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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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[Sooner than later, Vincent will receive a message on his phone, however that comes across to alert the Earl. It simply reads this and and an address, with directions in case Vincent hasn't yet become that familiar with the area:]

We've a new location for you to come and visit us, not far if you don't mind a leisurely stroll.

[Enjoy that while you can. He hates sending texts, but he wants to give the man time enough to decide when and how he arrives without bothering him immediately with it.]

Edited 2017-10-31 17:39 (UTC)

Between shopping for new furniture for the house, new pillows, and other niceties, Ciel had been sent something by the Perimeter Guard. Opening it, he found something he hadn't quite expected.

He knew Jason was working at ensuring the teen had enough ammunition for his gun, he didn't know how he was planning on getting that to Ciel though so he assumed it was that. Opening the package though, a well-kept gold chain and charms had slipped out, the teen carefully grabbing at it so it wouldn't hit the ground and get marked up. This was the last thing he expected.

It was hard to keep it a secret. Even harder to shop for the perfect gift box to slip it into. At least, until they were out shopping for a few immediate needs, Ciel passed by a few Halloween-themed gift boxes shaped like coffins. As soon as he found one he thought Undertaker would like, he carefully paid for it and slipped the chain neatly into it once home. All he needed then was the right moment to give it to his housemate.

That moment came, thankfully, in the first couple days. They'd been decorating, preparing everything, and Undertaker had dozed off on the couch. With that, Ciel slipped to where he'd hidden the box and mourning chain and then set it on the pillow of Undertaker's new bed. He had even grabbed a few sweets from his store and set them around the gift very carefully so it would like nice.

And then continued around the house as if nothing was different.

He woke some time later, stretching about on the couch as if it troubled him to consider getting up and back on his feet again. Even after he was well awake, time was wasted tossing and turning until his stomach began to complain at him. Only then did he push himself upright with a groan and wander into the kitchen in search of something to calm the rumbling.

It was a small snack he took, just a fruit bar of some sort, wrapped in a foil packaging. He tore into it and went in search of his housemate. "Milord? Are you still here?"

Edited 2017-10-31 03:37 (UTC)

Ciel had settled at the table with a cup of tea and a book, glancing up when Undertaker made his way into the kitchen and smiling, tucking a marker into his book and getting to his feet as he hears himself called for.

"I'm here." He took a few steps to the kitchen after him with a smile. "Did you sleep well?" At least he sounded awake enough, it gave him reason to believe he had. Waking up would hopefully be good as well.

He turned at the voice, a little surprised at himself that he'd missed the boy just sitting there. "Seems not. Didn't even see you there, milord." In turn, he offered a smile back and leaned a hip against a counter as he took a first bite of his snack.

"Looks like you got about as much done as I did while I was out. How's your book?" It was jest, of course. They'd both been working hard at making their new home more their own. What delighted him more, the fact that they had a couch and a table and a bed or that they had Halloween decorations about the place, was something he hadn't yet figured out. Ultimately he's was just happy to have anything there at all, including the roof over his head.

"You're still waking up." He smiled, bringing his tea with him to lean beside Undertaker. He glanced at the cup and then at Undertaker, still smiling. "The water should still be hot, I only made it a bit ago. I can fix you a cup."

There was nothing different, nothing to stand out. He'd absolutely gotten something done while he'd been sleeping, nothing that he expected but something.

"I wanted to wait for your input on some things. Saves tearing anything down after." Ciel glanced to his book, back again. "It's alright, I've certainly read worse books. This is one Jason recommended, The Outsiders."

Maybe he is still waking up, or maybe feeding his hunger has become more of a priority than he had imagined. Either way it was, he was awake now and aware and chewing on the strawberry goodie. The bite of its sweetness had his jaws clenching briefly in the best way and he hummed at it.

"No, thank you. I'll get one myself in a minute. Give me something else to do to come around." He took one more bite and looked around the room over the bar, into the living room where he had been napping, hopelessly trying to see what had changed, or what the boy had in mind at least. "You know I wouldn't mind what you do with the place. Half of it's yours anyway, but that's considerate of you."

One more bite had the snack finished and he stepped to a trash can that they'd set against a wall to toss the wrapper away before getting tea. "Mm. I've not heard of it. Might read it after you, but it'll wait."

Ciel gave a little nod.

"By all means." He wouldn't mind letting Undertaker read the book, really anything he bought was free for either of them to enjoy. He wasn't terribly picky about that, if he was honest. All he cared about was that the books remained in good condition and he knew he could trust Undertaker on that.

"I know but you're better with Halloween decorations than I am though. And-" as much as the teen detested the admission- "I am much shorter. I can't reach everywhere that you can."

Tea in cup, he lifted it to his nose so he could breathe it in deep before adding a bit of honey and giving his spoon a swirl in the cup. He'd never managed to find a tea that tasted just like it smelled, but he'd enjoy both assaults on his senses every time he could. The tea here was still strange to him, but he'd grown accustomed to it in the months that he'd lived with it. Better that than nothing.

He turned and leaned back against the counter again, nose in his cup, considering. "Well I could, I suppose. I do have height on you." He grinned then, humming a chuckle. "But you're such a little thing, I could just as easily put you on my shoulders and let you decorate to your heart's content."

His cheeks went a little red at the suggestion, embarrassed despite having acknowledged his lack of height. Someday he'd be tall enough not to need help, at least until then and with Undertaker, it was more friendly teasing than much else.

"You could. Either way, I would need to wait for you to wake up. Of course, we only really need to get our Halloween decorations done for now." They couldn't let Halloween come and pass without finishing decorating.

"If you're tired though, we can just take it easy the rest of the day."

One sip and he took a moment to enjoy that, feeling the warmth of the drink flooding him as it made its way down. "Oh, now what heresy is this? Just the thought is enough to chill my bones. Not an easy thing to do to a mortician, you know."

He pretended to shiver and took another sip of his tea before setting it on the table. "But now that does put a bit of a rush on things, doesn't it? Halloween isn't far off and we need to be ready." Thankfully, he hadn't slept the whole of the day away. A quick glance outside and even his own terrible eyes could see that. "Let me go get a few things from the bedroom and we'll finish this decorating party."

"Not at all. Especially when you're usually so warm." Ciel beamed, finishing his own tea with a nod and moving to place it in the sink. A part of him wanted to find a finer set for them but remembered Undertaker usually didn't go for anything too fancy. And he liked this set anyway, it was theirs. It even felt like it was theirs, in a way.

At the comment, and he had to work very hard to stifle any reaction, Ciel raised a brow, put on a humored smile. Might as well get a little teasing in while he could. And it would cover up anything he let slip.

"Have you been hiding away some decorations?"

None the wiser, he grinned and made his way toward the bedroom, calling out as he did, waving one hand behind him. "Oh, no, not this time. Next year, I make no promises, but I'll go easy on us this time around. We've only just moved in, after all."

What he was looking for was easy enough to find - he'd left the two bags of fake spider webs he'd picked up in the novelty store on the floor next to the window, since they hadn't any dresser or anything of the sort yet to put it on. Between the door and the window, they had situated one of their beds. As he moved to crawl over it to get at the bags, he noticed something odd sitting upon the sheets and drew closer to inspect it.

Certainly that delightful little coffin and those candies spread around it weren't anything he'd left there himself. He smiled and shook his head. What had the young Earl gone and done? He looked at the candies, wrapped in what he'd come to recognize as the Funtom labeling. Tell tale fingers pointed at the one who'd left them there, not that he needed much of a hint for that. But it was the coffin that he picked up after running fingers over the candy. Something inside jingled, almost like a heavy necklace or a chain of some kind.

The box itself was pretty - he would keep it for sure - but what moved about inside had him furrowing his brows in curiosity. The latch was opened and the lid lifted and it took several moments for him to process what it was that he was seeing. Even after he took the chain from its container and held the two ends in his hands, thoroughly examined each of the seven unique charms between them, it didn't seem real. He knew this item intimately. There could be no other chain like this in the world; each charm carried within it a lock of hair from a certain individual, coated in a protective layer of gold and enamel. He knew the designs on their fronts well, knew the marks on the back, knew the names and dates on them by heart.

This could only be the one material object in the world that he valued more even than his scythe.

In his chest, his heart pounded away. He brought the chain to his lips and kissed each charm. When he left the room, he'd forgotten all about the spider webs and he came back empty handed with a look on his face that was miles away.

"My lord, where did you get this?"

He was taking a little longer than Ciel thought he might, and for a moment he wondered if he'd even looked to the bed and actually focused on bring out more decorations. Except it was silent, he would have expected maybe humming or the rustling of bags if he were bringing more decorations out.

It felt like a small eternity before Undertaker returned and Ciel watched him. Honestly, he hadn't thought Undertaker would seem so distant after finding it but he wasn't exactly expecting the man to be ecstatic either. Pleased, more like. The question though.

Ciel smiled, leaning on the counter where Undertaker had only a short while ago.

"Yesterday, someone from the Perimeter Guard mailed this to me. I'd thought it would be ammunition for me from Jason but it wasn't." The explanation didn't feel like enough, however true it was.

"I don't know your birthday but I know you like Halloween, and I thought it might be nice to give it to you now, with the house." He was almost babbling.

He looked from the boy back down to the chain in his hands, rolled the two ends between his fingers as if to make sure that he was really holding what it was he was holding. It felt solid enough, felt real. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, pushing the smile back over his lips as he clasped the two ends back around his waist where it belonged, slipping the hooks through a belt loop to keep it from slipping down. It hadn't been a short chain for a sad, sad reason, but now was hardly such a time.

"You've no idea what it means to have this back on my person again." He crossed the room again, beelining for the Earl, and reached out once he was close enough, inviting the teen in for a hug.

For a moment, Ciel panicked as Undertaker closed the distance between them- had he done something wrong? But then his arms were open for him and Ciel's smile returned, the teen wrapping his arms around Undertaker slowly.

"Maybe not but I know enough to know it was important to you. And you've been here for me through everything so far, it's only right you have your treasure back."

He'd never known his grandmother, no one ever spoke of her really whether it had been his parents when they were alive or Francis now, but he wanted to believe she'd be glad to see this returned. And, more importantly, Undertaker was glad to have it back.

As soon as Ciel returned the hug, Undertaker folded arms around him and kept him there, held gently against him. One hand buried fingers in the Earl's hair while the other crossed his back and had him snug. It wasn't on par with their usual casual interactions outside of sleeping arrangements, but it was necessary.

"How did they know to send it to you when he found it?" Where did the Guard find it? Did the portal send random objects through it as well as people? The strangeness of this world had just increased all the more, but for once it had twisted in a good way, for at least one person. He turned his long nails on the teen's hair, brushing fingers through the strands without thinking on it, as if petting a cat. "I'll have to remember to thank him as well. But you, milord... I believe I owe you something big for this, even if I lost it to you as an accident from the beginning."

Edited 2017-10-31 08:06 (UTC)

He buried his face against Undertaker's front, smiling still, happy to hold on and happy to be held. This had turned out just as he'd hoped. Maybe he hadn't expected to be hugged but Undertaker was happy. It made his heart almost ache, in a good way. Not quite a feeling he was used to but one he could learn to enjoy.

"I'm not sure, I didn't ask." The box had been plain, small, no indication given as to its contents. "I suppose they have some way of know who held it last." It was as good a guess as any, really. He hadn't done anything special with it back home, he'd just kept it safe. Even if he'd had no reason to, Ciel had never had a desire to ruin it and so he'd kept it somewhere none of the servants would disturb it. Or risk it.

Ciel shook his head against the man's chest. Owe him? This was a gift, sort of. Returning his property.

"It's a gift."

For a time, all he wanted was to stay like this, just holding the Earl close in his gratitude. But eventually it had to come to an end, and he stepped back, letting hands drift down to shoulders, holding to elbows. "Any way it went, I am more than a little relieved to have this back with me. I knew if it was you to look after it, my chain would be safe. But I suppose there was a part of me that did worry I might not see it again." He grinned, teasing nature right back where it'd gone into hiding while relief took its place. "It was the one thing you had over me."

Indeed, why should the boy give it back? Undertaker had been a wanted man with nothing in the world to lose and strength enough to fight off two grim reapers and a demon. No ties, no obligations, nothing holding him back, and then in a moment, the chain was thrown from his shoulder and right into the boy's waiting hand. His scythe couldn't be taken, his life was too difficult to end - they wanted him more or less alive anyway. But the one piece of jewelry, the one mourning chain? That had been the only thing Ciel had, the only card to play against him.

And the Earl had just given it back to him. Freely.

"I suppose this means you've no interest in capturing me for the Queen anymore, milord?"

It was, he was right. Ciel could have used this against Undertaker at any time. If he'd known he'd been the headmaster at Weston, he might have. Now though? He hadn't even thought about it. It had barely even crossed his mind after Sebastian had revealed his grandmother presence on the chain.

And now, in Riverview, what reason did he have to hold anything over Undertaker? The man had kept his eye hidden when Ciel had amnesia, had taken him to the hospital when he'd had an asthma fit, soothed his nightmares and hangover, let Ciel curl up with him at night with little or no complaint-

No. No, he had no reason to hold anything over him. He'd been better to the young Earl than most anyone else left in his life. Ciel only wanted him close and that had been a choice they'd both made, without any sort of blackmail or otherwise. And he wouldn't have wanted it any other way, he realized.

Maybe he wasn't much better of a person than he was in England but he changed enough, and this was one way to show it.

"I don't have much reason to." He didn't want to. "I doubt she'd have any way to hold you anyway. And we're here for some time, I would guess, since we bought a house."

He let his head tilt, hair shifting slightly with the movement, and hands moved back to his sides, one to the chain to feel for one of the charms. It had been with the Earl long enough in their world that he thought Ciel would have examined it by now, perhaps even identified some of the people each charm represented. The question was there, but he held back on asking, opting instead to wait until another time.

Now, they had a house to decorate. Belatedly he realized he'd forgotten all about the spider webs, but he made no hurry of getting them back. "She might, if I let her. But I've still got no love for her, so I don't think I will. I'd much rather stay here and live with you in this place - and your father soon, if the thought suits us all."

And he would answer if he was asked. He didn't have much reason not to. Knowing, even the little bit, what he did, it shouldn't have surprised him as much as it had that Undertaker had known Claudia. Although Ciel still wondered at the significance of it.

"I know you haven't." His feelings toward the Queen were likely never going to change, and Ciel wasn't going to go through the effort of trying to change his mind. He'd already seen some of the extent of her ruthlessness, with the death of Von Siemens.

That line of thought, of course, was derailed though at his next comment, Ciel gaping a little and only for a moment. It wasn't dignified.

"I... I like that idea."

This close, he didn't miss the look on the teen's face when he mentioned he'd like to stick around. The whole truth of it, he wasn't quite ready to reveal, but he thought one day Ciel might figure it out anyway. He was the son of a Phantomhive and a clever boy regardless. Sooner or later, he was bound to realize that he and his father were all that Undertaker had left in this world or any other.

Compared to his scythe, compared to the chain he held so dear, they were gold. All Riverview had done for him in that regard was to give him a chance to be closer to one and to see the other alive again. He couldn't begrudge his time here now solely for that reason.

"Looks like we made the right decision to move here. Once we get the place all prettied up for the holiday, how about I extend the invite to your father to ask him to move in? I'll take the couch for a while and you two can have the bedrooms or I'll take one and we'll put both of you in the bigger room."

And Undertaker was one of few people Ciel had, from home at least, who didn't seem to care on way or the other who he was, didn't want his soul or anything from him. That meant a lot to the boy, more than anyone probably realized. Now, more than ever, he didn't want to lose that.

"Alright, we'll finish quickly then." But still make it look nice. The latter part of that though... Ciel couldn't help a frown and let out a breath that almost sounded like a huff.

"We're not kicking you out of your room." Really, he'd stay on the couch, if anyone, since he was smaller than Undertaker or Vincent. And he still needed to find where he stood with his father anymore.

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New house fussings!

Invitations!

Decorating and gifts!

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