That Butler, New Face

That Butler, Very Skilled

{London, A Short Distance From the Manor}

*Jingle~! Jingle~!*

A bell rang as Ciel, Sebastian, and Chêne entered a shop. Sebastian had ordered a new walking stick for Ciel yesterday, and Ciel had insisted on coming to pick up it up in person. The shopkeeper was an old man that Chêne thought resembled a balding Santa Claus. Only, the man did not have a beard, just a mustache... no red suit either, just normal menswear. He was wearing spectacles though... Okay, so maybe he didn't look like Santa...

"Welcome, boy," the shopkeeper greeted Ciel. "On an errand for your father?" Ciel twitched and furrowed his brow, clearly affronted by the old man's words. Chêne sighed internally.

'Bad move, old man,' Chêne thought. Sebastian stepped forward, smiling and holding out the receipt.

"Excuse me. I have come to retrieve my Master's walking stick," Sebastian said politely. The shopkeeper took the receipt.

"Aah, yes," the shopkeeper said in recognition as he turned and retrieved the stick. "The owner of this stick... I was wondering who in the world would use a stick as short as this."

Ciel glared at him. Chêne frowned slightly at the man. She could tell the shopkeeper wasn't trying to be malicious, but to treat a customer like this... The air in the shop was starting to feel heavy. Ciel's foul mood had begun to affect his surroundings. Although Chêne had no idea how Ciel managed to do that, she did know one thing. Things would not end well for the shopkeeper if he didn't learn how to read the atmosphere soon. The man continued to speak, totally oblivious.

"I never considered it might be a child—"

*Whoosh!*

The shopkeeper's last sentence was cut short when Sebastian suddenly whipped the walking stick around and thrust it straight between the man's eyes, stopping just half an inch from his face. Sebastian had a serious and disturbingly calm look on his face. The man was blue from shock and trembling, shaking in his boots. Sebastian smiled his infamous shit-eating grin.

"Why, I detect not a single bend. What a magnificent walking stick," Sebastian said tossing a coin purse that was practically overflowing on the counter. "Please keep the change." Chêne sighed and shook her head. Sebastian was such a bully.

=†=†=†=†=

"Really..." Ciel said, strolling down the street with his new walking stick in hand. "Finni's ridiculous strength is nothing but a pain. I had to get a new stick because of it." That's right, the whole reason Ciel had to have a new stick made was because Finni had somehow managed to snap the old one clean in half. Chêne had found Finni holding the broken stick and bawling his eyes out, sobbing about how sorry he was, and she just couldn't bring herself to yell at Finni whenever he had that 'kicked puppy' look... so Chêne had decided to take the blame. Of course, Sebastian immediately knew who the real culprit was since Chêne was far too weak to do such a thing.

"Indeed. You have my deepest apologies, sir," Sebastian said, smirking and placing a hand over where his heart should have been. They did not know if he actually had one... "Though you failed to grow any taller, you had to go to all this trouble."

Chêne giggled. She just couldn't help it. Besides, what did a twelve-year-old need a pimp cane—I'm sorry—walking stick for in the first place? A vein popped on Ciel's head.

"Hmph! Why are you laughing? You have not grown an inch for the past two years now. You are only two inches taller than me," Ciel reminded Chêne.

"Yeah, but I'm eighteen and a girl, Ciel. Technically, I'm finished with puberty, so I'm not supposed to grow anymore. Didn't I cover the stages of puberty for males and females last week when your science tutor couldn't make it?" Chêne said.