Won't You Stay This Time?

Beacon Butler (Part 2)

~~Ciel's POV~~

The party around us swarmed with life as many lords and ladies, all dressed in a costume of some sort, spoke amongst themselves as they danced, stood, or enjoyed refreshments. The orchestra was sectioned off and I stood in a corner, a proud blushing mess due to the girl on my arm.

I was dressed as a pirate while Claire was dressed as a siren from the legends. She wore a flowing light blue and sea foam green dress that consisted of a lot of sheer, solid fabric being used more around the areas that needed to be covered, and there was something made into the sheer that made it sparkle as if it had been dipped in glitter. Her hair was curled and had a sparkle here and there and there was even a faint shine about her skin. Even pregnant she looked stunning and I couldn't help the blood that rushed to my cheeks and the pride that flowed through my veins knowing she was mine and I was the one responsible for the large bump on her torso that everyone couldn't help but notice. The details of how I fell for her, how we came to be, what happened after that, and other things was still hazy, but I knew that I loved her and that was enough for the moment. I might not have been able to remember everything, but I still knew some things about Claire subconsciously it seemed. I didn't let it show, but I had noticed the subtle changes in her behavior since we arrived, or rather since Alois Trancy was mentioned. It was as if she was afraid and waiting for something terrible, so I didn't push the subject to keep her from stressing over explaining it. But I wasn't going to put her in a situation where she would feel completely unsafe either, like a person ignorant to the situation would.

Quintin was standing on the other side of me, dressed as an English explorer that ventured to other lands to discover new things, when Elizabeth came running up to us.

"Quintin!", she called. She was dressed as a Native American and held a feather in her hand just like the one on her headdress. "You wear one of these, too, okay?" Quintin smiled as I took a drink from my cup.

"Anything for you", he replied. Elizabeth didn't hesitate to pin the feather to his cap and stepped back to observe her work. She squealed with glee as she jumped up and down a few times.

"Now we match!", she declared. Quintin smiled and I could see by the loving look in his eye that he was looking forward to tomorrow afternoon. Looking just a little ways behind Elizabeth, I could see Paula, dressed as what I assumed was an Egyptian servant. She inclined her head politely, holding the bells in her hands that looked very familiar.

"Jingle, jingle!", she said as she shook them.

"You're not wearing a costume, Highness?", Elizabeth asked Soma. I followed her gaze with Quintin and Claire and saw him dressed in a coat and hat with a pipe. His wife beside him, Hana as I recall, was dressed as an Indian dancer.

"Of course, I am. Sherlock Holmes, at your service", he smiled.

"Young master!", three voices called to me, causing Claire and I to both turn to see what the three servants wanted. Their costumes were definitely interesting.

"We're the three creatures from The Journey to the West!", Bard exclaimed.

"I'm the magic monkey!", Finny declared. He wore a golden head piece and his costume was mainly red with some gold and blue here and there.

"Do you like it? Pretty neat, eh?", Mey-Rin asked.

"We even made a costume for you!", Bard said. Mey-Rin held up a tan outfit with brown beads, Bard held up a golden colored headdress, and Finny held up a bald cap. "Ta-da!" The bald cap immediately made me dismiss the idea entirely.

"It's not happening", I said quickly. I looked away from them as they made what I knew was their rejected faces, all looking disappointed by my answer and I didn't want to see it.