.: seeing in the dark :.

Chapter six

A/N: For those who weren't aware, FF's alerts were down for a little over a day and I think they're still working to get caught up. Hopefully this chapter posts without problem, haha. I hope y'all enjoy the chapter! Many, many thanks to socialbutrfly1379 for being my amazing beta again! She was awesome working on this story :3

Warnings: Language

Disclaimer: I don't own Kuroshitsuji

Left alone, Ciel could feel the tension rising between them again and Ciel smoothed out the fabric of his pants. "So," he started and his toes curled. He didn't know how to start the conversation and Ciel almost wished that Claude had stayed with them.

"It happened at The Yards, didn't it," Sebastian said and looked in his direction, eyes focusing more to his left than on Ciel's face. "That you started to feel uncomfortable."

Ciel nodded. "Yeah." He looked away from Sebastian, feeling the guilt start to rise again. A part of him wondered if he would ever come to terms with the feeling. "It happened after the maze. I ran into a child and they said some rather...perverse things."

Sebastian chuckled. "Kids are the worst, I find. They haven't learned that social filter and tend to speak whatever is on their mind." He shrugged. "Not that some adults are any better."

"I shouldn't have let it affect me that way," Ciel muttered and rubbed his arm. He took a deep breath and let it out forcefully. "But after he said that, I noticed all the stares wherever we went and I felt awkward."

Silence stretched between them again and Ciel rolled his lower lip between his teeth. It wasn't easy to admit that, let alone say it aloud. But he felt better after admitting it, as though the weight had at least temporarily lifted. It allowed him to breathe easier for a while and Ciel only hoped that it wouldn't come crashing down again.

"You have every right to act the way you did," Sebastian said and his eyes lowered to his hands. "I know about the staring that people do when I walk by. I've learned to ignore them and at times, I can forget they're even there. I'm used to it and so are my friends and family. But I tend to forget that other people aren't used to it as they are."

"It's not," Ciel started but drew the words back to himself. "I don't have a problem you being blind," he clarified.

A small smile flickered across Sebastian's lips. "I know that," he said softly. "Otherwise you wouldn't have stayed that first night. You just...you just acted like a human. And there's nothing wrong with that. I simply forget that at times."

Ciel blinked, uncertainty trickling through his body. "What do you mean?" he asked. Sebastian was a human as well but he didn't feel the need to point that out just yet.

"We – humans that is – always feel uncertain about things that are different or strange to them. We don't know how to act around them, what to say or do." Sebastian's fingers sought the edges of the blanket and pulled it closer, a sign that he felt just as uncomfortable about this as Ciel. "Just as there are times that you feel uncomfortable being around me, there are times that I feel anxious about other people."

"You never look that way though," Ciel said, truly surprised to hear Sebastian admit that. Never once did Sebastian look uneasy during Ciel's stay.

Sebastian winked at him. "I've had a few decades to practice my poker face," he said with a grin. "When I was younger, I felt awkward around other people who could see. Too worried about what they would think about me and potentially embarrassing anyone who was with me at the time. It took several years before the feeling faded. Only on rare occasions do I start feeling that way."