News of what happened at Kristopherson's flat spread to the others quickly. Ciel was called first about Daniel, since the Miles needed the number to phone the man's assistant to come remove him from the premises. Then, Ciel told Alois. Of course he did, seeing as though the blonde is his spouse and Kristopherson is his close friend. After this discovery, the menace called his friend later sometime after Daniel had left in order to check and see if the faux-blonde was alright.
What exactly Daniel did had come into light, and the menace was furious. He was furious for Kristopherson's feelings, and he was furious for himself as well. Alois, too, was supernatural. It was a part of himself that he could no longer live without. Yet Daniel had the audacity to treat supernatural beings like ravenous beasts! They are the same to humans. There are good and there are bad. Some of the worst people that Alois had ever met, however, were human! He, like Kristopherson and Logan, was deeply offended by the brunet's actions. The demon was still fuming about it the nezt day.
"I don't want to see him ever again." the menace said as he paced. "He had better not show up Saturday. I'll throttle 'im!"
"Jim, come sit down." his husband said, sitting on the sofa with a magazine in hand. He patted the space next to him, but his spouse was reluctant.
"Why?!"
"You're pacing." Ciel informed, as the blonde had obviously not noticed. Once he did, however, he huffed and walked over to the bluenette, ranting and fuming all the way.
"He's been friends with us for years, and suddenly, we're too scary for him? We're not people anymore?!" the menace raved, plopping down in his seat with folded arms and a scowl. "Fucker."
Looking up from his magazine, Ciel put an arm around the other's shoulders and rested his elbow on the back of the couch while he ran his hand through his husband's hair. He could see that the blonde was genuinely hurt by this. Ciel was as well, but had honestly not counted on Daniel making a comeback like Alois had. The bluenette had expected him to fade away like some friends do.
"Come now, it's alright, dear." he said, setting his magazine on the table. He managed to take one of his spouse's hands in his own. "Judging by the situation, there are more elements at play than what can be seen on the surface."
"Like what?" questioned the blonde. "That Daniel is actually a prick?"
"Well, he always has been somewhat, but that's no the point." the Watchdog replied. "He lost his best friend recently, and I think he really did fancy Kristopherson, but he just wasn't mature enough for a relationship yet."
"So you're saying he said that shit because he was stressed?"
"Possibly. Not everyone can be as lucky as me." Ciel smiled softly before pausing to press his lips to the back of his husband's hand, causing the man to finally grin and utter a giggle.
"I can see that..." Alois conceded. "That doesn't justify what he said."
"No, not at all. I agree with you. That was just a last-ditch effort to push the blame away from himself and avoid the problem. It didn't work, either."
"But what if he actually meant it?" Alois inquired. "What if he sees us as… freaks."
Ciel didn't have an answer right away. In fact, he didn't really have an answer at all. He didn't know what Daniel's intentions were, nor could he read his heart. He had no way of telling how the Westley really felt, and he wouldn't lie to the menace.
"Then that's his loss." the Watchdog replied.
"Yeah… I'm just… Sad..."
"That's alright. It's perfectly acceptable to feel upset in a situation like this."
"I know… I just feel silly, y'know?" said Alois. "I want to cry over somebody that might not even deserve it. Isn't that silly?"
"No, it's not silly at all. You feel like you've lost a friend you've had for years. It's perfectly reasonable to feel upset."
"You don't seem all that flustered..."
"I wasn't as close to Daniel as you were, and… Well… It sort of feels like I've faded away from the other's since school…"
"You're still really good friends with Travis, Audrey, and Kristopherson, aren't you?" questioned the menace.
"Well… Yes." nodded the Watchdog, seeming to be surprised at the idea. "Yes. I suppose I am."
"You didn't think that you were still friends?"
"Well… It isn't as though we spend lots of time together on a non-professional basis."
"Do you want to?"
"I think it would be nice on occasion, maybe."
"Then why don't you arrange it?"
Ciel thought for a moment. It really was that simple, but he really didn't know how to arrange a meeting that was not formal. Usually, he has a script in his head that he must follow for arranging meetings, which he ends as soon as the conversation turns to smalltalk. He is a business-oriented fellow, and was still ignorant to many forms of social conduct. Learning how to ask friends if they would like to hang out together was a skill he had yet to learn. Admitting to that, however, was a difficult task as well.
"I..." began the Watchdog, struggling to find a way to explain his problem in the least embarrassing way possible. "How do you even do that without sounding awkward?" he asked. "'Hello, it's Ciel. Would you like to hang out this weekend? Fantastic. See you there.' It sounds weird."
"That's exactly how you do it, though." chuckled the menace, delighted that he was graced with the sight of Ciel's socially awkward tendencies. "How else would you do it?"
"I don't know..." Ciel replied. "I thought you would know. It sounds better when you do it."
"Why's that? I only do what you just said!"
"Because you're you and I'm me." stated the bluenette. "It would sound strange for someone as… well, stiff as me to ask someone on an adult playdate."
"Why? You do that with me pretty regularly!" grinned the blonde.
"You're different."
"Talk to your friends, Ciel." Alois stated. "They won't bite. The most you'll get is a 'oh, that day doesn't work for me, how about this day instead?' or, worst case scenario: 'I don't really feel like it right now.' It's not a big deal."
"What if the reason is that I'm too boring, though? I'm not the most exciting of people..."
"Ciel, you are a secret agent who works for a shadow government in order to combat terrorists and supernatural threats. It's impossible for you to be 'boring'."
"But I don't really do anything outside of that… I'm always just waiting for the next mission."
"Well… Maybe you need to find a hobby? I'm sure that you're good at something."
"Like what?"
"I don't know. You could take up painting, or build a model, or… Come to think of it… I kind of do the same thing..."
"Are we boring?" questioned Ciel.
"I don't think so." answered his beau. "I think our personalities make up for it. I mean, who has time for going and doing things when there's always some fucker killing people? I'm a college student. I know it's difficult to take a class when you're on call."
"I can usually take care of it if you're busy, though."
"Yeah, but do you know how cool it feels to be called out of class for 'official business'? It's a delight."
"So you're lazy, then."
"I spent an entire month trying to find and resue your ass when you got kidnapped before. I think I deserve a little credit."
"You're never gonna let that go, are you?" the Watchdog inquired with a grin. He already knew the answer, but liked seeing the menace acting so proud.
"Nope." Alois bluntly stated. "Not until you rescue me, and if things go well, that won't happen."
"What about the BlackJack incident?"
"Fuck you, I saved myself. You just helped." the menace quipped, causing the other to laugh. "I'm a full-time badass. I deserve a little time for some Netflix and chill."
There was a moment where the bluenette was quiet. The look on his face changed, giving the impression that he was quite impressed with whatever it was his mind had concocted. Without missing a beat, he replied.
"Of course. Otherwise all you would ever do is Netflix and kill."
Indeed, Ciel was more than pleased with the expression on his husband's face. It was a mixture of shock, awe, amusement, and disgust. Most of all, however, he was upset with himself for not coming up with the joke first, but the fact that it was the stoic Ciel who said it tickled him too much for him to dwell on it. Regardless, he playfully pushed on the other's shoulder as retaliation.
"You shithead!" he declared, almost offended by his beau's jest.
"What?" Ciel innocently questioned, almost batting his eyelashes as he grinned from ear to ear. "Did that upset you?"
"I am disgusted." playfully answered the blonde. "How dare you make me hear that with my own ears?"
"Because I knew that you would love it." laughed the Watchdog, leaning forward to kiss the other's cheeks while the man desperately tried not to giggle to further his facade.
"I hate you."
"I love you too, darling."
With a huff, the blonde realised that he didn't have a comeback, so he simply sat with the bluenette while pouting. He did lean on the other man and read the magazine he was looking at with him, occasionally uttering an "I wasn't done" or a "what's that?" The pair sat like this for a while until the menace decided that he wanted to find something for himself, so he instead got up and began looking at the books on the many shelves of the study.
It was were all of the semi-accurate supernatural books were kept and books relating to detective work and solving ciphers were as well. He eventually found his friend Travis' book on werewolves and was about to reread it, but the phone rang, forcing him to put his plans on hold. Fortunately, he found the drama that came next a lot more interesting.
"Phantomhives' office, this is Alois." he answered, smiling a bit as he recognised the voice. "Oh, hello Mister Westley~! How are you this fine day?"
Mister Westley, however, was not as amused as Alois was, and was certainly not in the mood to be messed with. Alas, that is what would happen when talking to a Phantomhive demon.
"Where is the other one?" demanded Westley.
"Other what?"
"The other demon!" barked the politician.
"Which one? There's like, three over here, not counting myself." Alois helpful replied, but the man on the other end of the line did not think so.
"The blue blood." Westley hissed as the blonde tried not to laugh.
"Well, I'm not sure what that means, since most blood is blue until it hits the air, but I can let you talk to my partner, if you want. He has blue hair."
"Give him the phone!"
Alois held the phone away from his ear and giggled with his hand over his mouth. He could still hear the older man roar on the other end of the line despite the distance he made. Mister Westley must be very peeved if it was that easy to set him off. Ordinarily, Alois would have gotten to play with him much longer than this. Alas, the man was left with no choice but to hand over the phone to his spouse.
"It's for you." he grinned at the bluenette, who had been staring at him confusedly throughout the exchange. Ciel assumed that it was someone who Alois wasn't fond of, but that could be any number of people. Standing up, the Watchdog walked over to his husband and took the phone, watching as his beau sat down in the chair behind his desk, leaving him standing.
"Phantomhive." Ciel answered, suddenly realising why the blonde was so eager to annoy once he heard the voice on the other end of the phone.
"It's Westley." the politician said, prompting the Phantomhive to roll his eye. "I've been told that you went looking for the number of one of my assistants last night."
"Yes." replied the bluenette. "Is there an issue?"
"I want to know why."
"Your son was in a bit of a pickle last night, and he needed someone to go get him." Ciel bluntly explained. "He was drunk, his phone died, and his wallet was stolen. Not to mention, he caused a bit of trouble with some anti-supernatural remarks before passing out. We called a mister… Blackwater? Blackwood? Blackwood. We called a mister Blackwood to take care of him."
"How did you really acquire that number?" mister Westley pried. "I get a call informing me that someone has been digging around my files, and then I find out that you're pilfering phone numbers? What are you really up to?"
"Files?" the Watchdog echoed, knowing full well what the man meant. Indeed, Ciel had been digging through Westley's information in order to gain some sort of intel on Daniel's wellbeing. In the end, the politician's data proved useless in this pursuit, so the Phantomhive left everything where it was. Still, it was possible for his staff to detect him snooping. Regardless of this truth, the Watchdog would admit to nothing.
"I don't have any use for your files." Ciel told the truth. That was, however, the extent of his truth-telling. "I don't know who would want them, either. A competitor, maybe? I'm not sure why me asking a staff member of yours that I needed a phone number so your son could get home somehow means that I'm up to something nefarious."
"You're always up to something nefarious! That's what demons do, isn't it?!" Barked Mister Westley, not buying it for a single second.
"No. Not always. I was just having a nice, quiet day in until you called." answered the bluenette. "I haven't been given a job yet, so there's really no need for me to do anything shady. Until then, I'm just an ordinary business and family man."
"Who just so happens to be working for Satan, right?"
"That's not a very nice thing to call the Round Table. There's some really nice people amoung you. If you don't like the job, however, I can certainly inform your coworkers."
"You wouldn't dare..."
"I might mention it. Two of my distant cousins are on the council, after all. We're quite close."
Mister Westley cleared his throat, obviously uncomfortable with the sequence of events, much to the amusement of the demons. He was easy to rile up, but he was just as easy to shut down, at the same time. Quickly, he tried to change the subject, going back to his original concerns.
"So you did not go through my files, you're saying?" he questioned, unable to see the devil's grin.
"I solemnly swear." replied the Watchdog with all finality. "Is that all you needed from me?"
"Well..." No, that wasn't the case, but now the other man was hesitant to ask. "You wouldn't happen to know what happened to that assistant, would you?" Needless to say, the question caught the bluenette off guard.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"He's not here." Mister Westley explained. "He's supposed to be at work right now, but he isn't. He hasn't answered his phone, and no one really knows where he is."
"I'm afraid I don't know."
That was concerning. Did something happen to Blackwood? If that was the case, the where was Daniel? If he was in Blackwood's custody, and Blackwood vanished, then did Daniel go with him? As a homicide detective, all of these questions appeared in the Phantomhive's thoughts at the news, prompting him to want to investigate.
"Oh..." Mister Westley sounded disappointed. The news of his son getting into trouble didn't seem to phase him, but a simple assistant did? That was strange. It wasn't Ciel's concern, however. "I guess I'll just keep trying to reach him. Goodbye."
"Goodbye." With that, Ciel hung up and looked to his spouse, who had been listening in the entire time. "Did you get all of that?"
"Part of it." replied the blonde, twiddling his thumbs. "Assistant guy is missing?"
"Yeah..."
"Think Daniel might be with him?"
"It's possible..."
"Wanna know how you know?" asked the menace, piquing the other's interest. "You call Daniel's house instead. That way, you know if he made it home okay. That is, unless he's to hungover to get to the phone."
"Good plan." Ciel replied. "I don't want to be the one to call, however."
"Neither to I. Wanna know how we settle this?"
"How?"
"Rock, paper, scissors."
