Hello Lovely Readers!

I've been trying to release chapters periodically so that I'd have more time to write while still being ahead with my chapters but I get to excited x.x As I've said before, I really shouldn't be held responsible for these kinds of things.

No but really, this is a great chapter. I know you guys are gonna love it.

I hope you all leave me lots of wonderful reviews, I truly adore them.

As always, I don't own Black Butler, I don't make any money from my work, and all that good stuff.

Until next time,

Majix

Trigger warning: Mentions of rape

The boy's suffering was exquisite.

Golden eyes glazed with greed watched from the intricately woven web, taking in each and every detail of the blonde's beautifully broken body. His screams had echoed for hours, practically painting the walls with his terror, his desperation.

Alois' pain coated the spider demon's palate like the sweetest sugar and it took every ounce of free will that he possessed not to leap from his perch and tear the boy to pieces on the spot. The Earl had been so rough with him, so brutal. It showed in the boy's darkening flesh, the blood stained sheets and the way he curled helplessly in the duvet.

He laid quiet, pretending to sleep as the Earl slept beside him. It was almost sad to watch, the way the younger man trembled, the way he grasped himself. So much hate, such confusion, and anger was not far behind. It was a surprise to the Spider that the Earl Trancy was brave, or rather, arrogant enough to sleep so carelessly beside the teen he'd raped and tortured.

However, the newly turned Alois was in no condition to do much of anything. That was not to say that he'd been completely broken. No, That would never happen, the blonde teen had to much strength in him for that. There would always be one last snippet of defiance, a single part of the boy that refused to give up, that strove to overcome. It was that strength that would flavor his hate and his rage, it would merge effortlessly with the growing darkness of his soul, and the result would be flawless.

Demons were generally known for their impatience. Despite having, literally, all the time in the world, they hated to wait, and the golden eyed ancient was no different. He stared at the teen, watching as he tried to block it all out, to fall into sleep of any kind, and the immortal desperately wanted to take him, to make the boy his property, but it wasn't time.

Earl Trancy stirred and the blonde froze, every muscle in his body going tense, stringing tight as he prepared for whatever was to come, but the man merely uttered a couple sleep infused words and rolled away, leaving Alois to breathe a sigh of relief.

As the demon's mind began to wander, he revisited a curiosity that'd begun to stand out within his thoughts.

It was a surprise to their immortal that his counterpart had yet to make a move against him. Though the silver haired reaper was not known for going out of his way for the benefit of others, he was known for balance, and the raven haired demon was more than positive that his other half would consider what he'd done to be cheating. Whenever this happened, the immortal would seek to even out the playing field, restoring balance so to speak.

Many had uttered useless words about why he did this. They spoke of Yin and Yang, the placement of stars, and the balance of nature, but the raven haired immortal knew better.

His twin merely liked to play both sides.

He watched over his own herd through the eyes of death, the tales of the past. He acquired information through the acts of the present. But rather than stay neutral all together, the reaper often added a chaotic factor to the mix. Good, bad and all shades of grey. He kept it even, balancing all sides of the board simultaneously with his interference.

Unlike his twin, the golden eyed demon's power, along with his focus, remained firmly seated in the future. It was his duty to watch them, the beings of the plane he'd been tasked with. Most of the time he was content to sit and watch, mapping out the journey of each life, spying on his counterpart through the eyes of all those that he spoke to, but every once and a while, a mortal caught his attention and the dark haired Keeper couldn't resist the temptation to break the rules and play.

Mortals were incredibly easy to read. It wasn't hard to meanipulate them and often times they were amusing to watch. They went about their daily lives, never knowing what was going on just behind the curtain. The existence of things that go bump in the night.

However, some of them went on to lead quite exciting lives, no matter which path they took.

Human's like Ciel Phantomhive.

Wavering focus lazily returned to the frightened blonde before him, and a dark, malicious grin twisted his features. Yes, there was still much to do, and without a single hint of compassion, the golden eyed spider demon disappeared from his web, confident in his assumption that Alois Trancy was in good hands.

In the days that followed, it became a game between them.

The Circus wasn't due to arrive for another two days, and the duo had scoured London and her underbelly in search of clues regarding the children, but even after uncovering handfuls of poorly disguised secrets, they were still no closer to the end of the mystery. It was minorly discouraging, but in the end, Ciel hadn't expected them to find much of anything.

In turn, the pair spent more time than usual at the manor, waiting patiently for the continuation of their case to arrive, but in the meantime, a sort of game developed between the teen and his demon.

Every morning, at eleven on the dot, Sebastian would arrive with tea and a snack. The demon would putter around the Earl's office, straightening knick knacks and dusting the bookshelves until the Earl finished his first cup of tea. Once the cup was refilled, the man would take his leave and resume his puttering in other areas of the house until it came time for lunch.

After lunch, the Earl had his lessons and then he resumed his work for the time being. Just after four, Sebastian would return with the tea tray and another set of company forms that needed to be signed or rewritten before going about his duties and preparing dinner. One last cup of tea, along with a small snack was delivered at exactly seven.

However, on one not so very special morning, Ciel asked the butler a brief question, something as small and fleeting as the demon's favorite color, and without thought, the man had begun listing off a number of different shades that he preferred, most of which were, surprisingly, green.

From then on, it became a part of their routine. Every time Sebastian brought him a treat, or found himself in the Earl's office, the teen would ask him a question, and today was no different.

Ciel sat at his desk, scooping the last of the cream from his plate before offering it to the feline at his side. Sebastian gave her a complicated name, but Ciel had just taken to calling her Crissy. The name change was an obvious irk to Sebastian, which made the teen enjoy it even more, but more so than that, she seemed to like it.

Though she followed Sebastian from place to place, the cat never hesitated to give Ciel a moment of her attention. The Earl constantly complained when she got fur on his freshly pressed socks, or when she jumped onto his desk and the teen's papers got rumpled, but the truth remained that Ciel enjoyed her company. He would never admit to such a thing, especially after the way he'd teased Sebastian over his obsession, but she was different, likable.

Chrysanthe broke the ice between them, and as Ciel sat in his chair, staring at Sebastian, he realized, quite shamelessly, that he wanted more. He'd noticed for quite some time that the demon was beautiful, even with his back turned. The immortal was tall and dark with such contrast about him, his hair impossibly black, and his flesh the shade of freshly fallen snow. Even the demon's uniform brought it out, stark black and white. The only color that touched the man's features were the maroon pools that the Earl loved so much; alight with knowledge and amusement.

To Ciel, Sebastian's eyes were the one truly alive thing about him. The Ancient was unbelievably perfect, skilled in every way, able to accomplish any task, no matter the impossibility. His body was attractive, his face flawless. There wasn't a single human being that he couldn't charm or con. But his eyes. They were the eyes of a demon. Even without the slitted pupils, Sebastian's stare held something else, something dark that made him appear not quite human.

The Earl hadn't noticed it at first, but as Ciel began paying attention to his demon, it all fell in to place. That rich wine colored gaze that knew to much, had seen something one to many times. It spoke volumes for the slow creep of time, the passing of ages.

Ciel didn't believe that the demon was trapped, the he was a tortured soul. On the contrary. The Earl saw him for what he was. A demon. A sadist. A darkened heart. Sebastian was content in his ways, accepting of the darkness, prideful of his skills, vain to a fault, but below all of that, he was bored.

Within the quiet space of the office, Ciel had thought long and hard about the conversation they'd had. He thought of Sebastian traveling the world, seeing what it had to offer, but the more Ciel thought of it, the less appealing it sounded. Of course, there would be all the wonders; the world's tallest peak, the Amazon rain jungles, the deepest oceans. But there was only so much to explore. Eventually, Sebastian would find his own footsteps, the world would have nothing else to offer, and then what? What was there in eternal freedom, immortality even, when you'd seen all that there was to see?

It was these thoughts that lead the Earl's train of thought when Sebastian eventually came back to collect his dishes.

"What do you think of humans?"

Sebastian looked up from the tea tray, "My Lord?"

The blue haired male laced his fingers together, balancing his chin on the top of them as he looked to his butler, "Humans. How do you feel about them?"

For a split second, the demon appeared almost uncomfortable, "Not to be indelicate, young Master, but they're my food."

Ciel shrugged off the comment, "Yeah, but do they ever interest you?"

The butler raised an eyebrow at the blue haired teen, "I'm here, am I not?"

A smug smile found its way on to Ciel's face, but he didn't let go of the topic, choosing instead to lean forward with interest, "So, are you interested or not?"

A sigh escaped the elder's lips and for the briefest moment, Ciel thought he'd went to far, but as the demon looked to him, the teen knew that all was forgiven. The Earl sometimes found himself forgetting that, in their world, appearances were everything. They still had a part to play, even with each other. Sebastian was the demon, the monster out for his soul; and he was the revenge driven soul, the prideful master.

He thought of how he was expected to act, the chill that was supposed to graze his heart, but it no longer fit. The ice had begun to melt, and the more it dripped, the more Ciel thought of his inescapable prison. Not the contract or his duty, not his pride or his hate. In recent days, the Earl of Phantomhive had begun to consider his very humanity and all the things he could not escape. Emotion, pain, and above all, death.

It came for him, lurking in the shadows, waiting for its time. He could feel it in his conscious, the heavy weight of something unspeakably old.

"My Lord?"

Ciel snapped back to reality and focused on his butler, "Hmmm?"

"You looked quite far away," Thin wisps of steam curled in the air as the elder poured some water through the strainer and into the thin glass, adding a lump of sugar and a dash of chilled cream as he considered the younger man, "Is something on your mind, my Lord?"

An echo of panic flooded through the Earl's system as he looked to Sebastian. Years of practice kept his features schooled, calm and collected, however, just below the surface, Ciel found his mind blank. He didn't know what to say, or how to lie to Sebastian. The teen could feel his lips parting, and he thought of the words he wanted to say. I'm fine. Two little words, but they remained trapped within his throat, unable to escape.

A brief flicker of concern touched the depths of the demon's gaze, "Young Master?"

Ciel thought of those eyes, glowing, slitted as they stared at him within the darkness of the past, as time sat frozen before his gaze, the heat of his blood speckled against his arms, pooled around his body and along his throat. He thought of the hate and the anger and the pain, but he also thought about the faint flicker of hope. Ciel Phantomhive took that moment, as Sebastian stared at him, to reconsider his deal, his hold on death.

The truth was, he did not want to die, but more than that, Ciel didn't want to pretend any longer. He didn't want to hide behind his pride and his anger, he didn't want to lie.

"I'm distracted."

Twin brows rose in obvious surprise at the young Master's words. The demon was almost too stunned to respond. He hadn't expected for a second that the Earl would say anything other than a half considered excuse for his lapse of focus. "What's captured your thoughts, my Lord?"

The teen looked down at his papers, quickly gathering his thoughts before raising his eyes. As he did, the blue haired male's eyes fell on the perfect cupids bow of Sebastian's mouth, the fullness of his lower lip. His lips were tight, small enough to remain masculine, while also being soft and sinful. They captured Ciel's attention, made his cheeks flush with the memory of their kiss, and how he secretly longed for more of it.

Ciel didn't want to lie, he didn't want to hide from the demon, his constant companion any longer, but there was no way he was ready enough to explain his doubt, his fear, his love and the pitifully human nature that blanketed it all. So instead, the Earl settled on a thought that remained equally true, "You."

Something that could almost be described as hurt flashed across the demon's features, and Ciel knew immediately that the elder had misunderstood, "My apologies, young Master. I shall take my leave."

The butler quickly spun on heel, making his way to the door before he heard a rush of movement behind him, "Sebastian, no, wait."

The elder didn't turn, keeping his back to the blue haired male, and as Ciel looked to him, his mouth felt dry.

This wasn't his area, this wasn't what he was used to. In his current life, thoughts of sentiment remained foreign, alien even, and as the Earl looked to his butler, he didn't know how to voice what he wanted. And what if Sebastian didn't feel the same?

Ciel had no doubt in his mind, or his heart, that the demon cared for him to some extent. Whether the man cared for the Earl himself or only for his meal had yet to be determined, but he still held compassion none the less. The teen made no move to try and convince himself that the demon loved him. He knew that Sebastian didn't, but what the Earl didn't know was whether or not Sebastian found him attractive, or if he found human appealing in that way at all.

Would the immortal laugh at his assumption? Would he regard him as a child and pat his head while politely telling him to wait til he was older? And if that happened, how would he deal with the rejection? Ciel didn't consider himself to be fragile. He could spit acidic words with the best of them, but Sebastian was different. There would be no escaping him, or the way he could mock the teen.

Below the surface, there remained a single part of the teen that only Sebastian would be able to hurt. This was mostly due to the fact that the demon was the only being alive that knew the full story, but the other half of that same coin held a much more human explanation. Sebastian was special. Ciel loved his demon, regardless of how much he still tried to deny it, but he also knew that if the ancient were to reject him, to brutally mock him, that it would destroy what little spirit the Earl had left. Smiles were rare for the youngest Phantomhive, laughter was almost non-existent, but Sebastian brought all of those things to the surface. The raven haired man made him laugh, made him smile.

The Earl did not consider himself to be brave. Ciel could be cunning, scathing and cryptic, arrogant in the face of danger, ambitious, demanding and prideful, but he did not consider himself brave. In fact, the teen often associated bravery with stupidity and now wasn't any different. Propositioning a demon was stupid beyond all doubt, but what else was there to do?

He couldn't hide his attraction much longer, the way he stared at his butler's mouth, his body. The immortal was bound to notice before to long, and knowing Sebastian, the moment he put the pieces together, everything would change. The demon would tease him, relentlessly, and his secret would soon be discovered.

Ciel didn't truly believe that he could hide his feelings from the demon forever, but he did hope that he could mask them long enough for their contract to be completed.

Sebastian still hadn't moved, he stood before the Earl, spine straight, muscles tense, and Ciel found that he had no idea what to say. How did you ask somebody if they found you sexually appealing? Did they just ask? He'd attempted to work up to it with conversation, but it hadn't gone the way he'd planned, and now here he was, trapped in the tense air of silence.

All Ciel needed was twenty seconds. Twenty seconds of blindly stupid bravery to put himself out there, to speak his thoughts, but all he could feel was the painful knot in the pit of his stomach, the frantic beating of his heart, the heat in his face as his cheeks flushed but as he stared at the beautiful demon before him, Ciel found the words waiting in his heart.

"I can't stop thinking about you." He blurted.

"I meant what I said that night, Sebastian, about you being so beautiful that it hurt. But it's more than that. It's you. Your sarcastic wit and the way you hold yourself. You're interesting, and I can't stop thinking about you."

The demon turned to face him, and Ciel swallowed heavily, his heart slamming behind the white cage of bone.

They hadn't talked about that night, not in all the days that'd passed since Madame Red's death, and as the teen met Sebastian's eyes, he felt like the air was being sucked out of his lungs. They were glowing so brightly, so focused on him, and Ciel could almost feel that sharp gaze go through him. The way the demon stared, taking in every detail, seeing all of him, it left Ciel worried, especially when the immortal chose not to say anything.

What did Sebastian see in his face? Was his emotion, the pitiful nature of his love, mapped out across his features for all to see? Was it plain as day?

The teen didn't know, he couldn't be sure, but his worries soon fled when Sebastian approached him with slow, measured foot falls. Ciel could feel the edge of the desk digging into the small of his back as he unconsciously tried to move away from the predator that stalked towards him. Heartbeats quickened, and for the briefest moment, Ciel was reminded of a canary within the mines, frantically flapping its wings, twittering something wild behind the bars of their cage as the vibrant yellow bird approached the unyielding darkness of something new, something dangerous.

Sebastian stood in front of him, tall and proud, an immovable object combined with an unstoppable force. In that moment, the teen realized just how much difference there was between them, how tall the demon actually was and the size difference in their bodies.

The immortal raised a hand with slow caution, careful not to startle the teen and with surprising gentleness, he reached behind the bluenette and untied the knot of his eyepatch with a lazy twist of his fingers.

The feeling of breathlessness captured the teen wholeheartedly as the cover fell away and he found himself staring up at his butler through both eyes rather than just one. He felt almost naked, exposed without the thin scrap of cloth. The truth laid bare for the demon to see, the nature of his life, the brand of possession, the promise of a meal.

The tension sat between them like a fog, thick and heavy, waiting to be cast away by the first warm rays of morning, but Ciel couldn't bring himself to move. The man was so unbelievably close. He could feel the abnormally high temperature of the demon's body through his own clothes, and he longed for more, but fear stilled his words, as well as his actions.

Any minute now, Sebastian could choose to pull away, to look at him with amusement, to cast him a knowing smirk over his shoulder as he left the room with a well placed barb that would destroy all fragile pieces of the Ciel's warmth, his compassion. The fear of rejection was real, and the teen was afraid, but as he looked to his demon, the briefest flicker of trust crossed his mind.

He thought of before, of Sebastian keeping the knowledge of their kiss secret. He thought of how it felt to be alone in the demon's arms as they danced. He thought of their conversations and the ring on his thumb and all the things that Sebastian made possible.

"Please."

The word escaped his lips in the faintest whisper, but there was no doubt that Sebastian heard him.

The demon stared down into Ciel's face. His fear was so obvious, so strong. The immortal could almost taste it, but below all of it, desire sat heavy in his eyes. The beast within growled for blood, demanding that he take possession of the boy, that he rip and tear and hurt, that he make the teen scream under him, but that wasn't what Sebastian wanted.

Below it all, Sebastian still held the ever thinning strands of his long departed humanity, and as he looked down into the teen's face, he couldn't resist. He couldn't resist the blue haired boy that dared to ask about him, he couldn't pull free from temptation. Most times, it was the other way round; watching the steady gloss of fragile, mortal eyes as he seduced the truth from their trembling lips, but not this time. No, this was different.

Smooth fingers slid into the silky soft strands of Ciel's slate blue hair, as the ever mindful butler lowered his head and captured the lips of his prey.