A/N: From the moment I watched the first episode of Black Butler I became engrossed with it. Quite a different taste than my usual choice for anime, but the boy love is something of a guilty pleasure for me, and I fell in love with this anime. So I present to you what has been stuck in my head after weeks of in depth Black Butler viewing.
Disclaimer: I do not own the rights or the characters of Black Butler, I am only fanbasing these characters to satisfy my growing admiration for the anime/manga.
Enjoy!
Chapter 1
Usual sounds in a large office building generally included the bustling of everyday employees, the buzzing of a paper shredder, the manic clicking of expensive oxfords and heels against the tile floor as destinations needed to be met on a precise time, the choking of a coffee pot filling for the umpteenth round in the background. All these sounds through time had simply drifted into nothing more than a white noise in the distance; spending more time clocked in than enjoying normal life would surely do that to a grim reaper.
But one could not argue the harmony that had befallen the London Grim Reaper Association building...
'Screeeeheheheheheheheeeeccchhhhzzz.'
...unless that one were to agonizingly drag a chainsaw against the tile floors of the lobby, creating a massive echo that reverberated off the large amounts of vast space and causing a chain effect of groans and hisses.
"Oi, Sutcliff, you mind picking that thing up when you walk by? It's bleedin me ears, mate!"
"Sod off, Marley." Grell growled as he drug his feet through the lobby, slightly hunched from exhaustion yet waved his co-worker off with a flick of his scarlet red hair. "I've had one hell of a day and I simply won't hear of it from you." He attempted to pout but all he could muster was a slight frown and half-lidded eyes.
It had been one of the longest, most grueling missions of Grells life! An outbreak of Consumption had broken out over the northern country side of London, rendering many ill and the mortality rate only climbing. Which meant more work and guaranteed overtime. Much overtime.
'Two. Days. Of. Overtime.' Even the thought racked Grells frame with spasms of muscle pain and he groaned thinking back to all the souls he had to reap, the ones that were barely strong enough against the illness to fight back, the ones that spent far too long of time in his opinion to experience their stages of death...
'And not a damn bit of help!' Grell cried inwardly. Honestly, he loved Willy, he did! But damn that man all to hell sometimes. As if the man got his jolly's off on giving the red reaper these insane missions and not bothering to assign any help whatsoever!
"Senior! Hey!" called a voice from the right of him, snapping him out of his thoughts he turned to see a grinning Ronald Knox waving at him from his lax place at one of the sunk in black sofa-chairs, a brown bob-haired female reaper sitting on the other sofa-chair next to him. Without a second glance Grell slugged himself over to the two reapers his green eyes closing in on that oh-so tempting matching couch that completed the small furniture set up.
Ronald, seeing his senior reaper more up close now, gave a whistle. "Bloody hell, Senior, you look a mess. Wild night at the mingles club?" He smirked boyishly and the female reaper blushed. Grell huffed back, swinging his chainsaw on the middle coffee table with a loud smack he threw himself on to the couch and put a hand over his eyes, limbs sprawled and his red attire spilling over the couch. Ronald rolled his eyes and chuckled; was there anything his senior did without exaggerating?
"Ugh, I wish!" he whined, "Consumption up in the country side. Took me three days! Three Days, Ronnie!"
"Ouch."
Taking the hint that she suddenly became the third wheel the female reaper rose awkwardly and collected her books "Well I really must be going Ronald! My lunch break is about to end. Are we still on for dinner?" Ronald gave her his signature smile-and-wink, "Of course, Christine, I can't wait." The poor girl blushed madly and put a hand to her assumed-to-be fluttering chest. Now it was Grells turn to roll his eyes; the ol' smile-and-wink gets them everytime.
With a shy smile she nodded, "Bye-bye Ronald!" she turned to give a polite nod to Grell, who only exchanged her look with a bored sideways glance. "Good day, Mr. Sutcliff!" And with that she hurried back to work with expeditious clicks of her high heels. Grell watched her leave and turned to see Ronald also watching her go with a soft smile and dreamy half-lidded eyes.
"She likes my scythe." He winked. Grell snorted humorously, wiggling himself deeper into the comfort of the couch.
"Cuter than one you had last week, that's for sure."
"Libby? Yeah she was great too."
"Hmph, you never say those kinds of things about me, Ronnie. And we've been through so much!"
Ronald let out an amused chuckle as he sat up. "I'm surprised you'av this much energy to flirt, Senior."
"Eh, not my best." Grell waved a dismissing hand at his junior as he closed his eyes warily. This was the most rest he could remember getting in a long time, and he could definitely feel the deprivation in his screaming muscles. His arms felt like lead weights, his legs slightly shaky, his gorgeous red locks dirty and in desperate need of some therapy. Ugh, he was a wreck, but felt himself drifting too far into a delightful nap to worry about that at the moment. His breathing started to even as he found himself being lulled more by Ronald's chatty tangents of his past trysts and rendezvous with the office staff.
"...but blimey, having a girl like Amelia, now she was swell. Tough bird, great curves, a great big round ar-"
SMACK
"Sutcliff."
"Umph!" Grell grunted in surprise, eyes widening frantically to see a large stack of papers resting on his stomach. Of all the...! His red brows furrowed, searching around for the bloody bastard that had the up most audacity to slam a stack of paperwork on his-!
Grells green eyes met Williams in an equal glare, and suddenly all the ferocity drained from Grell, from pissed off cougar to helpless kitten. He gulped.
"Spears, sir!" Ronald shouted, not sure if more surprised than normal pleasantries, and sat straight in his chair. William glanced quickly at Ronald, then back to Grell monotonously. His stiff straight posture made him look taller, glasses pushed back catching the glare that shielded his eyes from view.
"W-Will..." Grell whined sleepily.
"Sleeping on the job again, Sutcliff? Not unusual however always highly irritating." William tsked, frustration well hidden but Grell and Ronald knew how to scope out the signs.
"B-But...!"
"I've heard all your reasoning before, Grell." William cut in once more. This was another sign of just how frustrated or angry William was; where reasoning with him was considered ridiculous, getting a word in edgewise was guffawed. "You still haven't filled out the necessary paperwork for the Consumption outbreak, which may I remind you was due yesterday afternoon..."
"W-What? I just got-"
"...nevertheless, I will waiver the matter this time if you get those back to me in the next hour. And also,"
"Hour? Will darling you can't possibly-"
Grell was abruptly cut off again this time not by Williams mechanic scolding but with a manila portfolio being slapped on the small table next to him, the defined slap of the folder catching his tired green eyes as they switched from and back to his supervisor's stoic eyes.
"You will be assigned to a case of unscheduled deaths in Bloomsbury at 3pm. Which is," he flicked his wrist into his suit pocket and pulled out a pocket watch, "in two hours."
"This is outrageous!" Grell wailed childishly, scooping the paperwork off his lap and dropping it in a sloppy heap on the ground, folding his arms together and turning his head away from William with a long sway of his red hair, pouting as hard as he possibly could.
There was an intermission of silence then, the air becoming awkward and tense. Ronald gulped, shifting in his seat uncomfortably as he glanced back and forth from one senior to the other. He watched as William took on a rather pointed look, lips becoming a thin line. He glanced back to see Grell intensely glaring at nothing in the distance, his foot tapping the ground and the biggest pout on his feminine face that Ronald had ever seen.
"Knox." He was addressed sharply by William and Ronald caught the tone immediately. Standing up hastily he nodded to both his seniors. "Right! I'll just...get To that appointment, then." He hurried away, passing the couch he gave a whispered, "good luck, mate" to Grell and with that he hurried down one of the long corridors, waiting until he was out of range to shiver slightly. He most certainly did not want to run the risk of getting caught up in their banter. William and Grell knew each other for so long the two of them always handled their issues albeit differently than the other reapers, even himself. Understanding this was something Ronald had to learn first hand, and it always felt like he was eavesdropping in on an age-old friendship.
William waited until Ronald was out of earshot before unleashing the heavy sigh he had held in. With another adjustment of his glasses he took a step closer to the flamboyant reaper closing in the distance slightly to create a more comfortable sense of privacy.
"You may think I enjoy being this insistent with you..."
Grell huffed, "Think? I know, darling."
"You are mistaken, Grell. This is the proper work load of all reapers, taking orders from higher up, to do our jobs efficiently and without complaint-"
"'No More and No Less' yes yes I've heard it all before, a thousand times!" Grell brought his gloved fingers up to rub the bridge of his nose, heaving his own exasperated sigh. He then looked up to meet Williams stare, grimacing slightly at how emotionless it was.
"And you don't have to be so bloody rigid about it, either." William blinked at the softer tone in Grells voice, which was a rarity for anyone even William to hear. As soon as the moment was there it was gone and taking one more step forward the supervisor addressed the red reaper not as his subordinate, but this time as his friend.
"What I enjoy," he started taking on a softer tone of his own. That got Grell's attention; his eyes widened only slightly. William continued, "is seeing you do your work efficiently, taking this seriously, not for my benefit but to keep you out of confinement. Your attributions to Dispatch is one I would rather not prefer to see terminated."
Grell's pout melted from his face, his eyes wide as he felt his friend give him a moment to take it all in. 'Not my style of proclaiming true feelings, but it's the most he'll give me.' He thought with a rather melancholic mood swing. In a fluid red motion Grell relinquished his scythe, grabbing the portfolio and dropping it on top of the stack of papers and lifted the entire stack all the while keeping a sad smile and a handsome blush on his face. "You always know what to say, Will~." He wasn't sure if he was lying or being completely honest. For now he'd consider this a template of sorts; an already prepared action and scheme of phrases to cruise him out of his particular situation, the exhaustion too overpowering to act his usual brash.
"But you owe me, Willy!" He winked at his supervisor as he walked past him.
"I owe you?" Grell laughed as he caught the hint of exasperation in Williams voice.
"Mm-hmm~!" the flamboyant reaper turned to give the other man his signature sideways-tongue-grin. "I expect nothing more than the finest Cabernet Sauvignon with you, my dear! Ta-ta!" And with that Grell made his way out the lobby and through the west corridor to his office, leaving William with a deadpanned stare at his fleeting form.
And in that instance; only a miniscule moment of constriction in Williams chest erupted, a subconscious urge to hold his breath as a foreign chill crossed his spine. For a split second longer he felt as though it was within his right to call the red-head back, postpone him for even a second, but for what? He wasn't sure.
'As if,' William thought, 'if I don't, something will surely happen.'
A loud laugh from a passing-by group of lower-ranked reapers snapped William from his thoughts and he shoved his hand in his suit pocket for his pocket watch again. 1:15pm. Wonderful. As always it seemed there was simply no time for wandering minds as there was too much work to be done. Dismissing all previous thoughts William went about his way down the opposite corridor Grell had taken, to his own office to complete the rest of the days tasks.
-:-
'Lucky me. Smack dab in the slums, of course!' Grell humored himself cynically as he observed the shady rinky-dinked high-rise he was about to walk into. Cursed building looked as if it survived multiple fires and countless wars...and he was about to walk into that! And from the looks of the entire street the area seemed almost abandoned; shops boarded and decayed, trash blowing by gently with the eerie breeze that came in through the alley ways, sending a chill through Grells body. He grimaced in disgust. Really, a lady shouldn't have to submit herself to such filthy work as this!
"The ABSOLUTE finest bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon, William-dear!" He grumbled to himself, grumpy from the lack of sleep attributing to his frustration.
Wanting to get this over and done with Grell shut his instruction book and stalked into the high-rise, marching up the stairs in search of the specific room noted in the book. Room 1401. Hm, had a rather odd ring to it, but Grell dismissed it as a placebo effect. No sense getting superstitious just because everything else appeared haunting and ghastly. He continued on, up the stairs, around corners, and up more stairs. Through the darkness of the hallways he could barely even see the doors he passed, taking one step at a time up the pitch-black stairs. At one moment he stopped and observed a random door; 1379, he was close! He strolled down the hallway passing a few more doors until he stopped in front of one. He moved closer to inspect the number. Etched into the small gold slab in the middle of the door, dirty, scarred, it read; 1401. Grell hummed proudly. Yes! That closer to getting off work!
The door seemed eroded, misshapen as if once found sitting in a swamp prior to its current use. Being already slightly ajar all Grell had to do was give a small push and the hinges screeched to life as the door swung open gently, and Grell stepped inside. He pursed his lips at the sight. Just as ghastly as the entire building the room looked nothing short of a surprise. Dusty, dank, the gloomy cast of light showing in from the front room window only allowing Grell just enough light to notice the furnishing. Dusty decayed furniture, a small dining area, cabinet doors in the kitchen swung open revealing only cobwebs stored within them. Ugh, this was going to be a nasty job indeed.
A movement in the corner, just short of the windows foggy light, caught his green eyes instantly, and his brow lifted in question.
'Hello...what do we have...'
Grell stepped closer and closer, cautiously, until his foot caught against something limp. He looked down, and once his vision re-adjusted to the dark he stumbled back a few steps realizing in alarm just what he tripped over.
A leg.
Completely mangled, barely attached by mere tendons to what one could say was once a body. The clothing torn to ribbons, large chunks of the corpse missing. A rich copper smell followed the sight, blood. Grell clicked his tongue at the sudden surge of excitement at the thought of the red color adding to the gaunt decor of this haggard room. A nice touch, he thought amusingly.
"D-d-d-d..."
A whimper in the corner. Grells attention snapped right up to gaze upon a pale woman huddled and cowering in the corner, eyes giant and quivering looking at nothing but the un-profound images that were most likely coursing through her mind. Her frail trembling body rocked back and forth, her arms holding something, a bundle of rags.
An infant...
Grells brow furrowed at the sight. This woman's soul was the only one he sensed in the room, in the entire building actually, which brought about an obvious realization: the bundle was dead as well. For a miniscule moment Grell sympathized for the woman. He walked slowly over to the woman noticing more and more along the way the blood stained battered condition of her gown, the skin that shown through the tattered cloth gashed and bruised.
Just what the fuck was going on?
"D-d-d-d-d-d," her quiet whimper met Grells ears, and he tsked softly. "Come now, stop all that. A lady should face her end with some respect, shouldn't you agree?"
The woman didn't seem to acknowledge the grim reaper approaching her, her attention dead set on whatever was in the room or in her mind. This heavily agitated Grell. Silly bird, was she not all there? Maybe a little show would catch her attention. In one swoop his fingers gripped the handle of his newly unleashed modified scythe, watching with much admiration as the light caught the blade perfectly and shined proudly through the dark reminding the sadistic reaper of his own pearly white canines.
Still, the woman remained where she was, rocking terrifically back and forth, eyes unwavering and lips trembling like a fish out of water. Grell's eyebrow twitched and he growled.
"Fine, have it your way. I'm having quite a bad day as well, but you don't see me acting like a cow." He stopped himself. Wow, was he arguing with this silent woman? The sleep-deprivation must be getting to him more than he thought. He raised his scythe, seconds away from roaring his toy to life...
"I say, is that my lunch you're about to steal from me?"
With a small shout Grell stilled his swing, whirling to face the third presence in the room. What the...?! Just when in the seven hells did that presence arrive? Such a dirty aura, bitter to the taste. How could such a skilled grim reaper such as himself completely overlook this?
Just past the streams of light there sat an antique chair and seated pleasantly at ease on that chair Grell was met with two pink-red eyes staring at him, mirth and humor swirling in their depths. One leg folded over the other, hands clasped together in his lap peacefully. A dark green suit, copper-colored hair, olive-complected skin. An undoubtedly handsome character, Grell had to admit.
'Can't hold a flame to Bassy...' The thought almost set him off in a daydream of his beloved crow had the being not spoken up again.
"Hello there." He tipped his head slightly with that same smile. Innocence only a thin very artificial layer on his face. Honestly, who did this cad think he was fooling? Grell Sutcliff was by no means a fool; a little clumsy, bit of ditz at times, hopeless romantic especially, but not a fool. He could have chuckled at the thought...those who thought him a fool sadly never had the chance to change their opinions.
"D-d-d-d-demon," the woman finally piped pitifully, gripping the lifeless bundle closer to her breasts. "demon...demon...demon...demon...demon...demon...demon..."
"Enough with the chanting it's quite obvious, dear." Grell scolded the woman. Yes it was plainly obvious. He straightened himself and acknowledged the demon finally, giving a curt nod. "I'm sorry, am I interrupting something?" he gave his own pretend courtesy. He was an actress after all.
"Quite. But I am by no means perturbed by it." He lifted a gloved hand at Grell, showing his dismissal of hostility with a stretch of his smile. "I've all the patience in the world."
"Lovely! Unfortunately I do not." Grell grinned, sticking the end of his scythe into the wood beneath and propping himself against the other end. He watched the demons eyes widened slightly, a light shade of confusion on his face while his smile dropped a little.
"Look, Handsome, I'm here on business. I've got to investigate why this lively bunch," he nodded to the corpse and the woman holding her infant's body, "are dying unscheduled, so I'm going to need her soul for the paperwork- I hope you don't mind. Nothing personal, love, just doing my job." He grin morphed into a sickly sweet smile at the demon.
A pause, and the sound of soft chuckles filled the air. The demon stood, much taller than Grell had expected, perhaps taller than Williams 6'0ft, and using his long lanky arms he adjusted his tie amusingly.
"Actually, I do mind. Love." He took a calm step forward, and Grell tensed. Of course demons were always going to make it harder than it actually was. An age-old belief in the grim reaper world; throw a demon into a problem and you've got yourself a full-blown dilemma.
"It's rude to take ones meal away from them while it's still being prepared. I'm sure you can agree with me on that." He winked. Humph, what a joke.
"Still being prepared?"
"Why yes!" The demon chirped. "That chap over there? His soul was much too pure, a great man with no sins or sorrow. Tasteless. And the infant was much too unripe, I just wasn't satisfied. But hers," He grinned wickedly at the traumatized woman in the corner and the woman in question ceased her manic chants instantly, "her soul is magnificent, so much pain, so much suffering, a harsh life she has endured. Delicious." An abnormally long forked tongue slipped between the demons lips and lapped at them with all the predatory look of a starved individual. "But not quite finished. I'm merely...how you would say, seasoning her, at the moment."
Grell didn't know what sickened him more, the fork tongue or the impressively psychotic way he described the dying human. Either way it didn't matter now, he knew what was to come already. This demon was not going to let his meal go so easily. He inwardly cursed his luck once more at the impending overtime he was surely about to face.
"My, I've never seen your species before. Tell me, lizard demon, have you got a name?" Grell cleared his face of expression knowingly at the decision made in his head.
The demon bowed with one hand to his chest one hand behind him. "You may call me Stellio, grim reaper." To the demons sudden surprise and growing frustration he had caused Grell to start cackling with laughter. His smile turned to a grimace as he watched a grim reaper mock him.
"Ah-haa~! I see what you did there." Grell reached a finger behind his glasses and wiped a tear from his eye. "As I should tell you mine I suppose." He bowed curtly. "Grell Sutcliff. Well, Stellio, I guess it's come down to only few options."
"Really? Because I only know of one."
In half a blink he was gone from sight, as if he was never there. No ominous wind, no sound, Stellio just...vanished. Grell finished his blink and suddenly sorely wished he hadn't. A hard fist collected the front of his vest and under shirt, something sharp cutting into his chest. Before Grell had time to as much as even yelp he was lifted into the air and flung forward, entire body sailing through the air busting through the window, shattered glass soaring with him. Before his body could collide with the exterior wall of the neighboring high-rise the reaper caught himself, planting his feet firmly on the brick and launched himself off toward the room he was so rudely thrown from. He roared his chainsaw to life ready to chop the insolent man. "It's rude to throw a lady through a window, wouldn't you say!?"
His speedy attempt to return back into the room stopped short as a foot came shooting out of the shadows a second too late connecting with Grell's sternum, sending the red reaper in an instantaneous moment of overwhelming pain only to fall straight down in a coughing spell. He was able to catch himself just before landing on the alley floor, stumbling to his knees he put a hand to his throbbing chest. Fuck that hurt. He drew as much air into his lungs as possible. Why the nerve of that...!
A piercing scream echoed around him. Bones cracking, skin ripping, a satanic otherworldly roar shortly followed after. A normal human would have spilled his stomach contents on the ground at such a sound, but it only served to enrage Grell. That bloody bastard! Not only did the lizard brat disrespect him, knocked the air from his lungs, but now he'd gone and done it! Taken the very soul William had assigned him to collect! And now he would have to go back to HQ with nothing but a silly story to tell and William would not hesitate to punish him further.
Grell snarled at the realization; William would be disappointed yet again. After the little tiff at the office he seemed to have gotten somewhere with William, a crack of an opening past those stone layers of resolve and A-rated work ethic to manage just a fragment of who his boss use to be. For the past few years his old friend and confidant had shut him out, closing the blinds and leaving Grell without as much as a clue at why he found himself included in everything that the stoic reaper didn't care for. Today had been just a toddler step forward...
...and it was all ruined!
Rage numbed the pain from Grells chest and he stood, revving his chainsaw threateningly. His lip curled in a sneer showing sharp pearly white teeth.
"Get out here, you son of a bitch!"
His rage was rewarded with silence, and suddenly a clear as day chuckle emitted from in the dark room. A blur of green shot out of the broken window in an nonhuman like speed, landing only feet away from Grell. Stellio landed with a ground shaking thud, standing tall over Grells average height. The soft tap of blood droplets meeting cobblestone was heard and the reaper noticed then just how soaked in blood the demon was. That woman's blood. Splattered over Stellio's face, his arms and torso completely covered, dripping off his suede shoes.
"My my, usually I find handsome men covered in such beautiful red quite arousing," Grell snarled with a sick grin, "although the fact that it's not yours is quite a turn off."
Stellio chuckled again, raising a clawed hand to his mouth and his forked tongue lapped at the blood. Those pink-red eyes flashed brightly, a grin splitting his face ear to ear. "My her soul was as delicious as I expected! Quite satisfying! Aah I feel so enlightened now!" His chuckle turning to ill-minded cackles. He outstretched his other blood coated arm to Grell, beckoning him forward with his talon fingers enticingly. "Come at me, little reaper! I wish to burn some of this energy!"
And Grell charged like a madman, bringing up his death scythe to slug it down in a slant across Stellio's face and chest. The demon countered, moving a fraction of an inch back to avoid the bladed rotating chain bringing his leg up to send a swift kick to Grell's side in which he side-stepped out of just in time, twirling on the balm of his right foot and swinging the death scythe back up to slice him once more.
Stellio hopped back, using the same technique Grell performed prior and used the brick wall of the high-rise to launch himself forward, spinning his body in a way to gain more momentum as he flew toward his adversary. Grell gasped, doing the only thing his brain could scream at him and dropped to his knees holding his chainsaw straight up to await the collision of Stellio's skull with the blade. He knew he was going too fast to redirect. Instead the lizard threw his hand up, once flesh and blade collided Grell could feel the pleasant splash of blood on this face from just above him.
About time!
Stellio spiraled over the chainsaw, flying toward the other brick wall with a sickening CRAAAACK as his back met the weak brick concaving a good chunk from the sheer force. He hissed in pain, bringing his gnarled hand up to inspect it. Split down to the bone the wound split the four fingers into pairs of two. An unsightly wound, Grell thought pointedly. He looked up to meet the demons eyes and his own widened in reaction. They were a flaming crimson, wide and the pupils so much of a slit you could barely see them. A shiver ran up the red reapers spine; he had most definitely pissed him off now. He couldn't stop the small smirk that graced his lips. Good, he was so ready to get this over with.
Grell took a step forwarded only to freeze with the abrupt notion that constricted his heart with fear. His eyes glanced down in confusion, and to his horror he had answered his own question.
His knees were starting to shake.
Three days with no rest, barely a nap. All that time spent in the country side with the Consumption outbreak, the exertion, the exhaustion, was all starting to take its last toll on his body. The adrenaline flowing through him was enough to temporarily distract him from his initial aches and pains, but his body had finally had it, protesting at what could possibly be the worst bloody moment! That familiar lead weight creeping into his limbs. Huh, he had a hunch his death scythe felt just a tad heavier than usual.
'Just a little longer, until I get rid of this sod. Then I'll give you the rest you deserve.' He pleaded with himself. All he needed was a little more time.
Unfortunately no sooner had he thought this Stellio's cackles of mad laughter were back, resonating through the alley and haunting Grell's ears. The demon threw his wounded arm back, blood spurting to the ground and he whipped his head back as the hysterics took over.
"Wow! You're more fun than I thought you'd be, I must admit!" The demon's stance then changed, crouching as a cheetah would before pouncing on their prey, eyes sparkling with murder and blithe. "You have undoubtedly earned my undivided attention, sir!"
Grells gulp went unnoticed. 'Oh fuck.'
Stellio vanished once more, and Grell's chest tightened with apprehension. Was this delirium? Could his mind be blotching out very important tidbits of his vision? He desperately hoped not. And again he unfortunately found himself out of time to further ponder for those crimson eyes were now quickly approaching him followed by the return of a green blur. Panicked he swung his death scythe forward partly expecting his blade to slice through the lizards torso with miracle timing. He did not expect, however, that Stellio would somersault over his swing landing gracefully behind him.
"Whaa...uuahhgh!" He screamed as four, yes he was quite sure of the amount, four sharp talons tore down his back and he hissed at the sound of his flesh ripping with his clothing. Too soon for the reaper to recover that he felt a harsh kick to the wounds, sending him flying forward only to stumble a few more feet. A hand then gripped his throat with such overwhelming strength and lifted him, bringing his weight and all crushing down against the cobblestone beneath, finally dragging him back up from the ground and sending him hurled against the brick wall.
Grell could only sputter weakly in between choked raspy gulps of air, his back throbbing so much so he thought he was going to be nauseous. He cracked his eyes opened to meet those damned crimson eyes mere inches from his. That sick sadistic grin. He watched when those same eyes began to search his face, taking all of his appearance in. Grell groaned disgustedly. What was he looking for?
"My..." he breathed into Grells face, "you know, I've never stopped and actually looked at you before, but now that I have you are quite beautiful." His wounded hand shot up and roughly shoved the red bangs out the reapers face to catch a better glimpse. "Ah, how lovely. Not only that, but you're a divine being. I'm beginning to wonder just how lovely you would taste, Grell." A single talon on the wounded hand rudely shoved Grells head back into the wall, the razor-sharp edge traveling down his neck clipping the skin on his collarbone and trailing it down his chest past his stomach and stopping at his narrow hip.
A forked tongue slithered out, tickling under Grells jaw and leaving a trail of saliva up one side of the reapers face.
"Uuaagh!" Now Grell was sure he going to be nauseous. His green eyes widened and for the first time in their encounter he allowed Stellio to witness his fear. Adding insult to injury Stellio giggled with excitement at the oh-so vulnerable sight the reaper allowed him to see.
A rather rapid mood swing engulfed Grell and he snarled at the lizard. Damn fool! How DARE he take it upon himself to steal a taste! He blood boiled. He may have been the everyday natural flirt, but he was picky about the men he allowed to touch him in such ways!
"A-A little late for that, you sick fuck." he spat blood on the demons face erupting a guttural cry from him. With all the strength and flexibility of his neck that he could muster he did the only proper action he could think of when in desperate times such as this.
"Headbutt!" He barked as he collided foreheads with the demon looming over him, knocking him back and instantly relinquishing his crushing grip on Grell's esophagus. Another satanic howl erupted from his assailant and he stumbled back still recuperating from the headbutt.
There was no time to waste. Grell forced himself into a long-legged sprint and swung his scythe madly at the demon.
Oh how perfect that hit would have been...had it nailed its intended target. His arms were just a fraction too weak to fully wield his chainsaw, that being the start of a butterfly effect that in the end threw off his calculations that would have won him this battle. He couldn't even be grateful for the blade shredding through Stellio's thigh, ripping open like a bag full of meat spilling forth a small waterfall of blood.
Stellio screamed, his rage unleashed to its potential. He vanished once more. Grell wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his coat. He couldn't have seen things! This bloody demon could disappear! Shit, was he battling a being that could turn invisible this whole time? Impossible! Then that being thought, the battle would have most likely ended sometime ago...the curtains drawn on his tragic end no doubt.
The next thing Grell knew he felt the whoosh of an object hurling at his head. He wanted to dodge, God he wanted to, but his body just wouldn't let him. Blood loss, delirium, muscle strain, fuck it all the above, he couldn't tell what was weighing on him more. But he stood as still as he could on two legs, unable to do anything as a force comparable to a cargo train smashed into his temple.
And the black outs began, like a damaged roll of film his memory skipped small segments of time. Grell came to at the moment his body was skidding across the cobblestone, a time-lapse, and he was trying desperately to get up, another time-lapse of darkness this time longer and with it providing him only partial vision. Grell yelped, panic and absolute fear freezing his chest and he let loose a full-body tremble.
'This is bad, this is very bad. He's blinded me...' Warning sirens screamed in his half-conscious mind, fighting its way to the surface. 'Swing! Just start swinging, you idiot!' And without question he searched around himself frantically following the rumble of his motor. His fingers gripped a handle. Yes! He lifted it with much struggle, swinging it around him hysterically. He was afraid, he was actually -from the bottom of his heart- afraid. The closest fear he's come to in a very long time, the most current memory of such terror was during his battle with Sebastian, when the damned-gorgeous demon had intended to kill him with his own death scythe. He was truly terrified for his life then, but not blinded, not threatened to be tasted like a dish presented to the demon, inevitably saved by William in the end...
"Hahahahahaha!" Stellio's cackling, echoing off the walls around him, in every direction. His heart skipped a beat. 'William!' Saying that name ignited some miniscule delirious warmth in his frozen chest. He'd do anything to see him perched on the rooftop above, watching as he received quite the ass-whooping waiting for the precise moment to jump in and save him.
'This is no fairytale...' a voice rasped in his head, a friendly reminder that Grell himself wasn't all there anymore; the head injury must have done some intensive damage to him.
"Oh I see! Did I blind you, little reaper?" Stellio's voice drawled now closer than ever. Grell continued to swing his chainsaw. A short-lived defense when he received a swift kick to his wrist and with a scream of pain the reaper let go of his chainsaw listening as its purr faded the farther it skidded away from him.
"Then I guess you won't be needing these anymore, huh?" Stellio grinned, reaching down he jerked the red spectacles from Grells face, the small chain link around his neck snapping at the brute force, and smashed them in his fist. Grell whimpered at the loss of his glasses only seconds after to hear them crack and crumble inches away from his face.
Dropping the remains of the glasses he then shoved his fist into Grell's hair, grabbing a voluminous amount of the red locks at the base of his scalp and lifted him up, earning a screech of pain as his sadistic reward. Unbeknown to Grell in his current state he failed to see Stellio wet his lips with his forked tongue. The lizard lowered his head now intimately close to the reapers, and whispered playfully.
"How lovely. You'd better not pass out on me yet, little reaper, because if you do I'll just wait for you. After all..." A long talon of his other hand clipped Grell's chin up, another finger dragging across his parted lips.
"...I've all the patience in Hell."
-:-
A/N: Why did Grell get so tickled at Stellio's name? It's actually latin for "lizard/gecko/snake" because I'm unoriginal lol.
ATTENTION! To anyone who has read this story I am in need of your glorious opinions! YOUR VOTES ARE MY SAVING GRACE! :D
The main pairing of this story has still yet to be determined, and because of that the supporting pairing has yet to be determined as well, so I would more than appreciate your votes! Below is the characters I would like for main and supporting pairings:
****Grell (who is obviously a main), Undertaker, William, Ronald (who will be supporting)****
Since right now it seems like a GrellxWilliam story, I have yet to introduce Undertaker (but next chapter... ;) however it does depend on your votes to see where the character goes from here!
Thank you all for viewing my story! I hope to have the next chapter up as soon as possible!
-Joker and the Thief