Soul Steak (Claude and Jessica)

Claude had been told by his young master that it was now his duty to go and find some weaknesses in the Phantomhive lord and his butler. The butler had no weaknesses because, like Claude himself, Sebastian was a demon bound to the young lord by a deal for the young one's soul. Strangely enough, Sebastian didn't seem to hate it quite as much as he did but perhaps that was because he was more accomplished actor than Claude?

He didn't know and he didn't much care. Claude disliked being the plaything of some bratty child and he didn't care who knew it.

But that bratty child had made a deal with him so Claude would hold up his end of the bargin and make sure that he was a good little butler for his 'master'. And currently that included tracking down the newest, and theoretically least loyal, of the Phantomhive manor staff - Ciel's personal trainer.

Catching the scent of the woman had been easy... and not nearly as figurative as he had first believed! Her soul smelt delicious. It was honestly a wonder how Sebastian hadn't eaten her soul right up by now, he seriously doubted that he would have the same level of restraint were it he who was now sharing a manor with the woman.

Dropping down from his perch, Claude moved to intercept Jessica as she headed for the nearby bar,

"Excuse me, Miss Bristow." he greeted her with a very small bow of his head, "I would like to be able to speak to you regarding your new station as trainer of the Phantomhive lord if you have the time."

Jessica had been on her way to a bar to unwind, she didn't like hanging about the mansion any more because she was forever being mooned by Sebastian wanting to taste her blood to get a glimpse of the taste of her soul. Honestly he was getting a little bit annoying. She was enjoying training Ciel, she wanted to make sure that the little guy could hold his own, he really did seem to need it given who he had up against him in the last few months.

Distracted as she was she barely registered someone was watching her until she heard them moving through the air, it was hardly like her and she narrowed her eyes, hand twitching towards her knife, and her mind jolted back to the concealed gun that she had on her person, her two weapons in case this man didn't seem as friendly as he appeared.

Heck, he didn't even seem that friendly.

Immediately when he asked her about her new employment with Ciel, she was suspicious and she didn't move her hand any closer towards her knife but she warmed to the real possibility that she would be using it some point during this evening.

"I believe you have me at a disadvantage." she stated coolly, looking at the man with blank eyes, he had the same aura as Sebastian, did this mean he was a demon as well "It depends what you wish to talk to me about specifically."

Claude could tell that the woman was suspicious of his intentions almost right away. Of course, he reasoned, she was right to be suspicious but that didn't do much to make him feel better about the situation. Claude knew he should have gone with the slow, longer, approach but his lord and little master had wanted him to get information from her quickly and efficiently,

"How rude of me. My name is Claude, Claude Faustus." he told her with another small bow before he spoke again, "You see Miss Bristow, I work for a young Lord, much like young Ciel Phantomhive. Including certain dealings in the underworld if you catch my meaning..."

He gestured towards the front door of the bar and it opened on it's own, letting her know that his powers were comparable to those of Sebastian. If it came down to a straight fight, Claude wasn't sure who would win but they were both pretty damned powerful. Much more powerful than anyone else on this mortal plane that was for damned sure,

"Please, allow me to buy you a drink as we discus the terms of a deal." he suggested as he led her over to the bar itself and sat down on one of the barstools. He turned to face Jessica again, "We are willing to pay you very handsomely and all that we require is some information about the two of them; Ciel and Sebastian but hopefully more about Ciel."

Ordering a vodka straight up, Claude downed it without any visible reaction and licked his lips slightly when he was done. More due to her soul's scent than anything else,

"Name your price Miss Bristow."

Jessica was rather amused that he thought she was going to want to do a deal with him in the first place, although she was a criminal and she had never known rich society, nor did she really want to, there was no way that she was going to rat out her newfound friend just because someone offered her a large enough price on the information that they wanted.

"Very well then, Claude." she hummed, quirking her eyebrow up as she watched the man in front of her use his powers "Oh lord not another one..." Jessica groaned, shoulders slumping a little, her night of freedom from being sniffed was looking to go down the drain.

Although she might as well take the offer of the drink before she told him flat out that she didn't want to have anything to do with his sense of disloyalty and she certainly didn't want to be trekked around and followed by another demon wanting a little taste.

"I suppose I could take that drink." she stated, turning and walking towards the bar where Claude was now sitting, ordering the drinks for the two of them "It has been an awfully long day for me."

Cradling her vodka, she downed it with a little shiver;

"I don't need to name a price because there is no deal to be done, honour Claude is what binds me to Ciel not his money. You must want to know pretty badly if you are willing to approach me and ask me to do such a scumbag move. Quite a dangerous choice. I might take it as an insult."

Claude raised an eyebrow at her comment regarding his powers. So it seemed that Sebastian had not made a good impression on the young lady then. Mmm that could be problematic if she discovered that he was a demon and it turned out she hated demons because of Sebastian. He could tell that she wasn't hateful though, perhaps a bit annoyed already but not hateful. This was good considering he hadn't done anything worth being hated for yet,

"Don't worry about my powers or my nature." he assured her with a faint smile, "Unlike Sebastian, I can keep my urges under control."

He was glad that she accepted the idea of getting a drink out of him. It wasn't his fault that mortals tended to be more agreeable when they were slightly drunk or drunk completely. He sipped at his second drink,

"Well then please order whatever you like and I will be able to pay it off with my master's money that he has had me bring down with me." he told her before raising an eyebrow, "How has it been a long day for you? Does Ciel train you into the ground or something?"

He downed his own glass without so much as a twitch despite how strong it was,

"Surely some kind of a deal can be reached between us Jessica. After all, my master is willing to do whatever it takes." he told the woman with a small smirk before chuckling a little bit, "Come now Jessica, you have no honour bound reason to stay with them. Abandon them."

Jessica slumped over the bar and almost whacked her head against it when she heard Claude confirm that he was in fact a demon. Oh but he was apparently so much better than Sebastian, and whoever her father or mother had been, although, she did wonder about who her demon parent had been, was it the man that she had in her dreams? More than likely. Perhaps one of these days she would actually be able to speak to him in those dreams.

"Alright then I am glad you will be able to keep your hands to yourself, and your teeth too." she stated with a sigh "Honestly I always thought that butlers were supposed to behave with decorum, but as soon as Ciel goes to sleep I can't seem to get away, then I come here and another one of you is waiting for me."

Holding two fingers up, the barman brought her two tumblers of whiskey and smirked at her, he could tell that she was not in the mood for this type of conversation and when she was pushed when she wasn't in the mood then things often got interesting.

"No I train him into the ground as is my job as his trainer." Jessica stated sharply, not willing to give much away about her new found employer through common curtosey alone.

Slowly, Jessica raised her eyebrow at what Claude said, honestly what a goddamn jerk he was if he didn't have a scrap of loyalty. It was clear to her that he wasn't going to take no for an answer, so she was going to have to push him to leave her alone, or to start a fight in which she could escape and actually try and have some respite from demons.

"I forgot demons have no prospect of honour, you only remain a loyal dog to your human master because of the reward you reap at the end, not because you are bound by honour to them, how degrading it must be, to have so much power and be confined as you are." she smirked as she languidly sipped her drink, her tongue swirling around the rim of the glass licking up the drops of whiskey "The answer is no, Faustus."

Claude could tell that Sebastian had really done a number on Jessica, she really did seem to dislike, to the point of hate, demons like the two of them. He nodded a little bit and held up his hands to show her that he meant her no harm and would do as she asked,

"Don't worry, I will keep my hands and teeth to myself until further notice." he agreed with her for a few moments before snorting a little bit, "I don't know about Sebastian but I'm not really a butler. I'm a soul-eating demon and I like to act that way, rather than acting like I'm some kind of butler. Who had the time to be that spineless and 'helpful' all the time anyway?"

He nodded a little bit as he filed that piece of information away for better use later. If she spent all of her energy training Ciel every day then all they had to do was target the boy after one of her training sessions. Somehow he doubted that Ciel would be able to put up a fight when that weakened,

"Of course."

Taking another drink from the bar tender he glanced at her for a moment before sighing a little bit. He admitted that sometimes he would come across like that. Downing another drink, he spoke slowly and deliberately,

"We demons have honour - We make our deals down to the letter. And we honour them completely when they are struck. That is demonic honour - Much simpler than your mortal honour." he told her before frowning a little bit, "Then perhaps you could tell me what kind of services my master would be getting if he offered you the same job you do for Ciel, for him?"

Jessica smirked a little bit, Claude seemed to be quite nice, as nice as a demon could be she supposed, after all she was half demon and she wasn't the most hospitable of people. He was doing a good job for a demon who probably didn't give two fucks if she wanted to give his master the information or not, because he didn't really care for his master at the end of the day.

"I suppose he does it to keep his Master happy, he seems to do a good job of it, and besides, he might have made that a condition in his contract." Jessica stated with a small shrug "Whatever their contract is, it's rather odd, they seem so close with each other, I never would have thought."

Deciding since he hadn't reacted, that Claude must be some sort of celibate demon, Jessica downed the rest of the drink and sighed softly. It was nice to be able to relax, and it would take several shots to make a dint in her, after all since she was now officially part demon she supposed that she had a better constitution for drink than a normal human.

"Simpler than my mortal honour you say?" she asked with a quirked eyebrow, her expression shocked before she smirked lightly "How odd of you to say." Jessica would have thought he would have known she wasn't human like Sebastian had known.

The offer of training Alois as well made Jessica put her head in her hands; "Are you kidding me, why would I want to spend my time teaching two brats how to fight? A girl has her own business to do, and, I'm not too sure Ciel would be happy with me teaching the same moves I teach him to his rival." she smirked "Kind of defeats the object."

Claude stuck his tongue out in distaste at the very idea of him doing something to simply make his 'master' happy. That little brat deserved a deep and shallow... a deep cut across the throat and a shallow grave. Honestly, the child was worse than many of the demons in hell and, to be honest, he often just got sick of him acting like everything in the world was his to use as he saw fit,

"I find this idea to be rather... repulsive to be honest. Or I would if it were I and Alois that were that close. I swear that my child contract holder is a disgusting freak of nature." he told her with a little sigh before nodding a little bit, "It is a bit strange but maybe Ciel worked the deal very tightly so that he would have control over Sebastian on a higher level... who knows?"

Having noticed her display from earlier, noticed but not reacted due to a lack of a successful mission for Alois, Claude smirked a little bit and drank down another shot of vodka, licking his lips as he looked right at her so she knew he was thinking about her and not the drink. When she spoke he grinned a little bit and waved his hand,

"Oh you know what I mean." he joked a little bit, "You're mostly mortal anyway, you've never been to visit your father yet since he's not been able to meet you face to face yet."

Humming a little bit, Claude looked her sexy body up and down when she was busy over-reacting to the idea that he had put into place. He smirked a little bit,

"Yes I can see how that might be an issue." he joked a little bit before smirking a little bit, "Well my mission has failed... shall we just enjoy a good drink then?"

Jessica blinked a little bit, the poor boy there must be something that had made him this way and not everyone could be strong and fight through it like she had, although, there were some people that would say killing people was not the way to combat your problems but, it wasn't like when she was little she had much of a choice, she couldn't control her powers. Now though, she simply killed because that was what she was good at, what she had come to accept as her job.

"There must have been something to make him this way, I feel sorry for both Ciel and your master, children should enjoy being children while they can, and not darkened and burdened by the cruelties in the world. It really is a shame." Jessica admitted, she often felt sorry for children, especially poor children, who had to work from 5 or 6 until they died in their adult life.

Picking up her glass of untouched whiskey she swirled it around in the tumbler before she sipped on it, swallowing the firery liquid Jessica sighed softly. For a moment she wondered if Claude knew who her father was but, she wasn't about to ask him in case he asked for something in return, that thing would surely be her soul, which was out of bounds.

"I guess you are correct, and I am happy to be so." she stated with a small grin "Although it is quite refreshing to know I wont really die any time soon."

As he pronounced his mission failed, Jessica blinked and she smirked wickedly; "Really you're giving up just like that, an early finisher are you?" she teased with a sly wink "Ah well I always have time for a good drink, with good company."

Claude didn't much like to try about why it was that Alois was so messed up and why it was that Ciel took comfort in doing a job that even the most hardened of grown men found to be stupid or harder than was possible to actually do. It confused him to no end that both children had such different futures while still having come from the darkest of pasts that were almost the same,

"The stories behind their pasts are both long and torturous." he agreed with a little bit of a sigh, "Whatever demon made that decision got a medal out of making two young men extremely miserable until their true love arrived."

When she teased him about being an early finisher he laughed a little bit and could help but smirk at her and want to show her just how wrong she was,

"Not at all, I just know when to stop mentioning something." he joked a little bit before smirking and raising his own glass to match her toast, "To good company."

The door to the bar swung open almost violently and Sebastian, looking much darker and more powerful than he ever had before, marched into the room, pointing straight at Claude,

"Damn you Faustus!" he seethed, "You think you can just waltz in here and try and force information out of my staff? Jessica... what has he told you so far? Have you resisted his almost non-existent charms?"

Jessica smiled softly, she was beginning to enjoy Claude's company, he was a demon through and through and didn't seem to have a very compassionate heart but he was interesting and she wanted to be able to get to know the demon a little bit more, she only really had spoken to two demons, Claude and Sebastian. Perhaps Undertaker could introduce her to some more so she could get a broader scope of what it was like, what they were like.

"Until their true love arrived?" she asked with a snort "I don't think that either of these boys are old enough to have found their true love yet, it is a true shame that Ciel is engaged to that woman, honestly they don't suit each other at all, and she's so irritating."

Shivering at the memory she ordered another two shots; "She attempted to dress me in pink. Sebastian had to rescue her before I send a spike through her head."

As she got her new shots she raised one as Claude did and clinked their glasses together, a cheeky grin spread on her lips as she downed most of the glass she was holding; "To Good company, and burning most of your master's money that he sent you with."

Jessica groaned and slapped her hand to her face when Sebastian stormed into the bar, no no no not here this was her favourite bar! Leave her alone in here at least! When he began to ask her rather heatedly what he had told her, she blinked, and the fact he had called her his staff didn't go unnoticed;

"He didn't tell me anything that is of consequence to you, and, I am not your staff, I am an independent agent brought in to tutor Ciel. So who I choose to speak with in bars is not really any of your concern."

Claude had to admit that he was loving this down time away from his bratty little master. Honestly, even if the kid did suffer in the past, the Phantomhive brat hadn't turned out half as bad. Why did he have to get the really messed up one while Sebastian got the easier kid? Come all, Ciel was damned near normal compared to Alois. Sighing a little bit, he couldn't help but chuckle a little bit,

"But Ciel is willing to let her live after she broke a part of his cherish family ring? He's ordered people killed for much less." he told her with a little chuckle before snorting a little bit, "Yeah... I can't imagine you ever wearing a pink outfit of any kind to be honest. Although I'm glad that the girl survived the encounter... Alois has been toying with the idea of seducing her to get to Ciel and I'd hate for her being dead to, somehow, be my fault."

Sebastian was livid to know that Claude was not only this close to the manor but also seemingly trying to stake his claim on Jessica. He gritted his teeth in anger, not at Jessica but at Claude even though he was answering her question,

"When you choose to associate with a danger to my master... a Foresworn... then it is my concern." he told her before narrowing his eyes at Claude, "You tell her what you are Claude?"

Claude growled back at Sebastian,

"What I am is of no concern Sebastian, she doesn't care what I am other than a drinking buddy." he told Sebastian sharply before turning back to Jessica, "You don't care what I am do you?"

Jessica blinked a little bit when she heard that Claude's master was attempting to seduce Elizabeth to get at Ciel, honestly she didn't understand all the testosterone that was flying around, she just hoped that she would be able to do her job and continue this conversation with Claude without getting in trouble. It was not something Ciel would like to hear, that they were plotting against his fiancée.

Already she thought it would be best if she kept what Ciel told her from Claude and what Claude told her from Ciel, it would make things a lot less complicated. It was a fine line to walk but, she was good at balancing by this time.

"Is everything always your fault?" she asked with a small smirk "It sounds like you have a real hard time at work, you don't often get a break do you? It musn't be any way to live, it must be annoying when you have such capabilities and you're stuck minding someone like that, I bet you'd rather mind me wouldn't you?" Jessica asked with a wink.

Raising her eyebrow, Jessica placed her glass back down on the counter and swivelled around to face Sebastian; "Restricting my social circle was not in the agreement, I'm quite frankly insulted you would think I would tell anything confidential to someone who is clearly an enemy of Ciel, or vice versa, I do have some semblance of professionalism."

Sighing she stood up and smoothed down her trousers; "No I don't give a fuck to be honest. He's a demon, you're a demon, I'm half demon, what the hell does it matter?" she asked, pinching the bridge of her nose "God all I wanted to do was drink in bloody peace!"

Claude had to admit that even as a demon he found a lot of Alois' tactics to be.... rather unsavoury. Not even he could justify stealing another person's wife-to-be just for some petty vengeance over some imagined slight or misguided jealousy. To steal another's fiancé it was best if they had at least tried to kill you but, right now, Ciel didn't even know that they exist! It was completely pointless tactically and morally... which was why Alois was most certainly going to be doing it.

When she asked if everything was always his fault he simply hung his head and groaned a little bit in a mixture of pain and uncomfortable-ness. Of course it was always his fault. He nodded a little bit,

"Yeah anything goes wrong without a reason and it's my job and my fault if it, ultimately, fails." he muttered in agreement before chuckling a little bit, "I don't get any breaks. And you're right... I would definitely prefer to be sticking around someone like you, Lots more fun and not nearly as crazy."

Sebastian narrowed his eyes at the glaring form of Claude. There was definitely no love lost between the two of them considering all that had happened in the past. Sebastian hummed once before sitting down at the bar and ordering the whole bottle of jack daniels,

"He's not just a demon, he's a demon who fights against the terms of his deals. He is an embarrassment to the world and to his people." he muttered heatedly as he poured himself some more JD, "But I suppose we do all need this stop to remind."

Jessica, although she didn't know Claude and he had been a little bit of a douche bag when she had first met him had to admit that she felt sorry for him, nobody deserved to be put through so much hassle on a daily basis, especially when he had tried so hard to be able to complete the orders his master had given him. Although, she had to wonder if he really put that much effort into fulfilling them, after all he had ordered Claude to get information from her, he hadn't done so.

"I guess it's just the luck of the draw what person you get summoned to start a contract or whatever you demons do." she smiled softly, finishing her drink in one fell swoop of the glass, shuddering pleasantly at the burning sensation she felt "I'm guessing you didn't know he was such a strange one when you agreed to the contract."

When Claude said she was nowhere near as crazy as Alois Jessica couldn't help but believe him, after all his master sounded like a complete nutcase, so she was happy to admit that there might be one or two people in the world a little bit more messed up than she was.

"I am a lot more fun." she laughed with a cheeky wink "A right fire cracker when you get to know me."

As Sebastian spoke Jessica narrowed her eyes a little bit, whatever Claude did in his deals wasn't really any of his business, it was a rather human quality to be honest to go back or twist deals and so she couldn't hold it against Claude. Especially when his deal was as bad as this one was.

"I'm guessing you two don't like each other much then." she sighed, turning her nose up "Should I leave you to your testosterone fuelled bitching?"