Moving to a different part of the house so that he wouldn't bother his spouse, Alois had begun to pace again. The only difference between this time and the last was that he was now not only concerned for his brother, but also his spouse. Ciel was not known for having the best of tempers, but he seldom became cross with the menace. Unfortunately, Alois feared that it may be one of those rare occasions where he did, as he had offended the other man. To what extent, he was uncertain, but having recalled the sort of things he had said and how they could have been taken, Alois assumed the worst.

It simply hadn't occurred to him. He knew full-well what kind of upbringing his husband had and he knew that it had an affect on his way of doing things. Alois even knew that his husband was aware of the powers that be and that his actions backed up the idea that he was trustworthy and a sympathetic ear to his cause. Ciel even spent vast sums to aid in Alois' crusade to better the living conditions of the people of Gehenna. Yet, it would definitely appear that the menace had crossed a line, making a mockery of things that were awful even in context that had affected his spouse at one point and even going so far as to imply that he did not appreciate being a member of the Phantomhive clan. Even if it was an accident, Alois knew how proud the other demon was to be a Phantomhive and how he- although not while wishing to impose his desire onto the menace- wanted Alois to feel that same sense of pride as well.

Although Alois couldn't force himself to find value in absolutely all of it, he was proud. He loved being family with his husband and he loved his husband enough to not wish to hurt him. Thus, he felt as though it was a grave offense that he actually did.

Alois couldn't take back his previous actions, but he could adjust his behaviour to avoid being distasteful or cruel and set out to do just that. The hard part was going to be proving to Ciel that he was and to earn his forgiveness, he thought. Unfortunately, it wasn't going to be as simple as apologising, it seemed.

His nervous behaviour caused the family butler to raise his brows momentarily as he walked into the room to pass through and make his way to another. He put down the vacuum cleaner he was carrying to the entertainment room with a tilt of his head as he assessed the situation. After a few moments, the older demon spoke.

"Master Jim?" Sebastian called out. "Is something the matter?"

Immediately, the man wondered what he had gotten himself into as he watched Alois' face shift from worry to dejection. "Sebastian!" he said back with an almost quivering lip. "I messed up, Sebastian. I messed up real bad!"

"What happened?" questioned the astonished butler, wondering what could have upset the blonde so.

"I have disrespected the house of Phantomhive!" Alois declared, grabbing the older demon's shoulders and headbutting his chest. "Ciel's really mad and sorry didn't cut it! I have no idea what to do..."

"Calm down, sir. Everything will be alright." With no other option, Sebastian raised a gloved hand and patted the reluctant master on the head. "Now, what exactly did you say to him that made him angry?"

"Lots of things… This time, he said he felt like I was complaining about the house while I was worrying about what Luka's friends might think of it. That might not sound bad, but I was pretty hard on it. I wasn't really sure why he was upset at just that, so I tried to think of a way that this might have built up, because that makes sense. Then, I remembered that the other day, I basically called Victorian nobles a bunch of animals because of their old marital practises, even though Ciel was engaged to his cousin before he picked me and… and..."

"...And you think you might have insulted him indirectly?"

"Yeah..." Alois confessed before raising his head again. "I told him I was sorry and that I was just venting and didn't mean half of the things I said..."

"Did you?"

"Well… maybe some of them. Just that there's no reason why anybody would need a house this big."

"That doesn't sound like a very sincere apology, then." Sebastian said, tilting his head knowingly.

"The house doesn't matter, though! He's what does!" The menace released the butler with a sigh. "It's not like I hate the whole 'wealthy' thing, either. Not having to worry about money is a wonderful thing! And honestly, I wished that Luka would have gone to Warwick, but he wasn't having it. I just… don't understand all of it and can't see when I'm making an ass of myself."

"But you can see it in hindsight?"

"I… I know… If I just thought about it for one second, I could have probably avoided this." Pausing, the blonde sat down in a chair and rested his elbows on his knees. "Honestly, my head knows that after a while, we'll be able to talk about it like always and reach some kind of an understanding. We always do, but I still kind of worry, y'know?"

"About what?" Sebastian questioned with an arch of his brow. "That he may reject you?"

"Well, kinda… I'm just not good at the whole 'posh' thing, in case you haven't noticed."

"I have."

"...Thanks." Alois replied, unsure as to whether or not the butler actually meant anything by it. "Sometimes, I wonder if I should just try it, though I have no idea where I'd even start."

"If I may, master Jim, I believe that you might be looking in the wrong places for a solution to your problem." Sebastian said this, although did find amusement in the mental image of the crude, swearing, blonde menace trying to be a full-fledged gentleman. "Your original plan of waiting until you may broach the subject with the master of the house once he's calmed down a bit is a perfectly sound plan and is also the one that will yield actual results. No amount of altering yourself to be, as you put it, 'posh' will fix anything, especially since it is the preference of the master himself that you remain this way."

"Oh yeah?" questioned the menace. "I know that you know everything and all, but how exactly do you know that?"

"Sir, if I may be so bold to say so, it is absolutely no secret, nor is it a shock to anyone, that the master is head over heels for you." the butler bluntly replied. "I have witnessed him receive many offers over the years, but you are the first person that I have ever seen him completely loose his head over."

"You act as though it was really bad..."

"I assure you, the things that I witnessed around that time most definitely were."

While Alois was definitely tempted to inquire further at the apparently numerous embarrassing things that a young, lovestruck Ciel Phantomhive once did, now was simply not the time. The blonde did chuckle, but he had other questions that needed to be answered. "Did things go okay with Luka?" he asked. "I was really worried if he was getting along with the other kids."

"Everything went just as planned, sir." Sebastian replied with a smile and a light bow. "I believe that all of them were sufficiently entertained."

"That's good." Alois let out another sigh, but this time, it was out of relief. Looking up at the butler, he grinned, prompting the older demon to raise a brow. Standing up again, he walked over to Sebastian and lightly squeezed his shoulder as he walked past. "Thanks, Sebastian. I think I might turn in a bit early. Tell me if you need anything."

"It is my job to assist you, Master Jim." perplexedly answered the butler.

"Yeah, but sitting on my ass while you're running around, busting yours doesn't seem fair." the menace replied while looking over his shoulder. "'Night, Sebastian."

"Good night, Master Jim." the butler said, picking up his vacuum cleaner as the blonde left. Once he was gone, he muttered to himself. "He most definitely isn't like his high society counterparts, that's for certain. Offering the butler help… What a thing to do..."

Ignorant to Sebastian's mumbling, Alois headed upstairs and got his things together so he could go to bed. After taking a quick shower, he got himself dressed in his pyjamas and brushed his teeth. Once everything else was done, he plugged in his cellphone and set an alarm for the next day before laying down and shutting his eyes. He was eager to get away from his problems for a moment, especially since he couldn't do anything to solve them at that very moment.

His breathing slowed and his body grew heavier and heavier until he was fast asleep. It seemed like only an instant later that he woke up again to the sound of the bedroom door closing, causing him to awaken to a pitch black room. His previously relaxed body tensed up as the rest of his senses came back to him. The metallic sound of a belt-buckle unfastening could be heard somewhere behind him along with the sound of rustling fabric. The presence became clearer and clearer until it occurred to the blonde that it was his husband finally turning in for the night.

A cellphone could be heard being set on the hard, wooden surface of the nightstand on the other side of the bed along with what Alois assumed was Ciel's eyepatch. Yet, the presence didn't go away and instead lingered, prompting the menace to close his eyes and pretend to be asleep. To his surprise, he felt the mattress shifting as a hand was placed on it to help balance Ciel as he gently tugged on Alois' blanket, pulling it upward to cover the blonde's shoulder the rest of the way. Then, it was gone when the Watchdog pulled away. The presence grew further from Alois, too, as Ciel retreated into the dressing room. The bathroom soon followed, giving the menace to doze off a tad.

It wasn't easy, however. His back was now to a vast, open room and even with his eyes closed, he could feel the darkness that cloaked it. Both his body and his mind were far too tense to allow him sleep. This was how he remained for what feels like ages, ears piqued for any sound that emanated behind him. When the shower in the other room finally shut off, he was suddenly struck with the silence that followed, making him even more aware than he was before.

It actually caused him some relief to hear the sound of his husband using his hairdryer. For whatever reason the bluenette did this, Alois wasn't sure, as his husband typically allowed the air to do if for him as he messed around on his phone before bed. The menace gambled that the other man didn't plan on killing time, and was right when the bluenette made a beeline for him.

Letting out a grunt followed by a sigh, Ciel lifted the blanket and crawled into bed with his husband, causing cold air to suddenly hit his beau's back. The feeling made Alois suck in a sharp breath and instinctively shift so that he was more tightly drawn into himself for warmth. To his surprise, however, Alois felt the movement behind him stop as Ciel froze himself, staring at the menace intently to see if he had accidentally awakened him.

"Jim?" whispered the Watchdog. "Are you awake?"

"I am now..." the blonde replied with much reluctance, matching the other's volume without any real reason to.

"I'm sorry." Ciel spoke in a soft, hushed voice, astonishing the blonde as he put an arm around him and laid down in a spooning position. Kissing flaxen locks, the Watchdog pulled the covers over both of them before intertwining their fingers. "Go back to sleep, Jimmy darling..."

Raising his eyebrows in surprise, Alois was completely taken off guard by the other's actions. Wasn't Ciel angry with him? Supposedly, he was, yet he still willingly slept close to his husband, even when Alois gave him plenty of space to not do so if he didn't want to. Alois had so many questions and so many things he wanted to say, but couldn't tell if this was the right time.

"Okay..." he answered after much hesitation. "Love you."

"I love you, too, dear." the other stated gently. With one last kiss to the back of Alois' head, his body began to relax, coaxing the menace to do the same.

Not wishing to dwell on what was unnecessary to dwell upon, Alois instead chose to focus on the heat radiating against his back and the sound of his husband's slow breathing lulling him to sleep. After a few minutes, he joined Ciel's lead and drifted away, completely forgetting about what he must do when he wakes up for at least a little while.


A/N: I actually wrote this last night, but then got distracted and didn't upload it. Oops.

This is a very odd chapter and I'm not sure what to think about it, really. I'm gonna do stuff in the next chapter that's a little more straightforward and simple, I think... Easy to do. SHould get a response. A real crowd pleaser. Look forward to it.

I got a question, though.

"Just a very random question, how would the cast of DLTP/DLTD react to Ciel shapeshifting into a girl and then not being able to shift back? I know, he can't shift to a female form, but imagine if he did." by guest

Well, most of them would laugh and then tease him, but eventually, they'd realise that he doesn't really find it all that funny and try their best to support them. That kind of shift is bound to cause a lot of unease. Alois would have the most trouble, because he's the one who likes Ciel's manliness the most. It would take getting used to. Ciel wouldn't get stuck, though, even though he actually CAN shapeshift into a woman. He just really doesn't want to. He'd never set that to his default form.

I wasn't sure if you wanted me to answer, though. If you guys want to address the characters directly, be sure to include that in the message. I'm still accepting questions and so are they~!

Until the next chapter, my duckies~!