Chapter Four - ... and I liked it

Author's Notes: I am so sorry... The most pathetic excuse for a fanfiction author... I was away months and could only write one chapter. I'll get better, I promise. For now, please enjoy the new chapter of 'Delicate Death'.

Song Used: GUESS! ahahah

"Ciel!"

Ciel Phantomhive closed his eyes, trying to calm himself, trying not to lash out. Fat chance.

His cousin and fiance, Elizabeth, was running towards him, arms open, ready to strangle him in one of her hugs. He glanced sideways at Sebastian, who was hanging around one of the paintings, inspecting each and every one of them for dust.

Lizzy knocked into him, suffocating him with her vice-like grip. Ciel tried to focus on breathing, instead of the almost instinctual urge to push her away.

He saw Sebastian standing next to the door, eyeing them strangely. His eyes were narrowed slightly, making them seem even deadlier than usual, his back was stiff and his jaw set, looking like nothing could be able to pry his mouth open. If Ciel hadn't known better, he would've said Sebastian was... No. Of course, that's out of the question.

As Elizabeth's grip became tighter, he couldn't help but mouth to the demon:

"Help!"

With cat-like grace, the butler strode over to them, putting a hand on Elizabeth's shoulder gently:

"Lady Elizabeth, I trust you will be staying for dinner?"

Finally she let go to look up at Sebastian:

"Oh, no. I have to celebrate at home, I'm afraid, so today Ciel," she turned to the earl, who was massaging his neck and checking for broken ribs, "you'll have to survive without me."

Ciel nodded, trying not to burst into hysterical relieved laughter.

He thought he saw Sebastian wink from behind Elizabeth's back.

()()()()()()()

"Ciel?"

Ciel looked up from the newspaper he was currently trying to digest to see Sebastian standing at the door to the study, looking quite gleeful.

It still gave him the chills when his butler called him by his name, the shivers turning into warmth that spread throughout his body from his chest, making his heart beat faster.

"Come in, Sebastian. What is it?"

He placed an elbow on the table and propped his head on it to make it look as if he were relaxed and bored of the upcoming conversation. Inside, he felt a tight coil of steel, tense and solid.

"I saw Lady Elizabeth off. If I may say so, you can now enjoy your day in peace and silence." Sebastian bowed, making for the door.

"Wait!"

The butler turned around dutifully, his dark red eyes searching.

()()()()()()()

He just wanted to get out of the office before it was too late. His Young Master looked positively delectable in his electric blue shirt that was unbuttoned halfway, exposing the creamy skin of his chest.

Nevertheless, Sebastian turned around, inclining his head politely, his half-smile molded perfectly across his face:

"Yes, Young Master?"

()()()()()()()

"I was wondering... If you could stay here with me," Ciel mumbled, looking away. He didn't know where this childish thought came from, but he wanted Sebastian to stay so badly, just to sit by his side and talk to him in his beautiful velvet voice...

Sebastian blanched for a fraction of a second, and then a smile spread on his face:

"Showing me your weak side, Ciel?" He teased, smirking.

Ciel huffed:

"No way. I'm just bored out of my mind. Her Highness hasn't given me a decent job in weeks, I need some human (pardon the pun) interaction before I turn into a caveman and start going at people with a flamethrower or something."

Sebastian's grin got wider:

"Of course."

()()()()()()()

He strode towards Ciel's office table, slowly and teasingly as if testing whether Ciel would panic and draw back or not. He didn't.

Ciel waited for the butler to make his way across the room languidly, as if he was strolling in the garden, knowing full well the demon was just trying to gauge his reaction.

He gasped when Sebastian suddenly sat right on the tabletop, looking at his master expectantly.

"Oi, what do you think you're doing, sitting on the table like some mongrel!"

Sebastian smiled patiently:

"There are no more chairs in this room except for the one you're sitting in, Ciel. Or would you rather I joined you in it...?" He trailed off.

Ciel looked away:

"As if."

How can he look so delectable even when angry?

"Anyway," Sebastian paused, "they don't make such a big deal out of it in the twenty-first century."

Ciel's head snapped up:

"What?"

Finally he's interested.

"As you know, demons are supernatural beings, so something as ordinary and trivial as time has never been something to hold us down."

"You mean... You've been in the future?" Ciel's eyes widened. He only just seemed to grasp the power of the man sitting in front of him.

Sebastian nodded, glad he could distract himself from ogling Ciel's exposed chest.

"Tell me about it!"

()()()()()()()

"Music in a tiny box... Ingenious." Ciel sighed, not tearing his gaze away from Sebastian. "Are those expensive?"

"No, almost everyone has one."

"You have to tell me how those work later..." Ciel trailed off.

The future. He'd never thought of anything but his own few remaining years (months? Weeks?), and suddenly the idea of driving fast cars and talking to people from all over the world using a tiny device seemed to fascinate him. There was one more thing...

"What about," he bit his lip, as if struggling with words, "what about relationships?"

Sebastian raised a thin eyebrow, cocking his head to the side:

"Everything is much less complicated. Men and women are allowed to choose freely whom they'd like to marry, their parents mostly don't have any direct influence, some don't marry at all, living together in sin and even raising children of other races... The road is even clear for same-sex couples..."

Ciel's head shot up.

"... but you wouldn't want to know more about that, now, would you?" Sebastian's eyes glinted.

Ciel visibly deflated:

"I wish it were so easy now. I can picture myself going to school, without having to study violin or going to tedious dances... Having friends among my peers, wearing only one layer of clothing instead of those horrible undershirts and stuffy jackets, listening to music without having to hire a whole orchestra and coming home to you..." Ciel broke off put a hand over his mouth, realizing what he just said.

Sebastian held a breath, doing the Ketchup dance on the inside - he felt warm, euphoric even, hearing his master's words. He stretched out a hand and gently took Ciel's away from his lips. Ciel looked up at him silently, not moving a muscle.

Sebastian bent down to him, his face mere inches from his Master's and breathed:

"I could imagine that as well..."

()()()()()()()

New Year's Eve was quieter that Christmas, by far. Ciel bid all his servants good night and decided to stay in his office for the strike of midnight.

"Ciel?" Sebastian peeked inside, finding the boy looking out of the mirror, standing with his back to the butler.

The earl turned his head, smiling a tiny, almost nonexistent smile:

"Come in."

Sebastian pulled the door open, revealing two flutes of champagne on a silver tray:

"I thought you'd want some company."

Ciel nodded gratefully as Sebastian sat the tray down onto the unused table, picking up the glasses and handing one to Ciel. They stood by the window together, the cold winter night creeping its way into the room and enveloping them with the frosty air.

"It's just that... All your tales of the future finally made me feel realize I'm sorry for not being able to see all that," Ciel whispered, smiling sadly.

Sebastian smiled:

"You never know."

They let a comfortable silence set upon the room, looking out of the window again.

"Ciel, it's almost midnight." Sebastian broke the quiet. "Might I propose something?"

The boy perked up:

"What is it?"

"There is a tradition in the Russian Kingdom, to write one's New Year's wish on a piece of paper, burn it and put the ashes into champagne, drinking them together with it at the strike of midnight. Some say they do really come true."

Ciel raised an eyebrow:

"Someone's is turning sentimental. Well," he paused, "I can't see why not."

He tore a small piece of paper from some notebook he was doodling in and stared as Sebastian did the same. Seeing Ciel's surprise, the butler chuckled:

"Demons have things they desire, too."

Ciel stuffed his surprise into a faraway corner of his mind, shrugging:

"Of course."

()()()()()()()

I want to stay by his side forever.

()()()()()()()

"...Nine, ten, eleven..."

They each shot the champagne down, Ciel choking slightly at the unpleasant aftertaste of burnt paper. He looked up at Sebastian, who was holding his own empty glass, smiling.

"Twelve."

"Happy New Year, Ciel."

With that, Sebastian dropped the glass, making it collide with the floor and burst into zillions of tiny shards and pressed his lips to his Master's.

()()()()()()()

Ciel did nothing to stop it and succumbed to the feeling of Sebastian's lips devouring his own. After all, who was he to refuse something he'd wished for?

End Notes: Geez, did that take long... Well, it's done. I have no idea when I'll start on the next chapter, cuz school is starting tomorrow, so...

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