I finally decided to post this story (since I meant to months ago). I hope to keep the characters IC as much as possible. It is rated T for the time being, so, here's chapter one.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Kuroshitsuji (Black Butler).

One's work is never done.

Trust the human world to come up with a saying that applied to the shinigami realm as well. There was always work to be done, whether the one doing it wanted to or not.

It especially applied to one individual in particular, who was still working while others had gone home for the day. That meant that the shinigami dispatch headquarters was more or less silent, allowing the lone worker to focus on the paperwork. Not that William T. Spears minded the silence. In fact, he rather appreciated the added quiet. It allowed him to finish his paperwork in a more timely fashion.

Although no one would know it, William was silently pleased with the progress he had been making. It made William realize that it was a rare occurrence for him to finish early, let alone get caught up. Normally the dark-haired Death God would have to deal with any problems that happened to crop up. That, in turn, meant it would take him a long time to complete anything, as there were usually stacks upon stacks of paperwork to get through. It made William feel as though he would never caught up with his work. Admittedly, most of the paperwork was courtesy of a certain red-head, who apparently couldn't be bothered to stay out of trouble.

William paused in his work, frowning ever so slightly, pen hovering over a piece of paper before him. Speaking of Grell Sutcliff…he had not seen or heard from the other shinigami for at least two weeks…

The dark-haired man sighed. No wonder his office had been so quiet. He had sent Grell on an information and soul-gathering mission that the other had not been too thrilled about. William sighed again and set his pen down, both hands moving up to massage his temples. He recalled the conversation he had had with Grell that day. The red-head had come into his office, complaining about one thing or another. In short, Grell had been making a nuisance of himself and preventing William from making any progress.

Two weeks earlier…

William set aside another document that he had completed, and went onto the next one. He more or less ignored the sound of his office door being flung open rather roughly. He was almost certain who it would be, and decided to keep working. William was proven correct in his assumption when he heard the click of heels on his floor as the uninvited guest spoke up irritably.

"Will! Why have you been avoiding me?"

William, in response, said nothing. He opened the document and began to peruse the first page. A petition to put a new regulation in place? William turned the page, frowning down at the details. Were they seriously asking for this under thought idea to be approved? How had it even made its way to him with all these flaws?

Grell pouted unhappily at being blatantly ignored by the man at the desk, but then began to smile mischievously. If that was how the other wanted to play...

William heard a light exhale from the other, which was not unexpected. He hoped that if he ignored Grell long enough, the troublemaker would leave. What William hadn't expected was for Grell to have to gall to pull the document before him to one side and sprawl his upper body onto the desk. William attempted to ignore the saddened eyes Grell was looking up at him with. He wouldn't cave in; he had work to do…although even William couldn't ignore the red-head all but laying on his desk. It interfered with his concentration.

"Grell Sutcliff…remove yourself from my desk…I have work to do, and most of it is from your incompetence."

Grell, in response, pouted more noticeably at him, green eyes gazing imploringly at the dark-haired shinigami from above the glasses perched on his nose.

William was not impressed by this display. Adjusting his glasses, he spoke in a cool voice, "If you do not move, I will remove you myself, with my deathscythe," Said weapon appeared in William's hand, tilted in Grell's direction warningly.

Grell smiled lightly, pointed teeth showing, as he placed a finger on the weapon hovering dangerously close, "Will~ can I have my deathscythe back? I can do my job more easily." Grell used his other hand to finger the document William had in front of him, "You'll have less work to do."

"…No," William replied shortly, as he moved the document safely out of Grell's reach. William wouldn't be able to get anything done like this, not with Grell in his way (whose red hair had cascaded onto the desk, half covering and shifting the paperwork). William's eyebrow twitched.

Grell seemed to sense a change in William, like how the other seemed to be trying to figure out the best way to get him to leave. Grell frowned unhappily. He didn't want to have to leave so soon. Grell tilted his head slightly, offering another small smile up at William, "Please Will? I'll be good. Promise~." Grell attempted to smile in what thought was a sweet way, as he lounged further forward on the desk, one of his hands reaching out to wrap fingers around the tie William wore.

With one swift motion, William thwacked Grell over the head with his deathscythe, but he only managed to succeed in getting Grell to become indignant.

"Don't hit me like that! It's no way to treat a lady!" Grell informed William huffily, as he reluctantly let go of the tie.

William adjusted his glasses again, hands moving to his tie automatically to realign it. At least the annoying red-head had slid off his desk. That was a start. William glanced briefly at Grell, who was now standing in front of his desk, hands on his hips and wearing a look somewhere between hurt and…interest? William sighed lightly. He really didn't need to be dealing with this right now. He was already falling behind in his work, and if this conversation went on much longer, he would take an even longer time to finish. Trust Grell to pick an inconvenient time to pester him.

"Will~iam."

William silenced Grell with a glare before the other could try to say more, no doubt another attempt to get his deathscythe back. Or worse…some of that insufferable flirting, which irritated him to no end. At least the red-head playing with his tie had been tamer than how he usually tried to flirt. William cleared his throat and spoke, "Seeing as you obviously have nothing to do, I have a task for you. It should be simple enough for you to do, even without your modified scythe."

Grell had been listening with some interest, but upon hearing William talk of another (boring) job, he had lost interest quickly. Without his deathscythe that Will had confiscated from him, he had been getting nothing but information gathering jobs, or being told to gather some troublesome souls that the other Death Gods didn't want to bother with.

Not interested.

Grell began to take discreet steps backwards toward the door. Since William was talking without looking at him, he should be able to get out without the other noticing...Grell let out a cry of surprise as William's deathscythe suddenly shot towards him and pinned him against the wall next to the door, "H…Hey!"

"Did I say you could leave?" William questioned, fixing Grell with a hard stare. The red-head abruptly fell silent, shifting uncomfortably, any argument or inappropriate comment he may have made dying in his throat.

Grell held perfectly still, mostly due to the fact that the deathscythe was now resting against his throat, too close for comfort. Grell shifted nervously. The deathscythe was too close to his face, threatening to cut into his pale skin. "W…Will?" He wondered aloud softly.

William recalled the scythe, and as it went back to its regular size, he withheld a sigh. Really…why did he have to put up with Grell? William looked across the room at said shinigami, who currently had one hand to his throat, checking to see if the deathscythe had actually cut into his skin. Which it hadn't. William had made sure of that. He hadn't injured the other, because one, that would be against the rules (though there were some exceptions), and two, he knew he would never hear the end of it from Grell.

Pretending as though nothing had occurred, William spoke again, "As I was saying…"

Grell let his hand drop from his throat and groaned inwardly. He didn't think that William would have actually hurt him with the deathscythe…but still. Grell attempted to pay attention to what the other was saying, even though he really disliked these kinds of missions…he would try and complete them though. If only to see if William would ever praise him, and not just tell him how he could have completed it in a more timely fashion.

"There are no current leads in the disappearances, but you should be able to…"

Grell was more or less listening, even though it sounded like another mission that would take him a long time to complete. Why did he get stuck with these horrible missions?

"…Discretion would be best and...are you listening to me?" William questioned irritably, when he realized that Grell seemed to be distracted, again.

Grell jumped slightly upon William's sudden focus on him and said the first thing that came to mind, "Yes?"

William gave Grell a disapproving look, but continued nonetheless as he now had the other's full attention, "This mission will take you near the Phantomhive mansion…" William ignored the pleased, toothy smile Grell suddenly wore, "You are not to go there. I want this completed to the point that I do not need to fill out any unnecessary paperwork because of you or that demon. Understood?"

Grell, still smiling widely, waved one hand lazily at William as he turned to leave the office, "Yes, yes. Understood~."

The door shut soon after, and William couldn't help but think that this did not bode well. He could only hope that Grell would listen to him, and not go running off after that demon...

Back to the present.

The dark-hared shinigami shook his head. Either Grell was actually doing what he was supposed to do but taking a long time to finish with locating the souls…or he had become distracted by that demon. William stared at his desk in silence. He would finish his work here, and give Grell another day or so to report in. If he hadn't heard from him by then, William would have to go and check on Grell to see whether he were on task or not. If he wasn't…

William frowned down at one of his remaining documents. It would mean extra paperwork and overtime for him.

Joy.

This was originally going to be a one-shot, but in Sept./Nov., I decided to make it a chapter story (it's about halfway written, so I have an idea of where the story is headed). It's kind of a Grell/ William and Grell/ Sebastian, with hints of Grell / Undertaker, although it's only in Grell's mind for now. It may focus on one later on in the story, but that's still up in the air at the moment.

Let me know what you think and let me know if there are any errors-I beta chapters myself. I'm basing this story off of both the manga and the anime.

Hope to get the next chapter up soon.