Hello people! Another week ends, another chapter starts! With this the school arc is completed and next is... Oh, I won't say, it will be a surprise for next week ;) Hope you enjoy this chapter... as well as the following ones, of course! :D
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Kuroshitsuji or its characters. I entirely own only my OCs, arcs and ideas/themes not mentioned in any form of the franchise (manga, anime, games, movies or musicals).
Chapter 13: The Tutor, Playing Games
Selina was panting really hard as she pressed her forehead on the floor once again in an effort to get rid of the burden from her back. The strong demon behind her had thrown all of his weight on her body and she almost could not move a muscle; having her hands twisted and held behind her back was not helping at all.
"How many times have you already tried that? The only thing you will do is harm yourself. You have to find another way to free yourself, unless… you enjoy being in this position." Sebastian said breathing in her ear, his voice lower and deeper as he uttered these words and pressed himself more on the woman underneath him.
Selina was ready to answer him accordingly, but then felt the annoying demon's wet tongue licking slowly the outer shell of her ear, leaving her speechless and breathless for a second, just until her fury was ignited once again and her body got stiffer as she mustered all of her strength, lifted her head, threw it backwards with great force that made it collide with the demon's forehead. Sebastian grunted slightly painfully, he shifted his weight and loosened his vice grip on her wrists. That was more than enough for Selina; in a flash she brought her hands at her sides, palms on the floor pushing her body upwards and sideways as she managed to release and hook one of her legs behind Sebastian's knee and then pulled him to the floor. The sideways angle of her body helped her reach his torso and face and push him away from her.
Sebastian lost his balance and when Selina pushed him, he soon found himself on his back, sprawled on the floor trying to focus his eyes, Selina's head-butt caught him right between the eyes making him a little dizzy. Before he knew it, he felt a weight on his stomach, close to his hips, and two, quite strong for a human, grips on his wrists as they were pushed on the floor on both sides of his head.
"I told you to quit your games and keep your tongue away from me!" The woman on top of him growled.
Sebastian blinked a couple of times; he then opened his eyes and met a… rather exciting sight. Selina had actually straddled him and captured his hands with so much strength that would make it a little difficult for him to move, if he was a simple human. However, he felt he did not really want to move, since he was looking at a beautiful face, red from effort and embarrassment, a pair of wild blue fiery eyes staring at him with furrowed brows above them and two soft lips pulled, baring her teeth threateningly. Her gold curly mane circling her face totally dishevelled. Her body still shaking from the struggle, her skin gleaming sweaty and her breath heavy and hot.
Sebastian chuckled, clearly showing no intention of following her demand. "Why? The result is spectacular. You had the right motivation and managed to get me where you wanted." He smiled at her.
Selina pressed her lips closed. "Right." She said after a while. "I managed to hold up your attacks for one hour and deliver some blows too, so… will you admit that you were wrong not to trust me last night? Unless you enjoy being in this position, because I have no intention of releasing you, if you don't recognize me as a worthy ally, who can also fight Undertaker." Her lips turned into a malicious smile.
Sebastian remained silent for a while, watching her, his mischievous smirk never leaving his lips. "Enjoy this position? I cannot say that I do not, since the one riding me is so…" He emphasized the word 'riding' and then let his gaze roam on her slim body, clad in tight black clothes, and his red eyes took quite a hungry look.
Selina instantly felt a hot blush crawling on her face and her entire body, that alarmed her enough to immediately release him and pull away, sitting in quite a distance on her knees, tucking her legs beneath her and hands on her knees, her back straight on alert. Eyes watching every move the demon made as he sat up. Now he looked quite serious.
"All right. I admit I am impressed you could fight me for the entire hour; you are quite fast and your fighting technique resembles mine in many ways… you have been taught well." He finally said in his usual cool voice, wiping a little sweat from his forehead with his gloved hand, he then looked at it surprised. "Agni is the only other human who could fight me almost equally."
"Really? Nice." Selina said and her face brightened up at the reference to the Indian butler.
A scowl of obvious displeasure appeared on the demon's face. Without getting up he glided to Selina, and in a second, he was sitting facing her from a close distance leaning on one hand, the other resting on his bent knee.
"I honestly cannot understand what Agni has that fascinates you that much; perhaps you should consider confessing and following him to India next time. Perhaps that way would be better for me too, not having more annoying humans around." His eyes and face dark.
Selina looked at him confused. "Confess? Confess wha- Ah! What are you talking about? How could you even think something like that?" She exclaimed as soon as Sebastian's meaning dawned on her. "Just because I look up to him and admire him as an excellent fighter, a loyal servant that really loves his master – something for which you admire him too – and as a human in the right sense of the word and enjoy his company… Does that mean I harbor any other feelings for him other than friendship and companionship? Are you serious?" Her face flushed red from anger.
"It would not be surprising for a woman; for a human Agni is considered handsome."
"I don't know what kind of women have you met in all your centuries, but not all of us are that shallow, falling in love with every handsome man we meet. You might be used to charming every female creature around you and you judge from that, but – guess what – I am different because I remain unaffected by your cheap tricks of fake charm… and in general I am not interested in love and stuff." She crossed her arms over her chest with a disregarding look on her face. "Plus… Agni is not my type."
She was so focused on supporting her words with her body language, she did not see Sebastian trying not to laugh, hearing how unaffected she remained by his presence or how his body tensed as if he was struggling for control, nor how his eyebrow rose, intrigued and interested, with her last statement.
"Are you done insulting me? I need to go to bed." She said in an all serious manner.
Sebastian nodded but grabbed her wrist and made her stay seated when she made a move to get up. "Wait. I have some questions for you, serious ones."
Selina sat back on her knees and waited while looking at him straight in the eyes, showing she was ready to answer anything work related.
"For some reason Undertaker called you a 'cheap imitation' for the second time and he seems really frustrated just by your presence there. You claim that your blades can withstand a death scythe and I have a blurry memory of you fighting Grell on board Campania, but... I was busy trying to save my head from your… lover boy, Knox. However, I am absolutely certain I have seen a green light momentarily in your eyes every time you take hold of your blades; a light resembling a reaper's green eyes quite a bit. Finally, you said you know how it feels having your soul torn away from you, not in the manner Undertaker knows it, but as my master does. What do you say about all these?"
Selina took a deep breath and showed him her contract seals in more detail. "Okay… He calls me 'cheap imitation' because he knows that I have in me something of a reaper's essence, he doesn't know how can this be and that drives him crazy. My contracts have… let's say infused in me – in a way that you would not sense it of course – a small amount of a reaper's essence so that I can fight one without dying and be accepted by my blades." She saw Sebastian's interest growing. "My blades are forged out of an old death scythe, to be able to fight against one without breaking and they are compatible only with reapers or fully supernatural creatures. In my case, I had to have a bit of a reaper in me." She finished pointing to her eyes.
"Spears has invested too much in you… I wonder why and what is his real reason for sending you here."
Selina nodded. "I don't know and no other reaper I asked knew. They all told me that it must have something to do with some restricted access documents. Only Mr. Spears, Mr. Knox, Mr. Sutcliff and Othello 'the crazy scientist' have access to them; the only thing that is known is that they are referring to this era, so I guess they have something to do with you, master and Undertaker."
"The outcome of our encounters with him and that of my contract with master most probably. But how can my contract be of any interest to reapers? Spears has not expressed any significant interest on the matter… other than calling me 'noxious beast feeding from petty souls'."
Selina shrugged her shoulders. "I guess we will find out in time. Can I go now?"
"No." Sebastian's eyes were very strict. "You did not answer my last question. You really thought I forgot?"
"It was worth a shot." She sighed. "Okay. I believe you know that Grim Reapers are created by the souls of people who commit suicide and their service is punishment, right? So, as reapers they have full memory of their past human life and of their death; inevitably they clearly remember every agonizing moment of their soul leaving their body when dying… and of course, that is a major reason why most of them have some loose screws up here."
She made a gesture resembling a screw spinning out of control on the level of her head and Sebastian could not help but laugh while a wide, genuine smile graced his lips. "I could not agree more to that, I must say."
Selina nodded and tucked her hair behind her ears as a slight blush faded away. "So what I meant was that I have not committed suicide… although I got really close, but I have experienced great loses that left me in tatters; I have lost people that were very important to me and when that happens it feels like you have your soul ripped apart, torn away because the pain consumes you, leaving you empty. If you don't die out of sorrow and if you don't have someone to guide you back to life, to find some meaning and then perhaps some happiness… the only thing left is wrath, hatred… seek revenge and have the illusion that it will bring back a piece of your former self, even of your soul… It can bring satisfaction and satiate your thirst for the blood of those who harmed you, but it will never bring you back to who you were… As far as I know nothing can… because the memory of losing your soul will always be there, it might get softer with time but still…"
She fell silent; her head lowered and her eyes focused on the floor, everything showing she had nothing else to say and Sebastian did not push her further; he did not need to.
As a demon for a really long time, there were many things concerning humans he could not understand, but some things he absolutely could were these feelings of pain, desperation, wrath and hate... perhaps because he fed on them. He knew exactly what could cause them and sometimes he even played his part in 'cultivating' them, as he used to say. Therefore, he could perfectly understand how the woman in front of him had felt at some point, how his master feels even now. It seemed that these two different people, from different eras had walked an almost parallel path and could easily understand each other, at least the woman obviously could understand and sympathize with the child since she knew master's past. He wondered what the specifics of hers were, and if it would be to his benefit or not for the boy to find out there was another person, similar to him that could understand and comfort him if he needed it.
"Can I go now?" Selina was heard again, although her voice sounded trembling for a second. She was still focused on the same spot on the floor.
"How come and you appeared right on time last night? And you also seemed to know the true identity of the headmaster." He asked.
Selina looked at him innocently. "With my magic of course. I did the tracking spell I told you and then…" She turned her eyes away and shrugged her shoulders. "I used another spell to bring me to the school?"
Sebastian nodded his head although not believing everything, especially the last part since he knew that any kind of teleportation would be fatal to a human, without the assistance of a supernatural creature and spells of that kind were quite a messy failure. However, he chose again not to push her further.
"You can go now." He said and instantly saw the woman getting up and quickly heading for the door.
However, as she opened it she stood there for a while. "When will you come back? I mean… when master will finish his mission?" She slowly turned to fleetingly look at the butler.
"Well… today master testified to the school's principles the cases of bullying by Derrick and of murders by the prefects. Tomorrow the decision for their punishment will be issued and then master has been invited for tea from Her Majesty… so I guess we will be back here in the evening."
"Okay, I'll make sure that master will find something to eat for late dinner." She started leaving again and stopped. "Oh, by the way, Mr. Knox is not my lover boy. He might be cute, funny, playful and flirty with every female he meets, but again… he is not my type." Her eyes looked quite indifferent.
"Oh! And what is your type, if I may ask?" Sebastian asked and a little fire burned in his eyes.
Selina got immediately defensive and furrowed her brows. "And what do you care?" She turned and left without looking back leaving Sebastian grinning perfectly satisfied, thinking that the more answers he got about Selina the more interesting she became. That was indeed exciting.
{~}
Selina always loved drinking a cup of coffee in the afternoon, and back home her favourite spot was the windowsill in the living room, from where the slowly setting sun filled the room with a soft light and warmth. In the Phantomhive manor she had found a similar spot in the servant's living room, where they sat if they had no chores to attend to and wanted a change from sitting in the kitchen again. That was where she was seated now, on the sill of a window with a view to the back yard and garden.
The warm summer sun rays felt like a caress on her face and body, the young woman left a content sigh before taking a sip from her cup of aromatic coffee, a sample Ciel had brought to the house a few days before he left for Weston. Both he and Sebastian were surprised to see how happy that made Selina and Bard and how nostalgic they looked while explaining how coffee was brewed. Soon the tutor and the chef were sharing related to coffee memories and they both responded fervently to Sebastian's disregarding look – obviously stating his preference towards tea – that "tea was okay for relaxing at the end of the day, but coffee was perfect for morning since it gave you energy for a strong start of the day".
"Mm… indeed that coffee drink is nice, it has a peculiar taste." Mey-Rin said as she was sewing a button and drinking coffee.
"It is kind of bitter however." Finny commented drinking from his own small cup. Selina had not allowed him to drink too much since it could affect his nerve system, over-stimulate it and make him lose control of his strength.
"You should have put more sugar in... says Emily." Snake was heard and Mr. Tanaka seemed to agree.
"I can put some now, right?" Finny asked.
"Sure, just make sure to stir a lot for the sugar to melt in the coffee… but don't do it with a lot of strength, ya'll spill it." Bard advised the young gardener.
"Huh! Finny! You are putting too much sugar, if Mr. Sebastian was here he would scold you for ruining your teeth." Mey-Rin cried, seeing Finny with an extremely full spoon of sugar ready to be submerged in the dark liquid.
"Oh, come on, Mey… he's not here and Finny rarely eats sweets since Sebastian always sends him away when making something for master. Let him enjoy it." That was Bard preparing a new cigarette.
Mey-Rin sighed and gave in. "All right, all right. But make sure to wash your mouth and brush your teeth before they come back, or else I am sure Mr. Sebastian will smell the sugar."
"Yes, thank you!" Finny cried happily and finally put the sugar in the coffee.
Selina had closed her eyes, leaning on the warmed glass as if trying to drink in the last light of the day, and smiling listening to her friends.
She found it really amazing how Mey-Rin and Bard seemed like a pair of loving parents for young Finny, often advising him on various things, watching out for him, helping him, playing with him and yes, sometimes even scolding him… although that was something they too needed quite often and received from the strict Sebastian and lately from herself, since Selina was filling the butler's shoes.
"Oh, Selina! You look so beautiful right now. The sun makes your braid and eyelashes look so gold and your skin so rosy." The young maid said; she got her dreamy look on her face forgetting her task heaped on her lap. "I am sure Mr. Sebastian would be speechless just staring at you." She almost cooed. Bard made an agreeing sound.
Selina's head snapped to look at her friends with cheeks bright red. "What are you talking about? Mey-Rin, I told you before to stop these weird fantasies of yours. And Bard… why are you agreeing with her? I thought you were more serious."
"I am, but why hide the obvious? The man is not blind or indifferent to yer charms and right now ya indeed look really good." He playfully winked at her.
"You're dreaming, hallucinating and it's contagious." Selina announced in a definite manner.
"Um… I think I have seen him pausing outside Smile's office while you have lesson and smiling when he hears your voice praising Smile or engaging with him in a discussion about what you study... says Oscar." Snake said and Mr. Tanaka nodded in agreement before letting a soft "Ho!"
"Snake? Mr. Tanaka? You too? He is just happy with master's progress… Why else would he smile? I mean, he is so… devoted to our master and… cares for him in every aspect. It is only logical to feel that way when he sees our master becoming a sophisticated gentleman that can shine in any noble company." She said trying to sound convincing... maybe trying to convince herself too.
She met four pair of eyes looking at her obviously not believing a word she said… even Oscar the snake seemed to agree with the others. Selina sighed.
"It'll be a waste of time to try to change your mind. You have already drawn your conclusions. Anyway, keep your fantasies to yourselves and never reveal anything to him, because if that happens I will most definitely not help you escape or anything."
The other four agreed homophonous and Finny, with his totally innocent look in his bright, round eyes, agreed that Selina was very beautiful and then asked what they were talking about. Bard kindly told him when he would grow up he would understand everything. The boy smiled and asked no further questions.
After a while, Selina seemed to glue herself on the glass even more, she was looking at something in the distance, her eyes growing bigger and rounder.
"Erm! Guys? Does our master allow from time to time for the local shepherds to bring their sheep here and browse?"
"What? No, of course not." Bard said.
"They would eat our flowers and that is not good." Finny added.
"Okay… then why the garden is filling up with some sheep? They are coming towards us like they are out on a stroll, walking leisurely while munching grass. Wow, the whole herd is here."
The clatter of chairs followed her words and before she knew it, she found herself squeezed between the glass and the servants who had ran to the window to see.
"Oh, that's bad… really bad. They'll eat away everything. Come on lads, we have to herd them back." Bard said and he was almost already out of the room, Finny and Snake following him.
"Oh, I do not know how to herd sheep!" Mey-Rin cried obviously frightened and Mr. Tanaka patted her shoulder to give her courage as both of them headed to the door.
"What? Wait, guys? Won't we wait for the shepherd to come with his dogs to guide the sheep?" Selina asked totally confused.
"We don't know whose shepherd's they are and when he'll take notice of it." Bard answered her loudly as he was sprinting to get to the manor's back door.
"Oh, shit! I'll become a shepherd too? What else does the future holds?" She said the last sentence in a sarcastic tone. She jumped up from the sill, abandoned her cup and ran out to assist.
Two hours later a carriage stopped right on the path to the manor. The door opened and revealed Sebastian who turned and looked really puzzled. For a second he seemed to remain with open mouth, but then came out of the carriage, stood and offered his hand to Ciel.
"Young master, I think you need to see that."
The boy Earl came down of the carriage and soon, master and servant stood there watching the Phantomhive household struggling to guide some noisy sheep – that did not seem to be really shaken from all the pulling and pushing – somewhere away from the manor.
"What in Heavens… is this?" Ciel said finally.
"Young master, Mr. Sebastian! Welcome back!" Finny cried in his usual overenthusiastic way as he was hugging a sheep and lifting it in the air with ease.
"Welcome back... says Emily." Snake also greeted.
"Old man Sam's farm fence seems to have collapsed." Bard said while almost wrestling with a sheep; Mey-Rin tried to save her skirt from the teeth of the peaceful animal and Mr. Tanaka – in full shepherd's ensemble – was trying in vain to draw their attention.
However, the greater wrestling was the one Selina had with another sheep. The woman was trying to make it turn back from where they came, but it seemed to be pretty determined to stay where it was and continue munching grass carefree. She was all flushed in the face from trying to persuade the stubborn animal to turn around and some of her shirt's buttons had come undone, while her skirt was stuffed in her boots reaching her lower calves staying out of her way.
"Com' on, Dolly! Please, we really need you to go, you and your friends." She said to the sheep.
The said sheep left a not so friendly bleat and suddenly butted Selina's stomach with its head pushing her to the ground; she landed harshly on her rear having the air knocked out of her lungs. She held a staring contest with the sheep for a minute but then 'Dolly' sprang up and started running towards the herb garden. Finny, Snake and Selina – who was already up – ran after it, while Mey-Rin was yelling what took old Sam so long to come with his sheepdogs.
Ciel watched everyone trampling on the grass and suddenly started chuckling, making Sebastian wonder what was the matter. "No, it is nothing… Lawn is always a lawn, simply that. Whether it is here, trampled by everyone, or in Weston, destined only for the prefects... Nothing sacred about it. Tidy up quickly and prepare my afternoon tea." The boy said as he went towards the house. He paused for a moment. "Oh, and when Miss Clark becomes presentable again and refreshes herself, tell her I want to see her in my office. It is time to clear up some things."
"Yes, my lord." Sebastian said hand on his chest and bowing.
Not long after that, the sheep were back in their pen, most probably sleeping happily and exhausted from their little excursion. The humans that were struggling to herd them all afternoon were certainly exhausted.
Sebastian was in the kitchen cleaning the remains of coffee cups he found abandoned in the servants' living room and preparing to make a cake for his master, clearly listening into the servants' chatter while refreshing themselves.
"It was that 'Dolly' thing ya called it that angered it." Bard was saying. "And actually ya called every sheep Dolly. Couldn't ya think of another name?"
"Well, I'm sorry I'm not from an agricultural family. I am totally an urban type and I have no idea about herding and stuff. Also, Dolly is a popular name for sheep where I come from." Selina answered.
"Did you not say just now that you are from a town… says Emily." Snake was heard.
"Um… yes, I am from a town… but in the suburbs there was a sheepherder and his wool was very popular. His best sheep was named Dolly."
Sebastian chuckled with the obvious lie that resonated in the woman's voice that no one else seemed to notice. "What imbeciles!" the demon thought of the humans as he pulled an envelope from his pocket. It was a commemorative photograph of the winning team of Blue House McMillan had sent to his master and the boy had clearly stated he was not interested in.
"My. This photograph came out quite nicely." The demon butler said looking at it and then crushed it in his hand, lit a match, put the flame on the photograph and threw it in the heating oven.
The voices from the servant's corridor distracted him once again.
"Anyway, Miss Selina, you were really funny when you imitated a dog bark while circling the sheep. Did you really think they would mistake you for a dog?" That was Finny, who seemed he had really enjoyed the situation.
"And what a bark! Not even close to a dog!" Mey-Rin laughed and Mr. Tanaka joined her.
"Laugh all you want, I can't stop you. We never had a dog in the family, so I'm sorry if my show was not convincing, but we were running around all afternoon with this heat and humidity, and I was really bored chasing sheep while they were calmly chewing everything. And now I'm tired and extremely hot. I would kill for something cold… I scream for ice cream, but no one listens!" Selina finished in an overdramatic tone.
"Ice cream… with chocolate and cookies, huh? Would it not be awesome?" Mey-Rin said teasingly and her feet were heard as she started chasing Selina around adding more sweet flavours to that 'sinful desert' as the maid called it while Selina was trying to escape from the 'foul beast' that was tempting her.
The men started to laugh happily. Sebastian found himself really enjoying Selina's responses and purposely melodramatic tone of her voice. He tied his apron around his waist and started making a cake for… his master, of course.
However, he ended up making an ice cream cake, with chocolate and some cookies. Young master was very pleased and wolfed it down in a matter of minutes that really surprised Sebastian, although he did not comment on it. Pleased were the servants too, when they entered the kitchen and found a piece for each one. For a while they stayed still watching the cake waiting for them and then Sebastian who was tidying up.
"Will you eat it or make me throw it away?" he said looking at them strictly.
They rushed to the table and joined Selina who was already in her second mouthful and she was lightly moaning with pleasure while enjoying every tiny piece of it. When she finished, she pushed the plate aside and extended her hands to Sebastian.
"It was absolutely awesome and I hadn't enjoyed something like that for… a decade… more or less. Take me to Hell now, I don't care!" Again with her melodramatic style.
"Oh really? I will keep that in mind for our future... excursions, my dear." Sebastian said and teasingly winked at Selina, as he leaned down, opened the oven door and took out the extra batch of cookies he baked for the cake.
"Eh?" Selina's eyes followed him for a while and then lightly blushed at the true meaning of his answer... Was he toying with her, again?
Everyone remained in mid movement looking at them, until Snake laughed. "My, my. Smile's tutor is in high spirits today. It seems Smile's and… Black's return rejuvenated her… says Wordsworth."
The others started to giggle and innocent Finny said that all of them were happy, since they were all together again. Selina ostentatiously ignored the giggles and agreed with the young boy, patting his shoulder. Her cheeks however did not manage to ignore the low muffled giggles of the maid and the chef. Sebastian obviously not caring what the others were saying or implying, did not say anything other than pass their master's order to the tutor back in his usual self. With a nod Selina headed for master's office.
{~}
Not long after, Sebastian entered the office with his usual smile plastered on his face. "My lord, dinner-"
"Hey! Why was I not told anything about Miss Clark? You are supposed to hold nothing from me!" The young Earl was really angry as he glared daggers to the demon servant… if he hissed he would be a perfect kitten; Selina - with sleeves rolled up as she was obviously explaining her tattoos to the child - had to bite her lower lip to stop herself from laughing.
Sebastian looked at him a little surprised but composed himself immediately. "There was no time, my lord. We had the championship, the tea party and everything…"
"Oh, cut the crap! You had many chances to tell me something even during the games. And do not tell me you respected Miss Clark's privacy, I will not believe you, not for a moment!"
Sebastian seemed really unfazed by the threats. "You just never asked, my lord." He said casually and that cut Ciel off, who was ready to continue reprimanding him.
Selina could not hold it any more; she covered her mouth with a hand and giggled a little. "I am sorry, I really apologize, but your interactions are so… so funny sometimes." She said and then did her best to stifle her laughter and control herself.
The demon smiled at her, perhaps sharing the woman's idea, and the boy blushed embarrassed as he furrowed his brows and regained his Early attitude. "Right, so the reapers… their future selves to be specific, are those for whom you work, but I guess Sebastian and I are not meant to know why exactly our enemies suddenly want to help us." He said glaring at the woman this time.
"True, my lord. Unfortunately, I don't know either the real reason for sending me here, other than that I was meant to be here and assist in the Undertaker's case and your contract, but I have no knowledge about how will I do all that." The woman said casually, but her lightly furrowed eyebrows showed annoyance towards the reapers.
"Right. You said your blue fires can be lethal to all supernatural creatures and in Weston you claimed you could battle but not harm Undertaker... So, am I right to assume reapers are included in the creatures you can target and what limits you is the armband's blocking?" A decision was being formed in the boy's blue eye. He smirked as soon as the woman nodded. "Good. I accept you and your explanations, but do not mistake that as trust; it is just that since Sebastian is so… tame, I believe that you are at least sincere on helping us. Besides, I need my pawns to be fully functional at all times."
With that, he stood up, grabbed Selina's left arm, pulled her sleeve further up to uncover the armband and with decisive movements unbuckled and removed it from the woman's arm. Immediately, Sebastian sensed a shift in Selina's aura, it flared up stronger for a second and to his surprise, her eyes flashed to a pair of blue fires as her face lightened up with relief. Her true self was free, unrestrained and she was happy about it... that was something the demon could understand very well. Ciel - obviously still struggling to stomach everything Selina told him about her contracts, mission and... the future - announced that the discussion was over, for now, and left for dinner. Butler and tutor bowed as the boy exited the room, Sebastian got ready to follow but Selina's voice stopped him.
"Mr. Michaelis, young master seems to have chosen to fully trust me and I appreciate that very much, but... I would like for you to share his trust, that is why... Can I ask you to be the keeper of the sealing armband and even force it on me if at any moment you feel threatened by me and my power?" She said as she stood up, in front of the demon, rolling down her sleeves and staring straight into his mahogany eyes.
The demon was quite astounded and barely managed to cover it. "Miss Clark, are you honestly asking that?" She nodded with confidence and a smile. "You do realise you are literally laying your life in my hands? In the hands of a demon?" He finished and raised an eyebrow, looking challengingly at the woman.
Selina remained unfazed. "Absolutely, Mr. Michaelis. A human desiring to gain a demon's trust might be foolish, but... I do and that is how trust is built; by willingly letting yourself in someone else's hands. I believe we both have to work on trusting each other in order to properly serve our master. I take the first step if you are okay with that." She pointed to the discarded armband on the table and smiled at the demon, again.
Sebastian hated when Finny smiled at him brightly, obviously expecting some response, but hated it - in a way - more when this woman applied the same technique, because her smile and eyes looked so... Damn it, the demon had no idea how to describe it but it made him feel quite weird. With no word, he leaned, took the leather armband and stuffed it in the inner breast pocket of his tailcoat.
"Thank you very much, Mr. Michaelis!" She said and with a polite bow of her head turned and left the room.
Her voice was so cheerful that Sebastian was left speechless, standing there and blinking utterly confused, trying to comprehend how a creature, stronger than human, could ever choose willingly to trust a demon. He finally sighed and exited, thinking that despite knowing what Selina was and what she could do... he felt her being more of a puzzle - an intriguing one no less - he wanted to solve. How was that possible... and why he enjoyed it so much?
{~}
Later that night, no one saw the blond woman entering the dark kitchen and walking to the oven. She crouched in front of it and quietly opened the door.
"Okay, he hasn't collected the ashes yet so it must be here. Let's see what it was."
She brought her hands close to the still warm ashes, extended her fingers and started mumbling something. A part of the ashes started moving on its own and soon became a black mass. They continued shifting and changing shapes and colours for a while until they reverted back to their former form; that of the photo Sebastian had burned earlier. Selina finally retrieved it, blew away any lingering ashes and stood up closing the oven.
"The commemorative photo! Awww! How cute young master looks here... If only he would smile a little." She straightened it more and examined it closer. "It's not like it was never destroyed, but at least it's in quite a good shape." She congratulated herself as she was focusing on Ciel in the photo and her eyes softened, while a light smile spread on her lips.
She quickly composed herself and started to leave the kitchen, taking the restored photograph with her, but a cold, dark voice cut her off.
"You constantly say you are here to help, yet you attempt to disrupt my work. Just a few hours ago, you were playing the part of a trusting partner and now you do the exact opposite. I will not allow you to ruin what I have cultivated for three years with so much pain. I will not allow you to force a change of heart to my master."
Selina turned and saw Sebastian approaching her. His face dark, his eyes burning threateningly. The woman did not move, only looked at him straight in the eyes.
"What do you mean? Why force a change of heart? Pff! I thought we had gone past that point of total distrust. As you said earlier, I have laid my life in your hands, I would appreciate it if you too trusted me, at least where your contract and its fulfillment is concerned." She crossed her arms and pursed her lips, genuinely offended by the demon's words.
"Then what is your business with that insignificant photograph? Are you not going to use it to show the child the kind of life he could have, if he left all his hate and ambitions behind?"
"Okay, I'll say this for the last time. Do I like your methods and the fact that you prey on the soul of a young child? Absolutely not. Would I prefer to release him from your contract and help him live a normal life? Certainly. But…" She sighed. "I cannot do anything for any of those matters. Firstly, because it is his choice – even forced in a way – and I would not interfere with that unless he himself asked me to. Secondly, it is not my job to ruin your work; my orders were very clear on that. And lastly… okay, everybody has to feed somehow, so I cannot judge you for what you do."
All the while she was talking Sebastian had stopped right in front of her, mere inches separating them; and now the demon closed that tiny distance by grabbing her waist and pulling her flush against his chest, with the other hand he circled the wrist of the hand with the photograph. His eyes twinkling, more mischievously than threatening.
"My, my. A grey creature that you are indeed. With so great desire of assisting the benevolent forces and innocent creatures of this world; but so understanding for us poor malevolent ones too. So… if you have no intention of using this photograph for turning my master against me, then why did you do that spell? And actually... how did you know it was there?" He said and squeezed her wrist with meaning.
"Since when am I not allowed to keep mementos of him, in the rare cases where he feels some kind of happiness – and he was indeed happy that day – for when he will be gone forever?" She said with furrowed eyebrows and anger in her voice. "As for how I knew... I saw a piece of it sticking out of the ashes earlier... when you took out the cookies. It looked like a photo and I wanted to see what it was." Now she had taken a very cool look.
"And you sneaked in here in order to restore a photo, without knowing which photo it was, only out of curiosity and now that you know, you want to keep it as a memento of young master; for your personal use... How sentimental of you, who you hate humans." His voice was quite ironic and then chuckled as he saw the woman furrowing her brows once again. "Do you really want me to believe that?"
Selina managed to release her wrist and then with both hands started pushing Sebastian's chest away from her, also trying to escape his iron grip. "I don't hate all humans and certainly not children, and yes… We 'stupid' humans have a tendency of keeping mementos from people we care about so that we will never forget. But you know what? I don't care if you believe me. You'll see for yourself that I'm honest!" Determination in her voice.
She pushed harder and almost managed to escape but then Sebastian tightened his arm even more, gluing their bodies together and imprisoning her hands between them. "I will let you have your precious memento, but be warned… if I detect any kind of difference and unwillingness towards my person from my master, then be certain that no big and heavy words will save you. You cannot appeal to sentiment with me."
"Tell me something I don't know already. I won't even try. Now, let me go!" She demanded and with one decisive push she freed herself from the demon.
She looked at the slightly crumpled photo in her hands and tried to straighten it out with her fingers. She was focused on that task enough to not see the change that occurred to the demon. His eyes were still red and burning, but their fire was that of an intense hunger, making him look like a bird of prey observing its victim as his gaze glided from her serene face to her delicate throat and chest, where the top of her breasts were visible through the unbuttoned neck of her shirt. He lingered there for a while and then followed the same path back to her mouth, focusing on her slim, half opened lips. He smirked and kept looking at her through hooded eyes.
"If you are so fond of mementos, then maybe I should also give you one of mine so that you will never forget me." He said in a suddenly husky, demanding voice.
"Memento of yours? Wha-"
That was all Selina managed to say as she lifted her eyes to him, only to see one ungloved hand cupping the back of her head, while his face rapidly descended upon her own. His lips touching hers so lightly as only a feather would, and lingering there for a while before starting moving with increasing demand, attempting to open her lips further. A sweet numbness spread through her body as his other hand around her waist kept her closer.
Selina was left speechless and breathless, unable to make any move. With wide open eyes, after a while, she saw Sebastian pulling back and his eyes opening, since they seemed to have closed at some point of him teasing her. The look these red hypnotizing eyes gave her reminded her the one from when he found out her true nature. Selina could swear that the demon was high on some kind of drug.
Her heart beating like crazy echoed in her mind, making it difficult to think straight as she watched the demon in front of her smiling completely satisfied with himself and diving in for a second round. However, at that point her mind seemed to jolt back to life as an image she had once seen sprang in her mind's eyes. The demon's wandering hands travelling on the leather clad full body of a black haired woman, his treacherous, sinful mouth promising relief and pleasure that would make her forget her pain, even for a while. He did deliver what promised while achieving his goal of making the woman unwittingly share with him important information.
"I rarely use sexual intercourse to get what I want." These words ringed in her ears, words coming from the same demon that right now was seducing her, although he considered humans "disgusting in that state".
That cleared her mind, like an imaginary bucket of frozen water, right before the demon's lips crash on her own in what would soon turn to a demandingly full kiss. Her reflexes were back in their usual perfect condition as she lifted the photograph enough for the paper to get between their lips, making Sebastian's eyes fly open and look at her questioningly. She really enjoyed his genuine surprise and responded with a mischievous smile as she pulled back her head and then pushed him further away with one hand pressing the photograph on his lips, while the other forcefully removed his from the back of her head, the hand on her side followed on its own.
Now it was her turn to chuckle satisfied with herself. "Did you really think I would fall for the same trick a second time? Is that low your opinion of me? Selling me a little 'love' and 'passion' would place me in the palm of your hand, so that you would do anything you liked with me, and above all… be certain I would not interfere in your contract with master, since my poor love-stricken heart would not oppose to my perfect lover… am I right?"
The - not friendly at all - fire in her eyes said to the demon it would be wiser not to deny what the woman thought was his primary purpose, or she would become even more furious. He did not mind seeing that, actually he really longed for it, but now was not the time as he started listening to his master anxiously stirring in his sleep at the verge of waking up from a nightmare. For some reason, as the weather was getting hotter it seemed to affect the boy and make his sleep harder and his inner demons, in the form of nightmares, stronger to fight. He usually woke up at some point during the night and softly called for his butler, not needing anything more than just the reassurance he was there, by his side.
Sebastian did not say a word. He only looked at the woman with a devilish smirk on his lips as he shrugged his shoulders. Anyone could interpret his pose as "You got me!". At least that was what Selina understood and, chuckling mockingly, glared at the demon.
"Really? Well, I've got news for you. I'm not your circus 'lady' Beast in desperate need of emotional comfort and physical release by an expert seducer like yourself. Whether you get in my pants or not, won't change anything at all. To make the long story short, you don't have to prostitute yourself to me… keep it for other really low women governed solely by their passions." She really enjoyed the fury that flared up in his eyes as soon as he heard the 'prostitute yourself' part, and she also enjoyed the fact that he obviously wanted to react - preferably by strangling her - but his orders forbade him. "Goodnight, my trusted partner." She said and left the room victoriously.
However, once her room's door was shut behind her, her legs gave out and Selina landed on the floor not so graciously, her heart beating like crazy and her entire body shaking, hot and cold at the same time, making her feel more confused than ever. On the one hand, ignoring her logic and determination to resist the demon, her body was excited, even aroused, by his touch and light yet demanding kiss. Everything was on fire, inside and outside and that made her more embarrassed. On the other hand, she had just insulted a demon some thousands years older than her and immensely more powerful, something that made her tremble from anger and a hint of instinctive fear at the thought of what could be the demon's retaliation.
"Stupid! Stupid! You're an absolute stupid woman! Okay, you said the part about Beast to show him you have knowledge of his tricks, but was it necessary to blurt out that last part about the prostituting?" She started berating herself while pulling her hair. "Honestly, I would not blame him if he comes and kills me in my sleep. I am so deserving it for not knowing my limits!"
After a while she relaxed. She released her hair and remained seated on the floor, totally defeated with her head down. "All right… at first chance I'll apologize for that…" She sighed at the thought of apologizing to a demon. "William T. Spears, Ronald Knox… right now, I really do hate you for putting me in such a situation." She finally said shaking her fists in the air.
{~}
The days that followed, Selina did not have a chance to express her apology as the restless demon was always busy with the house chores, and he made sure that everyone else was too, since he decided they should clean the entire mansion from top to bottom again, like it was spring cleaning or something. On the other hand, Ciel in the few free hours he had while in Weston - before becoming the fag of a fag - had discovered a book with Plato's philosophical myths; the boy had absolutely devoured the book and now wanted to analyse and discuss everything he read with Selina, his tutor. After her lessons with Ciel, Sebastian would always ask her to assist one of the others in something and when she was finally done, she was so tired it was impossible to remain awake and wait for Sebastian to finish his rounds in the manor and the surrounding area, since they took more time than usual as the various trespassers seemed to have high hopes the Earl would be absent for summer vacations and the manor would be unguarded.
Selina actually believed Sebastian's obsession of assigning her chores of any kind was a mild way of retaliation for her words and soon came to accept it patiently, if that meant he would not do anything else; perhaps he was not that offended by her words after all... she really hoped for that. The good thing was that his behaviour towards her was absolutely normal, that of the perfect professional who expects only perfection by his subordinates; therefore, he addressed her in a very polite and cool manner, never violating her personal space to the extremes he had in the past and generally behaving like nothing happened that night.
Sometimes, he even seemed to ignore her. Like the day Ciel took his servants to London for shopping; although the boy had requested she would ride with them in the carriage, the butler seemed to completely forget her existence and the same continued while running from one shop to the next. The only two instances he talked to her were when he told her to take care of young master along with the others, right before he ran to see what happened after a crash and a female scream were heard from the road. The second time was after he had rescued Ciel from getting squeezed by the crazed women that barged in his shop with women's products in order to buy the new perfume. Selina had hugged the child and managed to lift him higher which made it very easy for Sebastian to retrieve the young Earl. As soon as her hands were free she started pushing, turning and stepping on other people's feet as she pulled the servants out of that suffocating chaos. Sebastian then told her a cold "Good job" and that was all of their interaction for that day.
Sebastian informed Ciel that the woman's scream was from Irene Diaz, a high rank actress and previous acquaintance of Ciel from the time of the gruesome murders in his manor. Sebastian of course recognized her and helped her reach her theatre in time, as well as make an astonishing entrance riding... a unicorn. In exchange Miss Diaz scattered to the audience cards advertising the Funtom perfume… the whole thing was a success and that was why everyone rushed to the shop after the play.
"To think using a star to advertise a product would be so effective…" Ciel said thinking of his butler's actions and the outcome they brought.
"That is the mentality of the masses for you… young master." Sebastian said with a very attractive smile that left Selina speechless, thinking how perfectly he would integrate in the future.
Her imagination went as far as picturing him the leader of some company of mass production or – if he kept the same form – the star that would enchant the masses to the point of hysteria with his looks, voice and seductiveness. Images of that kind passed in front of her eyes that soon flushed her cheeks, while she kept looking at the empty space in front of her where Sebastian was standing a moment ago.
"Selina, are you all right? You are so red in the face." Mey-Rin asked her friend watching her through her new pair of glasses.
"Huh? Um… yes, I am. I am perfectly all right. It seems that taking you out of that chaos there, was more tiring than I thought and I got hot from effort. It will be gone in a while, don't worry." She reassured the maid.
{~}
It was long after midnight when Sebastian passed outside the kitchen and again heard someone fumbling with pots and kitchen utensils. He peeked inside and found Selina standing over a heating pot watching a dark blue liquid boiling. She had some tongs in hand waiting and as soon as the liquid turned to a very light blue, dived and took out Mey-Rin's glasses that had the same dark blue colour for a second, before they turn to normal. The smile of success spread on the blond woman's lips.
"I did not take you for a kitchen person, you have never volunteered to cook something… other than the edible version of Bard's pie, that is. And now I am not sure that what you cook is really… edible." He said entering the room.
Selina smiled again, not at all surprised by his sudden appearance this time. "Indeed, I know how to cook but I am not really thrilled by it and be certain that the recipes I know would not be very suitable for this era. Anyway, I am not cooking, but practicing my magic." Sebastian looked at her questioningly raising one eyebrow. "Well, Mey-Rin had broken her glasses due to her clumsiness and when she got new ones they were outdated after a while and that is why master bought her another pair today, correct? So, I thought that I could… enhance her new ones so that they would adjust with every little change that occur in her eyes and, most importantly, with great endurance so that they won't break that easily."
Saying that, she threw the glasses on the floor and then stepped on them. When she collected them they were perfect as before, not even a crack on the lenses. Sebastian rubbed his chin thoughtfully while both his brows were raised impressed.
"Interesting, I must say. Well done, Miss Clark. You can indeed be of great help even through little things like this."
"Thank you very much… Mr. Michaelis." Selina responded totally surprised that he actually praised her. Now, Sebastian did a small bow and turned to leave. "Um… no, please wait!" She called him and her voice sounded nervous.
The butler turned to face her again and crossed his hands on his chest waiting for the woman to speak, his eyes indifferent. A few moments passed as she was anxiously struggling to find the words, when Sebastian sighed displeased, making obvious he would leave if she did not speak soon. She sighed and took a deep breath.
"I would like to apologize for my rude words the other night. I overstepped and… said things I should not and… offended you. I have the bad habit of saying whatever comes to mind when I feel… uncomfortable, and you did make me feel uncomfortable with your… forceful actions… even more since they were needless. Just like you respect the conditions of your contract, I do too those of mine, and since one of them is to not disrupt yours with young master, rest assured that I will never do the opposite. You do not have to… force yourself in actions and… situations that you do not enjoy or say things you do not mean… at least as far as our cooperation is concerned. I really came to enjoy the way we worked together, before you started these foolish games with me, and would like us to go back to how we were… That's all!"
All the while she was talking, her hands were playing with Mey-Rin's glasses, as she was trying to remain cool and composed to say what she wanted to. Now, she left the glasses on the counter and turned to take care of the pot where the boiling liquid had finally turned to white. She switched off the stove and took the pot over to the sink to throw the liquid down the drain. Sebastian watched her lost in his thoughts for a while. He then sighed.
"That is respectable, I admit, and I can reassure you that I do not have any intention of making you feel uncomfortable, in case it can negatively affect your work." He saw her face lighten up relieved and found that again he could not resist the temptation. "However, please bear in mind that I do not have a habit of playing games I do not enjoy; I always do… to the fullest."
He looked at her through half closed eyelids shadowed by long lashes, his eyes burning with a mysterious light that Selina felt it could devour her any minute. He smiled at her with his typical charming smile and left her alone in the kitchen, dripping pot in hands, roses blooming on her cheeks and countless questions swirling in her mind.
Ooooh, playful Sebastian likes his games... and confusing poor Selina, obviously! I don't know about you, but I for one really enjoy that... Of course, I'm the one writing it so... I don't really count.
The "Dolly" reference: I have no idea how it was in other countries or how many of you were in an age to remember it, but Dolly, the first cloned sheep, was very popular in Greece in mid '90's, so I think Selina could know this, even if she was quite young at the time.
That's all from me this week! Till next time! Bye!