These seem to be getting longer don't they... and wildly switching genres mid-drabble XD Well... I suppose life can switch genres on you rather quickly as well ;) This is kinda for PetiteFee24 who asked for a sick/injured Grell being taken care of by Will… though I'm not sure this is what she had in mind XD I have actually been tossing around versions of this chapter for months, but I think I've got it sorted out now! This is also kinda for Ann-chan, who's William inspired an important part of this chapter. Oh yeah, and in my head!canon, Alan and Eric are always alive. Always! Because they are awesome and I need more shinigami to play with!
OMG someone drew a fanart for this chapter! *flails wildly* Check my profile for the link! =D
Tangles
"Wiiiiiiii~ll!"
William clenched his teeth as Grell whined his name yet again, no doubt wanting him to do some other simple task that the redhead was more than capable of doing himself. Honestly, he really was being impossible! Grell had been injured earlier in the work day, and while William would have been slightly more sympathetic to his lover's plight had it been a legitimate work related injury in the field, that was not the case…
XOXOXOX
When Ronald had burst through his office door in a panic that morning, yelling that Grell had been hurt, William couldn't help the worry that flickered across his features as he ran after his young subordinate. How hurt was he? Had there been an accident with a deathscythe? Was Grell alright? William's mind raced with every conceivable possibility, his pessimistic nature ensuring that each scenario was more dire than the last, as they skidded around the corner and into the large room housing his subordinate's cubicles. When faced with the chaotic scene, William thought perhaps he hadn't considered every conceivable possibility…
Grell stood amidst a veritable mountain of desks, chairs and various other office supplies, his lips trembling and his eyes tearing up seemingly on cue as William came on the scene. William was immediately bombarded with hurried (and tearful on Grell's end) explanations from Grell, Ronald, Alan and Eric. Deciphering the jumble, it seemed that in the hour and a half since the work day had begun, Grell and Ronald had grown bored with simply doing their jobs and instead started up a friendly discussion, which had somehow become a bet, which had somehow lead to the two of them competing to see who could make a taller tower out of… office furniture? Honestly. Alan and Eric were to judge and declare a winner, naturally.
Unsurprisingly, Grell's structural engineering prowess was no where near as impressive as his ability for procrastinating his work with ridiculous stunts such as this. The result being several hundred Pounds worth of damaged office furniture, 47 minutes (and counting) wasted, and Grell's arm bending in a direction William was certain it was not meant to bend. William wondered for a fleeting moment what on earth could have happened to make all of his subordinates such idiots, but then thought perhaps he was better off not knowing.
As Grell tearfully flung himself at William, no doubt intent on reaping some sympathy affection from his lover, William swiftly brought out his deathscythe and whipped it toward the redhead. Grell stared cross eyed at the blade poised centimeters from his nose as William interrupted whatever ridiculous sob story the redhead was about to unleash. "Grell Sutcliff, you will report to the infirmary at once to have your injury seem to, then you will come straight back to work. The rest of you, put this office back in order at once! Don't worry about how far behind that will no doubt put you on your paperwork, as you will all have a chance to catch up during overtime tonight!"
William rubbed the bridge of his nose at the predictable cries of outrage. "But we weren't even participating!" Eric exclaimed, indicating himself and Alan.
"You may not have been competing with the idiots, but not only were you allowing it, you were going to judge! You condoned their reckless behavior, so your inaction is an equal offence to their's in this instance!"
"But senpai! It was a… um… a team building exercise! Yeah!" Ronald added hopefully.
"Oh I see. Well then Ronald Knox, since this proved so successful, you should be delighted to have another chance to strengthen your teamwork when all four of you are in overtime tonight!"
"Wiiiiiiiiiiiiii~ll! I can't do paperwork! My arm is broken~!" Grell whined pathetically in a last ditch attempt to escape his punishment.
"Then count yourself fortunate you have another arm Grell Sutcliff! Now you lot have already wasted far too much time with this nonsense, so back to work!" William finished sternly, turning on his heal and marching determinedly back to his office.
XOXOXOX
Upon Grell's arrival home that evening, it became apparent that William's hopes of anything actually being accomplished by his subordinates for the rest of the day were in vain. They had seemingly found it a better use of their time to decorate Grell's cast.
When Grell had slipped into William's office sometime after lunch and tried (unsuccessfully) yet again to get out of overtime, he had come away with the consolation prize of his lover reluctantly writing a message on the bandages wrapping his arm. William thought the whole thing was ridiculous, as with their accelerated healing Grell would likely be as good as new in a few days, but he supposed it couldn't hurt to write a quick "Get well soon" before shooing the redhead away.
Apparently that simple message had opened the flood gates of slacking off amongst his subordinates. It appeared that one of them had seen fit to alter his message. William suspected Eric was the culprit, knowing for a fact he had forged a few of Alan's papers when he had been ill. Eric had very convincingly copied his superior's handwriting to continue his previously innocent message to now read, "Get well soon... so I can fuck the living daylights out of you Grell Sutcliff, honestly." It seemed that Eric was in want of more overtime.
Ronald seemed to feel the need to illustrate Eric's idea with cartoon figures of Grell and William in very compromising positions… and was that… he had drawn that wretched demon on there as well! There was also a rather curious drawing of Ronald himself kissing a female version of Grell, which seemed to make the redhead overly pleased. William glared and made a mental note to give Ronald extra overtime as well.
Alan seemed to be the only sensible one, drawing some beautiful and tasteful red roses up the side of the cast. They seemed to cheer Grell up just as much as the wall of cartoon pornography, and Alan rose a bit in William's esteem. He then noticed a small message written below the flowers. "Don't let William senpai be too rough with you tonight!" There was even a winking smiley face. William added another name to his mental list of overtime recipients.
XOXOXOX
And so it was that Grell was finally home from his fruitless overtime, outfitted with an incredibly obnoxiously decorated cast, and whining even more than usual. The redhead begged for help with even the simplest of tasks, such as dressing himself and eating, even going so far as asking William to not only cut his food, but feed it to him as well. Grell insisted it was supposed to be romantic, though William was much more inclined to romantically remind his lover that he still had a perfectly functioning arm with which to do 90% of the tasks he claimed to require help with. Honestly, Grell had brought this on himself with his reckless behavior, and now he would have to live with the consequences.
Though as William noticed Grell putter about that evening, struggling to do simple tasks and wincing when automatically trying to use his injured arm… something strange happened. William felt an intense desire to… help him.
It wasn't unusual for William to feel the desire to help someone. He had always considered himself a gentleman and a team player, always willing to lend a hand when necessary. When it came to problems caused by carelessness and stupidity however, William was unforgiving. The strict dispatch manager had always been of the belief that suffering a bit would help the foolish individual learn from their mistakes through pain, and come away stronger and wiser as a result. With Grell however, it suddenly didn't seem as simple as that.
The redhead had just finished bathing, another task William was convinced Grell was perfectly capable of managing alone, despite the hisses of pain he heard emanating from the washroom that tugged at his heart no matter how hard he tried to tune them out. William repeated an internal mantra that this was entirely Grell's own fault he was in such pain, but somehow it just wasn't convincing him as it usually did.
At present, Grell was attempting to put on a pair of William's pajamas. Despite Grell's insistence on flannel's apparent lack of sex appeal, the redhead had taken to wearing them occasionally when he wasn't feeling well, as even he couldn't deny that they were more comfortable than the satin and lace nighties he typically favored. Apparently Grell had given up asking for William's help, as every one of his previous requests had fallen on unsympathetic ears. As William watched his lover pout and huff in frustration as he tried to button the top button one handed for the third time, wincing as he instinctively tried to use his other arm to help, William had seen enough.
Raising from his chair and quickly crossing the room with an irritated glare, William swatted Grell's hand away and quickly buttoned up the pajama top. "Honestly…" he sighed with exasperation, a frown upon his lips.
Then William made the fatal flaw of looking up from his handy work to glance at his lover. Grell was staring back at him, looking completely and utterly stunned. A smile found it's way onto Grell's lips as his eyes filled with genuine gratitude. "Thank you Will." He whispered, a blush spreading over his cheeks.
William felt his face heat up as Grell looked at him with such honest admiration. Did such a simple gesture really mean that much to him? "Oh honestly, don't look at me like that! It simply looked as though you needed assistance. I… that is… nevermind!" William sputtered awkwardly, embarrassed that he had been caught going soft on the idiotic redhead.
His lover's sudden shyness only served to make Grell's smile widen. Will would be simply appalled if he ever realized what a sweetheart he really was. Grell leaned up to kiss his partner's blushing cheek as he passed him and headed back to the bathroom, intent on fetching his comb to tame his crimson locks.
William was irritated. At Grell of course for injuring himself, and in the most ridiculous of fashions no less, but mostly he was irritated at himself for being so weak as to give in to Grell's whimpering. Honestly, perhaps the pain of the injury would teach Grell something, but not if William intervened and prevented him from experiencing that pain! The whole situation was endlessly frustrating!
William cared about Grell as he did all his employees. He wanted him to be stronger, better, more prepared in case the worst were to happen. They couldn't afford to lose anyone, being as understaffed as they were.
Though in Grell's case, William also cared very much about him… in the way a lover would. He wanted Grell to feel happy, comfortable and safe. William had actually begun to wince himself whenever he saw pain flicker across the redhead's features. This kind of concern was altogether foreign to him, and frankly he found the whole thing to be terribly confusing.
Should he let Grell deal with the consequences of his foolish actions, as his mind adamantly told him was the correct course of action? Or should he follow his heart's advice, which sounded much like a single voice at the back of a crowded room, barely there, but doggedly persistent and demanding to be heard? A voice that told him to hold his lover and do anything he could to take his pain away. William honestly didn't know.
As William's internal battle raged on, Grell returned with his comb and set about attempting to rid his crimson mane of the many tangles it had obtained during the washing and towel drying of his hair. Grell clenched his teeth and readied himself for pain as he drug the comb through the snarled mass, a whimper escaping his lips as he almost immediately hit a tangle and heard fragile strands snapping. Without using his other hand to hold his long locks further up, the task proved not only to be incredibly painful, but monumentally damaging to his hair~! Under normal circumstances Grell could thoroughly appreciate the pain caused by a bit of hair pulling (especially in the bedroom~!), but as he was already feeling miserable with his arm bound up and aching, the feel of his hair tugging and snapping on the brittle comb was less than pleasant. Glaring at the plastic comb as if it would somehow apologize and start behaving properly, Grell realized he only had one option.
Pinning all his hopes on the fleeting moment of pity and concern Will had shown him earlier, Grell turned pleading eyes toward his lover. Will was sitting hunched on the sofa with his elbows braced on his knees, his gaze fixed downward on his hands, seemingly lost in thought. Grell hesitantly approached his pensive lover and daintily cleared his throat. "Um… Will… can you help me with my hair?"
Jerking his head up in mild surprise as Grell interrupted his thoughts, William frowned at the redhead's request. "Surely you can manage to comb your hair by yourself Grell. Honestly, need I remind you again that you still have a perfectly functioning arm at your disposal?" Yes, that was the correct response. William T. Spears coddled no one, lover or not.
"But Will, I need both ha-"
Grell's voice was gaining a whine, as well as an edge of desperation, which William was determined to put a stop to right here and now. "No 'buts' Grell Sutcliff! You brought this entirely upon yourself and you deserve any pain or difficulty your injury results in!"
Grell felt the strong urges to both cry and kick his lover in the genitals, but managed to do neither as the light left his eyes to be replaced with hurt. "Fine. Sorry to bother you William." The redhead replied coldly, his voice trembling ever so slightly with emotion as he turned on his heal to return to the chair in the dinning room he was previously stationed in. Taking a deep breath, Grell resumed his self inflicted torture.
As Grell hissed and whimpered from the nearby dinning room, William clenched is eyes shut tightly in the completely illogical hope that he would stop hearing his lover's pained exclamations. William winced as he actually heard the sound of hair ripping as Grell yelped. "Oh honestly Grell! Now you're just trying to get attention!"
"Oh now you can hear me can you? Because just a moment ago I was trying to tell you that to comb long hair you need two hands Will!" Grell angrily called back as a tear brought about by pain and frustration slid down his cheek.
William's mouth flew open to retort, only to snap shut again when he realized he couldn't exactly refute Grell's claim. He himself had certainly never worn his hair even close to Grell's length, perhaps he really did need assistance.
Though even if Grell didn't truly need his help, that single voice at the back of the crowded room of William's consciousness was screaming at the top of his lungs what a bastard William was for making his lover cry. William would have liked to argue that the pain was probably also a contributing factor of the redhead's tears, but somehow that didn't make him feel the least bit better.
Sighing in defeat, William marched into the dinning room and snatched the comb from Grell's hand. Deftly gathering Grell's crimson locks into a ponytail with his hand, he gently tugged the redhead in the direction of the living room. "Come along Grell Sutcliff." He mumbled, irritated and embarrassed and oddly nervous all at once.
Grell could only stumble along in shock as Will drug him into the living room, with much less force than he usually employed on his hair whenever he misbehaved, Grell noted. Will sat on the edge of the couch and used a firm hand on Grell's shoulder to guide him to sit on the floor between his legs. Without a word Will began swiftly raking the comb through the redhead's long locks.
"Ah! Ooow! Will~! S-stop!" Grell gasped as Will somehow managed to do an even worse job than the redhead had been doing with only one hand.
William froze. "What? You wanted my help didn't you!" He replied rather defensively to cover his embarrassment at not having any idea how to do this properly.
"I do Will… it's just… remember I said you need two hands? You take some like this…" Grell illustrated by taking a handful of hair in his functioning hand, "…and then start combing out the tangles from the bottom and work your way up. That way it doesn't break the hair or pull on the scalp. If you start from the top you'll just pull all the tangles down make an even bigger mess by the time you've gotten to the bottom."
William could only stare dumbfounded, feeling as though there must be some sort of complex metaphor about life hidden somewhere in that statement. Who knew long hair could be so complicated? "Won't that take all night?" he wondered aloud.
Grell gave a bitter laugh. "I never said being this beautiful was easy did I?"
"I suppose not…" William murmured as he took a handful of hair as instructed and began combing out the bottom of the long strands.
Grell managed a grin as Will obediently tended to his hair. "Does that mean Will admits that I'm beautiful?"
William coughed lightly as his face heated up. "I-I said no such thing."
"But I don't hear you denying it either…" Grell slyly replied.
"…I suppose not." William was suddenly very glad he was behind Grell and the redhead was unable to see his face, as he was fairly certain it quite matched his lover's crimson hair at this point.
Grell smiled and felt himself relax as his lover carefully and gently worked the tangles from his hair. He had never had someone do this for him. No one had ever cared for him enough to spend so much time and effort doing something so mundane. Grell closed his eyes and sighed in contentment, appreciating for a moment how truly lucky he was to have Will.
William soon fell into a rhythm, becoming almost hypnotized by the repetitive motion of the comb running through the silk strands of his lover's hair. He had certainly never told Grell, and in fact only barely admitted it to himself, but William had always been rather fond of Grell's hair. It was utterly inconvenient on the job, always getting in the way or needing to be tied back, and it was unnecessarily flashy, but despite it all, William always found himself drawn to it.
It was so wild and passionate and free… burning into William's retinas with it's fiery red and forever leaving an impression. Loud, silky, brazen, beautiful and utterly inefficient… everything William wasn't… everything Grell embodied… everything William had never wanted, but had never realized how much he needed.
"Will?"
"Hmm?"
"I think that section is done."
Realizing he had been musing on Grell's hair and unintentionally combing the same grouping of soft tangle free strands for several minutes, William's blush returned. Coughing once more to try to add credence to his seemingly gruff reply, William lightly tugged the handful of hair he was currently holding and spoke, "Would you like to take over Grell Sutcliff? I'll decide when I am finished with any given section thank you very much."
"Just trying to be helpful~!"
William could hear the smirk in Grell's voice, and was fairly certain the redhead knew he had merely spaced out. Smiling fondly despite himself out of his lover's view, William lightly yanked on the crimson strands once more before selecting a new handful to work on.
Several minutes passed in near silence, the only noise coming from the logs in the fireplace crackling, the room's two occupants quiet breathing, and the sound of the comb gently working it's way through Grell's crimson mane. The blanket of silence was finally pulled away, as it often was, by Grell…
"I can't wait until my arm is healed." The redhead sighed forlornly.
"Why? So I can… what was it again?" William leaned over to read his supposed message on Grell's cast, "…ah yes, so I can 'fuck the living daylights out of you'? Because you know, while that obviously must have been written by me, what with the use of your full name and the word 'honestly', I can't say I remember writing such nonsense on your cast..." William replied with a soft smirk.
Grell giggled and replied, "I'm sure you were just tired Will~! Who else could it have possibly been?" the redhead teased, laughing a bit more before sobering, his voice taking on a more serious tone. "Really though, I want to get better so I can stop being a burden to you. I can tell you were angry with me when I asked for your help today." Grell finished with a small sigh and looked down.
William suddenly felt like an ass for his earlier behavior. Sighing deeply, William replied, "I wasn't angry Grell… well… I was… it's just…" William growled a bit in frustration as he couldn't seem to articulate his feelings, as that had never been one of his strong suits. Taking a deep breath, William tried again, "Grell, I was angry with you, but not because you asked for my help. I was angry that you hurt yourself. I was angry you had done something stupid and put yourself in danger. I was angry… because you made me worry." he finished quietly. He was somewhat surprised at his answer, having not fully understood the root of his irritation with Grell, but William realized it was the truth.
"You were worried?"
William felt like a complete bastard upon hearing the tone of surprise in his lover's voice. "Of course I was. Ronald ran into my office and told me there had been an accident… I thought the worst. I was suddenly frightened of… of losing you. So when I got there and found that you lot had merely done something idiotic and little harm had been done… I was relieved… but also angry… that I had worried over nothing… I'm not even making sense am I?" William trailed off, feeling as though he was just uselessly rambling at this point, not sure what else to say.
"No, you are. I… I didn't realize… I just thought I was annoying you." Grell replied in shock, having never imagined hearing such an emotional response come from his stoic lover. "Will… I'm sorry I made you worry." The redhead whispered apologetically.
"It's alright now… just… just don't let it happen again Grell Sutcliff." William finished off with his signature stern inflection, somehow feeling more at ease now that he had told Grell the truth about his anger toward him.
Grell smiled softly and answered. "Yes sir."
"Well… I think your hair is about finished." William found himself saying rather reluctantly. Without realizing it, he had come to thoroughly enjoy the surprisingly intimate action of combing through his lover's hair.
Grell stood up smiling brightly and turned to face Will. Without warning Grell quickly but carefully arranged himself in Will's lap, being sure to keep his broken arm on the side away from Will's body, nuzzling his face into the crook of his lover's neck. "Thank you Will." The redhead purred, sounding as though he was perfectly content to stay right where he was.
William's eyes widened as Grell situated himself on top of him, but didn't fight it. He would never admit it, but at that moment he wanted nothing more than to hold Grell, and yes, do everything he could to take his lover's pain away. Honestly, I suppose this victory goes to you heart. William could swear he heard cheering from the back of that crowded room.
However... William's mind, not to be outdone, demanded one more action before conceding defeat. Sharply jabbing Grell's injured arm, William sternly spoke, "And just to be clear, you are never going to do something so stupid ever again, are you Grell Sutcliff?"
Grell gasped, his mouth hanging open incredulously at Will, before soundly thwacking him on the chest with his good arm. "No~! Now stop that you sadist~!"
Relaxing and even allowing a small smile to flicker across his features, William wrapped his arms around his lover more securely and replied, "Alright then, as long as we have an understanding."
"We do… as long as you do me one more favor~!" Grell grinned playfully. "Kiss it better?" He asked while pouting exaggeratedly and holding up his injured arm.
William raised his eyebrow in disbelief. "And how would my doing that possibly make anything better?"
"It would make me feel better." Grell answered surprisingly genuinely.
Thinking it was utterly ridiculous, but frankly not feeling up for an argument, William gently grasped the redhead's cast and guided his arm toward him to kiss the portion of Grell's fingers extending from the bandages. William then gave Grell a dry look that said something to the effect of 'happy now?'
Grell smiled blissfully and kissed Will softly. "I feel better already~!"
Even as William rolled his eyes at the ridiculous notion that such an unrelated action could have done anything to make Grell feel better, something about the thought made him smile softly all the same.
To be continued...
