( chapter thirteen ! )
"Hey, can I take the top bunk?"
On the ground of Noah's Ark Circus, there is a small tent, one of many, that houses the members desperate to give a performance. Inside that small tent are Leah, Ciel, and Doll, claiming their beds and settling on for the night.
A separate small bed was moved into the sparse tent, despite the tight fit of three people rather than the preferable two. Doll was gracious enough to let the fatigued Leah Barrett have it, who shivers in her clothes amidst the cold February air and reluctantly keeps her eyes open.
"Go ahead," Ciel looks up at Doll who's already climbing the ladder. "I think I prefer the bottom anyway."
Sparing a glance for his fiancé, Ciel watches as she sets up her bed. Leah's efforts don't exactly show in her work though, as her bed looks nothing like what Anna is capable of preparing.
Once settled on her bed, Doll leans down on her arm to glance at the pair. "S'been on my mind for a while. You two speak some pretty fancy upper-class English, don'tcha?"
"Pardon?" Ciel asks, hearing the rustles behind him of Leah changing her clothes. "R.. Really? It's probably because we've been working in a house since we were little.." he tries to explain.
Placing a nightgown over her head, the brunette removes the pieces of clothing from underneath to not expose herself, regardless of how tedious it is. Leah's attempts at tying it are also a bit futile, leaving the fabric to loosely fall off her shoulders with some movements.
"Blimey. Anyhoo, you just gimme a shout if there's somethin' you ain't 'ettin! There's a long life of circus ahead of you!" Doll smiles brightly before excitedly shuffling some items around. "Oh righ', wanna 'ave some sweets? Them's from the popular Funtom Company! What'd you like, caramel, milk, or strawberry flavored?" she asks, holding out an assortment of lollipops between her fingers.
A weary smile crosses the Phantomhive's face. "Well um, I'll take caramel.."
Doll smiles before her eyes drift to Leah, sitting with an expressionless face as she looks at the floor. "What about you, Diamond? Want one?" she smiles, watching the Barrett lift her head to look at her.
For a mere moment, Leah's eyes seem to sparkle, but they are quick to dim down when her eyes trail lower to her stomach and thighs. "I'm alright.."
"Are you su—?" Despite Doll's kind attempts at trying to include the girl, she's cut off when Leah lies down and turns to face the tent wall, ignoring any further words directed at her.
Brushing off the encounter, Ciel and Doll enjoy their treats until they sleep for the night, trying to combat the February cold.
"..ah.."
"..Le.."
"Leah.."
"Leah!"
Currently shaking awake his fiancé in the dead of night, a nearby candle sits beside Ciel on the floor as he tries to keep his whisper yelling to a minimum. What would normally be no surprise to a servant, the young Earl is learning for the first time that Leah is a hassle to wake up.
A firm hand keeps a grip on the girl's shoulder underneath the fabric of her nightgown, Ciel's fingers rubbing against the lace details and silk. Shaking with a bit more purpose, he glances back to make sure Doll is still fast asleep, noting how she almost snores.
Shifting in her spot on the bed, Leah's eyes blink slowly as she tries to adjust to the darkness, as well as the small light flickering a few feet away from her. She brings a thin hand to her face and gently rubs her eyes, finally awake with a not-so-welcome reaction for her fiancé.
Trailing her blue eyes up Ciel's form, she settles on his face, and amidst her moment of recollecting her thoughts, Leah moves back with a quiet gasp.
"What are you doing?" she whispers harshly, grasping at the blanket to cover her body.
Ciel removes his hand from her shoulder. "We must talk. How are we meant to get into those tents?"
"I don't know, now get away from my bed! I'm in my nightwear, this is beyond scandalous!" Leah knits her brows.
"You don't need to prove your virtue to me. Now is not the time for that," the Phantomhive complains.
Fighting back a scoff, Leah purses her lips. "This is not about my virtue. If anyone were to see—"
"No one is going to see!" Ciel cuts off.
"I am an unmarried lady in my nightwear with my fiancé far too close to my bed. The thought alone is terrible so unless you plan on marrying me in this very moment, get back to your side of the room!" her voice speeds up towards the end of her sentence, slight anger flowing through her words.
Taking a moment to stare in exasperation, Ciel grabs his candle and reluctantly moves back to his bed. "You are so stubborn!" he complains.
"You are just as stubborn. And you wake me up at an ungodly hour and choose to complain about my behavior?!" Leah hisses, feeling irritated after being awoken.
The betrothed teenagers silently stare at each other for a long few moments, taking in their features in the dimly lit tent. Clearing his throat, Ciel glances away when he notes the glimmer in Leah's eye or how the candlelight shines on her pale skin.
"Just.. go back to sleep. We'll talk about this tomorrow," he stammers, rearranging his blankets in preparation to lay down again.
Slowly lowering the sheets from her form, Leah shivers when a wave of cold air hits her cheek. "You couldn't have considered that before you woke me?"
"Sleep!" Ciel almost breaks his whisper before blowing out the candle, listening to Leah's shuffling as she gets beneath her blankets.
Letting silence fall upon them, the pair get as comfortable as they can in the atmosphere they are struggling to become accustomed to, falling asleep as they listen to Doll's snores.
"Get up, Diamond!"
Standing atop Leah's bed, Doll bounces and repeatedly hits the girl with a pillow. After about three minutes of effort, it finally pays off when an irritated huff leaves the one being bounced around.
"What is wrong with you?!" Leah barks, sitting up in her place on the bed.
Dropping the pillow beside her feet, Doll hops down. "You got work t' do!" she stares with furrowed brows.
Holding back a nasty remark, the young Barrett reluctantly swings her legs off the side of the bed and stands, forcing her body to wake up. Waddling over to a corner, she crouches and pieces together an outfit while pouting at the muted colors.
Working quickly, Leah manages to wrangle on her clothes as Doll works on getting Ciel up. Her dress is a simple shade of off-white, accompanied by some browns, a grey scarf, and a brown coat. 'I want to go home.'
"Whatcha talkin' about, Smile?! I said, get up!" Doll raises her voice in response to the Phantomhive's mumbling, acknowledging the sound of Leah shuffling around behind her.
Sitting up with a scream, Ciel scrambles to get his eyepatch on before Doll is capable of seeing anything. However, he is unlucky enough to not notice Leah who sees a quick flash of magenta move before her eyes with a tilt of her head.
"Newcomers 'ave t' get up early an' prepare breakfast!" placing a hand on her hip, Doll stares down at Ciel. "You ain't got the time t' snooze!"
Hardly taking a moment to question the strange color she saw, Leah chalks it up to being tired and reluctantly leaves the tent. Stepping out into the cold air, she immediately shivers when a gust of wind blows by her, pushing her hair to the side and making her capable of seeing clouds of breath.
Doll is quick to follow behind, standing beside the taller girl outside the tent and giving a small smile. Glancing down, Leah flashes a feigned one but maintains a soft look.
This moment is short lived sadly, as Doll groans in annoyance. "You're slow, Smile! We're gonna leave you behind!" she yells, waving her fist.
"I'm going now!" Ciel sweats and tries not to yell back, still half-dressed and getting himself together.
Trudging through the circus grounds, Ciel and Leah struggle to hold overflowing wooden buckets filled with vegetables. The sound of voices fills their ears as they tremble, the Barrett nearly dropping carrots in failed attempts to simultaneously combat the cold that tries to seep through her coat.
'All that sword training and it didn't make me any stronger? What happened to that strength I had when I sent that man to the ground..' she puffs out her cheeks in thought, keeping a steady pace beside her fiancé who glares at the ground.
"What is your outfit?"
Flicking their heads around, the two nobles are greeted by Sebastian who smirks at Ciel's choice of attire. The boy is wearing a buttoned shirt — not buttoned properly — an unbuttoned coat, pants that expose his calves, shoes just barely tied properly, and unkempt hair. Even Leah managed to make herself more presentable.
"It seems that you remain unaccustomed to changing clothes on your own," Sebastian feigns a chuckle.
Turning his head back around, Ciel releases a sound of discontent at his butler's words. "I was hurrying."
"Oh dear," quickening his pace, Sebastian grabs ahold of the strings to Ciel's eyepatch. He carefully undoes the knot and replaces it with his signature one. "You are going to have a difficult time untying a dead knot on your own."
All around them, people gawk at the scene, Leah included, as they watch Ciel's face flush at the interaction and many eyes that watch him. Watching on the side opposite Leah, Doll bursts out laughing.
"Smile, Black ain't your mum!" she shows her teeth, the crowd joining in on the laughter.
Ciel stomps his foot. "No! It's— a habit.. Well, no just sometimes.." he struggles to find an explanation.
Glancing beside him, he watches Sebastian carefully rearrange Leah's attire and fix her scarf much to his dismay. The Barrett — wanting some semblance of home — gladly takes the help.
"Sebastian! Don't treat us as your master while we're here!" Ciel keeps himself a few steps ahead of the demon, trying to keep his voice low. "Leave us be!"
Finishing up his work on Leah, Sebastian closes his eyes in a way to internally bow. "Understood. I shall at once," he whispers.
Off in a corner on the circus grounds, the betrothed teens sit on boxes and work hard to prepare the vegetables they were given for breakfast. They have spent the last fifteen minutes simply peeling the potatoes and carrots, albeit terribly, but the young Barrett has moved on to chopping the carrots the best she can.
"I hate this. Why must you drag me into everything," Leah complains, doing everything she can to not cut her smooth hands.
Shifting his attention to his fiancé, Ciel gives her a look of disbelief. "I did not drag you into anything! This is all Sebastian's fault," he grumbles.
"You know, when I always come along with you on your little adventures it is because I want to spend time with you but this is not what—" Leah is cut off by Doll waltzing over.
"Smile, what're ya plannin' on makin' from them potatoes with peels thicker than the meat?" she asks before glancing down at a small piece of potato in the blue-haired boy's hand. "Smile! Whaddya think you're doin'?! You peeled that many?!" Doll shouts.
Staring with wide eyes and clenched teeth, Ciel's face flushes in embarrassment once more. "I— I'm sorry!" he apologizes loudly.
Doll reaches down and plucks the piece of potato from Ciel's hand. "Cor blimey, what part of this can we eat..?" Her eyes trail over to the carrots Leah cut. "Well, at least those aren't as bad."
Placing a hand to his chin in thought, Sebastian trains his gaze to the floor until he has an idea.
"It cannot be helped. I shall deep fry them as they are into crisps and make them into fish and chips," he picks up the bucket of potatoes from Ciel's side and begins to walk off.
Leah and Ciel both watch as Doll's eyes light up in excitement, walking off with the butler. "Cor! I love those!"
"This cannot be worth it.." Leah complains, standing from her spot on the box to follow behind them.
It's not long before Sebastian is capable of fixing the aristocrat's mistakes, serving breakfast in the mess tent with a welcoming smile on his face. The tent is filled with lively chatter as the people eat or fight for food.
Entering the mess tent with quick steps is Doll, dragging Ciel and Leah behind her as she forces them to follow.
"Look, we're going!" Doll acts mildly concerned.
Ciel, struggling to keep up while being dragged, hardly notices that his fiancé manages to slip from the girl's grip. "Going where..?"
"If we don't hurry we'll miss the meat!" she takes the Phantomhive into the crowd of people and shoves her way through. "Hey! Outta my way!" Doll shouts.
Left behind, Leah watches as the people fight to get what food they want for the morning. She stares at the food for a moment — at least what she can see through the bodies — and feels a sharp pang of hunger hit her stomach. Swallowing air, the Barrett walks off to one of the tables and sits with shaking hands, nervously rubbing her fingers as she waits for Ciel to return to her side.
Thankfully for the noble, there isn't much waiting that needs to be done as just within a few minutes, Doll and Ciel both take a seat at the table. Glancing beside her, she notes how Ciel is in shambles, lightly shaking with disheveled clothes and hair that is somehow worse than before.
"What? Looks like you only got bread in the end," Doll stares down at Ciel's bare plate before noticing there is nothing in front of Leah. "Diamond! You didn't get anything at all?" her smile almost drops.
"Yeah.."
"I'm not hungry."
Doll quickly slaps the smile back on her face, brushing off the aristocrat's words. Swooping her fork down to her plate, she begins to load some of her pile onto Ciel's plate.
"Well, that's that. I'll share some of my grub with you! You're skin 'n bones so eat up!" Doll hardly pays any attention to Ciel's thanks and shoves a fork puncturing some potatoes towards Leah's mouth. "You too, Diamond!"
Pressing her lips into a thin line, Leah diverts her head to the right. "I'm not hungry.." she lies, trying not to cry at the food in front of her face.
Ciel lifts his head to observe his fiancé's face. He doesn't understand why exactly she acts so strange around food, but he feels a small itch of concern.
"There ain't no way you ain't hungry! I didn't see you eat anything yesterday, you gotta be—" Doll doesn't have the chance to finish her sentence before Leah manages to run out of the tent. She turns to Ciel. "What's her problem?"
Keeping a light run, the young Barrett leaves the mess tent behind her until she finds a secluded area of the circus grounds. Coming to a slow stop, she listens to people pass by her spot while she attempts to not cry — until she does.
Placing a shaky hand over her mouth, Leah allows a stream of tears to slowly fall from her eyes and does her best to keep her breathing in check. However, it's hard for the girl as she nearly hyperventilates. This crying doesn't get to last long though, frantically wiping her tears at the sound of someone's footsteps getting much too close for her liking.
Stepping around the corner is none other than Joker, looking down at the brunette in surprise. "Oi, lass. What're ya doin' back here?" he asks before noticing the wet gleam on her tinted cheeks. "Are ya alright?"
Running the back side of her fingers across her cheeks, Leah tries to hide the embarrassment she feels at being caught crying. "I'm alright.." she whispers with an undeniable voice crack.
"Are ya sure? You can talk to me," Joker tries to persuade the girl but only receives a noise of discontent in return.
"I don't want to talk about it.." the Barrett clenches her teeth and wipes the last of her tears, struggling to meet the man in the eye.
Looking down with soft eyes, Joker places his real hand on Leah's head and gently rubs. "Well if ya need any help, just come to me or Doll." he reminds. "Why don't ya take a moment and go practice? Get yer mind off things."
A cold gust of wind blows over the pair, causing the brunette to wrap her scarf around herself tighter. Disregarding her wishes of wanting to go home and be in the warmth, Leah speeds off with a nod towards the practice tent and reluctantly walks into the chatter of the other future performers.
Dragging her eyes across the faces of the people, she feels a wave of anxiety at the prospect of interacting with any other them. Whether it be her lacking social skills or not wanting to get close, Leah instead chooses a spot off to the side for herself, trying to think of what she could practice.
'Well I can't do contortions in this dress..' she puffs her cheeks out in thought until she notices one of the balls used to balance. 'That'll do.'
Leah spends most of her time practicing trying to get atop the ball until she is capable, roughly getting an idea of how she is meant to balance. There was a temptation to run over when she caught a glimpse of Doll and Ciel, but she had decided against it after her small outburst from hardly even an hour ago.
Shakily balancing on a ball, her peace gets interrupted by a familiar tuft of ginger.
"Diamond! Could ya take these towels to the shower area? Ya don't gotta step inside, just leave it near the entrance," Joker asks, training his gaze on the Barrett who is trying her best at the circus antics.
Releasing a breath through her nose, Leah gently drops from the ball and takes a look at the towels in Joker's arms. "I suppose.." she replies, allowing the taller male to hand her the towels.
Setting off with a nod, the teenager keeps a steady pace and is once again forced to combat the cold, her naturally cold hands make it feel worse. Leah is far from content but takes deep breaths to prevent herself from throwing a fit or breaking down in front of a crowd.
The girl is certain she is close to the shower area when she hears a louder group of chatter, preparing to divert her eyes but the voices take her attention.
"Wait.. Please stop that!"
"But you're gonna catcha cold like that! C'mon!"
"Stop th—"
The young Barrett, being nosy, purses her lips while she listens to the voices, recognizing the sound of Doll and Ciel. She forces herself to divert her eyes though, reminding herself that she is a lady in far too close of proximity to undressed men. Leaning down, she places the towels on a nearby box and her eyes trail off against her will, landing on the mark now visible on Ciel's exposed back.
Pausing at the sight, Leah's breath hitches as she stares in confusion. This feeling worsens when her fiancé runs directly past her, leaving Doll behind him who desperately chases after him for only a few moments. Leah shakes her head and drops the towels down, lightly jogging in the hopes of catching up with Ciel.
'What was that on his back..? I've never seen anything like that before.' she thinks, giving Doll and the shower area one last look as she walks off.
At first, Leah struggles to find the boy, only being able to use a general idea of where he could have run. It's not until she can hear voices in the distance that she's almost certain she's found him.
"Anyways, we just need to investigate the troupe's tents and we can go home," Ciel says, allowing Sebastian to begin unbuttoning his shirt.
"I thought that you were patiently aiming to be promoted through the troupe?" questions the butler.
Tilting her head, Leah follows the voices to a secluded area.
"I can't mention something that takes so long—"
Turning the corner, the betrothed teens come face to face. Initially, there is silence until the Barrett's eyes trail down, noticing that Ciel is lacking a shirt. With widened eyes, she begins to scream.
Slapping her hands over her eyes, Leah begins to back away from her fiancé who now stares at her with an incredulous look. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" she repeats, running away from the scene.
'No one can know about my time here! I shall die before this becomes known to anyone else!' Leah fights back her thoughts with a shake of her head, swallowing loudly as she tries to calm her thoughts and lightly flushed face.
Later that night, Leah recovers from the oh-so-scandalous scene and is found in a tent, working alongside Ciel and Sebastian to ready the circus troupes for tonight's performance. Both of the teenagers are finally given a window to take a break, the brunette's eye nearly twitching from the constant requests she had been subjected to moments prior.
"Ah.." Ciel sits down on a stool beside her with w plop. "Excuse me.. What should we do while the show is going on—" sharply turning his head around the room, the boy realizes that only a few people remain in the tent.
Standing up at this revelation, Ciel takes ahold of Leah's wrist running towards Sebastian who stands near William at a clothing rack. "Sebastian! His mark missed! We don't know when the next chance will come. Let's get through investigating that tent now! Have it be over within ten minutes!" he orders.
"Please don't pull me up so fast.. Anemia, remember? I may faint," Leah tries to remind her fiancé who now tries to tug her without as much force, noting how her face somehow manages to appear more pale than usual.
Fighting the feeling of lightheadedness, the trio move quickly but they only manage to make it a couple of feet from the tent before they are caught.
"Black! Miss Wendy twist'd 'er ankle, so she can't appear in the performance 'nymore. So Black, please go out in 'er place." Joker approaches them from behind, carrying Wendy on his back with Peter by his side. The show'll be fine if you do it, Black, so I beg of ye. It'll be yer turn shortly, so please get ready soon!"
Sebastian looks down and releases a huff of air, listening to Ciel groan beside him. "'Tis a pity, Young Master. We'll have to wait for another chance." he waits for a response but is surprised to meet silence. "Young Master?"
"We don't need to sneak into that place for long. On top of that, now might be the only time when that person is not in there. Leah and I have time. The tough part is just the venomous snakes," Ciel walks over or a paper taped to a board showing the day's schedule. "According to the program, your debut will end at nineteen-fifty and the encore at twenty. You'll catch all of the snakes in five minutes from now, then appear in the show. Finish your debut at nineteen-fifty, and once you've gone into the back and released all of the snakes, you'll return for the encore. I'll investigate the rest. Let's go!"
Turning around with haste, Ciel runs for the tents with Leah in his shadow who occasionally stops to catch her breath. Now approaching the first-string member's tents, they come to a stop.
Placing an arm out in front of Leah, the Phantomhive stops her from moving any further. "Wait until we are finished. I don't want you to get hurt," he warns, knowing that his true intention is so his fiancé won't question Sebastian on his capabilities.
Giving an exasperated look, the young Barrett doesn't bother fighting, allowing the men to take a few minutes to handle the snakes before she follows in after them.
"All right. You go straight to the show tent. You'll be suspended if you're tardy," Ciel orders.
"Certainly, Sir," making his way to the entrance of the tent, Sebastian opens the flap and looks back. "I will be back at once."
Both of the teens fall upon a comfortable silence and move about the grounds, picking one of the first tents to graze their eyes. Entering, they notice a lack of decor but corsets hang up from the top of the tent, signifying Beast's quarters.
Walking in with quiet steps, Ciel walks towards a suitcase with a framed photo sitting atop it. "This tent looks quite austere." he picks up the photo. "Hm? A photo of children? Are they from the troupe?"
Leah glances down at the photo as well and recognizes some of the familiar faces. "I shall play lookout for you as you search!" she announces.
"You complain about never being told anything but deliberately put yourself in a position where you won't get to learn about our situation?" Ciel questions, turning to show a raised brow.
"Oh, hush! I don't care anymore, I just want to go home.. before any more of my dignity is taken from me," sighs Leah, walking out of the tent and crouching in a corner covered in shadows.
Most of Leah's time spent waiting in the shadows is bleak. The only comfort she receives is the sound of crickets or the trees rustling, saving her from the silence of her thoughts. It's not until she notices Beast approaching her tent that she starts to panic, realizing Ciel is about to be discovered.
Stepping out from the hiding spot, Leah sprints Beast's direction and tries to flag her down. "Excuse me! I need help!" she lies.
Beast turns her head with knitted brows and clenches the blanket covering her chest tighter. "What are you doing over here?"
"I um— got lost! I needed to find the show tent but I fear I just have no sense of direction!" Leah tries to explain, raising her voice to alarm Ciel so he can hide.
Giving a blank stare, Beast turns to point a finger in the tent's general direction. "Over that way," she says.
"Thank you so much!" stutters the Barrett as she runs past her and ducks past another corner once she knows Beast has entered her tent.
Leah continues her lookout once more, knowing it's nearly over when she catches a look at Sebastian leaving the tent to return for the encore. But that means that she now has to panic upon hearing the voices of the first-string members getting louder and runs for Ciel who leaves Beast's tent, ducking behind two boxes to get past the circus troupes.
The pair stay silent to not give their location, the brunette staring at Ciel who appears lost in thought. However, this silence is breached when Doll shines a lantern over their heads, staring down at their crouching figures with wide eyes and face devoid of any expression.
"Hey. What're you doin' there?"