The room that Alois was staying in was a relatively nice one. It was designed just for him as the place that he would be staying in when he came to Pyestock, so it was originally planned to be bigger. Alois thought that would be a waste of money and space, however, so he insisted that he would have a plain, one room apartment, as that was all he would need. There, he sat with his laptop open on the bed and his cellphone in his hand as he confided in his spouse.

"I'll talk to Elizabeth." the Watchdog stated. "She's easier to get information out of than Integra. I also imagine that she will match your passion on the subject."

"Please do. I asked the guy who's supposed to be part of the SR Department to gather some people who might know more. I'll have a report on it in a couple of days, most likely." sighed the menace before pausing. After stopping to think, he added: "I'm sorry, the point of calling each other was supposed to be just to keep in touch. I didn't mean to get heavy on you..."

"I don't mind. It's important and important to you. You got to work right away, and I like that. What you did was right." Ciel reassured him on the other end of the line. "Do you think you can make any changes during the week?"

"Maybe. I've opened up the policy and lawbook for Gehenna on my laptop and am seeing if anything needs adjusting before I try to push it as the law of the land, here. I was hoping to sit for a second before working, but not even two minute into getting here, I'm finding out this shit."

"Do you need me to send you anything? I can probably find out who's responsible..."

"I don't really need to know that. The damage is done and I need to focus on fixing it. Though, if relieving them of their position would help, then maybe." Alois stated before shaking his head with a small smile. "You don't need to take anybody out on my behalf, babe."

"You're the boss, darling." The Watchdog's grin could practically be heard through the phone. "I wish I was there to see you like this."

"I forgot you have a thing for me being in charge. That just means you're gonna like this part more: I'm gonna need you to go to HELLSING for me when I need someone physically there. I'll keep you updated as more facts come in."

"Is that all?" playfully questioned Ciel, prompting his husband to roll his eyes.

"And I'll tell you how much I miss you and love you and all that gross stuff, too."

"Good." the bluenette stated. "As long as I receive a little of that on occasion, I'll do whatever you want."

"Except send dick pics?"

"I'm not doing that. You already know what I look like, anyway."

"True." Alois' attention faltered momentarily as a knock was heard at the door, forcing him to wrap up his conversation. "The guy's here to take me to the meeting." he said. "I'll call you tonight, okay?"

"Alright." chuckled the other demon. "I love you."

"I love you, too." the menace giggled right back. "Bye-bye~!"

With that, he hung up and hopped out of bed to answer the door. The same man from before was there, wide eyed and pale as a ghost. Clearing his throat, he had some news for the menace. "I tried to gather leaders like you said, but they brought small groups." he said.

"Will they all fit in the room?" questioned the menace while putting his jacket back on and picking up a notepad. "Oh! And do you have a printer somewhere?"

"Yeah, we do, and they will, but they wouldn't just send one person..." Hector tried to explain, thinking that Alois didn't understand. The Phantomhive understood. He understood perfectly well. He just didn't mind.

"That's fine. The only reason why I asked for a few people was because I wasn't sure if they would all fit." Alois elaborated while slipping a USB drive into his pocket. "Let's stop by that printer on the way first. I have some stuff I might need. Also, is there a map of the town somewhere?"

"Uhm, yes?"

"Perfect. Let's go, then. It's best not to keep a group of unhappy people waiting."

As confusing as the blonde was to mister Flanagan, he had no choice but to do as instructed, stepping lightly as he led Alois to the offices where his coworkers messed around and did nothing. Alois completely ignored them when they stood up at attention, instead heading straight to the printer to print off a mountain of documents. Once he was done, the Phantomhive scooped them all up in his arms and said to him: "That took to long. Let's go quickly!" From there, it was just a walk up some stairs in the same building.

The sound of a mob chattering filled the entire hallway on that floor. Yet, when the door finally opened, it started to die down. Silence filled the room at last while the Phantomhive parted the crowd in order to make his way to his seat at the end of the table.

"Hello, everyone!" Alois started with, noticing that there were a few murmurs as a few people started translating for him. "My name is Jim Phantomhive, also known as 'Mister Lion'. I also feel the need to tell you that I'm a demon as well. I was supposed to come here just to dispense some information about a recent problem on Wednesday, but immediately, it was brought to my attention that Pyestock has problems already." He paused, allowing the translators to catch up before continuing.

"Stop me if one of these things doesn't sound familiar." he continued, "Difficulty acquiring food rations, lack of law enforcement, lack of public services, lots of buildings, but no point to them..."

After each thing was listed, he heard mumurs of agreement coming from the crowd. Placing a hand on the table, he asked: "What the hell? The point of this place it to be a society that's easier for supernatural beings to live in, not a harder one! Somebody on our end has fucked up, and quite frankly, I don't think a simple 'sorry' is gonna cut it."

The way he spoke was casual and somewhat brash, but somehow, he seemed trustworthy. He came across as a little aggressive, but he seemed to identify with the same anger and disappointment that his audience felt. That was something that no one else from HELLSING could do.

"I'd like to start by telling you what I know, and then have you respond. When I'm done and there is anything that I haven't addressed, please bring it up and I will do my best to resolve the situation as quickly as possible." Opening his notepad, he clicked his pen and got ready to start taking notes. "First thing I noticed is that there is absolutely no structure anywhere, here. Who do you go to when a problem that effects the community comes up?"

He stopped, waiting for both the translators to catch up and for someone else to answer the question. He already knew the answer. He just wanted to get everyone involved. After some hesitance, he got a soft "Nobody!"

"Right! So how is anyone supposed to know about it? We can't! We're supposed to be on top of this, but we've got nobody down here who is responsible for that!" Enthusiastically answered the menace, looking in the direction of the sound. "In Gehenna, our first successful town, we have 'The Gehenna Town Welfare Center' which manages that and provides other services like help with finding employment for local businesses. There is supposed to be one in Pyestock. Does anyone know the status on that building? Has the project started, is it under construction, or is it complete?"

There was a pause as someone worked up the courage to speak. An orc raised his hand, getting the blonde's attention. "Yes?"

"I'm Carl Dursely, I was the lead builder on that project." the orc said, introducing himself. "That building is done and is mostly furnished, but no one works there."

"Then what is the obvious solution there?"

"Get people to work there?" Carl answered, although somewhat uncertainly.

"Exactly! We have to make that a priority." The blonde took a moment to jot something down on his paper before adding: "As for the employment stuff, first we need to have some places to work, but that is a different issue and I will discuss it. For now, we'll stick to policy."

Mostly, Alois presented ideas that worked in Gehenna very well and explained them in detail. He would ask the group what their thoughts were and for the most part, people agreed with him. When they didn't, it was usually due to confusion or a problem that Alois simply wasn't aware of. Many wondered about how hunting laws would work and Alois gave his thoughts, only for him to realise that they wanted things to be a bit more strict. Particularly the kitsune, who took exception to the idea that one could hunt foxes for food and fur. Naturally, that was added to the notes and it became unofficial consensus that hunting fox should be illegal.

"I would also like to set up some kind of agriculture here as a sustainable food source." the menace presented. "Does anyone here know about farming?"

After the translators caught up, a few hands were hesitantly raised, prompting the blonde to smile. "Good. Before I can even present the idea, however, I need to know if it's possible to grow food here. Soil is important, right? I would like it if someone who is familiar with what is necessary for growing crops would find a suitable spot that is not scheduled for development. Any volunteers?"

Again, it took a moment for a hand to come up, but Alois met them with enthusiasm. He dug through his stack of papers before standing up from his seat and passing it along, only for it to be taken by a younger tanuki than the old man that raised his hand. The boy had been translating for the old man the entire time, so the demon didn't really think much of it.

"This is a map of where everything is supposed to go when the town is complete. Ask for help, if you need it. Don't feel like the burden is all on you." Standing upright again, the menace scanned the room. "Mister Flanagan!"

"Y-yes?" questioned the Supernatural Relations worker, standing up at attention.

"You finally have a job to do!" he informed before turning back to the tanuki. "When you find a spot that looks good, go to Mister Flanagan's office on the second floor and he'll come get me. I'll mark it on the map and present it to HELLSING. Oh, wait a minute..." He gestured for the younger to hand the paper back for a moment in order to write something down on it. "This is the room number for Flanagan's office."

Somehow, the fact that the Phantomhive had started making requests excited the group. Until now, they had just been building houses that no one was slated to be living in just yet without being able to do much to help themselves. The fact that they were actively able to have a hand in what was going to become their community sparked enthusiasm. He asked if anyone would be willing to build bookshelves for the library out of the spare wood in the scrap piles outside, and people volunteered. He asked that if he gave them seeds, would anyone plant them and take care of the plants and people said "yes". They even offered to guard the crops against theft. He went through his notes piece by piece and listened intently to the problems presented and the questions that his audience had. They were there for more than two hours at this point ant still going strong. By the time the Phantomhive got to economics, people were involved and rearing to go.

"So, now we had what everyone's favourite part about the reformation of Gehenna was: building an economy." the menace began turning the page of his notebook while looking down the paper-covered table. "At this moment, Pyestock has none. You're earning money, but there's nothing to spend it on. What's the point? You can't buy food, you can't buy basic necessities, you have to wait until the rations truck comes through and then fight for what you need. Quite frankly, that's a terrible way of doing things."

"Yeah, I used to live in Gehenna before moving here." spoke up a woman in the group. "The Phantomhives had HELLSING set things up so that we could open our own businesses. Everything was really nice."

"That's exactly what I want to do here. Basically, through the Welfare Center, you could request to pitch an idea for a business- store, restaurant, whatever- and HELLSING would give you a loan to get started and work out a location." Alois explained. "Now, you are expected to make payments in order to pay them back. However, there's no interest and the price never changes from one month to the next. Now, if you don't pay, you can have legal action taken against you and have your business seized. Sound fair?"

Most nodded in agreement while some seemed skeptical, leading the blonde to elaborate further: "It might seem a bit to-good-to-be-true, but HELLSING has a motivation for this. It's less expensive for them if they aren't running every single service that the town has. If things were done that way, this place would have only the bare minimum and it would kind of suck to live here."

"Kind of like it does now."

"Yeah. Kinda like it does now." There was a titter of laughter in the room before the demon continued. "I actually have a friend in Gehenna who was thinking about opening a second location here for his sewing shop. He sells fabric, thread, needles, buttons, and all that kind of stuff as well as pre-made stuff, too. One of the coolest things he makes are patterns specifically for supernatural beings. Already, if I can convince him to go through with it, that's one necessity taken care of as well as an entirely new occupation for people who want to work there. Another guy? Decided he wanted to give haircuts. This other woman? She runs a bakery. It just keeps going with every new thing. The biggest catch is that HELLSING has to see it as a worthwhile venture. You do have to make a case for it."

"Basically, don't try to sell stupid shit, you're saying?" called a man from the back.

"Exactly. I do want a way for people to just set up shop for things, though. The plan for the marketplace was that anyone who could put together a stand or lay out a rug in there could just up and start selling stuff they've made. You don't have to go the other way if you can do it yourself. You don't even have to start your own business at all."

"I'm not really sure if I'm comfortable with all of this." spoke a peculiar looking faun while raising his hand. He was much larger and fuzzier than most faun Alois had encountered and spoke with an American accent. He also wore only a skirt without any sort of top, giving him a sort of wild appearance. "I'm still not comfortable with the living situation. Some of us aren't used to houses like this and I certainly don't know much about this buying and selling stuff. There's a forest just over yonder. Can't we live and get everything we need from there?" Others like him who were more accustomed to forest living nodded in agreement.

"I don't see why not." the menace replied while taking a note of this conversation. "As long as you follow the laws of Pyestock, then there's not much reason against it. I'll see if there's any reason why HELLSING would be against this and see if I can arrange something."

They looked a little hesitant to accept that the menace would deliver, but were quietly hopeful. That was sort of the state of things at this moment in time. They were enthusiastic about changing the way things were for the better, but unsure of how well these ideas would be implemented if they were excepted by HELLSING at all. Those who had lived in Gehenna previously were confident in the Lion, however. They whispered with the others both during and after the meeting was done.

Everyone who could stay behind was there for hours. The sun was starting to set when the meeting concluded and some simply had things that they needed to do before then. People left satisfied knowing that this strange man seemed to care about them. The menace left the room with an arm full of notes and started making his way back to his room, all while dragging his feet.

It was a busy day. With the long drive and even longer meeting back to back on the same day, he was emotionally exhausted. It was lucky that the papers made it to the small desk in the room before he finally collapsed onto the bed. This was a moment where he would have really liked to lay on top of his husband- not to talk, but to just be near a comforting presence. In the meantime, he would just have to make do with himself. Realistically, he could have called HELLSING and conveyed his findings and given his ideas at this point in time, but he had decided that he had earned a bit of a break.

Yet, Alois was lonely. Even being in the same room with a friend family member without speaking was enough to curb his loneliness. Yes, that included Elizabeth and Integra as well. Thus, he laid on his side and fiddled with his phone momentarily before balancing it on the side of his head as he listened to the dial tone.

"Hello, dear." answered a voice on the other end of the line upon picking up.

"Hello, elk." Alois shot back at the other Phantomhive upon reflex. "I'm done with my meeting."

"How did it go?"

"Good. Everybody had a lot to say and a lot of questions. Overall, they liked the policies from Gehenna and we think it'll transfer over here quite nicely." Pausing, the blonde uttered a sigh. "I have enough to pass on to Integra right now, but I'm going to wait for tomorrow."

"Tired?"

"Tired."

"I'm sorry, darling. I don't know how to make you feel better." Ciel sympathetically replied. "Go to bed. You've done more than enough for today."

"I keep expecting you to just show up for some reason. Like you're just gonna walk through the door out of nowhere and be my pillow."

"Unfortunately, as much as I want to, it isn't to be… I don't think I'll go to bed tonight at all."

"Why?"

"I'm not exhausted enough to sleep without you. It's hard to get comfortable. You sleep in the same bed as someone for… how many years? Five? Six? Anyway, you get used to it..."

"Good to know that I'm missed~!" grinned the menace with a light pink tint to his cheeks. "I'm feeling it too, though. It's sort of embarrassing. I can't even make it through the first day."

"You have that shirt I gave you, if you get desperate."

"You seriously put it in my stuff? You know I was joking, right?"

"You steal my jackets all of the time. I didn't think it was a far-fetched request in the slightest."

"I guess… I feel like a bit of a pervert, carrying around my husband's shirt because it smells like him…" Alois stated with a bit of embarrassment. "That's not a normal thing people do, is it? Are you really okay with being married to a shirt-sniffer?"

"As long as you're not sniffing anybody else's shirts, I don't mind at all." answered the Watchdog with a slight chuckle. "It's kind of cute, actually. Now, if it were underwear, I might be a little iffy on that, but it's just a shirt, so I don't really think there's anything to worry about."

"I guess… Didn't some lovers used to carry around locks of each other's hair or something?" asked the blonde. "Now that sounds gross."

"Not to mention dangerous. Remember the time you lost all memory of me? It was because Wakefield took a stray hair off my shoulder!"

"Hair is super dangerous. That's why it's illegal to buy or sell it in Gehenna."

"Stay safe, okay? You said that crime was a bit of a problem, here, didn't you?"

"Ciel, do you really think I can't handle the occasional random mugger? You should be more concerned about the mugger!"

"That's true… I still can't help but worry, though."

"You've always been a bit of a worrywart. I just take it as a sign of your undying affection for me."

"Well, you are the love of my life." Ciel reminded, causing his husband's grin to grow wider. "I trust that you will be handle anything that comes your way, but that doesn't mean I won't worry."

"I know. I kinda like it." yawned the menace. He couldn't control how loud it was, so the bluenette definitely heard him.

"You should go to sleep soon. You're tired."

"Not until you tell me you love me."

"I thought I just did?"

"Yeah, but I wanna hear it directly." spoke the blonde with a mischievous grin.

"You first."

"No, you." Reaching up, Alois introduced the palm of his hand to his forehead as he made a startling discovery. "Oh, good God, we're turning into that annoying couple..."

"You say that as though we aren't already there." Ciel pointed out, still amused by the situation. "I will say that I do love you and am very proud of you. Both in general for being incredible and also for fixing Pyestock."

"I love you, too, baby." the other demon said. His features softened at his husband's words, only wishing that he was there to say them in person. "I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Keep up the good work." Must to Alois' amusement, Ciel was somewhat clumsy at goodbyes, but the sentiment was understood. The Watchdog was perfectly aware of how important this work was to his spouse, so this was the farewell that he offered. "Bye-bye."

"Bye~!" Alois hung up, imagining his husband catching himself adopting the blonde's manner of speech momentarily. Both of them had been catching themselves doing so a lot lately, but the menace found it cute.

With this, however, Alois finally sat up in order to plug his phone into the charger plugged into the wall. His next objective was to shower and get ready for bed, prompting him to make his way over to his suitcase to gather some clothes. With a grunt, he rolled off the bed, landing on his knees before crawling over to the bag. After putting in the combination to the lock on the zipper, he opened it up and rummaged through his belongings for a pair of pyjama pants, underwear, and a T-shirt for him to sleep in. One item in his suitcase was not like the others, however. Picking it up, he examined the large, plastic, ziplock bag with a perplexed expression before finally recognising the piece of fabric inside.

"Did he for real bag it up?" The Phantomhive muttered aloud to himself. Finally connecting the dots, he figured out that Ciel must have put it here. It didn't look like one of his own shirts and it seemed like the sort of thing his husband would do. "What's he trying to do, preserve the flavour?"