The next morning, Alois was abruptly awakened by not the sound of his alarm, but the sound of his cellphone going off. He groaned and rolled over, wrapping his arms around the bluenette nestled at his side while attempting to ignore the device until it stopped ringing. Since the blonde didn't have class until later, that day, he was most certainly not going to get up.

His beau, however, had other ideas, rolling his eyes at the Macken's silly actions. With a small grunt, he propped himself up on his elbow and reached over the other man to pick the phone up off of the blonde's nightstand. Ciel laid back down on his back, allowing the menace to continue to cuddle while he put his beau's phone up to his ear.

"Hello, Michael." Greeted the bluenette, much to the confusion of his human coworker.

"Phantomhive? I'm sorry, I thought this was Macken's number." Detective Bailey answered on the other end.

"It is. He's just being difficult, and refused to get up and answer it." Ciel replied with a chuckle. "What do you need?"

"Detective Macken told me to identify the owner of a phone-number he gave me…"

"The one who was messaging Baxter?" inquired the watchdog, lazily playing with his beau's hair. Alois had told him what he had accomplished when he returned home the previous afternoon. "Did you find it?"

"Yes, and get this; it belongs to Dinsdale's husband!" Michael said. "We have him in custody, and went through his text messages to confirm. We're still looking for a motive, however."

"Good work. I'll tell Jim when he wakes up. He might be able to figure something out."

"Yeah… Good luck with that…" the human said in an uncertain voice. The bluenette furrowed his brow in confusion before hanging up and leaning over again to place the mobile phone back where he found it. Ciel laid back down and looked over at his boyfriend.

"Alright, what did you do to Bailey?" he asked, causing the blonde to smile without opening his eyes.

"He said he wouldn't let me just take Dinsdale's phone because it was 'against the rules'." Alois replied. He let out a sigh and nuzzled the Phantomhive before continuing. "So I told him that he needs to quit if he can't do what it takes to catch a murderer."

"How cruel." the watchdog mused. "I wish I could have seen that."

"Mm-hm…" hummed Alois as he proceeded to make himself comfortable again. Unfortunately, he was forced to stir his partner chuckled.

"Well, you certainly don't seem very bothered." Ciel pointed out.

"Are you suggesting that I should give up my soft, comfy warm-spot so I can solve a murder?"

"It's already been solved; all but a motive. Probably nothing an interrogation won't fix. You can do that after school, can't you?"

"Sure. So who done it?"

"The number you gave Bailey belonged to Dinsdale's husband." The bluenette stated. "He was most likely an accomplice, so it's best to interview both of them. Preferably separately."

"Consider it done." Alois replied. Blindly, he reached to pull the covers back over them both. "When should you be getting up to work on your party-thingy?"

"Just whenever. I normally get up around the same time you do, don't I?"

"I forgot."

"Are you really sleepy, or are you just cuddling?"

"You love my cuddles, and you know it." The blonde said, smiling as his beau chuckled.

"I suppose you're right." Ciel answered, pecking the forehead of the menace. He paused as he walked himself through what all needed to be done that day. As he did so, a thought occurred to him.

"By the way, your birthday is in a few weeks." The Phantomhive said. "Is there anything you want? Don't say 'nothing', or 'you've already given me anything', either." The blonde laughed at the bluenette's added terms and conditions.

"I dunno…" he answered. "Maybe a datenight that doesn't end in terrorist activity?"

"Consider it done." Replied the watchdog, imitating the menace from earlier. It forced the blonde to giggle and finally open his eyes. He only laughed harder when he saw the bluenette's face. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing." Alois stated. "It's just, how in blazes did we go from trying to kill each other to talking in bed like a married couple?" The face of his beau heated up from the question.

"I don't know…" Ciel quickly said, embarrassed by the prospect of becoming the blonde's husband, and even more embarrassed by the fact that he somewhat like the idea. "Time changes things, I guess?"

"Mhm. I feel kind of bad for Revy, though. He still has the thread that sewed me up after you stabbed me."

"Sorry…"

"It's in the past. Water under the bridge. I trust you, now." Spoke the Macken. He paused for a moment too examine the other man's features.

"God, you're so gorgeous." He said absent-mindedly. It wasn't intentional, but he was amused all the same when the Phantomhive's face turned red.

"I am not." Ciel declared. While he was pleased with the other's flattery, he didn't believe it.

"You are, though!" insisted his boyfriend. The Macken propped himself on his elbows and hovered over the other man. "You'd belong in a gallery if you wouldn't run away!"

"Charming. Are you awake, now? If so, then why don't we get to wo-oof!" The Phantomhive uttered a small grunt when Alois plopped down on top of him.

"I don't wanna!" whined the fair-haired demon.

"Can you at least get off of me?"

"Why? Does it make you uncomfortable?"

"A little."

"Then no." A yelp escaped the blonde's lips as he was flipped over on his back with the other on top of him. Ciel peered down at the younger demon and smiled.

"We both have work to do." Ciel said. "You and I both know that we can't simply stay in bed all day."

"Not even a few more minutes?"

"If I know you- and I do- 'minutes' will quickly become 'hours', and nothing will get done."

"Fine…" grumbled the menace. "Do I at least get my 'good morning' kiss?" Alois asked, prompting the bluenette to lean down and press their lips together.

"Now get up." The Phantomhive instructed, moving to get off of his beau. Much to his pleasure, he didn't even have to look to know that a pout had appeared on the other demon's face.

Sure enough, hours soon passed, and by this time, both men were at work; or rather, one of them was, while the other simply lazed about on the sofa until it was time for him to leave for school. Even though he was fully dressed and ready to go, it appeared as though the blonde were still sleeping. It only made Ciel roll his eyes as he attempted to organise the sort of products that he wanted to showcase at the anniversary party. Papers were scattered all over his desk with the designs of all of the toys, candies, and perfumes that FUNTOM had come out with in the past year. There were samples in boxes on the floor, which he really needed to have started on, but the thought of opening the perfume box made him feel nauseous. In all honesty, if it weren't such good publicity for his business, Ciel would have skipped the venture entirely.

It took some time, but he eventually got the toys sorted out, but was not yet brave enough to venture toward perfume. Ciel wondered if he could get Luka's help with the candy, as Sebastian was somewhat more than useless in the field of tasting and savouring human food. Thus, he moved onto his next task, which was invitations. In a way, it was the most important part. Everyone he invited would either be a current, or potential business partner, as well as big celebrities to boost the spotlight on the event. Balancing business and publicity was the entire point.

While profitable, the cast of Devil Butler was completely out, as he knew too many of them. Likewise, Code: Zero was an impossibility as well. Perhaps he could venture out into United States territory. He had to invite the head of the branches in other countries, anyway.

As for business partners, he wanted to try and work with SOMA electronics, but that wasn't wise, either, especially given the condition of the owner's son. Preston was still with the H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G. research department. It had been almost a full month since his admission, and the Omid still hasn't woken up. Ciel and Alois were the only members of the seven permitted to see him in his current state. There was a large, blackened gash across his torso where the annie had clawed him, along with scars in the shape of the symbols that Dafydd had carved as first-aid. Since then, more symbols have been added in the form of tattoos, similar to those that were often worn by H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G. soldiers to ward of diabolic energies.

A sigh escaped the bluenette at the thought. Things had been absurdly normal for him since the Black Annis incident. His friends from Warwick weren't as well off. Then again, some of the emotional problems seemed to just be from experience with these sort of gruesome happenings.

Audrey and Travis were the only others doing well, along with Alois. The reaper boy had resumed his job at H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G; and the Sullivan gentleman had focused his energy in keeping everyone together, as well as his schoolwork. It was remarkable how talkative Travis had been. He said that he wanted to become an author, like his mother, but his material wouldn't be that of romance. Instead, he had been talking with the bluenette about basing stories from the Phantomhive's past exploits, to which the watchdog agreed. There was no way the Ciel was going to crush Travis' unusually excitable self.

Quickly, the Phantomhive snapped out of his thoughts for a moment to focus on the task at hand, only to lay eyes on the menace again. To think that the man who was somehow miraculously finding a way to sleep on the study's absurdly uncomfortable couches at the moment had tracked Ciel down and successfully led a rescue mission to retrieve him. Thinking back to the question Alois asked that morning, Ciel did wonder how on earth they went from brutal adversaries to being hopelessly in love. Perhaps it was the same way that Alois had gone from a frightened, somewhat broken teen, to a powerful and bold detective who simply oozed charisma and confidence. The very thought caused the bluenette's heart to tremble.

He looked at the clock before looking back to the blonde menace. "Jim, it's almost time for you to go."

"Ugh…" Alois groaned, slowly forcing himself to sit up. He sat for a few moments before standing, almost losing balance when he stopped to stretch. "School is gross."

"But the sooner you get off school, the sooner you get to solve murder." The watchdog pointed out, prompting a groggy laugh from the other man.

"I do like solving murders…" the blonde mused. Sneakers thunked against the wooden floor as he walked over to the bluenette and bent down to wrap his arms around the seated man's neck. "Can't I just cut class and skip straight to the murder?"

"What happened to wanting to 'catch up' with me?" Ciel asked. "You're the one who wanted to pursue a degree even though you already have the job."

"You're going to outclass me even if I get one, 'Senior Detective Constable Sir Doctor Ciel Phantomhive'."

"Not if you actually spent the time and energy in order to get a similar title."

"Ugh…" the blonde groaned, burying his face in the other man's hair. "That'll take forever."

"Good thing you have forever to spend." His beau replied. "Go on. Go to school and solve a murder like I know you can. Unless, of course, you aren't the same person who I was so proud of during the Black Annis raid."

Alois' cheeks heated up at the statement and he pulled back. "You… you were proud of me?"

"Of course. My beloved Jim Macken had done what he does best, and promptly gave adversity the finger. I love that." Ciel stated as he reached up and held the other man's chin between his index finger and thumb. Then, he proceeded to kiss his beau.

"Now get the hell out of my office." He said with a grin as he pulled away. Alois furrowed his brow and pouted, his face pink.

"Fine! I will!" the blonde said in feigned exasperation. He spun as he made his way toward the door, plucking his backpack up off of the ground in the process. "I know when I'm not wanted!"

"Get the degree. Solve the murder. Come back to me in one piece." Instructed Ciel. In response, the Macken only stuck out his tongue in the bluenette's direction before leaving and closing the door behind him.


A/N: I feel like these chapters are getting kind of repetitive, but I'm having trouble displaying the necessary information for the scene without giving you a chapter that's only like, 300 words long.

That will change very soon, I promise.

UGH.

These two are like, practically married, solving crime in a weirdly, almost domestic way.

"Bye, honey, have a nice day at work!"

Anyways, Questions?

"For HateWeasel-senpai: How does it feel to know that DLTD/DLTP is like it's own little fandom?" by GracieSutcliff1124

Pretty neat. I really like making people excited with this drivel. Talking about it is super-fun and helps me think a lot better.

I used to actually have all of the fanart in a file, and set my wallpaper to cycle through it every few minutes before I switched computers and lost them all. I am disappoint.

Until the next chapter, my duckies~!