That Butler: Caring?

Chapter 9.

Ciel paced up and down in his study, desperately trying to think of a solution to this seemingly unsolvable problem.

He cannot lie. I know that much already. Nor did he seem like he was merely playing, and if he was then that was one hell of a show he put on. But why would he say such things without meaning them? And how can I solve this without causing anymore problems?

The Earl was already confused beyond belief, and this just made his task all the harder.

As the day wore on Ciel didn't leave his study. He found himself half asleep on the desk occasionally dreaming or having thoughts he never would have imagined having before that afternoon.
He began thinking of how nice it would be to have someone to hold him after his nightmares, to comfort him. To tend to him not because of a contract but out of love and a genuine desire to help. To send him to sleep with that look of affection in their eyes, to kiss him goodnight...

That was where he cut his thoughts off. Such desires were abhorrent... Weren't they?

*****

Ciel sat on the edge of his bed in his nightshirt, waiting for Sebastian to finish buttoning it up. His eye patch already lay on the bedside cabinet, and as his butler removed the rings from his hands the Earl looked directly at him.

"Sebastian."

His tone was firm, yet still quiet. The demon lifted his head to look at his master.

"Yes, My Lord?"

"I can guess at what you were going to say earlier before you stopped talking. I know you did not lie to me... You couldn't have done."

Sebastian remained silent and merely listened from where he was on one knee.

"Yet, even knowing this, I cannot bring myself to believe it is true. And so... I want you to prove it to me."

Sebastian's brow furrowed into a confused frown.

"My Lord?"

"Sebastian... If you truly love me, then..."

Ciel's voice dropped to a whisper and his face flushed pink in shame at his words.

"... I want you to kiss me."

At that Sebastian's jaw dropped. His eyes widened and he sat there, stunned.

"M-Master... Surely you... You cannot be serious..."

At first the demon took it as a joke intended to play with his feelings. After all, his master knew how he felt and would be the type of person to use it for a little amusement. But the more he stared into the boy's beautiful bicoloured eyes, the more he knew it wasn't true. He genuinely wanted to know, and that was the proof he needed.

After a long pause the butler bowed his head.

"Very well, My Lord... If this is what you wish me to do..."

Slowly, ever so slowly Sebastian leaned forwards. He was at Ciel's height already, so there was no need for him to move. His movements were so slow and deliberate it was almost a
agonising. Closing his crimson eyes Sebastian pressed his lips softly to Ciel's, kissing him gently and with a level of affection the boy never thought possible.

The Earl sat there while his butler kissed him, wide eyed with surprise.

Even though I believed his words... I never thought he would actually do it.

His face flushed bright red, and time seemed to stand still for him. Though he knew what he was feeling was wrong, he could not help himself... Barely thinking about what he was doing, Ciel closed his own eyes and began to kiss his butler back.

Inhaling sharply Sebastian almost pulled away, shocked that his master had actually returned the kiss.

"M-Master?"

He murmured, wide eyed. Ciel's blush deepened and he pushed himself further onto the bed, away from his butler.

"Sebastian... J-just stay here until I fall asleep."

He muttered, hideously embarrassed but too flustered to say anything else. The Earl slid under the covers and turned his back, while the demon regained his casual, playful smirk.

"Yes, My Lord."

Around fifeen minutes passed with Sebastian standing watch, until the boy turned his head slightly. He still wasn't looking directly at his butler.

"You can sit down if you like."

He mumbled shyly, pushing his foot towards the edge of the bed by ways of an indication. Taking the hint Sebastian sat on the edge of the bed, resisting the urge to make a rather sarcastic comment about his master's sudden change in attitude.

For whatever reason, the feeling of having another person's weight on the mattress seemed to calm Ciel. Within less than ten minutes he was fast asleep, curled up beneath the covers.

"Sleep well, My Young Lord."

The demon murmured, standing slowly and leaving the room. As he walked down the corridors he exhaled deeply and, for the first time, a genuine smile spread across his face. He had won his master over.

*****

"Sebastian! Se-Sebastian!"

The Earl's voice echoed through the empty room, and his butler came running from the other side of the manor. He was having another nightmare.
Knowing his master wasn't yet awake Sebastian didn't even bother knocking, he simply walked in and pushed the door shut behind him. But nothing could have prepared him for the state he found his master in.

Ciel was crying and whimpering as if in pain, latched onto one of the pillows as if it were the only thing he had in the whole world. His nose was runny and his face streaked with tears, the sheets beneath his head damp from where he had been sobbing.

"Master? Young Master, wake up."

Without thinking Sebastian sat on the edge of the bed, but as he laid a hand on the boy's shoulder he almost jumped out of his skin. Ciel scrambled over and clung to his butler's shirt for dear life, burying his face in his jacket as he cried. Although the demon knew he was still asleep, he did what he could to comfort the Earl until he woke. Wrapping one arm around the boy's shoulders Sebastian drew the blankets up around him to keep out the cold.

"My Lord... It is only a dream, My Lord... Wake up. Wake up."

He shook his master's shoulder gently as he murmured words of comfort into his ear, though it seemed that nothing would rouse the boy from his fitful slumber. Eventually admitting defeat Sebastian prepared to sit and wait until such a time that his master woke up on his own, though he could not bear to listen to his choked sobs and the way he would call his name, the boy's voice muffled by his butler's shirt.