vatheon | 002 ♞ that butler, restrained

Who: Team Phantomhive
Where: Speculum 2
When: Daytime, first day of the curse, backdated
Style: I'll follow you!
Status: Closed for butler smackdown

[ This had never happened before. Never in his several hundred years of service did this ever ever happen to this demon. It was new, startling and honestly quite disturbing. Sebastian Michaelis, flawless butler and even more flawless demon had fallen asleep. Even worse, Sebastian Michaelis, flawless butler had overslept. Perhaps several hundred years of not sleeping had taken its toll on the demon.

It all began last night. He was, as per his usual schedule, closing the manor down for the night when he'd suddenly been overcome by the strangest urge to close his eyes. Thinking this to be nothing more than a side effect of the coral, he gave in to the urge. Just a few minutes, he supposed. A few minutes turned into several hours. He was awoken by sunlight streaming through the windows and a quick check on his pocketwatch showed the absolute truth: he'd overslept by a good three hours. His master would have been up an hour ago and breakfast was late, horrendously so.

So it would be an hour later when Ciel would finally hear that knock on his door. ]

Master? My sincerest apologies. I have no excuse for my abject tardiness. Quite unbecoming of a Phantomhive servant.

[ And may God have mercy on his soul. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ sorry, Sebastian--but while you're still wearing that mark on your jaw, Ciel is immune to that smile. rather, he simply returns it with one of his own. ]

If I were to insist, it would be terribly rude of you to refuse.

[ but, first-- ]

What have you prepared this morning?

[ Points for trying and all that. Already he has the funniest feeling this is going to be the start of a very long week. But he can't be shirking on his duties. Despite the fact he's managed to wake up late, he still managed to put together a decent breakfast. Of course, it's not as elaborate as normal but still looks pretty decent. ]

I've taken the liberty of preparing broiled haddock, poached eggs, a light watercress salad to accompany and a selection of either toast or muffin. Whichever my lord would prefer.

[ breakfast is decent indeed--but that doesn't excuse Sebastian anything else. Ciel spends the next few days being particularly severe. making Sebastian run back and forth across the city to fetch him things, waking him at odd hours, and continuing to hold him to expectations much too high for a human, to mention only a few trials. he's not even bothered to hide his amusement at all.

it's at dinner one evening, just as he's finishing the main course--a French-inspired pot roast--that his gaze drifts over to Sebastian, standing dutifully by as ever. more specifically, he eyes the bruise stark against his jaw. it's lighter than it was a few days ago, certainly, but still all too obvious. it's slightly thrilling even now to know that he was the cause of it. he'd have gladly given him another--and another, and another, and something else besides--except that Sebastian has been remarkably competent thus far. still, watching him struggle has been gratifying enough, and seeing him eat and sleep (so very human) is more thought-provoking than Ciel could have imagined.

and yet his eyes find that bruise, and they stick there, as they have so often recently. no doubt Sebastian's noticed, but Ciel doesn't much care what he has or has not observed. he's long since accepted how well Sebastian knows him. he keeps his expression entirely neutral as he commands, ]

Sebastian. Come here.

[ Through the past few days, you can say Sebastian's learned about life on the other side of the fence. Suddenly his master's orders have become harder to fulfill. Running from one side of town to another causes him need to pause for a water break. There were times when he found himself making extra portions of whatever he was serving the young earl because he had forgotten about his own hunger. All in all, it's been a rather educational few days for the butler.

He can't wait until all this is over.

Also, that bruise has been a nice little reminder of his entire ordeal. He's tended to it with a frozen pack of peas as a local had suggested as well as ice and several other things but he's found it's still there. It still stings when he touches it so he doesn't very often. And it doesn't surprise him at all when he finds his master's eyes are on it. After all, it was a strange thing to find on the demon's face. His expression never changes as he's summoned though, stepping closer to his master's seat. ]

Is something amiss, my lord?

How is your injury? [ there is certainly no need to specify. but he's remarkably stoic as he commands, ] Kneel. I would like to have a look at it.

[ for his own satisfaction, of course, more than any concern for his butler. he's already pushing his chair back from the table a little, turning so that he faces Sebastian. the napkin in his lap is removed and tossed unceremoniously onto the table, and he crosses his legs expectantly. ]

[ Wordlessly, he gets to one knee and only responds the minute he's down. Instead of his head being turned down as always, it's tilted slightly to the side in order to expose the mark. It's now dulled to a light yellow with slight bruising remaining as opposed to a day or so ago where it seemed to be an angry black-blue. ]

A slight sting remains, my lord but this is nothing more than a minor inconvenience. However, the sensation of pain...

002 ♞ that butler, restrained

no subject

no subject

SUPER BACKTAGGING (and also timeskip because i can) GO

WHOO YEAH ALL THE BACKTAGGING!

no subject

no subject