Alois had somehow resisted the urge to check his phone during his meeting, although it was extremely tempting. Ciel's reply had come a little slower than usual, so he was interested as to what it was going to be. Probably some playful scolding about how the menace should get back to work. He was walking back to the Supernatural Relations offices to check on things when he finally opened the message.
His eyes widened and his eyes raised at seeing the image on his phone. Ciel never took pictures of himself. In fact, he was reluctant when having his picture taken by others. Yet, here he was, smiling at the camera. Alois' face shifted as it was taken over by a blush and a grin. His giggling caught the attention of Mister Flanagan, who was walking only a few steps ahead of him.
When he turned around, he saw the Lion wearing a ridiculous expression following a wistful sigh. The menace was even holding the device to his chest with an almost delirious smile. He stopped walking. Alois just stood there in the hallway, having completely forgotten what he was doing, where he needed to be, and the fact that all he really had to do was follow someone else to his destination. Up until this point, Alois had presented himself as a serious operative who was focused on results. He was the man who was going to build Pyestock from the ground up. Yet, here he was, losing it over something on his phone. Confusedly, Mister Flanagan was left with no choice but to call out to the menace, as Alois didn't seem to be coming to his senses anytime soon.
"Uhm… sir?" The noise was enough to snap Alois out of it long enough to remind him that he wasn't alone.
"Hm? Oh! Yeah! Right, sorry." apologised the Phantomhive, glancing at his phone again before gently placing it in his pocket. Tried as he might, his face was going to be stuck in a grin for a little while. "My husband sent me a text."
"Oh, yeah… I forgot you're married. Sounds difficult."
"What do you mean?"
"You're both prominent HELLSING members. Doesn't that get in the way of things?"
"Not really. We actually help each other quite a bit. He's the one who's negotiating for a lot of Pyestock stuff in London for me." the menace explained. "It's useful to have someone be present to meet with Integra and Elizabeth when I can't."
"Huh. I'd think that personal affairs would get caught up in personal ones."
"Not if you're a professional." Alois said, ending the conversation. They had reached the offices anyway and the two stepped inside.
The main goal of this was to make sure that information was being passed on to headquarters properly. This included orders, requests, complaints, and many more. After the meeting with the townsfolk on the first day, there had been a steady stream of residents coming in to give their observations. Some just came by to report on things that Alois himself had instructed them to do. The person Alois had instructed to find an area that could be used for agriculture came in and reported that they were successful in their mission. Thus, Alois sent a request for seeds and farming equipment. Another came due to the shelves in the library. They had run out of scrap materials to build with, so the next day, a HELLSING truck would come in carrying wood. These things weren't taken out of the budget for the project, and were instead taken from the personal account of Ciel Phantomhive.
"I told him to keep the receipts and I would pay him back when I'm back in London." the blonde explained.
"Why not just use the money for the town?" asked Mister Flanagan. "That's what it's for."
"It's best to stretch the budget as far as it'll go. I can't use it all up on smaller details. Besides, it's easier if I just do it." Pausing, the blonde stopped writing in his notebook momentarily before adding: "By the way: I'm going to need some people to help me unload boxes tomorrow morning. They're supposed to go to the library, and it's not a two-man job."
"Do you want us to recruit people?"
"Yeah, or if you're not busy, you could come down. I don't really care as long as it gets done. It might be easier if we have the carts to carry them."
"What's inside?"
"Books, so no dropping them in puddles." Alois stated. "I'd like to start filling up the shelves that we do have already."
"Christ almighty, do you ever stop working?" Flanagan said with a bit of exasperation. "You've only got two days left, and you're still doing anything and everything..."
"There's a lot that needs to be done! Like the budget, I'm trying to stretch time, too. I only have two days here left, so I want to do as much as I can in that time."
Already, he had organised HELLSING soldiers to act as temporary police officers until the recruiting process was completed and the actual position was filled. He had convinced several Gehennan citizens to move so that they can work in the Pyestock Town Welfare Center and get started recruiting for jobs geared toward town upkeep and scouting for potential small business owners. He had all of the records of everyone in town organised. The library was being put together and he was working on encouraging people to use it. In the span of three days, he had already gotten Pyestock on track, but it was far from stable. Failing to act quickly could result in disaster and he needed to be mindful of every operation that was currently underway. His plans were documented in great detail and communications with headquarters were maintained on a daily basis.
It wasn't going to be enough, however. There was no way that he could feasibly finish building an entire society in one week. Considering this, Alois had done extremely well, but it was going to be a long march to the end. In fact, he had actually considered prolonging his stay, but the constant action was rendering him tired, emotionally. Thus, he had asked Elizabeth to find someone who could oversee things for him after he had left. Honestly, Elizabeth herself would have been perfect, but she was far too busy with the Belmont nonsense to be able to shift her focus.
The latest news was that Baldassare had been captured and recovered, as whoever is in charge of the Belmont Organisation wants the Phantomhive to provide them financial support. They had a location that Baldassare had been brought to, but they needed to think carefully about how to proceed, as any soldier they send out to watch the place could easily be turned to the other side with a mere conversation. What a pickle, they were in. Obviously, Dame Hellsing really had her work cut out for her.
It seemed like everyone was extremely busy during this particular week. Getting to finally wind down at the end of the day in his room was a bit of a luxury for Alois, while the angel at headquarters was awake around the clock. The Phantomhive received all of this information via his much anticipated nightly phonecall with his spouse before bed. During it, Alois was just as dopey and doting as he was earlier in the day.
Yet, he was also lonely. Hearing Ciel's voice was comforting, yet, in a strange and conflicting fashion, he was also reminded of how far away the man was. All he had was a voice and a picture. It wasn't enough for the blonde. It only made him want the bluenette more.
"I wanna hug you so bad that it hurts." he whined, flopping down on the bed. "Not even joking. It's like I'm seriously being deprived."
"Admittedly, I feel similarly." his husband answered with a sigh. "My arms ache to hold you. I feel sort of run-down."
"Maybe that's because you haven't slept since I left."
"Maybe, but I can't sleep without you here." insisted the Watchdog. "There's no point in even trying. I'm not sure how much longer I can last. Lizzie has already offered to stay the rest of the week 'so I don't do anything foolish', whatever that means."
"I can imagine that."
"Her staying or me doing something 'foolish'?"
"Both." grinned Alois, all the while knowing that his spouse was rolling his eyes. He didn't need to see the bluenette to know that. "I love you, though. I feel really weak… It's almost the end of the week, but I miss you so much..."
"I miss you, too. As important as I know your work is, selfishly, I'm finding it hard to wait until you get home."
"Selfishly, I want to go home." chuckled the menace. "I know it's important and I know that these people need me here, but… I'm not comfortable here on my own. It feels like something bad is gonna happen any second."
"Like what?"
"Anything! It happens almost every time we're separated." sighing, the blonde continued. "I know that this time, there's no one who could know that I'm here, but what about you? They already sent people to the house!"
"Jim, everything is going to be fine. It's just one more day. Once Friday afternoon comes, you can come home and we'll all be perfectly safe and sound."
"I know, it's just… Ugh… It makes me nervous..."
"Me too. Honestly, there are times when I need to find a way to distract myself just so my mind won't wander." the Watchdog confessed, prompting a bit of a lengthy silence. Neither party really knew how to continue. Neither of them knew what more needed to be said. All that could be said was the first thing that came to mind.
"I love you." Ciel spoke with a twinge of tiredness in his voice. Yet, he still caused the corners of his husband's mouth to turn upwards ever so slightly. "It's incredibly frustrating that I can't kiss you."
"It's extremely frustrating that I can't be kissed or hugged." replied Alois. "I need affection. Apparently, I can't go even a week without it."
"It's just until tomorrow afternoon." reminded the Watchdog, regaining some optimism. "Then, once you get home, I will give you all of the affection you can stand."
"Gross." giggled the other Phantomhive. He was thrilled that Ciel was so willing to accommodate him, although he knew that a massive portion of this was genuinely the desire of the bluenette. When the menace needed comforting, sometimes, he would need physical reassurance from his spouse, and the same was true about Ciel. While the Watchdog needed it far less, he still had grown accustomed to the way things were and had acquired a dependency on that standard being maintained.
"You act as though I'm joking."
"I never said I thought you were." Alois stated. "I'm looking forward to it."
A/N: I cut this in half so I could post something quicker. I'm sorry. The interesting bit comes in the next chapter.
Unrelated but I also want to do other stuff that's not related to the main plot or is important in the slightest. Why? 'Cause I want to. Dunno when I can sneak that in.
Ah... what else? I had something I wanted to talk about, but I forgot what it was. Such is the story of my life.
I did get some questions, though, so there's that.
"How long did it take you to write DLTD and its sequel which I can't remember thetitle right this minute? I am on chapter 298 and its been since August of this last year. I am taking FOREVER to read this..." by PetVet1023 (Asked on tumblr, answered here as per request)
Chapter one of DLTD was published January 17th of 2013, so as it is 2017 now, it's been about four years. Huh. It really doesn't feel like that long... It takes a while to read... The good news, is, you never run out of content. I'm still going... In fact, this is probably going to be MUCH longer than the original. We're already on chapter 452. DLTD was 453 chapters long. I can't be stopped...
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"How old is Logan ?" by Guest
He is about 22 years old. That makes him two years older than Kristopherson.
Until the next chapter, my duckies~!
CHARACTER SHET
Question: "Baldassare: How are you taking the fact that those bitches can control minds? Also, how's your research into Akeldama going?" by raynaheart23
Baldassare: "I'm gonna tear off their fuckin' heads and shit down their FUCKING throats when I get my hands on them! Fuckers need to pay for the shit they pulled! And researchin' Akeldama is fuckin' impossible. Everything written about him don't exist no more!"
