Disclaimer: Yana Toboso is the proud owner of Kuroshitsuji...although we all want a piece of Kuro.

The morning light in the streets of London was as welcoming and misty as usual. Few people were awake, seeing that it was still too early, but the city was slowly coming to life. Sebastian, the butler of the Phantomhive manor, was out buying ingredients to prepare the young master's breakfast. Just as he was leaving the local market with his items, he caught a glimpse of red in the corner of his eye. There was only one creature in all of humanity (or at least in all of England) who wore so much red...and it was getting closer. He braced himself for the upcoming shrill and ringing in his ear, followed by a thump against his side and prepared his right arm to repel the reaper. But as his vision was clouded by red, the oddest event took place for the first time knowing the reaper...

The reaper passed and continued his route. He didn't feel the ginger's hands rubbing all over his body, nor did he hear his name being called out in a sultry way joined by winks and the waving of hands. Not even a glance in his direction.

Grell Sutcliff just continued to walk by, walk by Sebastian... 'Something must be wrong, or he was too distracted by another sadist in the vicinity...' he thought to himself. Feeling intrigued at Grell's lack of performance, and feeling a strange air around him, Sebastian followed behind, almost on instinct. After some stealthy sneaking, heading into dark and isolated alleys and finally stopping at what seemed to be the redhead's destination (somehow still unnoticed by Grell), the demon realized, looking at the bag in his arms, that he had forgotten about preparing the young master's breakfast in the spur of the moment. Mentally scolding himself for doing such a thing, he jumped to the roof of a nearby building to head quickly to the mansion. He bore a last stare with his deep crimson eyes at the redhead. Grell was presently in front of a nursery, and by the look of the scythe he had summoned, there was some reaping to be done.

Finally hopping off rapidly in the direction of the manor, he dismissed Grell's unusual attitude as simply work orders. Maybe after reaping, he would go to the mansion to (once again) proclaim his love for the demon, to which he would respond as kicking him out of the manor.

A strange feeling of relief overcame the butler before being forgotten as he reached the Earl's home.

The sun was starting to set and Ciel was in the garden having some Earl Grey tea made by his butler. Sebastian strangely kept thinking about Grell's odd behavior, but they were easily pushed aside when his master called him for orders.

"Sebastian." Ciel took a sip of his tea.

"Yes, my lord?" the butler, snapped out of thought, naturally responded.

"Is it just me, or is there someone hiding behind the rose bushes?" Indeed, there was rustling in the direction of the roses, but what came through the butler's mind was 'How did I not notice such?' He blamed his thoughts.

"I shall see to it that the roses are not disrupted. And I'll lead our unwanted guest away from here." Sebastian excused himself from his master, who stood heading towards the mansion, and went to the garden's rose bushes.

What he found did not surprise him, but he was rather disturbed, once again, by a lack of reaction.

Grell was hiding behind the lovely red roses, pulling some out from the garden and playing with the vibrant flower's pedals, knees pulled up to his chest. He was his usual self for now, except for the smile that was plastered on his face. The smile seemed weak, almost fake. It appeared as if the reaper, much like in the morning, had yet to realize who was standing over him.

"For what reasons are you dismantling the Earl's flowers, Grell?" he finally spoke. The ginger, slightly stupefied, looked upwards to subsequently recognize the dark-clad butler.

"Oh. Sebas-chan~, it's youu~" Grell gave a stronger smile while gesturing to stand, having slight trouble with the heels he wore that particular day. He felt a strong arm pull him up. "Ah~, is Sebas-chan helping me up? I waaas doing... fine..." his voice died off.

Silence. The red reaper was quiet for a long time staring at the ground, covered with rose pedals, before being brought back from his thoughts by small tug.

"...Grell?" Sebastian hesitantly grabbed the redhead's shoulder...feeling very uncomfortable with the situation.

"Um...Sebas-chan...is it okay if I ask you something?" he moved his hips slightly, drawing his arms back shyly. Sebastian stayed reflective for a second; letting Grell be, well, Grell was unapproved, but today, he seemed to be very unlike his usual, flamboyant and wild self. He'll let this one time pass.

"As long as it's one and only one question, you may."

A few seconds of fidgeting with his hands passed, thinking how to phrase the question. "Well...y-you see...u-um, how does Sebastian feel about me?"

'...This is what he wanted to know? Sigh, it certainly is Grell...' Letting out the mental sigh, pinching his brow momentarily, Sebastian went about to answer the preposterous question with a swift 'you are an annoying, mercurial and repugnant creature, that is all'. The words never came out once he saw the reaper's expression.

The only word that could describe the face Grell had on was fragile. It was as if he read the butler's mind and didn't need to say anything. Rather, he regretted speaking his mind today. Small tears began to form at the corners of Grell's eyes as he turned to leave, not wanting to hear the answer. "I'm sorry! I-I take it back!" he ran away from the still butler. "I know you don't li—" The ginger felt his body twice as heavy and fell to the floor. Grell turned to see, surprised, that it was Sebastian who had pinned him down, jaw open, but no sound emitting.

"I... haven't said anything yet." Sebastian sat up, releasing Grell, who was still frozen from shock. Noticing his suit was now a bit tussled, Sebastian stood up bringing with him the stiff reaper and began to speak once again. "Although you are the most annoying, enraging and disturbing being I know", Grell gave a small squeak at the words, "I think so only when you are your usual bombastic self. Right now, strange as it may seem, I'm actually worried about…about you, now what is really the matter?" The last few words came out as a grunt knowing very well what they meant. Sebastian had just told the one person he despised the most that he cared and worried about him, which, to Sebastian's own surprise, was in fact the truth. Since this morning's meeting, he couldn't stop thinking about Grell's strange behavior; or rather it would not leave his mind. He was concerned about Grell and he didn't like the feeling of...kindness it produced inside. If the redhead was in his right mind he might have been overjoyed and pouncing over the walls (if there were any walls in the garden).

But besides the small limp joy Grell felt, it made him remember why he was so pessimistic and disheartened.

"...There's nothing wro—"

"Tell me." Sebastian interrupted. Even though it was the first time he was trying to help the reaper, he was losing his patience. Fast.

"..." he looked away momentarily before speaking. "...Y-you...a-about this morning...I did see you, it's just that I wanted to get the reaping over with..." his voice seemed to crack a bit. "...Well, I didn't want to go, but it is my job so I can't avoid it..." The tears from before fell from his eyes, smothering his make up a tad bit. Sebastian brought his kerchief out of his inside pocket and wiped the smudges softly off; feeling empathetic for the first time after all was, redundancy and all, a first.

"...Go on." Sebastian listened quietly. Whatever had happened, it was serious. To make Grell feel depressed was an achievement he had yet to learn. The only thing he remembered that could be of importance was the nurse—the nursery...

"...W-well, three young children were going to die there...two of them caught pneumonia and the last had suffered epilepsy before dying...I just... I hate reaping such young souls...and I hate having to watch them die even more!" He finally broke down and clung to Sebastian's shoulder, weeping and sniffing. Knowing his suit was now ruined, he gave up on the tidiness, put the kerchief back in the pocket, held onto Grell and lightly padded him on his back to calm him down.

This was no act. There is one thing and only one thing Grell has wanted the most and would frequently say aloud to him: children. Although the gender-confused reaper could not have them, he wished with all his entity he could one day. Even though the redhead didn't stand the young master, it was probably because it kept him from his dear 'Sebas-chan'. Sebastian could see the love for children from the bottom of the reaper's undead heart. And if he was right, he understood why the reaper was so upset. No... broken.

Something about that previous thought hit him. Something so oblivious he felt obliged to say it aloud.

"You called me Sebastian?" A look of disbelief on the butler's face as he spoke. "This is the first time I've heard you say my name properly."

Grell composed himself, just enough to be understood while crying. "S-so? I was being serious so w-why shouldn't I...? Or do you prefer me to call you that?" he gave a light chuckle at the thought. Sebastian actually liking his nickname...

"And if I said I did?"

For what seemed to be the fourth time that day, an awkward silence rose between them. Grell blushed maniacally at the words. A loud sigh broke the silence and Sebastian bent down, shifted the reaper's long coat to the side and hoisted Grell's legs up with his left arm, the glasses falling off the bridge of his nose onto his chest. "W-wha—" A complaint was going to escape his lips before he thought 'Sebas-chan is carrying me bridal style...' He clamped his mouth shut making sharp teeth click, his face turning a deeper shade of red, knowing this might never ever happen again, in fact, it should never have happened in the first place.

He observed were the butler was bringing him to. Sebastian sat down on a small bench in the garden viewing the sunset. He placed Grell appropriately on his lap, moving his long red hair over the owner's right shoulder, letting go of Grell's legs. Supporting the reaper's back with his right arm, Sebastian leaned back. "For now, you can rest here until you feel better, is that alright?"

Grell nodded, clinging to the butler's shoulders quickly, nuzzling his head in the crook of his neck.

Sebastian thought they stayed in that position for quite a long while, seeing the sun had long set and the moon was raised high in the sky. Grell had stopped crying right after the moon showed itself, stopping to admire its beauty. Grell took the liberty of napping, helping himself relax. Right now the ginger was slightly waking on the butler's chest. "Did you sleep well?"

A diminutive yawn escaped the red reaper's lips before answering "Oh, I had the most wonderful dream~!" He reached for his glasses. "Sebas-chan was being so kind to me and—" putting on the glasses that hung from the chain, he saw who was holding him and jolted upward.

"I see your energy is back and you're acting normal...or rather as normal as you can be." He said lightly chuckling. Sebastian pulled his kerchief once again from his pocket to wipe the now-dry smudges that formed from his tears mixing with the make-up on the redhead's face. After cleaning his face and placing the kerchief back in the pocket like before, Grell remained frozen. The shinigami, finally moving, pinched his own cheek to see if what had just happened was his imagination. He confirmed it was as real as the slight pain he felt, and Grell could still not believe it.

In the midst of Grell's fazed look, Sebastian conjured this expression was quite humorous. Another moment of silence ensued with Grell's inner turmoil with reality. 'I'm getting tired of this constant silence…and...I never realized...he's really close...' Sebastian had ultimately noticed. Suddenly feeling very uncomfortable, he gestured to speak his mind and push him off his lap, but Grell spoke before he could try. "Can I touch your hair?"

"...My hair?" The unforeseen question left him speechless. Having the transvestite on your lap clutching to his neck was one thing...but to have that same transvestite play with his raven locks would feel even more awkward than the quietude between them. Still, looking at the 'pretty-please-can-I-play-with-it' face Grell had prepared made him soften up, oddly. "...Alright, this one time, but no wandering anywhere else or anything of the like, understood?" As he uttered the last word, he made it clear with the sudden change in tone that Sebastian meant business. If he even trailed his hands downward and accidentally touched his cheek, forehead, neck or jaw, all hell would brake lose...literally.

"...Understood." The ginger answered. Hesitantly, he reached for the demon's locks with his left hand, warily. After a minute of careful grooming, he acknowledged it was safe to comb with his gloved fingers as he pleased and brought his abandoned right hand together with the other. With the butler's threat dismissed, but still in mind, Grell continued to tangle the tresses.

Sebastian, knowing Grell was obviously having fun disheveling his hair and combing it again, still felt very awkward at said situation. The only person to ever have been allowed to touch his hair before was the Marchioness Frances Midford, and she did so on her own accord. 'Nevertheless,' he thought 'he's still very close…' and inching closer. The hand that was holding Grell's back unconsciously moved up to the reaper's own tresses and started to toy with one isolated rouge lock. When he became conscious of his actions, Sebastian almost blushed recognizing something interesting: the redhead's hair was certainly incredibly soft. Even with his gloves on, he could feel the strand's lusciousness and softness. Grell did take good care for his hair after all, being a lady, hair was a woman's pride. Upon closer inspection of the tress, an immediate thought ran through his mind.

'Soft as a cat...' If Grell could turn into an animal, it would no doubt be a cat. His long mane that hung past his waste, soft and supple... the hands that would roam around, clinging for warmth... and those predatory eyes, locked on to prey, never taking its sight off the poor animal until devoured... plus his ever-shaking hips would certainly be complemented with a tail between his legs— 'No! Stop thinking about such!'

"Did you say something, Sebas-chan?" Coming down from his thoughts, Sebastian realized his first thought was actually spoken aloud. "You mumbled something about a cat...?"

"Nothing of importance." He looked away, still playing with that single lock of Grell's hair. 'So soft...Wait! Stop it!' The strand in his hand fell to join the others.

"Um...I wanted to tell you that after reporting my to-die list...I wanted to see you...but..." a faint blush reached his cheeks while he spoke "...but I thought you would throw me out the instant you saw me...like always..."

"Oh" Sebastian simply said. It was true, if the reaper came to disturb the peace, he would have gladly kicked him multiple times until he fled the scene. Of course...he didn't this time.

"Even so, I sneaked in and hid in the garden. Seeing your wonderful complexion made me feel better~. I still thought about the reaping this morning so it didn't help entirely..." he stopped petting Sebastian's pitch-black hair "And when I saw you noticed me...I admit I was kind of scared you'd push me away...but I'm so happy Sebas-chan took pity on me, even if it's just this once."

"I didn't take pity on you. Well, I'm not sure what I felt..." Sebastian trailed off. What did he feel for Grell? Obviously he found him obnoxious, but after seeing Grell so depressed, there was a feeling of unhappiness deep within himself he could not explain. 'Maybe...'

"...Maybe it was compassion? Although I'm not sure a demon can feel~ it of course." Grell stood and sat to the right of the butler, grasping his arm and tugging it to his own chest, "I'm still happy Sebas-chan treaded me kindly~."

The butler did not pull away, as he would have the day before, maybe even earlier in the day; now, he felt relieved Grell was once again his normal self.

"Good." As he looked up to the full moon, now high in the sky, it was probably time for the Earl to go to sleep. "Young master! I must go to the mansion and prepare the young master's bath." Spoken with haste. He had neglected the earl now, possibly forgetting to make dinner for him and tend to his orders. Such insolence was inconceivable as the butler of the Phantomhive manor.

He stood up, or tried to, as Grell was now grabbing his arm with more force. "No! It's always about that brat with you! And we were having such a nice time too..." Grell pouted.

Sebastian pried his arm free, using less force than usual. Many things he had done today were unusual. He walked to the rose bushes and bend down to pick one. The reaper stayed in the bench, watching the returning figure of the butler, who was kindly offering a rose.

"If you bring this rose, vibrant and intact, to me tomorrow, I vow not to harm you the entire day." Placing the rose in the redhead's hand, he closed the palm to grasp it better and took a step back. "However, should it be in any condition less than it is now, I do not promise to accept you as freely as I have today. Or that you will leave unharmed."

Grell contemplated the offer presented to him. Thinking it was a good enough offer, and he at least stood a chance, he yelled "It's a deal!" bringing a large Cheshire grin to his face.

Before turning to leave away, Sebastian took one last look at the reaper. Grell's gaze fell to the rose in his hands. His grin lowered to a lovely smirk; eyes, half-lid. The moonlight reflected on the ginger's face, whose make-up was mostly on the butler's suit and kerchief, complimented his feminine features. Sebastian took in the sight before him and his lips formed a grin.

'Beautiful.'

Giving up on fighting with his conscience, he left the gender-confused shinigami admiring the flower with a soft "Good night" and headed towards the manor. He would wait 'til tomorrow came and the reaper presented the rose back to him, eager to know if the care he gave to it was good enough.

And he was looking forward to it. Although he would never admit it.

To be continued…