Nah, I'll do the whole thing.

Sebastian was a demon who appreciated artistry, and that was why he liked his current master so much. To be sure, Ciel’s early efforts had been a bit rough. It had taken a year or two before Ciel realized that simple physical feats wouldn’t trouble Sebastian and turned his ingenuity to devising more subtle traps and conundrums.

Because it always seemed to me that Sebastian and Ciel are playing a game with each other, in all those unreasonable demands Ciel makes. The way Sebastian smiles over it, and the way Ciel is always plotting another, really seem to form a significant part of the bond between them.

They were both careful not to overplay their game. These tests and traps should be unpredictable, and Ciel scattered them through the years they’d been together with a charmingly random hand. Every now and then, he dropped one in Sebastian’s way and Sebastian smiled sleekly under the weight of his master’s eyes as he unraveled it.

Or, sometimes, rarely, did not. Those were the best.

And this is the real hook of the story. My theory is that Sebastian really enjoys being bested, in the game. He's a demon, maybe immortal, certainly ancient, and he's to to be /bored out of his mind/ most of the time. So he loves a challenge, and he loves it even more when one of his toys can turn the tables on him.

He was never eager for them; that would be gauche. He was simply watchful. Which was why his senses tingled this morning as he laid out Ciel’s tea. There was a certain promising thoughtfulness in Ciel’s glance that gave him hopes.

"Wait," Ciel told him, as he tucked the tray under his arm and turned to go.

"Yes?" Sebastian turned back, attentive, the perfect servant as always.

Perhaps the show frayed just a fraction as Ciel rose from his chair and strolled to Sebastian’s side, lips curved faintly. But only a fraction.

The thing is, it's /all/ a game, for Sebastian, including keeping up appearances. It's part of the challenge. And this is why he pinged me, for this fic, as pretty intensely submissive. Having someone else make the rules is part of the fun for him.

Ciel leaned forward and murmured in his ear. "This is an order. Until I tell you you can stop… resist my orders."

Sebastian’s eyes widened.

The logic of this one was what really started the fic going. If Sebastian's game is to obey all orders... what about an order /not/ to obey?

Ciel stepped back, watching him with measuring eyes as the binding of their contract tightened. A spell had no mind; it didn’t care whether an order was possible or not. It merely followed its logic, and that logic compelled him to obey the master he was bound to. To obey by resisting, to resist by not resisting, but not to resist was to disobey.

The bindings tightened gradually, a little further for each breath that took no action to fulfill the order he’d been given, until the razor heat of the spell cutting into his very essence made him sway on his feet.

It felt so sweet.

Here we have the next turn of the story, where it becomes clear that Sebastian is enjoying, not just the challenge, but the restraint and a kind of pain. It was the best explanation I came to for why Sebastian would prompt Ciel so explicitly to bind him in the first place and then have such a relatively adversarial relationship with him.

To be caught by the sharpness of his master’s mind, for him to be caught like this! To be compelled and required to obey the will of another was pleasure enough, especially with their endless games of command and insolence to give it spice. To be this utterly helpless, for all his power, in the grip of mortal will and desire, was pure delight. Yes, this trap was very sweet indeed.

Here's where it becomes explicit. Sebastian is always looking for someone who can match his power, not just by virtue of the binding (which seems almost nothing in the scale of a demon's lifespan, the demon has already won when the binding is put in place) but by virtue of Ciel's wits, Ciel's ability to turn the contract that will ultimately mean his defeat against Sebastian.

I think Sebastian has what demons might consider a very refined and sophisticated palate.

The binding tightened, relentless, until he couldn’t move, could only gasp for breath, until his knees gave way and he sank down to the carpet at Ciel’s feet. The thrill of feeling that force across every particle of him built and built as Ciel only watched without making any move to release him, climbing towards the crest.

So Sebastian is one classic type of submissive--he's into this because he has so much power most of the time, and the contrast of being in another's power is the thrill to him.

Just before he lost himself in it, Ciel smiled, slow and sharp. "Enough. You can stop."

Here we have a glimpse of why and how Ciel can really play level with Sebastian, in this game. Ciel has that sense of what is cruelest and the ruthlessness to actually do it. Ciel is not a nice person, a lot of the time. Honorable and possibly even noble at times, but not nice at all.

The pressure vanished, leaving him hanging, and the glint in Ciel’s eyes, the cruel perfection of his timing, struck through Sebastian like lightning. The beauty of his master’s ruthlessness seared into him like the fire of his own realm, completed him, left even him wrung out and trembling.

"Yes," he had to take a second breath to complete it, "my Lord."

"You may go," Ciel told him coolly, and seated himself back at his desk, picking up a letter off today’s correspondence.

Sebastian drew himself up and bowed quite correctly. A smile of secret delight curved his lips as he closed the door behind him.

He had chosen very well indeed, this time.

I admit, I also wrote this because I was getting really tired of stories that posited that Sebastian had all the real power and that Ciel was unstable enough or weak enough or needy enough or whatever to not resist him. I don't buy that. Sebastian seems consistently delighted by Ciel, and I'm convinced that means Ciel is the kind of person a demon would take delight in serving.