"Come now, all of you. The master wishes to address you today during his breakfast." Sebastian informed, an expectant glare cast upon you and the three other servants whom you had just finished a rather taxing conversation with. Said conversation being about the use of military gear in cooking.

Bardroy was the first to pipe up, "What's 'e wanna talk to us about?" his unlit cigarette threatened to slide out from the grip his teeth held on it. Pondering the current staffing situation, you guessed it most likely had something to do with the latest, temporary, addition to the estate's employ.

"Is it about Grell?" you asked, noticing the slight twitch in the butler's brow at the mention of the bespectacled servant.

With unwavering irritation, the demon confirmed your suspicion, "Yes. During his time here, both the master and I will need the four of you to be on your best behavior." He exhaled, strained with frustration, "The master has informed me that I am to devote my time to training that buffoon, so should you create more work for me..." The glare he shot at the other three in the room made them stiffen, the rest of the sentiment relayed non-verbally.

With haste, the four of you made your way to the dining room without Sebastian, who had gone to fetch Ciel. While the others continued the earlier conversation during the wait for the young lord, you instead thought back to what the butler had said moments prior. Summoning within yourself an awkward feeling at realizing Sebastian had addressed Grell by male pronouns.

You supposed it made sense, the character Grell was playing happened to be male, though with the knowledge that wasn't the case you wondered whether it was something worth mentioning to the demon. Surely something like that wouldn't phase him, even given the time period.

You dwelled on the thought a little longer until the young lord made his way through the doors, stress visible in the crease between his brows.

The three beside you bowed and you followed suit, "Master." you greeted in unison as the boy sat down in the too large chair pulled out for him by Sebastian.

The boy waved away the formality with the hand that wasn't pressed into his temple. "I called you here to discuss madam Red's incompetent servant." he began, stopping briefly to watch as Sebastian placed his food in front of him, "I will be leaving today to go into town, I trust that the four of you can somehow manage that fool on your own for a while." With the coming of Ciel's silence, your ears honed in on a different sound, one that came from beyond the dining room.

You looked to your right at the closed doors and then to your left at the three other servants who also picked up on the odd sound, which seemed to be loud rattling along with clambering footsteps. When you looked to the butler who stood at the other end of the room, he looked back with an unamused glower.

As the sound grew louder you realized exactly what it was, albeit a little too late. Grell rammed open the doors with a serving trolley and with no sign of stopping, even once making it past the threshold into the room, you noticed that the trolley was headed straight for you. You would like to pretend your reflexes were fast enough to be the cause of your sudden movement out of harm's way, but you knew it was more likely the work of the gloved hand which tugged at the waist of your apron.

While you might have been saved from a painful fate, the gardener was not, and by the time you peeled your eyes away from the butler in front of you, Finnian's shirt was drenched in steaming tea. He jumped up, yelping in pain as he tugged his shirt away from his body, causing all but the earl and the demon to look his way.

Grell, who had been winded by the handle of the trolley, watched dazed at the scene before running over alarmed. "Ah- I'm so so sorry, I-" the reaper looked over at the table, spotting a napkin and reached for it, "Ah- I'll wipe it off!"

Just as you had remembered, Grell took the napkin and the tablecloth with it, sending the entirety of the young lord's meal clattering to the ground. At the realization, Grell jumped up in alarm, stepping away from the mess with arms raised.

You turned your head to look back at the butler, finding that he had moved back to where he was before the commotion, by his master's side. The master whose hand had once again returned to being pressed to his temple with a sigh.

The two were joined by Bardroy, who ducked his head to whisper to the boy. "You're one to talk, Bard." came Ciel's cutting response. "It didn't seem like such a bad idea." he pondered mostly to himself, even with two sets of eyes on him. "I thought Sebastian would be the only one inconvenienced, I never expected that I would be affected by it as well."

Your lips pursed, fighting back a smirk when you looked to see the twinge in the demon's cheek. Turning your attention to the cause of the mess, you saw Grell being berated by the three stooges, whom you felt were not in the position to be telling others how to do their job. "I'm so sorry for causing all this trouble, I simply don't know how I can apologies enough." the reaper lamented, crocodile tears threatening to spill from closed eyes, "Wait that's it!" You heard before Grell jumped up, produced a knife from... somewhere and held it a breath away from their throat, "The only thing I can do now is die. I shall atone with my death!"

The display shocked the three servants, spurring them into action. "Whoa- calm down-a secon'!" the cook bayed as he reached out to grab for the knife, the motion deftly avoided by the wailing reaper. "Gimme th'knife!"

Mei-rin and Finnian covered their mouths, looking onward in shock at the scene before them. "There is no need for that." the butler crooned and he placed a light hand on Grell's shoulder. The tension in the room faded as green eyes opened and the knife dropped down from a limp clutch. Grell looked back at Sebastian, who smiled with feigned delight, "Just think of the horrible mess you would make. It would take hours to clean up all the blood."

Grell looked up, hands clenched together as if praying to a deity, "Thank you Sebastian, you're so very kind."

The other three, still in awe at the situation, gathered together, murmuring in hushed voices and shaking their heads.

"Now what I'd like to know is how you could ever think it was acceptable to serve the master such weak tea." the butler contemplated aloud as he picked up the surviving pot, sniffing at the contents inside with a furrowed brow. "Watch me." He made his way over to a trolley in the corner, pulling up a new teapot, a container filled with tea leaves and some boiling water. You wondered to yourself how tiring it must be to always be so prepared.

You looked elsewhere, having heard the spiel before. While all the others in the room were enthralled in the display of professionalism, you had busied yourself with looking at the young boy who busied himself with studying the unchanging scenery past the large window before him. As if sensing your attention on him, his one visible eye flits your way, the barest hint of a smile tugging at his lips.

After a few moments, Sebastian presented his master with the freshly brewed beverage, bowed slightly at the waist. The boy picked the cup up, taking a small sip before he hummed with a raised brow, as if to say the tea was simply mediocre. His unchanging desire to piss off the demon was an entertaining change from the constant sorrow he portrayed in the show.

With a look that bordered murderous, Sebastian produced his pocket watch, not even looking at it as he informed Ciel it would soon be time to leave. "As for the rest of you, I want this place absolutely spotless, understand?"

After a particularly eventful gardening session with the rest of the staff, in which the reaper had pruned a bush into a rather anatomically correct skull, you found yourself in the foyer of the manor once you had heard a loud few knocks. As it turned out, those knocks were those of Elizabeth Midford.

"Ah- Lady Elizabeth. What a surprise!" you greeted, bowing and waving her in with a sweeping gesture. It was mere seconds later that it occurred to you that you had yet to actually meet her in person. As you expected, when you looked up she appeared puzzled, long blonde lashes fluttering with the closing of her eyes as she looked off to the side. It seemed like she was wondering if she had met you before, given the familiar reception.

After a moment she trained her jade green eyes on you and fixed her face into an apologetic smile, "I'm sorry, I don't believe we've been introduced. With how small Ciel's staff is, I think I would remember you had we met before." She smiled at you fondly and curtsied with practiced perfection, her tightly coiled flaxen hair bouncing with the motion. "I am Lady Elizabeth Midford- oh, though I suppose you already knew that." she said beaming, "My, I haven't had to introduce myself in such a long time, it is so often done for me."

You couldn't help but smile along with her, the energy she herself had commanded the same of you. "It's a pleasure to meet you, my lady. My apologies for acting familiar earlier, I uh-" you tried to quickly think of an excuse that didn't involve anime or manga, "Sebastian told me of you."

"Please, call me Lizzy." she asked of you, "And Sebastian you say? That butler of Ciel's sure is..." she gave pause, searching for a word with furrowed brows despite her constant smile, "thorough."

You exhaled a short breath, a bare chuckle, "You could say that, yes." you agreed.

"So, what would your name be?"

"[Y/N]"

Elizabeth explained to you over tea that she had come over to take Ciel to a party hosted by one of her friend's fathers. She had also informed you that because she had left her home in a rush, she was without her handmaiden.

"Paula was busy today, so I couldn't find the time to ask her to accompany me to the party. My friend had only told me about it today when I bumped into her at the markets." she told you, sheepishly looking off to the side, "Which I had also gone to unaccompanied."

There were a few things you had picked up from your brief conversation with the young girl, one of which being that she was very independent. Most of the stories she had already told you began with her sneaking out without her handmaiden or any other company that should be expected of a young lady. Another was that, despite her status, she seemed very comfortable conversing with a servant.

"So as soon as I heard, I rushed home to get a gown and then came here." She looked down into the contents of her cup, the tea that she had put several cubes of sugar into. "Maybe I should have sent word, I hadn't expected Ciel to be out. I even brought a few gifts for him to wear tonight." You thought back to the several boxes you'd brought it earlier.

"There's no need to worry, Lizzy, the master should be back any moment now." Sebastian had found you the previous night to tell you he and Ciel were going into town to pick up a cane the boy ordered, he asked if they would encounter any troubles along the way. It was kind of an awkward conversation given that you had been avoiding him after the argument you'd had. "This party sounds exciting, have you been to many?"

She looked at you puzzled, "Of course, going to parties is a requirement of being a noble. Which makes it odd that Ciel avoids them all the time." She paused to take a sip of her tea, "Have you ever accompanied a lady to a party, [Y/N]?"

You supposed you had been to parties before, but nothing of the standard that she was talking about. "Oh, no. I haven't really served a noble before. This is my first time being a servant."

Elizabeth perked up, putting down her cup to grab both of your hands in hers, "Well then you simply must accompany me tonight! You can come as my handmaiden- oh there's no need to dress up, what you have on now will be perfect-" She prattled on for a few more moments, mentioning that she had once brought Mei-rin along to a party under a similar circumstance, and you tried your best to keep an even smile despite your desire to refuse the invitation.

You were about to politely tell her no when the two of you heard Sebastian's voice from the foyer. You followed the girl out to the entrance, falling behind as she ran with her arms wide open. "Ciel!" she called, wrapping her arms tightly around the boy's shoulders. "Ciel, you're back, I missed you so much!"

Surprisingly, Ciel didn't look shocked as he had in the show, though, you found that the events of the entire episode seemed to be wrong. You looked to Sebastian, who had an equally unsurprised expression as he stared back at you.

"Elizabeth, what a surprise." he said, clearly not surprised.

"Oh, how many times do I have to tell you, call me Lizzy." she replied, releasing him from her hold, "You really are just the cutest thing ever, aren't you darling boy! I could just eat you up!" Spoken like an adult to a child. You figured she must have picked that up from all the other adult nobles around Ciel who no doubt doted on him. Madam Red came to mind.

"Lady Elizabeth." The demon greeted, hand on heart.

"Hello Sebastian." She peeled herself away from Ciel to face the man, greeting him back with a small curtsy. "How are you?"

"Splendid, my lady." he replied, eyes closed and a polite smile tugging at his lips.

Sensing the death of that conversation, Ciel piped up, "What are you doing here Elizabeth? You should know it's improper for you to show up unannounced. Again." You couldn't identify whether it was disappointment, annoyance or concern in his voice.

With glee in her eyes, she told Ciel that she was there to take him to a party which the boy clearly bemoaned. "As I have told you before, I do not wish to attend such events." he told her, exasperated.

There was a mischievous glint in the butler's eyes and when he spoke, it was clearly out of revenge, possibly for the way the boy had made to humiliate the demon at breakfast, "My lord, if I may, It would be improper for a nobleman of your status to decline such an invitation. Especially given your lack of attendance at previous events."

Ciel shot daggers his way, "You may not-"

"He's right, Ciel." Elizabeth chimed in, "If you keep declining these invitations, what will the others think? Besides, this isn't a ball, there are far less social requirements!"

The boy looked your way, his sapphire eye commanding your attention, "Well, out with it. I suppose you're going to ask me to go as well, seeing as I'm already outnumbered."

You thought about whose side you should be on, while Ciel seemed opposed to the idea, it wasn't nearly as much as you had expected him to be. Maybe he just needed a little convincing. "It could be fun..."