Chapter Text
A pair of mismatched eyes fluttered open as the boy began to wake up from his slumber. He stifled a yawn and buried his face into his pillow, fully intending to go back to sleep.
He was already halfway there when the door to his bedroom was opened and he heard the sound of the cart being pushed closer to the bed. Futile as it was, he pretended to be asleep, hoping that maybe, just maybe, he’d be left alone.
No such luck.
“Good morning, Young Master.” Sebastian said as he opened the curtains. The sunlight streamed through the window, basking the room in the bright light and making the boy on the bed hiss as he pulled his blanket higher in an attempt to block off the light.
“Go ‘way...” Ciel mumbled.
“I am afraid I cannot do that, sir. Your schedule is quite full today.” Sebastian said as he prepared the morning tea.
“Cancel them all. I’m not leaving this bed.” Ciel said.
“You have several matters to attend to before your upcoming vacation, my lord. There is no way you are staying in bed all day today.” Sebastian said.
Ciel groaned. His upcoming ‘vacation’, right... How could he forget about that. He was going to go on a holiday with Elizabeth and Soma for a week. That, in his book, was the furthest thing from ‘vacation’. He hadn’t wanted to go, of course, but Elizabeth played dirty and had gotten her mother involved.
“Young Master, please get out from under the blanket.” Sebastian said sternly. Now that Ciel was seventeen, he was getting more and more stubborn by the day, usually at his butler’s expense.
“No.” Ciel refused. “I told you, I’m staying here.”
Sebastian was glad that demons didn’t get headache. “Young Master...”
“You left before I woke up.” Ciel said. Sebastian always did, but Ciel was feeling particularly petty this morning.
“You do realize that I have work to do?” Sebastian said. “One of them is to make sure that you are ready for the day. So, please get out from under the blanket.”
Ciel finally threw the blanket aside and sat up with a huff.
“Thank you.” Sebastian moved to hand Ciel the teacup, but the boy raised to his knees and grabbed the butler’s tie and pulled him for a kiss.
“Now, that is a good morning.” Ciel said after the kiss. He released the demon and took the teacup.
“A good morning, indeed.” Sebastian smirked as he straightened his tie. “You are getting stronger and faster.”
“But still not enough...” Ciel complained.
“Not quite yet, my lord. Soon, a few more years.” Sebastian said.
“Can’t you give me more? To speed up the process.”
Sebastian shook his head. “Unfortunately, that would do more harm than good. Please be patient. Now, for today’s schedule...” He proceeded to read out Ciel’s schedule for the day as the teen drank his tea.
Ciel noted the extra sweetness in his tea. Looked like he was in for a long day if his butler had prepared him this.
“I should feign illness, then maybe I don’t have to go tomorrow.”
“I would advise against it. It will only delay the inevitable. Lady Elizabeth is very adamant about this matter.”
“It’s going to be a miserable week.” Ciel sighed.
Sebastian was inclined to agree. They would have a tough week ahead. Ciel would have to endure Elizabeth and Soma being with him all day long all week, and Sebastian would be forced to watch from the side as the young woman put her hands all over his master. He unconsciously let out a sigh of his own.
Ciel noticed. “We’re both going to be miserable...”
“You know what they say, my lord. Misery loves company.” Sebastian said before leaving to retrieve Ciel’s clothes for the day. He had a meeting in an hour and he still hadn’t even had his breakfast yet.
The day went as badly as Ciel had thought it would be. Elizabeth sent a missive, telling him how excited she was to spend the entire week with him, detailing of the things they would do together. He also had a few lessons throughout the day, including a dance lesson. Why he still needed one was beyond him. But his butler insisted that a nobleman was expected to be able to dance gracefully, something that Ciel never quite managed to do. If anything, his moves were getting more and more awkward as his limbs grew longer. At this point, he was fully convinced that the dance lessons were done purely for Sebastian’s own amusement. He certainly wouldn’t put it past the demon.
“You are especially needy tonight, my lord...” Sebastian said when Ciel nuzzled the demon’s chest as they lay together in the big bed later that night.
“Hm... Can you blame me?” Ciel titled his face up to look at his demon. “It will be a whole week until we can have some semblance of privacy and peace.”
Sebastian tightened his arms around his master. “That might very well be the case.”
Ciel groaned and leaned up to place a kiss on the corner of Sebastian’s mouth. “A few more years seem like a long time...”
“It is necessary. I do not want to hurt you or take any risk. A few more years is nothing compared to the rest of eternity.”
Ciel hummed. “Can I have some tonight? Just to tide me over the next week?”
A few seconds of silence as the demon considered the request. “Very well. One drop.”
Ciel agreed and he watched as Sebastian’s fingernails turned into sharp claws and he made a small incision on his own wrist. He held the wrist above Ciel’s mouth. “One drop, my lord.” He reminded him.
“Yes, yes. I know.” Ciel said as a drop of the demon’s blood fell onto his waiting tongue before the demon withdrew his hand, his wound already healing as he did so. It wasn’t much, but Ciel savoured it before swallowing it. The moment the single drop of blood entered his system, it felt like electricity running through his veins, making him feel alive and strengthening the special bond forged by blood that they shared. The earl sighed contentedly.
For the past few months, Sebastian had been giving him drops of his own blood regularly, usually once every fortnight or so. He wasn’t planning to turn Ciel into a full demon, no. The boy would remain somewhat human, but it would still change him and give him enough life force to last him for eternity.
They started their relationship two years ago, after Ciel’s fifteenth birthday. About six months later, Ciel finally got his revenge. However, instead of devouring his soul, as per their agreement, Sebastian came up with a different proposition, he wanted them to be mates instead.
At first, Ciel was angry. He was promised death, he was promised the end of his miserable life, but after some rather explosive arguments and at Sebastian’s request to give them both a chance, he finally agreed. He thought he’d surely be miserable, that there was no way that he would ever be happy, but now, here he was, happier than ever, in the arms of his demon.
Ciel couldn’t believe how free he felt, without his revenge hanging over his head. Now he could focus on himself, on his own needs and wants, and it had taken him by surprise that he still had it in him to be happy. It was as if he was given yet another chance in life and this time, he would grasp at it with everything that he had because now, he actually had something, someone, to live for.
It took another year until Sebastian revealed his actual plan, to make Ciel an immortal human-slash-demon by feeding him demon blood. It had to be done slowly and meticulously. Otherwise, his body might not be able to stand it and he might end up dead.
“Tell me again, why do we have to keep up this farce? Why can’t we just run off somewhere and leave everything behind?” Ciel asked.
“Because that is not the life that you deserve. You do not deserve to live on the run, to live in hiding. Your place is here, for now. We will have plenty of time for ourselves later, but right now, you are Earl Phantomhive and I am your faithful butler.”
Ciel sighed. “I wouldn’t mind living like that.”
“You say that now, but you are not ready yet, my lord.”
“How long do we have to play this game? I don’t plan to ever marry her, but they have been pushing for it for a while now. I need to break off the engagement soon.”
“Soon.” Sebastian agreed. “But not yet. If you do that out of nowhere, your reputation will be ruined. As the butler of the Phantomhive family, I cannot allow such scandal to taint the family name.”
Ciel snorted. “As efficient as ever, I see.”
“What can I say? I am just one hell of...”
“Shut up.” Ciel said and kissed his demon to shut him up.