That Butler, New Face

That Butler, Cogitating 3

"—Dear, oh dear. You make it sound as though you want Master Butler to fail, Lord Earl," Lau said, smiling, as he followed Ciel through the hallway.

"Heh! Hardly," Ciel said, smirking slightly to himself. "But... even more than obtaining the Royal Warrant... wouldn't seeing that butler lose be just that much more fun?" Ciel asked, smiling charmingly, delighted with himself, as he glanced back at Lau. In Ciel's opinion, it was about time Sebastian had a taste of his own medicine. The demon always seemed to have the upper hand whenever he toyed with them, and he had noticed how Sebastian had been using Chêne's feelings for him to mess with her. It would be most amusing to see the demon butler being the one under pressure for once... Lau shrugged, smiling wryly at the young earl's behavior. He looked like a child who had just figured out how to play with a wonderful new toy.

"Why, my Lord, just look at you... you're positively glowiiiing~!" Lau said, laughing, and smiling in amusement. "You're such a bully~!"

"Shut up," Ciel said sternly, chagrined.

=†=†=†=†=

CLINK. CLINK.

The whisk clinked when it hit the side of the metal bowl that Sebastian was currently using to mix the ingredients for the chocolate dessert in. Bard burped. He and the others were all sitting down, rubbing their sore bellies... except for Finni and Chêne, who both seemed to be just fine.

"Well, it looks like Finni is the winner, so I'll be making you some jelly doughnuts tomorrow, 'kay?" Chêne said, smiling at Finni.

'Yaaaay~!" Finni cheered excitedly, clearly looking forward to his prize.

"Aghhhh! Don't even mention food to me right now..." Bard groaned. "Man, I ate like a pig. I'm stuffed." Bard slowly stood up, scratching his head. "Maybe I oughta go do some exercises for the digestion or somethin'," Bard thought out loud, stretching a little.

"I'll go out too~! Into the garden~!" Finni said excitedly, jumping out of his chair. "Come with me, your highness~! Miss Chêne should come too~!"

"Mmhmm. Lead the way," Soma said. A little light exercise to help settle the stomach sounded like a good idea.

"I think I'll just stay here and make the tea to go with Ciel's snack... He didn't say anything about who had to make the tea," Chêne said, smiling as she stretched, arching her back a little, like a feline. She didn't know what Ciel was plotting, but she would want help if it was her stuck slaving over a hot stove all day...

"I have to get back to the laundry, I do!" Mei-Rin said.

"Eh? I thought you already finished it..." Chêne said. "Do you need help?" Chêne offered. Tea wouldn't take that long, so she should have plenty of time to do both. Sebastian listened quietly as they all began to talk about ideas of escaping while Sebastian was occupied... as if he would let that happen.

"Everyone," Sebastian said calmly, getting their attention. They all stopped and turned to look back at the busy butler. "The next curry will be ready momentarily," Sebastian said darkly, smiling a scary shit-eating grin that did absolutely nothing to hide the black aura behind the fuming butler.

"!" Chêne said, paling slightly when she realized how pissed off he was.

"I... I can't fit anymore in my belly, I just can't!" Soma, Bard, and Mei-Rin screamed, turning blue with shock and horror, as they and Finni all hid behind Chêne.

"Eeeehh!? W-Why am I the one being used as a human shield!? You traitors!!" Chêne shouted, sweating nervously as they all held her in place, preventing Chêne from darting to safety, as the demon butler drew closer to them. Sebastian's hand suddenly shot out at her.