[Black Butler] "Graceful Summer Days" (G)
Author's Note: Written for 
fic_promptly's Kuroshitsuji, the Phantomhive family, halcyon days. Set well before the series; Lizzie/Ciel cuteness.
A picnic on a grassy slope beyond the woods behind the Phantomhive Manor, silken quilts spread on the grass, low tea tables set up on which to place the baskets of food, the pitchers of lemonade and iced teas flavored with mint sprigs, the better to keep away the busy little thieves known as ants. The ladies held light colored muslin parasols to keep the sun off their delicate fair skin, despite the canopy that the menservants had set up to keep them in the shade. Lizzie insisted on racing Ciel to the crest of the hill, despite her maid's insistence that a race like that would not befit a lady and the future bride of the Earl of Phantomhive. But Madame Red -- Auntie Anne -- insisted otherwise: "A run like that is perfect for young people: it can build up their lungs and their muscles."
Papa beamed at them. "Go on, Ciel: a man must see that his wife is happy with him, and it is clear that nothing would please your future bride more than a race with you."
And so Ciel raced up the hill, grass tugging at his stockings and at the legs of his knee pants, Lizzie just ahead of him, skirts flying, curls tossing, giggling in abandon. "Come and catch me, Ciel!" she shouted and with a giggle, she turned and sprinted ahead of him. He pushed himself to run harder and faster, giving the race his all as he sought to close the gap between him and Lizzie... Gained on her... Ran neck in neck with her.
He reached the plateau at the top of the hill at the same moment as Lizzie. They stopped, breathing hard, Ciel bending at the waist, hands on his knees as he caught his breath. The sun fell warm on their faces and hands, the soft wind cooling their heated bodies, even through the summer weight fabric of their clothes.
Ciel straightened up, looking about him, turning to gaze on the land below them, the houses and farms laid out like a panoramic picture spread in the Illustrated London News. He turned to glance at Lizzie, then up to the clear blue sky without a cloud overhead, and down again at the green land below before turning his gaze back to his bride to be. "All this land you see, Lizzie, all this is Phantomhive land," he said.
"No-uh," Lizzie countered, turning him to face the north, then pointing. "All this is Mitford land. But it will be ours when we're married."
"No. It will be yours, Lizzie: I shan't take your lands from you, not like most husbands would do to their wives," Ciel said.
"Awww, but I want us to share our lands: your lands will be mine, and my lands will be yours," she countered, wheedling.
He thought of what his father had said, and he did not feel like arguing with her, not on a bright halcyon day like this. He reached out and took her hands in both of his, pressing them. "You have the wiser, and dare I say better plan than mine," he said.
"Of course I do," she said, beaming, then leaned in to kiss his cheek....
fic_promptly's Kuroshitsuji, the Phantomhive family, halcyon days. Set well before the series; Lizzie/Ciel cuteness.
A picnic on a grassy slope beyond the woods behind the Phantomhive Manor, silken quilts spread on the grass, low tea tables set up on which to place the baskets of food, the pitchers of lemonade and iced teas flavored with mint sprigs, the better to keep away the busy little thieves known as ants. The ladies held light colored muslin parasols to keep the sun off their delicate fair skin, despite the canopy that the menservants had set up to keep them in the shade. Lizzie insisted on racing Ciel to the crest of the hill, despite her maid's insistence that a race like that would not befit a lady and the future bride of the Earl of Phantomhive. But Madame Red -- Auntie Anne -- insisted otherwise: "A run like that is perfect for young people: it can build up their lungs and their muscles."
Papa beamed at them. "Go on, Ciel: a man must see that his wife is happy with him, and it is clear that nothing would please your future bride more than a race with you."
And so Ciel raced up the hill, grass tugging at his stockings and at the legs of his knee pants, Lizzie just ahead of him, skirts flying, curls tossing, giggling in abandon. "Come and catch me, Ciel!" she shouted and with a giggle, she turned and sprinted ahead of him. He pushed himself to run harder and faster, giving the race his all as he sought to close the gap between him and Lizzie... Gained on her... Ran neck in neck with her.
He reached the plateau at the top of the hill at the same moment as Lizzie. They stopped, breathing hard, Ciel bending at the waist, hands on his knees as he caught his breath. The sun fell warm on their faces and hands, the soft wind cooling their heated bodies, even through the summer weight fabric of their clothes.
Ciel straightened up, looking about him, turning to gaze on the land below them, the houses and farms laid out like a panoramic picture spread in the Illustrated London News. He turned to glance at Lizzie, then up to the clear blue sky without a cloud overhead, and down again at the green land below before turning his gaze back to his bride to be. "All this land you see, Lizzie, all this is Phantomhive land," he said.
"No-uh," Lizzie countered, turning him to face the north, then pointing. "All this is Mitford land. But it will be ours when we're married."
"No. It will be yours, Lizzie: I shan't take your lands from you, not like most husbands would do to their wives," Ciel said.
"Awww, but I want us to share our lands: your lands will be mine, and my lands will be yours," she countered, wheedling.
He thought of what his father had said, and he did not feel like arguing with her, not on a bright halcyon day like this. He reached out and took her hands in both of his, pressing them. "You have the wiser, and dare I say better plan than mine," he said.
"Of course I do," she said, beaming, then leaned in to kiss his cheek....