The walls of the bathtub were smooth and white and tall enough to keep the large quantity of water, which was hot but not quite scalding, inside. Small wisps of steam rose and circled in on themselves and an occasional bubble would float from the mass to join in on the festivity, its body swirling with colours and shining in the rose-scented light of the low candles that circled the tub. As he was steadily slipping lower into the soapy water, William used his feet to push himself higher, his foot rubbing against the lavender bath beads at the bottom of the bathtub.

William had insomnia, which was a condition that made it difficult to sleep at night, depending of course on the severity of the condition. It had been a very long time since William had slept properly, even on nights when he was exhausted enough to fall asleep quickly he was such a light sleeper that so much as a stray tree-limb against his bedroom window was enough to wake him. It made his nights harder than they had to be and made his mornings more stressful too, this condition was most of the reason for the irritable behaviour he was so well-known for in the office.

A record player was on his bathroom counter and was currently playing William's favourite recordings of Chopin's music. It was, to say the least, a peaceful environment. On nights like tonight when William was having more difficulty sleeping than usual he would often prepare a bath and put on some music to help him relax. Because William had surpassed his duties as a dispatcher and had been promoted to a higher level he had been given a new room on the second floor that was complete with a bathroom. It was a relief when he was first presented with this room that he would never again have to share a toilet with every other male dispatcher in the Ministry and could now take bathes instead of showers when he wanted to, like now.

It was a very nice bathroom with white walls, a walnut wood border, and clean, white tiles. It was like every other room, lit by candles, which sat on counters made of the same dark wood as the border with porcelain sinks, toilet, bathtub, and shower complete with golden handles and fastenings. This bathroom was of course personalised by William, who had filled the empty pantry with his medicines and toiletries and had decorated the rest with more personal items. Because this bathroom was on the second floor it had a window that was the same length of and directly above the bathtub. William particularly liked this window because it overlooked a patch of the large garden when the curtains were open, which they always were.

William looked out of this window now and quickly noticed that he couldn't see outside because his window was hazy from the steam of his bath, he wiped this away and saw in the garden, Grell lying in a flowerbed? William wasn't as surprised as he might have been if this had been the first time, but it wasn't, he had caught Grell sleeping there before. William was very aware of his dispatcher's somnambulism and would occasionally catch him and take him to his room, it was stressful because William would often worry about him sleepwalking somewhere dangerous and hurting himself, but it was also fascinating in a frightening way to see Grell enter his office calmly and quietly with opaque eyes and a blank expression as though he were of another world, before the life was stripped from his body as though it were the order of a higher power and he became limp in his arms…

It was not a good night for Grell to be sleeping in the garden, it was cold and wet outside from the fog of earlier that evening, and he was certain that all of the foul things that lived in the soil had come up to the surface for air. He had decided that he was going to have to drain his bath water, dress himself, and go outside to take Grell inside to his bed (a decision that he was not happy with) when he saw someone else approach Grell's sleeping figure. This, of course, provoked William's paternal instinct and he leaned in closer to the window to see the figure more clearly (as they did not have obvious traits like Grell's scarlet, thigh-length hair to define them) and identified them as Caleb Cook.

William hated Caleb Cook; he had decided this a long time ago, after so many physical and verbal assaults on his dispatcher, Grell. He had also asked Rachael so many times as a favour between friends to keep that dispatcher, her dispatcher, on a leash and away from Grell but he never listened even after so many lectures and punishments. William couldn't understand why and it made him so angry! He had even on the rare occasion when he caught him with Grell, threaten him as an attempt to keep him away and even though he kept silent and took his punishment like the dog he was with his tail between his legs and his head lowered, it was never enough!

William decided that he would watch before he acted (as a shinigami he could move faster than what the human eye can process), and so from his window he saw Cook touch Grell's cheek (he couldn't tell from his distance that it was only almost-touching) and run a hand through his tresses previously tangled from sleep. He didn't appear to be harming him but William was watching even more carefully because of that. He then saw something ultimately strange, Cook had taken off Grell's slipper and was feeling Grell's foot? William couldn't fathom why he was doing that, or why he was doing any of what he was doing now, it was against everything that Cook had displayed for Grell or was just plain strange.

He was curious what he was thinking now. He finally saw Cook pull Grell to him and hold him shortly before lifting him into his arms and taking him inside. William assumed that he was taking him back to his bedroom, not unlike William would have done if he had been in that situation. The dispatch manager finally pulled away from the window and sank back into his bathwater to mull over what he had just seen. What Cook had performed were acts of affection, which heavily contradicted with how he usually acted, and William didn't understand his reasoning. He spent a few minutes pondering the subject but gave up when this produced no results; he instead drained and cleaned his bathtub and changed back into his nightclothes, and left his room to check on Grell just to be sure that Cook hadn't done anything terrible to him. After he saw that Grell was sleeping soundly (if a little wet) he went back upstairs to his own bedroom to get some sleep, the bath had not only relaxed him but also made him sleepy, which was a very good thing.

...

William did sleep soundly that night, but it was already so late when he did get to sleep that he was even more tired in the morning than he would have been otherwise. He knew that today was going to be a difficult day, the kind of day where keeping his eyes open was a conscious effort and he drank a week's ration of coffee in a day, it was on days like these that he was more irritable than ever. He washed his face, dressed for that morning, and stood in line for coffee in the cafeteria with Rachael whose voice was pressuring his unwilling ears. It was not only her voice that was annoying him, so were the people in front of him, even his usual coffee container and its knitted "BABA" holder that he held in his hand.

Rachael followed William into his office and without asking why, William sat down in his office chair and took the documents that were waiting for him in his in-tray and began to read them. He wasn't allowed to read past the first sentence though, because by then Rachael began to explain the reason why she was here, which was to discuss the new method for dispatch managers concerning praise and punishment for their dispatchers suggested by the Council. William sighed audibly, the Council was a group of elder shinigami that made all of the decisions for the Ministry, their bodies were as young as any other but their minds were that of old men and women so what did they know about handling young dispatchers? As he was listening to Rachael explain the method and he was looking over his own copy of the suggested method, William tried to imagine using this method on Knox or Grell, the idea was laughable.

And just as Grell entered his mind, Grell entered his office, William looked up from his copy of the method and Rachael stopped speaking and all attention was focused on Grell who stepped forward and suggested in a loud voice that he and William should go to France! William felt a familiar ache that he was certain was an oncoming headache but he did nothing to stop Grell as he approached and sat down in a chair beside Rachael to hand William a brochure. William opened the brochure and it was, as he had expected, a brochure advertising a tour of France. William scoffed, but Grell didn't hear him as he was too busy explaining to William why he wanted to go to France and why William should want to go.

William looked up at Grell again, he saw his pouty lips moving as though he were speaking and heard a noise that resembled his voice, but William couldn't make out the words through the aching of his head that came and went with the beat of his heart. He tried to formulate words and slowly they came to him but he couldn't find room to say them in Grell's verbal assault. When his dispatcher paused for breath William interrupted before he lost his chance, "Grell Sutcliff, do not speak so quickly or so loudly, it is just for that reason I have a headache now." Grell looked at William expectantly and William looked back expressionlessly, the emotion he had felt for the same person last night had since dissipated due to his bad morning and mood.

"If I ever wanted to go on a vacation all I would have to do is take a week off and pack my bags and I would be gone. If you ever wanted to go on a vacation than you wouldn't be able to because you don't work long or hard enough to have the ability to take those days off. If I ever needed a vacation it would probably be because I have been working beyond my limits. If you ever needed a vacation I wouldn't know why because every day is a vacation for you." William opened his desk drawer and put the brochure inside, closing it afterward; he didn't look at Grell but busied himself with his documents. "Maybe another time, Sutcliff, I don't have the energy today." There was a pause and then the sound of someone standing up from a chair and leaving through the office door.

William frowned, staring at the document in front of him but not reading what it said, he didn't feel any better. It was of course not the first time that he had treated Grell that way but he never felt any better afterward, his headache was still present and so was his general bad mood, but if anything had changed, William felt worse.


Rachael wasn't sure whether she should say anything or not, after observing William's scene with Sutcliff she came to a conclusion that he was experiencing some sort of mental or physical pain do to an incident she was unaware of, or a lack of something necessary – like sleep - as she had witnessed him consuming a rather large quantity of coffee servings, and was aware of his strong case of insomnia. It wasn't uncommon that he would act this way sometimes, so she wasn't surprised, if anything she sympathised for the shinigami. Rachael believed that William worked too hard sometimes, it probably would have been better for him if he had taken the day off today to rest. But since he wasn't exactly in the state of mind where he would listen to suggestions right now – she assumed it would be best for him for her to take her leave.

"I apologise if you're not feeling well, Mr. Spears, I suppose we could discuss this at a more appropriate time… Don't worry too much about it; our reviews aren't due until the end of the week." Rachael gave him a small smile and gathered her document, before standing up from her seat and approaching the door. "I'll see you in the cafeteria, goodbye, William." She shut the door softly behind her, leaving William alone in his office – she only hoped it was for the best.

The first thing Rachael noticed when she left William's office was Grell; he was leaning against the wall close to William's door, his left arm at his side holding his doll while his right arm held onto his left. Grell seemed to notice her as well, and looked up in her direction with a rather curious and hopeful expression on his face, which changed to disappointment quickly with realisation before turning away. Rachael frowned at this, she couldn't help but felt sorry for him – William had been rather harsh.

"Do you really think William is going to come after you?" Rachael said softly, she guessed that was why he was standing outside his office, and she couldn't come up with anything else reasonable. Grell shifted uncomfortably, being slow to answer.

"No." He spoke in a soft, straight voice.

"Then… Why do you wait for him…?" Rachael was trying to understand, Grell could be so childlike – he didn't expect William to come, yet he waited for him and hoped that he would, it was like he just didn't understand… Grell remained silent; perhaps he didn't even know. Rachael assumed that she probably wasn't going to get an answer from him, so she decided to change the subject. "I'm surprised you didn't know better, I thought you'd be able to recognise when he's in a bad mood."

"He's always in a bad mood when I'm around, and if not then he's usually uncomfortable." Grell didn't look at Rachael as he spoke; it was almost as if he were speaking to himself. "I wish he could appreciate me, but I get the impression he just thinks I'm useless."

Rachael wondered if William knew about this impression Grell had of him, it was obvious that William was not satisfied with Grell's work – or he wouldn't have said what he did in the office. But even if Grell was not useful in that field to William, Rachael believed that Grell was very useful – or even necessary – for William's happiness. Grell made William think; to such a point where he had to come to her for reassurance. Rachael could even go as far as to say that if it weren't for Grell, William wouldn't be the person that she came to love to this day. She wasn't sure if she had the right to tell that to Grell, though.

"Perhaps you should think about that, Grell. You can't always rely on assumptions and impressions. Until next time, then." With that Rachael went on toward her office, leaving Grell alone as he had been.

Grell didn't think he was useless. Maybe he wasn't as devoted to his work as other shinigami were, he took more breaks than he should, and was easily distracted. But when he actually worked he was probably one of the best dispatchers here, he didn't like working but he was extremely good at it – and that was probably one of the only reasons William even tolerated him. In the beginning of his career he was an impressive dispatcher, he made William very proud – which influenced him to work harder. But over the years as he received less praise, he decreased in motivation, which caused him to feel less inspired. Now William thought he was useless – and Grell wondered often why William even bothered to defend him from being executed or transferred during his Jack the Ripper case – because surely it wasn't for his labour.

But then Grell remembered the words that William had said to him during his apology, when he had returned from the Phantomhive Manor the first time. It made him smile – slightly. His smile grew just a little more as he turned the ring Sebastian had given him last night on his finger. It turned slowly, as it rubbed against his velvet glove, and it gleamed with the sunshine that shined through the windows.

Sebastian – his lover, his knight. Even if the demon claimed their love was not worthy of marriage, this ring was more than enough to prove to him that Sebastian wanted their newly spawned relationship to last. Grell tried not to think about for how long, he often didn't think about the future or the consequences of things – he was the type of person who lived for the moment – it made life interesting, though a lot harder than it probably had to be if he were careful, or planned things out. Grell hadn't even thought about what would happen if William were to find out about Sebastian and him.

...

Grell was in the cafeteria, glumly mixing some sugar into his tea. It was breakfast time for the dispatchers and dispatch-managers at this hour, but Grell had gotten here a bit early as he usually liked doing during scheduled breaks. He stood at one of the serving counters, this one being where you could find seasonings and condiments. Luckily there wasn't anyone else at this counter to bother him, as he wasn't in the best of moods at the moment. Perhaps he had been thinking too much and allowed his mind to wander off and contradict itself with his unsure opinions and views on things, or maybe he was just bored. Either way, he must have appeared unhappy enough to have attracted someone's concern.

"Good morning, Grell." Mary was a sweet shinigami, but not someone Grell knew very well. "You look rather down, would you like a cookie? I baked them myself!"

Grell turned around to look at her; she was smiling while holding out a tray of cookies. Mary would often pass out small treats that she made, cooking must have been a fun hobby for her - it most definitely wasn't something Grell was very good at. He smiled while taking one off the tray. "Sure, thanks." She nodded in response before leaving to ask someone else if they would like to try one.

Caleb entered the cafeteria shortly afterward with Madeline, she had been babbling uselessly about some gossip she heard concerning Lawrence (whoever that was) and repeated contact he has been having with a human. Caleb tried to remain somewhat interested throughout the story but he couldn't bring himself to care much about someone else's business. He couldn't understand why Madeline and every other woman cared to such extents about what happens to people they hardly know, and he was sure the people they gossip about wouldn't appreciate it anymore than he did. He let his mind wander off to the events of last night again, when he had found Grell sleeping in the garden – what it felt like to hold his small body in his arms.

"Are you listening to me, Caleb?" Such a bossy, annoying voice… It brought him out of his previous reminiscences. Why couldn't she at least have a cute, pouty voice? - Like Grell, he had such an alluring voice, the way it was so unique, and so whiney. That creature was too stimulating; he couldn't even compare it to Madeline, though she got so much more attention. He could almost imagine the electrifying noises that voice could produce through those pretty, pouty lips…and how he would take so much pleasure out of influencing them.

"Caleb!" The sting, the burn… Why must she obliterate his thoughts once again?

"What is it now, Madeline?" Caleb spoke with a sigh of defeat.

"Never mind, Caleb! You must be tired, so go have some coffee and stop acting so strange! I'll tell you later." Madeline used her eyes to skim over the cafeteria, as if she were looking for something. She smirked before speaking again. "I'm going to go speak with Walter… You know how he just loves my stories!" She giggled girlishly before retreating quickly, heading in the direction of Brandon, Jacob and Walter – his so called 'friends'. Somehow, Caleb couldn't really bring himself to feel like he enjoyed their company. Sometimes, like now, Caleb felt like his whole social life was false. He didn't love his girlfriend, and he didn't like his friends all that much either – they all just irritated him.

Caleb knew that Madeline had a suspicious liking for Walter, but he couldn't really bring himself to care. Maybe if he was lucky she would break up with him and he would have an excuse to be single for a while, then perhaps he could find a woman who wanted to use him the way he would use her – and they could have a false relationship to fool everyone – maybe he could even have a real friend. This was all wishful thinking, though. But suddenly, he heard another womanly voice to destroy his thoughts

"Good morning, Caleb, how about a cookie? I worked really hard on them!"

It was Mary, another one of those frustrating women, like Madeline. He tried rejecting her offer once a few years ago, and she got so offended that she blew up in his face about it and wouldn't even look at him for months. Caleb didn't like sweets too much, but he also didn't have enough energy to deal with another sensitive female right now. He took one of her cookies unenthusiastically, and watched as she trotted off to go torture someone else with her homemade creation (which really wasn't asbad as Caleb made it sound).

But then something else caught Caleb's eye, it was Grell -he was standing by the condiments counter eating one of Mary's cookies. The way he was eating it, the way he was holding it and biting it – just something about it all was so cute. Caleb felt a sudden urge for something sweet, but only if it was coming out of Grell's mouth. He tossed his cookie aside before approaching the other carefully, making sure that Grell didn't notice him. Once he was close enough he grabbed Grell from behind and lifted him into his arms – he had a ridiculously strong urge to do that, maybe it had something to do with holding him last night.

Caleb loved the sound Grell had made, and the adorable expression of surprise he wore now, but it didn't last long until the initial shock wore off. Grell's expression changed to irritation as he let out a pouty huff and fidgeted uncomfortably (while still holding his cookie with both hands). "Let me down, Cookie!"

Caleb just then realised he was in public, and that he was not going to get away with this if he didn't do something. He noticed Jacob, Brandon, Walter and Madeline all staring at him in horror, and on the spot he thought of something he could do.

"Brandon, catch!" Caleb shouted with a smirk.

"Wait, wha-?" Grell cut himself off with a scream as he was thrown a short distance to Brandon (dropping his cookie in the progress), and was barely caught. The shinigami clung to the other's shirt tightly with surprise, while Jacob and Walter spread out away from Brandon. It was obvious what they were planning on doing now, and Grell was about to bite Brandon to get him to let him go – but was tossed once again towards Jacob before he could get the chance.