#dadbastiandifferentkids

[kuroshitakemushrooms]

dadbastian week day 4:

DIFFERENT KIDS

"vergil your prompts for @dadbastianweek2023 have been really sweet so far-" eheh. eheheheheheheh. (also animalistic sebastian is really fun to write ????????)

sorry this one is so short i am currently prepping for a biology test and four different perfomances

[insertpoetryhere]

Dadbastian Week: Different Kids

I was not very polite with this one, and also I need to explain myself for this one bc I made an AU just for this one fic.

The Needed Prelude: It's an AU where Sebastian has both Phantomhive twins. How? I have no idea. R!Ciel is just Ciel. O!Ciel is... unnamed sonboy. Sebastian serves O!Ciel, but R!Ciel kinda isn't his business. R!Ciel is the Earl Phantomhive, but O!Ciel snatched up the Guard Dog gig out from under his feet bc he wants his revenge. R!Ciel doesn't know Sebastian is a demon, he's just chilling and has no idea a revenge plot is happening.

Needed Content Warning: Mentions of the twins backstory. Also favoritism. That's all.

Ok I'm done talking now, it's for @dadbastianweek2023

Have fun, God knows I had fun. I love messy things.

Favoritism

A proper Phantomhive butler did not pick favorites. He serves all members of the household with equal attentiveness, as anything less would be highly unprofessional.

… That being said, Sebastian had a favorite Phantomhive twin.

It was his twin, obviously. The fact that the boy had a contract with him was definitely a factor, but it was far from the only reason that he held the younger of the two in an esteem higher than that of his brother.

Another, much bigger factor is that his own charge caused significantly less trouble for him. The boy was quiet, and when he did need to stir up something for the sake of his revenge it was always the type of mess that Sebastian enjoyed getting tangled up in. The thought had even crossed his mind once or twice that the youngest Phantomhive boy really would make one hell of a demon.

Ciel Phantomhive was a different story. He was loud. He enjoyed pulling silly little pranks on his much more serious brother, disagreeing entirely with the idea that they were both no longer children. It was the kind of behavior that made Sebastian scoff, realizing what his young master had meant when he expressed to Her Majesty some doubts about his older brother’s ability to inherit their father’s secondary title. 

Ciel Phantomhive as the Queen’s guard dog. The thought of it almost made Sebastian laugh.

Still, the older twin wasn’t without his charms. He was gregarious, easy to like, and arguably an agreeable young man (though a bit of a people-pleasing doormat if you asked Sebastain for his honest opinion). He really did make a fine Earl Phantomhive, especially considering that his skills in mathematics weren’t entirely hopeless and that he didn’t cower in fear at the thought of a public event.

Sebastian tried not to let his distaste show, but it was hard sometimes. His own master was so clever, something that had been a driving force behind Sebastian’s loyalty remaining with him. He had such a razor-sharp intellect that made even a demon sit at the edge of his seat and watch excitedly for his next move. Compared to such a cunning little mind, Ciel Phantomhive just looked…

Dull.

It wasn’t as if this opinion was shared only by himself. The Young Master also seemed exhausted by his brother’s antics.

“He thinks his job is so hard!” The boy would groan.

“Indeed, if saddled with your position, he would crack under the pressure.“ Sebastian would agree before looking up, his face showing no remorse. “If you pardon my saying so.”

The truth was that the new Earl Phantomhive was stuck in the past, trying far too hard to salvage the past from the wreckage with childish pranks and rude behavior behind the closed doors of his own manor. The worst part of all of it is that whenever he acted in such a manner, he would look to Sebastain of all people for approval. And Sebastain was not one to find such antics endearing.

Yes, the only words to describe Ciel Phantomhive were as follows; Sentimental, painfully unfunny, and so very dull.

So dull he had yet to notice a demon living under his own roof.

---

“Sebastian?” A voice shocked him out of his thoughts, nearly causing him to drop the dish he was wiping down into the empty basin. He turned, his reaction entirely dependent on who exactly was standing in the kitchen doorway.

The shaggy blue-black hair didn’t tell him much, so he moved his eyes down to the eyes. Only one was visible, with the other hidden away behind a sensible black eyepatch. His face softened.

His twin.

“I didn’t even hear you coming, Young Master.” He said with a gentleness that made it all sound like a laugh. He supposed he must have been too wrapped up in his thoughts to feel the boy’s soul approaching him. It happened from time to time, though he did try not to be so careless.

He glanced down at the blue suit the boy wore, raising an eyebrow at it. “Did we not decide on the green one for today?”

His master shrugged, looking down at the floor in what Sebastain assumed was shame. “I spilled my tea. Tanaka helped me change.”

Sebastian tutted softly, turning his attention back to the dish in his hand. “You must be more careful, My Lord.”

Something about his phrasing made his charge tense up, but everything seemed to do so nowadays. ‘Teenagers’, Sebastain thought with the slightest hint of disdain as he waited for the boy to say whatever it was he had needed so badly that he walked all the way down to the kitchen rather than just calling for him.

“... Am I your favorite?” 

Well… that wasn’t quite what he expected.

“... Pardon?” This time, the plate was set carefully at the bottom of the wash basin as Sebastain turned to give his full attention to the young boy.

“Am I your favorite?” He asked again with more confidence. “Who do you like more, me or Ciel?”

The question was so uncharacteristically bold that it startled an unbecoming bark of a laugh out of Sebastain’s throat. “You, of course.”

There really was no need for hesitation. It’s not as if he could lie to the boy. Better to just spit out the answer if the question was going to be so simple and of such little consequence.

His young master looked horrified by his answer. In a way, Sebastian could not blame him for such a reaction. It did not bode well if your actions earned you the favor of a demon. And indeed, he most certainly deserved the favor he received.

“What is this about, anyway?” Sebastian teased lightly. “Have you fallen victim to a sudden bout of insecurity?��

His young charge’s lip quivered, so the boy bit it to keep it still. Sebastian paused for a moment, wondering if maybe he had been a bit too careless with the topic at hand. After all, humans were very attached to their senses of morality. No matter how skewed it may be.

“As if you would care.” The boy muttered with such bite that Sebastain felt he had really earned the guard dog title. Sebastian went to open his mouth, maybe say something to mend the situation slightly, but the boy was already gone by the time he mustered the pathetic “ah” noise in protest.

Well…

That seemed like a dilemma in the making.

---

“Sebastian!” This time the voice that called his name pulled him in a way that was more tangible, yanking his movements to a stop as he felt his master’s presence grow strong and irritable. “Sebastian!”

“Yes Young Master, what is it?” He turned, watching the boy run up to him in his… green suit? “The green one is back?”

The younger Phantomhive twin;s scowl wavered just long enough to show his confusion. “What are you-” He growled in frustration, and only then did Sebastian notice the hand placed firmly over his left eye. “Where is Ciel?”

Sebastian looked confused now. “If I remember correctly, the Earl Phantomhive was meant to be out on business today.”

“Well he isn’t,” The boy growled. “And that wasn’t an answer.”

Sebastian’s brow furrowed even more, if that was at all possible. “I assure you, I have not seen him as far as I’m aware.”

“Well he has to be-” Speak of the devil and he shall appear, rounding the corner sharply and slamming a hand right in his brother’s chest. 

His younger brother coughed hollowly on impact, forcing Sebastian to bend down and watch closely for an asthma attack as the boy held a fist against where he had been struck.

Once the coughing subsided, he uncurled his fist and showed Sebastain the eyepatch that lay crumpled up in his palm. “You ASS-”

Rather than scold the younger brother for his language, Sebastian lifted his head to demand the older apologize immediately for his behavior.

That is until he saw the back of Ciel’s blue jacket.

He hummed curiously as his charge quickly covered up his eye with the patch and demanded help tying it.

So, Ciel Phantomhive was in fact capable of manipulation.

It indeed was a day full of surprises.

---

“You’re in the wrong study.” That was the only greeting Sebastian got as he opened the door to Ciel’s personal workroom. He had to admit, if upsetting him so was the only way to keep him hard at work even after the sun had gone down, then he should make a habit of being even less sensitive. 

No, that wouldn’t do. This much conflict would only get in his way as time went on.

He smiled. “No, I believe I’m in the right place.”

There was no response.

“... I bought hot chocolate,” He tried again. “With cinnamon and cream.”

Still nothing.

Sebastian sighed, placing the cup down in the boy’s line of sight. He supposed he was going to need to be even more direct than he had thought (yet another reason why the other brother was preferable. Bribery was still an option for minor blunders).

“I owe you an apology, My Lord.” He said sympathetically. “It was wrong for me to say such things, even in jest.”

Of course he hadn’t been joking. But technically he hadn’t said that he meant it as a joke either.

Ciel’s brow furrowed, and Sebastian wondered if he was about to witness the elder brother’s version of the famous Phantomhive rage he had already seen on full display so many times.

He hadn’t once ever considered that such a face could be the prelude to tears.

He was too stunned to speak as those glassy blue eyes turned to him, filled with some type of betrayal that Sebastian hadn’t felt was warranted until he saw it firsthand. “Why do you hate me?!”

“I-” He cleared his throat, trying to gain his composure once more. “I assure you My Lord, I don’t hate you.”

How could he? Children were too innocent by nature to truly hate. He just so happened to not find much value in innocence.

“You don’t like me!” Ciel yelled, and Sebastian had to bite his cheek. That part unfortunately was true. “You adore him! When he calls, you answer! When he speaks, you applaud! B-but when I do it, you just- you just-”

Something dug its claws into Sebastian’s spine. Something that seemed like shame. He really hadn’t meant to make his lack of affections so noticeable. 

“My Lord,” He knelt down to what would have been eye level if Ciel wasn’t doing everything in his power to not even look at him. “You must understand, your brother sometimes requires special attention. He’s been through a lot-”

“So have I!” Ciel cut him off with a cry painful enough to make even a demon feel guilt burrow into the pit of his stomach.

In his three years as the Phantomhive butler, he had never even considered it. Of course he had been aware that the boys had both been taken the night their parents had been killed. He knew logically that they had both taken the same route from start to finish, the only difference in their memory being what happened in those last few minutes before the horror was over.

When his charge woke in the night, thrashing, screaming, vomiting, clinging to the nearest source of warmth for salvation, Sebastian rushed to his side and held him tight until the memories faded into black and he was brought back to the land of the living, shaking like a newborn deer.

Who did that for Ciel? Did anyone do that for Ciel? Or had he been forced to fight his way through those fits all alone?

Sebastian tried to swallow the sand-like shame in his throat. Perhaps he had misjudged the boy’s resolve.

Slowly as to not startle Ciel, Sebastian reached into his breast pocket and extended a handkerchief to the sobbing boy in front of him.

Lord only knows how pitiful his face must have looked for Ciel to decide to throw himself into Sebastian’s chest instead. He allowed it, wrapping his arms around the boy and allowing him what little comfort he knew how to extend.

“There, there.” He whispered to him in the voice he only ever used for the child’s brother. “You’ve been very brave.”

And it was true. There were few things Sebastian could think of that were more courageous and more human than smiling at the face of hell. It was the type of behavior that Sebastian was sure would make the late Lord Phantomhive quite proud.

But he wasn’t here. So Ciel was vying for praise from the man he felt was the closest thing he could get now in lieu of fatherly affection.

Hesitantly, he placed a kiss on top of the child’s head. “You’ve done well.”

He cried even harder, clinging harder to Sebastian’s lapels. Something about the situation brought Sebastian a sick satisfaction that his demonic nature just couldn’t ignore.

He would not crave his attention if he knew the truth.

After all, he was not as dull as he had initially seemed.

[cangrellesteponme]

NOVEMBER 1ST - DIFFERENT KIDS

(read this on AO3 here)

dadbastian week day four let's go! this one's fun.

just modern au silliness with the most pathetic dadbastian ever, ft. some friends!

in which ciel goes on a school trip, as thirteen-year-olds sometimes do, and sebastian is being ridiculously grief-stricken about it. everyone wants to get involved. chaos ensues.

enjoy!

Sebastian feels his whole heart collapse and rot and fully disintegrate in an instant as he watches the 6:24 a.m. train leave — and with it, his boy is gone.

He’s so little — the size of the smallest of kittens, of a single sugarcube, of a tiny grain of uncooked rice — and he is going to be so far away from home.

(Ciel is of course only a bit short for his age, and thirteen is more than old enough to go on a school trip under constant strict adult supervision. Not to mention the trip is to a town that is only four hours away. But Sebastian worries, still.)

Sebastian immediately calls. It is, of course, ignored.

The moment Sebastian steps foot into the house, his phone rings. He knows from the ringtone that it isn’t his boy.

If things would just go his way for once, he would drape himself over the couch and weep into a handkerchief, letting himself mourn the devastating loss of his child so cruelly ripped out of his caring arms and whisked away where he can’t keep him safe and watch him at all times.

(Truly, the boy is safe and sound and does not need his parent watching over him day and night. Sebastian doesn’t even spend this much time with him. But distance makes the heart grow fonder, as they say, even if it has not even been a day, not even a handful of hours, really, and he is simply being ridiculous, approaching a measly five days of separation with the anguish of a mother experiencing the most severe of postpartum depressions.)

But of course, the universe simply won’t let Sebastian mope around, so someone has to call him. He ignores the call. It rings again.

Sebastian sighs, and looks at the caller ID. Sighs again.

Wolfram always calls for a reason, excessively serious as he is, so he has to answer. No moping around for now.

“…What is it? If no one died, I might not forgive you for calling.”

Wolfram immediately launches himself into an, again, excessively serious explanation of the dire situation he is in: little Sieglinde has suddenly decided to pick up sewing. Wolfram, who only has an observer’s appreciation for the more delicate arts, is desperate to find someone who will help her fulfil her curiosity without running every dress she owns in her attempts at improving them.

Sebastian thinks of his little handkerchief and truly considers saying no. His poor friend truly sounds out of his depth though, so he agrees.

On the way there, he calls Ciel again. No answer.

The entire morning is a bit of a disaster, but an entertaining one, at the very least.

It quickly becomes very clear that Sieglinde, little mastermind that she is, did not trust Wolfram to lie convincingly should she let her in on her machinations. Thus, she pretended to be terrible at sewing — not that she is any good, but she is nowhere near as terrible as she seemed to be — to get him to act according to plan. However, her true intentions behind getting Sebastian to come are uncharacteristically unclear, and she does not ask for anything more than company and occasional advice as she tries to fix up and resize an old skirt of hers.

Sebastian wonders what, or rather who made her come up with such a plan. He does not, however, get much time to figure that out, as he keeps having to patch up little Sieglinde’s fingers and watch out for more injuries �� she keeps accidentally sinking the needle into her own skin and she won’t do much but stare at her hands. Sebastian thinks she is an odd child, being a creature of fascination more than hedonism, but he is aware of the irony of someone like him making such a judgement.

The moment he’s out of the Gelzers’ home, his phone rings again.

“I swear, if the situation is not dire, I will make it that way by lethally injuring you. Now talk, Mr. Agni.”

Agni, forever unfazed by Sebastian’s moods, barely sounds threatened as he speaks. Apparently, young Soma is very ill, and Agni is very busy and must leave as soon as possible, hence the express need for Sebastian to come and be there for the boy, nursing him back to health.

Sebastian doesn’t buy it. He agrees anyway, because he might as well, while he’s at it.

When Sebastian gets there, Soma’s acting is… lacking, to say the least. To his credit, he does seem to actually have a mild cold, so he clearly tried to come up with a believable half-truth. Unfortunately, he and Agni — who all but ran out the door the moment Sebastian arrived, quite suspiciously so, too — are absolutely terrible at selling any kind of lie.

Though Sebastian is somewhat irritated, he does stay by Soma’s side, even if he looks way too lively to be bedridden, talking his ear off for most of the afternoon, and well into the evening.

When the hour grows late and Sebastian moves to leave the boy’s room, Soma puts on his I Swear I Am Not Lying Why Would You Ever Think I am Lying face, and it is quite hard not to laugh at him.

“Ah, well, you have to read me a bedtime story,” he starts, sounding very uncertain, before hurriedly adding, “Agni always does.”

Sebastian knows for a fact Agni doesn’t. He knows that Soma, childish as he may sometimes be, does not get bedtime stories every night at the ripe age of seventeen. He also knows, however, that they both are well-aware it is something akin to a tradition in the Phantomhive household. Their poor attempts at deception would be quite infuriating if they weren’t also clearly just meant to comfort Sebastian, making them somewhat annoyingly endearing.

Pretending to be fooled, he reads the story, and even makes voices — Ciel has outgrown his love for such theatrics, but Sebastian is a performer at heart, still. Not to mention Soma seems to actually enjoy that part of the storytelling, and Sebastian almost feels like he is caring for a young child, even if the boy is significantly too attentive, and never asks for the meaning of a word, and is so tall as he sits in his — mildly elevated — bed that he looks down rather than up at Sebastian. Despite all that, it is… quite pleasant.

Soma pretends to fall asleep eventually, Sebastian sees right through it but does not point it out, lest he burst into tears upon being told his attempts at helpful deceit are in vain. Not that he would — probably.

He’s about to send Agni a very unimpressed text — something along the lines of “How are YOU the better parent when you haven’t even taught Soma how to lie properly?” — when a string of notifications pop up. A photo, sent by Ciel, with four more text messages.

Little Blue Devil <3 here. now stop calling me. hope you had fun with sieglinde and soma. goodnight. world’s worst parent Sleep well. (:

Looking at the picture, a slightly blurry selfie of his son not even looking at the camera as he glares at Alois — his very luckily assigned roommate — and Elizabeth having a pillow fight — and how did she even get in their room? — Sebastian feels part of himself settle down.

He thinks he might survive four more days of multiple people trying to be his children while Ciel is away, as long as his boy is having fun out there.

[purpleandstarlight]

Dadbastianweek 2023 - Day four: Different Kids

Sebastian sighed, finally alone in his own room in the servant quarters, feeling more rested than he ever had in the past couple of years, and yet also somewhat more annoyed.

It was quite the troublesome situation the one he found himself in - having his own Young Master stuck in bed, paralysed by fear in a way that even the demon, who was with him more often than anyone else during the day, never got to see, and ending up serving a different kid- but if he wasn't able to adapt to this type of situation, what kind of butler would he be?

It was an all around different experience - as one should expect. While his former master was cold and prideful, even at a young age, the other one was kind and wild.

Where the head of the Phantomhive household would have given him an annoyed grimace or -at most- a roll of his one visible eye for any of his inhumanly perfect acts of showmanship, the young witch praised even his less impressive tricks, and lit up like a child on Christmas.

The demon couldn't say this was unwelcomed, as he was proud of his own skills, and the usual lack of response from the one he was supposed to serve was quite annoying, if amusing, however, he still had his share of problems, even with the gentler master of the two.

While, for all the problems he'd always given him, even as a ten years old his usual Young Master had at least the good sense of being polite during his meals (thanks to a mix of being brought up as a noble who's expected to have decent manners, being too prideful to act like a starving beast, and generally being too low-energy to bother) the green witch was quite...unlady-like. And while he could at least prod her a bit, he wasn't allowed to be as strict as he would have liked. First off, because she was a Lady, and while demons didn't quite care about being rude to a different gender as humans were (or cared about their own gender in general), his persona as 'Sebastian, the perfect butler' cared quite a bit.

Second of all, he simply couldn't.

While his former charge knew of his demonic nature and either didn't care about being roughed up by him during their past lessons or couldn't do much of anything about it, the whole village would have been even more against them if he made the Young Lady cry, and they would have lost their only ally there. The Phantomhive Earl would have also been extremely upset at it because -for someone who said he didn't care about anyone- he really cared about innocent people's well being, especially of those who aided him or showed him honest affection. Although, the demon mused, he would have taken an angry Master over the current spineless and pathetic one he currently had any day.

The lack of teasing had also been...boring. Worsening the Phantomhive's household head's already constantly sour mood had become a favorite hobby of his, and although usually childish or annoying, some of his Young Master's biting remarks were quite entertaining.

However, for already explained reasons, that bit was out of the table when it came to the Green Witch.

He had almost hoped in stirring some drama when his newly appointed charge had questioned his former Lord's past, wich -Thanks to the condition set by the young Phantomhive himself, wich made it so he couldn't lie- would have given him the perfect excuse to spill everything about their contract to a moral human being.

The result could have been extremely entertaining.

Mayhaps the lady would have tried to defend the slightly older kid, and the demon would have had to kill her, wich would have alerted the villagers and brought them to their death as well. Maybe the chaos would have made his Young Master angry enough to snap out of the pitiful state he was in, or if not, the demon could have at least let out some steam. He was getting restless...Honestly, he hadn't been so bored in years.

But no. The Young Lady had shown some courtesy that his lord would have certainly appreciated, but him, at that moment? Not so much.

It was somewhat amusing, at least, to see the lady's former butler squirm when the little girl thoughtlessly said things like "You're so much better than Wolfram at this!" or "You should be more like him, Wolfram". They were said without trace of real malice - but the man was clearly bothered to be seemingly thrown away by the child he saw as his own family.

He found from past contracts that human jealousy could be the foundation for the most entertaining tragedies, but his own household never gave space to such emotions. His young master did show preference in his servants, but only in the way that Sebastian was the one he disliked the most, and treated accordingly. And even if the demon appeared to be the best butler in all of England, Tanaka was too respectable of a man to feel jealousy for a fellow co-worker, or even act on it, and the rest of the servants were just too naive to feel any sort of anger or sadness because of Sebastian's skills in the first place.

(With a start, he realized he somewhat preferred his original experience with the Phantomhives, but quickly shook his head. It was probably because he found it easier to work with people who didn't throw a tantrum over him simply trying to do his job.)

The amount of annoyance displayed by the German man couldn't be enough to get his mind off the situation at hand, though.

Bard, usually way too enthusiastic when it came to cooking, passed the whole time zoning out. Mey Rin had been caught crying by the demon more than once, though she tried her best to keep it hidden. Tanaka was even quieter than normal, and Snake's usually serious expression looked even more grim.

Finny was with the young master most of the day, but when he came back, his expressions was uncharacteristically grim with worry.

They all looked like they were mourning someone - wich was not only ridiculous (the child was only throwing a temper tantrum after all) but also...not as entertaining as he thought it would be.

He'd always been bothered by those idiots' chaotic streak, but as they wandered around, looking like ghosts...Sebastian didn't like it. It felt ever worse to think about what they'd look like when the child would actually be dead.

When they were most annoying, the butler liked to think about seeing them one last time when they discovered their former Master's corpse, face full of mourning. Even entertained the thought of giving away his identity, just to make spice it all up that much more, before officially disappearing from their lives.

This should have been a nice taste of that, so why was he feeling so...weird, all of a sudden?

How annoying.

Shaking his head, the demon set up to continue his research.

That child had better recover soon.

[anawkwardlady]

Dadbastian week day 3&4 : Trick or Treat and Different Kids (late)

I'm late :( Meep.

That one is a bit odd. I fought with it for days and I'm not sure I like the final result but I was not going to throw every away. I hope yall still like it.

Slight warning for mention of alcohol and bleeding.

Butlers and masters were placed around the table, looking at the board laid down on it. It felt old looking, colorful squares following each other and spiraling around like a happy snake. The boys looked over lazily, still occupied by their candy fishing activity. 

“Would you please try and pay attention?” Sebastian sighed at them both, going over the instructions again. He was wearing a simple dark costume which Ciel had difficulties to recognize what it might refer to. So was Alois’ butler, who was quietly sorting pieces. 

“What are you?” Ciel asked, pointing his finger at his own butler. 

Sebastian blinked, a surprised look on his face. 

“Master,” he began, frowning, “Isn’t it obvious?”

Another pause followed his question. Before any answer had the time to form, he changed tone and subject completely, coming back to the board in front of them. It was a simple Game of Goose with a little twist – the boys would be playing the part of pieces and move along inside the manor as they progressed within the game. 

Alois clapped his hands in excitement, his clothes bouncing cutely. He was enveloped in soft tissues, all pink, making it seem as if he would dissolve in a cup of tea. His large blouse was tied up with ribbons on the sleeves at several places, his bloomer shorts paired with lace tights and boots complimented a long train of tulle, that could almost be mistaken as a dress from afar. The tulle joined in a fluffy bow on the back. A pointy hat finished the look of an ethereal fairy. Ciel wore a dark headpiece covering most of his head which was tied up in a bow under his chin. Two little fabric demon horns pointed out at the top and the piece framed his face with cream frills in such a way that it made it almost heart shaped, only leaving some strands of hair escaping from the cap. His long, flowy blouse blurred his shape and was paired with a darker vest, covered by a long coat. They were contrasting adorably. 

It was decided that Ciel as the youngest would be starting. He rolled his red dice and made his piece travel back and forth, meeting hardship on the way. It finally ended somewhere. 

“The Well. You will be starting in the Garden!” Sebastian explained and in doing so, gave Ciel his own dice, plus a miniature version of the board to take with him (he put it all in his pocket) and a lamp. The boy felt like he was about to travel to some unknown place. 

“And then?” he asked,

“And then, you’ll see.” Sebastian gently smiled at him. “Good luck, young master.”

The man gestured towards the door and Ciel blinked, not sure of what to make of such a dramatic display. Thinking of it as a part of the game, he left the warm room and was swallowed by the dark corridors. The sound of laughter and lights slowly faded as he continued to progress inside the manor until everything got quiet. Darkness was early on its schedule, indicating the winter was coming soon. However that contrast made the boy uneasy, it felt like the place had sunk somewhere or maybe he himself walked away, getting far as he felt the room earlier. Well, it’s all idiotic, he was far too old to be impressed by silence and lack of lights wasn’t he? 

The Well

Aimlessly wandering outside with the sound of his boots disturbing the wet grass as company, he started to feel lost.  

“And then,” he repeated to himself.

“Then,” an unexpected response came, from nowhere, “Your next stop is deeper”

Looking over for the voice, his eye landed on a tall figure with recognizable gold eyes. He was holding an umbrella, and it was at this moment Ciel registered the thin rain.

“Faustus”

“This is who I am,” the spider answered, unexpressive.  

“What are you supposed to be?” Ciel asked out of the blue. 

“At some point, during your childhood,” the butler began, “you probably had an irrational fear your parents couldn’t make sense of. Usually something from outside threatening to take you away, deep in the woods’ belly.” he paused, “I am that very thing, from inside the woods’ belly. I hope my answer satisfies you.”

The boy did not answer. Assuming he had no complaints, Claude pointed over to a small passage leading deeper in the gardens which he followed with unsure steps. At some point Ciel looked back. The spider was gone. What an odd interaction he just had. In the middle bushes he found it. An arranged area with a single, white table at the end. The only thing on it was an upside down tea cup. He reached for it. 

“Young Master! Young Master! Wait for us!”

He was again a bit startled but started to get used to the idea. Looking to the bushes he saw three red things rising, like gigantic plants coming to life. It took some eye rubbing to understand he wasn’t dreaming them. He deeply sighed, annoyed.

“You scared me!”

“Scare you? Why would we?” asked his servant Finny, with a puzzled expression.

“You should feel safer!” Meyrin followed.

Ciel raised his eyebrow analyzing their odd costume. They wore those enormous red hats, dotted in white, the rest was a beige puffy ensemble. 

“Don’t worry! We’re the kindest Amanitas!” the gardener chuckled, as if it was the cause of his master’s fear. 

“Quick quick, roll the dice, your friend got ahead!” Bard said, pressing him. 

Ciel shrugged, did as he was told and moved his finger on the miniature board, following the progression. He landed on the Labyrinth. Flopping the cup over, a folded message was found inside. 

“Congratulations on your first steps! You were wise enough to not poison yourself. What you are looking for might be in the Kitchen.”

“You have a long journey to go through,” his maid smiled, Ciel noticed the white freckles and added blush they were all three wearing to complete the full costume. “And we cannot escort you, but we’ll protect you from here!”

“You can count on us! We look inoffensive enough. The right people will know not to touch us! We’re very sweet mushrooms after all!” Finny added,

“And for those who do not,” Bard followed,

The gardener's eyes darkened, “It’s too bad for them.”

The Labyrinth

Ciel was like a tiny moth in search of fire. He saw an ominous light glowing from inside and the sound of something stirring, something being torn. Peaking a look inside, he caught the vision of his blond friend sat down on a chair, elbows on the table where candy filled carved pumpkins sneered at him. The tulle covering most of his back, he almost didn’t see how he was sitting on his knees in some kind of suckling way. The little devil slowly approached him and tapped his shoulder, hoping to startle him a little. It curiously did not. The boy wasn’t feeling like it

“What’s with the sad face? I thought fairies were all kind and joyful.”

“They’re not.” The cold tone of the blond teen shifted the mood of the scene. Alois mindlessly reached for candies again inside the pumpkin, the wrapped papers surrounding them like transparent butterflies… or used tissues after a crying night. Sebastian had prepared candied strawberries earlier and Alois had seemed to take a liking to them since the beginning of the night. 

“Now now, aren’t you a grumpy witch…” the youngest said, rolling his eyes at him. 

“Maybe I am. What is a witch but a lonely fairy” the blond boy replied softly.

They stayed like this for a moment, the silence only broken by the sound of Alois unwrapping the treats. He was tearing them apart more than he was eating them really.  

“Ugh, I had so much it’s rotting in my stomach.” 

The devil did not know what to do with the fairy’s mercurial temperament. Maybe one day, a long time ago he did, however tonight they were such different people. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the fairy’s hands, slamming the table. 

“You are here to take my place, so I have to move backtrack,” he chuckled, “It feels like it happens often. That’s okay though, someone has to be the very bad fairy no one wants to play with.” he shrugged. And it felt sad, listening to these words coming from such an angelic shell. 

“I am not the nicest either.” Ciel admitted, blushing. Well did he have actual horns on the top of his head.  

“Aw. Don’t pity me.”

The fairy got up. 

Revealing a nightmarish show. The devil gasped. 

“Alois, you’re… bleeding” was the only thing he could articulate. And bleeding he did, paying attention to the surroundings, it all dripped from the chair to the floor, following the steps like grotesque fairy powder. I did compliment the clothes nicely. 

Alois watched lazily, a wound gushing from his side, hidden by the layers of fabric. He watched it pour over his tulles with wonder and smiled as if Ciel was being silly. 

“This?” he rubbed his gloved hand on the stain, spreading blood like a messy child staining jam on their Sunday best. “Oh! So I was rotting inside then!” he shook his head, giggling quietly at first until a louder laugh followed, louder and louder until tears appeared on the corners of his eyes. 

“I feel… I feel like sleeping in the woods for a very long time… I can become a nice fairy again...” He left, walking out of the kitchen, and Ciel tried to pursue him but as soon as Alois got out, he was completely gone. 

Feeling a presence behind him he turned and saw an upside down cup on the table. He looked inside, finding another message.

“You reached the Labyrinth and defeated the witch. Roll the dice and turn me around”

Landed on the Prison square.

“How unfortunate! wait in the corner until someone frees you. Maybe think about what you’ve done.”

The Prison

He found said corner somewhere in the long corridors, feeling stupid as he placed himself like a punished student. The little devil wished he followed the fairy but couldn’t make sense of most of his actions tonight. Whether it was his own or his.  

Quickly a voice came from behind.

“Hehehe.. You seem like you’re having a lot of fun, Earl. Maybe not right now though.”

Ciel turned around, seeing a long white haired man dressed with a doctor blouse laughing at him. 

“I am not the only one having fun. I don’t remember calling you over.”

The man did not get offended by the comment and continued,

“My my, I am only passing by to help you! I am a known Doctor who brought life to death. You surely know which one, you’re a very smart boy aren’t you!” he laughed again, the boy’s unimpressed face indicating he probably got it. “There's a big difference between us two however. He failed and I did not. We know why he did, so there's no reason for me to repeat the same mistake!”

“The same mistake?”

The man took a more serious tone, “he was horrified by what he made and doomed himself from the start, you see. I am quite proud however... Therefore I won’t fail,” he paused, "Why reject someone you made?" he quickly shook his head and looked at the tiny earl. “But it’s none of your concern for now is it? Let’s get back to your game. I hope you keep having fun, because I sure do!” and with a last giggle, he left the corridors, only leaving a cup behind. 

Without any ceremony, Ciel followed the same procedure, landing in the Hotel. 

“Rest in the master bedroom”

The Hotel

Entering his room slowly, this time he directly read the message on his night stand, as no one was there to instruct him.  

“Please wait for your turn to come. The end is coming soon enough.”

Ciel sat down on the bed kicking his feet, thinking his exhausting night over. A sense of sadness rose he couldn’t point the finger on. Maybe it was being in his room. He wanted this all over. Laying down the boy listened to the clock ticking, almost falling asleep. 

knock knock. 

He looked everywhere. It didn’t come from the door. 

knock knock 

A chill ran down his spine as he understood the sound was coming from inside the room. Everything became deadly silent at the end of each knock. At the third one he understood with horror. It might have come from under the bed. Stuck in his position, the boy did not answer hoping whatever was knocking would drop it and disappear maybe.

“Boo!” a muffled voice came from the same place.

It couldn’t be possible, again, a lot of impossible things happened today. But that one couldn’t actually be possible. 

“Oi! I said boo!” repeated the voice, annoyed at the lack of reaction. It couldn’t be possible. It would even be stupid to ask. He needed to try though, the intuition was stronger. 

“..C..Ciel..?” he asked, unsure. 

Without any kind of suspense, the voice simply answered, “Of course it’s me! You don’t recognize your own brother?” If his twin said anything, he did not hear it, so he continued, “I can’t show myself yet.” he paused before laughing, “I want my little brother to see me when I am ready. We don’t want you to get all sad and cry over me don’t we? I am a ghost for Halloween, this is why you cannot see me, let’s just agree on that!”

The little devil had so much to say, none of it came up. Pure shock ran through his body, disorienting his mind. At the same time, it felt like it made sense in a way he couldn’t explain. Like a natural event within the game. It felt as being in a drunken state. Suddenly he heard something rolling from inside the bed to the floor outside. It has a pair of dice again. 

“Oh! You got Death”

“Ciel, wait–”

“We’re not supposed to meet tonight, don’t be greedy! You need to finish quickly so we can see other soon!”

“I.. hm.. I m..” words came in with difficulty. And he never had the time to say all of them. 

“No,” Ciel cut him like he read his mind “I did.”

Then, no words. Getting out of his state of stupor, the boy slowly got up and got on his knees, looking under the bed. 

Empty space. 

Death 

He walked back to where he began mindlessly. The reverse phenomenon happened, where it seemed like getting out of a sunk world and coming back to earth, meeting everyone inside the warm, lighted out room. His servants waved at him before coming back to their loud games.  

“Congratulations Young Master!” his butler greeted. Congratulations? Wasn’t the Death square basically a loss?

Ciel growled, feeling like his butler got his entertainment for the year to come. His eye laid on Alois who was knocking his head against Claude’s chest, looking tired. 

“Alois are you okay?” he asked, concerned, as the memories from the kitchen came up again.

“Ughhh, too many strawberries…”

“Who cares! The wound, you idiot!”

“What are you talking about?” the blond boy’s face turned to him, looking completely normal. 

“The.. Kitchen..” Ciel began and slowly reached the conclusion that it wouldn’t matter. 

“I don’t remember seeing you there! Maybe you had too much of those liquor chocolate, I saw you stealing some!” the blond boy giggled, bubbly as usual. How. 

The boy glanced towards his butler, arboring his most mischievous smile. 

Of course. 

Square 63

The same night, Sebastian tucked his little master in. 

“Did you appreciate tonight’s festivities?” he asked,

“Some of it were in poor taste,” Ciel said with quite the annoyance on the tip of his tongue, “we probably don’t see eye to eye in the concept of a friendly game. But why would I be surprised, coming from something like you.” Turning his back to him, he clicked his tongue. 

“My my, someone really had too much liquor chocolate.”

Sebastian blew off the candle after addressing some few apologetic words. Walking away, he glanced one last time at the sleeping figure, smiling. 

“Torment is all I know and all that entertains me. Apologies young master, happy halloween!”

[dadbastianweek2023]

Such a delightful halloween...so much participation and hard work...anyway! Onto the next prompts! #dadbastianweek #dadbastiandifferentkids

✿NOVEMBER 1ST - DIFFERENT KIDS✿

That butler, looking after those other than his young charge.