I am so sorry that my updates occur like sightings of a just legal system - few and far between - but here is the next chapter so please don't hurt me, read, vote, comment, whatevs, just enjoy!
Chapter Three -- Honestly, I prefer Blue
Pressing my feet down on the pedals, I easily paced Finnian and Bard's cycling, keeping a good distance, but remaining close enough that I could hear their enthusiastic chatter.
As I leaned forward, trying to find a more comfortable position, I felt Ciel tense up from where his small back had been resting against my chest. I looked down for a moment and cocked my head, a small smirk coming to my lips.
The younger boy was still blushing. A soft, but prominent, rosy color still clung to his cheeks. It may have been the cold wind hitting his face, but then again, it was not all that cold out.
While keeping a eye on the road, I readjusted my position on the bike. Looking down at my smaller companion, I studied his features again. He looked rather like a cat, with his haughty 'I-am-superior' look and disinterested eyes. Then I took in how small he looked in my coat.
More like a kitten.
I mentally purred at the thought. If I had a weak-spot, it was most assuredly cats. And this little cat-like boy was certainly quite feline in all of his mannerisms.
Just as I began picturing him with cat ears and a tail, my eyes registered that Finnian and Bard had stopped moving. I quickly halted my motions and allowed the bike to glide to a halt beside them. Hopping off smoothly, I then picked Ciel up and lifted him off the handle bars. His small hands gripped my shoulders again, bringing to mind another image of Night, my beautiful cat, clawing at my clothes. Only, it wasn't Night.
Shaking the frightfully appealing thought from my mind, I placed the boy on the ground and locked the bike. With a snap of my wrist, I flung the keys at Bard, who caught them - if only just.
I looked around the town - or at least, the area we were in. I could see a reddish brick road leading to what I assumed was the town square, and a few smaller paths breaking off into alleyways lined with stores. Many familiar heads were bobbing around - boys from the Academy - alongside tittering girls with bleach blond hair and an insane amount of make up that just screamed 'Fake'. That, and another word I preferred not to use.
My eyes wandered over the various girls, skipping from one short-skirted beauty to the next. While a part of me could appreciate the obvious aestheticism of their figures, I found myself distinctly uninterested as the ones who caught my wandering eyes giggled and waved. My head turned away from them, though, when I felt a tug on my sleeve.
I looked down at Ciel, whose dark blue eyes seemed to be alight with...irritation? A part of me was tempted to laugh, but I remained silent and merely smiled, placing my hand over his black-clad shoulder.
My eyes turned to Bard and Finny, but they no longer stood where I had last seen them. Looking around, I finally spotted the two blond heads hovering around a red-headed girl. Walking up to them, with my arm still around Ciel's shoulders, I took in the features of the red-head.
Large glasses, a blue dress, red hair done up in two buns. Nothing too special. But the first real female I had seen in the town so far. Her dress was not skimpy in any way, but instead came down to her knees, followed by black stockings and equally black combat boots that went over her ankles.
Finnian finally interrupted my staring.
"Sebastian! This is the friend we were talking about!" He grinned happily, waving his hands at the girl as if to present her.
"Hello." I greeted in my velvety voice. I could see her cheeks heat up at that, as she stammered out a reply.
"H-hello!" She squeaked. "I'm Mey-Rin." She bowed quickly in greeting. I nodded in return.
As she stood, I presented Ciel. "This is Ciel. And I am Sebastian. Sebastian Michaelis." Ciel nodded in greeting as well, even though his came off as more stand-offish than mine. Cruel kitten.
Just as I was once again about to indulge in mental pictures of Ciel dressed as a cat, Mey-Rin's bi-spectacled stare caught my attention. Following her gaze, I noticed where her eyes had been focused.
My hand was still on Ciel's shoulder. And the kitten did not seem to remember that it was there...I nearly chuckled, but instead opted for the smallest twitch of my lips I could muster without breaking out into a full blown smirk.
Suddenly Mey-Rin opened her mouth. "A-are you guys...together?" She stammered, after a pause. I simply lay my dark stare on her and raised an eyebrow. She immediately seemed to interpret that in her own way. "Not that I have a problem with it!! Not at all! It's cool, totally cool!" She squealed, waving her palms in front of her, trying to amend her statement.
Finnian turned to me with a confused look in his eyes. "What does she mean 'together'? Of course you're here together, you're roommates, right?"
Oh, the Poor Innocent Air Head.
Baldroy, however, seemed to have immediately picked up on what Mey-Rin meant - clearly being the more worldly of the two - and smacked the shorter blond upside the head.
"She means are they together together, Finny!" The guy snapped in friendly, but mildly concerned, irritation.
Finny just tilted his head. Bard slapped a palm against his. "'K, bud, I'm gonna make this as simple as I can for ya." He spoke slowly, staring Finnian in the eyes in what was clearly now a mere dramatic humor moment between friends.
"Mey-Rin asked if they were together together. As in are they bangi-" I coughed to interrupt him, but Finny seemed to grasp the meaning and turned as red as Mey-Rin had been moments ago.
In what I assumed was a natural turn of events, Finny began to argue with Bard, dragging Mey-Rin in in and attempt to even the one on one battle.
I tuned out of the conversation and looked back down at my 'little master'.
Only to find that said teal-haired brat was not there. Sly, just like a cat...
I once again smothered the urge to purr and instead abandoned the arguing trio to instead search for my errant little Earl. Pulling my gloves on tighter, I fisted my left hand as the scar became aggravated. After a moments pause to allow my hand to acclimate, I once again set off to find my missing Blue eyed master.
Honestly I was beginning to wonder if the sadistic side of me – that every other person has too – was not beginning to gain too much sway in my mind. I was fast becoming a masochist. And clearly a sadist. Why else would I force a little child into branding his skin in some farce of a 'contract'?
I exhaled through my nose as my long legs carried me over the red-bricked streets leading around the town. I had no answer as to why I would allow my own pale skin to be marred, but somehow, somewhere deep inside of me, it just felt like the right thing to do. Even if morally people would call it the wrong thing.
A sudden twinge in my chest halted my footsteps. My left hand came up to pat my jacket over my chest. What on earth was that?
I swept my eyes over the random spread groups of teenagers milling around like sheep, gathered together in herds. A sudden flash of teal-blue caught my eye, disappearing into what appeared to be a confections store. I raised an eyebrow and entered pursuit. As I approached the store, the overwhelming scent of caramel, chocolate, vanilla and sugar hit my nose in an intoxicating scent of what were essentially natural, edible aphrodisiacs.
Shaking off the pleasant scent of the caramel and vanilla, I headed into the store. I hardly registered the noise of Finnian and Bardroy, accompanied by Mey-Rin's high-pitched squealing, as I entered the overly-sweet sweets shop.
Only to meet with more high-pitched squealing. The clamour and noise was overwhelming. Dozens of girls, some clad in pink, others in white, squealed in unison over small, glitter covered, 'cute' confections stationed neatly behind polished glass. There was an excess in pink in the store, which actually made locating my bossy little roommate. Clad in dark clothes and my black jacket, the blue-eyed boy stood out like a black cat in a snow-storm.
His sour expression was ever-present, but there was a sparkle in his eyes that I had not seen before. It might have been the reflection of the light sparkling off the sweet he was currently drooling over, but I would not know.
Slowly, I navigated my way over the short male, but before I could reach him, an over-exaggerated gasp silenced the room.
And then the screaming began. The loudest, most feminine scream I had ever heard in my life, rang through the air. A bundle of pink and blond shot from behind the counter and into Ciel's arm.
His branded arm.
The boy cried out in pain, a strangled noise leaving his throat as his wound was brutally jostled.
"CIEEEEELLLLLLLLLL!!!!!" A blond female, currently squeezing the life out of the child and crying salty tears into my jacket, sobbed.
Ciel did not respond in kind. Instead, he looked largely horrified, terror racing through his eyes and tears of pain escaping from the corners of them. Taking pity on my young master, I resolutely ignored the twisting feeling in my stomach – I was not jealous, no, I was not – as I made my way over to the duo.
"Oh Ciel Ciel Ciel CIEL!!!" The female screamed in joy. "Where were you?? I thought you would never come back? Why did you leave me? Oh Ciel What happened to you? Are you happy to see me? Why didn't you tell mother I was back?" She continued, making even more a scene and drawing even more unnecessary attention from not only the other people inside of the store, but passers-by stopping to witness the spectacle.
I subdued a groan of irritation and – as gently as I could – placed my large hands over the girls small ones, extracting Ciel from her grip. Placing my hands on his shoulders, I pulled him against my front, his head hardly making it past my chest.
The girl looked torn between anger and tears. "C-Ciel? Who's that man?" She whimpered. Her hands – I now observed – were covered in a thin layer of flour...which was now on my jacket. Oh joy. They were clutched together over her chest in a very feminine pose. She wore a bright pink dress which fell down past her knees, frills lining the edge in copious amounts. Underneath she wore a pair of white knee-length socks, topped with small, pink bows, and her feet were clad with pink-red shoes, glittering flowers forming the buttons that clasped the shoes over her small feet. Over her skirt she wore a flour-stained apron of – you guessed it – pastel pink, and her hair was tied into two long pigtails that curled around behind her head. She wore an alice-band, which pinned back the hair that was not in either of the 'tails. One solitary strand fell free and over her face, curling at the end. Her eyes shone with glazing layer of fresh tears.
"Ciel.." She whined again, her fingers wringing together.
I looked down at my dark-clad roommate. He took a moment to compose himself, before opening his mouth.
"Who are you?" He asked. Immediately, the girls face crumbled.
"Oh CIEL! You're so MEAN!! How could you forget ME? I'm Lizzy! Lizzy, the person you promised to love for ever and ever!!" My heart seemed to stutter as the words left her lips, an inferno of hatred blazing upwards towards the childish girl. It was not jealousy. No. It was not.
"I remember no such thing.." Ciel muttered darkly. He seemed equally as affronted as I at the notion of him pledging his love to a child like her. She could hardly have been much younger than either of us, considering that she was apparently working in the confections shop based on her appearance, but her attitude and dress-code screamed of an immaturity that caused a gap of years to form between her mentality and that of Ciel and myself.
"What?" She sobbed. "But yoou said you loved me Cieelllll!!" She began to wail hysterically.
Aware of the eyes now trained on the scene, Ciel narrowed his blue orbs in anger. "I do not remember who you are, you presumptuous little girl!" He snapped. "Do not go acting so familiar with someone who clearly does not want it! Come Sebastian." He hissed the last words at me as he swept towards the door, breaking free from my hands.
As he strode through the parting crowd and opened the door, he added something over his shoulder.
"Even if I did know who you are, I would never have promised to love someone like you. You are a child." He hissed, before making his exit.
I chuckled silently at the heart-broken look on the girl's face, before making my own escape as dozens of angry females turned their eyes on me. The pink-clad girl broke down in sobs on the floor, swiftly comforted by the emotionally empathetic females around her.
I swiftly made my own exit. I was prepared to hasten my pace to catch up with Ciel, but it did not appear to be necessary. To my great surprise, the young teenager was stood, leaning against the wall at the corner of the sweets shop, his expression incredibly sour.
"I just wanted something sweet." He pouted. The expression on his small, round face itself was very sweet.
"I am proficient in baking, I could have made you something."
His blue eyes snapped up to my face in disbelief. I nodded in response to his unasked question of 'are you serious?' "Come, young master." I allowed my lips to twitch up in a grin, "I shall make something sweet for your pleasures." I almost laughed at the expression that flashed across Ciel's face.
"Shut up and walk, pervert." The little teen muttered as he stormed – as well as his short legs could – past me. He looked like a ticked-off cat.
Adorable.
I supressed yet another purr-like noise of delight at the sight of this damaged and yet oddly intoxicating teenager, before following at a sedated pace as we headed towards what looked to be the figures of Bardroy, Mey-Rin and Finnian. They seemed to be talking in as-hushed-as-they-could-get tones, more than likely on the subject of the theatrical scene that had just gone down less than five minutes ago.
Little more than two metres away from them, I was apprehended. A blond girl, with hazel brown eyes, a black-haired girl with green eyes and a brunette with more chocolatey brown eyes crowded around me.
The raven-haired female was blushing darkly, the brunette giggling a bit madly and the blond grinning broadly up at me. I stood almost a head above them, my gaze immediately trying to find Ciel, who had vanished from sight the moment these brightly-clad females had caught me.
I looked over their heads at the trio, who stared right back at me. Mey-Rin looked almost concerned. But not for me.
For the girls standing in front of me.
I wondered, for a moment, why, but then my eyes caught those of little Ciel, fuming silently behind them, his narrowed blue glaring daggers through their very souls.
Not that they noticed.
"Hi." The blond girl spoke up. It hardly drew my attention, but I heard her words either way. "My name is Alicia. They," She pointed at her friends, "Are Mary and Dian." She pointed a manicured finger at the girl with black hair and the brunet respectively. She moved said finger to twirl a lock of blond hair around.
"I was wondering...well, you're new here, right?" She asked. "Probably going to the Phantomhive Academy, yeah? Then you'll definitely need a girlfriend! These weekends can get so boring without someone to share them with, you know?" She asked as she leaned closer to me. I could smell strawberries on her breath and the scent of flower-filled fields drifting off of her in flumes of invisible gas. What kind of perfume was she even using?
Then her words registered. I opened my mouth to response, but before I could the blond uttered an undignified yelp as Ciel rudely shoved his way past her, positioning himself in front of me, facing them.
His glower finally met them, and they seemed to wither ever so slightly underneath the power of his apparent anger. Why on earth was he angry?
"He will not be needing any company, especially not from half-witted mongrels such as yourself." He spoke calmly, his voice hardly belying the anger that his face was portraying clear as day.
"Aw aren't you cute!" The blond squealed. "Now, now, kid," she tutted as if talking to a three-year-old, "Why don't you run along and let the grown-ups talk, yeah?" She then looked up at me, her eyes almost asking for support on the matter. I raised an eyebrow, looking down at Ciel through my dark hair that fell over my face in what I knew to be a very attractive look.
So I may have been narcissistic. But I was not going to pretend that I was not aware of how handsome I was.
"I am no child, you hag." Ciel hissed, somehow managing to stare down his nose at her even though he was clearly shorter. "And Sebastian will not be needing a girlfriend. He owes his attentions to me."
I tried to ignore the way my heart seemed to flutter in my chest at his word choice. I was not sure if he understood what was to be interpreted by the word 'attentions', but the blond girl seemed to catch it.
Glaring tightly at the small teal-haired boy in front of me, she once again looked at me, expecting me to step in to her rescue. "Why on earth would he want a skinny little brat like you?" She snapped angrily at Ciel when she realised that I was not going to say a word in her favour.
Placing my hands on Ciel's shoulders, I leaned slightly over him, close enough to the blond that she – as well as the boy I was leaning over – would hear my whispered words that bled past my devilish smirk – it was not until later that I was informed of exactly how much like a 'demon from hell' I looked.
"Because I prefer blue."
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"Come, my little roommate, we still have to find you some new clothes so that I can have my jacket back." 'And give it a good wash', I added in my head. I once more spoke in a more normal tone of voice, gently leading a furiously blushing Ciel away from a simply furious blond girl.
It was almost cliché, the entire scene – being asked out in a the most cliché and forward manner I have ever witnessed, rebutting her affections with an equally cheesy line, and then leaving her to stew with her friends as I led away the 'object of my affections'. It would have been a more accurate description if Ciel were indeed the object of my affections.
Ciel merely nodded catatonically in response to my words, his face frozen in shock, his body simply following my directions and his mind completely absent from the present.
It was adorable, honestly, but now was no longer – or at all – the time for marvelling at the cute enigma that was my feline-alike little roommate. For now we needed to purchase more fitting clothes for him.
Mey-Rin, Finnian and Bardroy shook themselves before moving to catch up, their conversation bubbling up again, this time on the subject of the 'interesting-new-drama-bringing-weird-people' that were Ciel and I.
x'