Disclaimer: Oh. My. How. I. Wish.
A/N: Here's the promised Chapter 19! I'm so sorry for the delay!
Chapter XIX: After Party: The Rabbit, the Queen, the Doll, the Princess, or the Sky?
"Oz! You're here!" Ciel embraced the overjoyed lad in front of him. At first, Oz was a little frightened of that untimely visit, expecting that Ciel wouldn't talk to him for breaking his promise; but things went well in the end when the boy gave him a hug without second thoughts.
Or so he thought.
From that reunion, a fleeting silence drew between the persons present. It was only then broken by a sudden loud whimper. From that, all turned to look at Ciel who ended up crying on Oz's arms.
"W-What's wrong?" Oz asked, panicking at that moment.
All of them, except for Alice, shot the boy a worried, panic look. "B-Brother, are you hurt?" Zwei immediately ran to give Ciel a comforting rub on the back. When the latter didn't stop, she shot Oz a piercing glare. The blonde almost felt like melting from his post. Ciel's sister sure is a one pretty, yet scary, girl. He had to do something if he does not want to be eaten alive.
"Why are you crying, Ciel? Come on, tell me?" Oz cooed, embracing the boy tightly.
Ciel slowly looked up at him and tried to prevent his tears from falling furthermore. "I-I… thought you… y-you forgot about your promise."
"O-Oh, why would I forget it? I'm here now, am I not?" Oz could feel the rush of guilt in his whole body. He did forget about it. If it wasn't for that invitation, he wouldn't have the guts to come and visit. "You should smile now." He tried his best to smile genuinely for him, and when he did, Ciel stopped his weeping and returned the gesture.
Oz felt a great sign of relief, 'though from the corners of his eyes he could see a certain silver-haired girl glaring more at him. Zwei could feel that certain jealousy in her whole system. She had to admit that she had her eyes on Oz ever since she saw him at Ciel's birthday party. She felt an indescribable emotion towards him—something similar to likeness. But how come when she saw the boy she likes cuddling and holding lovingly her dear brother, she felt like snatching her brother away? Her innate over protectiveness overpowers her every time someone, aside from her family, gets closer to her beloved baby brother. That was always the case.
But, now, was it really because of that?
"Uhm… Ciel, I think you should go to your sister and tell her you're alright. She looks so worried," Oz whispered in the boy's ear. Ciel looked up at him and then to his sister. He smiled at her and told her to rest assure. It was after then when Zwei realized what Oz had done for her. A blush instantly occupied her cheeks as she turned away from them.
The Phantomhives' special visitors all made themselves at ease at the little banquet prepared for them for that occasion. The dinner party that the Earl thought of was simply exquisite and worth their time; plus the food prepared by none other than Sebastian was all elegant and scrumptious. There was a long table filled with different dishes and expensive wines and juices. Almost everything was so hard to resist. After the dinner, they were then escorted back to the main hall to spend the rest of the evening through a little after party—since it was decided that they would stay in for the night. There were cakes and other sweets prepared by Sebastian in case they would want one.
"This is the best dinner party I've ever had!" Alice boasted, happily. She was now standing beside one of the tables, trying some chocolate parfait. "Although, I love meat more, this dessert is so tasty!"
A soft laugh was then heard from behind her. "You look so happy." Alice looked back and saw Oz smiling at her. "Is it good? Let me have some." She nodded, letting out a big grin on her face, before taking a spoonful of the sweet and gently shoving it in Oz's opened mouth.
"Oh, you can't be that all sweet to each other while in here," another laugh, or more like an interested giggle, was heard. Oz and Alice both looked at the direction of the voice, seeing Sharon, Isabel, and Ilyasviel in return. "Someone might get jealous."
"S-Sharon, don't say it like we're doing something inappropriate," Oz responded with a blush. Alice only looked at them both with curious eyes.
"Oh, I was just stating a fact, although I didn't say it was inappropriate."
"What's so wrong about feeding my manservant?" the black-haired girl asked. "Although, yes he's my servant, that doesn't mean that I can't do these things, right?"
"S-Servant? You mean Oz works for you? H-How's that possible?" Isabel asked—shocked and all.
"Yes. Oz is my manservant right now because he let me kissed him at that ti—"
"K-Kissed?!" Right, she was embarrassed now. How come the boy she likes already did something like letting a girl kiss him?
Sharon only giggled from that misunderstanding. She only cared about how Oz would deal with it. After all, he is so cute to tease.
"N-No, I… It was nothing! Don't listen to her!" Oz protested—a blush occupying his cheeks. He turned to Alice and gave her a please-do-not-tell-them-our-secret kind of look. Isabel wasn't convinced with it, but since Oz already ended the topic, she should at least forget about it.
"How come my baby brother grew attached to an immoral boy like you?" this time it was coming from the other girl standing at the opposite side of the table; it so happened that Zwei overheard them talking from her post.
Immoral? Oz almost choked from the word. Could it be that Ciel's sister found out about his crazy idea of giving Ciel a kiss treatment? There's no way he could show himself to anybody if that was found out. "W-What? W-Who? Me?"
"Who else? Are there any boys around here now?" Zwei had a grumpy look on her face now; she was neither on her Echo nor Noise mode. "Doing that in a place like this with the same girl you kissed…Isn't that improper enough? Are you even a gentleman?"
Oh my, the other girls gasped—except for Alice who was beginning to get angry as well.
"W-Wait a minute… what exactly did I do?" Oz could feel his eyebrows twitching now. "And why are you getting mad at me?"
"I can't believe how clueless you are! I knew my brother better than you do. He's a possessive child. If he saw you doing that, he'll get jealous for sure!" Ah, seriously, why was she being all worked up with a nonsense issue such as this all of a sudden? She wasn't that talkative to begin with. "He was even like that to me when he saw me looking at you at his own birthday pa—" Whoa. Wait. Why did she suddenly blurt that out? And in front of these people she barely knew? It was supposed to be a secret!
"Y-You… were looking at me?"
Zwei could feel the heat going up to her head. My, how embarrassing. "I-I… n-no! It was a mistake! I wasn't!"
Oz and the others could only stare at her in amusement. It was no later than that, though, when the lad chuckled and said, "How cute of Miss Zwei. I apologize for earlier, then. I wouldn't want to make Ciel cry again either."
"I-I'm not cute!" Zwei protested. "I-It's best that we make ourselves clear with it. I won't forgive you if you hurt Ciel!"
Once again, a smile escaped Oz. He knew it. Ciel and Zwei do are alike in some ways.
"It looks like Oz and the girls are having fun." Ivenrei and Gilbert were sitting on the rows of chairs placed beside the table were the beverages were set. The two were simply enjoying their wine while looking at the happy bunch at the corner.
"Oz is always into cute girls, there's no doubt about that," Gilbert followed.
"I can see… even my sisters grew a liking to him." Ivenrei pouted. "Ah, it makes me jealous."
"You shouldn't be. You're a good looking guy, as well."
"Oh, thanks," he answered with an almost frowning smile, "But please don't say it with a straightforward face, Mister Gilbert. Besides, I bet you're a Casanova yourself."
Gilbert turned to look at the fifteen-year-old beside him, almost choking from his wine. "I-It's not my fault I was born with this face! Oz is cuter than me!"
"I didn't say anything regarding cuteness." The younger boy laughed which made the black-haired man blushed from embarrassment. "Oh, speaking of cute… where's little Ciel?"
"I have no ide—"
"Are you looking for me?" asked a childish, feminine voice. Both guys looked for the direction of the voice, only to found Ciel emerging from under the table.
"B-Bloody hell! What're you doing down there?" Ivenrei asked from too much shock.
"Hiding," Ciel answered.
"From who?"
Ciel looked at the direction where Oz was. When the blonde didn't look back, he bowed and shook his head. He just hates to see Oz talking with ladies or any other person aside from him. Ivenrei and Gilbert glanced at each other with curious gazes. When they decided to ask the little boy, the latter put on a big (fake) smile and took a glass from the table. "Let me have some, Mister!" He pointed at the bottle of wine, his sweet smile lingering on his lips.
"Y-You want this?" Gilbert asked, "Are you allowed to drink?" Right, he had forgotten to ask the butler if the little master is allowed to drink heavy beverages. Where are the elders when you need them?
Ciel nodded and handed him the glass.
"Are you sure?"
Ciel pouted. "I'm not a baby." Well, he had lied about that. His parents don't even allow him to touch even the lid of a bottle. Gilbert glanced at Ivenrei, only to receive a shrug. A rich boy like him did look like someone who already tasted an alcoholic beverage. He took the bottle and filled Ciel's glass with white wine. In one gulp Ciel had managed to empty his glass while concealing his pale expression (the wine was disgusting for his taste!). "S-Seconds!"
Both of his older companions stared at him with their mouths literally hanging open. Heck, Gilbert—a 24 year-old young man—couldn't even finish a half, knowing how low his alcohol tolerance is. This kid sure is something.
"Uh, no, Ciel. I don't think you should drink another one." Ivenrei attempted to take the empty glass from the boy; but Ciel only insisted until, once again, they were forced to let him do what he wanted. Ciel managed to drink four glasses of wine before Oz finally went to join the three.
Oz sat down beside Ciel who had just faced him—a coy smile curling on his lips. The blonde stared back at him with a confused expression, though he still managed to return the smile despite it. Turning then towards the other two boys, his eyes landed on the almost-empty bottle of fermented wine sitting on the table. Gilbert and Ivenrei fidgeted on their seats as if Oz would eat them by any chance possible. Realizing the current situation, Oz frantically grabbed the glass Ciel was holding.
"What is this?" He sniffed it, earning the answer he expected. He then turned to glare at the two. "You let him drink alcohol?!"
"I-It's not alcohol, its wine," Gilbert answered, obviously scared of what his best friend might do.
"Alcohol or wine, it's just the same! A guy like you who can't even hold his drink should know full well what will happen if you let a little boy drink what adults drink!"
"But I was—"
"What kind of adult would—"
Before everything else became out of hand, Ivenrei put a palm on Oz's shoulder—cutting his speech just in time.
"Calm down, Oz. Mister Gilbert doesn't have anything to do with it. Ciel said he's allowed to drink."
Oz turned to look at Ciel, once again, with a disappointed expression on his face. "Is that true, Ciel?"
Ciel only gave him a frown, followed by the order of giving him the drink back.
"No. You're drunk." Oz put the glass back on the table and then grabbed Ciel, gently, by the hand. "Come here…"
"No! Let me go!"
"Ciel!" He yelled, gaining silence from the boy. "Why did you lie to them?" The black-haired young men felt so stupid for not recognizing the lie; at the same time, they were amazed at how good Oz at being perceptive—especially when it comes to Ciel.
"I-I... I," Ciel whimpered. Oz sighed, guilt rushing in when the boy started to cry. Drunk or not, Ciel is such a crybaby.
"Look, I won't be mad. Just promise me you won't do that again. Also, I hate liars, so you better not lie again."
"I-I'm…so…s-so… sorry," Ciel bawled and dived at Oz's embrace. In less than a minute, he fell asleep.
"T-That was just," the three thought in unison, "too cute!"
"I think I should bring him to his roo—"
"Oh, did he fall asleep?" Surprised, they all turned to look at the one who spoke. Lady Rachel was standing there with a sweet smile on her lips, beside her was the Earl.
Oz gulped, too scared to think of what to say; although his eyes never left the lady. No matter where angle he look, Ciel really do resemble his mother. The only parts he got from his father were the color of his hair, the shape of his nose, and probably his way of thinking.
"Are you boys having a nice time?" The Earl asked as he gently took Ciel from Oz. The three only managed to give a quick nod. "Well, feel free to enjoy the rest of the evening. I'll take Ciel to his room."
"U-Uh, thank you, Lord Vincent."
He smiled and then left with his wife, though the lady proceeded on joining the girls in their girly chitchats.
"Lord Vincent is such a nice man. No wonder he's so popular."
"That's already a given, Oz. Look how perfect his family is," Gilbert added. Oz only offered him a sad smile. Realizing his grave mistake of mentioning something about families, he scurried to his feet and knelt down in front of Oz for an apology.
"G-Gil! It's alright! Get on your feet!" Somehow, for Gilbert to do that in public, Oz felt a little embarrassed. He doesn't like it when people feel pity on him. Gilbert did what he was told, and then there came a short silence between the two. Ivenrei, however, did notice that Oz had some sort of jealousy at the Earl's family.
"Maybe it got something to do with the Earl being his mother's lover?" he thought, "Yes, come to think of it… his Mom's no longer here… and his Dad… his character is the complete opposite of the Earl's."
"Rei? Are you alright?"
"Huh?" he snapped. "O-Oh… yes, of course."
Right, he better just ask him some other time.
A/N: And so, I've decided to cut it right there. As I had confessed, I was lacking ideas for this chapter (and still am)... so I'll save the other scenes for the next one. Oh, about the one I've asked of you readers... I think I'll just have it on the sequel. _
Ugh! I'm so indecisive!
What do you think of this chapter? Can you guess who hold those aliases I'd put at the title? Those who can guess will earn a kiss from any character he/she wants!
Oh, and before I forgot, thank you for those who reviewed! Je T'aime!