A/N: First story on this wonder-filled site (except for a few botched poems…). Thanks for clicking!

(I own nothing except the lovely situations I put my favorite pairing into.)

His Butler, Always

Sebastian stood with his hands on his hips, surveying the foyer of the Phantomhive mansion. It looked impeccable but something still struck him as off. A bored sounding voice piped up from behind him, "It's the painting on the far right. It is crooked. Can't you see that?" Sebastian turned to see the face of his young master staring up at him with a single blue eye. The boy had to crane his neck almost all the way back to gaze up into his butler's face and Sebastian took satisfaction in stepping closer so that the boy had to do so even more.

"Yes, my lord. I will attend to it right away."

"See that you do, and when you finish, please make an appearance in my study. I wish to discuss tomorrow's events. Oh, and don't forget the tea, Sebastian." The young man left abruptly, a hand to his head.

Sebastian wondered what could be bothering his master. Hoping it wasn't anything serious; the tall and dark butler fixed the painting with a flick of his wrist and stepped smartly towards the kitchen. After several moments of preparation, the tea was set to the tall butler's tastes. Sweeping the tray up into on large hand, the dark haired man made his way deeper into the mansion, towards the young master's imposing study.

Upon reaching it, he had his hand on the knob, when he heard a sharp intake of breath and a small mutter of something that his porcelain ears couldn't quite catch.

"My lord is everything-" Sebastian began to say when he stopped short at what greeted his eyes. His master sat up on his large imposing desk without a shirt on. Sebastian was struck, as he always was at the beauty that the young boy possessed. However it did not take long for him to recognize why his master was displaying himself. There was a large gash on the right side of his smooth body. From the look of it, the wound was painfully deep. Sebastian felt a flash of worry, and then shook his head. He did not care what happened as long as the boy remained alive.

"My lord, what happened?" the tall butler asked politely.

Ciel Phantomhive opened his one eye and stared levelly at his servant.

"I merely fell," he shifted and more blood came gushing out of the opening. The stoic boy let out an almost inaudible whimper. Sebastian had a strange urge to give the boy's normally unmarred forehead a kiss. Shifting the thought away, he came forward to help his master.

"Here, allow me," Sebastian murmured in a silky tone. The tall demon took a handkerchief from his sleeve and pressed it to the boy's side. Ciel hissed and grabbed onto his butler's vest with slender fingers. Those fingers turned white with pain as Sebastian gently dabbed at his wound. Sebastian lightly held the boy's side and helped him lie down on the desk. Keeping one hand on the young earl's hip, Sebastian leaned close to get a better look at the bloody opening.

"I'll need to stitch it together my lord."

"Then get on with it!" the earl said, his voice tight with pain.

Sebastian couldn't imagine a fall so bad that it would cause a seeming "battle wound" such as the one oozing red liquid in front of him. The tall butler was almost mesmerized by the contrast of the red against the snow colored skin. He had a very sudden urge to lick a bead of blood off of his young master but just as sudden as the thought appeared, he swept it aside into the dark corners of his thoughts. He went to the side of the room to a cabinet set into the wall. Grabbing the first aid parcel that he kept for these occasions, Sebastian swiftly made his way over to the small open body laid on the large desk like a sacrificial lamb. When he gazed into the earl's one good eye, Sebastian could almost imagine his master as an offering to some dark god. The unbidden thought provoked mental images that shocked him. His large, gloved, hands ghosted over the expanse of white skin that covered the boy's stomach. He took off his gloves then and gave one to the young man.

"Bite on this, it is going to hurt." he whispered, moving a sweaty strand of hair out of the earl's vision. He then poured a bit of rubbing alcohol over the affected area. The earl of Phantomhive screamed through the thin cloth of the butler's glove and bucked. Sebastian hurriedly pressed firmly on the boy's hip and shoulder to keep him on the desk. Once the younger male's muscles relaxed under his servant's hold, Sebastian swiftly cut stitching wire and brought out a sterilized needle from a cloth package. He was stopped by a whimper from his young master. The tall man looked towards his protected. The boy had an expression that looked like a mixture of pain, fear, and trust. Such an overwhelming trust.

His eye patch was askew from his fervent head tossing and its ties fell down by his ear. Sebastian found the sight quite endearing and mentally snorted. Why should he find anything endearing... Except for cats...

Breaking his eye contact with the boy, Sebastian began mending the gaping hole in the perfect skin with an ease expected of a seasoned doctor. The younger male threw his head back in pain, slamming his skull with a dull thud on the exceptional mahogany beneath his writhing body. Soon, Sebastian was finished and pasted a soothing herbal poultice onto the weird smile of a scar that marred the crisp white skin of his master's seemingly frail body.

Without prompt, the younger male slid off the desk onto his feet, Sebastian slowly wrapped a black cloth bandage twice around the small torso beneath his hands, then leaned down to bite the cloth and rip it. The tall butler breathed in near the young boy. He smelled of salty sweat, the soap that Sebastian himself washed the earl with, and a hint of Sebastian's favorite smell: almonds.

The boy suddenly faltered in his stance; however, Sebastian simply picked the boy up in his long arms. The young male's small head fell back with exhaustion and Sebastian's gaze was drawn to the smooth skin of his neck. Shaking his head, Sebastian set his eyes firmly on the hallway in front of him and carried the earl to his private chambers.

Once inside the dimly lit room, the tall dark man gently laid his master on the duvet. It seemed that the boy had fallen asleep from the exertion of the past hour. The eye patch had slipped off of the marked eye completely and lay limply on the round cheek of its owner. Sebastian leaned over to grab it when he felt a small hand on his chest. The boy had reached up and grasped the lapels of his impeccably neat coat.

"Sebastian..." the young male murmured, his voice slurred with sleep.

Stunned, the tall man answered, "Yes, my lord?" then immediately felt foolish. The boy was obviously asleep. The young earl simply pulled on his coat again, almost pulling the dark man on top of him. Sebastian slowly pried those slender fingers off of his coat then took a large step back. He was breathing heavily. He left abruptly, leaving the boy lying on the large king bed, looking like a small doll against its size.

Sebastian made his way to the kitchen, firmly kicking Bard out without a word. The American protested for a moment outside the wrong side of the heavy kitchen door, and then obviously gave up to complain to the young Finnian, guessing from the silence that fell. Sebastian felt quite rattled, an unknown feeling for the normally in control butler. When these extremely rare times came upon him, he needed to cook. His mind then thought back to the smell of the boy as he leaned close to that lithe form. Almonds. He needed to make something with almonds...