Chapter Text
It was a strange thing, the hunger.
It gnawed away at his insides, rendering him irritable and sharp with the other servants. They scurried about, always underfoot, like rodents before a lion. Noisy, short lived, and hardly worth the trouble of killing. Certainly not enough to distract from the roiling, seething starvation that had become the background noise of his daily existence.
Nothing appeased it.
It could be tempered, overshadowed by the thrill of yet another chase, the promise of violence against his Young Master's enemies, or the sweeter siren whispers of ambient lust, greed, anger, or tortured guilt he could detect from others around him.
But the hunger was always present, as powerful, demanding, and abrasive as the soul it fixated upon.
Recently, however, a new curio had been tearing his mind away from his perpetual appetite.
It came in the form of another butler, one slightly taller, more colourfully dressed, and possessing a right hand said to be gifted by a goddess Herself.
Agni was a very strange man.
He never met Sebastian’s expectations, dismally low and weathered by centuries of experience. No, Agni constantly exceeded them, always slightly ahead, keeping pace with Sebastian himself, a feat nothing as mundane as humanity had ever accomplished.
It left him feeling wrong-footed and fascinated. A certain amount of irritating admiration had taken root in his chest, a strange sickly warmth that fluttered in his core whenever the other butler pulled off some other nigh impossible feat. It was nauseating.
Currently, the subject of his musings was chasing after the hurricane of colour and clamour that was his own charge, the young Prince Soma. On some business for the Funtom Company, the Young Master had taken residence in Town House for the week, despite his exasperation at its current keepers. The Prince's overly loud laughter was echoing around the drawing room, much to the ire of the Earl, who was currently trying to read his daily correspondences. Sebastian, as always, stood by his shoulder, taking the finished letters and arranging them into order of importance, or burning them as directed.
Sebastian smirked at the young boy's twitching eyebrow, before his eye was caught once again by Agni. The man's dark skin was flushed slightly, impeccably dressed as always, a worried expression on his usually placid features, as he reached out to snag Prince Soma before he tripped over his own feet. It was a sight Sebastian was becoming familiar with, and not at all out of the ordinary. But, for some unidentifiable reason, it felt… strangely compelling. That irksome warmth had returned to his chest.
It was absurd. He allowed his gaze to follow Agni’s deft movements, mind racing. Agni would have been such an… entertaining project, had Sebastian been free. A stalwart devotee, renounced of a life of sin and debauchery, oh how fun it would have been to slowly chip away his saintly convictions and to make a feast out of his divinely touched soul.
As soon as the thought crossed his mind, however, he was stopped short by a sense of wrongness. The hunger - snarling, rending - paused, for a single, fleeting second, before returning with a vengeance.
His eyes narrowed. How fascinating.
His claws, disguised as they were behind both flesh and glove, pricked threateningly against the envelopes in his hand, and he felt the lips on his face pull down into a small frown.
Was he… not hungry for Agni’s soul?
He shook his head minutely. That was manifestly untrue. Agni’s soul smelled delicious, almost distractingly so. Their various interactions had proven as much. It smelled warm, rich, and wholesome, with a fiery, darker undertone to it that promised to undo Sebastian completely sometimes. It tempted his resolve, especially in brief moments when the two of them were working together, in the early quiet hours before their respective Masters awoke.
Had he not become so accustomed to existing in such close proximity with an unspeakable delicacy, he could almost imagine savouring the taste as he ripped into the other man, tearing him apart and satiating himself thoroughly.
… But once again, the thought brought with it a moroseness he couldn't place. As he continued to observe Agni, unbidden, snatches of memory made themselves known. The man's steady strength for the singular time they'd battled, his dedicated daily competence in his duties, his bright smile when Sebastian paid him a truly honest compliment.
Shock struck Sebastian still.
It truly seemed as if the thought of consuming the man's soul seemed… secondary to a rather alarming enjoyment of his company.
Reeling, Sebastian accepted another neatly ripped envelope from the Young Master.
Just another way this infuriating man continues to defy expectations.
He refocused on Agni once more, head tilting to one side as Prince Soma was successfully contained and wrangled towards his lesson material. What was it about him that was so intriguing?
A sharp kick to the shin brought him crashing back into the present. “Sebastian,” the Young Master hissed, “Stop staring. You've not blinked in several minutes.”
“I do apologise, Young Master,” he replied smoothly, bowing his head in mock contrition,“It shan't happen again.”
“I know they're irksome,” the Young Master continued, tapping a silver letter opener against the desk, “But staring at them like you're deciding how best to devour them is not acceptable behaviour for the Phantomhive butler.”
“I assure you, my Lord,” Sebastian smiled, tearing his eyes away from the riotous duo, “That was the very last thing on my mind.”
The boy scoffed, shaking his head. “Do control yourself,” he said, glaring at the demon from the corner of his eye, “I'll not tolerate you making a nuisance of yourself.”
“As you say, my Lord,” Sebastian sighed, and turned aside, letters in hand, to begin making preparations for the week's excursions.
Little brat.
Perhaps further observation of Agni would… clarify things further.