Ciel discarded his stained clothes and stood in the shower, scrubbing the blood off of himself. He had left taking care of notifying Sebastian of the state of the garden and household to Alois, sending the man a text message before examining the damage, himself. He wore his coat, as the rooms with broken windows were sealed off to keep in the heat, and both demons would be covering the windows with tarp as soon as Ciel was presentable. The blonde was wandering around inside, making sure nothing that could be damaged was in a place dangerous for it.
He was rather unpleased with how this turned out. Not only was his house in shambles and there were bodies in his garden, he had to work with Ciel, which would have been awkward enough before. Now, it was worsened, as the Watchdog had shouted loud enough during his fight with Thaddeus to be heard by the menace. Every declaration of his feelings was witnessed by Alois, along with every single act of violence Ciel inflicted.
Alois didn't know if someone who would tear a hole in someone's chest out of rage was a suitable spouse, even if he did it because Thaddeus was somehow involved. That part was not known for certain by the menace, as he did not hear what exactly had happened. That only made him more skeptical of Ciel's intentions. He was supposed to be married to this man, who was full of secrets and violent. Although Ciel had good points, that was seriously concerning.
A long sigh escaped him as he spotted a body amoung the broken glass by the window in their shared office. It was obvious that the carpet would need replacing. There was no need for the menace to actually look, as it was obvious by the drying stain that peeked out from underneath the corpse. Although he really didn't want to touch it, the menace lifted the body and tossed it out of the window and into the garden. There was no need in having that inside. He didn't want it in his house.
"His house." That thought bothered Alois, as it was so ingrained in his mind that he had shared ownership of the property with the bluenette. It was also why he was so concerned about cleaning up. It was partially his responsibility. He further examined the damage to the carpet by crouching down. The carpet was bad enough, but if the blood had soaked down to the floor, he would really have a problem.
It was massive and it was dark. It was still wet, too. There was no doubt in his mind that the floor was stained as well. Curses. This was going to be an absolutely terrible week, as he now had to work with Ciel even more.
Amoung the broken glass was a book that was surely going to be damaged as well if it was left out like this. In fact, most books in this room weren't safe. If it rained, they would be in trouble. With a grunt, he reached over and picked it up, shaking off the shards of glass that dusted it. Standing up, he set the book on the desk and was about to rummage through it, only to turn it over to see the cover.
"Our Wedding" was all that it said along with the date "26/7/2015". There were no images. There was just that. It was pretty self explanatory as to what the book contained. It was simply a wedding album. It was sad, really. They hadn't even had their first anniversary yet, and their marriage was already in trouble.
Alois was hesitant in opening it. He was afraid of what he might see. Would they be happy? Would they be lukewarm? He didn't know, but needed to. It was something that he couldn't go on without seeing, now that he knew it was here. It was all here.
Slowly, the blonde reached out to open the book with a shaking hand. He was afraid, but he had to do this. Taking a deep breath, he opened it abruptly so he didn't have another second to second-guess himself, only to see the image that he had wanted to see for the past month.
It was Ciel and Alois in a warm embrace, smiling wider than he thought possible. Even the bluenette did, showing Alois the smile that he wanted to see at long last. It was sincere, coming from the very bottom of the Watchdog's heart with the warmth of the sun, and it was because of Alois. Ciel was happy in the image and he was happy to be with Alois. There were many pictures like this with the two of them tangled together. Turning the page, he found more.
There was the two of them united together, smiling at the camera surrounded by friends and family. Luka and Revy were there along with Sebastian, Integra, Elizabeth, and the Midfords. Their friends were there as well. There was Kristopherson while he was still human, then Daniel, and then Travis along with Patricia. Audrey wasn't in the picture, but was in the photo beneath it. He held the camera and pointed it at himself, as he was the photographer for the event. Various members of H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G. were there as well, along with Seras next to Integra. The Garous were in the image as well.
In a photo taken of the audience, there were more. Captain Harland was there, who as Alois recalled, was up for promotion to "Major" soon. She was there with the rest of her team, all of them wearing their formal uniforms, and quite a few of them crying. There were citizens of Gehenna there as well, all happy for them. Truly, it seemed as though they were the "power couple" of Gehenna.
More importantly to Alois, however, were the pictures of himself and the bluenette. There were pictures of them at the altar saying their vows. He could feel his face growing hot and his eyes beginning to water, but hardly paid it any mind. Unbeknownst to himself, he matched himself in the image quite well, as he shamelessly cried at his own wedding. The tears were happy, however, as he was enamored with his spouse to be, and was elated to be officially joined with the menace. His heart pounded and he could feel Ciel's equally anxious pulse through their joined hands. Closing his eyes, he could hear the words that Ciel said, his deep voice softly causing chills to run down his spine like electricity. They had danced. Alois felt safe in his arms and could not get over the feeling of anxiousness in his chest as butterflies fluttered in his stomach. Even his husband was overwhelmed, babbling on about how Alois made him feel with wet eyes.
Indeed, Ciel loved him and loved him with everything he had. The loss of his spouse was something the Watchdog absolutely could not accept. Alois understood, now. Ciel was a man for whom revenge was second nature. That's how they met, after all. Ciel would never take kindly to anyone who would hurt his family. He would never let them go. It was true, no one was safe from this wrath, not even the Royal family, as he had struck them before for a prior indiscretion. This wasn't even the first time that Ciel had ached for Alois, either. That man had gone as far as to fight a dragon for his blonde at one point. In fact, that was the first time that the menace had seen Ciel shed a tear.
Ciel was not cold. He felt deeply for Alois and would express it in any way possible. Fighting for him was simply one of them. As a fellow assassin, the menace could understand that. He could understand Ciel's actions, too. As memory serves, Ciel is the type to do all of this for Alois' sake. He wasn't confident enough to try and flirt with him in this state. He was hardly confident enough to flirt with him when they first started dating the first time. Sometimes, he did things that seemed distant until they talked about it and came to a reasonable compromise. In fact, it was Alois who taught the Watchdog how.
Memory after memory came pouring in and Alois could recall struggle with the other man, but even more so, he could recall getting through these troubles together. They were a team and their relationship reflected that. Alois made Ciel happy and Ciel made Alois happy. Ciel would try to bring happiness into the blonde's life with all of his power, sweeping him off his feet and being there when he needed him. While Alois didn't fully understand what Ciel was doing now, he knew that he trusted him.
Sniffling, he reached up and wiped his eyes with his sleeve before looking down at the book again. It was important to him. He needed to look at it further. Closing it, he picked it up and cradled it close to his chest before leaving, shutting the door behind him.
Swiftly, he made his way to his temporary bedroom. Thank goodness, his windows were still intact. Carefully, he set the book down and took off his coat. He then sat in the center of his bed with the book in his lap, thumbing through it and staring at each page for ages.
An almost dreamy expression graced his face as he recalled the day it documented. Part of him thought that he gave up his fight too easily, but the rest didn't care. He had his memory back. He remembered his spouse. He remembered loving him and being loved by him. It wasn't as though he had to learn how once again. All of it was already there.
Alois stayed like this for almost an hour, only getting through half the book before he was forced to stop. The sound of crashing was heard, startling him from his daze. It came from down the hall, prompting him to go and investigate. Thoughtlessly, he brought the book with him, unable to let it go just yet. He moved with great urgency before stopping in front of the office once more.
Violently, his heart raced as he sensed Ciel on the other side, pacing back and forth. He was nervous, knowing what he did now. It wasn't because of his relation to Ciel, but rather, how he would react to him being mostly restored. He worried. He didn't know how the bluenette could possibly forgive him for forgetting something so important. Ciel was a good man, but he definitely had his limits.
He couldn't think about it anymore. The door opened. He was spotted. Ciel stood in the doorway, fresh out of the shower but breathing heavily like he had been working extensively. The man's eye widened when he saw the item in Alois' grip.
"Oh… You had it..." the bluenette said sheepishly. "So… I guess you know, now, right?"
Instead of an answer, Ciel was alerted by the sound of the book dropping to the floor, followed by arms around his middle, practically squeezing the life out of him. He stood there, frozen in shock as the menace buried his face in his shoulder. Dumbstruck, he didn't know what to do with his hands as he held them out, tempted to hug the other back but uncertain as to whether or not it was appropriate.
"Aloi-?"
"Call me my name." insisted the menace, his words muffled by the fabric of Ciel's shirt. Taking a deep breath, his spouse tried his best to calm his nerves.
"Are you okay, Jim?" Ciel asked, only to have the other shake his head.
"I'm sorry..." Alois stated. "I'm so, so, sorry, Ciel… I didn't mean to forget… I remember, now… I'm so sorry..."
Hesitantly, the other gently put his hands on the other's back. "It wasn't your fault." he said. "I'm not mad at you at all." It was a while before he got an answer.
"You aren't hugging back, though..." the menace sniffled, unaware of the urgent change in his husband's expression, but fully aware of how the bluenette squeezed him. It was tight as it was firm, causing the man to let out a surprised "oof!"
"Better?" bashfully asked the Watchdog.
"Better."
Silence ensued as the pair stood like this for quite some time. Both of them wanted to know where they stand, but were uncertain as to how to ask. Unable to handle this for any longer, Ciel made a bold move and put the question out first.
"So… Where are we?"
"Huh?"
"Are we… Are we okay?" he clarified. "Us?"
"I want us to be." Alois stated. "I want to be with you, again. I remember us. It's weird… I remember us being perfectly fine and happy, but then I still have memory of this last month, too…"
"So… Your memory is back?"
"Yeah… There's still a few minor details missing, but I remember the important parts." Pushing on the Watchdog's shoulders, he pulled back so he could look at him. He watched as the other man's eyes fell closed at his head being gently held in the blonde's hands, unable to resist the calming motion of Alois stroking his cheek with his thumb. "I remember that I love you."
The menace was startled as his husband's eye snapped open at his words, only to smile as the other pulled him close again. Ciel pressed his face into blonde locks, kissing his spouse's head the way he had wanted to for weeks. "I love you, too." he said. "I couldn't stop if I tried."
"Well, neither could I, apparently." admitted the menace. "Even while I couldn't remember much, I still kind of had a bit of a crush on you."
"Oh, really?" Ciel asked, smiling as he pulled away to look at the other in the eyes.
"Yeah. Kind of reminds me of when we were in school and I started catching feelings for you." As Alois spoke, more kisses were being placed on his cheeks. Taking a deep breath, he tried to blink back tears, but they still came, running down his cheeks and forcing the other to stop.
"What's wrong?" questioned the bluenette, instinctively reaching up to wipe away the tears, but not making much progress as they still came. He looked on with concern as his beloved shook his head, hesitating before answering.
"I'm sorry..." Alois said. "It's just… I don't understand how you can still love me after this..." He tried his best to keep his composure, but his voice cracked and strained as he tried to find his words. "I hurt you so much… I completely forgot about you! Can we really just… go back to normal?"
"Why can't we?" his beau inquired. "I still love you, just the same. I loved you even when you forgot me, and I love you now. None of this was your fault."
Moments passed where the blonde tried to think of what to say in response. He felt hesitant. There was no way it could be so simple. Nothing in life was. There was always a catch.
Icy blue eyes darted upward when he felt his chin being tilted upward to meet the other's gaze. Gently, the Watchdog planted a kiss on Alois' cheek before pulling away to address him. "I missed you." he said, his voice soft and hushed. "I wanted you so much that I hardly knew what to do with myself. Most of the time I spent upset was worrying about what I was going to do without you. I think you're right, though. We need to talk about how we feel."
Nodding, the blonde replied: "That sounds reasonable."
"We should probably go somewhere else, though. How is the frontroom to our quarters."
"'Our'?" Alois questioned.
"Our." nodded his beau with absolute certainty. With his arm around the other man's shoulders, he began to walk down the hallway. "Let's go."
"O-okay..." It was hard for the menace to walk while leaning against his spouse, but he couldn't help it. He wanted to cling to Ciel for a while longer at the very least.
"I want us to stay together." Ciel admitted, talking while on the way.
"So do I."
"That's good. We agree."
"I want us to go back to normal."
"As do I."
"Can we?" questioned the menace, looking up at the other.
"I don't see why not."
"I don't want us to be distant."
"Neither do I." Ciel stated, hesitating before he asked what he did next. "Can we… Bloody hell, it sounds creepy to ask this…"
"What is it?"
"Can… Can I kiss you?" bashfully questioned the bluenette. "I'm sorry, it's just- It's hard not to for so long..."
"You don't have to ask. Just kiss me!"
"Well, I didn't want to scare you off or anything..."
"You're still not kissing me..."
Abruptly, Ciel stopped and the blonde stopped with him. His face was red at how awkward he came across, having hoped that their first kiss upon reuniting would be more romantic. Glancing to the side, he saw his husband staring at him expectantly before he finally had the nerve to face the man. Having been on the menace's bad side for the past month, he really didn't want to move too fast or do anything to upset the man, but when Alois' eyes fluttered shut and he tilted his chin, he almost fainted.
Slowly, the Watchdog moved forward, closing his eyes as his hand reached up to caress his beloved's face. Gently, carefully, their lips met as Ciel did his best to keep himself in check. It became progressively more difficult as the other man's arms looped around his neck, inviting him closer. Ciel did just that, holding Alois close and moving further into the kiss. He would not be satisfied with just any kiss, however, and fortunately for him, neither would Alois. As emotions ran high, the two of them moved to where the blonde's back was up against the wall, but neither of them paid the slightest bit of notice as they continued their actions. Occasionally, Ciel would move away and place kisses on the menace's cheeks and temple, only to be guided back to his lips by the blonde himself.
Unfortunately, all good things must come in moderation. Thus, they did eventually have to part, but when they did, they didn't separate. Instead, Alois let out a laugh as he was picked up by his husband and carried to their room. They really would talk about what was going to happen next and about how they felt about the situation. They also needed to talk about the state of their home, but there was a major victory, here, regardless. They finally said the words that they most needed to hear, and that was good enough.
A/N: 5 a.m. again. I am dying. My sleep schedule is destroyed.
I'm really disappointed in this. I wanted it to be better, but I just couldn't drag this arc out any longer. I was seriously beginning to lose interest, as horrible as it is. There are only so many ways to write "Everything is horrible. Everyone is sad." As much as I love horrible shit, I can only stand so much of it.
Which actually brings me to a really kind of important review I received:
"Can you make it so that the good guys don't win all the time? It's becoming predictable because for every major problem, the ending is either the good guys win or it leads to the next problem. thx." by moofish
I am not good at drawing out terrible shit. True facts. I'm also not good at making the good guys lose, because oftentimes, "losing" results in death for our duo, and that can kind of interfere with there being a story. In addition, it's difficult to come up with endings that don't just lead into the next problem. Bad guys cause problems. It's what they do. Let them get away, and they make an even bigger mess!
But in all seriousness, that is a very good point. I do kind of make the good guys win all the time, and it is pretty repetitive. I'm really not good with that kind of story. It's more difficult to write and truthfully, it's not a genre I particularly enjoy. I want to make more situations where they don't really win just because it's more interesting to have that variation and is just more realistic. Now, how I'm going to do that exactly, is another question... I'll have to think about it a lot more and fabricate more complicated situations to suit it.
The closest I can get is these sort of "bittersweet" endings that occasionally pop up. Like Ciel rescuing Alois and getting rid of most of the Scarlet Order, but at the expense of killing Preston, as well as there still being some Scarlet Order operatives still out there. Or Kristopherson and Daniel settling their issues, but at the expense of breaking up. There's always another problem. This is how things have evolved thus far because I've more recently learned how to do this. Notice in earlier arcs, it's one and done. Nothing is ongoing at all. So, now we've gotten to a point where we can have interconnecting arcs, so we will probably evolve into bigger and better stuff in the future.
By "we" I mean "me". I have to actually teach myself how to do this. It will most likely take time, but, we'll get there eventually.
Babysteps.
I also got a question:
"Ummm, Hate do you have already an ending planned? I don't want spoilers or anything, and I'm not expecting it to end soon, but have you thought like "Oh, I want it to end like this" or something?" by guest
Yes. In accordance to the previous commenter, everyone will die.
Just kidding. I have no ideas at the moment. None at all. We're kind of winging it.
Until the next chapter, my duckies~!
CHARACTER SHET
Question: "Sebastian ever heard of floaty's? A.k.a. "water wings"? Has he ever gone rollerskating? We may never know" by FartFerret69
Sebastian: "Yes I have. We purchased some for the next time Luka goes swimming. I have also heard of roller disco."
00000000000000000000
Question: "Dan, lock your doors and windows! Seriously though what would you do if he shows up? What would Samantha do?" by Guest
Daniel: "She would probably pull out mace. I don't know if she has mace, but I wouldn't be surprised if she did."
