That Butler, New Face

That Butler, Resting

{After they returned to the manor...}

"Koff! Koff!" Ciel coughed as he lay in bed.

"What a delayed reaction," Lacey commented, standing over him with Chêne and Sebastian while they waited for the thermometer to take his temperature. It took them days to get home, and he was only now showing symptoms?

"And who said you could come in?" Ciel asked her. He was feverish and sweaty and didn't feel at all well.

"Come on! We've faced down zombies and escaped a sinking boat and braved deadly icy waters together," Lacey said. "Surely that gives us some kind of bond."

"That doesn't mean you can come in without permission," Ciel told her grumpily.

"Just eat your breakfast, Mr. Grumpy-pants," Lacey said.

"This is England, and this is my home," Ciel reminded her. "Don't presume you can order an earl around here." He may have let her get away with it before in America, in Chêne's home, but not here.

"Ooh, so strict," Lacey said in a tone of mock fear, eating one of his scones.

"Lacey, that's for Ciel," Chêne chided her. "You already had your breakfast."

"Yeah, but his is fancier," Lacey said, continuing to munch away.

"Why are you still here, anyway?" Ciel asked her.

"Because I've been assigned to protect Chêne here," Lacey replied. "I was protecting her in our world, but then she came to this one. Now they want me to watch her again."

"They?" Ciel asked.

"The higher-ups," Lacey answered. "But that's all I can tell you. The rest is classified."

"Classified, eh?" Ciel said, glancing at Chêne, who shrugged.

"So what positions do you have open here?" Lacey asked.

"You want to work here?" Sebastian asked, just as surprised as Ciel.

"Yeah. I need a cover while I stick close to Chêne," Lacey said. "And I doubt you'd want me to sponge off you indefinitely." The earl and butler exchanged a glance. She was a fair fighter.

"Very well," Sebastian said. "You can join us as a maid."

"Is that the uniform I'll be wearing?" Lacey asked, looking at Chêne.

"Yep," Chêne said with a smile.

"Okay, then," Lacey said. "But do you have anything in purple?"

"That's the uniform. Take it or leave it," Ciel told her.

"Sigh. I guess I'll take it," Lacey said. "You've got yourself a deal, squirt."

"Sebastian, teach her to address her superiors with more respect while you're at it," Ciel ordered with a vein throbbing on his head.

"I have to warn you, I'm very strict," Sebastian told Lacey.

"Uh, maybe I should teach Lacey," Chêne said.

"If you're too soft-handed with her, she'll never improve," Sebastian said.

"That may be true with most people, but not Lacey," Chêne argued. "If you push her, instead of learning, she'll only push back harder."

"Yep," Lacey agreed. "I've made several teachers and my not-mom cry."

"Just let Chêne try for now," Ciel said, wanting to avoid another headache. Sebastian checked the thermometer.