Author's Note: Welcome!

This story contains an original character and a context based largely on previous stories of mine, which the narrative here will assume you've read.

For where Auden comes from and what she's all about, please see Let the Living Creature Lie.

For the start to Grelle and Sebastian's rather unlikely pairing, please see Prelude.

If you don't give a damn about reading things in order, then go ahead and start right here, you rebel you.

Auden had never been so nervous for an exam in her entire existence. Looking back on her life as a human it almost seemed stupid now to have been worried about maths and geography and spelling tests. Stupid to worry about grades at all. None of it had any real value, especially since she'd taken her own life and become what she was. Tests, grades, other people's opinions, when you were immortal, what did it matter? But this test—this test would decide whether or not she would graduate as a reaper. This test would determine her fate as a Shinigami.

She was standing in the waiting room for the Management Division's offices with Sebastian and Grelle, one of thirty or so other Shinigami who were there to take their tests. She swallowed, looking at them. Most were older than she was, already having reached the average mid-twenties look to every grim reaper. A couple were young, like she was, there with mentors. Like she was.

The past nine months living with Sebastian and Grelle had been spent in avid preparation for today. Hell, she'd been doing the job for those nine months just fine. What did Dispatch need to test her for? Her palms were sweaty and nervous around the handle of her large, wooden training Scythe. She jumped when Grelle put a hand on her shoulder.

"You'll be fabulous," she said.

Auden wasn't so sure about that. Her training glasses slipped a little on her nose and she pushed them up. Grelle just smiled.

"Don't let William intimidate you," she added. "He's really a softie at heart."

"Yes, and underneath that heart is another layer that's composed entirely of ice and stone," Sebastian grumbled.

Grelle whacked him, putting on an even bigger plastered smile for Auden.

"He's just joking, darling."

William was only Auden's manager because William was Grelle's manager, and given what little regard William had for Grelle, Auden had been on the receiving end of his irritation more times than she could remember. That had her more nervous than anything. What if he decided not to pass her because of his feelings toward Grelle?

At the other end of the room, a door opened and a Shinigami emerged, calling them all to enter and begin the written portion of the exam. Auden swallowed. This was it. Part one.

Grelle had to give her a little push to get her legs moving.

"Good luck," she said.

Auden nodded, starting forward and falling into place with the others under examination. She'd need all the luck she could get.

If that little tosser didn't pass, Grelle was going to murder her. She wasn't worried, really, just that Auden was a smart ass, and, at this point in the process, give a reaper any reason to fail you and they would. As long as Auden kept her mouth shut, she'd be fine. Grelle waved goodbye as she disappeared through the doors with the others.

"Do you think she studied enough?" Sebastian asked, looking down at Grelle as she moved to take a seat on one of the benches.

"Yes, I think the one million and one practice quizzes you gave her were plenty," she replied, laughing when he frowned at her.

The final test had changed fifty times at least since Grelle's inception as a reaper. No more doubles, no more field exam. At one point, newbies had had to spend a week in the backwoods of Bulgaria trying to fend off demons coming in from the mountains, but that went about as well as it sounded like it would. Now it was just a written exam, an interview, and a collection of data from a chip inside the training Scythe. That and whether or not your Manager was in a good mood.

"She's a smart girl, don't you worry."

"I'm not worried," Sebastian replied, bristling like it had been an accusation. Grelle smiled. He and Auden really had bonded, though Sebastian would never admit it.

"That's not an insult, love."

Muttering something under his breath, Sebastian took a seat beside her and leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. Grelle brushed her fingers across his shoulders and he bristled again, but soon relaxed, letting her continue the motion. Grelle glanced up, at the other mentors who were waiting for their mentees like she was. They always gave Sebastian a wide berth when he came to Dispatch, and today was no exception. The reapers had gathered in one corner, exchanging looks and whispered comments, but Grelle would have been lying if she'd said she didn't secretly enjoy it. Everybody knew who they were—the red reaper Grelle and her scary demon consort. She was like a celebrity.

"What happens if she doesn't pass?"

Sebastian glanced back at Grelle, the slightest nervous pucker showing between his eyebrows. Grelle smiled.

"She'll pass."

"And when she does?"

Grelle looked away. It was anybody's guess after that. If Auden was accepted as a member of the Retrieval Division, she'd enter as a Shinigami in her own right—not some lost little puppy who was leashed to Grelle's side. If she passed, she'd become part of the system, be assigned an official partner and her own souls to collect. If she was completely honest with herself, Grelle had been dreading this day for some time. This could very well mean goodbye.

"Will she stay with us?" Sebastian asked, seeming to have sensed her thoughts.

Grelle shook her head. "I don't know."

As soon as she finished her written exam, Auden was ushered into an empty room and told to sit in one of the two empty chairs, so she did, but she'd been sitting for a while now and had to keep wiping the sweat from her palms on the legs of her pants. Where was William? What was taking so long? He could be there any second, but he wasn't. Auden didn't know what to do. Was she supposed to do anything? She felt pretty confident she'd passed the written portion. Didn't she? Oh god, what if they failed her?

The door opened.

Auden's heart jumpstarted and she looked back over her shoulder with a jolt at William who had his back to her as he was closing the door. Turning around, he just stood there for a very long moment, eyeing her down the length of his nose.

He didn't say anything.

Coming forward, William opened a file, slipped the papers out and clipped them to a clipboard. He sat. He was silent. His eyes flicked, flicked, flicked over the papers on his clipboard. He didn't say anything. Auden could hear her heartbeat in her ears and jumped when William finally looked up.

"Please state your name for the record."

"A-Auden Lord."

"Thank you."

He went back to the paperwork, made a few notes. Oh god how could she have made a mistake already. That was her name, wasn't it? Auden Lord? She resisted the urge to scowl at herself. Of course that was her name, stop being so stupid.

"I won't waste time with unnecessary chatter," William said, sitting up and prompting Auden to do the same even though she was about as straight-backed as she could be. "Given the data from your training Scythe and your score on the written exam, I've decided to put you through."

Auden nearly fell out of her seat.

"Your trainer states that you're good with a staff weapon, but that the reach of the scythe blade is awkward for you. Would you agree?" He looked up matter-of-factly and Auden shifted under the weight of his eyes.

"Yes," she answered, not knowing whether she should be ashamed of that or not.

"Based on a comprehensive evaluation and several staff recommendations, Administration has decided to issue you a hula hoe."

"A hula what?"

"Hula hoe. Good. If you'll follow me?"

He got up and Auden started, scrambling out of her seat, though she hesitated and mostly just succeeded in looking particularly awkward. He'd actually passed her. William gave her this look like he had so many better things to do than deal with her. It made her frown. Wasn't dealing with her his job? Was that why he'd passed her so quickly?

Regardless, William headed out of the room and Auden followed close behind him, unable to decide how close was too close. She didn't want to lag behind, since he'd probably get touchy about that, but if she got inside his bubble, she didn't imagine that being very pretty either. As she hovered somewhere in the middle, he led her down the hall to Administration, and through the doors there into a large white room lined with Death Scythes.

"Stand there," he said, and pointed at a strip of black tape in the middle of the floor.

Auden obeyed, folding her hands together and looking around, eyes wide. The walls were covered floor to ceiling in all kinds of what she guessed would probably be classified as "staff weapons". Tall ones, short ones, shovels and rakes. Pointy things that looked like elongated spades which she couldn't have put a name to if she tried. William went to a section of hula hoes, apparently, and looked for one in particular.

"Yes. Here. Seven-oh-six-oh-four."

He grabbed one of the Scythes and brought it over to her. A long staff of black wood with a flattened loop of metal in the shape of a trapezoid poking off the top. The silvery surface of the metal glinted off the fluorescent light as William held it out.

"This one is yours."

Swallowing, Auden took it from him. She shifted a little when he let go officially and it fell into her hands, but was surprised to find that, in spite of its size, the Death Scythe felt light. She gripped the shaft. It felt good.

"A match, yes?"

Auden nodded. Was this how Grelle felt about her chainsaw, because she totally got it now. Five seconds ago she didn't even know this thing was called a hula hoe, now she didn't want to part with it.

William stepped back. "Try it out."

She'd practiced a lot with the wooden Scythe she'd been issued, so she knew how to swing a staff. She adjusted her grip a little to account for the extra length, took a stance, and made a swipe. The hoe followed her effortlessly. Grelle was right—the shape of the scythe blade really had slowed her down, but now that she was free from it, she found herself picking up speed, moving faster, swifter, flowing through swings and stances like a breeze. It made her giddy. She even giggled a little when William held up his hand to stop her.

"Looks like a good fit. Three weeks from now, you can put in a request for modifications, including lengthening or shortening of the blade, adjustments to the shaft. Anything that will make it a more effective weapon for you. Three months from now you can file a request for changes to its aesthetic appearance."

She didn't care. It could have been hot pink with zebra stripes and she would have loved it all the same. She nodded vigorously, holding the staff close to her body. She couldn't wait to show it to Grelle.

"Go to the front desk and check it out," William said, walking to the door and holding it open for Auden to scurry through. "When you remove it or return it from here on, you'll always do so through the Administration desk. Understood?"

"Yes, absolutely. Yes."

He gestured toward the desk and she dashed over, ready to fill out the paperwork.

"Where is she?" Sebastian asked, frowning for the thousandth time at Grelle as he glanced from the wall clock to her face. It had been several hours. "She'd be back by now if she didn't make it through, right?"

Auden burst through the doors exactly then, carrying her new Death Scythe close and absolutely beaming. She lit up the room, looking around for Grelle and Sebastian and coming running when she found them, shouting, "I passed! I passed!" and very nearly jumping in the air.

They'd stood up to meet her and as Auden wriggled excitedly in front of Grelle, she couldn't help the smile that took over her face. She'd never seen Auden like this.

"Look, look!" she gushed and held the Scythe out. "It's wonderful. It's perfect. I love it."

Grelle laughed. "I can see that."

"Oh, and look." Her expression turned smug, though it was playful, and she flipped a piece of paper out as well. "You and I are still partners."

What? Grelle snatched the paper out of her hands and scanned it rapidly. It was…it was genuine. She looked at Auden. Her heart beat fast.

"They gave you to me?"

"Yeah, isn't it great?"

It was wonderful, it was perfect, she loved it. Biting back tears, Grelle snatched Auden up into a ferocious hug and held on for dear life. She wouldn't have to say goodbye to her darling. Auden wasn't going anywhere. Grelle couldn't help it—a few of the tears trickled over.

"You're crushing me, you big baby," Auden said on a muffled laugh and so Grelle was forced to let go. She held her at arm's length, though, and just looked at her for a moment. Auden looked back and laughed.

"Stop crying," she said. "You'll make me start."

Grelle sniffed. "I'm sorry, I'm just happy."

Auden nodded, and smiled, looking at her feet. "Me too."

Grelle looked up at Sebastian and beamed. He took her and Auden under either of his arms, pulling them in.

"Look at my girls."

He gave Auden a kiss on the top of her head before glancing over at Grelle and her stupid smiling face and kissing her as well. She couldn't have been more pleased. She kissed him back, happy and relieved all at once.

"Stop it, you two. This is supposed to be my moment."

Auden flapped a hand in their faces and Grelle started laughing and Sebastian caught it and had to pull away and in a second Auden was laughing as well and then the three of them were standing in Dispatch laughing like a bunch of idiots until tears ran down their faces.

Once they'd settled down, Auden looked up expectantly at Grelle.

"I get my glasses now, right?"

Grelle put her arm around Auden's shoulders and started out of the room. "Let's go see Pops."