blackbutler-readerinsertsandjunk:
Can I just say I love this concept and I had way too much fun with it…
- You
have a fairly large manor to yourself, because your parents passed
away when you were a teenager. Your
family isn’t very high up in society, not on the top, but you
manage your parents’ company well enough to live comfortably. It’s
just… lonely, even with your servants. Maybe that’s why, when
you found these poor people nearly dead in an alley, you barely
hesitated in taking them in.- All
things considered, your servants are not happy when you show up with
seven
dirty, disabled former circus members and announce that they’re
going to be staying here from now on. Still, the servants do as you
say and clean everyone up. You
ring a doctor, and the one you assign to their care is pretty good
with keeping secrets. You still have to pay him off, because he’s
a bloody crook. At least everyone gets taken care of, though.- Surprisingly
enough, the first one who opens up to you is Doll/Freckles. Even
though they don’t really talk about what happened to the gang,
they cry a lot and thank you for saving everyone’s lives and
promise that they’ll be good if you don’t kick them out or
punish them.- You
agree. Whatever they’ve done, it’s in the past. Nearly dying,
they’ve all suffered enough. Even once everyone is better, they’re
welcome to stay with you for as long as they can bear your company,
which you’ve been told is frankly insufferable. Everybody shares a
smile when you say that.- When
they start to feel better, Peter and Wendy are likely the first to
start doing things like household chores. They help the maids and
the butler, who at first are a little irritated – maybe more than a little –
with these two tagging along. Eventually, though, the servants grow
to enjoy having them around and are grateful for the help.- Jumbo
joins them soon after, despite not being quite back in peak
condition yet. You have to remind him to be careful, and whenever
you do, he gives you this odd half-smile and nods. He’s a mystery,
and he frightens some of the maids at first, but once he earns their
trust, they’re glad to have him around.- The
one who sulks a lot initially is Beast. It’s hard to get her out
of that, in part because she’s haunted by bad decisions and
doesn’t want to talk about it, and she’s too busy feeling guilty
to take any of your attempts at kindness aside from continuing to
live in the house. Once she’s ready to accept the smallest gesture
she thinks she deserves, which isn’t much, she hugs you and tells
you to go talk to Joker if you want to find out what happened.- You
can hardly believe how well Dagger gets on with the cook. Apparently
the two of them play darts together, and Dagger’s teaching the
cook a lot of pointers. They’re not even that similar in
personality, and yet, the cook’s talking about taking on Dagger as
an apprentice. Life really has a way of taking strange, strange
turns sometimes. At least the two of them are happy.- By
the time Joker’s ready to tell you what happened and how they got
to the point where you found them, he’s fully prepared for you to
never want to see them again once you know the truth. At
the end of his story, he’s in tears, and some of the words out of
his mouth are in the order of, “Dunno ‘bout the others, but I
know at least I’d be better off dead.” Nothing you can say or
think about him is worse than anything he’s said to himself.- It
baffles you. How could these people who have bonded with you and your
staff, been so sweet, shown you immense gratitude, have done such
terrible things? You really don’t know what to think. After Joker
gives you the whole tale, beginning to end, you sit there for a
moment… before nodding and saying you need some time to think.
What he tells the others is something akin to that they should
either be prepared to go to jail or go back to the streets. None of
them know which would be worse.- At
the end of the day, while you’re not sure if you forgive them for
everything they’ve done… at the very least, the absolute
minimum, they are sorry.
There’s genuine remorse in them. If there was anything they could
do to take back everything they did, they would do it. You’ve
grown close to them in the past months; you know that even though
they may not be good people, they’re not bad either. They’re
just… people. They’ve nearly died, they’ve been through
enough, and their own consciences are going to punish them for the
rest of their days worse than anything that anyone else could do.
Forgiveness might be unattainable, but you still care about them.- There’s
ice in your voice when you tell them that if they do anything now
like what they did in the past, they’ll be turned over to Scotland
Yard so fast their heads will spin. None of your staff know the full
story, and you don’t tell them. The circus members have to remain
hidden, which means they’ve only got the staff, each other, and
you for company. Maybe that’s enough. Even though you’re not
sure for a while if you can trust them when they say that they
promise not to make the same bad decisions, they seem sincere. Good.
Because you won’t hesitate if history repeats itself.- After
a long while without incident – years, maybe – that care you
felt for them turns into love. And love, into trust. You still can’t
let them leave the manor, but they’ve earned your trust. They
continue helping the staff and supporting you in anything you do. It
almost seems like a family.- You
don’t ever feel lonely again.
Toad's Cave 