AN: Hey~ I got a lot of work done on this story, and I felt like releasing another update. This chapter was fun to write-I hope you guys like it, and I would love some feedback, if you have the time. :8) The next chapter will probably be released on Thursday if I have time, and Sunday if I can't get to it before I get caught up in the weekend.
The next day, William stalked into the office with a headache and a slight limp; he settled down into his office chair slowly, turning to glare at Grell, who smirked back at him, then sighed, saying, "Mr. Sutcliff, you will be taking my death list today in addition to your own. Apparently, the higher ups believe I can't handle field work today…" He shoved the two long lists at Grell, who snatched them up gleefully, and shoved another at Eric. "Mr. Humphries is ill today, Slingby—you will be working on your own. And as for you, Mr. Knox—" William reached down onto his desk and picked up another long list, "—this is your assignment for the day."
Grell sauntered back up to William's desk, doing his best to hide a mischievous grin. "But Will, you're hurt—we can't just leave you all alone. Why doesn't someone stay back with you?" The red-headed reaper smiled, shark like teeth bared as he draped his arms over William's shoulders and nuzzled up to his superior. "I wouldn't mind watching you, you know…"
"Sutcliff!" William roared, sliding out of the chair and onto the office floor to avoid the onslaught of unwanted affection, glaring at the other reaper in shock and outrage. He stared at Grell for a moment, before sighing and using the edge of he desk to pull himself back up to a standing position. Grell pouted. "I refuse to let you stay here all by yourself! If you won't let me stay, what about Ronnie or Eric?" The redhead leaned back against William's desk, grinning—he knew he had the other shinigami backed into a corner.
William looked away for a moment, then finally gave in. "Fine…Slingby, Sutcliff, you are the senior reapers here. Sutcliff, take Mr. Knox's list as well, and get both of them done." Grell nodded cheerfully, walking over to take the second death list from a stunned Ronald. "Now out of here, before I change my mind!" William snapped at the two, who hurriedly pulled on their coats and left the office.
Ronald's shoulders slumped in defeat as the fuming shinigami turned back to his paperwork. He had actually been looking forward to escaping William and his bad temper, even if it meant braving the frozen, icy streets of London. Now that Eric and Grell were gone, he would be stuck alone in the office all day with his supervisor.
Oh, well. He could whine about it later. If William caught him slacking off now, there was no telling how much overtime he would receive in retribution. He straightened his tie and walked over to stand beside William, placing a gentle hand on the older reaper's shoulder. "Um, boss…" he said, hoping for the best. "What would you like me to do? I finished my paperwork yesterday—" William's eyes narrowed at the mention of yesterday's paperwork "—so I can help you with yours, if you like." He gave William a nervous smile—the black-haired shinigami looked aggravated enough to pick up his death scythe from its resting place beside his desk and spear the younger blonde without hesitation if he didn't choose his words carefully.
William spared him a quick sideways glance and a curt nod. "Thank you, Mr. Knox," he said, gesturing to a pile of papers higher than Ronald was tall stacked haphazardly next to an ancient filing cabinet in the back corner of the room. As the older shinigami returned to his work, Ronald walked over to the stack, suppressing a cry of despair. He would be stuck doing paperwork all day! But he walked over to the pile anyway, picking up about a third of it and returning to his desk, then sitting down and getting right to work—William looked up briefly as he did, his eyes momentarily softening with gratitude as he saw Ronald staggering back to his desk with such a large portion of the pile in his arms. The furious scratching of pen on paper filled the office as the two reapers plowed through their work.
Every once in a while, Ronald would sneak a look over at William, and he didn't miss how his supervisor's eyes slipped shut every few minutes, his head nodding with exhaustion as he tried to stay awake. He smiled at his boss's attempts to keep working, turning back to his work with renewed purpose. Maybe if he worked hard enough, Will might have time to get some sleep tonight, and he wouldn't be so cranky.
Ronald was so absorbed in his paperwork that he didn't notice the time—it was late afternoon when he next checked the clock. He turned around to check on William, only to bite back laughter at the comical sight of his dedicated supervisor asleep at his desk, smudges of ink on his hand and the tip of his nose and glasses crazily askew. He was drooling all over the report he had been working on, and his hair had fallen out of its usual slicked-back order, a few strands falling across the older reaper's face as he slept.
Ronald grinned, sneaking out a small camera he knew Grell kept in his desk for moments like this. He snapped a few pictures before stowing the camera in his own desk—Grell would no doubt notice it missing and ask him about it, but he didn't think the redhead would care once he saw the negatives. Once the camera was safely hidden away, he pondered what he should do with Will—he obviously needed the sleep, but Ronald shuddered to think of what he would do if he found out that the younger blonde had seen him in such a compromising state. He shook his head, sighing. "You're going to be angry no matter what I do," he said exasperatedly to an unresponsive William, grabbing hold of his supervisor's arms and dragging him over to the battered office couch, "so I might as well make sure you have a good nap." He flung a blanket over the sleeping shinigami, then returned to the pile of papers on his own desk—if Will woke up and found him not working, he was in for it.
Hours passed silently by as Ronald finished off the giant stack of paperwork, running over to grab more from the pile. He had always able to speed through his paperwork—he wasn't sloppy like Eric or Grell, but he didn't obsess over minute details and precision like William and Alan did—and, slowly but surely, he made a good dent in the pile.
Sometime after dark, loud footsteps and chattering could be heard from the hallway, and Ronald looked up from his reports to see Eric and Grell trudge into the office, soaked to the bone by the sleet raining down on London. Grell beamed as he saw the sleeping William on the couch and the huge pile of completed reports resting on Ronald's desk; Eric, however, raised an eyebrow, curious as to why Ronald would expend so much effort to help the man who had been overloading him with paperwork and venomous remarks all week as said man slept peacefully on the other side of the room. Ronald, seeing the questioning look, shrugged indifferently. Eric could think what he liked. Careful not to wake William up, the two older reapers quietly made their way to their desks, gathering up their belongings and getting ready to head home. Eric left first, waving and grinning at Ronald as he closed the door behind him; Grell left soon after, chirping, "Don't stay up too late working, Ronnie! And make sure Will gets home all right!" as he left.
Ronald nodded distractedly as they left, still focused on his paperwork. The blonde reaper didn't notice the world outside growing dark, instead writing line after line after line as the sound of William's quiet breathing filled the room. Finally, after another few hours of frantic scratching and scribbling, he sighed. If he wrote anymore, his hand would likely fall off—as it was, it was already cramping in agony as he moved the stack of completed paperwork onto William's desk and walked over to where the older shinigami was still asleep on the couch.
"Boss?" he said nervously, not wanting to earn himself another lecture from a grumpy William. The black-haired shinigami seemed so peaceful when he was sleeping—his usual pinched, strained expression had faded into one of utter content, and his hair was a mess compared to its usual pristine state, loose strands of it falling into his eyes and spilling off of his head onto the couch. His posture, usually rigidly straight and tense with stress, had relaxed into that of a lazy housecat, sprawled boneless across the couch cushions, suit carelessly rumpled and glasses askew. Ronald smiled gently down at his superior. He reached out with one hand and gently shook William's shoulder. "Come on, boss, wake up. It's past one," he chided the older shinigami, who simply mumbled something in his sleep and rolled over to face away from him, curling up into a tight little ball and clutching onto the blanket like a sleepy child. If it hadn't been such an awkward situation, Ronald might have thought it was cute, but he knew that the longer he waited to wake William, the angrier his boss would be. The blonde reaper sighed and ran a hand through his hair in exasperation as he considered his options.
"Okay," Ronald said to William, a vindictive grin sneaking onto his face. "You asked for it, boss!" He pulled out his lawnmower—at least it would have some use for him today—and revved it as loudly as he could.
William sat bolt upright, a hand reflexively reaching for his death scythe—which, luckily for Ronald, was still back at his desk. His face was pale, and he let out quick, panicked breaths as he fixed Ronald with an indignant glare. The young reaper sheepishly set his scythe aside as William processed what was going on. The black-haired shinigami's eyes widened in shock as he unconsciously straightened his tie and set his glasses back on the bridge of his nose, running a hand through his hair in a vain attempt to slick it back. He stood up, rounding on Ronald. "Knox, do you know what time it is? What are you still doing here? And what happened—" he gestured wildly at the couch, rumpled blanket still covering it, "—here? Explain." He crossed his arms and stared at the younger shinigami, tapping his foot impatiently as he waited for an answer. Ronald could practically feel the rage radiating off him in waves.
The blonde blanched at William's angry outburst, eye widening in shock and fear. "W-well," he said timidly, "you were, uh, asleep at your desk, and I figured you needed the sleep, and I knew you'd be mad if sleeping interrupted your work, so I, um, f-f-finished s-some of your paperwork!" The younger reaper's voice squeaked out the final syllable as William looked at him, his expression unreadable as he considered what to do with his subordinate.
The room was silent for a minute; then, William sighed, closing his eyes as he massaged the bridge of his nose with one hand. He looked Ronald in the eye, and, to the younger shinigami's utter amazement, let out a quiet chuckle, resting a hand on his shoulder. "Thank you, Mr. Knox. I really should take better care of myself…" The black-haired reaper allowed a small smile to grace his features as he walked over to his desk and retrieved his death scythe, turning back to Ronald as he did. "Well, what are you waiting for, Knox? You should be home by now," he said, his voice returning to its normal businesslike tone as he shooed the younger reaper out of the office. "Go on, I'll lock up."
Ronald stared at the office door in shock. William had never been that friendly with him—or anyone, for that matter—that he had met at the Shinigami Library. By all rights, he should have been sliced into tiny little pieces by an irate William's death scythe by now… His train of thought was interrupted by a huge yawn, and he decided to quit worrying—it was too late at night for that. Straightening his coat, the young reaper began his long walk home through the dark streets of London.
