What seemed nothing more than a simple day at the office for our beloved reapers would turn their lives upside down. Ronald, a reaper with two toned hair walked into the office, his head bowed down. The normal grin that he held on his face was gone, replaced with one that resembled a look of poorly hidden pain. Today was Ronald's, as the other reapers would call it, re-death experience. There had only been legends about this happening to other reapers before, and many thought it was just a myth. The legend had said, that on the same day that you had died, you would once again go through the pain and suffering you felt when you passed. Ronald's morning had started off like every other morning. Wake up, get dressed, brush teeth, eat breakfast, and leave for the day. Though today, when he had woken up, he had felt a small nagging pain in the pit of his stomach. He thought nothing of it, but had a light breakfast before heading off to work. Once at work, he headed to his office and worked on his paperwork for a couple hours. During that time the pain in his stomach had grown and he began to feel nauseous. Time seemed to drag on and it seemed as though the day would never end. When it felt that Ronald would lose everything in his stomach William, his onyx haired boss, had called him into his office. Normally, the stotic boss knew everything that was going on in the workplace. But he failed to realize that today was the anniversary of Ronald Knox's death.
Thousands of years ago a young Ronald Knox was alive. Though for the young boy, it had always felt like he would rather be dead.
Ronald had grown up in Buffalo, New York. This was a very poor city where people barely made anything. He lived with his mother in a rundown apartment. His father had left as soon as he had turned one. His mother, Janice Knox, was an abusive alcoholic. Every day seemed to be the same, come home, get beat, watch mother get drunk and pass out on the couch. Sometimes he would have to drag her up to her bed so she didn't hurt herself. He had been doing this for so long that he didn't even care anymore. No matter what he did, it was an excuse to get beaten by his mother. If he came home one minute late he was beat, if it was an hour, his head was dunked in water, and if it was a day, well, he wasn't allowed back inside until his mother deemed he was allowed. This could be for hours, days, occasionally weeks. Ronald had no friends so he had to just sit there and wait till his mother would let him in. As soon as he was old enough, Janice had sent him out of the house to get work. During this time, Ronald had learned how to do practically every job. He was the handy man of the town, if something broke down; he was there to fix it. Regardless how much money he made, Janice had spent it all on booze. This had continued on for years, one day Ronald had got tired of it. It was his birthday today and his mother promised him that she wouldn't get drunk, but that was a lie. Though he wasn't legal age to drink yet, only now turning 17, he couldn't take it anymore. What was so great about this booze that his mother had to drink it all the damn time!? He was tired of dealing with his mother beating his, berating him, and blaming him for his father leaving. He was tired of her taking all of the booze for herself; it was his turn to try some of this magical liquid, to feel happy for once. Storming to the kitchen, Ronald opened the cabinet and grabbed all of the booze that his mother had, and a bottle opener. Popping open a bottle of whiskey, he put it to his lips and began to drink. The harsh liquid burned his throat as it went down. Ronald began drinking bottle after bottle, ignoring the sick feeling that began to bubble up in his stomach. He was almost to his last bottle when his stomach gave way and he began to vomit. Ronald forced the last bottle into his mouth and began to chug the contents of the bottle as fast as he could. The entire collection of booze was cleaned of when Ronald's body had started going into convulsions. He dropped the bottle in his hand with a crash and landed to the floor. The edged of his vision turned black and it closed into his until his body stopped shaking and everything was black. He woke up in a while room on a soft bed. He looked around at what seemed to be an infirmary, in front of him stood a tall man in a black suit, slicked back hair, and square framed glasses. He spoke with a cold and stotic voice "Ronald Knox, welcome to the Reaper dispatch association, now that you are here. You will train to become a reaper, if you pass the exam you will go on to become a full-fledged reaper, if not, well, you'll find out." And with that he walked off.
That was thousands of years ago, and here he was today, about to experience the same pain that he had thousands of years ago, but this time worse, because he wasn't going to die again. No, merely feel the pain over and over again until this passed.
Ronald shook his head, shaking the memories of his past out of his head and headed into William's office, a hand placed gingerly on his stomach. The soft nagging pain in his stomach that was there this morning had grown into a searing pain that was impossible to ignore. Normally, Ronald was really good at hiding pain and acting as though nothing was wrong, but right now he was struggling to just be alive it felt like. He held his breath as a wave of nausea rushed over him. Biting his lip, he waited for it to pass before speaking. He uttered a small "hey boss." With his voice being so low, to those who weren't paying attention, it would have sounded more like a mouse squeak. William just spared a glance at the young reaper, noting the subdued attitude of the normally perky Ronald and his set down his paperwork and adjusted his glasses. "Are you well Ronald?" He asked. If he had any concern for the younger reaper, he sure did hide it well.
This caused Ronald to shift nervously "Ha-Ha! Just fine!" Ronald responded, swallowing harshly as a wave of nausea swept over him. A soft green tinge covering his face, the nausea was worse and if he had to speak before this wave passed, he was almost sure that he was going to lose all of his stomach contents all over the floor.
William only offered him a small glare before he moved on, picking up a pike of paperwork and a death book. "You're reaping assignments for the day and accompanying paperwork. Oh and do see if you can locate Mr. Sutcliff if he doesn't show up soon, we will be working overtime once more." Pushing the object towards him, William looked over at his youngest member once more. Noticing the faint green tinge on his face he gave a small sigh. "And see Eric about your illness, would you?"
Ronald just nodded before giving a small salute and heading off. He was going to speak to Eric to avoid doing paperwork. Normally the two toned reaper hated doing overtime, but decided since it was inevitable that it would do no harm to slack off. When he walked into the room, Eric began to eye the other as he walking over. Noting the ever present green tinge on the younger reapers face, he raised an eyebrow before speaking. "Ye alrigh' Knox?" He spoke in a heavy Scottish accent.
Ronald just gave an alert look, shifting his weight from one foot to another. "Hm? Oh! I'm fine!" He lied through his teeth. He felt as though it wasn't as though anyone could really do anything about it, he just looked like he was ill to everyone else.
"I don't believe you." Eric stated curtly. "Remember I was a doctor, and I take care of Alan all the time. Don't try and lie to me when you ain't feeling well kid." He gave a harsh look towards the other. He didn't appreciate being lied to when the facts were clearly obvious.
Ronald sped up his speech to hide his ever present stutter. "I-I told you I was fine." It didn't do much for him, realizing if he stayed there any longer he would cause more suspicions "Oh well look at the time, I gotta go reap someone, bye now!" He left the room as fast as he could to start on his reaper and so he could delay the inevitable interrogation.
Eric just watched him leave, concern still looming over him. "You better be alright kid." He muttered before returning to his paperwork.
Many hours had passed and the day had gone on per usual. When Ronald finally came back, it was five minutes after lunch had started. If the boy had looked bad before, he looked worse now. His face was stark white with a bright tinge of green on his cheeks. His body was shaking and he looked as though he was about to kneel over and die any minute now. The reaper silently headed to his office, trying to avoid everyone and not raise any suspicions. When he had gotten to his cubicle, he sat down and practically curled into himself. One arm was wrapped tightly around his stomach. Eric had noticed him and let out a sigh before getting up to talk to William. Knocking on the door he waited for William to acknowledge him with a "Come in" before entering. "Yes Mr. Slingby?" William asked curtly, a little annoyed at being disturbed during his lunch.
"Umm, Boss, it's about Ronald. I don't think he is well, but he won't talk to me. He wasn't looking good earlier before he left, but now he is even worse. I was thinking maybe you should talk to him." Eric stated, watching his stotic bosses face and waiting for a response.
William just sighed before standing "Didn't you do anything for his nausea earlier?" He glared at Eric, he knew all about illnesses or so he heard.
Eric could only shake his head "No sir. He said he was alright and then ran before I had the chance to give him anything." Eric had stated ashamed of him-self for not being able to help Ronald before anything could have gone wrong.
William groaned and then exited his office, motioning for Eric to accompany him in the tow walk to Ronald's cubicle. Ronald had rested his head on his hand which was placed on the desk and forced himself to do paperwork with his freehand, hoping that if he finished it all, he might be able to avoid overtime and just go home. The pain in his stomach was getting absolutely unbearable and the nausea was getting worse. As he tried to write, his hands trembled and he could barely hold his pen. Ronald focused on the task at hand and nothing else around him. William walked behind Ronald and stood there, watching as he attempted to do his work. With a sigh he leaned down and took the pen from Ronald "With your hand shaking that much your paperwork will be illegible and not any good to us." He stated matter-o-factly, wondering to himself how long it would take before the young reaper admitted that he was unwell.
Ronald looked up from his paperwork to find Eric and William there. He sat up straight to address the two standing there. "O-Oh, I'm sorry boss I just, I w-was tryin' ta get m' paperwork done i-is all." There was a tremble in his voice no matter how hard he tried to suppress it, and the volume of his voice was as low as a mouse.
Shaking his head William spoke in a cool voice. "Mr. Knox, what is not true. You are unwell. Please allow Mr. Slingby to attempt to help you." He glared at Ronald, trying to get some sense into the boy.
"I a-am not, I am perfectly well." Ronald snapped at the other, he refused to let his guard down and admit to the others that he was unwell. He was so used to hiding when he was sick that when it came to the point that he absolutely needed help, he would still refuse to back down and admit defeat.
"Bullshit kid. Now let me try to help you." Eric growled out at the younger reaper. There was concern etched onto his face, all he wanted to do is help the other no matter how much he was resisting.
"I t-told you, I'm fine." Ronald placed his hands on the sides of the chair he was sitting on and pushed himself upwards, forcing himself to stand up. Feeling as though he was about ready to collapse, he held onto his desk. His knuckles were turning white from the amount of force he was using to hold onto the desk. His entire body began to shake at this point but he refused to let his guard down, especially in front of the others.
This was the final straw. William reached out and put his hand on Ronald's shoulder, giving a light push to the other so he fell into the chair. Holding him there, he looked over and nodded to Eric, who came over and started to check Ronald over. Trying to find out what exactly was wrong with the younger reaper. This caused Ronald to panic. He hated the feeling of being trapped. The fear made his face turn a ghostly while and his cheeks were a vibrant green. Struggling to get up was useless as it was more like the boy was shifting around in his seat. Letting out a soft whimper he tried to speak. "I-I…" He shut his mouth and opened it again, gaping like a fish out of water, just trying to get the words out of his mouth, but no sound was coming out.
"Just calm down kid, this will be quicker if you relax." Eric said in a soft voice, trying to sooth the kid while he worked on him. Reapers rarely got ill so it was harder it was harder to figure out what they had in the cases when they did get sick.
Ronald just whined again in response, trying once again to speak as he squirmed around. The words didn't seem to want to come out of his mouth. "I-I don't…" He bit his lip as dreaded feeling in his stomach grew worse. He wanted nothing more than to just curl into a ball and get away from all of this.
Once Eric had finished up inspecting Ronald, he straightened up and let out a sigh. "I ain't got a clue Sir, it's not a reaper illness, nor is it the thorns, and we don't get human illnesses, so I'm truly at a loss. My best bet would be to send him home and let this all blow over without any stress from work." He sounded rather distraught at the fact that he couldn't help Ronald, especially seeing how much pain the boy was in.
William merely sighed and released Ronald, giving a small nod to Eric. "Very well Mr. Slingby. I will take your word for it. Mr. Knox, Go home." He commanded, leaving no room for the other to question him.
Without much warning, Ronald leaned over with his arms wrapped around his stomach and his mouth open. Bile had begun to rise up his throat and started to vomit all over the floor. He had tried to wait till he got home, or at least there was no one around, to get sick but that obviously hadn't worked. Tears pricked out of the corners of his eyes, embarrassed that this was happening, in front of his boss and friend no less.
"Slingby, A garbage pail! Now!" William yelled; coming to stand behind Ronald, rubbing his back gently as Eric ran off to grab a metal garbage pail. Returning, he held it under Ronald's mouth as he threw up.
Coughing and sputtering, Ronald was practically gasping for air before he vomited into the bucked once more. His arms wrapped tightly around his midsection as he tried to focus on the hand softly rubbing circles on his back. He started muttering soft little apologies as his stomach convulsed and rebelled once more. "No need to apologize Mr. Knox, just relax." William stated softly and Eric agreed, still holding the bucket under Ronald's mouth.
The younger reaper just nodded, drying heaving into the bucket before he spit up bile. He relaxed ever so lightly, arms wrapped around his midsection loosely, breathing rather heavily. The pain in his stomach seemed to relax before coming back worse than before. He let out a barely audible 'ow' and shut his eyes tightly, trying to will the pain away. "What did you do kid?" Eric asks softly, concern laced in his voice. William left the room for a moment to tell Alan that he is in charge, before returning and standing Ronald up.
"Come on Mr. Knox, time to go home. Mr. Slingby will clean up this mess and will finish the paperwork for you." William stated, trying to help the other up.
When Ronald was helped up, his legs shook tremendously and threatened to collapse under him at any moment. His breath was labored and going at an irregular pace, about 8 breaths per minute. "I will hopefully return tomorrow. I do not think that Mr. Knox should be left alone in such a state." William stated, leading Ronald towards the exit. "Oh, and if Sutcliff shows up, do give him a cut on the face for me."
Ronald normally would have made a snide comment about Grell, and have a good laugh, but in the condition seeing the condition he was in, Ronald just focused on getting home, and where he lived for that matter. Once they were outside, William let out a sigh and glanced at the younger reaper who shared his blood. "Ronald, what on earth is wrong?" He stated coldly, frustrated at the other.
This just made Ronald look at the other, confused beyond belief "what do you mean?" He started to stare past William, refusing to look the other in the eyes.
"You do too. You are ill and I am concerned. Last time you were this ill, you were human." William murmured sternly to the other.
Ronald just blinked back stupidly, his mind was foggy and he couldn't think straight. "…I can't seem to remember anything right now…" His legs were shaking uncontrollably and he looked as though any moment now he was going to collapse.
William quickly gathered him into his arms, sprinting the rest of the distance to Ronald's home. He didn't want anyone to see him in such a state. When he got there he let himself in and took Ronald to his room and laid him on the bed. Concern laced his voice as he spoke but he tried to sound gentler. "Please do try to remember Ronald. I am worried."
Ronald just furrowed his brow, trying to think. "D-Dad…?" he asked questionably, not quite sure of what he was saying or trying to say. Unexpectedly his libs began to shake uncontrollably and he begun to have a seizure.
William furrowed his brow when Ronald had referred him to as father and shook his head. "Not father, your grandfather's father." It took him a second to realize that Ronald was having a seizure, but when he did, his eyes widened and he nearly panicked. He was finally able to realize what exactly was happening with Ronald. He had put two and two together and realized that he was re-living his death.
The seizures had lasted for quite a while before they subsided and Ronald's body finally gave out. He lay there still, the pain getting too much for the young reapers body to handle. William sat on the side of the bed, keeping a cool wash cloth on his forehead and murmuring softly Shakespeare's, A Midsummer's Night Dream. The sound of his voice filling the room as William recited it perfectly from memory. Ronald watched the other sleepily, listening very intently to every word that is spoken. Finally noticing the washcloth on his forehead, Ronald tried to push it off.
"Don't, just leave it." William scolded, glancing back down at his with soft green eyes, running a hand through Ronald's hair. William went back to reciting the play in an effort to distract Ronald from the pain of re-experiencing his death.
Ronald flinched softly when William had gone to pet his hair, afraid that he was going to get smacked. Letting out a soft whimper, he discreetly tried to push the washcloth off of his forehead. "I'm not going to hurt you Ronald. Please just relax and leave the washcloth." William spoke as he kept an eye on Ronald.
Ronald opened his mouth and tried to speak. "F…in…e"
his voice cracked tremendously and the volume of his voice was barely over a whisper.
"Shhh, don't talk." William pushed Ronald's hair back from his forehead, replacing the washcloth with a new one and started back up with reciting Shakespeare, changing to Hamlet this time as he had finished A Midsummer's Night Dream.
Ronald watched the other intensely, wiggling around to get himself comfortable but to no avail. He closed his eyes and continued to listen as William spoke, focusing on attempting to sleep but to no avail.
William had decided to stay the night, changing the washcloths often, bringing Ronald a bit of blank food and some water, and of course a pail to throw up in when it all came back up. The only sounds in the house were of his quiet reciting of Shakespeare. Meanwhile Ronald had spent half of the night trying to sleep. When he had finally fallen asleep, he began to have a terrible nightmare. He whined, squirmed and flinched in his sleep; As well as mumbling words in his sleep as if he was begging someone to stop, followed by a string of apologies. William frowned at the signs of distress and murmurs the lines a little louder, hoping to reach inside of the nightmare. Ronald just curled himself into a ball, letting out a choked sob. He woke up with a start and let the tears flow freely. William brought him into his arms, murmuring soothingly into his ear as he comforts his great grandson, wishing that he could ease the other's pain. Ronald just trembled greatly "I-I'm sorry I-I'm sorry I'm r-really sorry mom." Gripped onto William' shirt, Ronald played with the fabric in his hands.
"Mom? Child, do you know where you are?" William asked questionably to the other. He wasn't quite sure why he was being called mom.
Ronald just shook his head no, trying to hide himself. He tried to hide himself under William's shirt, nuzzling himself very discreetly under the fabric. "Ronald, I am not your mother. I am William T. Spears, your great grandfather. You are no longer a human, but a Shinigami, a reaper. She cannot hurt you any longer." William tucked in his shirt to stop the other and let out a small sigh before holding him close.
Ronald just glanced up at the other curiously before speaking "Yer m' great grandfather?" He sounded as though he didn't want to believe the other but almost had to.
William nodded and let a chuckle escape when Ronald made a surprised face at the other. "But wait, how come I've never met ya while I was alive?" He spoke in his quiet voice but in such a tone that stated that he had shown that William was wrong.
"I died before you were born Ronald, but I kept an eye on my daughter, your grandmother, and her children, and you." He stated to the other, running a hand through his hair.
"Then why did m' mom be mean to me, 'nd who was related to you?" He paused for a moment, his face dropping "It was my dad wasn't it…?"
"Yes it was your dad. I do not know why your mother was so cruel. But she cannot harm you now. She rests in the burning pit now." William growled softly, holding Ronald closer, a protective instinct showing itself.
Ronald just snuggled closer to the other and laid his head on William's chest, listening to the soft heartbeat. William shook his head before gently taking Ronald off of him and heading to the kitchen. Once he was in the kitchen he looked over the various foods before finding some chamomile, lavender, and rosemary. Smiling to himself he set some water to boil, placing the chamomile and lavender I there as it boiled. Next he went about preparing a small platter of crackers, some cheese, meat, and a spread made with rosemary, sage and mint all in a soft cheese. On the way back to the bedroom he walked slowly as not to spill the tea that was on the tray. When he was walking back to the bedroom he heard a soft gasp from the room that Ronald was in that was followed by a whimper. The young reaper had squirmed around on the bed, trying to find a comfortable position to lie in now that William wasn't there to lie on, and had ended up in a very awkward position that had barely numbed the pain. Spots began to cloud his vision and the room started to spin. When William had heard the gasp he went as fast as the tea on the tray would let him. When he got into the room he shook his head softly at the sight of Ronald's position "Ronald do sit up, and I have some food for you. Please try and eat some of it. It has some natural remedies in it to help with the pain, as well as the tea." William put the tray down before sitting on the bed next to Ronald.
Ronald twisted himself around to sit up, responding to the other with a soft whine. His body was trembling from the pain and he started to sway from side to side as the room started spinning rather fast as though he was sitting on the blades of a fan. He shut his eyes tightly, his hands clenched so tightly that his knuckles began to turn white, and he bit his lip so hard it began to bleed. "I don't like this…I want it to stop!" He shouted out quietly. His voice was strained when he tried to talk.
"I know Ronald, I know. Just, please try and eat something. I am trying to help you Ronald." William sighed and lightly brushed his lips over the top of Ronald's hair, wishing more than anything he could take the pain from the younger one. "I seemed to have forgotten something in the kitchen." William stood up and gave the other a hard look, telling him to eat as he moves to get something from the kitchen.
When William had left the room Ronald looked down at the cracker platter and picked up some crackers shakily before shoving them in his mouth. He also shoved some cheese and ham into his mouth. He didn't want to eat but if he must he would do it as quick as he could so it would be over sooner. Ronald forced himself to eat as much as he could so he would make William happy. When said reaper had gotten back from the kitchen he sat down next to the other, smiling softly when he realized that the other had eaten. "Now try and relax. And eat slowly this time; it will help keep you from over eating. You seem to have enough trouble keeping anything down, overeating will help nothing." He leaned over and grabbed a tea cup, holding it over to the other, hoping he would take it.
"I already ate…" Ronald spoke wearily; swallowing whatever was in his mouth and eyed the tea in front of him, shaking his head at it. He didn't want to eat, or even drink. It felt as though there was a dead weight pressing down on his head and the room was growing incredibly hot. It felt as though he was about to lose consciousness but he wasn't about to tell William that. Besides, Ronald thought that he would be able to control himself and keep from passing out. He silently hoped that tomorrow the pain would subside enough so that he could act like he was better, though that didn't seem as though it was going to happen any time soon.
"I see, and that is good, just do take it slow. And sip the tea at least; it will soothe the nausea and the pain." William sipped at his own cup, enjoying the blending of flavors from the two herbs he had put into it. The chamomile is soft, mellow and barely there, blending into the tea leaves he had used. The lavender however, popped, was vibrant, and full of life.
Ronald ignored the tea that William was holding and laid down so his head was resting in Williams lap before closing his eyes. He was slowly slipping out of consciousness though; he did his best to make it look as though he was falling asleep. "I'm just gonna…sleep cus…I don't feel good…goodnight." He stated before slipping out of consciousness at that moment, making look as though he had just fallen asleep though such was not the case.
William sighed and run his hand through Ronald's hair after placing the cup on the bedside table. As Ronald 'slept', William snacked on the cheese, meat, and spread, as well as sipping at the tea. Slowly his own eyes began to close as he drifted off to sleep himself. Five hours had passed before Ronald began to stir in his sleep. His stomach had decided it was going to reject the food that he had eaten earlier, and he began to vomit. Due to the fact that he was lying down, the vomit began to clog his airways and he began to choke. This wouldn't have killed him seeing as it was incredibly hard to die once you were a reaper, but it didn't mean that it wasn't painful. Not much longer William had begun to wake up, feeling the bed shake ever so slightly. He sat up, took a look around before glancing down. "Ronald?" He frowned as he watched the other; it looked as though he was choking. Wait what? William reacted quickly; sitting the other up to let him clear of his throat of whatever was blocking the airways.
Ronald threw up all over himself, gasping for breath before gagging again. The now conscious reaper cupped a hand over his mouth. "I-I'm sorry, I-I'm really sorry-!" He said as he tried to push himself off of the bed but to no avail.
"It's fine." William sighed, and began to rub Ronald's back in hopes of soothing the boy; he patted it lightly as a gesture to tell the boy to stay where he was "Stay, Relax."
"N-No, I'm…I think Ima be sick again…!" He whined an arm around his stomach as he bent forward. Oh how he wished this torture would end already.
"If you are, you are." William continued to rub his back soothingly, not wanting the other to get up and risk upsetting his stomach more. He reached over and offered other some now chamomile tea, wanting to see if he would take in hopes of soothing his stomach.
Ronald tried to grab the tea, and stared down at the cool liquid. He decided to take a small sip, feeling cool the liquid slide down his throat before the bile started to rise up. He handed the cup back to William, leaning forward as much as he could and vomiting once more. Some of the vomit had gone up his nose in a rather painful manor. William sighed, it had been a futile hope to think it would do any good at this point, but still he had tried. All he could do now was stay by his side, comforting him and cleaning him the time finally came that the re-death experience had passed completely. Ronald leaned against William, letting out a sight and reaching towards the tea. He snuggled and made himself rather comfortable, the corners of his mouth twitching into a small smile. The pain was starting to subside slowly, it hadn't subsided by much but it was getting there. William handed him the tea, wiping his off his forehead and cleaning up a little of the vomit still on the corner of his mouth. "Feeling any better?"
Ronald just nodded softly "Kinda…I don't hurt as much but it still hurts." He looked up at William as he was drinking his tea, nearly spilling on himself.
William shook his head slightly at the other "Good and at least the pains fading." He gave a small smile before pouring the other some more tea.
Ronald gave a small nod and snuggled up to the other. He was silent for a couple of seconds before a thought came to his mind. "Mmm, you'd make a great dad…" He blurted out without giving the sentence much thought.
This made a small blush pop up onto William's cheeks "Thank you, I tried to be a good parent when I had children."
This caused Ronald to gasp stupidly "You had children?" He emphasized on the word children; his mind was still a bit foggy from the latest endeavor.
"Yes I did, in-fact it was my daughter's son that fathered you." William smiled sadly at Ronald and ruffled his hair softly.
"Oh…" Ronald's face fell completely, a sad and rather solemn face taking his last expressions place. He was rather upset that he had never really knew his dad, but he had just figured that his mom was mean to his father as well as to him and that's why he left, at least, that's what he hoped.
"What is it Ronald?" William asked. His own smile faded when he had saw Ronald's face drop, he hated to see the other so upset.
"I just, I kinda wish I had my dad, ya know? Or that he at least took him with me…" He face continued to look sadder and sadder, his face began to turn a red color before he hid his face in William's chest suddenly, taking a deep breath.
William sighed and ran a hand through Ronald's hair. "My grandson, your father, was a good man, but he did wrong to you and your mother when he just left. I am truly sorry for that. Know that he did care for you, just never found time to return and take you back with him, but had he the chance he would have done it in a heartbeat."
Ronald just nodded at this and said nothing for a while, snuggling farther into William's chest until he deemed himself calm enough to speak. "Mom was mean, and he was never there to help save me…I don't know ever know if he would save me, maybe just maybe, I hope that he would save me, occasionally mom's few boyfriends would help me, the others would just help her, but I always like to think that he would have saved me, ya know? That one day he would appear and take me away, take me away from that hellhole that was called home…" Ronald sighed and went silent once again, taking deep breaths to calm himself down.
"I know, that had been a short falling of his, but everyone has them. Your mother needed more help than she got, and that is a short falling. You cannot judge people harshly for those." William stated to the other, hoping it might have eased some anger he had towards his parents.
"I do have a right to be mad at her, she hurt me, and she did it on purpose." Ronald growled the mere thought of his mom and the beatings that he got from her easily set off his temper.
"Yes, but still Ronald, we must have a clear head when judging the souls, and if we cannot forgive those who wronged us in our past life, how can we make unbiased decisions?" William stated coolly to the other reaper.
Ronald just made a small 'humph' noise and moved himself so his face was now hidden in William's lap instead of his chest. "I still think she is mean, and I will continue to think she is mean no matter what you say." Ronald was a stubborn child, no matter how much you tried to justify his mom's actions he flat our refused to forgive her for all that she had done.
"She was, and it is hard to forgive such things. But they must be forgiven, but that is also why I refuse to give you assignments of abusers, I know that you wouldn't be able to handle it without making a biased decision." William sighed and shook his head softly.
Ronald sneered and sprawled his body out on the bed. "I wonder if she's sorry…I wonder if she's mad at me. I wouldn't be surprised if she was though, I cleaned out all of her booze." He let out a low chuckle, sounding a bit proud of himself for what he did.
"And that would be why you died." William pointed out to the other when he had stated he cleaned out all of his moms booze. "She is dead now, and as I have said before, in the pits of hell, burning."
Laughing coldly Ronald made a face, thinking back to the pain he had experienced when he had first died and the pain that he had felt not too long ago. "Oh gosh, as if dying wasn't bad the first time."
William sighed at the other and leaned back. "I can only imagine, now try and get some rest will you?" He raised his eyebrows at the other. He really did want the other to relax; he had been through a lot and needed the rest.
The younger reaper stuck his tongue out at the other and snuggled up close to William, closing his eyes and trying to fall asleep. It had taken him two hours to fall asleep but considering how long it had taken before, it was defiantly quicker and possibly a sign to show that he was in fact recovering. As Ronald had slept, William rubbed his back gently. Not much longer after Ronald had fallen asleep the accursed phone had started to go off. William growled softly at this before getting up. He turned around to tuck Ronald in before going to answer the phone. The sound of the phone going off had woken up the two toned reaper, and he lifted up his head to see what the source of the noise was. He tried his best to make it look like he was still sleeping in case William had looked over at him; he didn't want anyone to get beaten up by William for waking him up. "Yes?" William asked the other person on the line, a growl was evident in his voice. He mentally thought to himself that if anyone had woken William up, they were dead.
"Umm, boss, it's me Slingby. I just wanted to know if Ronald was doing any better now?" Eric said over the line, going a tad pale back at the office, hearing the clear displeasure if William's voice.
"Yes he is. I had just gotten him to sleep when you called. You best hope for your sake that phone ringing didn't wake him. Goodbye." William stated curtly before hanging up before Eric even had the chance to reply and then sighed, heading back to the bedroom.
Ronald had been listening to the conversation the entire time, straining to hear what they were saying. When he heard William walking back he quickly acted like he was asleep. He could have passed for being asleep except for the fact that he couldn't quit smiling at the fact that he was trying to trick William into thinking he was asleep. No matter how much he tried, he continued to have a large grin on his face. Wiggling himself under the blankets quickly, he hoped that William hadn't seen him because he had shut his eyes and pretended to be asleep. William glanced over at Ronald, at first thinking that he had been asleep. He sat down beside Ronald once more and his hand started to rub his back again. The shift in the bed had caused the blankets to pull back ever so slightly and William had noticed the grin that Ronald was sporting, and growled softly at the fact that Eric had woken up Ronald who desperately needed rest. "Open your eyes Ronald, I know for a fact that you are indeed awake, there is no use in trying to trick me."
The younger lifted up his head and giggled softly, and rather sheepishly as well "hehe- hey boss" he continued to giggle, starting to have a giggle fit. Even though William was looking at home so seriously he couldn't stop giggling and the fact that William was looking at him wasn't helping at all, actually it was making him giggle even more.
William rolled his eyes at the other and leaned back, plotting how to best kill Eric for waking Ronald up. That and how he was going to keep an eye on Ronald in the future. After this incident he felt that is was necessary to watch after him lest anything more happen to the poor reaper. "What did tha person on tha phone hafta say?" Ronald was curious as to who it was and what they were calling about, though he figured he would be able to find that much out when William beat them up for waking himself up.
"Nothing of importance." William growled, still quite angry that Eric had woken up Ronald, making a mental note to give Eric a rather harsh beating too.
In that moment, Ronald sat up and grasped Williams face, squishing it softly "Oh cheer up mister grumpy pants, it's not that bad."
William just sighed once more and adjusted his glasses, glancing outside to see that is was still night outside, he pulled down the covered and slid beneath them. "I'm going to attempt to sleep now, if that is alright."
Ronald just nodded and snuggled up next to him, a small smile on his face as the two slept together. The illness was over but that was the least of their problems it would seem like.