G/T Adventures

Surprise Guest (Black Butler)

A special request for addyappleday who wanted Ciel to save/find a Borrower!

Ciel paced back and forth across his study floor, one hand resting under his chin as he continuously looked at an unopened letter from the Queen on his desk. Sebastian was supposed to be bringing his tea and he would much rather wait for the demon to be in the room before opening it. 

That wasn't the only reason he was feeling stressed. For the past few weeks, rats from London had been making their way out to the country and invading his mansion. Sebastian and the other servants have been trying to keep them out, but they just keep arriving. 

Ciel groaned softly and ran a hand down his face. It was then a soft rustling caught his attention, just off to the left in the walls. "Speaking of the damned vermin," he hissed under his breath. Then there was a sound. A screech. No, more like a scream. It wasn't anything that sounded like any rat or mouse. It was almost human. He could have brushed it off as one of his servants, but it was so close and so faint at the same time.

Stepping up to the wall, he placed his hand against the wood, listening. More scurrying. He followed the sound, silently moving. It grew closer to the wall, to the point he could almost feel the movement under his fingers. "What the hell?" He whispered to himself, brows knitting in confusion.

"Gah!" He exclaimed as something ran from under his bookshelf, followed by a large rat. The filthy thing was chasing some other mouse. Wait. Ciel's brows knitted further as his eye(s) focused. Impossible. That was...no...surely his eyes were fooling him.

Moving faster than he probably ever has in his life, Ciel lunged forward, snatching up the running thing in his hands which also startled the rat and it dashed back under the shelf. 

The thing squirmed in his closed hands, fighting him. He could hear panicked sounds, fear-filled whimpers. Slowly prying his hands open, he found that his eye(s) were not playing tricks on him. A tiny female, perhaps his age, sat in his palms. Her hair was matted, dirty. Near invisible beads of sweat were dripping down her face. Her little chest rose and fell with each sharp breath. 

"What are you?" Ciel muttered, blinking a few times as he tried to convince himself this was really happening. He was holding a tiny humanoid figure in his hand. A living, breathing, figure.

Marigold sobbed softly, her heart racing against her ribcage as she stared up at the young Earl. Sure, he'd just rescued her from that hungry animal, but in the hands of a human, she didn't feel any safer. When he spoke, she could hardly hear his voice over the sound of the drumming in her chest. "I-I don't quite kn-know. Y-You humans call us 'B-Borrowers'."

"Borrower," Ciel repeated, raising his free hand to rub his temple, closing his eye(s) with a sigh. "How is this even possible? You don't exist."

Biting the inside of her cheek, Marigold hesitated to speak again. "W-Well, th-then, what else are you talking to?"

Ciel's lips twitched, and for a moment, he actually looked amused at her response before his face faded back into his usual neutral expression. "Very well, then answer me this. Who are you, and why are you in my home?"

Unsure how he would feel about her answer, she didn't know if she wanted to answer his question but also knew that not answering would only make her situation worse. "M-My name is Marigold. I-I took shelter here around a month ago before the rats moved in. I-I hope...you aren't angry with me, m-my lord." At an attempt to regain any composure, she bowed her head as polite as she could.

The young Earl couldn't deny it. He was impressed with her manner of speaking and her manners in general. "Well, Marigold, I am not angry. If anything, I would have preferred you to tell me you were here. We could have prevented that danger you were just in."

An embarrassed blush spread across the Borrower's cheeks and she looked away. "O-Oh. Um, thank you.  For saving me, I mean."

Ciel hadn't really thought about that until now. He actually did save her life, if that rat was going to kill her which it looked like it was. "Ah, you're...you are very welcome," he stated nonchalantly, forcing his lips from curling into a smile.

Once again taking in her matted and dirty appearance, he sighed. "I'm going to have my butler set up a bedroom for you, as well as clean clothing and toiletries so you can bathe. You will be treated as a guest, for now, considering the situation. Will that be alright?"

Marigold was certainly surprised, but an overwhelming sense of gratitude washed through her. "Y-Yes! I-I mean, of course, my lord. That would be wonderful." Slowly standing in his hand, she gave a clumsy but polite curtsy.

This time, Ciel couldn't fight the amused smirk that perched itself on his lips. Lifting his head, he stood straight and looked to the wooden door. "Sebastian. Come here at once."

While Marigold was confused, thinking that the butler would not hear his quiet command, she was surprised when the tall raven-haired man stepped into the room not even five seconds after. His ruby red eyes gazed at Ciel, then landed on her. He raised one of his thin black brows. 

"What is it, my lord?"

"I want you to set up living quarters for this girl, Marigold. A bath, and clean clothing as well. She is to be treated as a guest until further notice. Do you understand?" Ciel spoke firmly, gazing at the butler with his single visible blue orb.

Sebastian placed a hand over his heart and bowed at the waist. "Yes, my young lord."

Ciel delicately handed the Borrower over into the gloved hands, which thankfully handled her with the same gentleness he had tried to handle her with. He gave Marigold a reassuring gaze as she looked up at him with worried, hazel eyes.

He watched Sebastian leave the room, then took a seat at his desk, his eyes wandering back to the letter from the Queen that he was so worried about opening. Perhaps her majesty could wait...only for a few hours.