"Mmm..." contently hummed the menace as he lazily reclined on the couch. He was feeling much better now, although his eye still hurt. It no longer bled, but had not yet returned to it's usual shape and could not be seen out of. The man was in the middle of taking full advantage of his husband taking care of him. In this instance, he had the bluenette's fingertips kneading into his shoulders in an attempt to rid him of the feeling of having laid down for far too long.

"If you're going to slump over like this, at least lay on your stomach." Ciel halfheartedly chastised while continuing his ministrations. "It's hard to reach when you're laying on the parts I'm supposed to be rubbing."

"I don't mind. It feels great, dear." the menace reassured with a smile. "I might end up like you and fall asleep."

"I don't fall asleep every time..."

"Bullshit…" Alois sighed, eyes closed as he leaned back. The action further impeded Ciel's progress. "Every time I work the knots out of your back, you fall asleep! It's cute, though. Is it cute when I do it?"

"I don't know. You're still awake and talking." his husband jested with a small smirk, earning him a playful swat as the menace reached back at him. Soon, he leaned back so far that Ciel could no longer access his shoulders, but the blonde did it so that he could look up at the Watchdog.

Alois wore a smile, but covered his left eye with his hand as he leaned back. While he no longer needed the bandages and could wear an eyepatch, he was allowing the area to breathe for a while. Yet, he didn't want to look at Ciel directly with it. There was no point, given the optic nerve was no longer connected, rendering him unable to see anything out of it, but Alois, admittedly just didn't like the way it looked. His eye wasn't perfectly round and neither were his iris or pupil. Both of the latter looked squished, while his pupil appeared to be far larger than it was supposed to be. His whites were red and irritated in appearance and he could not move both eyes at the same time. While his right moved normally, it moved independently, as his left remained still. Alois simply didn't like the idea of his spouse witnessing him in such a state, so he tried his best to avoid direct contact, despite the fact that his husband didn't mind in the slightest.

"You don't need to cover it up." Ciel stated while tapping his finger on the blonde's knuckle. "The whole point of not wearing an eyepatch is to let it breathe."

"It's not exactly the most attractive attribute of mine at the moment." scoffed the menace.

"You don't mind my eye, but I have to mind yours?"

"Your eye isn't all weird and stuff."

"It's purple and has a pentagram carved into it." reminded the Watchdog.

"It's pretty, though."

"Really? That's not what you said when we first met."

"Oh, shut up. I was trying to get a rise out of you..." Alois closed his visible eye as the other man leaned down and placed a kiss to his forehead.

"You're still just as beautiful as ever." the bluenette replied. His voice sounded so sincere that the other man couldn't help but blush a little. A light chuckle bubbled up from Ciel's throat before he reached for one of his husband's hands so that he may kiss it.

Truth be told, the possibility of a change in the blonde's appearance had hardly entered the Watchdog's thoughts. He was far too concerned with the man's health and comfort, first and foremost to do so. Even still, when he did consider the thought of a change in aesthetic, he didn't think he minded to much in regards to himself, but did care about what Alois thought of his own appearance.

"Only concern yourself with feeling better." he continued.

"Do you really think I still look okay or are you just saying that?" questioned the menace with a look of skepticism across his face.

"Of course I do? Caring about your well-being is more important to me than aesthetics. You're still my favourite person, whether you have both eyes or not."

"Jeez, you're such a flatterer..."

"What about me?" questioned the bluenette. He was moreso playing than not, already knowing the answer. Perhaps Jim could recognise his double-standard? "My eye and scars don't bother you? My body is more marred and blemished than yours."

"No way! You're handsome as fuck!" Alois replied right on cue.

"Oh? But I wear and eyepatch and startle people?"

"Yeah, but you're not meant to fit in and be 'average'." Reaching up, the menace cupped his husband's cheek. "You'd look weird without them. Like, you wouldn't quite be 'you,' yknow? Your scars are like medals, almost. You wear them proudly..."

Trailing off, Alois lowered his hand from his beau's face and reached for his hand. After playing with Ciel's fingers for a moment, he held the other man's hand open and stared at the line that ran across the bottom digit of four of those same fingers. It was paler than the skin around it, if that were at all possible. It was what remained of a deep wound from a blade.

"...There's memories in every single one." Alois continued with a chuckle, running his own thumb across the line while Ciel's cheeks became stained with a light pink tint. "This isn't something I particularly want to remember."

"The scar? Or your eye?"

Pausing, the menace hesitated before answering. "I gouged out Hannah's eye when I was human." he said. "I shouldn't have. I don't even really understand why I did it. I just did. It's even the same eye. Life's fucked up like that, isn't it? Maybe karma has just caught up with me?"

"I highly doubt that it's 'karma'." Ciel replied, watching as his spouse sat up. "It's just an ordinary occupational injury."

"Yeah, I know. It's just… I dunno? I don't like the way I look and the way I look reminds me of stupid shit I did when I was a kid." With a shrug, Alois threw his hands up in the air. "I don't mean to be emo about it, but it feels shitty."

"Yeah. I understand." was all the other could think of to say. "Everybody has done things they regret."

"Have you ever gouged out the eye of someone who didn't deserve it?"

"Perhaps? I don't really remember." the Watchdog stated while straightening his back. When his husband turned his head to look at him with a curious expression, he faltered. "I've… had my share of dark moments and questionable choices..."

"Ciel… Are you okay?" the menace finally questioned. "I never got to ask…"

"I've more important things to think about." Ciel replied, kissing the other on top of his head. "I have to take care of you, don't I?"

"Ciel..." this time, Alois' tone was a little more stern. "You're not using nursing me as a way to ignore your problems, are you? We've talked about this."

"No. Well… no. No. I'm not."

"You hesitated..."

"I really do want to take care of you and I want you to be better." the bluenette stated while sitting down next to his spouse. Alois tucked his legs in to make room before stretching them out again across Ciel's lap. "It's not 'ignoring'. It's 'prioritising'. Taking care of you is more important than letting myself fall apart. I can't do that and fulfill the objective."

Ciel spoke clinically, but placed a hand on his husband's knee and gave it a light squeeze. The gesture was subtle, but not insignificant. "Jim, you're beautiful. Don't worry about that. You're still beautiful and I still love you."

"Ciel, I need to heal my eye, yeah, but you need to heal, too." the menace stated, reaching out to put a hand on the other's shoulder. "What happened to Constance wasn't your fault. No one could have known what she was going to do. No one could have anticipated how that was going to turn out. Even still, though, you need time to process this, too. Don't force away your feelings for my sake. It's not good for you. You need to be taken care of just as much as I do."

Wordlessly, the Watchdog considered this for a moment before moving toward his spouse, gently guiding the other man to lie down on his back. Alois' legs still laid across Ciel's while the bluenette's hung off the edge of the sofa, even as he decided to rest his head on Alois' chest with his arms wrapped around his middle. Naturally, the blonde's arms wrapped around his husband's shoulders, allowing the other to settle and get comfortable.

"I'm tired..." the bluenette sighed, closing his eyes as his beau tugged at the strings of his eyepatch.

"Rest a bit, then. We can talk later." Alois answered, his tone soft. Having removed the other's eyepatch, he lifted his own head off of the sofa's armrest momentarily so that he could place it on himself, although he struggled to tie a sturdy knot without looking. It would probably slide off after while, but it didn't really matter. With that settled, his hands turned their attention stroking the other Phantomhive's hair in a soothing fashion.

"Alright." the Watchdog said in turn. He seemed reluctant, although he knew it would be best for both of them. Alois was right about that, as per usual. "I'm supposed to be taking care of you, though."

"That's not what you signed up for, though. A relationship involves a mutual exchange. You're the one who told me that."

"I have some crazy ideas, sometimes."

"It's a good idea." chuckled the menace. "You can lavish me with attention later. Just don't forget yourself, alright?"

"This is a really bad habit of mine, isn't it?"

"I think it's probably your worst habit. I worry, sometimes."

"Sorry..."

"Nah. It's just something you need help with, is all. You just… You just sort of have trouble indulging in things, sometimes, even if it's something like help."

"You're the one who's actually injured." protested Ciel.

"So are you, just not visibly."

The bluenette opened his mouth to speak, but realised that he actually didn't have anything to say. No. That wasn't true. Turning his head, he buried his face in the blonde's chest and said: "I don't like it when you're hurt..."

"I'm still here, Ciel." Alois reassured. "I don't plan on going anywhere anytime soon. My eye will heal and everything will be okay."

"But I-" the other cut himself off before tightening his grip on his spouse. "I… I didn't do enough. Belmont should have been dead with that first shot. There's no reason why you should have gotten as hurt as you did..."

"Shit happens. It's nobody's fault. Sometimes, shit just happens and there's not a thing you can do about it. Even if you plan, and plan, and plan, there's still the tiniest chance that it'll all hit the fan anyway and if it does, the only thing you can do is the best you can. Make the best of things, y'know? Even if it's hard- Even it totally sucks in the worst way possible, you do what you can because you have to and that's all there is to it."

Ciel listened intently, although he could not think of anything to reply with. His husband, on the other hand, took his silence as an answer on its own. Running his fingers through blueish black locks, he said: "Nobody blames you. For anything. I certainly don't. I know you did everything you could because that's just the kind of person you are. When things get bad, you don't give up. Even though there were times when you were struggling to hold yourself together, you did and you didn't let that son of a bitch get to you. You did good, Ciel. I couldn't be prouder."

"...You think too highly of me..."

"No. It's just a lot harder to be honest about yourself than it is for another person to be."


A/N: I came up with some fascinating angsty shit while I was attempting (and failing) to come up with fun stuff to write about. There' so much drama with these people. Why do y'all have so many problems?!

Anyway, I wanna try to write something about one of the other members of the Essential Eight (the remaining Sensational Seven plus Patricia and Logan). I'm having trouble coming up with stuff, though? Like, FUN stuff? I want to write about fucking nonsense, but I've gotten so used to all this serious shit, that it's become difficult? Why can't I do more fashion shows and host clubs? What the fuck is this?

Fuck it. Who cares if it fits or make sense? I'm gonna write some grade A bullshit and it's gonna be wonderful. First, I just need the right idea... I have a couple cooking in this head of mine. Hopefully, they're sufficiently weird. You'll find out eventually.

Until the next chapter, my duckies~!