one shot: that earl, protecting happiness & omake
...IT'S SARA'S FAULT.
That Earl, Protecting Happiness
"CIEEEEEEELLLLLL--!"
Ciel could barely contain a groan of dread when he heard that drawn out trill. He was almost tempted to ignore it, but hearing her footsteps thundering his way, the young earl reluctantly looked up from his book, soon met with the sight of his teary-eyed fiancée. Lizzie smacked her hands palm down onto the desk, looking ready to start bawling at any moment.
"Ciel, it's horrible, really horrible! Mother wants me to take down my cute pigtails!"
He resisted the urge to smack his own hand against his forehead, but took a deep breath, answering calmly.
"Shouldn't you be taking them out soon anyways? A lady of high society can't wear pigtails," he replied, hoping to compliment her into quieting down. Lizzie, having been slowly molded into a proper lady by his Aunt Frances, always seemed to take the hint when Ciel implied she should be more lady-like by doing this or that sort of activity. In any other circumstance, she probably would have. But...
"You don't understand, Ciel! My pigtails are really important to me!" Lizzie zipped past the barrier that was his desk and stood before him, stamping her foot insistently.
"It's just hair that's tied up. I don't see what's so important about it." Ciel was starting to get agitated. Wasn't it nearly tea time? Maybe Sebastian could save him by bringing it in. And soon. It was supposed to be apple dumplings today-- definitely something he could occupy himself with instead of listening to Lizzie's--
"You said you liked them!"
The room froze after this shout, Ciel from shock and Lizzie from agitation. She was very resolved not to cry, it looked like, bravely pursing her lips in a tight line as she looked directly at him. Maybe his stare was too much for her, though, and she dropped her head again, her voice coming out soft and wracked with emotion.
"When we were littler...you said you liked my pigtails. I was so glad that you liked them, I kept them ever since. You never really..." Lizzie braved a look at him. "You never really c-compliment me, so I didn't want to change what you liked about me."
When Ciel still didn't give her any answer, still bowled over by this revelation, she let out a miserable hiccuping sob.
"But if Ciel doesn't t-think they're important anymore, then I g-guess I'll let Mother take them down."
A hand shot out to catch her wrist as she turned to leave.
"Eliza--Lizzie. Wait."
Ciel had long known that his fiancée-- his cousin, his childhood friend-- needed to be coddled in order to be kept happy. She was a girl who had grown up with so much, and yet so little at the same time. She would never know anything close to the pain he'd felt, those months after his tenth birthday. She could never know the humiliation of being branded, of being a slave, or of being--
No. She would never know. Lizzie lived in a fairy tale castle. One that he had stopped belonging in a long time ago. She had appointed him as her prince a long time ago, but he could never be that prince anymore. Only, perhaps, a silent knight. And he would protect that castle as its knight, for as long as he could.
She was intolerable at times, but she was his to protect. And she was also his to guide. He had to start coaxing her in the right direction, away from him and towards her future-- as a wife to some nobleman, of course, a distinguished lady of London society...and maybe even a mother one day. He had to push her towards that, because following him would mean sorrow and pain.
With this in mind, Ciel let out a soft breath, standing before her and giving her a small, rueful smile.
"We've both grown since then." The words rang painfully true inside his own mind, his eyes glanced off to the side for a moment before he looked back up, smiling wryly.
"You're right, though. I said I liked them. I do still like them a little. But as my fiancée, you need to look the part of a lady, not just act the part. So since I was the one to make them important, it would be my honor to undo them this final time, so you can start taking your steps towards womanhood. So...may I?"
Lizzie's hiccups subsided to only sniffling again, her eyes shining with quiet joy as they met his. She nodded in consent, so with a quiet 'excuse me', Ciel reached up and undid the bow to her bonnet, exposing the hair ties that kept up her pigtails. Slowly and carefully, he worked the hair ties off of the giant mass of curly, bouncy pigtails that she was known for-- and as he worked, he noted that it somehow really did make her look more mature, more demure and sweet, the hints of a woman's grace already showing on her slightly tear-stained face.
"Alright, Lizzie. It's done."
Actually, he wasn't quite done; the hair tie got caught on another curl at the last second. He turned his head to tell her to wait another second, but she, meaning to hug and thank him, turned her own head in the same instant. And in that moment, for the first time since their engagement, their lips met in the slightest brush of skin against skin, a gentle breath of a kiss.
The two of them immediately pulled away, both red in the face from such an intimate yet accidental gesture of affection. After a moment, though, the both of them laughed bashfully. What else could they do? It had been such an awkward, unexpected thing, much like many of their interactions were. But there was a certain comfort and security in it that they were both content with. Lizzie took Ciel's hands and gave them a little squeeze; he surprised her by squeezing back.
"Thank you, Ciel. I'll start being a lady from now on for you."
He released her hands and gave her a faint smile. "I'm glad."
***
Just outside the study door, Sebastian stood listening in on their conversation, a small, amused smile of his own flickering over his lips. On the serving cart before him sat a covered tray of apple dumplings and the other tea things-- all of which was meant to be presented and used as a distraction should Ciel have not thought to stop Lizzie. It seemed it wouldn't be needed though; that was fortunate. Sebastian could not settle every argument between the two, after all.
He tilted his head towards the door, listening as the two inside started to lightly banter again, this time about how Ciel should start wearing slacks instead of shorts.
"Perhaps I will come again in ten minutes," he mused, and silently wheeled the serving cart back to the kitchen.
---
Omake
If They Hadn't Laughed After Their Kiss...
Ciel and Lizzie: [They accidentally kiss. They both immediately pull away, red in the face. And then--]
Lizzie: ...I GOT A KISS FROM CIEL! [She whirls around and throws her arms up in the air, squealing and dancing around with glee.]
Ciel: --! [He staggers back, his face given a smart smack by her flying arms.]
Sebastian: [He has been distracted by a cat in the background.]
That Earl, Protecting Happiness
"CIEEEEEEELLLLLL--!"
Ciel could barely contain a groan of dread when he heard that drawn out trill. He was almost tempted to ignore it, but hearing her footsteps thundering his way, the young earl reluctantly looked up from his book, soon met with the sight of his teary-eyed fiancée. Lizzie smacked her hands palm down onto the desk, looking ready to start bawling at any moment.
"Ciel, it's horrible, really horrible! Mother wants me to take down my cute pigtails!"
He resisted the urge to smack his own hand against his forehead, but took a deep breath, answering calmly.
"Shouldn't you be taking them out soon anyways? A lady of high society can't wear pigtails," he replied, hoping to compliment her into quieting down. Lizzie, having been slowly molded into a proper lady by his Aunt Frances, always seemed to take the hint when Ciel implied she should be more lady-like by doing this or that sort of activity. In any other circumstance, she probably would have. But...
"You don't understand, Ciel! My pigtails are really important to me!" Lizzie zipped past the barrier that was his desk and stood before him, stamping her foot insistently.
"It's just hair that's tied up. I don't see what's so important about it." Ciel was starting to get agitated. Wasn't it nearly tea time? Maybe Sebastian could save him by bringing it in. And soon. It was supposed to be apple dumplings today-- definitely something he could occupy himself with instead of listening to Lizzie's--
"You said you liked them!"
The room froze after this shout, Ciel from shock and Lizzie from agitation. She was very resolved not to cry, it looked like, bravely pursing her lips in a tight line as she looked directly at him. Maybe his stare was too much for her, though, and she dropped her head again, her voice coming out soft and wracked with emotion.
"When we were littler...you said you liked my pigtails. I was so glad that you liked them, I kept them ever since. You never really..." Lizzie braved a look at him. "You never really c-compliment me, so I didn't want to change what you liked about me."
When Ciel still didn't give her any answer, still bowled over by this revelation, she let out a miserable hiccuping sob.
"But if Ciel doesn't t-think they're important anymore, then I g-guess I'll let Mother take them down."
A hand shot out to catch her wrist as she turned to leave.
"Eliza--Lizzie. Wait."
Ciel had long known that his fiancée-- his cousin, his childhood friend-- needed to be coddled in order to be kept happy. She was a girl who had grown up with so much, and yet so little at the same time. She would never know anything close to the pain he'd felt, those months after his tenth birthday. She could never know the humiliation of being branded, of being a slave, or of being--
No. She would never know. Lizzie lived in a fairy tale castle. One that he had stopped belonging in a long time ago. She had appointed him as her prince a long time ago, but he could never be that prince anymore. Only, perhaps, a silent knight. And he would protect that castle as its knight, for as long as he could.
She was intolerable at times, but she was his to protect. And she was also his to guide. He had to start coaxing her in the right direction, away from him and towards her future-- as a wife to some nobleman, of course, a distinguished lady of London society...and maybe even a mother one day. He had to push her towards that, because following him would mean sorrow and pain.
With this in mind, Ciel let out a soft breath, standing before her and giving her a small, rueful smile.
"We've both grown since then." The words rang painfully true inside his own mind, his eyes glanced off to the side for a moment before he looked back up, smiling wryly.
"You're right, though. I said I liked them. I do still like them a little. But as my fiancée, you need to look the part of a lady, not just act the part. So since I was the one to make them important, it would be my honor to undo them this final time, so you can start taking your steps towards womanhood. So...may I?"
Lizzie's hiccups subsided to only sniffling again, her eyes shining with quiet joy as they met his. She nodded in consent, so with a quiet 'excuse me', Ciel reached up and undid the bow to her bonnet, exposing the hair ties that kept up her pigtails. Slowly and carefully, he worked the hair ties off of the giant mass of curly, bouncy pigtails that she was known for-- and as he worked, he noted that it somehow really did make her look more mature, more demure and sweet, the hints of a woman's grace already showing on her slightly tear-stained face.
"Alright, Lizzie. It's done."
Actually, he wasn't quite done; the hair tie got caught on another curl at the last second. He turned his head to tell her to wait another second, but she, meaning to hug and thank him, turned her own head in the same instant. And in that moment, for the first time since their engagement, their lips met in the slightest brush of skin against skin, a gentle breath of a kiss.
The two of them immediately pulled away, both red in the face from such an intimate yet accidental gesture of affection. After a moment, though, the both of them laughed bashfully. What else could they do? It had been such an awkward, unexpected thing, much like many of their interactions were. But there was a certain comfort and security in it that they were both content with. Lizzie took Ciel's hands and gave them a little squeeze; he surprised her by squeezing back.
"Thank you, Ciel. I'll start being a lady from now on for you."
He released her hands and gave her a faint smile. "I'm glad."
***
Just outside the study door, Sebastian stood listening in on their conversation, a small, amused smile of his own flickering over his lips. On the serving cart before him sat a covered tray of apple dumplings and the other tea things-- all of which was meant to be presented and used as a distraction should Ciel have not thought to stop Lizzie. It seemed it wouldn't be needed though; that was fortunate. Sebastian could not settle every argument between the two, after all.
He tilted his head towards the door, listening as the two inside started to lightly banter again, this time about how Ciel should start wearing slacks instead of shorts.
"Perhaps I will come again in ten minutes," he mused, and silently wheeled the serving cart back to the kitchen.
---
Omake
If They Hadn't Laughed After Their Kiss...
Ciel and Lizzie: [They accidentally kiss. They both immediately pull away, red in the face. And then--]
Lizzie: ...I GOT A KISS FROM CIEL! [She whirls around and throws her arms up in the air, squealing and dancing around with glee.]
Ciel: --! [He staggers back, his face given a smart smack by her flying arms.]
Sebastian: [He has been distracted by a cat in the background.]