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who: Undertaker, Ciel Phantomhive, Vincent Phantomhive
what: New house doings
when: Oct 30th
where: The new house
warnings: Possible cute... Yeah, lots of possible cute.

Maybe the last thing he had ever expected to do in this world was to find house to live in. Even in his own world, a funeral parlor and a small apartment room above it were all that he had to himself, and then circumstances took that from him as well. Now he had a room of his own, a full living room, proper kitchen, a bathroom and then some.

That he shared the whole of the thing with a boy of fourteen didn't bother him at all. Ciel would have his own room, his own bathroom. It astounded him that this was theirs now, in a world far from their own, and that he was well and truly happy with it.

They needed to get a few things, to be sure. The pots and pans that they had were good enough, the food they moved over would tide them for some time. They had blankets, but now no beds and no chairs or table. Still, he couldn't help a giddy chill that ran down his spine as he looked around the bare living room, gaze stopping on a cold fireplace. They had been here no more than a day, moving things back and forth and even he was a bit tired by now, but it already felt more like... home. Such a foreign concept, but he felt it.

With a sigh, he let himself down on his knees and then stretched out on his front over the carpeting. It's not a bed and he has no blanket, but for now he's comfortable and gravity pulling on his body, dragging him to the floor will have him drowsy and content in no time.

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He shrugged with a soft sound and moved over to place the spider on the top of Ciel's head, then returned to the fireplace as if he'd done no such thing and started stringing webbing across the other side of the room next, grinning his same grin. "Sure it does. A man of my age taking a boy of your age to bed each night? That'd look right strange, no doubt about it."

Oh, they would get looks. There would be concerns, and anyone with an ounce of decency in them would start considering ways to take Ciel away from him. That couldn't happen, of course. The more he thought about why, the more he realized he needed the young Earl with him, to make sure he was safe and sound as he'd committed himself to doing. If he went with Vincent, it would be easier to accept, but if they wanted to take Ciel away from him and let this world's government decide his fate, well. That just simply wouldn't do.

He shook his head, bringing himself back to the present. "It'd be strange all over again to have a bed to myself. For a while there, I thought it strange to have you curled up next to me, even if it was just in the chair or on the floor like you used to say you wouldn't mind doing. Funny how quickly things change for you when you're not paying attention."

The moment the spider was placed on his head, Ciel blinked and then started laughing, dislodging the spider from its perch. He caught it easily enough, even though it reaching the floor wouldn't hurt anything. He quickly finished off his web and settled the spider just off center then, feeling his cheeks heat a little.

"Nothing like that is happening though!" How many would have listened though, without Ciel telling more than what he ever cared to share. He never even mentioned it to Undertaker. That Month remained a mostly off-limits subject for him.

"I wouldn't have." Since his memory had ended up displayed for all the see, he could remember a bit more clearly what it had felt like, sleeping on a cold, stone, floor. "I'm glad you let me stay with you though. It's much better than the floor." He added with a laugh.

He waved a hand between them. "I know, I know, well as you. I'm only saying." He shook his head again and went back to the webbing and put one more strand between the wall and the floor. It looked a little different but better that way. Spiders were weird things.

"Aye, you said as much then and I believe you meant it. But it still doesn't sit right with me, making you rest on the floor or a couch while I take the bed. Seems too... inappropriate." In his mind, the boy was still a noble, proud and dignified and on his high horse as ever he was back in London. Manners had changed now, in this world. They wouldn't be sharing a bed or even the same room had they not, but he still looked at Ciel and saw the Earl in him, that he had been and that he may yet still one day be, if they left this place.

He looked back, watching the teen through clouded vision, but it all looked the very same. Nothing had changed.

The fact that Undertaker was right, that people would think something inappropriate was going on, irritated him. Not that he would go around like a small child telling people about sleeping with Undertaker, but it wasn't their concern.

Ciel let out a soft snort at the comment, making sure his web and spider looked around then approached Undertaker, throwing one web over his shoulder. For laughs and to make a light point.

"I think your age is showing." The teen teased. "I might have agreed before we arrived but... so long as we're both comfortable and getting enough rest, that's what I care about. And you were much too tall to sleep comfortably on that couch."

Last web done, he balled the empty bag between his hands and let it fall to the couch where it promptly stretched itself back out half heartedly, as if it didn't really care one way or another what shape it took. He stared at the pale blob it made in his vision and sat himself down upon it. Fine, be that way.

"I am, am I?" He simply shrugged and put both arms over the back of the couch. "Not sure about you, but if your nightmares are staying at bay, all's well that ends well."

Ciel still had a few webs left in his bag but he set it aside, settling beside Undertaker on the couch, shifting so he was sitting on his knees and facing the man. And for a moment, he just sat and watched him.

In moments like that, and Undertaker's earlier words, it was hard not to think about the changes since he'd arrived. He had been set on capturing the ex-reaper, had been repulsed by his creations, had even felt a little wary about him after the Campania. And all that had changed, so easily, with the pollen that had stolen his memories.

After all he'd done, Undertaker had still looked after him. He could have so easily sent the boy off to find someone else. It had been early, it would have been hard, but someone would have stepped in.

Probably.

"Any that I start to have with you are banished quickly enough. In the back of my mind, I always know I'm safe, and then you sooth me."

That had quieted them quickly. He looked over at the boy, sitting there facing him, and thought he could hug him again, but refrained. Once his father came back into the picture, things would be different, even if Vincent didn't mind that they curled together for Ciel's comfort. How, he wasn't exactly sure, but he felt that they would.

One hand drifted down the couch and landed on the thin shoulder. "Be better if I stayed by your side at night, wouldn't it?" He wondered to himself if anyone since Vincent and Rachel's deaths had done this for the boy. They had servants, of course, and the butler, but he couldn't see the demon as one who would willingly stay near a child so young to help him rest easy. "You've been my priority since your parents died. Now it's you and your father."

If he wasn't going to hug Ciel, the boy would have to hug him. A few moments after the hand lands on his shoulder, Ciel would lean forward and wrap his arms around his guardian. And then he held tight to him, letting his feels be felt rather than heard.

"I hope you mean both of us are and not that you'll let my father take over." Even wanting, having, Vincent in his life again, he still very much wanted Undertaker there. He needed Undertaker there, he was family now. Just as much as if blood connected them.

"You're right though, it would be better." He could rattle off a few reasons, reasons he'd mentioned before, but they never felt right. Or enough.

In that embrace, he shifted slowly and breathed in deep, letting it out slowly. He'd napped earlier and it felt like more than enough, but the young Earl's warm body holding onto him had muscles loosening as if he'd been under a soothing massage. He chuckled and turned just enough to curl around the boy and draped arms around him in kind. His head he held beside Ciel's, leaning them into the soft back of the couch.

"I only want you both to be safe and well. Whatever it takes us to get to that, I'll keep in consideration." Just like he would keep Ciel close now, enjoying the hug while he could.

Ciel, however, had not, the excitement of the new house and decorating giving him energy to go on most of the day. Now though, relaxed and comfortable and warm, he could feel the weight of sleep drawing him. And resisted. There was still plenty to do and he was not yet satisfied with how well he expressed himself to Undertaker.

"Good." His voice was soft for a moment, then tilted his head so he could look right to where Undertakers covered eyes were. "Nothing would be the same without you. You're family. Whether you think so or not."

There was another distant concept for him, something he hadn't touched on in decades, centuries even. Oh, he'd seen it in action, of course. There was no doubt about that. He knew what it was to care for someone and look after them and love them as family. He wasn't dumb. But to be accepted as much?

He tilted his head just so to look at Ciel, able to see him almost clear as day now as close as they were. "There's something I haven't heard in a long, long time. You're certain you want to call me that now, with everything that's happened back home and here as well?"

Ciel watched, unphased, still holding onto the man. Not for a moment did he doubt what he'd said, even at Undertaker's question. Instead, he just leaned his head down again, let out a soft breath.

"I'm sure." There wasn't any hesitation in his answer. "And I'm sure father will agree. You've always been there for us, even if we didn't realize it."

And Ciel hadn't been well and truly happy in years, not like he was now. A home, a friend, facing his fears and trauma's, he couldn't ask for much more.

The sigh from his housemate made him wonder at just how much Ciel had been doing while he had been unconscious. It'd seemed unfair at the time, but he had stayed up rather late moving things back and forth. Even with teleportation on his side, the late hour did eat at his energy a little.

"That tends to happen when you do what I do." The informant, the grave keeper, the mortician. Now the guardian. His was a busy life, even if he only ever claimed his career in the death business was all that he kept, but they were all more than what they seemed. "Are you sure you're not tired, milord? We don't yet have anything to watch a movie on but I'll be more than happy to tuck you in and finish setting up a few things if you need a rest."

He really hadn't done much but the excitement of having a house of their own, paired with the nerves of seeing his father alive again, had certainly worked him over the past few days. Ciel was good at keeping himself going though, and he'd had tea while Undertaker was resting. That had certainly helped.

"Mm but you never had to." Ciel said softly. Undertaker had no real obligation to them, not one that Ciel could see. Connections to them, yes, but obligations? He'd have to find more to find any that might exist but he trusted the man, he didn't feel a need to dig.

"I'm sure. It's just very comfortable here. I'll probably sleep more soundly later if I don't sleep now, anyway."

He brought a hand up to scritch playfully at the space between the Earl's shoulder blades. "I don't have to do anything, but I do it anyway. Just like you didn't have to return my chain to me, even when you were given it back here, but you did."

When the boy decided to sleep, he would. If he was honest with himself, he didn't feel much like getting up to do anything more for the moment. Given a few minutes more, he would. He should have finished his tea, he thought, but it would be cool by now, and he would have to leave their hold to get to it. "As you wish. We'll be at this for a little while yet anyway. Moving never really stops."

"I wanted to though." And seeing how happy it had made Undertaker made it worth it. More than worth it. He couldn't regret any choice he'd made since the chain had been delivered. And he wouldn't.

He saw where Undertaker had been going with that though, his hug tightened a fraction. And then he relaxed, this time letting out a little huff. That last bit didn't sound good.

"I've never had to move before. At least we haven't got much?" Just things they needed to get. That... would make it easier, he would have thought.

He gave a soft sound and let his cheek rest against the Earl's, content to stay here as long as they would. The weight of his chain had been gone from his waist for so long that it was something he now noticed rather than it being the absence of the chain that was felt. Glad didn't come close to describing what it mean to have that back.

Rather than let the squeeze go unanswered, he squirmed closer and drew the boy up and into his lap for the sake of doing so. "No, I would hope not. You and that big old manor of yours. The most moving you've ever had to do was to move from one room to another, I bet." He grinned with a faint chuckle. "What an effort that would have been to move you to an entirely new home."

All that mattered to Ciel was that Undertaker was happier for having the chain back. That they could be on more even ground than they had been so far, neither having really anything over the other. There was the matter of his demon but he didn't think, after the memory issue, that Undertaker was going to use that against him. Or the matter of his twin.

In his lap, Ciel moved to wrap his arms around Undertaker's neck, relaxing. And then letting out another little huff, almost sticking his tongue out at the man. Except, he was right. It had been a pain when Sebastian had be 'murdered' and he had to stay with Arthur, but beyond that, he'd never had to move rooms let alone to a new house.

"I would have found a way to manage." He would have shoved all the work on Sebastian, more like.

Now that they were situated a little better, they could let gravity work on them and it might be easier to coax the teen to sleep. He had not a doubt in his mind that Ciel had been in need of a nap of some sort, even if he wanted to be up late enough to get to sleep at a proper time that night. That could still be accomplished. He hadn't seen a clock yet, but it looked late enough in the evening that they hadn't long before sleep would happen anyway.

"If you hadn't, I might find myself concerned. But enough for now on that. What do you think about letting your father stay with us? It's been on my mind all day and I've been meaning to ask you."

This was alright for him for now. It was still entirely possible he'd fall asleep but he was engaged enough at the moment that it wasn't an immediate concern. And the question had him more awake than he had been seconds before. His father? Here? It was hard to imagine the former Earl living in a house like this but then, it was probably hard for some people to imagine the current one here too.

"Do you think he'd want to?" That was important. As awkward as it was, Ciel did want his father close. And if that meant him living with them... "I won't mind it."

Did Vincent want to stay with them? He'd wondered that himself, but all he had right now was a thought and an invitation in mind. The rest of it would have to sort itself out once he had held discussions with the right people, Ciel being one and the obvious first of them. They'd bought the house together, so it was only right that the boy help him make such decisions.

"It might be easier for him in this world if he had people familiar to him around, but that'd be for him to decide. I meant to make him the offer, only if you okayed it. Things haven't yet been smoothed out between the two of you and I'm not blind to it, and this is half your home now. But if you're really alright with this, I can run it by him and see what he wants to do."

Even with the amount of space they had, they were clever, they could make it all work. And his father would probably be amenable to moving in with them, if only because Undertaker was his friend and Ciel, his son. There was also, as Undertaker said, the fact that they were familiar. And all from, mostly, the same time.

"You're not wrong." The two of them, though still very far behind, had managed to adjust well-enough to the time and technology. And, thankfully, hadn't become entirely reliant on it. Especially after the acid rain had taken out power for a few days.

"I'm alright with it." He couldn't remain distant with his father forever, after all.

He leaned back a little into the cushioning again and tilted his head back against the padding. It was wonderful, what they had here, and he could only imagine it being a little strange at first until the three of them figured out their patterns, but it wouldn't be for long. They were familiar with each other, amicable with each other. This wouldn't be difficult.

He couldn't let it be.

"I'll speak with him about it, then, unless you would rather extend the invitation to him yourself. I imagine you've spoken to each other but I'm not sure how it's all going."

It was wonderful, Ciel was learning he could be happy again. That he could be happy there, in this little house with Undertaker and his father, in Riverview, with the friends he'd made. Thing might be awkward- were most likely going to be awkward, but they could handle it.

"I think, maybe, it might be easier from you." He was still adjusting to the idea of his father being alive, of him being close. As much as he wanted to be close to his father again, there were a few obstacles still needing to be overcome.

This was terribly nice, sitting as he was with the boy and having conversation. It touched on places in his chest he hadn't seen fully awake in too long, and a part of him wanted to shy away from it all, but a greater part of him quieted that down. Strange that it had taken bringing him and the ones he now cared for to a whole other world, out of their elements, to make it happen.

"No worries about it, then. I plan on greeting him to show him the house a little later and I'll ask him then." He paused, tilted his head. That Ciel hadn't offered to take the opportunity to invite his father to live with them said more than just that, but he was still curious. "By the by, how is that going?"

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