In Due Time Chapter 7: Seven, a kuroshitsuji fanfic

A week later, and they had barely spoken— at least, on personal terms. Polite, civil conversation had occurred (none of which involved their issue), but all in all, it was easy enough to avoid one another while engrossed in work.

Or, rather, Sebastian had ensured she had plenty to do away from his frequented areas while he was there.

Naturally, there was still quite a bit about the entire ordeal that had her frustrated. Like his inability to give her any information about they predicament; the fact that he was a demon with soul-eating tendencies; and his overall attitude in general.

To be slightly far in that regard, she was far from subdued in her nature either, which obviously seemed to make it worse. Considering how most women were expected to be in these times, her raw nature must be like a slap in the face. That seemed more like a personal problem he needed to get over, though. She wasn't about to pretend to be something she wasn't, social expectations be damned.

Honestly, the thought that there probably were other girls like her who might be reprimanded for daring to think for themselves, and speak as such, only made her more determined to not bend. All in all, though incredibly homesick, staying at the manor was— okay. It would have been a lot better if she wasn't being forced to work from sun up until sun down, though.

And to top it all off, since the beginning of the week, she'd been noticing a pull, as if there was some invisible string somewhere inside her body that gave particularly noticeable tugs whenever the demon was near. Needless to say, it was annoying, and utterly persistent. Sometimes a tangible need of wanting to be closer to him appeared long enough to make her nose scrunch, before it was crushed.

It was disconcerting, to say the least; so much in fact, that she purposefully skipped out on helping Finny with the garden, to trap her so-called demon mate in the kitchen while he was making tea.

The way his shoulders tensed as soon as she opened the door did not go unnoticed — it wrinkled the back of his tailcoat, which was always pressed to perfection.

He didn't speak, clearly waiting for her to.

Well, here it goes.

Taking a deep breath, it all came tumbling out of her mouth at once: "Why do I want to be near you? Or, well, why does it feel like I want to, even when I don't?" There, that sounded much more levelheaded and clear, ensuring she is claiming no accountability for those tugs.

As calm as ever, the butler poured two scoops of tealeaves into the teapot, before closing the lid to let it set. "It is an unfortunate side-effect of the incomplete bond, meant to encourage it's fruition. For the moment, the pull is not as powerful. I imagine the longer the bond is left only half done, the stronger it will become. Logically, this makes sense, as a demon's mate is more vulnerable during this time. Your life span has yet to be tied to mine; and only a small portion of my power is in you, offering little protection. A complete blond strengthens both involved, to maximize their survival."

How in the world he could talk about that like he was simply reading a passage from a newspaper was beyond her. As it was, it left her mouth hanging open a little. Sure, a longer life span sounded nifty; as did being stronger. Too bad it had unwanted baggage along with it. "I'm guessing this 'completion' you keep mentioning…."

"Involves sex, yes. Obviously."

"Right, obviously." Because that clearly made sense, because she knows so much about demons and what happened during this entire process. Obviously. "In that case, it would probably be a good idea to find out if it can get broken soon, right?"

"That is correct. "

Mia knows she probably shouldn't ask the question that popped into her head, but her damnable curiosity just would not let it go. "Hypothetically speaking, if it's not broken in say…. a month. Where would we be?"

For a moment his mouth presses into a tighter line, fingers making quick work of the Earl's lunch— a rather extravagant looking sandwich, with a small portion of soup on the side. No sweets.

Did he actually listen to me? No shit.

"I expect by that point, if not sooner, the bond will fabricate more incentives for closeness. The longer it is postponed, the more chaotic the feelings will be, and they will intensify. To the point of pain, even."

Well, that did not sound pleasant. "Does everything involving demons have to be painful?"

His sudden smirk did not help matters at all. "No, not everything. I suggest you prepare yourself for that possibility, just as I will."

She gaped, brows furrowed together. "I thought you wanted to ditch me? Hell, I want you to ditch me!"

The sigh that escaped was the very definition of over-exaggerated and dramatic. "Ah, yes. That has not changed. You are still terribly unfit to be my mate; however I am not foolish enough to avoid considering the very real possibility that breaking the bond may not be an option."

"You're not very romantic."

"I see no reason to be. We do not like one another— we would both prefer a greatly different outcome. What about this situation calls for such frivolous sentiments?"

"Nothing. But this isn't a business transaction either. I thought you wanted us to be 'civil' and 'relatively' nice? At the very least you could show me a little more respect, you know, starting with the fact that you belittle my race every chance you get."

"Says the human who repeatedly calls me monster. Perhaps you should take your own advice, Miss Gordon?"

…You win this round, Michaelis.

xxx

So, she made an effort not to call him monster; or demon (even though that is what he was). And he did not mention, on a daily basis, how pitiful and weak humans were, even though at times she could clearly see how badly he wanted to in certain moments.

Like when she would get bruised and cut from rose bushes and rough housing with Finny— who was awesome, by the way. The little-big brother she never knew she wanted, or asked for; but got all the same.

"Do you ever cease bleeding?" He chided one afternoon, wrapping her ankle.

"Well, I'm kind of alive, so no. But if I did, I would be dead, technically."

There was no denying she lived to see the strain and frustration in his eyes. It was way too amusing, especially when she was being particularly obvious just to irritate him. Although the terrorizing continued, it was not laced with death-threats. At least, none that were vocalized.

Sometimes he would 'forget' that Bard was in the kitchen with firearms and just send her in, almost curious to see if she would come out alive. And, sometimes she would drop stuff from the third floor when he 'happened' to be walking by.

He always caught it though, or moved, which kind of spoiled her entertainment. It wasn't like he would actually get hurt, right?

Suck the fun out of everything, why don't you.

By dinner at the end of the second week, tension around the manor had dropped considerably. Ciel was no longer convinced Sebastian and her would try to kill each other the moment they were left unsupervised; Mey-Rin, Finny, and Bard spoke more freely to the both of them, not entirely worried that a single mention of the other's name would trigger an unwarranted explosion of temper (or, in Sebastian's case, an unnecessary around of additional chores).

However, that didn't mean love had suddenly blossomed, and everything was sunshine and rainbows, either.

"Will you stop trying to micromanage me already?"

"I am not."

It was moments like these wherein no one dared to breathe too loudly, lest pent up frustration and anger be redirected at them.

"Yes, you are! Working all day wouldn't be such a big deal if you weren't checking in with me every half hour to correct me on things that don't even matter. "

"The Phantomhive Estate—"

"—Must always be kept pristine, whatever, I know that. But you're having me do things I don't even need to do: it's just busy work so you can control what I'm doing when you aren't there."

Though somewhat muffled from his door, the young Earl was seriously considering building a separate building where the two could argue when the mood struck. While it hadn't affected his butler's productively yet, there was an extra stiffness to the demon most days, as if he were simply waiting for something to fuel the flames of Mia's temper. Not that he held any sympathy whatsoever for the demon, who often started the fire himself, perhaps hoping over time it would have worn the young woman down.

It had not.

Ciel was far more intuitive in this case, having long since realized that the new addition to the household was very much akin to a wildfire. She was not an element to be tamed, and against her, one could only get burned. But there were ways to lessen the flames, if one was genuine; and likewise, building positive relations would ensure the fire worked alongside you, rather than being in it's destructive path.

But Sebastian was so old, and certain habits, and values that were adopted from both his own society and the human world, were instilled deeply into him. He was more unchanging, adapting only that was necessary so that he could survive, and eat. That did not compromise his outlook on how certain things should be.

And if a guess was needed, Ciel could easily surmise that Sebastian assumed the spouse (at least of a demon) should be quiet, entirely submissive, and thus, more easily controlled. Many people in current society believed more or less the same, but perhaps less strictly so. A spark of personality was still charming, even to those who preferred more docile companions.

Frankly, Ciel did not see the appeal in that. A partner should be equal, with strength of character, but also engaging. Able to hold conversation that did not revolve merely around fashion or gossip. Those things were attractive in a partner from his point of view, and what was, for him, required. He needed someone to be able to stand next to him, not sit around for him.

As far as he could tell, although his butler was currently days away from tearing his own hair out (a sight he might pay to see, in all honesty), that was what the demon needed, too. Even if Sebastian was too blind in his disappointment to see it.

"Sebastian."

Voice just loud enough, the bickering in the hall fell to a low, harsh whisper, just for a moment as his butler spoke. "We will continue this at another time."

An annoyed whatever barely reached him before the demon entered the study, eyes falling on him expectantly. "Is there something I can do for you, My Lord?"

"I will be retiring early. Prepare my bath and bed."

xxx

Steam filled the room as she sunk further into the almost too-hot water that Mey-Rin had set for her, as requested. It never failed to turn her skin pink, even though she was far from being pale. Not as dark as her mother, but not nearly as light as her father. A balanced mixture of them both, in fact.

Home.

She missed it; she missed them. Her parents, even if they were overbearing at times; her friends, hell, even her obnoxious neighbors. Two weeks in the past and there was no clue as to how she could get home, or how she could sever the ties between Sebastian and her.

It was a bleak outlook, from her perspective. At least Sebastian wasn't completely displaced in time; everything here was familiar to him. The people, the manor, society. He seemed to feel perfectly at ease, and integrated himself easily into almost every situation. While she felt more and more out of place each day, glaring differences sticking out at her at every turn.

"Ugh." Falling a bit lower into the water, Mia relished the feel of the water's warmth, and how it seemed to soothe her muscles and frazzled nerves. A message therapy session would be nice, to really get into the knots she knew were there, but this was pretty good, too.

Lost in thought, she was more than simply surprised when she opened her eyes to see the current ( and possibly life long ) bane of her existence. Interested or not, her arms immediately crossed over her chest, followed by ankles crossing.

She probably should have accepted the addition of bubbles when Mey-Rin asked if she wanted some. No thanks, I won't need them! Yeah, my ass.

"Seriously?! Haven't you heard of knocking? Or, better yet, privacy!"

Gaze averted slightly, she gave him half a point for trying to polite, even if the really polite thing would have been to not come in while she was bathing. "We did not finish our conversation from earlier."

"And it couldn't wait?"

"You were not ashamed before."

A question mark practically appeared over her head at that one. "—What?"

"Before, when you fell, and required bandages."

Hanging around Finny may be the cause of most of her injuries (none of them really directly his fault, the boy was just too strong and she was too reckless), but that one had, thankfully, been the worst. "Oh. Well, that's because it was a medical thing, whereas here I feel pretty ambushed in the tub, even if you couldn't give a shit about that."

With ease Sebastian removed his gloves, demonstrating a ridiculous amount of grace for such a mundane task, and put them upon the counter. "I am not entirely the selfish, unreasonable you paint me to be."

"That's your fault, since that's how you are most of the time."

"Which is exactly why I am here. A peace offering, if you will. Demons live primarily a solitary lifestyle, though some enjoy staying in small, close-knit family groups, if only temporarily. However if given the choice, I would prefer to face the rest of eternity with no one, than with someone who ignores and loathes my existence. Say what you will about our nature, but all creatures, to some degree, require— attention. Affection, even."

"…You want me to give you affection? Have you lost your mind?"

"Possibly. I am constantly at war with my instincts that crave attention, or at least, positivity, and my personal indifference toward you."

"So now we're at indifference, instead of personal distaste."

"This is a very new development and can recede at any given moment, I assure you."

"Right, so all that explains why you're here to— what, exactly?"

"It has come to my attention that humans can enjoy others doting on them, as it were. For example, someone washing their hair for them." Her eyes swept back and fourth between the vial of hair cleanser, and Sebastian's hand— now with a dollop of it's contents sitting in his palm. "May I?"

"I have a feeling you won't leave unless I say yes."

"How very correct of you to assume so."

Resisting the urge to grumble, she sat up a little more, and willed her shoulders to relax as he moved behind her, and unfamiliar hands began to work through wet strands of hair. A lather was worked up leisurely with his ever-skilled fingers, massaging with ease over her scalp.

It wasn't long before her head lolled forward, relaxation pulled from his practiced ministrations. And with a weakness for others brushing her hair (or giving a good scalp massage) she was practically putty. Were she a cat, she might've

By some miracle she managed not to wine in displeasure when his fingers untangled from her hair. Warm water was poured over her head to get the cleanser out of her hair, with a singular hand working through the thick mass to ensure none of it remained in her hair or on her scalp.

Sebastian gathered her hair and squeezed the excess water out, all the way to the long ends. "You are in need of a trim, I see. Split-ends stunt the growth of new, healthy hair."

"I'll be sure to book an appointment at my hair stylist as soon as it's 2014, Michaelis."

She expected a chuckle — after all, he's found her at least somewhat amusing before. But it didn't come. Instead, when she looked up, his expression was rather…serious.

"Must you insist on using my last name?"

Lying is an option, but only for a split-second; after all, he'd call her on it before she even finished speaking. "—Because it's less personal."

"Please use my first name." Unfolding a towel for her, his eyes remained perfectly shut as she existed the tub, and took it from his fingers. Fabric wrapped tightly around her body, she tied up her hair into a loose, messy bun. "After all, our situation is likely to become quite personal, whether we want it to be so or not."

He was right, and it was both infuriating and calming to know that he was.

A/N ( 08/11/14 ): While things with the impromptu bond become more complicated, their relationship will be furthering. Progression is a great thing, friends, even if they are entirely dysfunctional. And while I definitely like slow burn stuff, I will certainly be endeavoring to not move at a glacial pace, either! But there is definitely going to be some species barriers. It's gotta be there. Oh! & quite a few people are checking out the story (which is great!) but I haven't gotten too much feedback. Please consider leaving a review to let me know what you think of the story thus far. 8) Flames are not appreciated, but compliments & constructive criticism certainly is!

Also, as some of you may know, we lost a really talented individual today. Robin Williams, you brought joy and wisdom to so many people over the years, and will be missed.