got sick in a +13° weather. can I pretty please have your hcs on Sebastian being all lovey-dovey with sick CielđŤ´
sebastian had seen ciel ill twice: once when he learned he had asthma and coughed his lungs out in a dusty circus tent, and the second time when he nearly died from poison gas (whether that can even be called an illness, sebastian does not concern himself with. what he does know is that he has no intention of letting the saying âthird timeâs the charmâ come true).
one day, while preparing a snack in the kitchen, he suddenly heard a coughâand within a fraction of a second, he was at his masterâs side. he couldnât even say why he did it; it was instinct. ciel, startled by the demonâs sudden presence, only said:
âi did not summon you.â
âi am aware, my lord,â he began, not entirely sure what he meant to convey. he removed one glove and placed his hand against cielâs forehead. âhowever, i am concernedâyou appear to have an elevated temperature, which may lead to illness.â
ânonsense,â ciel replied, brushing his hand away and turning slightly in his chair, cheeks faintly flushed. the sight only alarmed sebastian further, memories of cielâs previous condition clouding his judgment of the true cause of the blush. âleave, and return with tea.â
âi will return with teaâbut elsewhere.â
in one smooth motion, sebastian pulled the chair back and lifted the young master, supporting his knees and back.
âput me down!â ciel struggled, but sebastian was already out the office door before he could finish. âhave you lost your mind? you will release me, i ordââ he fell silent as sebastian kicked open the bedroom door.
âforgive my impertinence, but my duty is to protect your life, and illness is a direct threat to it.â he set him down on the bed and turned toward the wardrobe, already searching for sleepwear.
âyou are to protect it from physical threats.â
âthat was before i learned that your constitution is more fragile than that of the average human.â
âi do not recall amending the terms.â
âshall we argue as we did on the first day?â
he was already beside him again, undoing buttons with his bare hand. ciel fell silent, watching his black nails.
âeven your heart is beating faster. this may be serious. perhaps i should summon a physicianââ he started to get up.
âdonât!â ciel grabbed his handâthe same hand that had moments ago brushed against his chestâand sebastian froze. âdonât. i will allow you to take care of me, but you will not call anyone.â
the demon knelt once more, continuing to undress him.
despite the daylight outside, ciel lay in bed, wrapped as if it were night. every ten minutes, sebastian entered the room to ensure he needed nothing.
âyoung master, i shall replace the pillows.â
âyoung master, warm milk with honey.â
âyoung master, shall i draw the curtains?â
âyoung master, i will change the splenium.â
âyoung master, is it too cold? shall i open the window?â
âyoung master, is it too warm? shall i stoke the fire?â
âyoung master, i have prepared a light stew.â
he had already sat beside him, lifting a spoon toward his lips, when he paused mid-motion, recalling the order he had once received. he lowered the spoon back into the bowl, stood, and placed it on the bedside table.
âmy apologies. i forgot myself.â he bowed and left.
when he did not return for twenty minutes, ciel assumed perhaps the demon had grown bored (âwhat is this strange feeling in my chest⌠i am too young for aches of that sortâ), and decided to sneak back to the office to at least retrieve some papers. but the moment he stepped into the corridor, the one-who-hears-and-sees-everything appeared. apparently, walking on tiptoe had not helped.
ciel sighed, turned on his heel, and retreated before sebastian could comment, accepting defeat (and the faint smile creeping onto his face was, of course, because of the pudding in sebastianâs handânothing else).
âyoung master, i believe i made it clear that you are to remain in bed.â
âremaining in bed does not mean doing nothing.â
âyou will not recover if you overexert yourself.â
âi am bored,â ciel muttered, climbing back under the covers.
sebastian regarded him in silence for a moment, then left the room, leaving ciel confused, wondering if that alone had been enough to irritate him. but not even half a minute passed before he returnedâthis time carrying a chair.
ciel raised a brow. âso i am to sit instead of lie down?â
âthis chair is for me,â sebastian replied with a faint smile.
âfor you,â ciel repeated, failing to see the logic. since when did sebastian need a chair?
âif you are bored, i shall keep you company.â
and so what ciel had initially dismissed as overprotectiveness became their small tradition. whenever ciel showed the slightest sign of illness, sebastian would leave his side only to fetch somethingâand once he returned, he would sit beside him. sometimes he read aloud, stopping only when cielâs breathing softened into sleep. other times he told stories from his pastâof different erasâmaking warmth spread in cielâs chest, because sebastian never sounded even remotely interested in the one who had placed him there. or he would speak of the manor, gently mocking the incompetence of their staff. he brought games that required little effort.
over time, only one thing changed: sebastian moved from the chair to the bed. at first sitting beside him, then gradually closer, until eventually he lay beside him with ciel tucked against his chest.
âhow convenient, being a demon who cannot fall ill.â
the first time truly frightened sebastianâmemories of almost losing ciel still freshâbut with each passing instance, they both knew his life was no longer in danger. neither spoke it aloud, unwilling to spoil those moments. a minor illness became the perfect excuse: for sebastian to never leave his side, and for ciel to show vulnerability without shame, because âillness weakens the body.â
(including the once-spoken âi feel too weak to lift a spoon,â just so sebastian could conveniently forget a long-standing order.)
sometimes, when ciel felt he needed those moments, he would deliberately murmur, âi believe i have a fever.â
and sebastian, finding his temperature perfectly normal, would give no sign that he knew ciel was feigning.
âin that case, i recommend postponing todayâs duties and retiring to your bed.â
âfor once, i believe that may be wise.â
âthen allow me, young master,â sebastian said, taking his hand and closing the office door behind them.