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Devilish Impulses	By : Arianawray Category: > Black Butler (Kuroshitsuji ???) Views: 13948 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroshitsuji or any of its characters, and I do not make any money from these writings.

Chapter List
- 1-Unwanted
- 2-Whim
- 3-Trust
- 4-Taste
- 5-Scheme
- 6-Command
- 7-Competition
- 8-Advice
- 9-Enlightenment
- 10-Sustenance
- 11-Caught
- 12-Breath
- 13-Arms
- 14-Inflammation
- 15-Imagination
- 16-Intent
- 17-Compromise
- 18-Sacrifice
- 19-Despair
- 20-Compassion
- 21-Interest
- 22-Equality
- 23-Mentor
- 24-History
- 25-Disorder
- 26-Reputation
- 27-Gifts
- 28-Admission
- 29-Watching
- 30-Bonds
- 31-Revelations
- 32-Confrontation
- 33-Struggle
- 34-Separation
- 35-Duty
- 36-Change
- 37-Together
- 38-Love
- 39-Epilogue: Heaven
- 36
- 37
- 38
Together

Sebastian lies back in the grass, entirely unselfconscious of his nakedness as only a non-human can be. He gazes up at Ciel who kneels astride his hips, looking down at the perfection of his devil.

Ciel has already "spoilt" him once, bringing him to a deeply satisfying climax with his mouth, swallowing every drop of his seed. But the young man wants more now that there has been give and take both ways.

At Ciel's request, Sebastian has assumed his demonic form. It is so different from his handsome butler's guise, the garnet cat-eyes, gleaming fangs and jasper claws accenting his wild, animalistic nature. This body no more requires clothing to enhance its beauty than a leopard would need a frock coat. He has use for only one garment at present – his butler's coat, folded up beneath his head as a pillow.

"Azazel said the bodies and spiritual natures of devils were altered when they were cast out of heaven, but I see only perfection," Ciel murmurs, running his fingertips down Sebastian's chest and sides.

"When did he say that?" Sebastian asks.

"Some days after we parted," Ciel reveals. "He came here to tell me that the devils of hell had been informed that I was not to be harmed by them, and neither were you. I still don't know what was behind that announcement."

"How interesting."

"Do you know anything about it? Carsten never has a word to say on the matter."

"No, Young Master, but I shall try to find out when I have a moment to spare from you. I have not had enough of you yet." He runs his sharp claws along Ciel's left thigh, careful not to break the skin, sending a shiver through the earl.

Ciel leans down and claims a kiss from him, a move that presses his crotch into Sebastian's. Well-recovered from his earlier exertions, he feels himself responding to the touch of Sebastian's erect member – as with years ago, the devil needs no rest to regain strength or keenness after each peak. Already, he is offering Ciel the pressure of his hardness and his sleek hips between his thighs, wanting him, needing him.

The earl shifts a few inches down Sebastian's body, temporarily depriving that hungry portion of the demon's anatomy of direct contact with him. Sebastian's hips are now under Ciel's raised belly, while the earl attacks his throat with his mouth. The devil purrs like a very large cat and bares his neck to the young man straddling him, lapping up the attention he has missed for a decade. His clawed hands stretch forth and explore the human male's body all over again, discovering it anew. That once-thin, overly fragile torso is still slender but invitingly shaped with lean muscle and firm flesh. His back is no longer bony but sculpted. The painfully narrow loins of childhood and adolescence have filled out into temptingly firm hindquarters that Sebastian has a tantalising glimpse of over Ciel's shoulders from where he lies.

Ciel skims past the nipple-like features on Sebastian's chest which are neater and smoother than those adorning his butler's form. He fleetingly wonders what their purpose is on demons... then again, human men's nipples appear to serve no particular objective either... and if devils are sometimes able to father mortals like Merlin, then perhaps female devils – if there are any – may suckle their children...?

His original intention in skimming downwards was to tease the demon's navel a little, only to make it to his taut abdomen before realising that in his devilish body, Sebastian has no navel. He possesses one when he masquerades as a man, but it is absent from this body – this beautiful, remarkable structure of immortal bone, sinew, flesh and skin.

Sebastian humours his less-than-expert explorations by refraining from chuckling as the earl returns to his chest and nips rather hard at one of the two pink nubs there.

"Not what you expected, is it, this physique of mine?" the devil asks lightly, enjoying the touch of annoyance that comes through in that sharp nip.

"No," Ciel admits, raising his head to look into Sebastian's smiling face, and finds it hard to look away again, for it is a compelling mien, the exposed, uneven fangs both ugly and perfect all at once.

Sebastian himself cannot look away from the young man. His face is very like that depicted in the portraits of his father, Vincent. Despite that, he sees traces of the child he knew. The blue eyes, though no longer as proportionately enormous, are unmistakably Ciel's, still long-lashed, and the shade of a deep forest reflected in a crystal-blue sea. The juvenile roundness and softness are refined into the clean lines of his high-bred features, but Sebastian recognises what they were, what they are, and what they will become.

High-bred the earl may be, but it is not beneath him at this time to slick the palm and fingers of his hand with his tongue like a dog grooming his paw, before he reaches down along his lover's body.

"It's certainly not what I expected – every time I saw you in your natural form in the past, you had some sort of clothing on," Ciel murmurs. His voice is rich, not too deep, and most pleasing to the ear – the kind of voice made to whisper words of torment, words of love. "But I do like the beauty and strangeness of what is before me."

He glides down that lithe body again and slips the devil's smooth, almost-creaseless penis into his mouth to moisten it. To his satisfaction, that simple act draws a purring moan from Sebastian and an upward push of his catlike hips. He samples the curiously addictive taste of the hard flesh – a slight variation from the scent of the butler's form – laving it with his tongue, extracting more purrs before he slides the length of it out of his mouth and circles it firmly with his right hand.

Yes, he can hold his demon's prick perfectly well now that he is grown – no more weak grasping by a childish hand that could barely enclose its girth properly. With a grin, he retains his hold of the erect appendage while sliding back up alongside him. Resting his left elbow on the grass and propping up his own head with his hand, Ciel looks into Sebastian's intriguing face and studies its expression of interest tinged with annoyance at the removal of his warm mouth and attentive tongue from his flesh. He calculates that the demon is still in a very indulgent mood, and decides to take full advantage of it.

Giving the rock-hard member grasped in his right hand a luxurious upward stroke followed by a firm downstroke, Ciel speaks in a manner both businesslike and playful: "Now that you're perfectly well again, and we are back together, I will ask you if it wasn't terribly disobedient of you to do what you did to get locked up here for ten years, away from me?"

His right hand stills its rhythmic motion, and instead tightens its grip on the shaft, squeezing it to a punishing degree, beyond what a human male could comfortably tolerate. It does not hurt Sebastian, but those red eyes begin to narrow. If he had a cat's tail attached to his perfect bottom, doubtless it would be lashing in warning by now.

Still, Ciel gauges that as their reunion is so fresh after a ten-year separation, he can chance a few more liberties with the demon.

"Well, Sebastian?" the earl demands, pairing a smile on his lips with a gleam in his deep-blue eyes as his right thumb teases the weeping slit at the tip of the devil's prick. "I promised years ago that I would beat the sense back into your head and drag you back to the manor. But the way things happened, I did not enjoy that opportunity. So I think it's time I carried out my promise."

"I did say once that you could hit me all you pleased once you recovered from the injuries inflicted by Ambrose's magical spear, but you never struck me again in any serious way," Sebastian mutters, gritting his fangs as Ciel's hand continues to tease and torment without delivering any satisfaction.

"Hmm... hitting you is much too easy. It would be like a sparrow beating its wings against an elephant. I've thought of something better. Like this, for instance."

By "this", he means nothing, for he opens the fingers of his right hand and rests his palm high on Sebastian's thigh, making no further move to deal with the rampant organ that throbs furiously with nothing to enclose it.

"Young Master..." the devil says pleasantly. A shade too pleasantly.

"Yes, Sebastian?" Ciel asks coolly.

"Is this how I taught you to interact with your lovers?"

"Not at all," Ciel replies brightly. "But you really were deceitful ten years ago, and I think some personal torment from me is in order."

"You do not think that I've suffered more than enough in here?"

"I know you suffered greatly," the young man's tone suddenly turns serious. "I never wanted you to suffer any of it. Which is why, after the relief of finding you well again, I now have the space to be furious with you."

"Of course you do," Sebastian agrees reasonably. "But if you do not resume what you were doing before you decided to enforce a ten-year-old decree of punishment, I shall be obliged to continue what you started, without your participation."

"Hogwash," Ciel retorts confidently, using one of those fresh, new words that is gradually creeping into informal speech in England. "For all I know, you've been doing it alone every day you were in here. But you want me to do it, don't you?"

"You've grown more playful despite your years," Sebastian observes levelly.

"Thanks to you," the earl replies. "Thanks to everything you gave me – a chance to lead a full life, to be happy, to have a family of my own again after losing my mother and father, and every reason to live beyond my revenge. When I said I was not the child you knew, I meant it in more ways than one. I'm not only older, but I've learnt to be happy. I've remembered how to be playful again, like I was before my parents were murdered. How to be both firm and loving with my children, the way my mother and father were with me for my good. So this deeply contented man asks you if you will accept him the way he is; and this firm parent asks if you will admit to having deceived your master ten years ago; and this mischievous adult tells you that if you will admit to having been at least partially in the wrong a decade ago, he will finish what he started."

As the earl's long, elegant fingers drum lightly on his thigh, the devil huffs: "I think you are a far more dangerous master than you used to be, my not-so-little one."

"And, Sebastian?"

"And this demon butler admits that he did deceive his young master ten years ago – though it was for the purpose of saving his life, as well he knows."

"And?"

"And this devil more than willingly accepts all that you have grown into, and all that you will be in time to come."

Ciel lowers his head and kisses the demon while his right hand returns to stroking his cock, doing it beautifully this time, bringing his mouth back to the tip of his erection to warm and moisten it further, then working rhythmically with only his hand again while he studies Sebastian's face because he wants to both see and feel his pleasure, to watch his eyes narrow with an arousal that has escalated into sensual excitement, to taste the devilishly spicy gasps that escape past the fangs and pale lips.

Unlike mortals, who instinctively hide their faces at the point of sexual climax in the deep-rooted shame of the original fall of humankind, devils have never repented of their own fall. They know none of the shame that marks Adam's race. So Sebastian does not turn his face away as he peaks under Ciel's hand, but throws his head back and cries out throatily, without fear, without restraint, with far more abandon than he did when he came in Ciel's mouth earlier in his butler's guise.

The untamed, animal-like openness of it moves and startles Ciel, who catches his breath and watches his demon's face and arching body intently as his scalding seed shoots out and spurts onto them both, the last of it flowing over the earl's fingers. As he caresses Sebastian's black hair with his left hand and tapers off his strokes with his right, he imagines his devil curling up contentedly with him for a while before they bathe in the pool cradled by the hills.

But he is suddenly reminded of the demon's sheer stamina – and how far he tested his patience mere minutes ago – when Sebastian does not even pause to rest, but springs on him and mounts him with a grin. In the very same instant, the devil assumes his human butler's form. Ciel finds himself staring up in surprise at the handsome face which mysteriously manages to look even more animal-like than the demonic countenance in its place a moment ago.

"Sebastian...?" the young man begins, trying his strength against the one who pins him to the grass, and finding that he cannot shift him so much as a fraction of an inch.

"Ah, Young Master," the butler croons dangerously. "I'll admit that I deceived you ten years ago by making you think nothing was wrong, and I'll admit that I desire you no matter what you have become. But did you think I would let you get away with tormenting me so inconsiderately and interrupting my pleasure after I have patiently waited for you these ten years?"

Ciel's eyes widen, and he struggles against Sebastian again, to no avail. The devil's indulgent mood has run out, and it is time for Ciel to face the consequences like a man. Indeed, there will be no more holding back on the demon's part, now that his master is no longer a child.

Ciel tests his strength against the devil's once more, and fails utterly to make even an excuse of an impression on the immortal body on all fours above him, steely ankles immobilising his shins, black-nailed hands imprisoning his wrists, knees lightly but firmly planted on his thighs, the beautiful face all the while contemplating him with an expression of absolute serenity.

"Really, Young Master," Sebastian purrs tolerantly. "Physically speaking, you are just as helpless as you were before."

"Is that truly what you want to say to me at this point?" Ciel asks logically.

"What point might that be, my lord?" asks the devil evenly.

"The point at which I invite you to do what you earned the right to do a long time ago."

"Do you want it?" Sebastian asks.

"Is that material?" Ciel questions. "It is your right."

"Despite my nature, my lord, it is not a right I would enjoy if you did not also want it."

Sebastian has him at his mercy. He could do whatever he pleases to him, with his terrible strength and devilish nature – and the right to possess the one for whom he has sacrificed so much. But Ciel looks deep into his eyes and sees in them the wish to find a mirror of his urges in his mortal master.

"I want to be everything to you that you would want me to be," he says, without doubt or fear in his voice.

No hesitation, no halting steps. What must be, must be, and what is desired shall be pursued. It is the way he has always been with his devil, from the second their original contract was forged. Sebastian sees all over again the single-minded child in the cage, the calm boy coldly plummeting off the cliff, the impulsive adolescent flinging himself in front of a magical lance, the young lover who has never forgotten him for a day of their separation.

He has not changed as much as he thinks.

Sebastian smiles and pushes two fingers into the earl's mouth. In doing so, he releases Ciel's left arm, and the young man grasps the devil's wrist as he licks the black-nailed fingers attentively, sensuously. Sebastian eases the pair of long digits out of his mouth when he judges them slick enough. They draw a thread of saliva with them which breaks and falls to Ciel's chin, from where Sebastian licks it off even as he reaches down and inserts the tip of one finger into him. No longer holding his master to the ground, the devil shifts fluidly, perfectly balanced, till he has one knee between Ciel's thighs and the other outside his right leg.

Resting his left hand lightly on the earl's hip, Sebastian slips his finger into him another notch, observing as he does: "You have taken no other male lovers."

"No." Ciel breathes evenly, not fighting the entry of the devil's middle finger despite the mild discomfort.

"I am certain you could have. If you were careful not to be caught, you could have had any number of lovers."

"Does anything in your knowledge of me suggest that I would do such a thing while missing you, and married to Lizzie?" Ciel asks.

"A good deal can change in ten years."

"I told Lizzie before we married that she would be my only female lover, and you my only male lover, and I have never broken my word," Ciel growls, feeling Sebastian's finger work its way deeper into him. "That will never change."

"Such an idealistic young creature," Sebastian murmurs, slowly slipping his finger almost all the way out, but not completely, easing back in again with two fingers this time.

"Is it idealistic?" Ciel grunts out tightly from the increased pressure as the second digit is introduced. "I thought I was only following my true desires rather than the cheap wants of the world."

"Am I one of your true desires, then?"

"You know you are," Ciel gasps as both fingers press a little further into him. "Damn it all, Sebastian – you know... ahhh!" He cries out at the brushing of those probing digits against that delicate, secret place inside him no one else has ever touched. He remembers being in the downstairs bedroom, biting down on his butler's shoulder to stifle his cries, while Baldroy turned the door handle from outside...

"Yes, Young Master, I know," Sebastian affirms, leaning forward and down to bring his face closer to Ciel's. "I know, but I like to hear such heartfelt declarations from you. Consider it one of my foolish indulgences. It pleases me immensely to hear such assurances from you, because I know you mean every word."

He drops his seductive voice to an intimate whisper while he caresses, feather-light, the sweet spot within, delighting in the sight, feel and sound of his mortal lover opening up to him, accepting every little pleasure he offers, as eager for it as for his best sweets.

Ciel's slim body arcs and tenses from his head to his cock, down to his toes. His nether orifice tightens around Sebastian's hand as he comes violently, crying out, wanting to bury his face in something, anything. But he is restrained by Sebastian's left arm holding him down, holding him open, so that the devil can drink in every second of his peak – the visual, aural and tactile pleasure of it – and every ebb and softening of his body as he sinks into the relaxation that comes in its wake.

To the devil, those moments of relaxation are the perfect time to slink between his parted thighs, slip his fingers out while leaving all the devilish lubricant within, and carefully push the very tip of his cock inside him.

"Sebastian," Ciel pants in surprise, near-breathless, as his demon lover joins his body to his just as he thinks they are enjoying a lull in their lovemaking.

The devil lowers himself to his elbows, careful not to hurt the human beneath him. He kisses Ciel's belly through the dashes of cum dotting it, then the gently rippled flat of his torso above his navel, slowly, slowly pressing in. Ciel's legs wrap around his waist as he eases out a little, then in again, a bit further. Warm lips find the earl's throat as the feline body hovers over the one below, waiting till he is ready, till he gradually accommodates him.

He would not trade this young man for any other.

"Say it to me again," Sebastian prompts. "Say to me that you desire me because you do, and not only because I have earned the right to claim you as my own after saving you from destruction."

"I desire you..." Ciel breathes. "I want... ahhh... I want you... Sebastian!"

The demon is slowly thrusting in and out of Ciel now, sending him into a frenzy as with a diabolical cleverness he does things inside him that no human would be capable of delivering. He pauses to give the young man some respite, taking the opportunity to ask: "Would you want me still if we should face war and danger and condemnation again as we did in this very place ten years ago?"

Panting hard during this pause in the devil's thrusting, Ciel slips his arms about his demon lover's neck and whispers: "If there were war and danger, first I would see my family to safety. But after that, I would move worlds to be with you. What we are doing here – it is damned by heaven and the laws of the living – but I would brave all the condemnation of heaven and earth, without regret, to return to you."

Sebastian pushes deep into him there and then, making him cry out with a sweet mixture of pleasure and pain as he takes him fully. He clutches his master to his breast, nuzzling his soft hair and letting him bury his face in his embrace so his heated breath caresses his flesh. They wrap tightly about each other, flesh to flesh, heart to heart, each feeling how the other trembles – not with fear, but with desire and excitement and conviction as they climax ferociously, locked together as one at the heart of a universe of their own making.

***

Later that day, Sebastian enters the Phantomhive manor for the first time in a decade, a step behind his master. A very much older, very weak Tanaka insists on hobbling out of bed to welcome and thank the butler who almost died to save Lord Phantomhive. Finnian briefly encountered him in the forest, but Baldroy has not set eyes on him till now. The chef looks very little different from ten years ago, except that Lady Phantomhive seems to have cured him of his perpetual habit of chewing on a cigarette. He has been more or less in charge of running the household all this time, and it is strange for him to come face to face again with the tall devil who once ordered him about.

"Baldroy," Sebastian acknowledges the man.

"Mister Sebastian," he answers gruffly, looking intently at him. The devil – even before he knew he was a devil – always made him slightly nervous, and won his respect a long time ago, even if that respect was sometimes given grudgingly. But this is a new age, and the end of this year will see the beginning of a new century, and he, Baldroy, will not be afraid of Sebastian Michaelis any more.

Firm on that resolution, the man steps forward, catches the imposing, black-clad figure in a great bear hug, and sniffles out as the tears spring to his eyes: "It's so good to see you again!"

That sets Finnian wailing, and Tanaka blinking tears away. Sebastian is just beginning to wonder how long this sentimental absurdity will go on when Lady Phantomhive enters the foyer.

Although everyone here knows what Sebastian and Ciel are to each other, before all these pairs of eyes, the earl and the butler maintain their decorum. Ciel greets Lizzie with a kiss on the mouth, knowing she will not taste Sebastian on his breath or smell him on his skin, for they have bathed thoroughly in the pool cradled by the hills in the sphere, and Sebastian's magical skills have neutralised every physical tell-tale sign of their lovemaking.

Everyone may know, but that does not mean they need to or intend to insult the countess, embarrass the servants, or frighten the children – for Sumathi is just now leading young Vincent into the foyer. The child always tries to be as dignified as befits his position, but when he sees his father, he forgets all his dignity to throw himself happily into his Papa's arms, and to size Sebastian up boldly from the safety of that secure embrace.

"We've had no butler here for years, so I am told," the child says to the devil. "Are you going to be ours?"

"Would you accept me as the Phantomhive butler, Lord Winterbourn?" Sebastian asks.

"Vincent," Ciel tells the four-year-old. "Sebastian was Papa's butler before you were born, but he is now an honoured friend..."

"A friend who would take the deepest delight in serving this household as he always has," Sebastian says smoothly.

"Mama says you saved Papa's life before I was born. I would therefore be motht... most pleased if you would be a part of our household. Mama says you would really be more of a thtew- a steward than a butler." He does not go on to add that he also saw Mama fencing fiercely with the tall, dark man in the recreation room earlier today – and he knows that his mother only fences fiercely there with people she trusts. Like Papa, like Grandmother Francis, Grandfather Alexis, Uncle Edward, Agni, Sumathi and Vidya.

"I thank you, Lord Winterbourn," Sebastian bows.

"Papa!" comes another, far more childish cry from the top of the stairs. Vidya descends into the foyer, carrying Vincent's two-year-old sister.

Lizzie takes Vincent from Ciel so that Ciel can lift the little girl out of the nanny's arms and present her to his demon steward and friend. "My daughter, Rachel Francesca."

"Lady Rachel," Sebastian bows again, noting her deep-blue eyes and soft-black hair, a near-perfect copy of her father's.

The child breaks into a gurgling laugh and a smile as pure as her mother's. Without any hesitation, she stretches her little arms out towards Sebastian to pat his face and touch his glossy black hair.

"She likes you," Ciel observes approvingly.

"I can't imagine why," Sebastian comments wryly.

But he indulges the toddler, allowing her to examine his features without the slightest complaint or show of annoyance.

Baldroy grins. Despite his outward coldness – and intimacy with His Lordship – the devil has always appeared to have a soft spot for females. He used to tolerate Mey-Rin's mistakes and stumbling with a far better grace than he tolerated his or Finnian's errors, and was never any less than unfailingly patient with Lady Elizabeth when she was a demanding child with a penchant for costumes and cuteness.

Lady Rachel, it seems, is destined to carry on that old tradition.

***

"With your permission, Baldroy," Sebastian says politely, taking the saucepan from him in the kitchen that evening.

"I'd be honoured to cook beside you again, but you're the steward now, Mister Sebastian. You shouldn't have to bustle about like this."

"I've always been the acting steward," Sebastian tells him. "Human titles make no difference to what I choose to do for my master and his household."

So they cook side by side once more, working smoothly together, whipping up an impressive meal for the family first, then the staff. As always, Sebastian has no interest in mortal food – he is sated on the taste of his master, and besides, for ten years, the excessive power violently seeking equilibrium in and through him filled him so that he never felt a moment's hunger, despite at least three years of terrible pain.

As the others dine, Sebastian takes time to inspect the manor with a critical eye. It is a little dusty in parts. But what can one expect when the housemaids are busy being nannies and governesses? They need a proper housemaid. Upstairs, it is clear that Ciel and Lizzie regularly share the room that Ciel's parents used to share, but they each have their own private bedrooms to dress in and retire to when they wish to be alone. Ciel still uses his old bedroom for those purposes, from the scent and look of it.

The quality of the food is as excellent as ever – Baldroy is no fool when dealing with grocers and butchers. There is a supply of hot, clean water through the taps now, so no more boiling of bathwater in the kitchen is required. Finnian is speaking excitedly about how Lord Midford is encouraging Lord Phantomhive to buy a motor car, but the earl prefers his horses and carriage.

The security is almost perfect. Carsten, who seems to have grown curiously attached to the family, and regularly sleeps in the stables, lets nothing past him. The governess cannot replace Mey-Rin for long-distance defence, but she looks as if she can be vicious with that staff of hers; it is the younger sister, Vidya, who it seems has the keen vision and aptitude for accurate shooting that can be developed, though she is still too young to be put to serious defensive work.

The stables are clean, and the horses healthy. The old carriage horses are retired, like Tanaka, dozing in the stalls and given free run of the paddock each day. The newer, younger horses with their shiny coats of black are of good stock, well chosen by Finny. The black cat is still here, old now but just as beautiful, and Sebastian spends a good while lavishing caresses on her.

The gardens are fine, although some trimming would be in order here and there. He turns into the sterling silver rose garden, and finds it perfectly maintained. He must commend Finnian for doing such a beautiful job with these blooms… Then he sees them – the paler sterling silvers he developed for his master – standing proudly in an impressive row along one wall. How they have flourished, and how beautiful their near-whiteness is in the darkness, just like the one whose presence he now senses in the garden.

"They're more breathtaking today than they ever were," Ciel's voice comes from behind him. "They must know you have returned."

"What a fanciful idea," Sebastian smiles. "I never imagined Ciel Phantomhive imputing consciousness to flowers."

"If you've seen the forest and flower nymphs I've seen almost daily over the last decade, you'll know why I suddenly seem fanciful," Ciel replies with an answering smile, stepping up to his devil, remembering that the last time they stood facing each other in this very garden, his head only reached the middle of Sebastian's chest.

"But your family has softened you, has it not?"

"Of course they have," Ciel admits. "I would do anything for their good, and in some ways, that has made me more indulgent. But they have also made me harder and more vicious in other ways, because I would destroy anyone or anything who might threaten their safety."

"I would not harm anything precious to you," Sebastian remarks. "But if for any reason any of your family should attempt to harm you, I will not hesitate to defend you against them."

"I know," Ciel answers softly. "So we had better make sure they never do any such thing. Vincent can be headstrong, though, and I can see him challenging me in the years to come. I shall have to take care that his obstinacy never turns into a disadvantage for him."

"He is just like his father."

"Is he, now?" Ciel asks a little tartly.

"Every bit. But unlike his father, who had no one to govern him at a young age and was given absolute freedom to do as he pleased, Lord Winterbourn will have both his parents in his life for a long time to come, so he is very likely to turn out much better than you."

"What is wrong with the way I have turned out, might I ask?" Ciel demands.

"You are still a little petulant, and still quick to take offence," Sebastian muses, a finger on his chin. "Some things don't change."

"You certainly haven't," the earl mutters.

"Oh, but I have, Young Master," Sebastian replies. "Where once I would have made an effort to keep you more disciplined, I fear that now, I am only going to indulge you."

"You were strict enough in our little forest out there," Ciel says, blushing lightly despite his age, as he recalls how the devil pounced on him and held him down.

"As were you."

"We can keep such spaces to escape to when we must, can't we?" he asks hopefully.

"Of course."

"Then for now, let's go back to the house. You've been away long enough. Lizzie and I have arranged for a bedroom for you on the second level, like Tanaka's."

"What if I want my old bedroom back, with all its memories of you?"

Ciel flushes once more, feeling himself a child again, sneezing on Sebastian's cat-hair-covered bed. "We can keep that unoccupied for you to use whenever you choose. But I think you'll like your new room and its attached sitting room," he whispers, leaning towards Sebastian to steal a kiss while they are still here behind the wall. "I won't neglect Lizzie – she doesn't deserve anything unhappy in her life – and we won't let the children know – they're too young to understand – but you'll be seeing more of me than you want to."

"I could never see too much of you," Sebastian answers, kissing him back. "However, we will be discreet, as we always were."

"Let's go back inside."

In the darkness, Ciel slips his hand into Sebastian's and leaves the garden with him, walking close to him so that anyone who might be watching from the house will not see that their hands are linked.

They must walk between the worlds, seeking those fine lines on the ground that run between their private sphere and the dimensions of heaven, hell and earth that may not welcome them. But Ciel is pleased to play this game, for it is a new chessboard, a new universe of their own, where Sebastian is no longer his knight, nor his adversary, but the one who plays beside him as an ally and partner – and with him, he can take on every world that would damn them.
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Devilish Impulses