AN: This is a very lengthy one-shot about Pluto, and if he was in Book of Circus. Half of it is written in Pluto's pov, and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it, even if it is a little confusing. And I'm sorry for how rushed the ending is, I really wanted to finish it cause I promised a friend I'd publish this so... Also I made up the fact that Pluto shrinks when he's sad. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I own nothing
Ciel, thirteen year-old Earl Phantomhive, had seen many things, some he could not explain. But he could count on -depend on- and explain two simple facts: that his butler would always save him, and that when his garden -nay, his entire yard- was a blackened pile of ashes, there was one person to blame. Or rather, one demon hound.
Ciel knew, that no matter the aftermath of his bumbling servants mistakes, his butler, Sebastian, could clean it up better than new. But this, this was one time too many. This was one burned yard too many. And Ciel was fit to burst.
His young gardener, only a few years older than Ciel, maybe, stepped forward from his place beside Meyrin the maid, Baldroy the cook, and Tanaka the elderly butler, sensing his young Lord's anger. Wringing his hands and biting his lip, the fair-haired gardener cast a glance to the ruined yard and winced, "It really was my fault Young Master, Plu-Plu and I were playing fetch and I knew what happened when he got excited… I'm really sorry-"
Ciel held up a hand to stop him and Finnian ground to a halt, swallowing thickly. And then Ciel laughed, tilting his head back and laughing, but there was no humor in this laugh, not really. It was the laugh of one who found the situation so deplorable they just had to laugh or they might explode in anger instead. It was almost manic, and even Sebastian, who wasn't fazed by much, had to gape at his Young Master laughing with abandon.
"Y-Young Master?" Finny tried, softly, and Ciel stopped laughing, turning to the timid boy with a smile that dripped with sarcasm and patronizing words to come, "No, Finny, don't apologize, for it isn't your fault. In fact, it isn't even Pluto's fault! No! It's mine!"
Then he was laughing again, hands clutched around his middle as he doubled over, laughing and laughing, the others exchanging looks of concern. Ciel sobered, looking back at his ruined garden, "Quite honestly if I came home to a normal, unburnt garden I'm not sure how I would react! Most nobles don't give a damn about when the flowers are in bloom but for me it's such a rare thing, because it hardly ever stays that way for more than ten minutes! No Finny, it isn't your fault in the least! It's mine for thinking that blasted demon hound would behave any differently! To think that he wouldn't burn down my yard after he bloody burnt down London! It's my fault for letting him live, for not telling Bard to pull the trigger! For pitying him! For showing mercy! And look where it's gotten me!"
Now Ciel's mirth -even forced- was gone, his single visible blue eye flashing dangerously, everything about his tone and posture betraying his absolute fury at the situation. Clenching his hands tightly, the boy glared at nothing in particular, "No it's entirely my fault. But I know just how to fix it, yes, I should have done it ages ago."
He straightened, adjusting the ribbon around his neck as he turned to his servants, Finny in particular, his anger no longer white hot, but cold and calculating, and terrifying to behold.
"I know what has to be done, and I will only apologize to you, Finny, because you seem to have developed some sort of connection with that beast, but he's got. To go. No longer will I deal with him burning down my garden or my lawn, or the topiaries, or heaven forbid the greenhouse. I'm surprised the mansion has been spared to be quite honest. But yes, Finny, I will apologize to you, because 'Plu-Plu' is leaving. Tonight. Sebastian if I see that demon hound on my property ever again you have express orders to kill it on sight!"
Sebastian lay a hand to his heart and bowed curtly, "Yes Young Master." They all knew the cat-savvy man wasn't torn up about it in the slightest, but at least he didn't smirk. Ciel, meanwhile, stalked past them all to the entrance to the Phantomhive mansion, "And clean up this mess!"
"Yes Young Master."
The door slammed behind their irate master and Sebastian turned to the remaining four, "You will begin cleaning this up, while I get rid of that abomination."
Said "abomination" cowered behind Finny, or tried to, as the demon hound known as Pluto was nearly four times the size of any man's width and twice as tall. Finny gently pat the dog's nose as Sebastian grabbed his collar and none too gently dragged him away.
"Bye Plu-Plu…" Finny murmured, turquoise eyes tearing up, and Meyrin lay a hand on his shoulder while Bard lay a hand on the other, ""It's for the best kid."
"It'll get better, yes it will," Meyrin assured him and Finny sighed, knowing there was no use arguing or getting too upset. Maybe the Young Master would let him have a different pet, one that didn't breath fire.
Many thought Pluto didn't understand English, but he certainly knew enough to understand, just maybe not speak -even in his human form- and so he knew full well that he was in trouble, and that the small human was mad at him, and the not-so-small strong human was upset, and especially that the tall demon dressed in black was very happy, at least right now. Which was funny since the tall demon never seemed happy about anything that came to Pluto.
Tall demon dragged Pluto down the road away from the Phantomhive manor, and it was then Pluto knew that he was being sent away. Just like pretty angel lady had sent him away to live with small human and his tall demon, they were sending him away. Except it didn't look like they were giving him to a new human, they were just leaving him on the street. And when tall demon left him in an alley and told him not to come back, Pluto did something he rarely did. He shrunk.
When he was over emotional, Pluto had the tendency of turning into a man, which was often awkward because he never wore clothes. But more often than not, Pluto was a large demon hound, taller than a carriage and much faster. But when he was very sad, like now, or depressed or upset for any reason, he shrunk to the size of a normal dog. And right now, Pluto didn't know if he would ever be able to grow again.
His pretty angel lady didn't want him anymore, she had been mean sometimes anyway, and the tall demon didn't want him even though Pluto had never really met anyone else who was a demon anything like him. And the small human never liked him, and the loud human who used fire like Pluto sometimes yelled at him, and the girl human was scared of him, and the smallish human who never said anything, well, never said anything. But not-so-small strong human was his friend and he liked Pluto and they played, but now he wasn't going to see that human anymore cause he couldn't go back.
Pluto sank his head onto his paws in the alley and didn't move, because he didn't have anywhere to go and if his humans didn't want him than probably no humans would want him. And no demons and no angels either. It started to rain, which only made Pluto feel worse. He didn't like the rain, because it was cold and made everything dark. He liked warmth and brightness.
Pluto whimpered a little to himself as he curled his tail closer, closing his drooping red eyes. If he was home his human would give him a hug and he'd go to sleep beside the big house, but Pluto didn't have a home anymore, so he slept in the alley.
When Pluto woke up it had stopped raining but it was still cloudy and dark too, but none of that interested Pluto. Nothing interested him. Not even the humans in front of him, who were beating up that other human.
Pluto picked his head up slightly, watching the three big mean humans who smelled like alcohol throw punches at the other slightly shorter human, who was trying to escape or fight back. Maybe Pluto would have been content to do nothing, but he knew his strong human would have wanted to help. Maybe if he helped this human strong human would want him back!
Jumping up, Pluto appeared out of the shadows, snarling and growling at the mean men who all took steps back. Pluto lunged, digging his teeth into the arm of one of the mean men who yelled and swung his arm, but Pluto held on until he felt like letting go, dropping to the ground and snapping at the men's ankles and barking until they left.
Now it was just he and shorter human. Pluto turned and trotted back to the human who was sitting on the ground with a hand over his eye and a bleeding lip. Pluto sat in front of him and wagged his tail, waiting for praise. Even tall demon gave him praise for being good, even if tall demon hated Pluto.
The man chuckled and reached out the hand not holding his eye and pat Pluto on the head. Pluto let his tongue hang out of his mouth, panting with happiness, but then he noticed shorter man had a bone on his arm. Well, actually his arm was a bone, just a bone, and it was also a human bone, but not the man's bone. Which was confusing to think and confusing to figure out, so Pluto decided instead that a bone was a bone, and he chomped down on the man's bone arm.
The man tugged on it, "'Ey, give that back."
Pluto gnawed on the arm in response and the man chuckled again, tugging on his arm harder, "This isn' a game ya mangy mutt. Give me my arm. Drop it."
Pluto knew those words, so he dropped the arm and the man retracted it, holding it up to inspect with his good eye, "Ya got slobber all over it."
Pluto dropped his ears, unsure if that meant this human was mad at him, but the human only chuckled again and pet his head, scratching his ears until they perked back up, "No 'arm done. Thanks fer savin' me. Knew I shouldn' 'ave gone out tonight but, what're ya gonna do."
Encouraged by the man's kindness, Pluto sat up and moved forward, licking the blood from the man's face like he sometimes did to strong human when he was pricked from thorns. The human laughed, trying to bat him away, "Stop that! Stop!"
Pluto did as asked and sat back down in front of the human who was smiling, "Ya listen good, ya must be someone's dog."
Pluto flattened his ears and whined, setting his head on his paws because he wasn't anybody's dog anymore and the human seemed to understand this, "Cast out eh? I know wha' that's like." He struggled to his feet, "Thanks again mutt."
Pluto watched the man leave and even though he didn't have a home, he liked this human because he was nice and he had funny hair like that girl human back ho- at the place he used to live. So Pluto got up and trotted after him.
Joker became aware he was being followed at about the time he reached the circus, when he turned around and there stood the dog that had saved him from the three drunk muggers. It'd been his own damn fault for going out so late -and without anything to protect himself with- but he'd thought it would be a quick run and back. He was lucky the dog was there.
Said dog looked up at him, tongue lolling out of his mouth and tail wagging. Joker cracked a grin, "Followin' me then? Expect some sort of reward? I guess tha's fair."
He turned back and entered the circus grounds beneath the sign bearing "Noah's Ark Circus" in big bold letters. The dog trotted after him as he wove his way through dozens of mustard-yellow canvas tents, some spilling over with supplies, others closed because they were being used by second-tiers. Joker stopped at the mess tent, knowing they didn't have ice, but a cold towel would work just as well on his black eye. Damn, he'd have to use a lot of makeup to cover it up tomorrow.
The dog sat beside him when he flopped onto one of the benches with a sigh, setting his silvery head on the ringleader's knee. Joker scratched him behind the ears, "Let me see what I can do about a reward."
There were strips of bacon set out for breakfast the next morning, so Joker snagged a few and fed them to the dog who gobbled them up and then looked to Joker for more. Telling himself he wouldn't eat any for breakfast and the dog was eating his share, Joker snagged two more and handed them over. The dog ate those too and then licked his chops, yawning and setting his head on his paws.
Joker stifled a yawn of his own, "It's pretty late… I'd better get ta bed."
He wasn't sure why he was telling the dog this, but he got up and left the mess tent, making his way to his own tent in the first-tier section, the yellow canvas fading to a small cluster of periwinkle blue tents. Joker found his own -after carefully avoiding Snake's tent with his dozens of loose snakes- and undressed, pulling on a nightshirt and sitting on the edge of his bed to remove his hair pins, using the towel to wipe off his makeup before flopping back onto his pillow, eyes closed.
He stayed that way for a second, two, three, and then opened one eye. The dog sat before him, panting happily and wagging his tail. Joker sighed, "If ya keep quiet, you can stay."
The dog licked his face and then settled on the floor, closing his crimson eyes. Joker heaved another sigh and flung his flesh and blood arm over his eyes, and was soon asleep, before he'd even pulled his sheets over himself.
Pluto slept most of the night, but then he woke early, earlier than the funny human, but since the human was still sleeping he stayed quiet, only watching him. Pluto liked this human a lot, and the human seemed to like him. Maybe this human would let him stay. As the hours ticked by, Pluto moved closer and closer to the sleeping human until he could set his chin on the cot and stare at the human's face.
When the funny human did open his eyes, he blinked blearily at Pluto a moment and then wiped his face with his hand, "Then I wasn' dreaming."
Pluto wagged his tail and licked the funny human's face until he was laughing and telling Pluto to stop, and then Pluto moved so the human could get up and get dressed. Pluto noticed a cane in the corner of the tent and happily picked it up, bringing it to the funny human because the small human liked his cane so maybe this human did too.
The funny human chuckled again and took it, wiping it clean on his purple coat before setting it down to use, "Thank ye. Ready for breakfast?"
Pluto barked a yes because he was hungry for more bacon or really any other type of food, maybe even doggie biscuits, and so he followed his human out of the tent. This was his human now, this human wanted to keep him. He hoped. He'd have to see, but he really hoped.
There were lots of humans here now, but Pluto had no problem weaving around their legs after his human, waiting patiently in line for food and then following his human to the tent from the night before and sitting under the table. First his human ignored him, and so Pluto had to whine and put his head on his knee, but then his human laughed and handed him a roll and Pluto ate it up, wagging his tail.
"Joker what the bloody 'ell is that?"
Pluto looked out from beneath the table to this new girl human who had red eyes like him. She also had a whip on her hip and Pluto growled because he didn't like whips and he didn't want this human hurting him or his human. His human gently nudged him, "S'alright, just Beast. And this is my new dog."
"Why do you 'ave it?" Beast human said and his human, Joker human, shrugged, "You 'ave a bloody tiger, do I need a reason ta 'ave a dog?"
Beast human huffed and sat beside his human, and Pluto sniffed her leg. She had a leg that was bone but not her bone too. He probably shouldn't chew it though, so instead Pluto put his head back on his human's leg. Beast human was okay, she liked his human, he could tell. Just like the yellow loud girl human liked the small human from his old home.
"Morning!"
This was a new human, this human had funny hair and a funny hat. Funny hat human. Funny hat human sat across from his human and Beast human stabbed at her eggs, "Joker's got a dog."
"Really? Where?"
Funny hat human's face appeared beneath the table and Pluto sniffed; this human was nice he liked his human too. He licked funny hat human's face, making him laugh, and then he sat back up, "Where'd ya get 'im?"
"Found 'im on the streets," his human answered, and he wondered why his human didn't tell them mean men hit him, but the small human liked secrets too, so Pluto ignored it.
More humans came and sat, and Pluto learned they all had funny human names. Beast, Joker, Dagger, Jumbo, Peter, Wendy, Doll. Small happy girl human liked Pluto a lot and he liked her too because she gave him food. He didn't like small green human, he was mean. Big human was nice though. And pink girl human was sort of nice. But he liked his human best.
"Yer not really keepin' it are ya?" Beast asked on the way to the practice tent. Joker cast a glance to the dog, who followed obediently, "Why not? 'E's a good dog, 'e listens."
"'E's a beast Joker, all beast's need ta be trained," the tiger tamer shot back, making Joker roll his violet eyes. Beast narrowed her own, "Ya don' believe me?"
"'E doesn't need ta be trained," Joker said firmly and Beast scowled, pulling out her whip and cracking it, "Dog! Sit!"
She cracked it over the dog's head and Joker flung out his cane to catch the next crack, yanking the whip out of her hands, "What'd I say! 'E knows 'ow ta listen and behave! Sit." The dog looked at him, and then to Beast, and his ears lowered in fear, and then back to Joker, and then he sat, ears still down. Joker tossed Beast's whip back to her. He knew she was a beast tamer, that was her act, but there was no reason to treat the dog this way. He was a dog, and didn't she believe him when he said he listened?
"Good boy, lay down."
The dog did that too, and Joker pat his head lightly, "Good boy."
The dog was looking at him intently, as though trying to gauge just how good Joker thought he was, or if Joker was even kidding, and would try to hurt him like Beast. But then he barked happily and wagged his tail and Joker chuckled.
"'E needs a name Joker," Dagger said from his position in front of the target practice he'd set up, "If yer goin' ta keep 'im."
"Course I am, I said so didn' I? Now a name…"
Joker was good at names, but he was at a loss as what to call the dog. He was no ordinary dog, Joker could tell, so something simple just wouldn't do. But he'd given everyone in that circus a stage name, surely he could think of a good name for his dog.
Pluto had been Pluto for a long time, and he didn't want another name. But his human didn't know his name so he was picking a new one. Maybe Pluto just had to tell him his name and then his human would still call him Pluto.
But Pluto couldn't speak, even in human form, but he could spell. Sort of. He knew how to spell Pluto at least, because it had been on his collar that tall demon gave him. His collar! That was it! He would show his human his collar and then he would know his name.
Pluto whined, pacing back and forth and shaking his head, trying to get the collar off or at least draw attention to it. He tossed his head up and down and shook it fervently until he was dizzy and collapsed so the world would stop spinning, and then he rolled on his back and stretched so they could see his collar.
"Wha's that then?"
His human bent to examine the collar on Pluto's neck, tugging it closer to read, "'Pluto.' Is that yer name? From yer old 'ome?"
Pluto barked happily and his human smiled, "Well Pluto, welcome ta Noah's Ark Circus!" Pluto barked happily and leapt in the air, jumping up and down. He was so very happy! He had a new human now! And his human liked him very much! Pluto couldn't have been happier, even if it meant he wouldn't be strong human's anymore, because his new human was funny and nice. And then Pluto grew.
At first Joker thought there was something wrong when Pluto hunched over, and he felt a pang of concern. Was he going to lose this dog before he even really knew him? But no, Pluto's back arched, and his paws began to expand, growing larger and larger as Pluto himself grew, legs elongating and thickening, up, up, up, towering over Joker by a good five or so feet.
Pluto happily wagged his tail as the practice tent, before a bustle of activity, fell deathly silent, all eyes on the monstrous Pluto. Pluto, for his part, looked very pleased with himself and he dipped his head, licking Joker's face, except with the enormity of the dog's tongue, he licked Joker head to toe. Wiping dog slobber from his face, Joker had to smile. Of course he had picked up the one dog who was different from all other dogs. But then again, that was almost a criteria for being in the circus, especially this circus.
"That's a neat trick there," he remarked and Pluto wagged his tail, knocking several things over.
"'Neat trick?'" Dagger blurted, still staring at the monster dog before him, "'E's a bloody mmmffster." Joker slapped a hand over Dagger's mouth, not wanting to upset the large dog before them. Joker gently pat Pluto's leg, "Ya think ya could be small again?"
Pluto cocked his head to the side as though he didn't understand the question but then he barked happily, a bark that practically shook the whole tent, and then shrank back to the size of a normal dog. Now Joker pat his head, "Tha's a good boy."
Pluto liked his human very much. He liked living at the circus and he liked licking the plates clean before they were washed, which the other humans seemed to like because it made washing easier, and he liked watching his human put on shows for other humans. His human liked to juggle balls, and one time Pluto had rushed out into the ring and picked up one of he ones his human dropped on his head to give it back -and maybe they could play fetch!- and at first his human was surprised, but then all the other humans laughed and so his human laughed too, and he wasn't even mad. Now Pluto was allowed to run out and fetch the balls whenever he wanted during a show. And his human played fetch afterwards too.
The circus moved around a lot, and on the day they moved from London to the countryside -which Pluto missed because it was so open- Pluto couldn't help but grow and run alongside the caravan and all around the hills, chasing birds and things. One time his human threw a stick, and he brought back a bigger stick that had been stuck in the ground for some reason, and his human had laughed so hard Pluto couldn't help but lick his face. And whole self.
Pluto liked when they stopped at the place by the lake and he got to swim, but then he was all wet and so he shook off, and soaked all the other humans. His human found it funny at first but then he told Pluto not to do it again, so Pluto didn't. That was the thing with his human: he never got mad at Pluto. Tall demon did, and so did small human, all the time. But his human, Joker human, never got mad.
Then one night, his human didn't go to bed right away. He told Pluto to stay in the tent and Pluto did because he was a good boy, and when his human got back he was very tired, and very sad, and he smelled like blood. Pluto couldn't find any no matter how hard he tried, so his human wasn't hurt which was good, but his human was sad, and that wasn't so good.
Pluto rested his head on his human's leg and whined until he pet him, but then his human started crying and Pluto had to lick the tears away, so it was a good thing he was small now, and his human had hugged him and called him a good boy, and then his human had fallen asleep, less sad, but still sad.
Pluto didn't like his human sad. Wherever his human was going without Pluto it made him sad and Pluto decided he hated this place. So he decided to see what this place was and maybe he could make it better, so he was bad, and he followed his human instead of staying. But to be fair, his human hadn't told him to stay that night, it was just expected.
At first Pluto was confused, because his human was playing music for small humans, and then the small humans would get into a carriage and ride away. That wasn't sad. But then one of the small humans was getting in the carriage and a bunch of humans with hats and sticks came to try and attack his human.
Pluto couldn't let that happen: nobody hurt his human! So he bolted from the shadows and he opened his mouth, the fire he hadn't used in weeks welling up and pouring out of him, scorching the humans with sticks until they stopped yelling and then Pluto looked to his human, and his human only looked back in shock, and then the small human hugged him and said, "Nice doggie."
Pluto liked that, but he didn't like that his human didn't say anything, even after the small human was gone. But then his human looked at him and smiled, "Good boy."
And so Pluto never stayed behind again, and instead he burned up all the humans with sticks who tried to hurt his human, and he was pet by small humans, and his human smiled and said "Good boy" and then they went home to the circus. And his human was still sad sometimes, but not as much. So Pluto was happy.
Joker didn't tell any of the others about Pluto's other interesting trait. So when they went out to gather more "sweets" for Father's "shows" Joker split from the others and took Pluto, which would ensure a successful kidnapping with no witnesses. He hated using Pluto, using him the way Father used them, but it didn't seem to matter to Pluto, because he was always more than happy to do it. Joker wondered if he even understood what they were doing, because sometimes he seemed overly smart for a dog, and other times, he was just a dog. A sometimes giant firebreathing dog but still a dog.
Joker grew used to waking up with Pluto staring at him and then getting licked in the face. He would share his breakfast, and then he would practice juggling, until he felt poor Pluto would explode from anticipation, and they would play fetch, and then make the rounds. Everyone knew Pluto. And -aside from Beast- everyone thought he was a wonderfully behaved dog. Whoever had given him up was an idiot to do so.
And then one morning, Joker woke up to nothing. No Pluto. At first he didn't think much of it, because perhaps he'd gone to use the bathroom elsewhere like he had -thankfully- been taught, but by the end of breakfast, Joker was worried. He couldn't find Pluto anywhere he looked, and no one had seen him. To think that he had run away was heart breaking. Joker had grown to care for that dog, and he hated thinking he was out there on his own, even if he did breath fire.
Joker spent the entire day -and the next two days- looking for Pluto, calling for him, not having any idea where the dog could have gone to or why. He cared about little else. If it didn't pertain to Pluto's whereabouts it didn't matter.
"'E'll turn up," Dagger tried to assure him but Joker only sighed and Beast sniffed in slight disgust, "It told ya 'e needed ta be trained."
Joker gave her a hard look and stopped stabbing at his food, knowing he wasn't going to eat it, and instead going back to his tent. Where on earth had that bloody dog gone? He reached in his coat pocket for his pipe and then remembered he'd dropped it a few days ago. It hardly mattered, what mattered was Pluto and finding him. Especially since tomorrow, they planned to move on.
Pluto had lifted his head off his paws when his human said he lost his pipe, two days prior. His human used that pipe a lot, playing songs for the small humans, and Pluto knew his human was upset about losing it even if he didn't say it. Pluto knew his human well by now.
And so Pluto decided to look for it. It smelled like his human and metal, and being a demon hound, his sense of smell was far superior, and so he set out looking for it. He hadn't thought it would take very long, but after spending two separate nights alone in an alleyway, he knew his human would start to worry. But first he had to find that pipe. He found lots of metal things, but no pipe, until he picked up the trail in an alley and followed it to one of the buildings humans went into with nothing and came out with things.
Well Pluto didn't have anything but he needed to come out with that pipe, so he pushed the door open with his paws and searched high and low, but no pipe. But he did find another trail, and this he followed to the place humans got rid of perfectly good things for chewing or eating, like bones and shoes. And it was here Pluto found the pipe. It was dirty, but it tasted okay to Pluto, so he scooped it into his mouth and raced back to the circus, so happy to have found his human's pipe…
The circus was gone. There were no tents or anything, and no his human. Where did his human go? Had he left him? Was Pluto alone again? His ears drooped and he whimpered, unsure what to do. Well, even if his human didn't want him anymore, he would want his pipe, so Pluto would give it to him.
He followed the trail of the circus out to the countryside again, having been back in London, but when he reached his human's tent, his human wasn't there, so he decided to wait.
Joker hated leaving before they found Pluto, and he made it perfectly clear to everyone. Joker was not a sulker, but he was quick to ensure no one spoke to him on the trip because this was their fault. As ringleader he should have had the right to say they stayed but he was overruled and now here they were, a day's trip from London. And no Pluto.
Heaving a sigh, Joker skipped dinner again and trudged back to his tent, pushing the flaps aside and hearing the familiar swish of Pluto's fluffy tail. Sure enough there he lay on the ground, a bit dirty, but otherwise unharmed.
"Pluto!"
Joker dropped to his knees and wrapped his arms around the dog's neck and at first Pluto tucked his head over Joker's shoulder, as he often did, but then he pushed away and bent, picking something up and wagging his tail. Joker held out his hand and Pluto obediently dropped it so Joker could inspect his slightly scuffed, dirty, slobbered on silver pipe.
Pluto whined and nudged the hand with the pipe and Joker laughed, tossing it aside, "This is why ya were gone fer so long? I was worried sick! I don' care about a silly pipe, just don' do that again ya 'ear me? Don't you leave me again."
He buried his face into Pluto's fur and Pluto set his head on Joker's and then licked his face to clear away the tears. Joker laughed, relieved that Pluto had come back, and that he hadn't run away. He'd gone looking for Joker's pipe. Maybe he wasn't as dim as they thought, if he knew it was missing and was able to find it.
But none of that mattered now, as Joker stood and smiled, "Time fer dinner then?"
Pluto barked happily and Joker laughed as the two made their way to the mess tent. Everything was back to normal.
They were back in London, and Pluto didn't really like London because it was busy and noisy, but it was also where he could see small humans and use his fire, which was nice. That night was just like any other night, but when his human dropped his juggling balls, Pluto didn't run out. Because in the audience he had seen two very familiar faces, and smelled two very familiar smells.
Tall demon and small human were in the audience, and Pluto couldn't let them see him. Maybe that's why they were here, to take him away from his human.
Tall demon had volunteered for Beast human's act with her tiger, Betty, but now he was petting the tiger like it was a common cat. Maybe Pluto would have been jealous once, but tall demon wasn't his friend anymore, so instead he stayed put. His human was shocked, and after the show, he invited tall demon to come see always sitting human who smelled like his pretty angel human had. Pluto came to associate that smell with crazy.
Pluto was more than happy to pretend not to exist as long as tall demon was there, but then his human said tall demon and small human could join the circus! Pluto wanted to bark and growl and tell him no, no, no don't let them! But he stayed where he was, under the table, because he didn't want tall demon to see him.
He was mad at his human and ignored him for most of the night, but then he gave in and licked his hand as way of forgiveness, even though he was still upset. His only consolation was that maybe they wouldn't recognize him so small.
Pluto didn't like following his human knowing tall demon and small human could see him, so he stayed in the tent or in the shadows. His human began to grow worried about his behavior, but Pluto knew it was for the best. He wouldn't leave his human. No, no, no.
Joker noticed that since the arrival of the extremely talented Black and the less talented but sometimes adorable Smile, Pluto stopped sticking to his side. He stayed away from the two at all costs, staying in Joker's tent most of the time. Joker knew that dogs often had instincts as to the character of a person, and he wondered what this aversion said about these two, but then Pluto liked him and he kidnapped children.
Still, Pluto wouldn't come out for anything -not even food- if the promise of Black and/or Smile was around. That is to say always.
Then one night, when Joker entered his tent, he found it empty and began to panic, but then Pluto poked his nose out from under the cot and Joker knelt down to see him. Pluto had pushed himself all the way to the back and Joker sighed, "I know ya don' like Black or Smile-"
Pluto growled at Smile's name and Joker frowned, "Why don' ya like 'em?"
Pluto growled again and nodded his head up and down as though to indicate where he was. Joker's frown deepened, "Why're ya under the bed anyway? Who're ya hiding from?" Even as he said it, Joker knew the answer. He hadn't seen Smile nearly the whole performance, before, during, or after.
"Was Smile in my tent?"
Pluto growled and Joker pressed his lips together, "Come out of there. What'd 'e do?" He knew Pluto couldn't answer him exactly, but Pluto did sniff at his chest of clothes and dressing table, nudging the picture of he and the other first-tiers with Father back at the workhouse. Alright so Smile had seen that picture. Pluto dove back under the bed and when he pulled back out, he had a piece of paper in his mouth, slightly crumpled and damp.
Joker took it and smoothed it out: it was the letter Father had sent him asking for more "sweets" and the file they had on Ciel Phantomhive, the Queen's Guard Dog, who Father was obsessed with. Pluto whined and pawed at the file and the picture of the boy and Joker frowned.
"Did ya keep these from 'im?"
Pluto whined and lowered his ears and Joker sighed, scratching them to let him know it was alright. He had protected them afterwards from anyone else, "So are ya sayin' that Smile is Phan'omhive?"
Pluto pawed at the paper again and Joker grinned softly, "Yer a brilliant dog, ya know that?"
Pluto barked happily and wagged his tail.
Pluto had barely enough time to squeeze under the bed when small human came into his human's tent and Pluto didn't like it one bit. But confronting him was the opposite of his intentions to avoid him, so he stayed put and stayed quiet until the boy left and Pluto could wiggle free and found the papers he must have been looking at.
Pluto wasn't sure what they said but one had a picture of the small human so Pluto took them and hid under the bed with them until his human came back. His human wasn't happy at all, but he wasn't unhappy with Pluto, and so they went to sleep that night and Pluto woke the next morning to find his human already awake.
"I'm going ta see Father, are ya coming?"
Pluto couldn't believe his human would think he wouldn't come see this Father and so Pluto followed him outside where they had a light breakfast. Funny hat human told them that "Smile" and "Black" had disappeared without a trace and Pluto growled under the table.
"Fine. I'm going ta see Father. You an' the others head to Phan'omhive's manor this evenin,' alright?"
No, they couldn't go there! Pluto knew that even though strong human and loud human and girl human were nice, they were also ruthless when it came to intruders, and so Pluto whined and pawed his human's leg until he looked at him, "What?"
Pluto whined again and shook his head back and forth like humans did when they wanted to say no, and whined again. His human frowned, "Wha's a matter? We're going ta Father's and the others'll go ta Phan'omhive's-"
Pluto barked to interrupt him and his human looked at him closely and then he frowned even deeper, "They cast ya out didn't they?"
Pluto whimpered and his human looked to funny hat human and told him not to go to small human's big house, which was good, because even though they weren't his humans, his human liked them so Pluto had to make sure they were safe so his human was happy.
Joker had every intention of riding out to Father's on horseback, but Pluto had other ideas, growing to his larger size and lying down as though he expected Joker to climb onto his back. Joker only raised an eyebrow and tried to move around him but Pluto was adamant, moving with him and pleading with his eyes until Joker gave in and gingerly climbed onto the large dog's back. Pluto stood and seemed to be waiting so Joker pointed in the direction of Father's.
Pluto took off, faster than any horse or dog for that matter, practically sailing across the ground. Joker clung to his back, worried he would fall off is he sat up too much, but then they stopped and when Joker did sit up, they were in front of Father's mansion.
Amazed, Joker slid off Pluto's back and pat his neck until he shrunk and he could scratch his ears, "Yer such a good boy, ya know that?"
Pluto wagged his tail and the two headed inside. Joker could tell immediately Pluto disliked it, but then so did Joker, he just didn't have the capability of putting his ears down to show it. Pluto slunk along behind him, staying to the shadows, and listening to Joker when he said to wait outside while he spoke to Father.
The study was just as dark as always, not even a fire in the grate, and a child on either side of the wheelchair bound man holding a candle. Father, Baron Kelvin, was heavily bandaged, making it impossible to see his face aside from his single eye, and it nearly bulged when Joker told him Phantomhive would be coming soon, if not that very night.
"This is fantastic my boy! Simply fantastic! You must get everything ready, there isn't much time!"
"Yes Father," Joker deadpanned. He knew what he had to get ready.
Pluto didn't like this dark house with no light and no people. Except for this Father human who Pluto couldn't see, but he didn't like. Pluto could also smell small humans, lots of them, and when his human came back out, he led him right to the smell of small humans. There were lots of small humans in cages, and Pluto didn't like this either.
"I don't like it either," his human murmured, and Pluto waited patiently as he chose some small humans to wear silly clothes. Pluto sniffed at the small humans, but none of them pet him or called him a nice doggie. None of them moved. These small humans were broken, what did his human want with broken small humans?
Next they went to a kitchen, where more broken small humans were making food which was strange, because Pluto had always thought small humans were not good at things until they were big humans. But even the loud human wasn't good at making food, and he was big. Maybe these small humans knew how to make food. None of them gave him a treat, leaving Pluto to follow his human back to one of the large rooms were humans ate in.
His human didn't speak, so Pluto settled down for a nap, which turned out to be a bad idea because when he woke up, there was lots of yelling, and he noticed several things at once.
First, his human was sad, which was a bad thing. Secondly, Father human was a very ugly human that Pluto didn't like at all. Third, and most important, tall demon and small human were there.
Pluto growled, but not loud enough to be heard. Tall demon was talking and then small human was holding one of the explosive machines at Father human's head. Pluto's human was angry at his, and he pulled out a sword but tall demon grabbed it and trapped his human. This was unacceptable to Pluto, but he knew tall demon and his ways, and he didn't want to hurt his human when he tried to rescue him.
All the humans were leaving the eating room now, and Pluto followed stealthily in the shadows, eyes on his human. He would not let his human be hurt. If tall demon hurt him, Pluto would fight for his human.
They went back to the room with small humans, and Father human got very excited. Pluto didn't understand much of what he said, but he did know that his human didn't like it and if he didn't like it, Pluto didn't either.
Small human was very angry, Pluto could tell, having been on the receiving end of that anger many times, and then he used the explosive machine to hit Father human. Pluto didn't like Father human, but his human did, so he growled, but didn't act.
His human did act, however, breaking free from tall demon and pulling another knife from his bone-not-his-bone arm. Tall demon struck, slashing his own knife to cut off his human's arm, but Pluto was faster, and he leapt in front of his human in time, the knife slicing through fur and flesh and muscle and leaving a terrible gash on Pluto's shoulder. Nothing that wouldn't heal, but it hurt right now. But his human was more important.
His human fell to the ground and Pluto fell beside him and then his human gasped, gently picking Pluto up, "No, Pluto no."
"Did you say Pluto?" Small human asked and his human ignored him, petting Pluto's head. His human was sad again. Pluto didn't like that.
Joker didn't care then, that Father was dead, or that the Earl of Phantomhive held a gun or his butler had a knife. They had hurt Pluto. Joker gently ran a hand over his dog's shoulder, where the gash was, thin but deep, staining his silver fur red.
"You 'urt 'im, an' 'e didn't do anything," Joker choked out.
"Pluto? You said his name was Pluto?" Earl Phantomhive asked and Joker wiped a few stray tears, "Wha's it to you?"
"Because I had Sebastian throw that mutt away after he burned down my lawn. And he found his way here, how very ironic," Ciel muttered. He paused as he watched the ringleader cry over the demon hound he had banished. He hadn't known Pluto could make himself small, as well as human, but that hardly mattered now.
Ciel tsked, "He'll be fine, or don't you know? He's a demon hound."
"Is tha' why 'e breathes fire?" Joker asked and Ciel scoffed, "No, all dogs do that," he replied sarcastically, but Joker wasn't listening. Maybe Ciel was right, but Pluto wasn't moving, and his breathing was shallow.
"Pluto…"
Tall demon had really given him a good cut, so it was taking a little longer to heal, and meanwhile his human was sad. Pluto licked his hand lightly and closed his eyes, focusing on healing for a moment. He heard a commotion, but he ignored it.
When he opened his eyes, he saw always sitting human wasn't sitting, and Pluto shifted his head to see him better. Always sitting human smelled even more like crazy now, just like when pretty angel lady told Pluto to burn down London. Pluto hadn't wanted to, but he hadn't had a choice.
"You see, I had found the perfect material for prosthetics but it was quite hard to come by, until I came by the Baron, who was more than happy to fund my research."
Oh, he was explaining that his human's bone arm wasn't his bone, but didn't he know that? It was bone, but not his bone. His human was very upset by this but Pluto wasn't really sure why. Maybe his human would tell him later but for now, Pluto was nearly healed, and then he was going to try and eat tall demon for trying to hurt his human.
Joker wasn't sure how much more he could take. Father was dead, Pluto was fading, and Doc was not only a liar, but he had made prosthetics out of the bones of the kidnapped children. If he hadn't been crying before, he was really crying now, bowing his head to Pluto's fur as he did. How could he have gotten caught up in this nightmare?
The traumatizing display hadn't spared the other two in the room, at least it hadn't spared Ciel, who was having vibrant flashbacks to that night so many years ago when he had first summoned his demon butler to escape a sacrificial killing. He couldn't think clearly, couldn't focus, all he knew was that he wanted out of that room and he never wanted to see it again. He didn't want it to exist.
"Sebastian! Kill him! Kill him now!"
Sebastian did as ordered, slamming his fist into Doc's chest and killing him instantly while Ciel continued to drown in his memories and thoughts. He was nearly sick from it all, and he only had one thought: destroy.
"Sebastian burnt it to the ground!"
When Pluto opened his eyes, tall demon was holding fire and it was spreading, engulfing everything it touched. Pluto didn't mind fire, he liked fire. But his human looked terrified, calling to small human who was ignoring him, leaving his human here to die in the flames. Or at least he would if Pluto wasn't there, and he had not intention of letting his human get hurt.
Completely healed, Pluto stood and grew to his normal size, opening his mouth wide, but instead of adding to the flames, he licked them right up, clearing the way to the door. He and his human ran from the fire as it chased them, Pluto licking it up as he went to slow it down, until they reached the front door and burst through it. Tall demon and small human were gone, and meanwhile the mansion was engulfed in flames.
His human was panting, lying on the ground with his forehead resting on his real arm, eyes closed. Pluto lay down, gently nudging him and he turned, opening one eye. His human cracked a smile, sitting up and throwing his arm around Pluto. He didn't have his bone-not-his-bone anymore, but Pluto didn't care.
"Good boy Pluto, such a good boy."
Pluto wagged his tail, shaking the ground, but his human didn't care and neither did Pluto. His human was happy now, that was all that mattered. Maybe they could pay fetch when they got home. Or maybe they would go back to the countryside. That'd be nice.
When his human let go, Pluto licked him from head to toe and he laughed, "Le's go 'ome."