Season 3, Ep. 13, part 1

His Butler, Sojourns

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Warning: Contains Soma, Lizzy, servants, some Ciel/Lizzy if you look for it, and possible OOC - ness.

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"Ci - el!" Soma singsongs as he sees himself into Ciel's study. "Prince Soma?" Sebastian looks up from the tea he's been pouring. "Soma?!" Ciel looks up from his work, "How did you get in here?! And why are you here in the first place?"

"What?!" Soma looks theatrically insulted, "What kind of world do we live in where I can't even pay my best friend a visit?"

"Who decided you were my best friend?!" Ciel barks, "Now what are you doing here?!"

"Honestly, Ciel, I came to say goodbye."

Ciel blinks. "Good... Bye?" he repeats, thinking that this is too good to be true.

"That's right" Soma nods, his eyes brimming with tears, "Agni and I have been here for two years, and now we're going back home to India." He whimpers and throws his arms around Ciel's shoulders. "Waaah! I'm going to miss you so much!" he bawls into the boy's shoulder. "Get off of me!" Ciel struggles, "Act your age, dammit! You're staining my suit!"

"I'm sorry" Soma straightens quickly and wipes his eyes on his sleeve, "I wanted to show mother how I've grown up since I left." He grins. "I'd have a hard time convincing her if I came back all puffy - eyed, huh?" He breathes once and turns back toward the door. "Well, goodbye Ciel." He ducks behind Agni. "Ehh... Goodbye, Sebastian."

Sebastian smiles eerily and bows. "Please feel free to return whenever you wish, prince Soma. And you, Agni."

"It'll be lonely over in India without you guys" Soma says as he walks across the room. He gasps and halts mid - stride, then pulls Agni closer to whisper in his ear. The tall man leans back after a minute with a wide smile. "That's brilliant, my prince!"

"What is?" Ciel just knows he's going regret this.

Soma whirls around to face him with a determined smile. "Pack your bags, Ciel!" he points, "You're coming with me to India!"

"What?!" Ciel screeches, "When did you decide this?!"

"Just now" the young prince beams, "I've learned so much about English culture from you, and now I want to teach you about Indian culture."

"What makes you think you know so much about English culture?" Ciel asks. Soma ignores him and gestures with his arms as he walks toward the earl's desk. "The only way to teach you is for you to come to India!" He scoops Ciel up into his arms. "So let's get going!"

"Get going where?" Elizabeth has appeared out of nowhere. "Ciel's coming with me and Agni to India" he explains. "And you didn't tell me?!" Elizabeth is outraged, "What sort of fiancè are you?!"

'The confused sort' Sebastian smirks.

"Aha!" Soma suddenly barks and drops Ciel. "I've got another idea! Elizabeth," he slides up to her on one knee and grabs her hands while Sebastian helps Ciel up, "will you come with us to India? On me, of course. My little sister deserves nothing but the best."

"Of course!" Elizabeth grins. She clasps her hands and bounces on the balls of her feet in delight. "Imagine the stories I could bring back to tell mother and father and Edward!"

"Then it's decided!" Soma stands and points, "We leave for Bengal in three days time!"

"WAIT A MINUTE!" Ciel erupts, "What gives you the right to go around making my decisions for me?!"

"Well, I'm a prince!" Soma grins. Ciel growls.

"My young master does have a point" Sebastian breaks in and takes out his pocket watch, "Lunch will be ready soon." He snaps the watch shut and smiles his smile. "Prince Soma, lady Elizabeth, please join us. We can continue this discussion then."

...

"I think you should go" Bard offers when the idea has been pitched. Soma smiles smugly at Ciel, who glares in reply. "You work too hard sometimes, young master" Finny adds, "A vacation would be good for you."

"Even if I wanted to, I can't just drop everything for a holiday if I feel like it" Ciel argues, "I have a company to run."

"You also have company advisors that can handle themselves for a short while" Sebastian refills Ciel's punch glass, "And I doubt you would miss anything exciting if you were to leave. Things have been rather quiet ever since you solved that arson case at Parliament." He grins.

"Come on, Ciel" Elizabeth pouts. She leans forward with her hands clasped. "Everyone deserves to have some fun once in a while. Please?!"

Ciel looks from his begging fiancèe to the snide prince at his side and sighs. "Very well" he allows and smiles at Elizabeth, "For you."

She grins and crushes him in a hug. "I shall begins preparations at once" Sebastian says.

...

A little over a week passes before the four men and two women are boarding the ship. Ciel can feel Edward Middleford's glare drilling through his spine. "This trip will take about two months to complete" Agni alerts the English once the ship is out of port. "Try to spend as much time on deck as possible to avoid cabin fever" Soma adds. He points dramatically at Ciel. "And in the name of the goddess Kali, I will beat you at chess on this ship, Ciel Phantomhive!" Ciel lifts an eyebrow at him. Soma turns firmly and marches toward a flight of stairs. "Come on, Agni!" he says briskly, "I need to practice if I'm going to beat Ciel!"

"Yes, my prince!" Agni follows at his heels.

"Come on, Paula!" Elizabeth tugs her maidservant's hand, "Let's go look around. I want to see what the rest of this ship looks like!"

"Yes, my lady!" Paula allows herself to be dragged along.

"Two months at sea with all this racket" Ciel mutters when they're gone. He presses his fingertips against his forehead. "Don't fret, young master" Sebastian tries to soothe him, "It can't possibly be as bad as you're anticipating."

"Have you forgotten exactly who we're traveling with, Sebastian?"

He just chuckles.

Ciel sighs. "Bring me something drowning in chocolate" he orders and turns away.

Sebastian bows. "Understood."