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1.
The young Earl walked up to his estate, which now held another, slightly older, Earl in its depths. After Claude and Hannah had died, and the demon triplets were the only company left, Alois had decided to stay in Phantomhive Manor. Sebastian decided there would be benefits, so now the annoying fake-Trancy was his permanent housemate. He had been absent on an assignment when Alois' things had been moved and had only just gotten back, expecting a loud "CIIIEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLL" to ring throughout the grounds.
The relative silence, in comparison, left him much more on edge.
There was the usual "Hello Master"s from his servants, but no high-pitched whining or giggly shouting that Alois was known for. Ciel decided to check the boy's room (not because he cared, obviously not, he just wanted to make sure the git wasn't dead and making a mess of his spare room).
He thought he heard sniffling behind the large wooden door, but brushed it off because surely that was ridiculous, maybe he was just throwing another fit (even if he only threw fits for attention, which he couldn't get while locked in his room). He knocked, only to receive no response. No joyful opening and obnoxious squealing, no yelling to go away and leave him alone, not even a humph. Just... silence. Ciel opened the door, concerned because he was sure that the other Earl was in there.
And he was, sat on his bed staring at a portrait with unseeing eyes, tears slowly trickling down his face but he didn't seem aware of it. "Trancy?" The grey-haired boy asked, getting the same answer as before (that is to say, none). "...Alois?"
The use of his first name got the blond's attention, who immediately snapped his head to the intruder. "Hello Ciel, come to visit?!" The exclamation was expected, but his voice was emptier than before (it had only sounded truly happy when he was sharing Ciel's body, but this was worse than normal).
"Are you alright?" His concern got the best of him (he didn't care for the other boy, he did not).
"Oh, what's this? You care! Not to worry, Ciel, I'm feeling just peachy!" Normally he would be bouncing around by now, but he was stalk still, smile strained, eyes red and still glazed over from tears.
"You're crying, Trancy. That doesn't sound 'peachy' to me." He awaited the "but you said Alois earlier!" that he was sure would come from the Earl's mouth, but instead the blond just reached for his face, pulling his hand back in shock when it touched the moisture still on his cheeks.
"I..." His facade fell, biting his bottom lip as he furrowed his brows, "I hadn't even realized. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, though..."
"Alright, now that you're back to your annoying self," he wasn't, not even close, "I'm going to take my leave-"
"Don't!" Alois didn't seem to register that he was the one who spoke for a moment, but when he did he turned his head back to the younger boy. "Please... don't leave. Hannah, Claude, Luka... I can't take you too." All at once Ciel realized what had happened (he knew of that feeling all too well), so he simply yelled out to Sebastian for some tea and sat next to the other, comfortable silence between them.
2.
Ciel's servants were nice. Mey-Rin was always up for conversation, Baldroy let him help cook sometimes and wasn't annoyed by his impatient nature, Tanaka always let him sit and have some tea with him, and Finny always caught the young Earl when he threw himself at him, careful not to hurt the other. A stark difference from life with Claude, Hannah, and the demon triplets, a universe away from how he was allowed to act in there.
It scared him.
When he was snarky and the cook threw quips right back at him, he cowered away. When the maid tripped and ruined any essence of perfect composure and simply laughed it off, he felt a lump of fear in his throat; for her or himself he still wasn't sure. When the gardener forgot his own strength and broke something, he felt the need to scream out of frustration, fear, glee, and a thousand other emotions. When the former butler "deflated" and ceased to speak, he felt his heart jump into his throat. They were so klutzy, so ditzy, so human, that it made him want to claw his own skin off so he didn't have to deal with the unknown.
One night when he jumped and nearly broke a glass when an explosion sounded from the kitchen, Ciel bit the bullet. "What's got you all uptight? Surely you aren't that scared of a measly loud noise, not after a month of dealing with the trigger-happy twit."
"It's just... why do you let them stay? I mean, they mess up all the time, you don't seem the type to put up with it."
The Earl just shrugged. "Largely different from your demon servants? It's simple, they're useful. Mey-Rin may trip over her own two feet, but it's because she's farsighted, and when she needs to use a gun she has a shot that outmatches any other. I'd get her a new pair of glasses with the correct prescription, but she refuses. Baldroy may have an... affinity, for explosives, but when it comes to a battlefield or assassination attempt, that works largely in our favor. Finny hardly knows his own strength, but you can hardly blame him. He can take care of work that would otherwise require 10 men, domestic or otherwise. Tanaka... well, he was my father's butler. He cannot work anymore, but he has more experience in this line of work than any others in this house. Besides, they make good company."
Alois was shocked, both because that was the most Ciel had ever spoken willingly to him and because he spoke so highly of those who were, by all means, below him. No wonder they liked working for him, cared for him; he did so as well.
Their game of chess resumed at that, and the older Earl slowly but surely laughed along and helped when messes were made.
3.
Sebastian, was a different matter when it came to the servants. He was a butler, like Claude, he had a deal with his master, like Claude, he was a demon, like Claude, but at the same time he was different. He actually cared for Ciel, and did his job with a form of care, instead of just to keep within the means of the deal. He also seemed to care for Alois, bringing him food when he didn't feel like eating in the dining room and helping him around the estate when he was lost. Finally, it was the demon bandaging a wound he received with more care than Claude ever did, despite only doing it under command of Ciel ("don't want you bleeding out on my floor," the boy had said. He was considering just kissing him already, his fancy had been caught long ago and he was sure that it was returned at this point), that had him screaming and demanding (pleading) the butler out of his room.
"The hell was that, Trancy?" A voice came from the doorway not long after his sobs had faded into hiccups. It sounded concerned rather than angry, and a glance at its owner's face revealed that suspicion was correct.
"C-Claud-de..." was all he could say, voice wavering around the wretched name that had attempted to kill him. Ciel just nodded, closed the door, and sat by Alois like he had a few times now. They sat in silence for what could've been hours, slowly scooting closer together until Alois' blond locks flowed down the other's back from where his head was perched on the (much shorter) shoulder.
"Alois? It's nearly suppertime," Ciel whispered, as always he had dropped the older boy's surname while he was in such an upset state.
"Hmm," Alois responded, lifting his head only to make eye contact with a lone, deep cerulean eye, flushed cheeks peeking out from the eyepatch next to it. Alois grinned, drooping his eyelids lightly and grinning at the younger, clearly smitten boy. As rosy lips fell open slightly, letting out a breath, the older Earl decided to take up his earlier promise.
He'd experienced many in his short life, but that kiss was certainly the sweetest.
4.
After the inhabitants of Phantomhive Manor, an Indian prince and his servant, a Chinese opium dealer and his assistant, and an odd coffin-seller, Alois thought he was done meeting Ciel's supernatural acquaintances.
He wished he was correct.
Grell Sutcliff showed up one day asking for Sebastian, which the blond Earl didn't think much of until he got a better look as Ciel explained who she was.
He was sick of Grim Reapers. They had never done him any favors, and one with hair resembling Luka's? That was salt in the wound. So, he simply shut himself in his room without a word until the pesky woman left.
An hour after she did, 30 or so minutes after dinner, he left his room to his boyfriend's. He didn't bother knocking, swinging the door open and flopping face first onto the other's bed, next to where Sebastian was changing him into his nightclothes. The demon went to speak, but Ciel simply motioned him away. Words were no longer needed; as the butler left the blue-haired boy swept the taller into his arms, lying them down into a snuggling position.
5.
It was becoming less and less common for Alois to sleep in his own bed, now that they had told Lizzy of their relationship (she was delighted, the two stayed in their betrothal for appearances but it was an immediate agreement that he and Alois would be the ones truly engaged, one way or another). That also meant he was more aware of the emotion Ciel kept repressed from everyone else, oftentimes even Sebastian.
They came as nightmares.
The blond woke up while it was still dark outside, immediately noticing the writhing figure next to him, the bedsheets damp from sweat and the pillow from tears.
"Oh, love," he whispered, sitting up and brushing blue bangs away from the sweaty forehead, muttering assurances to wake his beloved. When Ciel did awake, it was with a gasp as he sat up, nearly headbutting Alois from his spot in the older's lap, mismatched eyes wide. He took in his surroundings, pressing his fingers to his boyfriend's wrist (checking for a pulse, he realized), curling into a ball after a few heartbeats.
"Fire," the smaller boy whispered, and that was all that was needed for Alois to crawl up to him and take him back in his arms, kissing his forehead as they sat in the light of the moon, chasing away the horrible memories of years past.
+1
It was that time of year, when Ciel traveled to his summer home without Mey-Rin, Baldroy, and Finnian, though he did bring Alois. Because of this, and the fact that Sebastian was out for the night taking care of business needs, it wasn't very surprising that the two boys took the chance to be... intimate.
Intimacy looks very different, however, for people such as them.
Coats and shoes were discarded, shirts untucked and partially unbuttoned, and Ciel's eyepatch long gone as they laid on the bed, Alois straddling the boy beneath him and kissing hard, when he realized something in his boyfriend, something oh-so-familiar.
He knew he didn't want it, but he was so used to the hands taking whatever they wanted from him, back in the days before him, that he didn't think twice about giving in. However, the Phantomhive below him was... trembling. His eyes were clouded, not with lust, but fear and that hazy look that Alois knew all too well, the look that he was escaping mentally while physically, other things happened. The blond knew his own body was shaking, and he felt himself starting to escape as well, and he escaped just far enough to think rationally about the situation.
And he did, and came to a decision because really, what other sense would it make to do this? So he let go of the swollen lips, lifted his leg, and lowered himself so he was face-to-face with the younger Earl, sharing the air they panted as they both steadied their hearts.
"Alois? W-what's wrong?" Ciel asked, rare stutter revealing the fear that he had done something wrong, something punishable, that he would be hit and burned and-
"You don't want this." There was an air of finality, stating that there was no use arguing, but the stubborn Phantomhive tried anyways.
"O-of course I do! Did I, did I do s-something wrong?" Damn his stuttering, weak, whore, good for nothing, easy-
Alois cut off the thoughts he knew of all too well. "Ciel, no you don't. And I don't either," the confession stopped the younger before he could speak, staring at the blond with vulnerable eyes. "Look." He brought up both of their hands, showing how they shook as ocean-blue and purple pools stared in disbelief. "You know what happened to me before I was... 'Alois Trancy.' You had something similar, didn't you." It wasn't a question.
For a moment, a small, trembling nod was all he received. Then, "When I summoned Sebastian, made a deal with him, I... I was a prisoner. I was kidnapped by a cult, and they... well, they wanted a slave."
Alois nodded, and the silence hung heavy between them. "So, you never...?" Ciel asked, making sure he didn't misunderstand.
"God no, I just thought that, you did. Since you were trembling, I figured..."
The younger Earl snorted, falling back in relief. "Well, that's certainly lucky for us both that you noticed then." They both were still breathing heavily, on edge, so Ciel decided to take action.
"Let's change into our nightclothes and go have a warm drink. I can... read to you, if you'd like?"
Alois cheered. "Let's make hot chocolate!"
"And how do you suppose we do that? We're alone."
"Not all of us grew up noblemen, Phantomhive. I'm sure I can find something to make it, with all that chocolate cake you're so fond of." He stuck his tongue out, the faint marking of his failed deal still there as no more than a scar, and in a moment of childish urge Ciel reciprocated.
They changed into their nightshirts and Alois, as promised, made them hot chocolate. They fell asleep on the sofa in front of the fire, open book on their chests where they snuggled into each other.
It was nice to be understood for once.