Chapter 9
Series: Kuroshitsuji
Pairing: William x Grell
Rated: T
Warnings: Language
Grell had awoken from his slumber before William, blinking several times and shifting to try to understand his surroundings. He could feel that he was lying on his back on top of something incredibly soft, and all he could see was white. White ceiling, white walls, white lights..
..Heaven?
Oh, hell no...
Grell gritted his teeth, letting out a small groan as he carefully craned his neck to look to either side of himself. To his left, he saw more beds, simple and sanitary, lined against the wall. He could recognize several sinks and medical supplies spread throughout the room by the glint of silver, and moments later he realized, with a pang of confusion, that he was in an infirmary. But he'd been alone when he'd fallen unconscious...Alone in that now-abandoned manor, how could be in an infirmary now?
Laying his head back for several moments to try to consider it, Grell instead looked to his right, and what he saw surprised him incredibly. Though his vision was limited by the lack of his glasses, there was a mass of dark colors in the center of the same white from his other side. Blotches of black blended up into a pale color, then grey and a dark brown, and, almost too quickly, Grell realized who this figure was.
"William.." was all he could manage in a weak whisper, both glad and terrified by the realization. William was there..And while Grell knew he likely wouldn't get yelled at in his current state, it also mortified him to know that William was fully aware of what he'd done to himself, and still stayed here with him. Possibly to question him..But the thought of talking to him, no matter whether it was professional or personal, absolutely terrified Grell. What the hell was he supposed to say to the man whose harsh actions had encouraged him to try to dispose of himself, but, whom he also loved wholeheartedly? Tears started streaming down the redhead's face before he could do anything to will them away, and all he could manage to do was try to make the crying as soundless and painless as possible.
After several long minutes of trying and failing to calm himself down, Grell felt something press against the back of his head, moving through his hair. Looking through the hands he'd brought up to hide himself, Grell saw the blurry image of William once again, though his bright yellow-green eyes were now present. He was now leaning over Grell, and the redhead let out another soft sob as he realized that William was running a hand through his hair to try to comfort him, laying his head back into the hand.
William stared at him for a moment before his voice rang through the previously silent air, and Grell was shocked to hear tones of worry and sympathy laced into the sound. "..Good morning...You're alright..."
Grell attempted to swallow the new lump of emotion in his throat, slowly moving his hands from his face. His right hand held itself out, seeking for William's, as his left hand reached up to find the one moving its way through his hair. William met both of his hands with his own, one of them briefly leaving to carefully place Grell's glasses on his face.
"Thank you..." Grell managed weakly, gazing up at the now very clear image of William. He noticed his hair was a bit ruffled, and that his eyes conveyed the concern that was just as obvious in his voice. That wasn't what Grell had been expecting, and it shocked him. Though, before he could help it, Grell's imagination gave him an image of a smiling, loving William pulling him to his feet and loving all of his morbid thoughts away, and a smile found its way onto the redhead's face before he was aware of it.
As for William, however, that smile stabbed at his heart anew. This wasn't the wide grin or seductive smirk Grell usually wore, or even the mirthful giggle that usually came with his playful smile which William only saw when the redhead was around Ronald or Alan and Eric. This smile was incredibly small and subtle, and it contained none of the energy Grell usually had. It was weak but happy - the smile of someone who was at death's door, and knew it. The last smile someone would give.
The thought sprang unbidden tears to William's eyes, and he found himself turning away with a small mumble to try to pretend that they weren't there, shielding his eyes from view. He heard a minuscule, confused noise from Grell, followed by a hand carefully placing itself upon his knee. William let his tears spill once Grell spoke, that soft, hoarse voice trying to speak its last words and still using them to comfort William. "Shh...William...I'm right here. I'm...stronger..." He could feel Grell's gaze move up to his eyes. "..I'm not going anywhere..."
William sighed softly, forcing himself to think of anything but Grell to calm his emotions down. When he was significantly calm, he turned back to Grell, gazing at his eyes a moment. Placing his own hand over Grell's, he gave a somewhat gentle gaze to the redhead. "..Do you need anything?"
Grell nodded a moment, giving William an entirely innocent look, and William's mind, which he now decided lived to screw him over for the past week, reminded him carefully. That's just what Souris used to look like... William was brought out of his half-nostalgic, half-guilt ridden thoughts by Grell's answer. "..A glass of water, please? And...um.." A rosy blush dusted over his cheeks, and William began to wonder. Was he trying to act more like Souris to appeal to him? "..you. Could you..please stay...?" ..Now this was starting to get strange. William knew it would be entirely inappropriate to start bombarding the injured man with questions, so he decided to make a mental note to ask him about the odd shifting of his personality when he was more comfortable.
Nodding to him, William lightly squeezed the smaller hand still gripped in his own. "I'll be right back." He headed towards the door, looking back to Grell and noticing the slightly disappointed look on his pale face. "..Humphries, Knox, and Slingby have split up my work between themselves for the next few days. I will be staying here with you, to cater to your needs..." He couldn't help a smile as he saw the redhead's face glow ever so slightly with happiness. While both of them knew they were being extremely careful around the sensitive other, William found himself extremely grateful that Grell's normal personality and fondness were still showing through despite his illness. He could honestly say that he felt that even if those scars marred him physically and emotionally for eternity and nothing went further between either of them, he was glad that Grell still hadn't completely stopped living, per se. He was still Grell...Just toned down quite a lot.
And William found that that was exactly, exactly what he had loved in Souris.
And there's the last of the pre-written chapters! I am about halfway done with 10 as I write this, so it will hopefully not be too terribly long a wait. I'm excited to write these next few, and develop more of this relationship. Someone did mention that if William truly despised Grell, he shouldn't suddenly get all fluffy around him, and, frankly, he really shouldn't, and isn't going to remain that way. However, I do still believe he's in shock over the whole thing, and if there's one thing I hate people doing with William T. Spears, it's make him totally heartless just because it's Grell (Even if I had to temporarily do the same thing for this story.) Right now, regardless of who it is, William is in the mindset of "Holy shit I almost inadvertently killed someone" and is therefore trying to make up for it in his shocked state. He isn't turning into a huge cuddly teddy bear any time soon, he's just going to act nicer to Grell until he's healed up. It's just what I think anyone, regardless of past hatred or not, would react like.
Might I also say, I love writing Grell when he's sassy. I do think that even when he's about to die, he would take the time to be like "No, you BETTER not send me to Heaven. Uh-uh, angels don't work with this lady." XD
Prepare yourselves, fluff is coming.
As always, rate and review! I'm gonna need it as I push myself to write whilst working on schoolwork. OTL
