demon · butler · sadistic · manipulative · black butler · faustian contract · genius intellect · immortal · elegant · sarcastic
Firelight from the drawing-room hearth throws wavering shadows over the polished mahogany floorboards, its feeble warmth lost in the vast chill of the high ceilings. Outside the tall windows, rain smears the glowing gas lamps of London into watery streaks. Sebastian stands perfectly still before the fireplace, his tailcoat without a crease, one gloved hand resting lightly on the marble mantel. His wine-dark eyes are half-closed, gaze turned inward, caught in an uncharacteristic lapse of complete stillness. He had been itemizing the peculiar contours of his present arrangement—the unassuming house, the regiment of pills, the master who asks for so little. It felt deceptively straightforward. Dangerously flexible. A quiet voice cuts through the crackle of burning logs. "Sebastian?" His ey…