A/N: I'm finally back! I am so, so sorry for seeming to let this story drop, I went travelling for ages in the USA and I ended up having to put everything on hold. But I've returned now and I'm looking forward to continuing with this. Looking back over it I wasn't happy with the structuring and some of the chapters, so it's gone through some reworking. Now I'm trying to structure it so that it's all in chronological order, following Sebastian's gradual discovery of a gentler humanity, so don't worry if a chapter or two vanishes-it'll be back! As before, this is going to be a series of oneshots detailing Sebastian's encounters with characters from throughout the manga, beginning and ending with Ciel. Don't worry if you haven't read the manga (but you really should, I think it's better than the anime!), most characters will still be the same.

The Butler, Enlightened

Almost six months into his contract and it already feels like the longest he's ever served. It's the rhythm of it, selecting tea leaves, matching silks and tweeds, baking scones and cakes and little dainties. A valse on the piano. Making beds and drawing baths. He has been many things in his long life, but never before has he been a butler.

"Sebastian!"

Ah, his master calls. It is rare that he is given a name. To so many masters his name has been you. You. Devil.

"-listening to me? I said we need to stop by Nina Hopkins's, it's been a while since I've bought Lizzie anything. I suppose a new hat or something will keep her happy."

Sebastian slots his charming smile into place. "I have no doubt that Lady Elizabeth will be delighted with whatever you choose for her, my lord."

His young master sighs uncomfortably. "Can't you choose it? You know I'm no good at clothes."

"If you would like me to do so, I shall of course oblige."

The Earl makes a grumpy sound and marches in the direction of the tailor's. Sebastian smirks slightly. Choosing hats for little girls with hands that have been gloved in blood. He's lived countless lives and yet he's never been asked for that. Neither had he ever been ordered to make dinner by hand or bathe a child or chase away nightmares before his current master. It's a slower kind of dance than those who have gone before. It took him a little while to adjust his tempo, but now that he's settled into it he finds that he does not mind it much.

On the corner before Hopkins', his little lord comes to a surprised halt, his eye fixed on something across the road. Sebastian lets his gaze follow his master's and it lands on a street urchin, a muck-encrusted road-sweeper only a little younger than the aristocratic and dandified child at his side. As they watch, the filth cracks around a gap-toothed smile and the boy laughs the kind of ringing laugh that comes from a place of real joy. There is a scrap of black shadow prancing and springing around him, which resolves itself into the shape of a bright-eyed black puppy. He feeds it a crumb of something and then crouches down for it to play tug with the sleeve of his jacket. The boy beams and praises the animal and pets its ragged fur. Sebastian's expression sours a little at the sight of the dog, but Earl Phantomhive looks caught.

"Puppy for you, m'lord?"

An equally grimy woman calls across the street to them, her voice a hoarse scrape on the morning air. To Sebastian's surprise, his young master steps out to cross the road towards her.

"A fine young lord like yourself will be wanting a fine dog to match when you're off hunting and all. I'll make you a good price for him, sir, you can be sure I will!"

Her desperation is embarrassing. Her soul is yellowing, easier prey by the day, and repels him as much as if it had been shining and pure. The demon's lip curls with elegant disdain, half a smirk and half a sneer.

"I-," begins his master, uncharacteristically awkward. Ordinarily he would brush off such advances as coldly as if they were flies. Before he can get any further, however, there is a scream of protest from the dirty child who had been playing so cheerfully.

"You can't have him! Sooty ain't going to no lord! He won't like it with you," the child finishes sulkily, staring at his master with such uninhibited aggression one would think his young lord had outright snatched the dog and spat on its owner.

"Ned," snaps the woman fearfully, giving the boy's ears a harsh boxing. "Don't you dare raise your voice to his lordship like that!"

"It's all right," Earl Phantomhive tells her curtly. "Sebastian."

Baffled, he draws the heavy bag of coins from his pocket and places it in his master's outstretched hand.

"Here," he says coolly, dropping fat gold coins into the woman's claws. It's probably more money than she's ever seen in her life.

"No!" shrieks the boy, tears slicing white streaks through the dirt on his cheeks. He squeezes the puppy protectively to his thin chest as the woman tries to wrestle it away. "He's mine, you can't have him, you can't!"

"Agreed," the young master replies, as though he were discussing new products with the fledgling Funtom Company board. "Keep the dog. The money too. Be sure you look after him."

With that, Earl Phantomhive turns on his finely-shod heel and marches away, the dumbstruck woman and grinning boy and wagging puppy staring after him. Sebastian catches up with a few long strides, snatching the coin purse out of the air when his master throws it carelessly over his shoulder at him and tucking it securely back in his pocket. They walk past a few more shops in a full, expectant silence, until the demon can hold his tongue no more.

"That was...kind."

"Was that an insult?" his young master asks snidely. "I am far from kind, you know that. It was a quick way to have her stop bothering me, and it's not as though I can't spare the money."

"Nonetheless," the demon persists tauntingly. "You did them both a kindness."

"I can only imagine what I might have done if the former earl had tried to sell my dog to a stranger like that," says his little master idly. "I didn't leave the manor much, but I wasn't alone. He was always by my side."

The Earl's face is downcast for a moment, before turning suddenly rosy with embarrassment at having revealed so much. He jerks away from his memories and strides away down the street with a scowling order to follow.

Sebastian blinks. The dog, a black dog. His namesake.

As they leave, he glances back a moment. Perhaps his name is not so great an insult as he had thought.

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A/N: Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed it! Please do leave a review of what you think of new-and-improved chapter one: The Butler, Enlightened!