Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroshitsuji

Chapter two

"That's much better," I murmured, lifting the edge of the knee length skirts.

A little snipping and taking in had made the outfit much more suited to someone of my petite frame. The skirts were daringly short, much shorter than anything I would have ever thought twice about wearing before. Brushing the tops of my knees I had brought the white lace petticoat into glimpsing view under the soft cotton of the black skirts above it. The skirt flowed away from my waist but grew tighter around my torso, hugging my small, barely noticeable curves. The heart shaped neckline was now laced with the excess material I cut from the white petticoat and the once slightly puffed sleeves fell like another skin against my arms to my elbows were a simple white cuff folded at the bend in my arm.

Unfortunately the other maid's old boots were two sizes too large for my dainty feet and there was no way for me to resize something like that. That was something beyond my talent. Instead I had to keep to my expensive black ones. They were the only pair I had been able to keep and I was now glad it was so. They matched the dress perfectly, ending halfway up my calf laced with white ribbon. The little heel in the back lifted me up a few more inches, topping me off at a short five five rather then my usual five two without any heel.

I re-situated my hair, pulling it back into a simple ponytail with a black velvet ribbon. The copper spirals rebelliously curled at the back of my head. Making the ponytail unruly and thick.

I sighed, well there would be no use pushing back my trip to the kitchen any longer. I gave one last look around the room, before leaving it all behind me and heading down the hall towards what I believed would be the route to the kitchen.

The mansion was built to be a maze and I quickly found that out as I tried to navigate the hallways without the help of Sebastian. Every hall that I thought I recognized turned out to be not the one I was searching for. I turned another and another, getting more frustrated by the second when I was unsuccessful again and again.

I growled softly to myself as I came to a fork in the hall I was currently traveling down. my patience was running thin and I was in no mood to play games with a house that wasn't playing them fairly.

To choose one randomly wouldn't hurt now, would it? I sighed and took a left down the plainer of the two halls, which had to count for something, hadn't it?

As I turned the hall I was startled to a halt when I heard a loud bang, as if something had exploded. I clasped a hand to my chest and stared wide eyed down the hall, where the kitchen door now stood open. Part of the once shiny wood surface was charred black and dark gray wafts of thick smoke swirled out of the open doorway. I gasped and lifted my skirts in my hand, hurrying towards the kitchen.

Mid-way to the door, Sebastian appeared out of one of the connecting halls, he didn't even give me glance of acknowledgement as he stepped into the kitchen ahead of me. I followed behind, less in a rush now that Sebastian was there. If he was so calm and composed then this wasn't something to fret over.

I took one look around the room before giving an appalling shriek, "What happened here?"

Sebastian sighed one word, a name.

"Bard."

A head full of blonde hair sticking up on its end, poked up from behind one of the burned counter tops. He gave a sheepish grin and rubbed his left hand over the back of his head. It surprised me that he was alive and well. A blast like that should've killed a person.

"'ey, Sebastian," the man called greetings to the butler around the cigarette in his mouth.

Sebastian sighed and stepped forward, "What was used this time?"

The man, Bard I assumed, gave another sheepish grin, "Eh? I was testing those new-."

"Explosives aren't meant for the kitchen," Sebastian mumbled in an agitated voice.

"S'pose I won't use them again," Bard chuckled, he looked away from Sebastian then and his eyes flitted over to me, where they widened slightly. "Eh? Sebastian, who's she?"

Sebastian turned to me for the first time since I entered the room and glanced back towards Bard, who I was starting to assume was the chef here. Though his talent as a chef was questionable to me, as the state of the kitchen was currently explaining to me at the moment.

"This is Miss Hale, she'll be the parlor maid at the mansion from now on," Sebastian explained.

Bard looked at me and smiled, "Name's Bardroy, but everyone calls me Bard. I'm the chef here."

I curtsied, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Bard."

"Sebastian! Sebastian!"

I nearly jumped out of my skin as a young boy came running into the kitchen, screeching his head off. Admittedly he was older than I, but still he had the appearance of a young child in the current screaming mess he was and the four red pins holding his bangs out of his face wasn't helping with giving away his true age either.

I stepped back, colliding with the wall to get out of the way as he practically ran over me on the way in.

Sebastian gave an exasperated sigh and snapped out an arm that caught hold of the boy's shirt, yanking him to a complete halt in a matter of seconds. I tried not to gape openly. There was no way he had moved that fast, it wasn't scientifically possible. Not physically possible.

"What is it this time?" Sebastian sighed.

The boy looked up at him before promptly becoming reduced to a bumbling mess of tears. I took another step back and pressed myself against the wall to get out of the way of the stream of salty tears.

"Sebastian! I swear I didn't mean it," he cried out hysterically. "I-I-I was just trying to weed out the garden, but I accidentally tore up the rose vines. Our lord is going to be so upset."

This time Sebastian's sigh was filled to the brim with his annoyance. I didn't blame the poor butler either. Before I had overestimated the staff, I guess Sebastian did have the right to sound exasperated with the rest of them. If the other two were anything like these servants, then the poor butler had to do all the work load. As to why an earl would have such useless helping hands in the first place was beyond my knowledge of understanding.

"Who's this?" A voice inquired.

I turned wide eyed to look at the others in the kitchen who, with the exception of Sebastian, were now looking in my direction. Bard smirked and placed a hand on the younger man's shoulders.

"This here is, Miss Hale," he explained. "She's the new parlor maid, Finny."

The boy's eyes lit up, "Eh? Miss Hale, welcome to the Phantomhive household."

I blushed hotly, "Call me Tessa please. Miss Hale is just too formal and we are co-workers now."

The boy nodded and gave me an friendly smiled, "Well I'm Finnian, but you can call me Finny same as everyone else does."

I curtsied politely, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Finny. Are you the gardener by any chance?"

He grinned and nodded, "Yes, though I'm afraid I do a lousy job at it. Sebastian is always correcting me."

I smiled warmly, but inside I was just shaking my head. How could one be proud of themselves for failing to do their job? It was puzzling to hear.

"Don't you two have work to do," Sebastian cut in, eyeing the two senior servants with a dangerous glare.

Both swallowed hard and nodded, "Yes, Sebastian."

"And you," I looked to him, where he was placing a surprisingly clean tea set onto a shiny silver tray. "Will be serving the master his afternoon tea in the study."

I swallowed back the sudden rush of uncertainty. Me? Was he absolutely certain that he wasn't to send someone like me?

From the look in Sebastian's face, I knew better than to open my mouth and argue his decision.

I took a step forward and reached for the tray. The metal was cool in my hands and the aroma of spices was comforting as well as familiar. Without even meaning to I let myself utter then name familiar to my tongue.

"Earl Gray."

Sebastian gave me a curious glance, "You know your tea?"

I blushed hotly and glanced away as I lifted the tray up, "I might have been a blue blood by birth, sir, but my mother thought it was important for a young woman to know things such as serving tea and sewing. She believed that even if a woman had servants to do that sort of work, she could never fully please her husband if she didn't know anything about household chores."

I glanced back at him to find his face looking at me with complete shock. Had he seriously expect so little of me? Knowing tea and sewing was something I thought all women knew. I guess I was sadly mistaken.

"I'll be taking my leave now," I mumbled. "I'm sure the master wouldn't be pleased if he was served cold tea."

I turned on my heels and left the room quickly. I could tell my face was still flushed with unwanted blushes. The heat they gave off was enough to tell me that. Even in my embarrassment I could feel the stinging heat of anger welling in my chest. Who was Sebastian to belittle me? We were both servants after all, in fact I might be of slightly higher status then him thanks to my blood lines. Even if I had fallen, I still had that to clutch too.

I stopped in front of the study door and bit my lip. Nervous butterflies eating up at my stomach now as I stood warily eyeing the door before me. Shouldn't Sebastian be the one delivering the afternoon tea to our master instead of I? I was just the new staff, not one of the veterans that'd worked here for years. The master didn't even know I existed yet.

I swallowed back my nervousness and stepped forward, rapping my knuckles against the hard smooth wood. There was only silence on the other side for a few seconds, so I knocked again.

"Come in," a voiced echoed from the other side.

This was it, there was no choice for me to turn back now, so I collected myself and stepped forward. Turning the brass knob, I entered the room quietly while balancing the tray of tea with my right hand. It wobbled slightly in my hand and I silently sent a plea up to the heavens to save me from dropping it. I wouldn't be able to recover from that sort of shame, not after saving myself from the horrors of being on the streets by gaining employment here.

I was thankfully able to get the door shut behind me and placed my other hand under the tray. The rest would be simple from here know that I could rely on both my hands to balance the heavy tray.

"Sebastian," a voice called, stopping me dead in my tracks.

I held my breath and looked across the room towards the desk at the other end. Pale papers scattered the surface, along with other odds and ends required for paper work and other business. This was not the abnormal oddity at the desk. It was the person seated in the large leather seat behind in.

He was no more than a young boy I realized. I guess I hadn't quite believed the gentleman earlier when he had informed me that the Earl was only thirteen. Now I could see that he was indeed just a boy. A young face was clearly painted with boredom, as he read through sheets of paper. Soft pastel black hair with glimpses of dull blue highlights fell around his face, framing his small pale face.

"Sebastian, are you just going to stand there all day or serve me my tea," the boy ordered with an agitated voice.

I didn't answer, simply because it wasn't me he was addressing. It was odd, I knew that I should answer him, but I didn't. Instead I moved forward across the room drawing closer to the desk.

"Sebastian, answer me," the boy growled, slamming the papers down and glaring across the desk top at me. His deep blue eyes widened into the size of saucers as he looked at me, standing frozen with the tray of afternoon tea hovering an inch over the desk surface.

"You aren't, Sebastian," he muttered softly, probably just as shocked as I was shaken by his outburst.

"I-I-I'm sorry, my lord...I'm not," I stuttered for the first time since arriving here feeling slightly afraid for my well being. I didn't know why I should be, he was just a child after all. But I knew from watching the children of court that they could be cruel to their servants. Some treated their staff worse then even dogs.

I placed the tray down my hands shaking as I did so. I backed up a few steps and curtsied deeply.

"Who are you, then?" He questioned, his eyes not straying from my bent over form yet.

"I...I'm Miss Tessa Hale...m-m-my lord. The new parlor maid. I'm sorry if you were expecting someone else, my lord," I cried, keeping my head low and not daring a glance up.

"Very well," he stated. "No need to waste time, you may serve me my tea."

I stood straight up in a hurry, "Yes, my lord."

I steadied my trembling hands with some effort, trying to remember exactly what my mother had taught me about calming one's nerves. Even though I had fought tooth and nail through ever lesson she'd ever taught me, I was increasingly thankful she had forced me to sit through them. If she hadn't, who knows where I would be at this moment. Most likely on the street after scalding the poor earl with his hot tea.

I poured the tea into the cup quickly, before setting the tea pot back onto the tray. Lifting out the strainer for the cup, I tapped it twice to get the excesses liquid off of it before setting it upside down on the tray. Glancing briefly to the cream and sugar, I looked back to the young earl.

"What would you like added to it, my lord?" I asked softly.

"Two cubes of sugar, no cream," he answered in a dry tone, not bothering to look at me.

I nodded and used a spoon to carefully scoop two cubes of sugar up. After dropping them into the tea, I stirred the liquid for a moment before placing the spoon back onto the tray and placing the cup in front of the boy.

"Is there anything else I can do for you, my lord?" I asked.

"No."

"Then may I take my leave, sir?"

He looked up at me, "No, stand over there until I have use for you."

I nodded, slightly disheartened to not be allowed to leave the stuffy room. I didn't know if I would be able to stand remaining in a room doing nothing but standing there. Madness would surely set in.

But stand there I did.

I quietly folded my hands in front of me and stared silently down at the ground. The navy blue carpet seemed to swirl before my eyes as boredom took control of my mind. Images that I logically knew didn't exist in the materials of the carpet, began to dance before my gaze.

Time ticked by slowly like a rain drop inching it's way across a glass pane, perhaps even slower. I didn't know how long it was before I finally heard the subtle sound of someone softly clearing their throat.

I glanced up swiftly to find Ciel with his eyes closed and hands folded in front of his face. I wasn't daft enough to think him sleeping even for a second. The way his chest rose and fell in time wasn't even enough. He was surely still awake, as sure as I knew the sun rose in the east and set in the west.

"Yes, my lord?" I asked softly.

His eyes opened and he looked to me, "You may take the tray and leave, but find Sebastian and tell him that I require something sweet to be sent to me."

I nodded and hurried over to the desk to grab the tray. Without so much as an extra word I curtsied and left the room. A sigh of relief took over me as I closed the door behind me. That had to be the most boring thing I'd ever done in my entire life.