Chapter Text
Ciel Phantomhive found himself in particularly foul mood this evening. In an attempt to distract himself, the earl had shut himself in his study, throwing himself into his Funtom work. His concentration was forced, his mind—distracted. As he poured over stacks of tedious documents, a soft knock broke him from his restless thoughts.
He gritted his teeth and pretended as though he hadn't heard the door in a foolish attempt if he did not answer the summons, perhaps he'd be left to himself. To Ciel's dismay, the rap on the door did not cease, but now grew louder. Ciel slapped his hands on his desk and exhaled.
"Oh, alright, come in."
In walked Sebastian, wheeling a trolley cart with tea service. He glided across the room, the back of his tailcoat gently lifting in the air. Even when performing a menial task such as this, the butler looked impeccable as ever. It infuriated Ciel to no end.
Ciel flashed Sebastian an irate glance. "What do you want, Sebastian? Can't you see I'm busy?"
"Precisely. Since you've been hard at work all day, young master, I've taken the liberty of preparing you an evening snack." A dim smile graced Sebastian's lips.
Ciel lowered his eyes to his butler's slender, gloved fingers which held onto a Swiss Meringue, decadent with whipped cream and a dozen maraschino cherries neatly placed along the edges.
Sebastian set the delectable dessert before the earl, but Ciel did not even make a move to take it.
The butler raised a brow. "Is something the matter, sir? It is unlike you to refuse dessert."
"It's nothing," Ciel said quietly. "I'm just not particularly hungry." Without even glancing at Sebastian—or the dessert—he put down the paper.
A barely audible sigh escaped his lips, but Sebastian, of course, caught it. The butler scrutinized his master with a curious stare.
Ciel reciprocated with a frosty one. Like the earl would ever tell his butler what was really on his mind. Besides, if he did, he had no doubt the demon butler would ridicule him.
Sebastian lifted a brow in mounting skepticism. "Are you certain—"
"Of course I am! Besides, it not as if you could help me with this dilemma."
"Master, you realize I cannot help you if you do not speak to me of what is troubling you." He paused upon noticing the earl's quiet unease. Then his voice dropped an octave. "If there is anything the young master needs..." A lilt colored his tone now, "I am all but ready to assist him in any manner he desires me to."
With cheeks aflame, Ciel jerked away, averting his butler's amused eyes of crimson.
"If—if I told you. I'm certain, you'd only laugh at me as some sport."
"I will not," said Sebastian at once.
Ciel eyed him through narrowed slits. "Oh really?"
Sebastian smirked. "You know well enough that I cannot lie, young master."
"Fine," muttered Ciel, pressing his hands together. He could hardly look Sebastian in the face. "It's er, about... Lizzie."
"Miss Elizabeth?" repeated the butler, mildly surprised.
Ciel gave an unsteady nod and unlaced his fingers from underneath his chin. A flush crept over the boy's pale face, tinging those round cheeks a deep, rich pink.
Sebastian's lips curled. "May I inquire what exactly is the young master's problem concerning the lady?"
Ciel fiddled with his hands, embarrassed and unsure of how to phrase it. He cleared his throat. "Lizzie and I have gotten into a squabble recently, our first argument... trivial really. But I suppose these things would happen now that we are older and more frank with each other,” the boy rambled. “Lizzie has complained about my indifference towards her affections, and how I lack a romantic bone in my body. She is so worked up over this silly little matter she even had the brazenness to question me if... if young ladies weren't my cup of tea."
"Well, are they your cup of tea?"
With force, Ciel stood up erect, his hands thudding on the mahogany desk. "Watch your insolence. Is that any way to address your master?"
"Please pardon my question, sir." Sebastian bowed, concealing a smirk. "That is quite the predicament the young master has found himself in."
Ciel glared, picking up on his butler's usual sarcasm masked in a veil of concern. "In any case, I've been thinking of ways I could remedy that in order to pacify her and set things right… however, given my lack of knowledge in these things, I fear I am at a loss on how to proceed." Ciel's voice trailed off. He tightly curled his hands, for he knew what he was about to request would amuse the damn butler to no lengths.
"I..." he began, "I... need lessons in baser manners, Sebastian. I need to learn...the moves."
Ciel shut his eyes. There, I said it. He slowly opened his eyes and what he saw infuriated him.
Sebastian's lips quirked the moment the words slipped his lips; some unspeakable gleam stole across those vermilion eyes.
Ciel swore. "You blasted dem—"
"The moves, my lord?" interjected Sebastian. He traced a finger along his curved mouth, a movement Ciel found rather distracting. "If the young master wishes a lesson in baser manner, he only need but to ask. Heavens know, you could learn a thing or more."
"You teaching me in these sorts of things?"
Sebastian's lips twitched. "Well, I'm not one to brag, my lord."
The butler flitted past Ciel without a second glance. Ciel arched an brow as Sebastian picked up the cherry Meringue?
"I had prepared this for tonight," Sebastian murmured, plucking two cherries by their stems and raising them into the air. He glanced at the two pockmarks in the cream, sighing. "A pity that some of the décor is missing now."
Ciel tore his gaze from the dessert and narrowed his eyes at Sebastian. "What the deuce are you—"
Sebastian dropped the liquor soaked cherries into his mouth.
Ciel blinked.
Sebastian began masticating the fruit. His mouth moved in slow, deliberate movements, a serpentine smile breaking out across those sinful lips. Vermilion eyes bore into cerulean, smoldering. The butler lowered his lids, letting his thick, dark lashes fan out. His eyes glowed with humor.
Though he couldn't see it, Ciel knew well enough that Sebastian's skilled tongue was at work, swirling around the fruit and devouring the cherries with avarice. Ciel watched on transfixed, eyes latched on his butler's. A sheen of sweat formed along his cupid's bow; his face grew flushed. Those mismatched eyes did not leave Sebastian's lips until the butler pursed them open.
Sebastian slowly inserted a long, slender finger into his mouth and retrieved two cherry stems, tied together, from the tip of his tongue.
Ciel's breath caught. A double knotted stem lay in Sebastian's outstretched hand.
Sebastian bent down over the mahogany desk until he was eye to eye with the boy. "A small display in baser manners, young master," he whispered. He purposely exhaled as he spoke, letting his moist breath ghost across Ciel's face, the scent of cherry sweet on his tongue.
Ciel's chest rose sharply; his muscles coiled, ripe with tension. It took all his restraint to keep a straight face, to keep his pride intact from Sebastian.
Sebastian looked down at Ciel, eyes glistening with mirth. "Have I passed the test to start teaching the young master his lessons in baser appetite?"
Ciel took a deep breath, trying to regain mastery of his voice and his controlled demeanor once more. He gave a reluctant nod.
"Very good, young master," said Sebastian, the depths in his eyes glimmering fuchsia. "In that case, let the lessons begin."