A/N: Summary: Rather than kill Freckles, Ciel decides to spare her life and sets her up at his townhouse to begin her training to be a proper lady- Now if only that were easier done than said.
Ciel Phantomhive was an arrogant young man, that much he would admit to. He would never admit to feeling powerless, defeated- anything that those of the lower class would take in stride. Ciel was also a man of habit. With one particularly bad habit being exercising his ability to lie right through his teeth in order to get what he wanted. Pretending to have taken pity of those who didn't deserve it in order to get them to work for him- he had a way of making it all work out in the end of an ordeal without too much damage... On his end, that was.
That had been his reasoning when he lied to Freckles. Telling her the same thing he had told the Queen- that Joker and the others were dead when he found them, and that the other circus members had simple gone missing. The gruesome details of their true demises had been left out for their sake. The poor girl was then invited into his Townhouse, and a deal was struck that she would become his ward in return for her silence on the whole incident. A decision that the young earl had, at the time, believed to be the more noble one.
But now he was starting to regret simply killing Freckles.
'Deer Smile
Its right cool whatcha did fer me. Me flatmates are heaps of good fun and the like
yesturday we saw some lady singin on a stage! It was right wild of a time.
If I honest though, I love the lot to bits, pieces, and cookie crumbs but I could do without some things.
Like always asking if Ive eaten enough and me bedsheets don't need to be changed first thing in the mornin!
A little dirt never killed nobody, ya hear!
-Freckles.
The letter almost made Ciel gag. Every grammatical error and misspelling just further tore at his noble raised nerves. He had never considered Freckles could be illiterate- so he made the mistake of instructing her to write him on her progress at her new home. What was worse was her inability to grasp the concept of simply mailing the letter to him, and instead she insisted that she hand deliver each and every one of them... Every single day of the week.
Even Sebastian seemed to physically tense up at the sight of Freckles, excitedly bouncing on the tips of her dirty shoes for what felt to be the millionth time that week. Ciel was sure he would have said something too, if not for his own order of 'Stay quiet and allow me to handle her myself then.'.
"I'm gettin' right good and this whole 'lettering' thing, aren't I?" Freckles asked proudly as she shoved her newest 'letter' into the Earl's face. "Go on then, read this one next! The purple bloke helped me write it special for ya!"
"His name is Soma, and I'll read your letter once my stomach settles from the first one." Ciel replied, knocking the letter out of her hands. They then watched as it fluttered to the floor, then returned their gazes to one another. Freckle's a look of pride and Ciel's a look of business. If she insisted on coming all the way here to see him then he might as well make this a trip on business and not just a friendly encounter. "I've decided to get you a tutor-"
"Ugh! Another one!?" Freckle's whined, all but throwing herself over the mahogany desk.
"Another one?" Ciel raised an eyebrow. A bubble of annoyance swelled in his chest at the thought of an unknown tutor walking into his townhouse without his permission. "I wasn't aware of-"
"Yeah, the tall guy who lives with us and some funny lady with a weird voice." She went on, "Yeah, them two said I was doin' real good with my lettering and all that, but its so darn boring! Why I gotta learn to write when I can just talk what I want to say?"
"Quite... But as a lady, its a skill you'll have to learn."
Freckle's huffed again and slunk off of the desk. She then took herself over to a nearby couch and threw herself onto it face first. Normally, Ciel would have scolded her and perhaps had her hands slapped- But he felt it would bring a migraine on further. He could see it now; either Freckle's would hit back, or she would cry out and alert everyone who would then barge into the office and make a bigger scene than it already was. So rather than do any of that, Ciel moved on to the next topic of discussion.
"The next order of business is your name- I've called on a local vicar for your christening-"
Years of being kidnapped taught Ciel when to move quickly, and any God out there who was watching witnessed him duck out of his chair at top speed as Freckle's came barreling towards him.
"CHRISTENING!? LIKE SOME KIND OF BAPTISM!? ABSOLUTELY NOT! WHATS WRONG WITH ME NAME ANYHOW!? I RATHER QUITE LIKE IT!" She bellowed, grasping Ciel's freshly pressed jacket and shaking him like a rag doll.
"Freckles!"
The shout halted her shaking.
"It is only to allow you to be recognized as a member of society." Ciel explained calmly. "We will get your name and birth date recorded, then have a gathering to introduce you to the other nobles and then you can go back to being Freckles."
"A gathering? You mean like a party?" Instantly, Freckle's went from furious to what looked to be pure excitement. "That sounds like heaps of fun! I've never gotten me own party before!"
"You'll have to wear a dress, and have something done with your hair-" Ciel said, before quickly muttering, "Sebastian could do it this very moment- if she would just hold still..."
"A dress!? But I'm not some girly-" Ciel quickly shut her up with a wave of his hand and a look that clearly communicated to the young woman that anymore complaining would cancel the whole ordeal. "Oh, all right... Dressing and hair- what absolutely rubbish it is... But I'll do it if you say I gotta."
"Very good, now Sebastian can see to your ha-" Before Ciel could even finish his statement, Freckle's was out the door.
Though he hated running, Ciel quickly gave chase to the young rebel. Their meeting was not yet over and he couldn't stand another visit from that brat and those two idiots-
"TALL GUY! CIEL SAYS I NEED ME HAIR DONE UP!" She exclaimed, peaking into every open door on her way down the hall.
"I most certainly did not say it like that!" Ciel called after, already feeling the effects of the running on him. He would surely pass out soon if she didn't stop.
"Did so!"
With a scrape of her shoes, Freckle's wound up and took off sprinting down another stretch of hallway. Her cat like speed and childish energy was something to be admired, and yet Ciel still kept hoping that she would find Agni soon so they could stop running- One of few times Ciel actually looked forward to seeing one of his so called 'friends'.
"Oi, I found him!" Ciel heard Freckle's call, so with a soft sigh, he picked up his pace and followed her voice to the end of one more hallway.
When he found them, Freckle's was in the midst of climbing up Agni like he was a tree while Soma laughed. At first, he assumed the laughter was directed at Freckles-
"Ciel, you're such an old man." Soma said, "Freckles not only beat you, but look how winded you are from only a short run!"
"Yes, yes. Whatever." Ciel huffed, turning his attention over to Freckles. "I was going to have Sebastian do your hair for you- And a proper lady wouldn't climb a person like that! Get down from there this instance!"
"Whats the point of having a tall guy around if you're not supposed to climb on 'im?" Freckles asked, "And Black is nice and all, but I ain't lettin' him near my locks unless I was forced to. Plus, you see how lovely these guys hair is!? I want somethin' like this too!"
Ciel's gaze shifted from Freckles to Agni. From what he could read, the prince's butler didn't mind Freckle's on his back- or the compliment. Still, a formal asking was in order and as Freckle's guardian, Ciel felt it was his job to ask-
"So, how bout it?" Freckles beat him to the metaphoric punch, climbing over Agni's head and tapping the tip of her nose to his. "Cut my hair for me?"
"I would be honored, Lady Freckles." Agni replied, gently lifting her off of him.
"Thats right nice of ye!" Freckles giggled, tossing her arms around his neck in a sort of upside down hug.
The whole ordeal was almost charming in a sense- if not for the face that the girl was behaving completely unladylike and was making choices that were not hers to make. Still, Ciel figured this would send them back to their home faster, so he couldn't find it in himself to mind.
"Maybe Ciel will let you cut his hair as well, Agni. Eh, how about it, Ciel?" Soma said suddenly, snapping Ciel fully back to the situation at hand.
"ABSOLUTELY NOT! I'LL GIVE CLEARANCE FOR YOU TO CUT HER HAIR AND NOTHING MORE!"