Paint Me Like One Of Your French Men

Painting Twenty-Six

Each room was grander than the next. This lavish home was nothing like their meager apartment. Was it truly necessary to stay here? It felt...strange...as if they didn't fully belong. Which, in all reality, they didn't belong, did they? They'd only been here for one day. Vincent was the one that knew right from left. These two had just followed blindly behind him, like always, without questioning a thing. 

"What are we supposed to do now?" Victor asked. Adrian squeezed Victor's hand. He didn't know the answer to that. 

They continued their exploration. There wasn't much difference between the rooms, now that they go a closer look. They were very marvelous, yes, but just in different colors. This distracted Adrian and Victor into thinking something special had changed. The final room was locked, however. Lau said this floor was built with Vincent in mind. What could possibly be in that last room? Curiosity killed the cat. 

The two men felt a hand on their shoulders. Lau's head peeked out between the two of theirs. "You'll have to ask for permission to see that one. It's special. Vincent had his secret hobbies, ones he doesn't like to share. He used to be quite the villain." Lau walked off without another word. He started walking but bolted into a run. The sound of angry footsteps and his husband yelling followed him. What a strange couple. But, Adrian couldn't really say anything about that. His relationship with Vincent was equally as strange. 

Victor stared at Adrian, or rather, he stared past Adrian. Something grabbed his attention and he didn't know whether he should run and glomp it or stand still and ignore it. "You see this too right?" he pointed. There was a tiny Vincent standing at the very end of the hallway. It stared up at a painting on the wall, one of a woman Adrian hadn't recognized upon first glance. 

Adrian walked towards the boy. The tiny Vincent hadn't noticed them yet. He was too enthralled with the painting. "Who are you?" Victor asked. He knelt down to make eye contact with the child. The kid jumped out of his skin. 

"When did you get here?" he asked. 

"Step away from the child," a red-haired woman cocked a gun and pointed it at Victor. She was dressed as a maid. Another woman stood at her side, wearing a very revealing outfit that put a bit of emphasis on her breasts. 

Victor, regretting all of his life choices, stood up and took a few steps back. "W-who are you?" 

"Who we are isn't important," she shot a glare. "Who are you? What are you doing up here? This is only for authorized personnel. Where is your chip?"

Adrian took a deep breath. He didn't want to make any unnecessary movements or she might mistake him for having a gun and shoot. Victor did the best he could to explain. "We're allowed to be here. We're...uh...guests?"

"That's not a good enough explanation."

"What am I supposed to say?" Victor looked at Adrian for help. "Vincent didn't say there would be other people up here!"

"Vincent?" the second woman tilted her head. 

"If you knew Lord Phantomhive you should've started with that," the red-head lowered her gun. "I apologize. I thought you were intruders but you are actually guests. We must get you your chips right away to avoid further problems." She bowed slightly and introduced herself, "My name is Mey-Rin this is Ran Mao."

"Those names seem familiar..." Victor tried to think but his brain was too rattled to ponder anything. 

'You're the ones that are supposed to train us,' Adrian wrote. He held up his notebook, hoping this would signal that he was indeed mute. Ran Mao leaned forward to look at the book more closely. She snatched it from his hands and began to flip through it. Mey-Rin hit her on the head and grabbed it before handing it back. 

"I'm sorry," she apologized on Ran Mao's behalf. "She is a bit unique. Tell us more about what you mean."

'Vincent wants Victor tutored. He wants us both trained in self-defense.'

"We should get on that right away, shouldn't we? Ran Mao? Ran Mao!" Mey-Rin said. She looked to her right and saw Ran Mao trying to molest the tiny Vincent. It was quite the scene, really, she had his face right up in her chest. 

"Get off of me!" the tiny Vincent struggled. Ran Mao refused. She continued looking at the edge of the hallway. Vincent stood. Mey-Rin gasped. Victor was still undoubtedly confused. Adrian glared, a bit mad that he left them there for so long. 

"Lord Phantomhive!" Mey-Rin bowed. 

"Still calling me that? Mey-Rin, I'm not the lord of anything. But, I guess old habits die hard," Vincent scratched the back of his neck and walked over. "Is this Ciel?" he asked. The small human turned to face him. Vincent smiled. Ciel gave him a fierce look. 

"You must be the sperm bank," he began. "I've heard about you from my parents."

"Is that so? Nothing but good things, I hope," Vincent snickered. "One day I'll explain it all to you. But, today is not that day. I've heard about your circumstances. You'll be staying with me from now on. Which means you'll be staying at The Manor."

"I don't want to stay here," Ciel frowned. 

"Unfortunately for you, you don't have a choice," Vincent's face returned to its usual expression, devoid of emotion but still with a smile. "I'm your new dad now, that's your new brother, and this," Vincent paused. His eyes lingered on Adrian a bit longer than what was considered comfortable. "Well, he is just a bundle of surprises." 

"I'm a brother?" Victor wasn't sure how to feel about that. Did that mean Vincent was his dad now? Being a son was way too much of an upgrade from being a pet. This was all happening a bit too quickly. What was next? Adrian and Vincent got married? 

"You aren't going to get married without telling me a month in advance first, right?" Victor whispered to Adrian. 

'Are you high?'

"Just thought I'd ask..."