W. A. G. E. R.
Chapter Three
File No. 051-? ? ?
(V)
2011.2.24, 00:17am, somewhere in the middle of the sea.
The pair came up to the surface.
"Phew, that was AWESOME!"
"Honestly, I didn't expect to be forced into the sea like this…" That was when William realized that his arms were wrapped around Grell's shoulder. He immediately released the redhead from his half-embrace.
Grell giggled, "Why did you hold me in your arms like that, Will? You know my heart would beat like crazy when you are so abrupt…"
William lightly punched Grell's forehead and snapped, "What is going on in that filthy mind of yours? I mean, your hair was everywhere and I could barely see anything other than RED! I have to keep you, no, your hair out of their sight, otherwise they can easily spot us with a searchlight."
"But I almost died of asphyxiation, Will…"
"Oh, c'mon! Who was that idiot who claimed that he could hold his breath, like, forever?"
"Now you're just trying to change the topic, Will."
Although neither admitted, they knew just how exhausted they both were. As Campania slowly vanished out of their sight, it was time to get back to shore.
"The Guinness record of the distance swum in 24 hours nonstop is 101 kilometers. I think we are now somewhere between Scotland and Northern Ireland… The nearest shore shouldn't be very far away. Anyway, let's go."
"Eh? Go?"
"Fine, I meant swim."
"Are you serious, Will? This is the middle of nowhere. Aren't you afraid of sharks?"
"Sharks? Of course not. They might even consider you a distant relative after they've seen your teeth…"
"Not funny, Will."
"I wasn't even trying to be funny. Honestly, we don't have another choice, Grell Sutcliff. It's the only way."
"Wait, so you mean the two of us getting wet and paddling like lovebirds…" Strange (and erotic) ideas started popping into Grell's brain before William snapped him again:
"Lovebirds don't paddle and we are wet already, whether we swim or not… Never mind, let's save some energy and head to the northeast. I think we can reach the shore of Scotland before dawn."
Neither spoke again after that. Grell knew William was not the joking type. Even if they had enough strength to get to the destination, they couldn't afford wasting even a little bit of their energy on talking. Daybreak was only a few hours away and they didn't have much time left before they reached their limits. In the next few hours, they would no longer talk to each other. All they would do was to move toward the same direction, and at the time, make sure the other one was still alive.
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2011.2.24, 06:31am, Scotland, High Keil, beach along Road B842.
The pair lied on their stomach, like two corpses.
It was unclear how long they had remained this way before William finally asked, "Dead yet?"
Grell turned his face to his partner and answered, "Oh, how can I be after a fierce evening with you?"
Too bad William still had the strength to pull his hair, "Couldn't you just use some ordinary expressions?"
Grell only smirked and started to play with William's wet bangs, "Hey, your hair just returned to the uni-year style, Will❤!"
William immediately took out his pruning pole and warned, "Want your hair back to the uni-year style as well?"
Threatening only got Grell more excited, "Oh, you wouldn't do that, Will… You wouldn't do that to me…" The tip of his nose touched William's as he crawled closer. They could smell the Atlantic in their exchanging breaths. "Oh, doing something so insane with Will is just… Unbelievably exciting… Will, I really, really love…" He pecked William's face before the last word could escape from his lips.
William quickly retreated and got up, "You should really learn when to stop, Grell Sutcliff."
God he's still so cold… Sometimes, Grell just wished that man could go out of control. However, no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't shake this rationalist at all.
"Looks like you've got plenty of energy." said William as he dragged Grell out of the beach, "Let's go back, then."
Grell rested his head on William's shoulder, "Back? Where?"
He was right. They needed to figure out how to meet the other three first.
William looked around and soon realized that they weren't given much of a choice apart from Road B842. "Well, I guess we should call them first."
"Sure…" Grell paused for a second before he announced, "Will, my phone just ran out of battery."
"Honestly, what kind of power-consuming functions do you have in your phone? Use mine."
A few seconds later, Grell muttered, "No signal, Will."
"Guess we'll need to move first." William took off his glasses and carefully wiped away the spots on it under the dim morning light. He did have a waterproof pocket in his suit coat, otherwise he couldn't have kept his phone intact. Yet he still regretted that he forgot to bring a piece of cleaning cloth. "I believe this is High Keil and we can get to Campbeltown by heading northeast along this road. As long as we get to the town, things would be much simpler."
Grell could barely nod, "Don't you think it's so far away, Will…? Do we have to walk?"
That was another problem. Neither of them had the strength to participate in trekking of any intensity anymore.
Yet William didn't seem to be so worried, "I can see a couple of houses ahead. We'll find a way to tackle this problem."
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The truth is, parking your motorcycle outside your house could be risky.
Three minutes after they spotted the motorbike, William handed Grell a helmet, "Put it on and write down their address. We'll buy them a new motorcycle as soon as we return to London. Also, tell them they can purchase our products at a 50% discount." After that, he took off his suit coat and tied it around Grell's shoulder, "Put this on and we're off."
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There was a time in Grell Sutcliff's life when he dreamt about racing down an endless road on the edge of the world with his Prince Charming. For a long time it remained a wild maiden fantasy in his heart because that inexpressive man never returned his feelings. Yet on that day, his dream seemed to have come true… That man did not do this on purpose, nor did the scene fit Grell's original ideas, but with his arms around William's waist, racing on a motorbike down a road between mountains and the sea at sunrise… Just what more could he ask for?
Grell had the coat on his shoulders, but knotted the sleeves around William's neck, "Okay, so now we are more intimate with each other❤!"
"Do you want to strangle me, Grell Sutcliff?"
"Of course not! You wouldn't feel a thing as long as I don't lean back…" And so Grell pressed his face against William's back and murmured dreamily, "You know, it just feels so good eloping with Will…"
"Who on earth would elope with you in broad daylight? Do call them again and see if you can reach them now."
"Hold on a sec." With one hand on William's waist, Grell put the phone above his head and shouted, "Look this way, Will!"
Without questioning what the redhead was up to, William looked up and –
CLICK!
"Yes! I've finally captured the affectionate moment of us running away, Will!"
"Idiot, just when did I allow you to take pictures with my phone! Want me to kick you back into the sea now?"
"Calm down, Will. I'm calling right now…" A few seconds later, he succeeded. "Hello? This is Grell Sutcliff!"
Eric, who was on the other side of the phone, almost screamed at him, "You are finally calling! We've been waiting for 6 long hours! We didn't call because we were afraid that it might distract you… Anyway, I'm just glad you two are okay."
Before Grell could say anything, William slightly leaned back and moved his mouth closer to the phone in Grell's hand, "I told you we'd come back alive, Eric Slingby." But he was a bit too close to Grell's mouth and accidentally let the redhead steal a kiss from his demure lips.
BANG!
Grell's helmet was askew after a furious hit by William's.
"Keep your helmet in place, idiot…"
Unaware of the drama going on between his two colleagues, Eric went on asking, "I wonder what took you so long… Were you guys on a lifeboat or something?"
"Lifeboat…" muttered William.
"We didn't have a lifeboat, Eric." answered Grell, "We just swam –"
"WHAT?" Eric's shouts were even louder than the engine, "Are you nuts? You SWAM?"
"Well, since both of us are still alive, I guess it was not a bad choice."
"Whose idea was it?"
"Eh… I think it was Will."
"He did learn that from you, Grell."
William heard them talking behind his back so he interrupted, "Honestly, tell Eric Slingby I can hear exactly what he was saying!"
"Right… Let's just drop this, Eric. We are now heading to Campbeltown on Road B842. Where are you now?"
"Good, we've just got ourselves a car 15 minutes ago and are now heading to Campbeltown as well. Turn left here, Ronald. Hey, let's just meet outside Campbeltown Hospital."
"Okay. Just so you know, we are riding a motorbike."
"Yeah, right, like I can't recognize you, Grell."
"Well, see yah later!" Grell hung up and whispered to William's ear, "Will, we're meeting outside Campbeltown Hospital."
"I know… And there's no need for you to lean this close to talk to me. I can hear just fine."
Grell couldn't help but smile. Eric was right. You needed to be neurotic enough to come up with an idea like "let's just jump into the sea". William did have a genuine rational mind, but that did not keep him from making unexpected moves. Plus, compared to the whole "you jump, I jump" thing, Grell enjoyed the way William held him in his arms more. That precious feeling of suffocation could trigger a spasm of euphoria in Grell's heart every time he thought about it.
"We're almost there, Grell Sutcliff. Hold on tight!"
"Sure..." Resigned, he wrapped his arms around William's waist more tightly.
As the sun gradually rose from the horizon, the motorbike accelerated on Road B842. In the wind, Grell's hair flew about like burning flames. Under the light and heat of the morning sun, the whole motorcycle seemed to be on fire…
2011.2.24, 07:49am, Scotland, Campbeltown, Campbeltown Hospital.
Ronald, whose drowsy head rolled on the steering wheel, was woken by a flashy shade of red that flew past his sight. "Hey, it's Sutcliff-senpai!"
Alan, who was napping in the passenger seat, also woke up and lowered the car window, "It's their motor –" He paused, realizing "their" was not a very accurate possessive pronoun to use. "Oh, I meant the motorbike they rode here… We just can't stop stealing things, can we? From the Viscount Druitt's boat, this car, to that motorbike…" He stopped when William parked the motorbike outside the hospital.
When William told the one behind him to get off, he didn't hear a reply. When he turned around, he found the redhead resting on his back, asleep. William himself was more than just exhausted, but it was a tense night after all and falling asleep at the wrong time was totally understandable. After a few seconds of hesitation, William took off Grell's helmet and under the eyes of his three sober colleagues, carried the redhead on his back and walked toward the car.
Eric poked a finger into the car door handle while staring at William and Grell. After quite a few unsuccessful attempts to open the door, Eric realized something and scolded, "Hey, quit looking at them and unlock the car door, Ronald."
"Well, weren't you looking as well, Eric-senpai?" giggled Alan.
At last, the five reunited in a stolen vehicle.
In high spirits, Ronald stepped on the accelerator, "It everybody here? Then we're heading back to London! Wow, wow, wow!"
William instantly kicked the blond's seat from behind, "Just shut up already…"
Eric nodded in agreement, "He's all stimulated now, you know."
Alan said, "Only an all-nighter like Ronald could be stimulated so quickly…"
Apart from the energetic driver, William was more annoyed by the one next to him, "Honestly, why is this thing still falling on my shoulder even after I've buckled him up?" He soon gave up resisting and lent his shoulder to Grell. "I wonder if I could still feel my shoulder when we get back." Muttering, he took out his phone and found a new annoyance – "Damn, he changed my wallpaper…"
"Really? What picture were you using?" asked Eric.
"The default one."
"You sure are stuffy, head."
"Honestly, even if the previous one was boring, he didn't have to use this pic…"
"Which pic?" Eric leaned closer in curiosity.
William quickly shut his phone and replied coldly, "No peeking."
"Fine, but you don't have to tense up like that…" Eric drew a cigarette from his pocket.
Alan alertly turned around and said, "Don't smoke in the car, Eric-senpai. And, buckle up."
"I know, I know… Man, stop lecturing me like William does."
Though a bit offended by Eric's comments, William didn't retort. After all, he was exhausted… Too exhausted to even delete that "affectionate runaway pic" which took over his mobile screen.
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Author's note: I know the whole "swim back to shore" thingy was insane but since the story itself is insane too, I'd just let it be. :D Hope you like it!
Coming up… Chapter Four: File No. 666-4242 (The Most Beautiful DEATH in the World)