The Devil's Bride *Sebastian Love*

Her Butler, Phantom Image

  Alette laughs as Ciel smirks; she and Selima were visiting again and Ciel had just recited one of his many encounters with the Undertaker.
"So what's with the camera?" asks Alette, curious about object that had been on the edge of the desk for quite some time.
"It's a novelty item I recently acquired. It shows a person captured in the image along with someone that said person cares about most."
"How cute. Forever bound with someone you love in a single photograph. But why would that interest you Ciel?"
"Because the person that appears in that image is dead. Every time."
"Are we acting on the queen's orders to see what mystery surrounds that camera?"
"No, I've yet to hear back from her from our last ordeal. And you know I don't like to dawdle. So I bid on this and decided to have a little fun."
"Ohhh I'm interested. What do you mean by fun?"
"I propose a game. A competition, if you please."
"Sounds like fun indeed. What are the rules?"
"Well I was thinking I call in Bardroy and Finny to help me, and Mey Rin and--.'
"No!"
"Huh?"
"Me and Mey-Rin. If you want something done right you have to do it yourself, and I will not lose to you in account of someone else's blunder." Her cobalt eyes shine with defiance.
"Fine if you please to get your hands dirty then go ahead. We'll each take turns using this camera for thirty minutes each, whoever can get a picture of their butler first wins."
"Deal." She agrees. Ciel summons his servants, who all appear very nervous, shuffling their feet and rubbing their hands.
"So, young master, you wanted to speak with us about something?"

"Yes, I have a little job for the three of you to take care of."
"So we didn't have to worry!"

"When he called us, I thought for sure we were fired, yes I did!" reveals Mey Rin.

"Ho ho ho." Adds in Tanaka.
"Here Alette, you can have Tanaka as well." He smirks. She listens only half heartedly as he repeats the task to the servants, she begins planning her first move.
"Understand? This is a very valuable piece of history. Should one of you break it- I will be very upset indeed." He finished as they nodded vigorously. "Mey Rin, listen to Alette." "Bardroy, Finny, here's what I want you to do..." he continues as Mey- Rin and Alette leave the room.
"At this time of day, Selima should be making the beds."
"Right! Lets go!" she initiates.
Round #1
"At this time of day, Sebastian will be in the library." Echoes Ciel's words through Bardroy and Finny's heads. They knew their task well, but could they really get Sebastian to stay still for ten whole seconds? They peeked into the library to see Sebastian standing perfectly still, examining the room.
"Oi, this is our chance!" whispered Bardroy. Sebastian straightens his glove, then rushes to work, moving at the speed of light. He dashes from dusting to sweeping to polishing all in a matter of seconds.
"He's fast!" they both whisper.
"He's so fast I can't even see him!" squeaks Finny
"Damn, we'll never get that photo!" hisses Bardroy Just as they finish Sebastian stops for a moment, considering the flower arrangement. He whips out a red rose from his pocket and gently places it among all the ivory flowers.
"Look, he stopped."
"Great, let's go!" They freeze, watching the man in amazement until he leaves the room spotless.
"I forgot to take a picture." Admits a sheepish Bardroy
"He's so wonderful to watch!" agrees Finny.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the mansion...
"There she is!" cries Mey Rin They peer into the main bedroom, one that belongs to Ciel to see Selima folding blankets rapidly.
"We'll never get her at this rate. The picture will come out blurry if she keeps at this rate!" mutters Alette. Just as she whispers it, she freezes.
"Oh this is it yes it is!" Just as Alette readies the camera, The door opposite of them creaks open.
"Oh this better not be Ciel trying to mess us up!" squeaks Alette. Instead Sebastian enters smoothly, closing the door behind him.
"Oh no!" He waltzes over to her, and then wraps an arm around her waist, making her blush.
"Shouldn't you be cleaning up the dining room and preparing for lunch?" she whispers in his ear, just loud enough for Alette to hear. The closeness between them makes Alette shudder.
"I'm ahead of schedule." He responds, pressing his now warm lips to her temple. She freezes once again, and then closes the distance between them.
"Does it count if both of them are in the picture?" asks Mey Rin.
"It should. I'll kill two birds with one stone! Ciel thought he could win!"
"Ho ho ho!" adds Tanaka, who had been rather silent up until then, sipping his tea. Abruptly, Selima turns around and flips Sebastian, who obviously hadn't been suspecting anything of the sort, on to the bed. She walks over seductively, then crawls on top of him, who was silent with surprise, pink cheeked and flustered. A flustered Sebastian was a sight to see. She sits down directly on his hips.
"But I thought you wished to take it slow?" he asks, staring at the smirking Selima. She leans in and nips his ear.
"We're being watched." she informs. He smirks, then flicks the strap of her dress down, revealing her shoulder.
"AAGGGHHHH!" screams Alette and Mey Rin, both having blood spurting out of their noses as the run down the hallway. Both Selima and Sebastian chuckle at the reaction, as Selima crawls off of him and straightens her dress.
"That'll show her."
Round #2
"And next... he'll straighten up every room."
Sebastian can be seen smoothing out table cloths and polishing the tables.
"On the count of three, Finny." Tells Bardroy.
"Ready!" assures Finny
"One, two, three!" Finny dashes ahead, pushing the heavy table with ease.
"Look out!" he shrieked, secretly hoping he would be caught off guard. In a matter of seconds, Sebastian had moved out of the way and Finny was crashing out the window. He fell in an instant, tumbling downward into the grass as Bardroy shook his head in dismay.
Meanwhile...
Selima was scrubbing down the bathroom, mopping the tiles and cleaning the sink. Luckily, Alette knew a few secrets about this manor form her snooping and Ciel, so she and Mey Rin hopped up a secret staircase and peeped into the bathroom, removing a tile to gain access to it. Just as Alette puts her eye to the hole, Selima sprays cleaner on the exact spot where the tile was.
"AHHHH!" screams Alette, clutching at her burning eye and tumbling backward down the stairs as Mey Rin squeaks.
"Hm..." wonders Selima, pondering what the noise could have been as she moves on with a shrug.
Round #3
"And after that, he'll work on records in the office."
Sebastian sat in a chair pulled up to a large wooden desk, crunching numbers. The room was of course, spotless, as he recorded all the names of the Funtom Company for that month. He looks up as a small ding reverberates throughout the room, he sighs. He arrives at his young masters study and knocks carefully, should the boy be in a bad mood.
"Come in."

"Yes. Did you need something, master?"
"It came undone." Ciel says, indifferent but secretly a bit embarrassed.

"Of course, my lord."
"All right, now just stay there..."

"4, 5, 6..." they count, praying it will work. Suddenly Sebastian turns unswervingly in their direction. They duck, as he walks closer to the window.
"Let's air this room out a bit, shall we?" he articulates, opening the window without waiting for answer. Finny and Bardroy cling to the ladder and pray once again that they had not been seen.
Later that evening...
Alette and Mey Rin sat perched on the tree, peeking through a pair of binoculars into Selima's room. She sat on her bed, for once perfectly still. Her dress was covered in powdered sugar from preparing the desert for the guest they were receiving that night.
"Perfect..." she whispered as she angled the shot.
"6, 7, 8..." Just then she moved, unzipping the back of her dress and slipping out of it.
"NO NO NO!" screeched Alette, losing her balance, knocking both her and Mey Rin out of the tree.
The four sat on the floor, exhausted from all their efforts and injuries.
"Ho ho ho." Adds Tanaka who had recently entered with a cup of piping hot tea.
"This is turnin' out to be a lot of harder than we thought it would...Gettin' one measly photograph shouldn't be so tough." Admits Bardroy, all of a sudden, Sebastian opens the door quickly, Selima right behind him.
"Oh no they've noticed..." thought Alette.
"We have a job for you three." Stated Sebastian
"Tanaka, you can stay as you are." Awarded Selima
"Young Mistress, since when are you in company of these three?" asked Sebastian
"Um...they were just helping me clean up my dress for the guest tonight!" she lied.
"Very Well. Anyway, take care of that over there." hisses Sebastian in disgust. They look to the window to see a huffing pile of grey fluff looking in at them.
"Plu Plu?" Asks Finny
"The mangy pooch? What do you want us to do?" inquires Bardroy.
"We will be receiving a guest this afternoon. That thing is offensive. You are to transfer it out of sight before the guest arrives."
"He's kind of a big fellow. Where should we put him?"

"I'll let you three figure that out."

"Oi, we've got own jobs to take care of too, you know."

"You do have until this afternoon. I'm sure you can take care of it between your other tasks." He informs as they both exit. The group of servants all head outside while Alette begins to search for Selima. She stumbles around in search until she hears a familiar voice.
"I'll take my supper in here today."
"Very good, my lord."
"Alette! Come in!" he shouts, noticing her passing by
Sebastian leaves as she enters.
"Yes, Ciel?" she asks expecting him to gloat over a newly captured picture of Sebastian.
"I've had no luck." He admits.
"I haven't either." She replies, relieved that she had not lost yet, knowing Ciel would never let her forget it
"Those damn fools."
"Yes...by the way, do you have a spare eye patch?"
"What happened to your eye?" he asks, noticing the twitching and redness of it.
"Long story." She sighs.
* * *
"I heard what you two were up to. I thought I might assist."

"Go away."

"My lord, please don't be so hasty. Why not relax and leave this up to me? I have already woven a spider's web to trap him. And the more he tries to struggle, the more entangled he'll become; escape is impossible. Against me, no prey stands a chance. It is only a matter of time." Finished Lau. Alette and Ciel exchange looks and silently agree to accept the man's help; after all they were desperate.
"Very well. But I will not tolerate any failure. Is that understood?"
"Yes, of course, my lord. I would not allow failure to sully the Phantomhive name. I would surely be booted out the country if I did such a thing. So, what are you up to?" he asks, making Ciel and Alette sigh and rub their bridge of their noses.
Alette and Ciel listen in as Sebastian greets the guest.
"Welcome, sir."

"Hello, I'm the writer from Brit Business. Paul Jones, sir."

"Indeed, Mr. Jones. We've been awaiting your arrival. If you would follow me inside." He beckoned him in to the manor.
"This is our chance now.
"I'll take your coat, sir." Adds Selima, in a fine lace black dress with a dash of blue. As they walk up the stairs, a beautiful, barely clothed Asian woman sits on the rail, crossing and uncrossing her smooth silky legs. Mr. Jones stops and stares while Sebastian does not spare her a second glance.
"Maybe if we had gotten that butler of yours to pop a few buttons on her dress he would have stopped...." Trails off Lau to Alette
"THAT was your brilliant plan?!" growls Ciel.
"Yeah, don't you know Sebastian usually has the sex drive of a potato if Selima isn't around?" adds Alette. Selima follows them up, and as she passes the mysterious woman, flicks a rock in her direction. She loses her balance and sends her flying off the railing, on top of Finny. If it was anyone but Alette, they would have thought she just fell.
The group sits outside the room where the man interviews a full grown Tanaka.
"What's wrong? Why is he in there all by himself? Is he sulking or something?" asks Lau, referring to Ciel in the next room.
"We can't give up! Even if Ciel is mulling things over I swear I'll get the picture of Selima if it's the last thing I do. Lau! Go flirt with Selima."
"My pleasure, I suppose." He sighs, getting up and walking to the dining room where Selima was setting the table. He walks straight up to her, placing an arm on her shoulder.
"It's not true what they say about Asians, you know." He declares.
"What?" she asks cautiously. He whispers the answer in her ear and soon he has a hand print across his face, stinging. She places her hands on her hips.
"Damn. I thought that would stun her at least." Soon Sebastian is there, and Lau is on the floor, under him, groaning. He smiles maliciously, wrapping a protective arm around Selima's waist.
"So sorry, where were we?" he asks.
"Excuse me sir, but before I leave, can I take a quick photograph of the crew?"
* * *
"It's almost time." Declares Ciel.
Alette and Ciel wait nervously for the pictures to come out, as Selima and Sebastian walk in. They scramble to hide the developing pictures.
"We know what you've been up to." Chuckles Selima.
"Couldn't you have just asked us to pose for the photo?" asked Sebastian.
"Where would the fun be in that?" responded Alette rhetorically.
"I guess we tied anyway." Sighs Ciel.
"Or you could have ordered us to stand still." Appends Selima
"Too late now." Grumbles Alette.
"We finally got the photo!" celebrates Finny

"At last we'll see the fruits of our hard day's labor." Pants Bardroy


"The young master will be happy, yes he will!" inserts Mey Rin

"Okay, I can almost make it out." They then notice a growling behind them.
"PLUTO NOOO!" is all the young master hears. Alette and him rush to the scene to find the photo, gone.
"Good. My lord has outdone himself. That was an elaborate piece of mischief he concocted." He looks down at the developed photo, seeing Selima behind him smiling her pearly white smile with red lips.
Elsewhere, a black cat pranced around the manor, waving her tail mischievously as she pads into the dark room. She hops up on the table and snatches the still drying photo.
"Naughty little kitty, aren't you?" proclaims Sebastian. The cat looks up with glowing green eyes, holding the picture in her mouth.
"I'll show you mine if you show me yours." He whispers. She does not agree, but Selima has no choice but to watch as Sebastian takes the photo to see him standing beside her.
"How flattering." He smirks, kissing the kittens forehead. She purrs and crawls into his lap in response, embarrassed.