Disclaimer: I have set this during the OVA, and therefore the beginning heavily relies on quotes from the OVA. I do not own the quotes, or any part of Kuroshitsuji at all.
A/N : A word of warning: this fic is set during and after the season 2 OVA The Tale Of William The Shinigami. It's not necessary to have seen it, but if you haven't (what are you doing here, go watch it!) then just go with it for the first part. It'll be a little different because it's set when they're young, on the day of their final exam.
"So annoying."
William T. Spears fell to the ground, struggling to regain the breath he'd lost. He shook his head clear of Thomas Wallis' memories, and attempted to ignore the red haired man stood with his death scythe casually over one shoulder. However, it was a task that was near impossible.
"Got me hot and burning but then you fool around with him."
William rolled his eyes, and watched as a blurry form of Grell Sutcliff kneeled before him, pushing William's glasses back on his face gently and grinning. Grell stood, looking over the edge of the rooftop.
"Don't hit on my man, you man stealer!"
Breathing a sigh of annoyance, William too got to his feet. Grell brandished his scythe angrily at the man below who seemed too preoccupied by bleeding out onto the pavement to notice. A smirk momentarily lingered on William's face before disappearing, replaced by indifference. Another job half done. The cinematic records spilled from Thomas Wallis, swirling in the air like ribbons.
"Who says I'm your man?" he raised an eyebrow at Grell, who mumbled something about grades and jumped off the building to finish the job. William followed, and between them sorted out the man's life, reaping his soul.
The streets of London quietened, the crowd that had had gathered to hear the man's last words dissipated, and Grell and William retreated to the rooftop.
"Such a cold man. Handsome." Grell teased, blushing as red as his hair –although William was sure it was on purpose- and fluttering his eyelashes. William snorted. Grell continued, "Now, about the repayment..."
"Repayment? For what?" Confusion marred William's features.
"Oh Will-chan, I saved your life, don't you remember? Surely that's worth a drink from my man."
"No. And for the last time, who said I'm your man?" William turned away, and started walking in the vague direction of dispatch. A loud thunk and a burst of pain told him that something heavy had just landed on the centre of his head. He stopped, and picked up the death scythe that had landed on the floor with a clatter. Spinning on one heel, he held it up to Grell with one raised eyebrow, examining the red man's face. Grell pouted. William threw the death scythe back. Unfortunately, Grell caught it.
"One drink." He clasped his hands together and held them to his face, begging and fluttering his eyebrows. William sighed.
"No." William turned again, only to find himself face to face with Grell.
"I may be late to our meeting with the examiners... which would surely result in a lower mark... Maybe even a fail for both of us. Oh, no, wait, I have triple A's, I'll be fine." Grell smiled. "Or, you could buy me a drink." His black eyelashes fluttered once again. William cursed him inwardly. His B average wouldn't stand a mistake in the final exam. Grell was certainly more cunning than he looked.
"You turn up on time, and I'll think about it." He rolled his eyes.
"As such, you're now qualified shinigamis."
William breathed a sigh of relief. That was it, all done. No mess ups from Grell, and they were in the clear. They said their thank you's and left. Walking toward the glasses department, Grell turned to William with his hands clasped under his chin, eyelashes going ten to the dozen.
"Will-chan..."
"One drink. To celebrate." He grimaced.
The place Grell chose wasn't nearly as quiet or sophisticated as William would have liked. It was loud and noisy, and there was a variety of drinks on the menu that were way too bright for his taste. One of which Grell ordered, of course. The lighting was terrible for reading, but brilliant for being in the company of the exuberant shinigami, because his face was clad in darkness most of the time. Currently he was trying to persuade William to dance on the white, sparkling, dance floor on the center of the room.
"For the last time, Sutcliff, I do not dance."
"But Will-chan, it's fun!"
"No."
"Oh, the cold hearted man pushes away his one true love for fear of his feelings! The thought of him doing this to protect me is so exciting! It only makes me want him more! It's alright, I understand Will!" Grell left his seat and shuffled over to the dance floor.
William held his near-empty glass to his left temple. He could feel a migraine coming on. He idly picked a loose thread from the sleeve of his suit jacket, and thought of a world where he'd been paired with someone sensible for the exam. Someone who would have thanked him with a curt nod, and said no more. And certainly not dragged him to some idiotic club. Especially one where he was sure he saw a demon sitting in the corner. Ugh. He rested his elbow on the table, and pressed the glass harder to his forehead. Would this day never end? Wincing, he noticed that Grell was walking back towards the table.
"Will-chan! William! Come and dance! I'll make it worth your while..." He whined.
"Sutcliff, when will you get this into your thick head! I. Do. Not. Dance."
"Well then have some more drinks, then I'm sure you'll be more than happy to." The redhead grinned a pointy smile.
"Neither do I get drunk." He raised one eyebrow. This idiotic man had managed to pass the exam? And get higher marks than him? Incomprehensible. He used his thumb and little finger to push his glasses higher on his nose before draining what was left of his drink. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some preperations to make for tomorrow." He placed his glass on the table, and stood up to leave. Grell clung to his arm.
"But Will-chan, the night's not even started yet." He whined. "Why do you always have your serious face on, Will-chan! I want to have some fun! If you insist on leaving, then I'll come with you." Grell twisted his mouth into what he probably thought was a charming smile. Will narrowed his eyes.
"No." He pushed his glasses up once more.
"But Will-chan! Think of the fun we could have!"
"All that will happen is you distracting me from my work." Will sighed in annoyance, and Grell wiggled his eyebrows.
"Exactly!" He stuck his pointy tongue out and waved it at William.
"No. Goodnight, Sutcliff." He calmly walked away, back out onto the cold London streets.
William organised his third stack of paperwork on the desk next to the second. The corners formed perfect right angles, and not a single sheet of paper was out of place.
Sitting at the desk in the candlelight, William started on the fourth. Each line of writing was printed in neat handwriting, clear and readable. Every I was dotted, every T crossed. Every signature clear and readable.
Much like his study. The furniture was placed with precision, the curtains drawn so not even the slightest gap existed to let the light out of the room and into the street. William glanced at the curtains and held another glass of icy amber liquid to his pounding head. He ignored the racket that was coming from outside. Grell, it seemed, had taken it upon himself to follow William home. But rather than climbing the stairs to the door of his neat flat, he's instead chosen to climb the wall, using his death scythe as a climbing tool. He was clinging to the window frame, incessantly banging on the glass. The glass forming the window that was coincidentally in the wall of William's study.
"Will-chan? William! I don't like it up her- Aaah! I don't think the window frame will hold me for much longer, Will-chan! Please let me in!" Bang, Bang... BangBangBang... Taptaptaptaptaptap... Crack! "William!" Grell's voice rose an octave. "William! Will-chan!"
Pushing his glasses up, William slowly walked to the window and drew back one of the plain black curtains.
"You wanted something, Sutcliff?" he said, pointedly not opening the window.
"Please let me in, Will-chan! It's not polite to let one's admirer fall to their death!"
"You're a shinigami, you'll survive."
"Such a cold man, willing to sacrifice all for his love, but wanting it to be pure and public. A gentleman doesn't want secret meetings and hidden love through the darkness of a window pane, he wants to shout it from the roof-" Grell's voice was muffled as William drew the curtains, still massaging his head.
He glanced briefly at the unfinished fourth pile of paperwork on his desk, deciding that just this once –considering the circumstances- it could wait until tomorrow.
Picking up the candle, he was about to call it a night and head to bed when he heard a second Crack!. Fearing the price of the repairs, he narrowed his eyes and headed towards the window. Grell was now hanging by the fingertips of one hand onto the ledge, the other hand dangled by his side holding a piece of wood that looked suspiciously like it could fit into the chunk missing from the right side of the window ledge. Pouting, the red haired shinigami let out a strangled cry, followed whining 'Will-Chan' in what he seemed to think was a cute voice. William slowly opened the window.
"Oh Will-chan! Your love warms my heart! I'm glad you came to your senses and saw what you were missing by leaving me out there!" ... Will raised an eyebrow. Grell's face fell. "...And it was starting to rain."
William reached out a hand to help, which of course Grell gladly took ~his hands, so soft~. He gently pulled Grell up through the window, and shut it behind him when he was inside and brushing the dust onto William's pristine floor. He didn't say anything, just closed his eyes and massaged his temples before pushing his glasses up.
"My, Will-chan, what a tidy place you have. And such a lovely wide desk." Grell smiled a pointy-toothed smile. "I could make good use of that..." He wiggled his eyebrows. William rolled his eyes.
"Why are you here, Sutcliff?"
"What? Can't I spend time with my man?" Grell faked outrage. William rolled his eyes.
"Who says I'm your man?" he muttered. Grell seemed too busy examining his fingernails to hear him ~his fingernails, so clean~. He spoke slightly louder "You can now leave through the front door."
"But Will-chan, I've only just got here. Besides, we haven't had any fun yet." He pouted again.
"I made no promises of fun." William's hand twitched as he fought with the urge to push up his glasses. "I didn't even invite you here."
"Oh, but Will-chan! I'm here now! We may as well make the most of it!" Grell fiddled with the tie around his neck, pulling too hard at the knot, making it crooked and odd.
William rubbed his temples. They stood in silence for a while, before William started to shuffle paperwork around, and order his desk. Suddenly, but not as sudden as some would have hoped, Grell was behind him, just a few millimetres away, peering over his shoulder. William turned suddenly. He couldn't explain why he did it, or why it even bothered him, but at that moment there was one thing breaking his focus. The stupid tie. Grell was about to take a step back, probably believing that he was going to be on the receiving end of a slap, but before he could do anything, William's hands were at his neck, straightening the tie. His hands accidentally (or was it on purpose?) brushed Grell's neck ~the skin of his neck, so flawless~, and the warmth on his skin made his hands tingle. A grin crossed Grell's lips as Wiliam drew back, turning his attention to the desk. Grell leaned against the wall. William closed his eyes, only to open them at the sound of material rustling. He half turned in time to see Grell with one thumb hooked under the knot of his tie, slowly pulling it out, undoing all of William's handiwork. William closed his eyes and tutted.
"Oh, Will-chan, I miss your touch..." Grell whined, moving towards William.
"No, Sutcliffe, to miss something you had to have had it in the first place." William moved so he was behind Grell, close enough to smell his hair ~like cinnamon, oddly~, and for Grell to feel William's breath on his cheek.
" Close your eyes. For example," he lowered his voice to a whisper, and moved close enough for Grell's short red hair brush William's cheek, "whispers in the dark." He heard Grell hold his breath.
He placed his fingertips at the base of Grell's skull, and slowly moved his hands upwards.
"Or hands being run through hair." He moved his hands to the front of Grell's neck, undoing the first buttons of his plain white shirt.
"Or rushed movements." He reached his hand just inside Grell's collar, feeling the smooth skin beneath his fingertips, ~his skin, so soft~.
"Skin against skin." He walked around to face Grell, who still had his eyes closed, and appeared to still be holding his breath. He moved his face close enough to Grell's for the readhead to know he was there.
"Lips to lips..." He withdrew his face without doing anything. Grell frowned. William smiled.
"Why so tense, Sutcliff?" William ran a hand over the other man's expensive black suit. Grell inhaled deeply. "And speechless, too. That's a first."
Grell's eyelids fluttered open. "Tease." His voice was low, barely a whisper. William smiled.
"Who, me? Now if you don't mind, I have work to do. The front door is that way." He sat down at his desk, and waved vaguely in the direction of the door.
"B-But Will-chan!" Grell breathed. William held up a hand. Grell's legs shook.
"Or you can leave the way you came in. Less walking involved." William turned his attention back to his work, and became so focused on what he was doing that he didn't notice Grell leave.
After all, it had been one hell of a day.