Surrounded by Doubt | Kuroshitsuji

Chapter 4 - Comfort found in his presence

The raven butler entered the study only to realise that the only thing in there meeting him was silence, he scanned the room with his scarlet orbs, and there in the chair was the bluenette, still sitting up in his chair but with his head resting on the desk, it was obvious that the boy had lost consciousness during Sebastian's absence.

Swiftly moving to his master's side, leaving the breakfast outside in the hallway, Sebastian felt the heat radiating from the poor boy's weak body. His pulse was significantly weaker than the average person of his age was supposed to be, the butler lifted up his master's head with caution to see if he would regain consciousness.

"Bocchan?.. Bocchan can you hear me?" He didn't get an answer from the boy, not even the slightest bit of movement, this had worried the demon even more as he picked him up bridal style and started to walk towards the young earl's bedroom.

How long had he been this warm? Had he been unconscious for a long time? Why didn't I insist on bedrest? Why did I leave him alone knowing he wasn't feeling well? Considering the events they had been through these last few days he should have kept an extra eye on his master.

All these questions and thoughts were on the verge of taking over his mind completely when he noticed the young master had grabbed ahold of his coat, his small fist clenching on to it tighter with every step Sebastian took, still not completely awake but conscious nonetheless, the boy said something under his breath.

"S..b...st...an" Ciel mumbled.

Even with his exceptional hearing Sebastian had trouble making out the words that were being uttered but was fairly confident he already knew what he was trying to say.

A warmth grew inside of him when he realised his master was calling out for him, he thought it was a bit odd though since the boy had called for him plenty of times before but this time was different, seeing the small body he cradled in his arms reach for him so weakly unsealed a feeling of protectiveness in the demon. He wanted to protect his small, weak master in a way that was beyond the contract.

"Shh my lord" He said using the most gentle tone in his voice. "Please remain calm, everything is alright. It would seem you've got a slight fever but other than that nothing serious, I will make sure you're back to your usual self before you know it" Hoping these words would reassure the young boy as they made their way through the manor until finally reaching the master's bedroom.

Sebastian gently put down the half asleep child on the bed, the boy had shown signs of discomfort when he was put down, frowning slightly and letting go of Sebastian's clothes before returning to a more neutral state. It had actually saddened the butler when his master let go of him, it was interesting seeing the earl so weak that he grabbed on to a butler, not to mention a demon for comfort.

Perhaps the stubborn child cared more for him than he had originally thought, after all humans were more likely to get attached, especially since Sebastian both protected and took care of the boy it was only natural for him to feel some sort of comfort in Sebastian's presence. In his head, Sebastian was thinking of how he sometimes did act more like a caretaker or even dare he say a parent, within boundaries of course, than a butler to the boy.

Needless to say that most people outside of his relationship with the boy would only see an Earl and his butler but from his own point of view he was the one that made sure the master was taken care of, even if it would be considered a butler's duty, Sebastain was sure he played a much bigger part in the boy's life than that. After all he was the young Phantomhive's guard, his protector against anything that would even think of harming him but he was also the one the boy called for in the middle of the night when he had nightmares, one would think the earl, being as stubborn as he was, would avoid asking for consolation from anyone yet those nightmares tended to frightened the boy down to his cores and he would even ask Sebastian to stay with him through the night.

It wasn't like he had given it much thought when being asked to stay by his master's side but Sebasian knew deep down he enjoyed being needed by the boy, besides their bond had only grown deeper with each year they spent together. Was it really that much of an issue if he, as a demon, enjoyed being in the presence of the small lord despite him eventually turning into the demon's finest meal?

Movement from his young master woke Sebastian from his thoughts as he briskly continued to make the child more comfortable. He started with changing the boy's clothes into something more suitable for bedrest, followed by carefully moving him to be under the covers as well as making sure the pillows supported his head.

Sebastian lifted one of his hands towards his mouth, biting at the top of the white glove to smoothly remove it before he put the bare hand against the pale boy's piping hot forehead. The butler somewhat frowned when he felt how warm his master was, he knew he had to cool him down before the fever went up even more and with that proceed to walk towards the door to gather some supplies to help him with this.

"Sebas..tian" The demon stopped in his step, slowly turning around to the view of a boy with half open eyes trying to look at him. He was relieved the master regained consciousness much faster than what he anticipated and began making his way to the bedside.