This was written mostly for the lovely EarthRiddle, who mentioned she'd like to see some other pairings from me.

It was a day like any other in the Hatter mansion. The guards were slacking, the underlings were scuttling about, and Blood was lurking in his study, ignoring all of his paperwork. There was nothing at all unusual, and Blood couldn't figure out why the amount of average he was experiencing was somehow abnormal. He didn't let it bother him too much, though. After all, if it was something really important, he'd have remembered it, right?

After about half an hour of flipping through a book on the subject of "Keeping your House guests from Discovering the Insanity Within" he finally realized exactly what was so strange about that day in particular.

"Hum…I haven't seen Elliot since this morning. That WOULD explain the unfinished paperwork."

It was true. There was no Elliot shouting at him to put down the book and do something, and so the work had been left in a heap on his desk. He knew that he certainly wasn't going to do it, so Blood went off to see if he could find his missing rabbit. He started off on the uppermost floors, and ignored the strange looks he was receiving from his underlings as he went along, checking every room that Elliot would have any reason to enter. He searched and searched, but didn't find anything of use until the ground floor, when a no-name subordinate stopped him in the hallway.

"Boss, what are you looking for? I might be able to help."

Blood considered it, and decided that asking for help just this one time couldn't ruin his reputation.

"I'm looking for Elliot."

"Ah, Last I heard the girls were saying he was out in the front gardens with Alice."

Blood went on his way without another word to the man, and headed off to the gardens. He quickly discovered that the forgettable henchman had been up to date in his gossip. There were, in fact, two figures standing together in the gardens, and they were certainly Alice and Elliot. As he was walking out, it seemed to him that they were preparing to separate, and he watched with a stange curiosity as Alice wrapped her small arms around Elliot's torso in a good-bye hug before she rushed off. To anyone else, this scene may have been sweet, but to Blood it spelled trouble.

He harrumphed back into the manor, though he thought he did a good job at hiding it. On his way back, he ran into the very same forgettable who he'd spoken to earlier. He gestured to the younger man, who made his way over, and then he began to speak.

"When Elliot returns from the gardens, tell him I'd like to see him immediately."

He nodded his head twice, and Blood made his way back to his study to wait.

It wasn't long before three knocks at the door told him that Elliot was back from whatever that had been in the garden.

"What's up?"

He was cheerful and bright, but that didn't tell Blood anything. He was ALWAYS cheerful and bright. That's why they worked so well together.

"What have you been doing this afternoon?"

"What? Oh, I chased down those stupid gatekeepers, went out to find that new hat you'd been looking at, and went to help Alice with some errands. That's about it."

Blood eyed him suspiciously, and narrowed his eyes just a bit at the statement about Alice. He watched Elliot shift a bit, and asked the question he'd been waiting for.

"What were you two doing? You and Alice, I mean."

Elliot answered with no hesitation.

"She wanted me to go out shopping with her, and I ended up carrying around a ton of stuff. Y'know how girls are when they shop, right? They say they need something, and then they need something else, and before you know it you're walking around with half a store on your arm!"

He laughed at his own comment, but Blood didn't find it all that funny. His only comment was an "I see…" followed by a few other Alice-related questions. Elliot answered each one with complete honesty, but Blood still wasn't convinced. He stood, and met Elliot at his own level.

"Did you two…have fun?"

That was when Elliot understood what he was actually being asked.

"Really, Blood? You think I'm fooling around with Alice?"

He almost laughed when he said it, which Blood didn't appreciate.

"And when did I say that, exactly?"

"We both know you never say anything. That's not the point. Come on, do you really think I'd go behind your back?"

Blood didn't have a reply, and instead crossed his legs and studied the bookshelf halfway across the room.

"You're an overprotective idiot, y'know that?"

Elliot marched himself right into Blood's line of sight, and made an announcement.

"I am NOT having an affair with Alice, I swear."

Blood was satisfied with that, and unfolded his arms to show it.

"Why Alice? Seriously, I'd go after Boris if I was cheating on you. "
Blood bristled back up again.

"I'm not! I am not saying that I am. I'm saying that I would if I was, and either way he's a bit busy!"

"What was that?"

"Nothing, nothing. Don't worry about it."

Elliot shook his head with a laugh.

"You happy now? Did I soothe your paranoia?"

Blood didn't answer. He was definitely not pouting or anything, no, of course not. He was just being a bit…testy. That's it, nothing at all out of the ordinary. Elliot shook his head at the obviously-not-a-pout, and leaned his hands against the desk.

"Come on, don't make me say it."

He was met with silence again.

"Fine, fine. I love you and you know it. Are we done here, 'cause I haven't even finished half of the day's work."

Blood didn't respond, and instead left the room with little more than a nod and wave. It could have been because he was trying to avoid showing off his satisfied smirk, but no one really ever knew with Blood. Elliot followed him out into the hallway, but not before glancing down at the piles of paperwork left on the desk.

"Hey! Blood!"

He called down the hall.

"Hm?"

"Paperwork. You didn't do any today, did you?"

Blood turned back 'round, and came to stand directly in front of Elliot, with that smirk plastered across his face.

"Not one piece."

"You're horrible sometimes, y'know that?"

"Well, what did you expect?"

Elliot wasn't so sure of that himself, and so he didn't answer. Blood waited for him to say something, but it obviously wasn't going to happen without a little prompting.

"Well?"

"Well what?"

Blood was silent.

"Ugh, fine. I love you. Now go do your work. Please?"

Blood didn't have a response, which was rare. "I love you" wasn't in his vocabulary, and his form of those words was implied through actions. So, as he turned to leave for the second time, he responded with the closest words he could.

"You're good in bed."

This was announced, not said, down the hallway, and the snickers from the various maids just resulted in a very unhappy Elliot.

"Blood!"

"What, it's true!"

In a desperate attempt at a comeback , he shouted the first thing that came into his mind.

"I am NOT your woman, Blood!"

And he was gone, leaving the giggles to bore into Elliot and Elliot alone.

"Sometimes I wonder why I put up with him…"

But really, he didn't.

Author's Notes:

-this was really, really fun to write. Like ,a LOT. Oneshots and I get along very well, I always do well with oneshots.

-Blood is such a bully sometimes.

-I couldn't help throwing a tie-in to my Boris/Pierce fics, The Unconventional Wooing of Pierce and The Ups and Downs of an Interspecies Relationship. I can't help it. I just ship those two ridiculously.

Serious Notes:

Really ,I had this idea after EarthRiddle mentioned that some other pairings from me would be fun, and I thought about these two for a few days. the last scene popped into my head, with the "You're good in bed!" and I worked backwards from there. I feel like they were both a little stained with their characters, but I still managed to get them rather well, so I'm happy with it.

I'd love to hear what you kids have to say, and if you've got any suggestions for me I'd love to hear them! same goes for comments or critiques, I love them all!

As always, Live long and Prosper,

Ali.

The Characters in this fic are in no way mine.