Shieru: Second little drabble of mine.~ I really like how this one came out, even though my symbolism is made of fail. But, a good idea, none the less. Enjoy.~

Disclaimer: I don't won Kuroshitsuij, characters, and blah, blah, blah, all that jazz.

"Is it okay like this?" Ciel questioned, having slipped on his winter coat, pulling the furred hood over his head to keep warm as he and his butler left the Phantomhive household, walking in slow steps towards the carriage that would lead them into town. Ciel had requested a driver to do so, wanting to speak privately with Sebastian within the confines of the carriage. "Sebastian?"

"Of course, young master." Sebastian replied automatically, a playful smirk curving his lips as he sat opposite of his young master, hands folded neatly in his lap, watching Ciel as he stared out of the frosted window, watching the rolling fields of pure white pass them by. "What is it you wished to speak with me about?" He inquired, Ciel's eyes lingering still on the frosted window in silence for a few moments before he turned his gaze to Sebastian, to his butler that sat so perfectly still across from him.

Ciel didn't say anything for soundless seconds, only stared at Sebastian, an unreadable emotion in his hue of sapphire; the eye narrowing as he silently contemplated something, his thoughts, perhaps? Sebastian wasn't sure; he had been too stricken by the fact that he could not be able to read the expression that the Earl held, for he had always been able to. The demon butler guessed it was due to the fact that he had never seen this emotion played across the Earl's face, but he knew deep down that he had seen this emotion before. He just couldn't quite recall where.

Sebastian had his quiet musing, focus lost as he allowed his mind to drift, still not having received an answer from the Earl. Sebastian thought back onto his previous years, before having come to serve Ciel Phantomhive, his previous Faustian contract dealers, and although he had wanted to, Sebastian ended up comparing his previous masters to his current one, a child of thirteen years old. No matter how far back the years traveled, or where in the world he had been during that time..Sebastian found himself smiling, though this time he hid a pleasant meaning to his countenance, not wanting to reveal to his current master that throughout the years, perhaps centuries that Sebastian had been alive..it was always Ciel that he held above all the rest. As if he would ever know that, though.

Sebastian's crimson vision fell from the Earl across from him to the same frosted window he had been looking out of, a light snowfall beginning to descend on the Earth. The demon butler watched the individual flakes fall, each one different from the last, but when they had melded together in one giant melting pot of snowflakes, they held no real form to them. They were no longer the individual beauty that once captivated his sight, entranced it with its elegance and captivated with its graceful dance in the air.

He watched a single snowflake fall, but this one had been different, so much more different than the rest. The snowflake had fallen away from the rest, alone and isolated from the thousands of other snowflakes that had collected and gathered together. But it wasn't truly alone, not really. Next to that single, alone snowflake, sat a withered leaf, left over from the previous fall season. The two merely lay there, side by side until something or someone would rip them apart. But even then, Sebastian felt as if they would find their way back together again, for it was how it should be. Those two should always be together.

"Do you.." Sebastian turned his head back to Ciel, the child across from him having begun to childishly fiddle with his fingers, twining and twisting them in nervousness. "Do you ever feel..lonely, Sebastian?" Ciel tentatively kept his eyes lowered, watching his mindless movements rather than those knowing ruby red eyes that belonged to a demon. A light chuckle broke the short silence, Ciel's head snapping up and meeting those same ruby red eyes he had tried to avoid only seconds earlier.

"What an odd question, young master." Sebastian had answered with, and Ciel's face fell in disappointment, though he hid it well as he appeared to have shrugged it off, leaning back in his seat and crossing his arms over his chest. The Earl's head lulled to the left side dully, sapphire blue not really looking at anything anymore, just staring off into wonder. "Never." Ciel turned his head slowly back to Sebastian, eyes wide as he heard the single spoken word. His eyes were wide for but a moment, confusion having filtered across them, before he reset his perfectly crafted mask.

"What do you mean..'never'?" Ciel questioned, feeling unsatisfied with only the single word. Though, the young master had found himself increasingly frustrated as Sebastian hadn't said anything more on the matter, only watched the snowflakes fall from the dark sky, ruby red having looked back down the road to search for something, but Ciel wasn't sure what it was, but his curiousity had peaked as an amused countenance played across the butler's lips. "You're such a frustrating person to deal with.." Ciel mumbled as the carriage ride came to an end.

"That was hardly worth our time..what is that policeman even good for?" Ciel sighed as he walked down the snow-riddled streets of the town, feet crunching into the piled up snow. The Earl mindlessly talked about things, as he and his butler headed back to the carriage, nothing worth doing lingering in the town to make them stay. "Honestly..that-"

Ciel cried out as he had slipped on the slush of melting snow, stumbling back only to fall into gentle arms, the demon butler smiling apologetically down at his young master. Ciel stared up at him for a moment, still held in his arms, heart beating loud in his chest for some reason. He didn't like not knowing the reason and quickly pulled away, stumbling away from Sebastian in a hidden embarrassment. Though his embarrassment had continued as the Earl slipped again on the melting snow, though this time when Sebastian had caught him, the butler had swept his arms under Ciel's leg, lifting him in the way a groom would do towards his bride. From that thought alone, Ciel felt as if his heart would burst and his face would erupt in a deep red hue. Thankfully, neither happened as he exhaled his held breath and allowed Sebastian to carry him regardless of the Earl's confusing emotions and actions.

"Forgive me, I should have warned you of the melting snow. The roads can get quite unstable with snow, which is another reason I detest this season." Sebastian had stated, ruby red no longer watching the snowflakes with interest as he had done so before, back in the carriage. He was much more concentrated on the human he held in his arms, making sure that above everything else, that Ciel Phantomhive was safe. "The young master is unharmed, correct?"

Ciel nodded and asked to be let down, Sebastian complying almost…regrettably, and set his young master down. The two had begun walking again as they had been before, though there was almost..a heavy silence between them, a deep tension-filled air that followed the two as they walked. The Earl sighed to himself, muttering scolding words as he set his hand over his rapidly beating heart, asking it why it was torturing him so.

"What about the young master?" Sebastian asked the question out of the blue, having no real reasoning for doing so. Ciel froze in his steps, the street emptying out as the two faced each other, Ciel and Sebastian the only two left in the once bustling street. "Does the young master ever feel lonely?" Sebastian watched as a shocked look flashed across his young master's face for but a moment before he turned it away, lips furling into a scowl.

"You have no right to ask me that." Sebastian heard Ciel's retort, watching as the Earl's gloved hand clenching at the cloth over his chest, the material twisting as his fingers curled around it. The demon butler rounded over to where Ciel was looking, kneeling on his knee, hand set over his own heart as he bowed and apologized, when he had moved to stand, he was genuinely shocked when the Earl had rushed at him, small arms circling his waist, head buried into him. "Stay by my side, Sebastian. Never leave me, and.." His sentence was left hanging in the air, the demon butler wrapping his arms to quell the shaking child before him. "Sebastian..I'm not going to answer that question. But…you should already know the answer, right?"

Sebastian's lips curved into a pleasant smile, gloved hands pulling the child closer to him, ruby red gleaming with a lost emotion as he looked upon his current master, his young master. His eyes softened as the snow began to fall more plentiful around them, the human Earl having been covered in it, though the pure white flakes seemed to have avoided the demon, though not everything did as leaves, old and faded, had blow by with a cold wind. The leaves danced before the butler's gaze, circling him as the wind had whipped in the air around the demon, the leaves disappearing as Sebastian had kneeled down and dusted off the amounts of snowflakes that had collected on his young master.

"A single snowflake.." Sebastian pointed out; having noticed a single, perfectly crafted snowflake had fallen into the Earl's outstretched palm, the white contrasting greatly to the black of Ciel's glove. Sebastian's own gloved hand had stopped in mid-air as he had admired the beauty of the snowflake, this single snowflake that was greater than the thousands of others.

"You have something too." Ciel stated as his free hand set over Sebastian's, picking out a blackened leaf that had fallen into the butler's white gloved hand, the invert of what Ciel's hand had been holding. "A..black leaf?" Ciel gasped when Sebastian pulled the leaf away, allowing it to flow with the air currents, he turned back to Ciel, eyes widening as the snowflake fell apart in the Earl's palm, melting and disappearing from the world completely.

"It's cold." Ciel muttered and snapped his head up at his butler, the demon having removed his black coat and draped it over his young master, lifting the small body into his arms, holding him close so the human could keep warm. The walk back was silent, a much more comfortable and serene silence, as opposed to the heavy, tension-filled one from before. The demon butler had taken the Earl back to his carriage, driving himself this time around as the Earl napped inside on the way back.

When they had reached the manor, Ciel was still sound asleep inside, the demon butler holding an amused countenance and taking the frail body into his arms once more, taking the sleeping child back to his bedroom, he moved to replace the jacket with bed sheets, but found that Ciel was clinging close to it, a vice grip on the sleeves. Sebastian sighed softly as he decided to leave it there, wrapping the blanket over the Earl and the jacket, allowing Ciel to nap for the afternoon.

Sebastian lingered in the room however, for some reason. He couldn't be bothered to leave his young master, having remembered the instance back at town. The snowflake that was so much like Ciel, pure and beautiful, had disappeared. Vanished into the air. While the blackened leaf that was so much like the demon butler, had remained still, going off alone without the snowflake that it had once stuck close by. Sebastian felt as if that was foreshadowing something, though he didn't want to dwell too long on the thought.

His gloved hand went forward, brushing strands of the Earl's matted, snow-wet hair, pushing the locks away from his soundly sleeping face. "Sleep well, young master." Sebastian leant forward, lips pressing softly against the sleeping Earl's. The demon butler enjoyed the moment for as long as it could last, careful not to stir the sleeping Ciel as he pulled away, gloved hand running over his lips as he pulled fully away from his young master, leaving the room with a formal bow, despite the Earl being in slumber. "Sleep well…Ciel."

Shieru: A bit longer than my last one. Ohh, and inspired by the opening scene of Monoshitsuji, and that butler, who is forever faithful to a young master that has passed. Also inspired by a talk I had with my own Sebastian about it, so, you can also thank him for this ficlet.~