Chapter 3

Ciel is easily bored.

As soon as the human is gone, he starts feeling the fabric of his clothing – it looks skanky on him, he thinks -, then he goes to lie on the couch, taking in the ceiling above him, the colour of the living-room wall, the wooden floor, the shelves filled with books, the thin rectangular box –

The demon boy's interest rises. This must be some modern technology that his father has cursed already. Ciel wants to know how it works. He inches closer, eyes narrowed in concentration – where is he supposed to start to get a result from this? – and figures he should look for buttons. Buttons seem to bring many results these days.

The only problem is that this box hasn't got any buttons.

Ciel rounds it and finds cables on the other side. He looks at them, and then tugs at them experimentally. When they fall out of the plug, he studies them. Pulls at them. Peels off the isolation. Scrunches up his nose. He can't get far with copper, can he now?

With a scowl he drops the cables and heads for the hallway. Damages a light bulb. Interest lost, he goes to the kitchen and burns his hand with hot water after having spent three hours trying to find out how the stove is switched on. Strangely, while the skin of his hand turns a fierce red and blisters appear, he only feels a mild discomfort. He moves the scalded fingers which is a little harder to do than before. Then he drops the hand – it will heal, he knows that – and goes through the drawers, through Sebastian's fridge and tries to name the things he remembers from lessons with his father.

And then he catches it.

He halts in his steps, carefully, and turns to another box, grey this time, but with buttons in plain sight. While it looks interesting, Ciel's actual attention is focussed on the mug between the box and the sink. It hasn't been put away yet, and it doesn't smell of Sebastian. The demon boy takes the mug into his hands and sniffs daintily. A human has touched this, but this human is considered as something else's territory.

Sebastian knows a contracted human.

Ciel senses the scented sprays the human used to enhance his body's smell in the air, stale now that he's left a while ago. Last night, perhaps. The sprays have mingled with the human's natural scent which also carries, for other humans unable to sense, a very evident mark. This demon is surely older than Ciel, and more experienced, for the quality of the mark is high.

Ciel hopes that this demon hasn't declared Sebastian as its next goal.

He goes back to the couch and lies down, his eyes open and his body always ready for an attack (this still is unknown territory, he needs to be careful).

This is how Sebastian finds him.

"Did you honestly destroy a light in the hallway?" the doctor asks instead of a greeting.

Ciel sits up. "It tried to electrocute me."

The doctor stares at him, as if unsure whether to be angry or not. The matter falls under the table entirely when his gaze lowers, attracted by whatever there is to find. Ciel follows his gaze. "What happened to your hand?" And surprisingly, he's on his knees in front of Ciel in no time, assessing the damage the boy has accidentally inflicted upon himself. He raises an eyebrow. "This looks bad."

"It looked worse two hours ago", Ciel retorts and yanks the hand away. "It's healing."

"Healing?" The doctor repeats. "It can't heal if you leave it without treatment."

"I'm a demon." Ciel feels as if he's not taken seriously for having to repeat this fact so often. "Your human rules don't apply to me. We function differently."

Sebastian nods slowly, incomprehension still evident in the way he frowns, but he gets up and that is a beginning. "I got you some clothes."

Ciel blinks. "You did?"

"I thought I should." He quickly leaves the room to return with a large bag of clothes. "If it gets you out of my house."

The demon huffs. "I highly doubt that. Especially not with recent developments."

"Recent developments?"

"Are you hard of hearing?" Ciel asks.

The doctor gives him a look that is only so short of a glare. Feeling exasperation rising in his chest, Ciel almost has the need to remind him how high his rank actually is. He doesn't, though, for a rank can be worn out and needs to be used sparingly. While you can achieve respect with your rank, you also need to earn loyalty and devotion from your subjects. This is a hard thing to do with demons, whose sense for loyalty only goes as far as the outlook of their own personal gain in the situation, but somehow, Ciel's father has managed this, and he's got legions and legions of demons ready, only held where they are by loyalty (their own personal gain, of course) and their high respect of their leader, who managed to gain it without misusing his title.

Ciel wants to follow his father's footsteps, which is why he will not abuse his title, especially not in front of a human. If Sebastian starts to disrespect him, Ciel will find other ways to either intimidate him or gain his respect.

And what works better than forming a contract?

"You aren't safe like this," the boy says at length.

Sebastian looks the boy up and down in such a noncommittal way that it's blatantly insulting at the same time. Ciel wishes to know how he manages that, but this can be learned at a later time. "What do you mean by that?"

"A contract provides you safety," Ciel explains. "Did you know that London is full of my kind? They are everywhere you look, leering after potential candidates. And" – here he pauses, crossing his legs as he thinks about his next words – "many of them don't even form contracts. They will wait in your car when you come back from the hospital, and they will suck out your soul in the middle of the street. They will find you in your house like I did, but since we all go by our own rules, they might not wait for you to make a decision. They won't offer you a deal. They won't ask."

The human looks up from Ciel's knees. "Whether they ask or not, it doesn't change anything if they don't accept a 'no'."

Ciel remains silent, narrowing his eyes. "I have the feeling you aren't taking this as seriously as you should."

"I apologize for not running around screaming," Sebastian says, "but I had a long day, I want to go to sleep and I want you to put something on that doesn't remind me of a scantily clad promiscuous boy."

Ciel scowls. "I don't care how long your day was. This is an issue we have to address. You are mine, human, and I have to protect you from rivals. Form a contract with me, and your life will be safe."

"You're young," Sebastian says dryly. The boy feels his face heat up at this. Damn that human. He's too perceptive.

"It doesn't matter how young I am! I am powerful. The mark I will lay upon you shows my rank to other demons. Power and rank matter right now, not experience or age. There are hardly any demons who are on the same level as or above me."

"No." The human says it in a conversational tone, probably the one he uses on every patient in the hospital, and crouches to remove the clothes he bought from the bag. "There won't be a contract. I told you to look for another human. You can't provide me with anything if nothing is what I want."

"I could give you nothing. It would end the contract pretty quickly."

Sebastian lifts his head, incredulous, and then sighs. "You haven't quite got the hang of this, have you?"

Ciel fails to understand what the doctor is intending to express with this, so he doesn't answer. Sebastian offers a wry smile and extends a hand to brush over Ciel's head. "You might want to practise that."

With a huff Ciel slaps away the human's hand, careful not to put too much force into the slap. He is, after all, much stronger than he looks. The doctor smiles as if he's expected this and places the newly bought clothes next to Ciel on the couch. "Try them on."

Resting his elbow on the couch's armrest, Ciel looks down at the doctor lazily. He quite likes the sight of someone on their knees in front of him. "Dress me."

This time, the doctor only sighs slowly. But he dresses and undresses the demon in cold colours, checking if the things he's chosen fit. Ciel can't give an answer when he's asked whether he likes what Sebastian has bought. Human's clothes are so different from demons'… at least of those that bother to wear clothes, that is. "Are you aware of the fact that you know a contracted human?"

Eyes widen. Hands halt in the middle of pulling down a shirt. A reaction that is certainly different from what Ciel has seen on him.

"He smells similar to you," Ciel continues. 'Only less interesting,' he adds in his head. "And he must be very close to that demon." He leans in a little, because shock suits the doctor wonderfully. The sudden stop of a beating heart, only to resume its activities at a pace faster than before, the way he tries to play it down again, resuming a normal pose and an indifferent expression while Ciel can hear the loud beating as if he rested his head on Sebastian's chest… He finds it infatuating. "Do you have a brother?"

"Yes," Sebastian answers after a long stretch of silence. He clears his throat, pulls the shirt over soft skin, and then he makes Ciel stand up so that he can have a better look at it. "Of course I didn't know. But then again, you could be lying."

"Why should I lie about this?" Ciel frowns at him. "I could get you to form a contract without using your brother's demon as an excuse. What I wanted to was talk some sense into your thick skull."

"My thick skull?" Sebastian smirks. "I think you got that wrong."

Ciel rolls his eyes. "Are you done staring at my body?"

"If you're talking about your clothes, yes, we're done trying them on." Sebastian leaves him in the latest set of clothes, which is different from the others: Loose trousers and a large shirt, comfortable and almost weightless. Sleeping clothes, Ciel concludes, tugging at the elastic fabric.

"I'm going to keep the ones that fit."

The doctor nods and gets up, leaving most of the clothes and the price tags that he cut from the sleeping clothes on the coffee table. "I've got a spare bedroom. Do you eat anything other than… souls?"

"I do not require food, drink or sleep," Ciel answers.

"Sounds like a great way to save money," Sebastian comments lightly.

The young demon follows him to the kitchen, learning how food is prepared and cooked, and then takes an interest in watching the doctor eat. He doesn't meet the man's gaze, though, and while he'd like to think that he's sneaky enough not to be caught staring, he knows that Sebastian is only humouring him.

OOO

The next morning Sebastian wakes up to an empty flat.

The demon is gone.

After having checked the spare room, the kitchen and after a short glance at the living-room, the doctor puts it off as having had the strangest dream in his whole life. Maybe somebody should have a look at that. Something must be off with him. He chuckles to himself. Of course. He probably only needs the day off. Not that he'd do that, though; he isn't sick or hindered in any way, so he's going to go to work today.

His chuckles stop abruptly when he finally spots the bag of children's clothes on the other side of the couch. A pair of pyjamas is lying on the floor next to the bag that lacks a set he bought yesterday.

He stands there, staring and trying to will the bag away. When it doesn't disappear, he abruptly turns on his heels and goes back to searching his flat thoroughly.

The demon child is not there anymore.

And… this is good, isn't it? The doctor frowns at his own thoughts. He doesn't know whether it's too early to be relieved; demons surely have their ways, don't they?

Maybe he's just expected more, but the demon lacks a decent amount of entertainment. It seems to have given up now and while it has tried to persuade Sebastian, it has lost interest quickly.

This is absolutely void of any kind of excitement.

Sebastian comes to a halt by the front door, relieved and not at the same time, before he has a small breakfast and leaves the flat. After having arrived incredibly late at work yesterday, Sebastian rather goes by car again today. He could take an underground train like the day before after he realized that the distance to the hospital is longer than he thought, but he doesn't want to be around people before work.

It is strange, he thinks, how life just goes on. The voice of an animated moderator barely reaches Sebastian's ears as he passes shops and citizens in his car. A demon has been here, and now it's gone and nothing has changed.

When a song from Claude begins – and Sebastian recognizes every song during the first two seconds – the doctor grits his teeth and switches the radio off. "Did you cheat with your demon, brother?"

Claude, of course, doesn't answer.

Sebastian would like to know for how long the demon has been around, what it did and who it is. Is it somebody he also knows?

Is it Alois?

Sebastian rolls his eyes. "Of course not," he mutters. As if that thing can do anything other than throw himself at older men.

Of course not.

He parks his car by the hospital, gets out and takes the longer way by entering through the front door - he always does that, though, to greet the staff by the hospital reception -

… He stops at the sight of a slight, small figure in one of his jackets, and he drops the keys in his hand that he hasn't put into his pocket yet, he frowns with a smile frozen on his mouth, and then he lets out a humourless laugh, hoping that it sounds halfway genuine in the passing people's ears. "What are you doing here?" The words come through almost-clenched teeth and Sebastian feels that this must be the ugliest face he's ever made. So many emotions are showing right now and he feels exposed.

"Dad," Ciel says, and he beams as he harshly tugs at the nurse's hands so that she – he – lets him go. He spreads his arms and runs to Sebastian, wraps his fragile-looking limbs around the doctor's middle.

"How often have I told you not to call me that?" Sebastian mutters, only half of his acting skills pouring into that sentence as he tries to pull back his real emotions again. They are supposed to stay on the inside, after all.

Ciel merely grins at him. He's so small, Sebastian notices, and his hand automatically flies to the (demon) child's head to flatten unruly strands of hair.

"Sebastian, daaaarling! I didn't know you had a son."

Oh, right. That one is there, too.

"He's not my son. He's my nephew."

Grell Sutcliff, wearing a woman's nurse outfit, lifts a critical eyebrow. "Your nephew."

"Yes. Is there something about this fact that doesn't agree with you?"

The redhead scoffs as if trying to convey his opinion into this short sound and then reaches up to fix his ponytail. "Why should there be anything that I wouldn't agree with? As long as it doesn't disturb our flourishing relationship, I don't mind."

"Grell, there is no 'flourishing relationship' betw-"

"Did you know that denying our love only makes you sexier?" Grell chuckles, trying to appear seductive. "I like it."

Sebastian closes his mouth at once.

"The kid isn't supposed to be here, though."

For once, Grell is right. Ciel is still hugging Sebastian, but by now he seems tremendously bored. "I think I'm going to talk to Anne about this," the doctor says.

"Why?" Grell is barely hiding his sneer. His spectacles don't diminish the force of his glare. Sebastian doesn't have a problem with the look on Grell's face, but rather at whom the glare is directed.

Why is Grell behaving this way? It is known throughout the whole hospital that Grell does like children, especially the cute ones. Since he can't have any himself, he likes to spoil other people's children.

"Because - as you can see - the moment that I avert my gaze from Ciel, he's gone. I'd like to keep an eye on him so that it won't happen again." Sebastian cocks his head to the side and smiles pleasantly as they're still surrounded by patients and early visitors. "If you excuse us now, I need to change and get started."

Grell opens his mouth as if to say something, but then he closes it again. On his red high heels, he walks away, this time not even bothering to add the usual extra swing to his hips that is supposed to raise Sebastian's non-existent lust for him. The doctor does watch him leave this time, but just to make sure that Grell is actually going away instead of coming back to stalk him.

Angelina ('Call me Anne' alias 'Madame Red', as the staff likes to call her) is very fast to persuade. She just needs one look at Ciel and agrees straight away. The boy can stay, as long he doesn't disturb the daily routine too much. He will have to wait in front of patients' rooms until Sebastian is done with check-ups and he is to stay in the young doctor's office whenever there's an operation. The only price he has to pay for having Ciel stay with him is a playful slap to his backside as he turns to leave. Deeply shocked, he suppresses a yelp. Anne has become more daring lately.

Ciel watches the exchange without any change of expressions whatsoever.

Sebastian leaves the boy in his office as he quickly fetches his doctor's overalls. When he returns, he sees that Ciel is still quite incapable of buttoning his shirt now that he's taken off the older male's jacket. Without another word, Sebastian kneels in front of the boy to fix these little things. Ciel doesn't move.

"I was hoping I wouldn't have to see you again," Sebastian begins.

"Sorry to disappoint," Ciel replies dryly. "I do intend to devour your soul."

"There will be no contract." Sebastian is starting to feel like a broken record now.

Ciel's upper lip twitches as if he wants to bear his teeth. Then he seems to think better of it and leans back in his chair, forcing the doctor to follow him. "This nurse… I wasn't aware that you interact with creatures of his kind."

"Creatures of his kind?" Sebastian repeats. Cross-dressers?, he would rather ask.

"Reapers."

The doctor stills. His first instinct is to deny it, his second to consider it and his third to demand proof. He's buttoning the shirt of a demon, though, so why shouldn't there be any reapers? Death would surely have too much to do on his own.

Sebastian wants to lock himself in a room and wait until this insanity has passed. It's tedious and grates his nerves into powdery substance. He doesn't have much energy left for his actual work today and this doesn't make him happy.

"I think they're working at the hospital to either gather the souls as quickly as possible or because they are on a mission." Now that Sebastian is finished, he straightens to his full height under the gaze of the boy. "How long has this reaper been here?"

"A year, I think." Sebastian pushes his hands into the pockets of his trousers.

"It could be that they're monitoring somebody," Ciel muses. "It could be you." He gets up and, after a short moment of hesitation, grabs Sebastian's hand. The doctor notices for the first time that the demon's fingernails are black.

"We need to find out whether it is you who they are monitoring," Ciel says, "because that would make everything slightly more difficult for me."

"I could just talk to Grell," Sebastian offers, but not without cringing inwardly. "He'll tell me everything-"

"Don't be stupid," Ciel immediately cuts in. It is apparent that he himself hasn't thought of anything yet. Sebastian almost smirks despite the unnerving situation. "Let's wait and see. They've all got the same eyes, so if there are more of them, they will be easy to find among your connections."

Sebastian merely nods, keeping his own thoughts to himself. "Why would they monitor me?"

"Your brother's demon might have a certain interest in you." Ciel shrugs. "Either way, it's not because they expected me to be here."

"If they aren't targeting you it would be wiser to stay out of this."

The demon gives him a look. "Your soul would go to waste if the reapers got what they want."

Sebastian opens the door and steps into the corridor. "I would be rather grateful if they protected my soul. I'd grow old and die happy."

"And yet you are holding my hand." The boy's voice oozes smugness. "I knew there is something that you want. Name it."

"Could we please not discuss this in a public place?" Sebastian asks in a low voice. He lets go of Ciel's hand and rests his own hand just underneath the boy's shoulder blades. He needs to fetch the latest notes on a patient before he can have a look at the old man. Another doctor has done the check up yesterday.

The boy stays silent as if he's sulking. Somebody must be used to getting what they want. Sebastian wants to tell him that this definitely isn't how it works in life but he refrains from doing it. How strange would that be, lecturing a demon? He almost chuckles to himself.

"Is there a possibility to meet your brother?" Ciel finally asks after Sebastian has picked up the latest notes on his patient (or rather on Anne's patient).

"Everybody wants to meet him," Sebastian answers.

"But you're his family."

"Why do you want to see him?"

Ciel looks around, barely moving his head as if to stay unsuspicious. "I wish to meet his demon."

And in come the shinigami. Can't have a fic without them, right? ;)

See you in the next chapter! ^^ Thank you for reading as well as for your reviews, favs and alerts!