literature

Friggatriskaidekaphobia Part 3

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Five minutes into violin lessons, and already, things were going downhill.

"No, young master," Sebastian pressed a hand to his forehead, "I said A minor. The note you played was...frankly, unrecognizable."

"Well, perhaps I would not have such a hard time with this if you weren't such an incompetent teacher!" Ciel shouted, and anger was painted clearly across his face. He looked ready to smash the dainty instrument to a million pieces and rip the music sheets to shreds, and he might would have, if Sebastian wasn't in the room. But as it was, he knew that the demon wouldn't let him destroy 'such a fine piece of orchestration.'

"I assure you, this is no fault of my own. I have studied all types of violins and the pieces played by each design. I'm afraid that the only thing I am guilty of is not pushing you to work harder. Your lesson times have been decreasing at an alarming rate, as of late. You'll never learn if all you do to compensate is cut lessons short."

"Why must I learn how to do this, anyway? It is yet another skill that I fail to see the value of."

"That is not my fault either, young master. Simply because you do not see the importance of something does not mean that it isn't important."

The two shared a hard stare for several moments until, surprisingly, Ciel was the one to look away. Another beat of silence passed before Sebastian exhaled in exhaustion, striding over to Ciel's side and standing behind the boy. Sebastian moved forward and pressed his chest against Ciel's back; he could feel the boy's muscles tense immediately in response.

"Sebastian? What are you doing?" Ciel asked, and he was proud that his tone didn't waver.

"Since visual teachings do not seem to be making progress, physical lessons may be of more assistance," Sebastian explained, and as he said this, he coiled his long arms around Ciel's body, resting his large hands atop the earl's smaller ones. Ciel flinched at the contact, but didn't try to pull away. "Now, all you need to do to create the correct tune is pull your right arm back slowly..."

Sebastian's arm moved along with Ciel's, creating a long note that came out a bit closer to the tune that was intended.

"Better. Pardon me, let me just adjust your posture a bit..." Sebastian gripped the neck of the violin, turning it a bit in Ciel's hand until it was at a perfect ninety-degree angle with Ciel's chin and the cushioned rest was comfortably situated. Sebastian shifted a bit behind the boy, and with the earl's back pressed so closely against Sebastian's chest, Ciel's body swayed right along with the movement.

Once Sebastian was satisfied with the changes, he threaded his fingers through Ciel's, one around the bow, one around the strings. The butler's hands felt warm against Ciel's suddenly cold ones, and the boy had to fight back a blush as he felt the demon's entire being completely surround his body.

"Perfect," the word ghosted across Ciel's neck, and the boy shivered; the room suddenly felt warmer than it had before. Ciel wondered briefly if Sebastian did these kinds of things on purpose, or if the demon truly had no intention of affecting the boy the way he did. "Now, if you'll just place the bow in this angled position-" Sebastian twisted Ciel's hand that was still entwined with his own to match his description, and loosened his grip when it was correct, "-and pull back carefully, then you should achieve the appropriate note."

Again, Sebastian tugged on the boy's arm gently, urging the boy to follow his movements. Ciel did so without complaint, and Sebastian would have found it odd if said boy wasn't pressed up so closely against him.

A beautiful sound came from the violin, and Sebastian smiled as Ciel's eyes brightened. It was obvious that Ciel was proud of himself, even though Sebastian had pretty much done the entire thing by himself; it reminded the demon of something a child would do, being so prideful of something that was only accomplished with the help of a grownup. It was quite cute, really.

"Good job, my lord. It seems that you have mastered A minor," Sebastian complimented, and as he said this, he moved away from Ciel's body, taking with him the warmth that his body had provided. It was almost as if a switch had been flipped, and suddenly Ciel's eyes had darkened back to their original cynical blue.

"I don't need your approval. I'm never going to use this skill, anyway," Ciel scoffed, and just as Sebastian was about to retort, Ciel hissed in pain, dropping his violin and bow onto the floor.

Sebastian was by his side in an instant, his eyes wide with unprecedented shock and worry. "Are you alright, my lord?"

Ciel was clutching his left hand in pain, his eyes clenched shut and his teeth gritted together. A slow trickle of blood began streaming from his ring finger, and the crimson liquid began dripping onto the floor, creating a small puddle. Sebastian gripped Ciel's hand carefully, bringing it up to where he could observe it more closely and felt an odd sense of relief wash over him when he saw that it was only a splinter.

"No need to worry, my lord; this is a simple fix."

~From outside the room, with Mey-Rin~

I've got to find Mr. Sebastian! If I don't notify him immediately of the broken dishes, I will certainly be punished, yes!

Mey-Rin had been hurriedly stumbling through hallway after hallway in search of a certain black-haired butler, but had only succeeded in getting herself more upset as her search was prolonged. Where could he be?!

"Honestly, young master, it couldn't hurt that badly," came a voice from inside the study as she passed, and Mey-Rin paused instantly, relief washing over her. It was Sebastian's voice! She scuttled over to the door, ready to knock when she suddenly heard her young master speak.

"Well, you're not on the receiving end! You never have to go through this!" Ciel's voice was heard, and Mey-Rin felt her face heat up; what exactly was going on in there? She could hear Sebastian chuckle.

"True, but I still don't think that it could possibly be as bad as you're acting," Sebastian teased. The maid felt some-what bad about eavesdropping, but her curiosity was too strong for her to deny. Her heart almost skipped a beat when Ciel let out a questionable moan.

"Ah! Just-just take it out!" ...What?

"I apologize, but I cannot just yet. I have to move it slowly at first so it does not harm you further. Some form of lubrication might make things more comfortable for you..."

Mey-Rin could feel a nosebleed coming on...

"No, I don't need any preparation, just do what you have to!"

"Yes, my lord. I will try to make this as painless as possible..."

Mey-Rin almost fainted when she heard Ciel release a cry of pain, and then light breathing coming from said boy.

"Is that better, my lord?"

"Ha-hardly. It hurts to even move..."

"Understandable. I'll do my best to make up for it..."

"You'll have to clean all of this up, first. I bled everywhere..."

Mey-Rin promptly passed out, and she was found by a confused Sebastian and Ciel when they emerged a few minutes later.

(-)

Thankfully, the rest of the day had gone by without a hitch, aside from Bard's pyromania, Mey-Rin's near-blindness, and Finny's utter destruction of the entire backyard, partly attributed to Pluto; but that was the norm, so it goes without saying. The only thing that seemed a bit off-kilter was Ciel's mediocre pace of signing and reviewing his documents. Usually, the boy managed to surmount an impressive pile of papers that his business demanded, but today, he seemed abnormally slow about it.

The first time that Sebastian had been able to observe this unsettling behavior – namely, tea time – he had considered the possibility that the young master was feeling ill.

"Are you feeling well, my lord?"

Ciel glanced up at the butler queerly, "I'm fine."

Sebastian seemed unimpressed. He knelt down beside his liege, placing the back of his hand against the boy's cheek, and Ciel froze almost instantly.

"Are you sure, young master? You do seem to be a bit warm..."

Ciel reared back suddenly, pointedly looking away from the demon as Sebastian withdrew his hand. The butler distinctly noticed a dusting of pink spreading across the young lord's cheeks.

"I said that I am fine," Ciel's voice seemed a bit uneasy; he cleared his throat before continuing, "If you're just going to stand there and bother me, then leave. I do not need interruption."

And after Sebastian had argued weakly against his dismissal, eventually Ciel got tired of the banter and instead decided to order him out. Sebastian, of course, was helpless to retort, so he finally relented and left the boy alone until it was dinner time.

"Tonight, I have prepared Murugi Curry with soft chicken boiled with spices and onions seasoned with coriander and yogurt. For beverage, I have chosen Herbal Tea of Rosehips," Sebastian placed the saucer next to the boy who was currently seated at the dining table. Ciel seemed to tense when Sebastian leaned over him, and the boy could practically feel the heat radiating from the demon; it was strangely comfortable and a tad unsettling at the same time. The young earl's shoulders relaxed when the older male moved away, and Ciel instead focused in on the food before him. It looked positively scrumptious, as normal and expected, but Ciel would just as soon die before he'd ever compliment Sebastian. The demon's ego got more than enough petting from the three stooges than was needed, as it was.

Ciel lifted a fork and stabbed the pronged tip into the edge of the breaded chicken, with his other hand bringing the knife to rest upon it at a respectable distance away from the fork to ensure a proportional bite. The process continued until every morsel of curry was eaten, it's assailant calmly sipping on his tea with a satisfied expression. Sebastian didn't miss this, or the opportunity to tease the boy about it.

"Was it to your liking, my lord?" Sebastian questioned mock-innocently, bowing in respect as Ciel eyed him.

"It was okay," Ciel deadpanned, "but it was too hot. Don't add so many spices. It ruins the taste."(2)

Sebastian felt his eyebrow twitch, but he refused to let himself get too irritated. After all, he knew the boy was only fronting; he'd been around Ciel for too long to not pick up on when the boy was truly displeased or just trying to sound high and mighty.

"I apologize, my lord. I will see to it that the issue is corrected when I make the next batch," Sebastian offered, and with that, he gathered the used dishes into his arms and balanced them professionally along each arm, hand, and fingertip all the way to the kitchen. He placed them in the sink and began washing them carefully, feeling oddly at-ease.

During the increasingly-more-rare moments of peace that the demon could call his own, he found himself absorbed in his thoughts. Usually they consisted of little more than what the next day's chores would be or how to remedy the disasters already accumulated, but tonight, a certain blue-haired earl was at the forefront of his mind and all other pointless considerations took a back seat. It wasn't exactly an abnormal occurrence, since Ciel was most often muddled somewhere amongst the demon's chaotic thoughts, but it wasn't notably frequent that the boy was in the spotlight.

His pondering began with Ciel's strange behavior as of late, ranging from being increasingly more hesitant to accept Sebastian's touch to flat-out refusing to let the demon dress him at night (Ciel was usually too groggy in the morning to really care.) It was nearly established that Sebastian's clothing duty be rescinded, but with a few clever words and twisted excuses, Sebastian was able to talk Ciel out of it.

And that was another thing.

Why was Ciel being so terse with him? Not that Ciel was ever one for chatting, but it was obvious that the boy was less than willing to converse with the butler for any longer than absolutely necessary. And when they did speak, Ciel never maintained eye contact, and Sebastian found himself wondering exactly why that was. Likewise, there were many things about his young master that had been making himself question where exactly their relationship stood.

He supposed that what he had done last night only complicated things further.

That may have not been the wisest decision...

But he didn't regret it. He usually didn't regret anything he did, and this was certainly another to add to the ever-growing list. If it never happened again, only to remember the feel of those petal-soft lips pressed against his own...well, that was good enough for him.

(-)

(2) It is a fact that Ciel hates spicy foods, but likes curry to a degree.
Part 3~

There should only be one more part :ohnoes:

And the next one will include the fun tiemz :3

Part 1: [link]
Part 2: [link]
Part 4: [link]
© 2012 - 2024 ChibiArmin
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jennelle20's avatar
the language usage lol