Saying his fairwells, Alois hung up on Kristopherson before putting the phone back down on the nightstand. He had rolled on top of his defenseless, sleeping husband while talking, trapping him with no choice but to resign himself to his fate. When he was done, Alois laid his head down in the crook of the bluenette's neck, grasping at the fabric of one of the very few T-shirts Ciel owned and simply enjoying the contact.

"Was that Kristopherson?" drowsily asked the bluenette. Although he had just awakened, he assumed based on the way Alois spoke.

"Mm-hm." the menace hummed. "I was supposed to help him move stuff today, but I forgot. He said not to worry about it."

"Where is he moving to?"

"He's just moving stuff to that store he was opening up in Gehenna." mumbled the menace, refusing to move from his place. He hummed in contentment as the other soothingly rubbed his back, closing his eyes again. "He let it slide because I'm spending time with you."

"That was nice of him. I would have to tag along, otherwise."

"We wouldn't be very helpful, then. All we would want to do is hug and kiss, all gross-like."

"Probably told you to stay away because he didn't want to throw up."

"I don't blame him." Pausing, the blonde thought for a moment. "It's been a while since you've seen Kristopherson, hasn't it?"

"Yes. I haven't really seen any of the others in a long time." answered Ciel. "Don't worry, I do visit Gabriel and such."

"Ah. Old man friends." grinned the menace while making the other chuckle.

"They weren't old men when I first met them. Bailey was twenty-one." informed the Watchdog.

"So the others will be our old man friends, eventually… Seeing Dan will be funny..."

"We should spend some time with all of them sometime."

"Not in the near future. I need your undivided attention for a while." Alois elicited a rather loud laugh from the bluenette by blowing raspberries on his neck.

"Oh-ho-kay. I will." Ciel managed to reply while calming himself down a bit. The action had taken him by surprise when the guard of the Guard Dog was down. "You have my attention. I need it, too. I missed my husband, you know."

"I know. I'm sorry..."

"Oh, it's alright." cooed the Watchdog, turning his head and twisting so that he could reach his beau's head with his mouth. He kissed Alois' hair, which was all that he could manage, but the blonde was happy with it, regardless. "It's not your fault. I'm just happy to have you back again, my love."

Shifting his weight, he turned over onto his side, forcing the other to move. A sudden craving to see his husband's face struck him, forcing him to do just that. Dreamily, he stared into Alois' eyes, loving every bit of their icy blue hue. Raising a hand, he gently stroke the other's face, taking it in.

"You're so beautiful..." Ciel sighed, smiling softly. "Handsome, but beautiful."

Giggling, the other replied: "You always say that, but I never really know what you mean. You've told me, but it hasn't really sunk in."

"I'll tell you as many times as you need me to and then a thousand more." the bluenette answering, leaning forward to peck the other's lips.

"I love your eyes," he began, "I love that blue and I love that determined, defiant look about them."

Pausing, he took a moment to kiss the other's cheek before leaning back and observing the other's smile. "I love your lips and I love your smile. I love your skin and your hair. I love your nose, ears, neck, and shoulders. I love your arms and your legs, too."

"You really love my legs." interrupted the menace with a laugh.

"True, but I love everything else, too. I love your body, your mind, your heart, and your soul." stated the Watchdog. "I just love this man called Jim Phantomhive. That's all there is."

"I love you, to, Ciel." Grinning widely, the blonde added: "It's nice to properly hear my name again, too. It was weird, hearing you call me 'Alois'. It just doesn't sound right."

"Can I confess something?"

"What?"

"There were times when I would avoid calling your name because I was afraid I would accidentally call you 'Jim' when you told me not to."

"Call me 'Jim' every day, baby." Alois said as he pressed a kiss to the side of his husband's lips.

"I will. Calling you 'Alois' is weird. It feels weird. 'Jim' is cuter."

"Really?" the menace questioned with an arched brow.

"Yeah. It suits you. It sounds like a TV detective's name." chuckled the bluenette.

"Huh… I kind of does… The 'Phantomhive' kind of pushes it an extra bit." Alois mused. "It's like I'm some detective who solves supernatural mysteries and such. Maybe I work as an assassin for some secret organization. Oh! Maybe I even have super powers."

Laughing, Ciel held his beau closer. "How are you so good at sarcasm? How do you get so good at sarcasm?"

"That's just the English language, my dear."

"That's true. But why are Americans not as good at sarcasm? Have you ever heard one of them talk?"

"They don't speak English. They speak that weird, American shit. They sound funny."

"You probably sound weird to them, too."

"Are you kidding? Americans dig the accent!"

"That doesn't matter. You're married." firmly said the Watchdog.

"Yeah, I know. Happily so." answered Alois. "I'm really excited to be back to being married and having a husband. This is comfortable. It's just right."

"Good. I want you to be mine." Ciel suggested despite feeling as though he was still slightly asleep. Truly, he was in a comfortable position that he was reluctant to move from, but he did want to spend time and have fun with his spouse. "I was actually wondering, by the way, if you would like to go on a date sometime?"

"Mmm..." the menace hummed as he thought. His eyes closed and he shrugged. "Honestly, I feel like I could stand to just lay here with you. It's too warm and cozy… It's sucking me in… I can't escape… So sorry..."

"It doesn't hurt my feelings, any. I still feel like I'm about to fall asleep." sighed the Watchdog. "It's still early… We can tell Luka and the others the news later..."

"Sounds good to me." Grinned the blonde as he felt his lover's body relax next to him. He almost chuckled at the grunt he was met with as a sign of acknowledgment before his husband began to doze off.

Ciel was out very quickly. He was the same the night before, now that he could finally sleep comfortably. That said, Alois understood this entirely. While he slept a lot to avoid the doubt and the way he felt for the past month, he wasn't able to rest. He woke up more exhausted than he was when he went to sleep, plagued by nightmares and memories alike. It was difficult to sleep without Ciel, given how accustomed they both had gotten to sharing the same bed. Alois could recall his husband telling him about an article he read, talking about how sleeping next to someone can deepen a bond with them.

It made perfect sense to the blonde, who wanted nothing more than to relax with his spouse and do nothing. For the time being, the two of them were quite worthless as detectives or assassins, as they were too busy being together to care about duty or violence. Things were probably going to remain this way until they had their fill.


A/N: Shorter than the last chapter, with not a lot going on. But, I feel like there's merit to it...

A lot of people were confused about who "Kendrick" was in the last chapter. That's Logan's last name. He's "Logan Kendrick". It was mentioned I think once, so it's understandable if people forgot.

Logan is weird. I at first designed him to be a total goody-goody, and he is, but he's also a lot more firm that originally. That's just a sign that the character has developed past the design phase, I guess. The idea was an incubus who isn't a typical incubus. He's not kinky or risque. He's not obsessed with sex and quite frankly, doesn't want it every waking moment. He's an ordinary guy who's honest.

He's an odd fit for Kristopherson. I think they can work.

As for who you ship him with, I don't mind. Keep shipping, if that's what you want. I'm surprised, though, that nobody has suggested a menage a trois, yet.

Let the fanfictions roll in!

I did get an interesting comment about speaking patterns, and I'm actually surprised that they thought everybody's were different. I try. I don't always succeed, but I try. Come to think of it, Ciel and Alois' speech patterns have kind of been merging... That's an actual thing that happens when you talk to somebody a lot. You start to pick up little things from them.

Until the next chapter, my duckies~!


CHARACTER SHET

Question: "To Kristopherson: Are you planning on moving to Gehenna anytime soon? Or at all?" by Sailyonera

Kristopherson: "I really don't know. Maybe someday? Maybe if it turns out I like it. I still like London."