The numbness was gone. Now, all Ciel felt was burning. Gracious, how his arm hurt now. It was still freezing, but his nerves were on fire. He thought he was feeling sorry for himself before, but now, he realised just how insignificant that was. All he could stand to do was lie on his side and grip his pain-ridden limb with his good arm in hopes of easing his discomfort. Alas, it was in vain, leaving him to groan pathetically as he endured the agony of his nerves reactivating.

He did it so often that it was extremely noticeable. At one point, Ciel actually urged Alois to wear headphones so that he wouldn't be distracted by the bluenette. Ironically, however, it led to the blonde occasionally walking over to stroke his hair in a soothing fashion whenever he stood up.

"Poor thing..." he cooed, taking out his earbud to address his husband. "Are you sure that you don't want to go back to bed? It would probably be more comfortable."

"I didn't want to be by myself..." Ciel answered, his words strained and coming out as more of a grunt than a calm sentence. "Am I bothering you?"

"No, not at all. Although..."

"What?"

"I do worry about the fact that you sound like you're dying."

"On the contrary," the Watchdog forced out, "previously deadened tissue is coming back to life. That's what's hurting so badly."

"You'd think that coming back to life would be a good thing..."

"It's painful..."

"Do you need me to get you anything?" offered the menace. "Anything that would make you more comfortable?"

"Some reassuring words and affection would be nice in my time of suffering."

"I love you very much, even if you are a whiny baby." Alois promptly answered while petting his beau.

"Thank you."

"Will you be okay later? I can stay home, if you need me to."

"No, no, go out with Dan to that thing." Ciel insisted with a light wave of his good hand. "Have fun. Don't worry about me."

"Easier said than done, my darling. You want me to record some of it so you can see it?"

"That would be nice. I hear Chief Sybil is performing."

"You could just go, y'know..."

"No way in hell. Even if my arm wasn't on fire, there's going to be a crowd. I don't like those even when I'm not paranoid about potential death."

"Fair enough." shrugged the menace, standing back upright. "Lemme finish this right here and then I'll come sit with you."

As the blonde turned away, a certain compulsion came over Ciel. He couldn't fight it. He had to do it. Despite his senses, his body reacted on his own as a certain aspect of the menace caught his twinkling eye.

Raising his hand, he swiftly brought it back down on his husband's rear with a small squeeze, lightly enough to be painless but so that impact did make a sound. Alois was wearing the shorts that he wore around the house and Ciel liked. The Phantomhive hadn't done anything of the sort in weeks and the surprise of it caused the blonde to let out a squeak, but that isn't what raised the Watchdog's eyebrows.

"It jiggled..." he thoughtlessly let out with a rather pleased expression. Alas, that faded in an instant as his husband faced him again. "Nice..."

"You little shit!" Alois struggled not to smile despite his accusing tone. Playfully, he picked up one of the decorative pillows off of one of the couches and placed it over the other demon's face. "Nothing in weeks but now when I'm working properly again?"

Ciel could still be understood, although his words were muffled through fabric and stuffing. "I'm sorry! I couldn't help it!"

"Like hell, you could!"

Wish a grunt, Ciel was able to coax his spouse into releasing his face in favour of pressing the pillow down on his chest instead. "I'm sorry, dear..."

"Your arm hurts now, so it's a bit late to start figuring out how to maneuver that..." pouted the blonde Phantomhive, obviously frustrated. Seeing that, however, just gave Ciel a glint in his eye. "Here I am, worrying about your sorry ass, and then you slap mine! What happened to crybaby 'ow my arm feels like it's on fire,' huh?"

"Oh, it still hurts. A lot. I really don't want to move around much." the bluenette spoke in a matter-of-fact sort of tone. "I just thought a good pat would make me feel better."

"Creep."

"What's really wrong?" questioned the Watchdog. "Are you okay? Your busyness seems 'off' a bit, and now this. Did that really upset you? I won't do it again..."

"Do you want the actual answer, or the one I just made up?"

"Actual one, please."

With a sigh, Alois moved the other's legs before plopping down on the sofa with him. "According to Logan, I look 'frustrated'..." he said, prompting the other to sit up. "Apparently, he's an expert at catching that sort of thing. I kinda am, I guess."

"Well, if that's how you feel..." Ciel began, inching closer to his husband and putting an arm around him, "We can probably work something out."

"Can you with that arm of yours?"

"You're the one who told me that I should be relearning how to do things one-handed." The Watchdog kisses Alois' cheeks, staining them a light shade of pink. "Besides, it's just my arm. Everything else works just fine."

"Mm-hm." Lightly, Alois poked the ailing appendage, looking unimpressed when the man flinched.

"Ow..."

"I don't like lies, dear. It doesn't really matter. I can wait a little longer."

"We can still figure it out!" Declared the blue Phantomhive, his own cheeks turning red. "We can do it tonight!"

"Can't. I'm going to that thing, remember?"

"Oh, bugger me..." The sight of Ciel swearing under his breath finally caused a genuine smile to grace his husband's face once again.

"Is that an offer or a command?" giggled the menace. Cupping Ciel's cheek, he guided the other man into a kiss that was supposed to be quick, but escalated soon after. Once the Watchdog was free, Alois could see that his hair was ruffled and his cheeks were a red similar to that of his slightly swollen lips. The poor man looked like he was in a daze as he tried to follow Alois when he pulled back, only to realise what he was doing.

"U-uh..." Ciel tried to regain his train of thought once he realised that he hadn't properly answered his beau. "If I'm on my back, it shouldn't bother my arm..." he bashfully stated. He was perfectly aware of how needlessly flustered he looked, but knowing this only made it worse.

"Doesn't it hurt even when it's not being messed with?"

"Yes, but..."

"But you still want it?" Alois questioned. With that, his beau mumbled and averted his gaze.

"Yes..."

"Then we can try it tonight when I get back." the blonde offered while standing up.

"Didn't you say you didn't want to after going out?"

"I did. I changed my mind."

"Why?"

"'Cause I want it, you dope." Alois said before bending back down and kissing his husband on the lips. "For now, I need to review some photos and send an email."

"O-okay?" Naturally, the bluenette was confused as the conversation ended as abruptly as it began. Although, he did realise that it was his fault for starting it in the first place. Now not only his arm was on fire, but so was his face. The difference was that his arm was in agonising pain while his face merely hurt his ego. "How long do you think you'll be gone for?"

As soon as that question escaped him, his husband looked over his shoulder with a somewhat questionable look while desperately trying to conceal the smirk that was trying to form. With that, Alois answered simply with "Whenever I get back," doing absolutely nothing to help the Watchdog.

Hours passed and work was finished, but with no time left for much dillydallying, as Alois had to make himself presentable in time to go meet Daniel. Since it was Gehenna, Alois did make an effort, while simultaneously trying to appear casual. If Ciel had the mind for it, he would have gasped at his spouse committing the sin of wearing dress clothes with skinny jeans, but before the blonde left, he gave the bluenette a kiss. Thus, he was still distracted and had no time to think about it, other than the thought that Alois still looked good. That is how they bid each other their farewells for the evening until the blonde Phantomhive's return.


A/N: I honestly really don't like this chapter. I wanted plot and was going to go into that, but I found a stopping point and was worried that I wouldn't be able to update for a while if I didn't take it.

I'm so sleepy...

But, there is a chapter. Next time, we'll go back to Gehenna and learn things. It'll be educationy. Pinky promise.

In other news, guess who rolled their ankle while walking on a stable, flat surface at random? This gal! So that's painful.

Also, I have no idea if this essay is due sometime soon, but I have a rough draft and can probably kind of fake it.

Until the next chapter, my duckies~!


CHARACTER SHET

Question: "I remember in DLTD Kris said that he shaves his legs. Does he still shave them?" by BinkisBinkin

Kristopherson: "I've just about had it with this shaving nonsense... It grows back... so fast... Faster now than before... Don't get me started on this goddamn goatee. I have made a serious mistake."