Or: In Which Sebastian Is One Hell Of A Host And Ciel Becomes A Reluctant One
Ciel turned once more to Sebastian after struggling with the girls surrounding him and found his butler covering his mouth with a gloved hand, his shoulders shaking ever so slightly.
"This isn't funny, Sebastian," he snapped. "Stop laughing and help me!"
"Very well, my lord," Sebastian responded, a smile still twisting his expression to that of amusement. He moved to address the ladies, but Tamaki cut him off.
"Ladies, ladies, there's plenty of us to go around. Give the kid some space, please," Tamaki said smoothly over the clamor of their voices.
As the girls retreated somewhat, Ciel glared at his butler. "Thanks for nothing, Sebastian," he said sullenly.
Sebastian placed a hand over his heart and bowed slightly. "My apologies, my lord; it seems that Mr. Tamaki has beaten me to it." As he straightened, he became aware of several girls encroaching on his personal space. "May I help you?" he asked the girls around him.
The response he received was nothing more than high-pitched sighs and incoherent squealing. One girl managed to gather enough coherence to say something along the lines of, "You're so handsome and polite!"
Sebastian was bewildered by this reaction for a moment before remembering what the purpose of the Host Club was. He smiled benevolently at them and said, "I am flattered by your kind words my lady, but surely you do not wish to stare at me all day. Perhaps you would like to engage my master in discourse? I'm sure he-"
"I'm perfectly content the way I am, Sebastian," Ciel interrupted, crossing his arms. "I'm not interested in engaging anybody in any sort of discourse." The girls around them giggled at their exchange.
"That's not very gentlemanly behavior, Young Master. You really ought to consider being more polite to these ladies," Sebastian chided gently.
"'Gentlemanly behavior'?" the little earl scoffed. "Since when have I been obliged to display 'gentlemanly behavior' here?"
"Ever since you stepped into this arrangement, my lord. Or landed, as it were." Sebastian stepped closer to his master and bent down to affect a stage whisper. "I'm certain you realize, my lord, that your reputation will surely plummet if it became known that you were being so terribly rude to these ladies." He bent closer and spoke quieter, a smirk threatening to color his words with amusement. "Surely you do not wish to convey that you are anything less than a mature Englishman. Or was I mistaken and you have decided to act your age for once?"
Ciel whipped his head around to glare at his butler, his eye narrowing. "Excuse me?" he said darkly.
The taller man showed no sign of remorse and straightened his back. "I believe it would be in the Young Master's best interest to take up Mr. Kyoya's kind offer to provide us with lodging." He paused. "Unless, of course, the Young Master would like to take a chance on the streets?"
Ciel glared at him for a few more moments before sighing heavily. "I hate you," he mumbled. He continued, a bit louder this time. "Fine I'll talk to them. Just get me some more cake."
The butler's smile grew a fraction wider. "Yes, sir."
"And bring me some tea, too," the little lord added.
"As you wish." Sebastian bowed slightly and turned to carry out the requests.
Almost immediately after he turned away, a couple of the girls grabbed Ciel's arms and all but dragged him to a set of couches, where they plopped him down and began to pepper him with questions. While he was being questioned, Ciel noticed that the members of the host club had dispersed and were talking to other girls and deflated a little, knowing that none of them would relieve him of his task of talking to these girls. It was even more exhausting than dealing with Elizabeth.
At length, one girl made a very high-pitched noise and exclaimed, "You're so cute! I could just dress you up like a doll!" She pinched Ciel's cheek as if to emphasize the statement.
The Earl frowned, batting away the hand on his face. "I would appreciate it if you refrained from doing so."
It was at this moment that Sebastian chose to return with the refreshments and served tea and cake to those sitting on the couches. With Sebastian's arrival, the girls turned to him, relieving Ciel of the oppressive weight of their attention. Ciel gratefully took the cup of tea given to him, relishing in the small reprieve it offered him. He watched as Sebastian smiled at them, answering their questions with all the charm and grace he possessed, which happened to be a lot, considering his devilish nature. He turned his attention back to the piece of cake that awaited him.
After savoring the first few bites of his cake, Ciel turned his attention back to Sebastian, who held the attention of several girls. He began to scowl as he watched his butler interact with them, feeling a bit awkward and somewhat useless, but mostly feeling like Sebastian was stealing the show a bit too much for his liking. If I hear that bastard say 'What sort of host would I be if I couldn't do this?' one more god damn time, I swear I'll shove this cake into his bloody face. 'One hell of host' my arse. Just shut up, you stale tea biscuit. Ciel stabbed his fork viciously into his cake, deciding that he was not going to be shown up by his own butler. The little lord was so caught up in his own thoughts that he didn't notice Sebastian was talking to him.
"…isn't that right, Young Master?"
"Hmm?" Ciel swallowed a mouthful of cake before continuing. "I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention." He paused. "Actually, no, I'm not sorry."
The girls around them giggled while Sebastian heaved a long-suffering sigh. "Young Master," he said, pinching the bridge of his nose, "you really ought to pay more attention to those around you, it's incredibly impolite."
"I am well aware of the fact, Sebastian," Ciel said, a bit more venomously than he intended. He stabbed into his cake once more, the tines of his fork clinking loudly against the plate.
Sebastian was bending in front of him in a couple swift strides, gently but firmly gripping the hand that held a forkful of cake. "There is no need for such violence, my lord. Whatever has made you so frustrated, Young Master?"
To anyone else, Sebastian sounded genuinely concerned about his master's temperament, but all Ciel could hear was the mockery in his voice, calling him out on his temper tantrum and scolding him for his childish behavior. Ciel was sorely tempted to shove the remainder of his cake in Sebastian's face and storm out, but he was too acutely aware of all the faces watching their exchange with great curiosity. Instead, the two of them locked eyes for a few long moments before Ciel slid his eye shut and took a long breath to calm himself. He opened his eye and reestablished eye contact with his servant, perfectly composed. "I am simply frustrated by the sudden and drastic change to our schedule, Sebastian. Nothing more." There was a silent reprimand in the young earl's cool tone, scolding Sebastian for the invasion of personal space and the assumption that he was anything less than composed like a proper gentleman.
Sebastian smiled indulgently, releasing Ciel's hand and returning to his normal height. "Of course, my lord. My apologies." He returned to the space he occupied prior to the brief altercation, clasping his hands together behind his back.
"Aw man, I was hoping you guys were actually gonna fight," one of the red-headed twins complained, having overheard their argument. "I was so looking forward to that."
"I'm sorry to disappoint," Ciel said, not sounding sorry at all.
"It's a shame, you're so cute when you're angry," said the other twin, leaning over the back of the couch and squishing Ciel's cheeks.
Ciel scowled something fierce and set his cake down on his lap to pry the hands away from his face. "I am not cute. Get your hands off me," Ciel said, the words coming out slightly mangled due to the hands still squishing his cheeks.
The two struggled like that for a few moments before Haruhi intervened, telling the twins to "stop teasing him and leave the poor kid alone." Ciel muttered a quiet "thank you" and Haruhi smiled brightly back at him before moving away.
The rest of the afternoon passed in a similar manner, with Sebastian showing off and Ciel participating in conversation with varying degrees of disguised reluctance and the other Host Club members stopping to tease Ciel every now and then.
When the last of the girls had left, Ciel flopped sideways onto the couch and flung an arm over his eyes. "Ugh! That was absolutely exhausting!" Ciel complained.
Sebastian made an amused noise at his master's antics, collecting plates, cups, and silverware. "Come now, Young Master, surely today wasn't that awful?"
Ciel removed his arm from his face to glare at Sebastian. "Yes. Yes, it was that awful."
"Perhaps tomorrow will be less arduous," Sebastian offered, trying to cheer him up.
"I doubt it," Ciel mumbled. "I can't see how this situation could get any better."
"Oh, don't be like that!" Honey chirped, jumping onto the couch next to Ciel, "It could always be worse! You could be stuck with people that aren't nearly as nice as us!"
Ciel raised himself up on an elbow and turned to look at Honey, an eyebrow raised.
"Tomorrow will be much better, you'll see!" Honey exclaimed happily, reminding Ciel sharply of Finny, his excitable and optimistic gardener.
The little lord righted himself on the couch, sighing. He could only hope that Honey was right and that the rest of his stay in this peculiar world wouldn't be so bad.
A/N: Sorry this took so long. College happened and my motivation to write for this went on a vacation, but now it's back. Hopefully other chapters won't take as long.
Sebaciel if you squint. I ship those two so hard, my portrayal of the dynamic between those two will be colored by that. I regret nothing.