Name: The Endless Labourer
Sypnosis: The three servants at the Phantomhive Manour try to carry on work as usual when Sebastian and Ciel are away on a trip, but soon they learn they'll have an important job to do after all.
Rating: M for sexual conduct, swearing, and violence
Style- Drama/Yaoi
Please enjoy, and R&R~ Reviews are like candy for me, I can't get enough!

xxxxx

Bardroy was not prepared for the intense pain he would feel upon waking. It felt as if someone had hit his head, cut it open, and let it drain, all at the same time. He sat up immediately, regretting it once another wave of dizziness hit him. He reached into one of his pockets, fingers groping deperately for a fag. His searching digits finally found what he was looking for, and he pulled a lighter out from beside his pillow twice as fast. Just as he got ready to light it, he felt a hand close around his sleeve and a quiet voice break the silence:

"Uhm...could you...um..." It was Finny, he seemed tired and flustered "Could you please do that outside?"

The light on Baldroy's lighter went out immediately. He had forgotten the effects his smoking habit had on young Finny, every time he lit a fag Finny would cough and cough until tears sprang to his eyes and rolled down his cheeks that had flushed a rosy red colour. "Of course..." he looked down at Finny, who must have had another nightmare. The young boy had frequent night terrors and would curl up next to Bardroy for comfort.

Walking outside, Bardroy shivered in the cold air. In the winter, it was always unbearably cold outside. Bardroy realized that was not the main issue right now, he sat down on a bench and opened his lighter back up, wanting to take a smoke. The momement the burning stick touched his lips, however, he threw it to the ground and stomped it out. It tasted different, disgusting and dizzying like the beginning of his morning. He put his head in his hands What's wrong with me...I feel as if I lost something important to me. He pulled out his gloves and heavy jacket and put them on, they didn't help his feel warm and he suspected he looked ridiculous. He was about to take it all off when he inhaled through his nose and smelled the delicious aroma of breakfast from the mansion. He briefly wondered who could possibly be making breakfast, Sebastian and Ciel would be gone on one of their trips, and he soon forgot to care. He rushed into the house and noticed Finny and Mey-Rin also walking to the kitchen like tired, starving zombies.

Bardroy smiled in delight when he saw the cook who had served food at the table "Agni! It's been a while!"

Agni glanced at him and smiled "Good morning"

"Agni and I came here to see Ciel!" Soma said, looking up from his breakfast with a grin "But we noticed there were some other guests here and you weren't awake, so Agni made breakfast~" after stating this, Soma continued eating. Bardroy allowed himself to look across the table and see the other two guests. There was a young man, smartly dressed with rectangular glasses and an annoyed expression. Bardroy's heart sunk when he saw the other guest, the feminine man with long brown hair and a constantly guilty expression on his face.

Bardroy sighed "It's been an even longer while, Grell."

"Oh, um, yes. It has, hasn't it? I haven't had much reason to visit since the Madame died..." Grell gasped for no apparent reason and continued to take small bites of his food. The man sitting next to him seemed to be attempting to hide an incredulous look on his face.

"Mmm, yeah. Shame, that was." Bardroy sat down at the table "So, who's the other guy and why are you two here?"

The man spoke "My name is William T. Spears, and our reasons for being here are classified!" He said, almost too enthusiastically.

"We saw some shady characters walking around, and we wanted to make sure everything was fine." Grell said in between bites, recieving a dirty look from William.

Bardroy wondered if these two worked together, or maybe they were just plain together. Bardroy had always had the slightest of suspicions that the young Grell was gay. He shook his head, taking a bite of his food. It must have tasted good, but all it did was make Bardroy feel sick. Frowning in dissapointment, he looked at his breakfast companions. Soma wasn't hesitant at all, he ate as if he had been starving for weeks. William ate small bites at a time, legs crossed and eyes closed. Grell picked at his food more than he ate, and he kept looking around the table with the same terrified gleam in his eyes. Mey-Rin was the most normal, eating the food with a smile n her face and thanking Agni every few seconds. Finny made a "mmmm" sound with every bite, relishing the meal as if it would be the last one he ever ate. Tanaka was drinking his tea, not even touching the food.

Bardroy tried to focus on Mey-Rin, she was, after all, the only girl that ever seemed to stay in the mansion long enough for Bardroy to get to know her. She was pretty, cute, funny, and extremely fun when drunk, but Bardroy couldn't bring himself to like her. She was like a younger sister to him, he always wanted to pat her on the head whenever she did anything clumsy. But there was nothing more than that between them, and Bardroy knew it.

Thinking of Mey-Rin brought back memories of the old days. More specifically, he remembered meeting Finny. For months, he had thought the gardener was a girl, Finny was incredibly young back then and loved wearing colourful ribbons on his hat. One day, however, he walked in on Finny changing into work clothes and learned he was male, albeit after a lot of embarassed confusion on Bardroy's part.

Finny was like Mey-Rin, too. Bardroy felt a similar pulse of affection for him. Nothing more.

After all, Finny was a male, so Bardroy couldn't possibly like him. Right?

William ate his food slowly, as if with purpose. Millions of thoughts roared through his mind, each one about his current situation. He had been tracking a certain dangerous demon for a long, long time, and was finally able to track its whereabouts to this estate. It hadn't been here long, Wiliam was sure of that, and it wasn't contracted like Sebastian was. An uncontracted demon is a dangerous demon William thought, At least contracted ones are kept on a leash.

William glanced to his right, pushing up his glasses to better see the Reaper beside him. He was surprised, quite pleasantly, when Grell insisted on taking on his disguised form. Perhaps he liked to practice acting, William did not care. William had the sneaking suspicion Grell
liked to disguise not only to practice, but to annoy William. William had failed that portion of reaper training miserably, while Grell had passed with flying colours. William simply could not alter his appearance or attitude beyond recognition. But...the shy way Grell approached matters, the timid attempt at every motion he undertook, it was all so different from the red-haired, flaming Shinigami William knew so very well.

Grell looked up at William as if responding to his thoughts, his round glasses from his training days slipping down the bridge of his nose. His lips were pursed in a confused manner, and William had to force himself to look away.

That form drove William crazy in more ways than one. Long brown hair, clumsy attitude, eyes begging for attention, those were all things that William absolutely loved. It was too much, he couldn't even begin to understand how that just happened to be the form Grell had chosen.

In order to keep these thoughts away, William spoke, knowing he was probably inturrupting that one Soma boy "We will need to stay here for a while, the 'shady' character Grell discribed is suspected to be a dangerous criminal. It is our job to ensure the safety of this mansion and all who live on or near it."

The Soma boy spoke up "Well, we have a regular fighting force over here! First Agni, now you guys! All we need is Sebastian-"

"No we don't." William was quick to interrupt "He'd only get in the way."

Everyone turned their heads to look at William, confused. The servant girl spoke up "Oh, my my! Do you know him? You seem like you don't like him, no you don't! Do tell, yes?"

William didn't bother replying, he shot Grell a glare to make sure he didn't, either "Just carry on your duties as usual. Is there anywhere we can stay?"

The servant girl spoke again "Well, since we have so many guests, you two would have to share a bed-"

William paused Oh no. Not with Grell, I'm not. No way in hell. "Is there any other way?"

"Well, not really. I mean, it would have to be two people to a bed, and my bed is the only other one that's-"

"I'll take that one." William said simply, figuring this maid would be less likely to rape him. He heard an aggravated cry from beside him, the cry of an actor trying desperately to remain in character while getting a point across:

"M-Mister William! That is not something you demand of a lady!" Outrage shone on Grell's face, while a surprised expression followed by a blush appeared on the face of the servant girl.

"Why not?"

"It's rude!" Grell exclaimed, tightening his hair bow "And do you really hate me that much...?" he put his finger to his lips, eyes round and sad-looking. William growled, looking away

"You're sleeping on the couch, Grell."

Grell didn't say another word, dangerously close to breaking character. A sigh escaped William Oh, this mission will be fun, I'm sure...

William watched one of the servants leave the table. It was a middle-aged man, looking sick and uncomfortable as he left the table. He spoke "Thank you for the food, please excuse me."

Now now, you weren't expecting hentai so early on, were you? Ehe~ Nope, this'll have quite a story to it, you know. Please read and review to say what you think, I love listening to reader input!