Hello guildmates!
The Nomination Period is now closed! Below the cut you will find a complete list of all the fanart nominations received for The Guild Awards this term! The mobile-friendly version can also be found in a Google Doc here that has the complete list!
You can find the list of all the fanfiction nominations here!
If you do not see your nomination, or you find issues with the links, please reach out to us as soon as possible!
We are going to give you 2 weeks time to enjoy all of the pieces nominated for this term! We strongly encourage that when you view a work of art or read a fanfiction, please reblog or leave a comment to let the creators know how much their work and talent is appreciated!
The voting period will begin April 15th and end April 29th at midnight PST!
In order to be able to vote, you will need to login. We will be posting the link to the voting form on the first day of the voting session.
Got a question? Check out our FAQ Google Doc or send us an ask!
Message one of the mods directly: @classysassy9791 @phoenix-before-the-flame @kiliinstinct @ratretro @phoneboxfairy
Thank you to everyone who nominated for making this term absolutely wonderful and happy voting!
[please reblog to help spread the love of these amazing creators!]
FANART
Best Action/Adventure
“Jacked Erza” by @pkuinn (tumblr)
“Dragon / Goddess Irene” by @eepintothewoods (tumblr)
“Super Late But Happy Gruvia Day” by @hollie-artz (tumblr)
Best AU/AR
“Shiny Shiny Gold” by @fainttwinkling (tumblr)
“It’s Lisanna’s turn to be badass” by @pencilofawesomeness (tumblr)
‘Circus AU Lucy by @beanthespleen (tumblr)
“Just some late night Lucy star dress doodles” by @beanthespleen (tumblr)
“FarmLu” by @likubears (tumblr)
Best Canon
“Capricorn Star Dress” by @moxiepoxart (tumblr)
‘Dan Lucy, Your Bobbies’ by @boxonarock (tumblr)
‘Cuddling’ by @smappybubbles (tumblr)
“Like The Natsu I’ve Always Known” by @shiiro-arts (tumblr)
Best Angst
“I love them so much” by @shiiro-arts (tumblr)
‘Manga Redraw’ by @Azriaann (tumblr)
Best Dark
“Rogue on the Battlefield” by @celestialrayna (tumblr)
“He’s Fine. Don’t Worry About It” by @kitsunegender (tumblr)
“For All You Gajeel Thirsters” by @mavikiu (tumblr)
Best Humor/Parody
“they are too silly” by @heartonxions (tumblr)
‘Happy Valentine’s Day!’ by @riveluart (tumblr)
“Them, Basically!” by @friedmeatbuns (tumblr)
“Shadowgear Lethal Company” by @firapolemos05 (tumblr)
FarmLu” by @likubears (tumblr)
“I Feel Like this Joke is So Them” by @acnologias-ass (tumblr)
Best Kiss
“Happy february to them” by @lav3nder-bees (tumblr)
“Punks and their short bf/gf (pic 3)” by @merryweathart (tumblr)
"A Bit Early But Merry Christmas Everyone!" by @hollie-artz (tumblr)
"Natsu's Kiss" by @disnimeartzy (tumblr)
Best Romance
“Sleepy afterschool lolu” by @l-owe-i (tumblr)
‘Untitled’ by @roseletterchan (tumblr)
“Untitled” by @bakutenshi (tumblr)
“This is how it should be” by @moxiepoxart (tumblr)
“Gruvia Week Day 3: Starlight” by @jmoart214 (tumblr)
Best LGBTQ+ Romance
“Untitled Fraxus Week Prompt” by @bluessom1 (tumblr)
“Happy Valentine’s Day!” by @nostalgiedromer (tumblr)
“My peppermint pookies” by @mousecracker (tumblr)
“Music!” by @itsfasterifyouroll (tumblr)
Best Character
“The Sun” by @moonylilies (tumblr)
“untitled color palette challenge (jellal)” by @acnologias-ass (tumblr)
“Lucy 🌻” by @melognut (tumblr)
“Levy bout to fuck shit up” by @phoenix-before-the-flame (tumblr)
“Erza for a friend :]” by @cassikitty (tumblr)
"Mira" by @imyourcoopid (tumblr)
Best Duo/Pairing
“Gajeel + juvia = besties” by @anniechuuu (tumblr)
“Natsu and Happy fanart” by @lostprinxe (tumblr)
Best Group Depiction
“It’s Nice to Have a Family” by @classysassy9791 (tumblr)
‘ Untitled’ by @watcher-ofthe-sky-art (tumblr)
“Levy and her boys” by @riveluart (tumblr)
“Dragon Fam Christmas Sweaters” by @pencilofawesomeness (tumblr)
Best Manga Coloring
“Fire & Lightning” by @fairy-edits (tumblr)
‘I Hyperfixated’ by @fairy-tail-trash (tumblr)
“Minerva Orland of the Sabertooth Guild” by @googler49 (tumblr)
“Congratulations 100 yr quest!” by @vaniliens (tumblr)
Best Redraw
“Screenshot Redraw of the Raijinshuu + Laxus” by @sheltered-uno (tumblr)
“manga redraw🫣” by @azriaann (tumblr)
“Gray and Wendy” by @heartonxions (tumblr)
“Some Manga Redraws (thunder legion)” by @zai-doodles (tumblr)
“Falling with the Stars ✨💫” by @limboistic (tumblr)
"Loke and Gray" by @konohamaru-sensei (tumblr)
"Team Natsu 🔥🗝️⚔️❄️💨😸😾" by @c-art-y (tumblr)
Best Overall
“Levy all Soft and Glowy” by @mavikiu (tumblr)
“Punk Boyy” by @heneryque (tumblr)
‘Erza Scarlet Art Nouveau’ by @Syenneart (tumblr)
“Erza for a friend :]” by @cassikitty (tumblr)
"Juvia Lockser" by @imyourcoopid (tumblr)
"Edolas Lucy Loml" by @robin-vb (tumblr)
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Straight Laced, Chapter II: To Be A Decent Friend…
Description: After the London’s Royal Ballet company’s prima ballerina goes missing within a string of mysterious disappearances among the ballet’s young ballerinas, you finally get your chance to debut in the leading role, taking on the position’s physical toil and immense social pressure. Although this role was supposed to be your grand jeté into the spotlight, it is quickly complicated when these disappearances catch the eye of Ciel Phantomhive — the Queen’s Guard Dog. He is a captious and shrewd man who also happens to be one of London’s most eligible bachelors.
For enough profit for you to secure your freedom for the first time, Lord Phantomhive double casts you as both his accomplice to solving these dancer disappearances and… his pretend lover. While debuting as London’s new prima ballerina, you must perfect a brand new routine: deceiving all of the nation’s polite society while actively searching for a serial killer — all while being an immigrant from France with a dancer’s reputation.
What could go wrong when you realize this off-stage performance of yours may not be an act at all?
Story Warnings: detailed description of gore, pain, and violence, detailed death, smut & explicit sexual scenes, objectification, prostitution, allusions to under-aged prostitution, smoking, drinking, eating disorder tendencies (food restriction, frequent references to wanting to maintain a certain weight, over-practicing & exercising), infidelity, fake courtship, swearing
Author’s Note: I have nothing to say for myself, except: I started a summer job & also three new fics. Two of which nearly have debut chapters that are set to come out very, very soon. Get ready, Levi fans. You’re getting fed. Soon.
I digress; I hope you all like this chapter! It took way longer than I wanted, and I’m so serious when I say that finishing up what I had done 2 weeks ago took like a 2-hour sitting. Yikes, but at least this one is heavily edited!!
Happy Reading,
Dan
MASTERLIST
⇐ PREVIOUS CHAPTER | NEXT CHAPTER ⇒
Early October, 1895
The Royal Opera House, Backstage
You couldn’t seem to escape Ciel Phantomhive, though it had been about a week since you last encountered him. There was a paper clipping adhered to your vanity mirror reading presumably, his office’s telephone number and his initials: CP. No matter what you tried, you couldn’t seem to scrape the paper off. All you managed to do was pick uselessly at the edges of the clipping.
It was his means of mocking you, reminding you of your perceived selfishness. You were not selfish. You were reasonable. You were looking out for yourself— something a woman of your age and stature had to.
You watched your reflection in the mirror as you began to retouch your ballerina bun (it was somewhat loose from the performance’s first three acts) as you reflected on that exchange. The terribly patronizing conversation that transpired between you and the noble lord. The insufferable noble lord who was the product of European society favoring wealthy men.
“You need to realize that these dancers — who are either dead or abducted — are from your company! Or are you too content in your new role to care?” Ciel demanded.
Of course you cared! How could he accuse you of such selfishness? Because of his warning, you were hypervigilant when you left the theater, wary of new subscribers, observant when it came to other company member’s attendances.
In fact, it was your newfound caution that led you to realizing Amélie had not been present in days. The last you saw of her was Sunday’s night performance — she went home, and according to Natasha, had been suffering from some kind of stomach ailment.
After tonight’s show, you planned to check on Amélie. Throughout the years you knew her, she was a kind friend to you, from growing up in the same dance school to moving to Britain together. Even if you were reluctant to consider her your friend, since you last interacted with her about a month ago— even if she was from home.
You had no inkling of what you might do if you were about to find her dead. Call the Yard? Given that you were a ballerina, there wasn’t much else you could do. How could Ciel possibly need you to solve these disappearances if all you could do was make a call in the instance of finding a corpse?
There was nothing you could do that Ciel couldn’t himself, as much as you hated admitting so. At the end of the day, caring did not save lives. Solving real mysteries took real logic and precision that went beyond flawless composure on a stage. After all, this wasn’t some idealistic book where the heroine is merely reluctant to step into the light. All you were was yourself— a dancer who grew squeamish at the sight of blood and enraged at the thought of another privileged noble taking advantage of you.
And yet, Ciel’s telephone number continued to etch itself into the front of your mind. Without meaning to, you had the digits memorized.
You shook your head, chastising yourself. You only had a few moments left before the final act of the night. There was no room in your mind for any other concerns. It was a perfect performance and you refused to lose focus now. All you needed to do was finish the night perfectly, and you would be able to check on your…friend.
Midnight
A Small Townhouse in Birmingham
“Amélie, it’s Y/n,” you tapped your knuckles against her room’s door. She shared a townhome with a number of other dancers her age— though not all of them worked in London’s Royal Opera. One of the roommates let you inside, though she warned you that Amélie hadn’t left her quarters all day.
“We don’t know her enough to just barge in, but we were gettin’ worried— headaches don’t last for more than a coupla days. Thank you for comin’ by.” the roommate shrugged her thin shoulders before showing herself back down the old stairway. “Help yourself to anything. I need to get to rehearsal,” she added before proceeding down the stairs.
Headaches? You were told she was suffering from a stomach ailment.
Technically, you didn’t know Amélie well enough let yourself into her bedroom either, but she hadn’t picked up the house telephone nor sent word to Natasha. You couldn’t help but worry after Ciel told you why so many company members were disappearing.
“Yes. Thank you for allowing me inside,” you replied after roommate. She acknowledged your gratitude with a thin smile, a gesture of goodwill. The expression was slightly colder than a smile you would offer a patron.
“Lock the door on your way out!” The roommate’s distant voice reminded you, interrupted by the sound of a closing front door.
“Amélie!” You turned back towards the bedroom door and raised your voice. “I brought you ginger tea and a loaf of bread,” you reluctantly twisted the doorknob. It was unlocked. “From that bakery by the opera house. They can help calm your stomach…or the warmth with your head, I suppose…” You waited another few moments before fully twisting the knob and opening the door. The old hinges rasped, complaining because the townhouse had to be built decades ago. You weren’t sure it even had a washroom.
Her room was neat, everything in its rightful place— there was nothing more like her than a tidy living space. It only took moments for you to note her mess of brown hair on her pillow, the frizzy waves motionless as if she wasn’t respirating. She laid on her side, face shrouded by her riotous hair.
“…Amélie?” You took tentative steps closer towards her bed, a sense of dread gnawing at your stomach. The closer you were, the more noticeable the foul scent in the room became. One of your trembling hands reached out and pushed some of the dancer’s hair out of her face with a newfound urgency.
Moving Amélie’s hair revealed her slack face; her hazel eyes glazed over and bloodshot. Her skin, once sunkissed and tan, was ashen with death. She had deep bruising against areas of her body that pressed against the pillow or the mattress beneath her.
In tandem with your shocked scream, you dropped the bag containing her gifts. You removed your hand from her body as if it were burning. Your breath came to you in short, panicked, bursts as you forced yourself to squeeze your eyes closed. Your other hand flew to your mouth, your gag reflex more than triggered by your incidental staring contest with your childhood friend’s corpse.
This cannot be real, this cannot be real. This. Cannot. Be. Real…This cannot be….
“No, no, no, no,” you repeated the word so quickly that it began to resemble the French equivalent, non. Your frenzied voice matched the horrified thoughts voiced in your mind. Your eyes welled with tears as you choked on a sob, wary about vomiting but nearly unable to fight the rising bile and excess saliva in your throat. It hurt to look at her, but you couldn’t seem to force yourself to look away.
She was dead. The only part of home you had with you was dead. The only person you would consider a friend was dead. Finished. No more. She was dead because someone killed her.
Someone killed her.
“You need to realize that these dancers — who are either dead or abducted — are from your company!” Ciel’s words repeated once more, forcing another sob to rip out of your chest. Your tears fell in steady streams, warm and salty. They blurred your vision as you continued to stare into her eyes, the whites stained with blood. Could you have prevented this? Were you just as guilty as the true perpetrator because you refused to help the investigation?
“I am— s-so…sor—...so sorry,” you managed, your trembling hands unable to wipe your tears fast enough. You squeezed your eyes closed and tried to collect your thoughts. How could you have the audacity to cry, in the first place? After you stopped being her friend to focus on your professional career, you hardly had the right to grieve. Truthfully, you could hardly recall her surname. Was it Langston? No—Langford.
Even if you did grow apart, it was still beyond difficult to be in the same room as a decaying corpse. There was only nothingness behind her eyes but they continued to watch you, unable to move elsewhere. They reprimanded you and forced you to mull over whether or not you could have helped prevent her death.
You reluctantly closed her eyes for her, sighing when she looked more like a sleeping figure, rather than a decaying corpse.
In search of help, you noticed a candlestick telephone on Amélie’s nightstand. The roommates must have allowed her to keep it in her room for the duration of her illness, in the event she needed a doctor. The receiver was off its hook, motionless as it hung next to the nightstand. The knot in your stomach only clenched harder at the thought of Amélie being in a medical emergency and reaching for the telephone, only to die before the call could go through. Medical emergency. Could she have been poisoned? You didn’t believe in coincidences enough to think that Amélie’s illness was an instance of accidental food poisoning. Not after Ciel’s warning.
Hesitantly, you held the receiver to your ear and used your free hand to dial the number you memorized. There was an ebbing doubt in the back of your mind that no one would pick up. It was nearly midnight, after all. The Earl had to have retired for the night already.
Despite the time, there was a confirmative click that indicated that someone answered the call.
“Is-is someone there? I need to speak with Ciel Phantomhive. My— I… it’s Y/n Y/l/n. Please, I need to speak to him,” you managed to keep your words steady until you finished your piece — your voice weak and nasally from crying — but you burst into a fresh sob afterwards.
Lord Phantomhive, the corrective thought surfaced briefly. What difference did it make? You found a dead body. A corpse. A corpse that you very well could end up like, if this killer continued.
“Lord Phantomhive.” A serious, yet drowsy voice chastised once you managed to control your crying, minimizing it to staccato inhales through your mouth. Your crying clogged your nose too much. “What is it, Y/n?” he asked boredly, as if you would be calling for a trivial issue in the middle of the night.
“My-my friend is dead,” you glanced back over your shoulder to look at Amélie as if you were confirming that she was truly gone. There was a throb of guilt in your heart when you referred to her as your friend. “I just found her, and I don’t know who, or if someone killed her, or if there was an accident, but…I—” you rambled, explaining all of the events of the night. Ciel listened silently, and there was a soft rustling over the line as he wrote down the townhouse’s address.
“We will be right there. Do not call the Yard, and do not touch the body. Stay there, Y/n. Do you understand me?” Ciel asked sternly. You could hear his scowl over the telephone, it was a look so distinguishable that you could paint it in your mind with only a few words.
“I said: do you understand me? I need you to answer the question and stop blubbering.”
“I… yes. I understand, but— please do not end the c—” you started to beg, despite yourself.
“Good. Stay put.” The line died.
While you waited, you opted to sit on Amélie’s fire escape and light a cigar. After checking for an even light at the cigar’s foot, you took a long drag of it. The familiar feeling of smoke filling your mouth caused your eyes to flutter shut, comforted by the bitter taste on your tongue. Your head pounded from the stress that finding her body put on it.
You removed the cigar from your mouth and drew the smoke into your mouth. Watching it flow out of your mouth and into the dark atmosphere in front of you was almost as therapeutic as a standing ovation.
Amélie was dead. You were the same age as she was. You grew up together, mastering your pirouettes in the same classes and having your first kisses at fourteen. You let her become a minor character in your life because you felt that the only person there was room for in your life was yourself. If you cared more, you would have checked on her days ago, and she might have been alive. You could have helped her.
Or if you accepted Ciel’s offer, you might have been able to help stop the murders with Janet. Why did you refuse so vehemently? The guilt gnawed at your conscience like a rabid, starving dog.
You watched another lungful of smoke billow out into the night sky.
If, if, if….
“It is unladylike to smoke,” Ciel’s disdainful voice said. It came from behind you, causing your head to jerk back in a panic. In your surprise, you dropped your cigar, forcing you to crush it under your heel. What a waste of a good cigar. He arrived sooner than you thought he would— only a handful of minutes passed since you perched on the outdoor stairway.
“There are more important matters to concern ourselves with, are there not?” You smarted, rubbing any fresh tears from your eyes. You weren’t aware you were still crying, but your body indicated that for you now that you were back to your senses, forcibly removed from your thoughts.
“I suppose,” Ciel replied flatly, too calm, too bored for someone summoned to a crime scene. He took a glance over his shoulder, checking in with his butler in a wordless exchange. His head tilted down in a subtle nod. “We have everything we need from the scene. The Yard will be here promptly and I would like to make my leave before that happens.” He said the police force’s name like a curse.
“Everything you need?” You questioned, shifting on the stair before pulling yourself to your feet. Having to crane your head upwards at him was too awkward, and even with the gesture you could barely see him. Save from the bedroom behind Ciel, it was almost completely dark outside. You could hardly see the Earl’s face.
“Yes,” his gaze followed your body, analyzing the graceful way you carried yourself, even when you were distraught. It was instilled into you, worked into your muscles like forged steel.
“Are you able to get yourself home?” Ciel asked, an uncharacteristic gesture of empathy. He opened the door and let himself in, leaving a hand on it to make room for you behind him. “Or at the very least, someone we may call for you?”
Your first instinct was to ask him to call Natasha, but he doubted he would comply, given his clear contempt for your director. She was the only person you trusted. You had systematically removed everyone else from your life to focus on your career.
That didn’t make you selfish; it made you smart. If you were a poor friend for the sake of your career, that was perfectly—
The face of Amélie’s corpse flashed into your mind as you stepped back inside her room. The butler covered her for the time being, but that didn’t stop your guilt from continuing to eat at you. It was painful and terse, too real for you to ignore.
“No, there is not.” You took a trembling inhale, coming to terms with why you felt this guilt.
You were selfish, to a degree. Ciel was not entirely wrong in his assessment of you, a vain person who had and only expected to rely on herself. You were self-made down to your core. No one perfected your dancing for you; no one moved you from France; no one handled your suitors for you.
“Then I suppose…you may join us in the carriage. If you would like,” Ciel said, noticing your look of confusion. He didn’t care for your well-being; you were a commoner. Why pretend to? “It is unsafe for a lady to travel alone at this hour.” He hurriedly explained, causing you to nod your understanding. It was past midnight, after all.
Before you could respond, Ciel’s butler returned to the bedroom, briefly sizing you up before addressing his master. “My Lord, I was able to confirm that the young woman was indeed poisoned. Dimethylmercury,” he pronounced the chemical’s name perfectly and without a hint of hesitation. “It is a strong neurotoxin, a colorless liquid and easily absorbed through the skin.”
The Earl’s lips pulled into a grim line, but he didn’t seem surprised. That secured the incident as a murder. And your fault, directly.
“Did she suffer?” You asked before you could stop yourself. You doubted you wanted to know the answer.
“Miss Y/l/n, this particular poison attacks the body’s central nervous system, but it is incredibly slow acting. Your friend was likely infected weeks ago, and only recently started feeling the symptoms…blindness, difficulty hearing, paresthesias, dysarthria….” Sebastian explained, his handsome features creasing into an expression close to pity. He made a pointed effort not to directly answer your question, but it was safe to assume that the short answer to was yes, she suffered immensely.
You couldn’t imagine losing your sight and your hearing gradually over the span of a few weeks, much less any of the other symptoms Sebastian named. You didn’t know what they were— you weren’t a doctor — but you imagined they were just as horrifying.
Tears welled in your eyes as you looked at the sheet that covered Amélie once more. You thought of the guilt pooling in your stomach, crushing your heart, and crowding your mind.
The back of your dominant hand aggressively wiped the tears away.
It wasn’t too late to be a decent friend. To join the investigation and take down the bastard who brutally killed her and so many other company members. A new m fire burned bright in your heart— not a desire to find out what happened to other missing dancers — a need.
Their families deserved the truth. Your surviving colleagues deserved to be vigilant. The victims deserved justice. Amélie deserved some friendship from you. You owed her this.
“Ciel,” you said quietly, taking stabilizing breaths. For a moment, you squeezed your bloodshot eyes closed, giving yourself the courage you needed to say the next few words. On either side of you, your fingers clenched and unclenched with uncertainty, and with a new vehemence you struggled to express. You swallowed with difficulty.
“How may I be of use to your investigation?”
In his surprise, the Earl didn’t even correct the way you addressed him. Instead, his exposed eye widened, replacing the stoic expression that his elegant features normally settled into.
The Next Morning
The Phantomhive Estate’s Dining Table
There was an impressive spread laid out on the table in front of you— more food than you had ever seen in one place. Potentially, more food than you consumed in a week. Even so, you convinced yourself you were full after scooping out a few spoonfuls of sliced strawberries and a half a croissant. You hated yourself for the croissant, and then you hated yourself for focusing on your diet when you needed to listen to what Ciel was saying.
You are not hungry, Y/n. That pastry was plenty, Natasha would tell you. Then, she would suggest you practice for an extra half hour to make up for it. You made a mental note to do so after Sebastian brought you back to your home.
“I need you to be discreet. I want to find patterns: which ballerinas are getting killed, who are their patrons?” He explained, putting a generous smear of butter over his croissant. You tried your best not to cringe at the addition, more than aware of how much butter was used to bake the pastry to begin with, and how much fat Ciel was adding to an already fattening delicacy.
You took a short sip out of your café serré, comforted by its familiar bitterness. For a British man, Sebastian made the drink rather well.
“At this point, we are assuming all missing ballerinas are dead, yes?” Your voice wavered at the question, because it would indicate that ten company members have been murdered at this point. It made you sick, a feeling that you nearly embraced for two reasons: keeping yourself from eating the other half of your croissant, and to punish yourself. That number could have been nine if you agreed to help sooner.
But logically, you knew that wasn’t true, either. Sebastian distinctly said that Amélie was poisoned weeks ago— before Ciel approached you. Before you turned him down. There was nothing you could have done, besides be there for her…
You didn’t do that, either.
“Yes. This killer does not hesitate, clearly,” Ciel replied, unsure of how to comfort your crestfallen expression. He settled on ignoring the look. “You need to keep a close eye on all of the ensemble. Gauge their relationships with their subscribers, with your director, and if anyone misses so much as a practice, tell me no matter what she tells you.”
“Rehearsal,” you corrected automatically, causing Ciel to scoff. You knew what he was thinking— if you couldn’t deign to address him correctly, why should he employ accurate terms for your profession? You could tell him why.
“If you are going to be my patron, you should be aware that we call our Nutcracker practices rehearsals,” you reminded him. Ciel had suggested he continue posing as your only subscriber in an effort to both keep you safe (if a particular patron was the killer) and keep Natasha from growing suspicious— though you doubted she was. All Natasha was concerned with was maintaining the company’s perfection. You had never met anyone so unaware of any insidious agenda because she, like you, had no room for anything else in her life. Not even her marriage.
“Minute details such as that are irrelevant. No one will question us,” he answered without missing a beat, the double meaning in his words as clear as day. ‘No one will question me.’
No, of course not. Who would question the Lord Ciel Phantomhive? A God amongst men? You thought you kept the words to yourself, until you noticed the sour look the Earl was sending you from across the table. Uncertain, you tilted your head, biting back a sarcastic smile. You tried to purse your lips into neutrality.
“Pardon me?” Ciel asked, raising a disdainful eyebrow. “You should understand that we are not courting. Whether or not I refer to your dancing as practice or a rehearsal is entirely irrelevant,” he insisted, more offended than he was willing to express because it goaded you. However, making a mockery of his title made you feel more like yourself. A bit lighter after what you endured last night.
“I still think you should have a basic understanding of the arts, Ciel,” you shrugged dismissively.
“You must refer to me as Lord Phantomhive!” Ciel snapped, raising his voice for the first time that morning. You assumed he was attempting to be patient with you because you had finally agreed to fulfill his intended role for you. “You are a commoner. We are not friends. We are—”
“On a first name basis,” you interrupted, raising your voice to effectively cut off his tirade. “If we are investigating these murders together, we are doing so as equals. I will not stand for being degraded when you came to me, asking for my help!” You retorted, exasperated. You both held steely eye contact, both unwilling to back down.
“I am the Queen’s Guard Dog. I am no one’s equal, save for the monarchy itself,” came his predictably insufferable reply.
“What you are, is one of the most arrogant men I have ever had the misfortune of meeting!” you exclaimed. This investigation was going to take several years off of your life, truly. Perhaps, you’d be seeing Amélie sooner than you expected— and for reasons unrelated to her killer. “You need to think about your priorities, Guard Dog,” you ordered.
“Now, I am looking forward to our partnership. Thank you for the meal, I will show myself out.” You added rapidly, standing from your chair and pushing it back in with a vengeance that nearly tipped it over.
“Report back to me every other night!” He yelled at your back as you left the dining room, smiling wanly at his servants. The three of them made a weak effort to appear busy, as if they hadn’t been listening in on your conversation for the past half hour. You wished them a good day before replying to their master, shouting your reply over your shoulder.
“Fine!” You’d see what the next two days had in store for you and for once, do as told.
For Amélie.
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