A/N: Okay I'm almost convinced that my writing quality has gone down to the centre of the earth. Like seriously, I feel like my writing's becoming shit. I might update a bit more slowly, depending on how long it takes for me to fix up my dreadful writing because if I don't like my own stories I don't even know why I would be publishing them. So anyways, enjoy! -SeaweedNeko
The next morning...
"A-ah, S-Sebastian…" Breathing heavily, Ciel grabbed a handful of his bed sheets and winced, biting his lip to prevent any noise from escaping.
"Does it hurt?" He looked away from Sebastian's face.
"A little... It just feels sort of- OW! Be careful!" He tried to even out his breathing.
"My apologies. I shall be more gentle."
"No, I'm fine now. Just hurry up already."
"Alright. Just make sure you relax so that my job is easier. Really, Undertaker did his job a little too well."
"Remind me to go pay him a visit later to kill him." Ciel muttered as Sebastian finished tying up the bandage.
"Understood."
"What's the schedule for today?"
"For the sake of your personal image, I have cancelled most of the meetings and lessons scheduled for today." Sebastian smiled at Ciel's confused and suspicious expression. "With a wound like that on your shoulder, you cannot even lift your arm at the moment, can you?"
"…"
"Would you like a sling to go with your arm?"
"No!"
Later...
"…."
"…."
"…."
"Young Master…"
"Shush."
Sebastian watched in amusement as Ciel unsuccessfully tried to use his left hand to eat breakfast.
"You may want to finish breakfast before it is time for dinner."
"I know!"
After another few minutes of unproductive concentration, Sebastian sighed, then picked up the plate and gently took the fork out of Ciel's hand.
"Hey! What are you-"
Sebastian smiled teasingly as he held up a piece of salmon in front of his face. "Say, 'ahh'!"
"S-Stop it!" Ciel struggled to push his butler's hand away, his face burning.
"You do not wish to starve during Charles Grey's visit in the evening, do you?"
"W-wait!"
"Please make yourself comfortable in my mansion, Mr. Grey." Ciel greeted his guest warmly. "The weather is becoming quite harsh outside."
"So you finally decided to open the door." The guest muttered, stepping into the mansion and away from the pounding rain outside.
"Please come this way to the sitting room. My butler will bring us tea." And I'll pretend that my butler didn't force me to eat my lunch there.
"I must say, your mansion is awfully quiet. Are there any other servants besides your butler?" Charles asked as he stabbed a cream puff off a plate of sweets that Sebastian had prepared.
Ciel opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a distant female scream and the sound of china crashing to the floor.
"…I hope that sound just now answered your question. Go, Sebastian." Sebastian bowed, then silently left the room.
"… Well… Apart from that butler, you have some pretty useless servants around here, huh?" Charles ate straight off the sword.
"I cannot argue with that." He watched as Ciel's left hand tightened ever so slightly against the arm of the chair just as a deep rumble sounded throughout the mansion.
"Might you be afraid of thunder, Earl? Or did I offend you with my remarks about your servants?" Charles smiled cheekily.
"Don't be ridiculous. I have better things to worry about than the weather." As he spoke, Sebastian entered the room again with a trolley of holding two cups of tea. He handed the cups to the two and returned to his spot behind Ciel's chair.
"Are you feeling okay, young master?" He asked quietly in a voice low enough so that Charles could not hear. Lightning flashed through the closed curtains, causing Ciel to jump a little.
"S'cuse me, I'm gonna go piss." Charles stood up and slid his sword back into its sheath.
"The bathroom is down the hallway on your left." Ciel beckoned to the door and let out a pent up sigh the moment he exited the room.
"You put up a lovely performance, did you not?" Sebastian stepped up beside Ciel's chair and patted his hair. Ciel silently pulled his butler's hand down from his head and stared at it, knowing that his butler knew about his phobia of thunder.
"Make sure I don't go crazy over the storm." He ordered in a quiet voice. "Got that, Sebastian?"
"Yes, my Lord."
"No matter what it takes." As he said this, his grip on his butler's hand tightened slightly before he hastily let go.
"Understood."'
Shortly afterwards, Charles gave Ciel a greeting letter from the Queen before he left with a sword covered in more desserts and sweets.
"See you, Earl. Grow taller." And he was gone.
"…"
"Shall we prepare you for bed, my Lord?"
"…Okay." Ciel flinched as lighting flashed across the sky, followed by thunder.
~Shortly afterwards in Ciel's bedroom~
Ciel peered out of his thick blanket. "It's still thunder storming outside. Stay with me."
"If that is your wish."Sebastian blew out the candles and sat down on the edge of the bed. Ciel shuffled a little bit closer to him and closed his eyes."You used to seek your parents' comfort in a time like this, did you not?" Ciel glared up at him, to Sebastian's amusement. "Good night, young master." He chuckled.
Despite Sebastian's presence, Ciel couldn't stop himself from reacting to the raging storm outside. Half an hour passed, then one. Ciel buried his face against Sebastian's side and covered his head with the blanket in an attempt to block out the sound of the pounding rain. After another restless thirty minutes, Ciel threw off his blanket in frustration and sat up, completely forgetting about his injured shoulder and groaning in pain and mostly pent up anger.
"Seriously! Does this storm ever stop? At least shut up for a moment so I can go to sleep, goddamn it!" He snapped.
"Young master, your shoulder wound just opened up."
"Worry about that later!"
"I should think not. The blood is going to stain your nightshirt at that rate."
"…Shit."
After changing the dressing, Ciel relaxed back on the bed, still a bit weak from the loss of blood. He closed his eyes again in an attempt to sleep.
Another few minutes of silence passed before Ciel spoke.
"I can't sleep." He admitted, opening his eyes.
"Even though the weather is back in control?"
"It's still raining." Ciel looked down. "And it's cold."
"Shall I go make something warm to eat?" Sebastian sat up slowly, but was quickly stopped by Ciel.
"No… Don't leave me."
"…Understood." He settled back down and observed his master shivering slightly for a while before he cautiously pulled Ciel towards him so that he was fully against his body.
"What do you think you're doing?" He grumbled, leaning away in embarrassment at the close contact. Sebastian smiled in amusement at his reaction and pulled him even closer.
"I am merely keeping you warm with my body temperature. And I believe like this, the sound of the rain will become more muffled in your ears." Ciel couldn't argue with that. Keeping his complaints to himself, he reluctantly leaned back into Sebastian's half-embrace and closed his eyes once more.
"This is only for tonight." He mumbled. "Starting from tomorrow I won't need you in my room at night anymore."
A/N: Dun dun duuuuuun! No more Sebastian in his room? :oo I sort of changed the storyline that goes after this chapter so I'm re-writing 3 chapters at the moment because what the hell happened to my writing. I hope this story is still enjoyable, I'm feeling a bit emo because I'm getting a little bit worried about whether the story is still interesting or not... -SeaweedNeko