to play is chess. The demons in my employ are all contracted to me."
Ciel forced himself to focus on the game and ignore the rising queasiness within him. It was quelled soon enough as he pondered on Alois' words.
The first was obviously a lie. The evil aristocrats were always that: aristocrats. It was only prominent aristocratic houses that became the Queen's servants and if the Trancy household was deigned to be the Queen's Spider, then that would not deviate.
The second was the oddity - while the other boy had obviously enjoyed the chess game, it was anyone's guess if it was his favorite. Ciel had the distinct feeling that Alois did not play proper games often, if at all. Especially since he kept licking the pieces.
The third was the only interesting statement - could Alois Trancy be contracted to all five of the demons? As the young earl considered this, he recalled an odd thing Sebastian had once revealed at the beginning of the contract: 'the closer the contract symbol is placed to the eyes, the more powerful the contract.' After hearing that, it had been his first order to tell the demon exactly where to place his own.
Therefore, in order for a contract to be effective, it should have been relatively close to Alois' eyes. Still, other than the brief view of the contract on Alois' tongue when he had licked his queen, Ciel had not seen any other marks.
"The truth is that chess is your favorite game," the black-haired boy decided, "surprising, all things considering."
Alois laughed at that.
"Wrong," he told the other boy, tone genial. "Two choices left, Ciel. Which one is the truth?"
Ciel found himself frowning again, and considered. Either his demon had been lying or he was being blinded by his own assumptions. And his demon never lied so blatantly.
"The truth is that you are not the Queen's Spider," the black-haired boy leaned against the windowsill, framed by the darkening sky outside, "Or that you're lying about everything."
"I lie," Alois admitted readily, smirking as he kept his chin comfortably pillowed on his crossed arms, watching as the lanterns in the dining room flickered on to light Ciel with a muted glow. "I lie all of the time. Why not? But I'm not right now: when I bother to outline the structure, I'm in control and so I stick to my rules. You're the same way, too, aren't you? Except with manipulation."
Before Ciel had the chance to respond, however, Alois brought up a hand to lightly tap a finger to his lips, giving the other contractor a saucy wink. "But there was a truth in my list; I only have one contract, and so the truth is that I'm not the Queen's Spider. I was picked to be a Trancy and wasn't given a choice. But with the limp-dicked old geezer knocked off finally, I can make my own choices. And I choose not to be in this case. But for you, Ciel: one truth, two lies. Say them."
"Hmph. For someone who chose not to be a Trancy, you certainly flaunt your title." Ciel's eye flickered orange in the candlelight, dark gaze as polished and hard as obsidian.
"But very well," the earl crossed his arms and gave the other boy an unruffled expression he had adopted from Sebastian. "I am the Queen's Watchdog. My favorite game is chess. My demon has never lied to me."
In reply to Ciel's comment about Alois flaunting his title, the blonde just smirked. What was the point of denying oneself riches and comfort when the opportunity arose? He hadn't asked for the power, hadn't asked for the title and the apparent responsibilities that came with it—but now that Alois had the power, he'd be foolish not to warp it to his control. It was the payment he was owed for the time spent in the previous Earl Trancy's bed.
However, the game was still in play:
Alois pointed at Ciel, fingers in the shape of a gun. He "bang"ed the other silently, smile deepening to be surprisingly sensual, shifting so that the lanterns' light played over the gold of his hair to make it glow like a halo. He knew that Ciel wasn't aroused by the posturing, that it perhaps disgusted the other—but Alois had grown used to using his sexuality as a hard-forged weapon in winning his games that his body had separated itself from "him" where Alois internalized. It was a thing, made to be used in whatever context possible. No one, however, could touch "him." And that was what made Alois laugh and laugh and laugh and laugh and laugh over the context of his contract with Claude: the demon wanted his soul for granting Alois' wish, but the boy had no wishes and had no soul—he'd sold it and his body both to survive when his foot first touched the wagon's step, and he and the other boys began their journey to the Trancy manor. So it was always, always, always a lose-lose situation and the only one who was ever aware of it was Alois. It was an ever-so grand joke~!
"Claude lies to me," Alois murmured, voice musing. "He also doesn't understand me, but I think that that has more to do with the fact that he doesn't want to bother. I look at him, sometimes, and think to myself 'How boring! How dull! How methodical!' and he looks at me and his gaze is as blank as a piece of parchment. There's no comprehension. Oh, but you, Ciel. But you… You and your demon look at one another and with just a shift of expression, you carry on entire conversations silently. Your demon understands. Your demon has never lied to you."
It was that look that Ciel and Sebastian had exchanged before the other demon had left, the way that they reacted to one another, the way that no words were even needed: it was an instinctive knowledge that linked contractor and demon, twining them together tightly; it was a type of shackle, Alois supposed, while in contrast a gorge stretched away between him and Claude and all that ever came to either one of them were distorted echoes.
Silent now, Alois knocked over the knight that he had given back to Ciel.
Slowly, Ciel gave exactly three claps, each echoing in the darkened, hollow expanse of the dining room, "You're wrong Alois: my demon has never lied to me... like a human that is. He's lied countless times like a demon, however."
The dark-haired boy's sapphire eye sparkled with mirth. Sebastian has always told him the truth that Ciel demanded - and Ciel had long realized that there were no absolute truths in the world. His demon only told the truth because Ciel ordered those truths to be made into reality. Sebastian followed his orders to the letter - however, if there was a single aspect that Ciel let slip, a single moment of hesitation or carelessness, then Sebastian would follow Ciel's untruth to the letter. And thus, Sebastian would have lied to him - not as a human, but as a demon.
And it was with this understanding between them that Ciel forged on. It was because of this understanding that Ciel would never make a mistake.
Like Alois said, however, Ciel didn't always play fair. All his statements could be construed as both lies and truth. It was a sort of childish revenge for Alois hiding his king earlier.
Ciel's first statement could have been true: he was known and recognized as the Queen's Watchdog. However, he himself was not necessarily the Watchdog – the Phantomhive house was. It was a role to be taken on by the head of the Phantomhive household, and while Ciel was the current head, anyone else of the same blood could theoretically have filled it.
The second statement was simply a matter of perspective. Ciel was very good at playing chess: he would even consider it his most-often played, favorite game. However, Ciel was also very good playing chess in life, the pieces replaced with humans and one demon he planned to use to obtain his revenge. In that respect, Ciel hated it every time he had to discard a pawn, hated it every time he pulled the trigger and took someone else's piece, hated the twisted game he was forcing himself to play. Nonetheless, he was still very good at it.
"So, strike one, Alois," the earl used the other boy's name deliberately, warmly. "Try again."
Alois stirred at that, gaze narrowing as Ciel's words tugged at his thoughts. He glanced up, silent, and stared into the amused glint of Ciel's bared eye. He lightly drummed his fingertips on top of the table that they had been previously sitting at, thoughts flickering through his gaze—too fast for Ciel to follow because Alois was a mutable, ever-changing mind. Nothing ever stayed the same. Everything was constantly in flux.
When Alois finally answered, his words came in a low murmur, voice slightly distant and distracted, almost as if he had forgotten the fact that he and Ciel were playing a game and it was his turn to narrow down the choices left to him. "We're the same, you and I: opposite sides of the same coin… Hn."
"That's one thing you're right about," Ciel took a breath and walked towards the blonde contractor, each step slow and deliberate. He stopped in front of Alois, hands resting in his coat pockets. "And like any coin, there's only one side that lands face up when flipping it."
"Don't," Alois murmured, his tone of voice suddenly slipping low and dangerous. His eyes flashed with feral intent, glinting in the amber light that glowed through the room. "Don't ruin tonight."
Alois stood then, reaching out and hooking his fingers on Ciel's sleeve to leave the dining room, steps predatorily as he brought the other earl behind him. Hannah watched as the two boys walked past her, eyes quietly contemplative as she took in Alois' possessive hold upon the second contractor.
He wasn't in the mood for games anymore, which meant that it was time for bed.
Ciel allowed himself to be dragged an exact ten steps before he yanked his sleeve out of the other boy's grasp. Instead of lashing out at Alois, however, he followed the blonde at a sedate pace.
His steps were unhurried as he considered this unusual evening. The odd, unstable contractor was an interesting puzzle - a puzzle that Ciel neither knew nor understood the rules for. Still, this vulgar, demanding earl was an oddity that Ciel could not ignore.
And so, he allowed himself to follow Alois Trancy into the bedroom.
Once they were in the master bedroom—the only bedroom in the suite that the Trancy household was renting that wasn't for the servants—Alois seemed to lose the wild, threatening air, allowing it to fade away into the background, dissipating as if it had never made an appearance. Instead, the smile that he gave to Ciel was particularly impish.
"Unfortunately, I didn't bring any clothing for guests, so you'll have to borrow one of my nightshirts…" Alois said as he held up a nightshirt from the small pile that Hannah had made sure to pack (since Alois seemed to go through them rather quickly when he was feeling rambunctious and Claude happened to be around).
The nightshirt in question, however, was an absolute monstrosity.
Ciel couldn't stop the furrow that formed between his brows as he stared at that frilly... thing. For one, it was much too short to be reasonably called a nightshirt. For another, it seemed to have been created by a designer determined to use at least twenty yards of lace. (He rejected the idea that it was Lizzie - if it had been, the shirt would have been pink instead of white.) The sky blue ribbon threading through the collar was the straw that broke the camel's back.
"Absolutely not," his voice had a horrified edge to it. "I'll sleep in my shirt."
Alois parted his lips innocently, eyes going wide with feigned surprise. "Really? But Ciel, it'll be uncomfortable to sleep in because of the starch and, besides, it'll mean that you won't be at all presentable when you leave tomorrow morning. Dare I say that you may end up looking positively frumpy with the wrinkles from sleeping in it~"
Tauntingly, the blonde wiggled the nightshirt in the other boy's direction.
There was a long moment where neither boy moved, the nightshirt held out between them in a flimsy barrier of silk and lace.
"Fine," Ciel scowled at the other boy, his capitulation driven by the fact that sleeping in his shirt would have been uncomfortable, "Provided you get me a pair of scissors with it."
Alois sighed dramatically at that, letting his mouth settle into a disappointed moue. "Ah, at this rate—with you cutting up my nightshirts and Claude ripping them to shreds—I won't have anything to wear to bed~"
Still, though, Alois handed over the nightclothes with a sly grin before turning to the door to the bedroom, knowing that it wouldn't be long before Claude came in to ready him for bed.
As if on cue, the door opened with a soft click. Claude Faustus stepped into the bedroom, bathing both the contractors in the soft golden light of the candelabra he carried. His eyes concealed by the reflection of his glasses, the demon took in the scene silently: Alois seemed amused while a slightly-flushed Ciel Phantomhive openly glared at him.
It was the first time Claude had ever seen his contractor look... pleasant.
Still, the demon kept to his protocol. "Please excuse the interruption," he made a slight bow and set the candelabra down on the dresser, "If you will allow me to prepare you both for bed..."
"Me first," Alois ordered as he settled on the edge of the bed. "Ciel has some adjusting to do on the nightshirt that he's borrowing~"
Frankly, the blonde was curious to see if Ciel would actually let Claude prepare him for bed or if he'd try to stubborn it out and ready himself. To allow himself to be touched, to be undressed… Alois wouldn't have been surprised if Ciel ended up leeching onto his noble pride to attempt it himself.
He hid a smile, offering up a foot for Claude to relieve him of his boot. Freed from the shoe soon enough, Alois playfully trailed a sock-covered toe along the edge of Claude's jawline. It never fazed Claude—ever—when his contractor teased as the demon dressed or undressed him.
For now, Alois' attention had shifted completely to his demon, Ciel momentarily forgotten.
Claude resigned himself to routine as he finished unlacing the other boot, decidedly ignoring the foot Alois was pawing at his face with. Only when both shoes were off and neatly placed did he capture the boy's ankle. Slowly, meticulously, he traced his gloved hands up his contractor's leg, fingers lightly caressing the sharp arch behind Alois' knee. In a fluid motion, he unfastened the ribbon securing the sock and with equal care, peeled the garment off.
From the corner of his eye, a scowling, blushing Ciel Phantomhive slammed the bathroom door shut. A few seconds afterwards, there was the curious sound of ripping fabric.
The demon briefly wondered if all contractors had quirks before he started on Alois' other sock.
Hearing that ripping sound, Alois giggled softly. Idly, he murmured, "I like him. He's cute," as the blonde contractor watched as Claude continued undressing him. He liked the time that the demon took, liked how Claude touched him and was meticulous with each movement. There was never anything wasted when it came to his particular butler.
In a surprising, kitten-esque gesture, Alois tilted Claude's chin upwards to steal a chaste kiss.
The demon barely moved in response. Since Alois' behavior yesterday, Claude had decided to carry on with his farce of a butler for only as long as necessary. It would be too much of a waste to simply kill his contractor now, especially with all the planning and arrangements Claude had already made.
Besides, Claude was rather intrigued by how... different Sebastian Michaelis was. While the other demon was rather prone to irrational whimsy, his display of possessiveness had been startling - especially considering their previous encounter. Then, the other demon hadn't seemed bothered and relinquished his contractor to Claude with barely a protest.
Claude found himself wondering about the reason behind the change. Could it have been the influence of Ciel Phantomhive? Claude dismissed the thought: a demon becoming attached to a human, being affected by a human, was preposterous. It was simply against their nature.
His eyes flickered back to his own contractor. Claude felt himself inwardly scoff as he toyed with the idea of being affected by Alois. Still, his hands were gentle as they undid the ribbon at the boy's neck, unbuttoned the boy's shirt, smoothed over the sharp wings of the boy's shoulderblades.
"You seem to be enjoying yourself, Danna-sama," he murmured.
"I was," Alois said quietly in turn. Still, though, he stilled easily as Claude continued to undress him, raising his arms so that the butler could slip on his nightshirt.
His previous good humor had faded slightly, and Alois was withdrawing into himself when Claude hadn't responded to his kiss; he was more subdued, almost contemplative, though Alois' lips quirked into a small smile when his head re-emerged. Lightly, he said to himself, "Ond he forþon næfre noht leasunge ne idles leoþes wyrcan ne meahte, ac efne þa an þa ðe to æfæstnisse belumpon, ond his þa æfæstan tungan gedeofanade singan."
It didn't matter if Claude got the reference, if Claude understood the words; he still wouldn't understand the point behind them, the way that Ciel's demon would. Alois had been thinking as he had watched Sebastian's interactions with Ciel. And Claude's lack of response over the kiss hadn't gone unnoticed. The blonde contractor was almost—mostly—stable as he looked up into the demon's eyes, meeting his gaze through the reflection of the other's glasses.
"That will be all for tonight. Go now."
The demon gave a short bow in reply, "Yes, your Highness."
He stood then, his movements perfect and mechanical as he opened the door. Before exiting, however, Claude found himself glancing back at Alois. The boy's hair was a halo of flickering gold in the candlelight. Drawn in sharp contrast between light and shadow, the boy somehow looked more sane than Claude had seen him in a long time.
'And he therefore never could make any sort of lying or idle songs, but just those alone which pertained to piety and those which were fitting for his pious tongue to sing,' Claude mentally translated, from a dead human language centuries past. It was fitting for Alois to spout perfect gibberish all while looking at him with such clear eyes.
The demon looked away and closed the door with a soft click.
"Sweet dreams, Claude Faustus," Alois said to the closed door. He remained still for a moment before shaking his head roughly, constrained violence within the gesture, eyes closed tightly; when they re-opened, they sparkled with mirth, and the older contractor pranced gaily over to the bathroom door to fling it open.
"Ciel! Claude's gone, which means that we can cuddle up in bed now~~"
The grin that he gave to the dark-haired boy was pure mischief.
Ciel predictably scowled back. The nightshirt hung off his left shoulder from a too-enthusiastic rip but at least it had significantly less lace than it started with. He held his dress clothes in a rumpled pile as he padded out of the bathroom. Pushing past Alois, the dark-haired boy made his way towards the side of the large, plush bed facing the window and deposited the pile haphazardly. Under the cover of his clothes, Ciel felt for the cool weight of his revolver and slipped it under his pillow.
He then made an attempt at folding. Ciel quickly discovered the jacket was hopeless and conceded to drape it over a nearby chair. His vest and shirt soon followed. His trousers were eventually bundled into a small roll, in which he stuffed his socks and tie.
After he concluded that nothing else could be done, Ciel climbed into bed. Despite all his instincts screaming at him not to, he forced himself to lay with his back to Alois, "If you say what you mean to him, you might get what you want."
In answer to that, Alois burrowed close against Ciel's back, comfortably propping his chin atop the younger boy's head as he spooned with the second contractor. "But that would entail giving up control in doing so, something that you would probably be able to relate to," came the soft murmur as Alois pointedly dangled Ciel's small revolver that he had squirreled away from beneath the other's pillow, hovering it before Ciel's face to let the other know that Alois had found it. He wasn't insulted, though—and, in actuality, Alois couldn't help but be amusedly impressed.
With Ciel snatching the weapon back, the blonde boy lazily draped his arm over the other's waist, closing his eyes with his chin still resting atop Ciel's soft, silky-fine hair. "…hey, Ciel. How'd he come to you?"
"Don't touch me!" Ciel flinched from the other boy, drawing the sheets around him. He'd been biting his tongue all this time, but Alois' touches had grown more brazen and Ciel found himself fighting down nausea. It took time and sheer force of will for his racing pulse to slow and his breathing to even.
The silence stretched liked the shadows of their dimming lanterns, its flames flickering as candles burned themselves out.
"...I didn't summon him," Ciel finally said into near-darkness, "but when he appeared, I was the one who kept him."
Alois fell silent at that, propped up on an elbow as he looked down at the younger boy. He watched, gaze shadowed as he considered things, weighing them carefully in the constantly twisting labyrinth of his mind.
The flinch had been telling.
The demand to stop touching him even more so.
Alois still remembered what his own scream had sounded like as it echoed through the bedroom at the Trancy manor, his voice bouncing back and distorting, and just as easily disregarded because the touches had then become that much more vicious. And the man had made sure that they hurt even more to punish the boy in his bed for the original rejection.
The contractor remembered the words. He remembered.
Carefully, gesture as pointed as the teasing with the revolver, Alois took some of the pillows and made a barrier between his and Ciel's bodies so that he wouldn't accidentally touch the boy as he slept during the night. They both had their own personal nightmares—their own demons of a different sort; Alois now knew that he had learned to deal with his much differently than the other.
"Good night, Ciel," came the quiet murmur as the blonde boy settled back down.
The other boy did not move, even when he felt the bed shift and the silken hiss of sheets. The dark-haired boy stiffened when he felt a touch against his back, but when he turned he found a line of pillows between him and Alois.
It was surprising that Alois would do this for him. Ciel had thought that the other boy would have obnoxiously chosen to take advantage of his weakness. Even though they had just met today, this streak of compassion? pity? was something that Ciel would have thought impossible for Alois Trancy.
Grudgingly, Ciel found himself appreciating the gesture.
Reaching towards his right eye, the boy pulled his eyepatch loose and placed it on the nightstand.
"Good night... Alois," he softly acquiesced.
That speaking of Alois' name, however… that made the gesture worth it.
Smile small but absent, Alois snuggled down under the sheets, wrapping himself up with the extra amount to cocoon himself against the cold of the night—the one luxury that he truly, happily, and unrepentantly took advantage of now that he had wealth enough to spend. It wasn't much long after when Alois' breathing deepened and steadied, dropping off into a relaxed and dreamless sleep.
And with the blonde contractor no longer aware of the world around him, Sebastian stepped out from the shadows to make his way towards the chair where Ciel had left his clothes so that he could fold them and keep them from wrinkling.
Small things could still be appreciated, though: at least the nightshirt that Alois was letting Ciel borrow didn't have any buttons for the dark-haired earl to fumble through.
Under the covers, Ciel gave his demon a half-lidded, amused look: trust Sebastian to take care of his clothes first. His right eye glowed faintly, a dull beacon in the darkness.
If Alois wasn't sleeping soundly next to him, Ciel would have compared his butler to some stray cat burglar. That or the little dwarves who fixed clothing during the night.
Ah, but Sebastian certainly had much more sophisticated aesthetics than said dwarves.
The clothes neatly folded and arranged for the morning, the demon turned to his young contractor, looking Ciel over with a raised eyebrow as he made his way closer. "My, my. I wonder what Lady Elizabeth would say should she ever find out that you shared your bed with another person—and a male, at that," Sebastian teased softly, pitching his voice so that only Ciel could hear.
The butler knelt on one knee before the bed, quirking a small smile at seeing that Ciel was unharmed; in fact, the one that had taken on the most damage for the evening appeared to be the nightshirt that the boy currently donned. Amused and wanting to make a further point, the demon lightly trailed a fingertip over Ciel's bottom lip: he had seen Alois' stolen kiss, too.
The contractor quirked an eyebrow at his demon before pushing his hand away.
"I'm sure she'd have more to say about my own butler touching me inappropriately," Ciel took a small breath and finally settled beneath the blankets, "Were you outside, watching the whole time like some pervert?"
Sebastian chuckled at that, smile sly as he glanced at Ciel from the corner of his eyes. "Wouldn't 'guardian angel' be more appropriate?" the demon asked, tone so innocent that butter wouldn't melt in his mouth.
"Hmph," Ciel couldn't help but grin. The boy turned his face into the pillow, only his right eye visible and glinting with amusement. Ciel was mostly blind on that side and what he could make out of his demon was only a hazy, dark shadow. Rather than see, however, he seemed to sense where Sebastian was, as if the contract embedded in his eye sought its counterpart.
"If you were one, you would've saved me from this shirt," he sniffed.
"But it suits you so well, bocchan," Sebastian said in answer, sly smile just deepening and turning openly amused as Ciel relaxed and let his good humor emerge. It was always intriguing to see his contractor light-heartedly playful, as he was now. Ciel's entire demeanor changed, and it stirred… something… within the mahogany-eyed man.
Alois stirred then, though he didn't waken. Bringing a finger up to his mouth to quiet any response that Ciel might have had, Sebastian leaned forward and let his warm breath fan over the boy's throat, lips brushing the pale shell of the earl's ear as he whispered lowly, "Go to sleep. I'll watch over you through the night."
In response, Ciel simply closed his eyes. He shifted and settled, blanketed under the comforting weight of his demon's shadow. In a few more moments, his breathing evened.
Sebastian's smile, for just a brief moment, softened imperceptibly.
He moved to the chair in the corner of the bedroom, settling into it comfortably so that he might watch the hours go by with Ciel beneath his watch: the boy would be safe from any harm while his "guardian angel" was near.
~TBC~