epidemiology | found a demon in my safest haven [closed]

[ By contrast, Sebastian is completely unaware that he's being paid any more attention than usual. Rin had told him how to throw off the compass, but it was still something easier said than done for him. Though it would seem strange that it was difficult for him, it was simply something that Sebastian had never had to do or think of. Concealing what he was amounted to being as easy as changing his physical appearance, and that was enough to fool humans.

Those that could see or sense more than that, well. They were rare. And if they truly presented a problem, Sebastian had always approached that issue with the sense that he would simply kill them. It was a ruthlessly simple solution, but that's also why he couldn't actually employ it where it was now frustratingly commonplace.

Though at the moment, he doesn't quite feel frustrated. Anything but, really, since Sebastian is working dutifully on tidying up after Sieglinde's messes. It's sweeping and dusting, and as is always true when he's cleaning, it's easy to tell that he's truly content and happy doing things like this. It probably makes what that compass tells her all the stranger. Eventually, he ends up turning her way, and he sees her serious expression, though not the source of it. The compass is hidden away in the folds of her dress and under the workbench, after all. ]

Is something bothering you, Master Sullivan? You have quite the look on your face.

[There was indeed something bothering her. A suspicious feeling, one she didn't like having... but one that had been slowly growing, as much as she ignored it. The compass had pointed to the scrolls she'd received earlier in the month, and it went this way and that once she left the house, but.

At home... it largely followed the butler, this way and that. Something she'd brushed off as perhaps residual energy left from the mark left on his hand...

If it weren't for the fact that just a day past she had spent time in the company of Gilgamesh, and the speed at which the needle point of the compass had reacted to him... it wasn't terribly different. Nothing she could consider "residual".

The suspicion left a bad taste in her mouth, left her feeling guilty for even thinking it, but.]

- Once you're done cleaning, perhaps you can assist me with my spells?

[If she stopped looking at the compass... could she ignore having ever noticed it?]

[ Sebastian makes a soft noise of surprise, but it also doubles to be one of acknowledgement. He straightens from his slightly more relaxed pose as he sweeps, and the broom is leaned up against a nearby wall. With how clean he keeps their space, sweeping is almost an idle gesture. At the very least, it's one he can return to after a pause. ]

Why, I can assist you now. The cleaning is not quite that urgent...

[ Yet. He walks to her side and places a hand on the back of her chair to support himself as he leans over to take a look at what she's doing. ]

What are you working on today?

[Oh, she... Had hoped he would insist on finishing the cleaning first, and there's a brief moment where she seems off put, struggling with whether she should try to insist he do, or if that would be too out of character, should she just accept his help... So she does, looking down in her lap to see the arrow follow Sebastian's path towards her workbench before she rustled her skirts to make it seem simply as if the ring at the end of her chatelaine was just sitting in her lap, that was all, rifling through a few papers on her desk all marked with the same sorts of "magic circles" that had been on the floor in her ritual chamber back in Wolfsschlucht.]

It's to do with the ultimate magic- I need you to grind this to powder.

["This" being a large chunk of saltpeter she'd taken from the caves they'd needed to explore for the materials ALASTAIR required. Except that... That wasn't really it. Not entirely. Trying not to give away her ulterior motives, Sieglinde reached for a spare set of leather gloves, offering them to the butler.]

Here- you may change to these.

[ He glances to the papers as he approaches, and he quickly tries to read them over to get a better sense of what she's working on. At the very least, the Theban script is something that he can read easily, so her magic circles interest him now that he knows their true purpose. Of course, he doesn't quite question that right away, since she's given him a task. ]

Ah, certainly—

[ Sebastian takes the gloves without hesitation, since in Sieglinde's case, there's nothing to hide on his hands. She already saw the mark and dismissed it, so he's much less concerned. His elegant white gloves are pulled off, and the leather ones are put on instead. He takes the saltpeter and mortar, though before he starts, he does have a technical question. ]

How fine would you like the powder?

[None of them are the exact circle that had been traced out in chalk on stone- she wouldn't replicate that formula on paper or floor or anywhere again beyond her mind. But lesser versions... similar in nature but nowhere near in intensity... first she would experiment with that.

Sieglinde's gaze lingers on the marks upon his hand, watching as the white gloves of a butler are replaced by the acid stained leather of a researcher.]

Very.

[She returns her gaze to her burner, stoking the flame slightly, adjusting the glass vial heating up above it and pointlessly rearranging a few other items before she spoke up again. quiet, respectful of a potential negative reaction.]

... does it ever pain you? Those marks?

[ Sebastian nods and starts to grind the saltpeter obediently. It's an easy task, and he almost starts to step away to give her space as he works on the menial task. But as she asks the question, he raises his eyebrows in surprise, but he looks down at his left hand at her question. It's only a brief glance, since he ends up just closing his eyes with a gentle smile. ]

It does not. It is little more than a tattoo, Master Sullivan. It hurts no more than a tattoo a few years old would.

I am not familiar with that sort of measurement.

[Having never seen a tattoo before he arrived in her life. Well, he didn't seem to mind the line of questions so far, at least. Not looking at him, eyes glued on the movement of her hands, she reached a bit further.]

But Ciel's does not pain him either... ?

Ah, right. Do forgive me— They are usually painful at first, but the pain also fades within a week or so.

[ Probably? Sebastian doesn't actually know that with any certainty himself, since he doesn't exactly have a full grasp on how quickly or slowly humans are supposed to heal. It sounds good on the surface, at least. He opens his eyes when Ciel is brought up with a light look that hinges on almost surprise, but he shakes his head. ]

No, it does not. His only ailed him for a few hours, I believe.

[ But that he's more certain of. He had been there, after all. ]

I see... That is good to hear.

[It kept her quiet for a moment, unsure if she should continue on the line of questioning she'd intended. Surely it wasn't like that- surely she was letting her imagination run away with her...

But her gaze drifted down to the compass in her lap again.]

... Perhaps it's the residual in the mark that makes it seem as if you've been touched with magic.

[She wanted to believe that was it- that's why she put it out there first. If he said that's what it was- maybe she would believe it, and that would be that. They could go back to before she'd done anything like suspect him.]

[ So she had noticed.

It was no surprise, really. Sieglinde was young, but she was sharp. Perhaps not shrewd, but intelligent nonetheless. There's no pause or hesitation in Sebastian dutifully giving the task given to him like Sieglinde would perhaps expect from most people caught by something incriminating. He's far too smooth to be tripped up by something like that. ]

Ah... That could be it.

[ He doesn't sound surprised by her observation, which would make it clear that he's noticed too. But as she's breaching the topic, he has to wonder if it's really worth keeping this secret. There are definitely benefits to it, of course. Many benefits, which is why he never breathes a word of it. But he also realizes that the longer he keeps the secret in a place like this, the more it falls out of his hands.

He grinds the saltpeter in silence for but a moment before he decides.

It's best to be on his own terms, isn't it? That way he can spin the story in a way that keeps her close instead of her running away in fear. ]

I do not know if it is simply that, however. You seem as if you have something more to ask. [ He glances to her with a warm smile, and he cants his head. ]

So, go on. I do not tell lies, Master Sullivan.

[Somewhat afraid of what she could possibly see or not see on his face, Sieglinde's gaze had momentarily stayed in her lap, on the compass in the folds of her gown with its arrow still pointing to Sebastian, its closest due north. But there was no tremor or hint of surprise in his voice.

She's willing to overlook it. An answer like that... Vague, noncommittal, offering a potential explanation... She could work with that.

But then he spoke again, and the sound of turning in her chair, the rustle of her dress, the slide of her hair, the creak of bones- it all sounds entirely too loud. He's smiling like its no big deal, encouraging her even, while just grinding down the saltpeter... And the words just slide out.]

It's quite a powerful magic... Only Gilgamesh's has clearly surpassed it that I have seen.

[But she still didn't accuse him- she didn't want to. She didn't want to believe, but she also couldn't ignore the doubts any longer. They'd grown too strong for that, now.]

I am not surprised... Or at least, not anymore. It was quite a shock when I first arrived to see magic and other creatures be so common. It is simply not so where we are from.

[ He leads into the actual reveal slowly and gently. It's something he has to explain with a deceptive gentility, since Sieglinde has to understand and sympathize with a false story about why Sebastian would keep his existence a secret. So his smile shifts to an apologetic one. ]

I suppose you have realized at least some part of the truth by now, yes? That I am not human.

[He said it so easily. "Not human". It was so casual that it left her doubting she even heard him correctly, blinking a moment- processing.

Sieglinde knew what she expected- if he was anything but human. A human too fast, too agile, too powerful, too skilled- she had seen all the signs now, longer than the initial few paltry days she'd spent in his company in their world, and it had grown harder to ignore.

Still... she had grown up accustomed to lies. Maybe it wasn't so easy to escape from as she thought. Even though she considered herself fed up with untruths, with being lied to... it had been quite easy to deceive herself and ignore the signs so close to her own.

She didn't want to accuse him, though. Somehow didn't want to say it first, even with the story he had spun her of the origins of those marks upon his hand and Ciel's eye.]

... I would have you name yourself.

[A demon.]

[ It's so very tempting to be cruel and mock her naivete and trust, but Sebastian has lived as long as he had by reigning in his nature where appropriate. There's the visceral instinct to proverbially bear his fangs, but instead, he just hides them behind the polite smile as he always does. ]

...You were very close when you asked about the mark of the contract that both the young master and I bear. I very nearly told you then, but out of consideration, you stopped me. I do not point this out to mock you, but instead, to thank you. I hide what I am out of necessity, not out of pure malice.

[ Partial malice, certainly. But for the most part it truly was necessity, since it would be quite difficult for him to do his work if his existence was obvious, now wouldn't it?

The saltpeter is ground down into a fine powder, so he pauses to gently set it on her workbench. He leans down to do it, and it's to catch her gaze. His expression is one of bashfulness, almost reluctance, but that is the most deceptive thing about this. Sebastian can't lie, as per his contract. But a false expression wasn't a lie. ]

I am a demon, Master Sullivan.

[Part of her wants to recoil from the truth she's given, even though she had been the one to ask for it. That was the nature of such a thing, perhaps. In order not to do so physically, Sieglinde's spine was ramrod straight, features artificially hardened as Sebastian leaned closer to her, examining him as if for the first time, pupils slightly dilated as her gaze roamed from his own, over face, hair, silhouette, back to hands, to eyes.

It wasn't that she didn't believe it. She did, and that had been the problem. Another reminder of how blind she had been- was. Another thing that had been beside her the entire time, and she hadn't seen it.

A demon in her manor. Serving her. At her side. Hah- those who could read such things without the use of tools like the compass in her lap must find this situation laughable-]

You've contracted with Ciel for something. When do you expect to devour him?

[Her first "friend" was in a partnership with a demon- creatures who promised the impossible for a soul. She had seen him at his weakest, recovering from the miasma in the woods... it wasn't hard to imagine a boy like that being desperate, being ignorant of the dangers of such a thing.

But could she sit back and allow it to happen? If she wanted to... could she even do a thing?]

[ He at least doesn't linger close too long, since as soon as Sebastian has said the truth, he straightens up again. His hands as clasped behind his back just as formally as always, as if to imply that nothing changed with this revelation. It will, of course. He's well aware of that. But so long as Sieglinde can think of him as the butler more than the demon, these mannerisms were valuable. It was why he never complained about serving. It suited him well. ]

When his wish is granted. No sooner, no later.

[ He answers that simply and honestly, but he doesn't elaborate on the wish itself. It's not quite his place to explain it, so he would hesitate even if she asked. ]

But I feel that I should correct your wording there slightly, Master Sullivan. The one who made a contract for something was the young master, not I. What I want is very simple.

[It's disturbing to her that, despite the words, how easily he admitted to his nature, his demeanor doesn't falter, doesn't change. It's a perfect disguise- he may have been doing it for years... But not much longer. Though she tried to keep her expression stiff, distant, it would be all too obvious by the look in her eye that she was thinking a mile a minute, trying to unravel what she could now without having to ask it.

The less one asked of a demon, the better, even if the part of her consumed only with knowledge lept at the chance to speak with him, find out what he knew. The same reckless pursuit of information and more that kept her in contact with Gilgamesh despite the warnings, that had her accepting ALASTAIR's magic.

They couldn't have been contracted more than a few years, surely... A demon, last she understood from her readings, could not contract with a being that didn't truly understand the consequences of their contract- the same as one could not expect an infant or toddler to sign over an estate or act as their own council- or demons could simply snatch up the souls of the newly born like tea cakes. But it surely must have been nearly as long as possible... The tandem at which the two of them had moved, the ease at which they operated did imply some deal of experience. - so what Ciel had asked for was not so easily accomplished a thing.]

To call a soul a simple thing...

[He truly was a demon. She felt strangely faint, trying to laugh at that comment but only a wry twist of her lips managed to appear on her face, leaning an elbow on her workbench, putting her slight weight on it. It seemed pointless to ask what Ciel had contracted for, the extent of his powers...]

What truly brought you to the Witch Forest, then?

[ It is simple, so far as he's concerned, but that betrays his real outlook of humanity. A soul was a meal for him, and he looks at them the same way a human would look upon a farm animal. It's nothing of importance, since all the value is one that humans define for themselves.

...Probably.

He doesn't comment on the soul, but instead the question. She might have reason to doubt his words now more than ever, but his response is quite truthful. They usually are, technically speaking, but this one isn't even meant to be deceptive. ]

A matter that has nothing to do with what I am or the young master's contract. People had wandered into your woods and died mysteriously. The young master was asked to investigate it.

And?

[Asked to investigate. Of course, yes. The lies that had revealed the truth about the lie her life was. Nothing to do with demons and the like. A side trip on the way to whatever goal Ciel had, whatever once accomplished would lead to Sebastian's appetite being sated. It wasn't as if one could truly blame a demon for being a demon, or for eating souls... No more than one could blame a wolf for a kill.

That did not mean that one wanted to look upon it, though.]

What will you have me do, holding this truth you do not wish widely known?

[If he meant to kill her, she'd be dead- it lent her the bravado for that question, the sharp way she regards him.]

[ In truth, now it's inconsequential. She was the one that the truth should be kept from, and everyone else here it mattered much less for. They had no bearing on his contract or his affairs at "home," as it were. Now that Sieglinde new, he could freely tell anyone he wished without worry.

He wouldn't, though. Sebastian keeps every card he has hidden when he can, and that he's a demon is no exception. He bows his head lowly, though she'll still be able to see his face clearly with their difference in height. His expression is serious and solemn. ]

I will have you do nothing. I can only ask for your benevolence on the matter.

[Her benevolence.

What was she supposed to do with this? A suspicion she had denied for as long as she could before she'd had to do something, to ask- to send this into motion.

Though she'd tried to keep a strong front, fingers pressed to her temple, looking away momentarily. Another lie. Another deception. Another revelation that the world she'd believed in had been wrong.]

... You may rest assured I have no plans to trumpet such news amongst our fellows.

[It would only cast doubt upon him- and by extinsion, her, would it not? After all... as strange as some people's worlds in ALASTAIR.... she couldn't imagine people just trusting anything called a "Demon".]

I would appreciate that greatly, Master Sullivan.

[ He looks up at her, and for a moment, his gaze is sharp as he watches, but the detail he needs is taken in. He doesn't operate within the normal expectations and social norms of humans, and so he has to take clues to guess at the right response. He's simply old enough by now to do so to near-perfection. ]

For what it is worth, it was not my intention to deceive you in particular, Master Sullivan. Perhaps it is not the same now, but...

[ He starts by carefully offering an explanation, but it's only to soothe the crease in her brow and nothing more. Really, he feels no need to offer one. ]

I cannot exist freely amongst humans any more than a witch could where we are from. I will not deny that I have been duplicitous, but it is not a malicious deception.

[Did that make it better- that he didn't mean to deceive her? Sieglinde had drunk her fill of that particular poison, of lies and distrust, and though she will come to the logical conclusion not to blame him for it, that it would only make sense to hide his nature, and it only made equal sense a demon would be good at it, enough to fool her when she was set on showing them good will...

It didn't make her feel much less betrayed by the revelation now. Didn't make the millions of question she still felt curiously compelled to try and ask him any less a sting in her throat. Didn't do much for the furrow in her brow, either.

And it left her with an odd sort of insecurity she wasn't sure what to do with. She had trusted Sebastian and Ciel with her rescue- but if he was a demon... if Ciel had contracted with him...

Where would that leave her? And how could she be so selfish as to be thinking about that when it meant Ciel would eventually-]

I can understand that.

[It finally comes out, even if its a bit curt, if her clutch on her tools was a bit too tight, taking the saltpeter he's ground down and moving to parcel it out in small amounts..]

- you may go back to your work now.

[If she knew she might not have the chance, she'd ask those questions.]

found a demon in my safest haven [closed]

wow the subject line is doxxing him???

not my fault there's so many fitting lyrics???

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