Day broke, but was unable to reach beyond the drawn curtains of the Phantomhive master suite. The two heads of the household still laid together in a tightly-bound pile surrounded by blankets of all sorts in order to stay warm. They were fast asleep, still, until their rest was shattered by the sound of some obnoxious pop song loudly eminating from Alois' phone as it sat charging on the nightstand next to his side of the bed.
"Urrgh..." the groaned, furrowing his brow and squeezing his eyes shut tighter as he made an attempt to will himself away from the warmth of his current spot.
"Jim, your phone..." groggily informed the Watchdog without even opening his eyes.
"I know..." sniffed the other before disappearing underneath the covers. He had hoped that in doing so, he would stay warm as he crawled on his stomach over to the phone, but alas, it was not quite the case. Foolishly, he had concentrated himself on Ciel's side of the bed with his husband like he usually did, so his own portion was still cold from lack of body sleeping there. With a shudder, the menace wrapped himself tightly in his comforter before finally sitting up and answering the phone. With one hand, he held it, while rubbing the sleep from his eyes with the other.
"Hey, Kris." he answered, already knowing who it was on the other end.
"Hey, Lois." Kristopherson replied. "How's your husband like the hair?"
"I got laid, so there's that."
"Nice. I'm guessing it's a bit late to tell you that I have you on speaker right now, though, isn't it?"
"Hi, Alois!" Logan's voice could be heard in the background, causing a blush to form on the Phantomhive's face.
"Oh… Hey. Sorry about that." Alois bashfully said.
"It's fine! Good for you!" the incubus cheerfully reassured. Fortunately for the menace, it was very difficult to offend an incubus while merely speaking bluntly about sex.
"I'm driving a moving van, so Logan is holding the phone." Kristopherson explained. "Are you free today?"
"Why? Need some help?" inquired the blonde, looking over at his dosing spouse before gently adjusting the blankets so that Ciel was completely covered.
"If you're not busy." the wolfman answered. "We got all the boxes and little things moved, so now we have the fun bit where we have to somehow move the rest of the furniture down several flights of stairs."
"Delightful. Fortunately, most stairwells are mostly empty, so between your supernatural strength and my supernatural strength, it shouldn't be that bad."
"What can I do, then?" Logan asked.
"Emotional support." Alois stated. "Also to help us make sure we're not about to run into anything because it's hard to see when you're lugging a couch down from the thirteenth floor."
"Can do." the incubus replied.
"Are you in?" Kristopherson questioned, causing the other man to sigh as he realised that he would have to leave the warmth of his blankets and brave the cold in order to get dressed.
"Yeah. I need to get up and put on pants first, though." the menace informed. "I just woke up."
"Mate, it's two in the afternoon..."
"Wait..." Immediately, the blonde turned his head to face his husband and then glanced over at the Watchdog's nightstand, only to see that his cell phone- his alarm clock, wasn't there.
"Ciel, don't you have work today?" he asked, pressing the microphone to his shoulder while gently nudging the other demon awake.
"Huh?" sleepily inquired the bluenette. "What? What time is it?" There was a hint of annoyance in his voice, having just woken up and not heard his cell phone go off yet.
"It's two in the afternoon."
"What?"
"I said if you have work today, you're fuckin' late!"
There was a moment of silence while the bluenette just laid there, failing to respond. Just as Alois shook his head and was about to put the phone back to his ear, however, Ciel bolted up, eyes wide and the colour drained from his face. Panic filled his voice as he asked again: "What time is it?!"
"Two in the afternoon, honey."
With that realisation, the bluenette moved to start frantically searching for his cellphone. It wasn't on the table and it wasn't in the floor next to the night stand. "Where's my phone?!"
"I don't know? Retrace your steps."
"I'll check my pockets!" Throwing off the blankets, Ciel leapt out of bed in order to search his trouser pockets from the previous day. With a roll of his eyes, the menace returned to his own call.
"Sorry about that Kris." he apologised. "Ciel didn't set an alarm. I don't think the lads at boot camp are gonna get much done today."
"Poor guy!" the wolfman laughed. "Anyway, I'm almost to the apartment, so I'll have to hang up so I can park."
"Alright. I'll meet up with you as soon as I can."
"Thanks a ton! You're a saint, Lois!"
"Ew, don't be gross." the blonde said in jest before bidding his farewells. With that, he hung up the phone and tried his best to will himself out of bed. So far, the most he could accomplish was stretching and allowing the blankets to fall from his shoulders. He regretted his descision immediately, however, as the room was cold and he was now exposed to the elements.
"It's dead!" his husband declared from the other room. "There's no telling how many times they tried to contact me! I have no idea what's going on or what they're doing withou-"
Walking into the bedroom at last, Ciel stopped mid-sentence at seeing his spouse. The light that was able to sneak through and around the curtains hit blonde locks just right as the menace looked back at him from over his shoulder. A light blush appeared on the Watchdog's cheeks as Alois tilted his head in confusion.
"What would they be doing without you?" Alois asked, only to earn a clueless response.
"Who does what, now?" Ciel questioned, keeping his eyes on his husband's form.
"Ciel, focus. As much as I'd love to go for another round, we have places to be right now." Covering his mouth, the menace forced himself to look away. "And for fuck's sake, put on some pants, will you?"
"Oh!" gawked the Watchdog, having completely forgotten about his current status of dress. He immediately made a move to cover himself, but then remembered that he was married to Alois and that he had already seen quite a lot of each other already.
"You can use my phone." The blonde informed, standing up, himself and walking around the bed. As he passed his husband, he handed over the device. "I'm going to get dressed. I need to meet Kris at his place to help him move some furniture."
"Thanks, darling."
"Mm-hm." As bashful as his husband was, Alois still had to mess with him. He kissed the man's cheek before passing him by and playfully swatting at the cheek on his other side. Alois couldn't help but grin at the small yelp he received and looked back for just a moment to marvel at his husband's reddened face.
Ciel finally did put on a robe before stepping into the front room to make his phone calls, leaving Alois to go about his business. Since he was just moving furniture, the menace didn't pick out a particularly stylish outfit. Just a long-sleeved shirt tucked into some jeans, and his hiking boots. He planned on just throwing on a coat and wearing a scarf and that would be it. By the time he had one boot laced up, however, he looked up to see his husband walking into the dressing room with a defeated look on his face.
"I got yelled at." the Watchdog said uninvited. "They actually yelled at me? They only stopped when I reminded them just who they were talking to!"
"'Don't you know who I am?!'" mockingly chuckled the menace. "'I donate a lot of money to this opera!'"
"Hardy-har-har… Laugh it up… On the bright side, however, the corporals have it handled right now, so I've accidentally got a day off. At long last."
"Ooh~! Any plans?"
"Well… I wanted to spend time with you, actually." Ciel answered, reaching up to rub the back of his neck. "I was actually hoping to get some time off for your birthday, but I'm not sure if they're going to let me, now."
"Aw, babe..." Alois cooed, standing with open arms after having tied his boots. Wrapping his arms around the other man's shoulders, he kissed his cheek again. "We can always go on a date after I'm done helping Kris! I'm afraid I'll have to change, though. This isn't exactly the most attractive of outfits."
"I disagree, seeing how you're always incredibly attractive no matter what you wear." Pausing, he hesitated before asking: "Do you think Kristopherson could use another pair of hands?"
"You wanna help him move?"
"It's better than lounging around the house while waiting for you to get back. We can go out right after, that way."
"Are you really alright with that? It's manual labour, you know." Alois reminding, not being able to really remember the last time he saw his spouse do anything of the sort- No, that's not true. There was the day when they cleaned and rearranged the memorabilia room, but that was once and only once during the entire time Alois had lived there.
"I'm not so fragile that I can't handle a little bit of grunt work, Jim." the bluenette replied. "I'm an assassin. Surely I can handle moving a couch down some stairs."
"Kris lives on the eigth floor."
"Oh..." There was a split second where Ciel seemed to regret his offer. Then, he collected himself and coaxed the blonde to release him before moving toward the wardrobe. "That's not a problem. I've had worse."
"Okay, but if you go, you're not allowed to complain for at least the first thirty minutes after we start carrying stuff."
"Alright?"
"Shake on it." Alois said, holding out his hand. With a roll of his eyes, the other Phantomhive asked:
"And what happens if I don't follow your rules?"
"I'll go out to dinner with Kris and Logan instead."
"You wouldn't dare..." the Watchdog said, finally looking over his shoulder. In response, his husband only held his hand out further and with a bit of a glare, Ciel finally humoured him and shook.
"The contract is sealed." Alois ominously declared.
"Oh, get off it." But the menace only laughed.
With that, Alois left him to his own devices, backing out of the room while making eye-contact in a rather sinister fashion. Now Ciel was a bit nervous, because knowing the menace, he might actually follow through with his threat in order to mess with him. Ciel Phantomhive could not allow this.
The man put on his more casual clothes, yet could not achieve the amount of comfort that his husband did. "You look like a fraternity president." the blonde told him with a chuckle. "You look cute, though. Actually, I think most fraternity presidents look like shoddy versions of you."
"I'm going to try again." Ciel stated, wandering back into the dressing room and shutting the door behind him.
"Babe, come on. We have to go."
"Just one more try. Really fast!"
Rolling his eyes, Alois sat on the edge of the bed and pulled out his phone to inform Kristopherson that they were running behind schedule. He added the detail about his husband being fashion-conscious as well, prompting the wolfman to scoff and reply that he was definitely going to be critiquing Ciel's outfit, then. Alois had to remind him that that wasn't very nice.
"How is this?" The menace was pulled from his phone as the Watchdog opened the door again. Ciel was wearing a pair of bluejeans, a black, leather belt and matching jacket, as well as a dark blue dress shirts with small, white polka-dots speckling it. Smiling, Alois put his phone in his pocket and stood up, holding his arms out to wrap them around his husband's shoulders.
"Handsome." The blonde stated. "God, you're good looking..."
That was all it took to cause a rather smug smile to appear on the Watchdog's face. "See? I only needed one more try."
"Mm-hm." answered Alois, leaning in and pecking his spouse on the lips. "You look perfect. Kinda makes me feel underdressed!"
"Well, we're still here..."
"Yeah, but we needed to leave about fifteen minutes ago, so we should probably go do that."
"Oh, right!" Ciel replied, blushing a bit as he remembered what the two of them were supposed to be doing.
"You totally forgot about Kris, didn't you?" Alois accused while turning to step away from his spouse. He put on his coat and wrapped his scarf around his neck before picking up his car keys.
"No. Of course I didn't!"
"Right..." the other said, still skeptical as the two of them walked out the door.
"I didn't!"
The car ride over to Kristopherson's flat was equally filled with banter. Sly jabs and enough flirting to embarrass the second-youngest Macken was fair game between them. It was strange. After the routine of Alois plotting murder until Ciel came home and the two of them processing all of those negative feelings, it was like they had rekindled something between them. Alois felt bad about that, but knew that he was in a dark place and the woods were dense enough that he still wasn't completely out of them just yet. He had reached a clearing, at least, and was going to enjoy it for as long as he could. He wanted to keep the sparks that were flying between he and the Watchdog alive.
Upon arriving at the building that would soon be Kristopherson's former residence, they stepped out of the vehicle and locked arms on their way to the lift. They would be taking that lift upward several times that day, but weren't sure just how many. With a soft ding, the elevator stopped and dropped the duo off. They separated themselves upon reaching their friend's door and waited patiently for the wolfman to answer. Swinging the door open, Kristopherson looked at them incredulously.
"Finally." Mister Miles stated. "Logan almost died while insisting that he could carry the sofa."
"I just dropped it on my foot!" called a voice from somewhere in the apartment.
"He could have needed his foot amputated."
"Sorry. We got held up." Alois apologised before allowing himself inside, shortly followed by the bluenette.
"Hello, Kristopherson." greeted the Watchdog.
"I haven't seen you in a while! It's good to see you!" Kristopherson paused to look over the demon's outfit, just as promised. "Acceptable." he said cryptically, prompting Ciel to raise an eyebrow.
"So, what's the plan, man?" butted in the menace before he was exposed as a gossiper to his husband.
"I dunno, bro." answered the wolfman. "We were trying to move the sofa, so I guess that's first? Or do you wanna start small with a dresser or something?"
"Maybe two of us can take the sofa while the third takes a dresser?" the blonde suggested, unsure of how to include Logan, who wasn't nearly as strong. "If there's anything else that can be taken down in the lift, maybe Logan can do that? Can he walk on that foot?"
"I can manage." the incubus answered for himself. "Maybe not taking the stairs is a good idea, though… I'll do my best to be helpful."
"I believe in you, sweetie." Kristopherson stated. "There's those two tall lamps over there, and then… Actually, there's a few chairs that need carried, down, too."
"On it." Logan said, kissing his boyfriend's cheek as he passed by him. The faux-blonde smiled as he did so, only to scoff when he looked over and saw Alois grinning.
"Shut up." the wolfman told him before he could say anything.
"What?" asked the incubus.
"No, not you, love." Kristopherson quickly corrected his mistake before pointing at the menace. "That one over there needs to shut up."
"Ooh~!" Alois cooed. "Someone's in love~!"
"You have no right to say anything! I have seen more of you and Ciel than I ever need to see!"
"Oh, shit! I forgot you have leverage!"
"Damn right, I do! So shut up and pick up the couch."
"Fine…" the menace replied before turning to his husband. "Think you can manage a dresser, Ciel?"
"Most definitely." stated the Watchdog. He was directed toward the piece of furniture he was meant to carry and did so without complaint, just as promised. That said, his husband was guilty of the exact thing that he teased the bluenette about.
While Ciel carried the dresser down the stairwell quite easily, Alois and Kristopherson struggled behind him with the sofa, bickering and griping the entire way. Neither of them could get a satisfactory grip on it and were worried about accidentally having it fall over the railing. It was a long way down, as well. By the time they got it all the way down, Logan had completed his task and Ciel had gotten the furniture that he could down through the elevator with the incubus. However, this left the partners of the two more glamourous members of the group with a lot of time just waiting around for them to get off the stairwell and to load the sofa into the back of the van.
"So..." Logan began while he and the Watchdog sat in the open vehicle with their legs dangling down through the open door. "I hear you've been working at a boot camp?"
"Yeah. Yeah… I was supposed to work today, but I didn't set my alarm, so they found a replacement." the Phantomhive replied, trying his best to be friendly and partake in small-talk. It was a weak area for him, so he wasn't sure what else he could say. He certainly wasn't going to tell Logan the reason why he forgot to set an alarm, however. Logan already knew, of course, both from Kristopherson's phone call with Alois, and also simply by sensing it. He could tell what Ciel had been up to, but withheld the fact that he knew for the sake of politeness.
"Well, you got a day off, at least, but I don't really know if it counts, since you're here moving furniture."
"I don't mind. Jim and I are going out later, so I'm content."
"That's nice. Kris and I are probably just gonna stay in and rearrange furniture. Where are you gonna go?"
"Not sure… Probably going to eat at this pub that Jim likes, however."
"Really?" questioned the incubus, arching an eyebrow. "I would think that you would prefer one of those high-end places that Kris likes."
"I like them well enough, but Jim really doesn't like them at all. He used to try and force himself for my sake, but always had a dreadful time. So now we go with the option that we both like." Ciel said, chuckling lightly. "As sweet of him as it was, it's not much fun if he isn't enjoying himself, too."
"You two have a very solid relationship, don't you?" rhetorically questioned the incubus. "I kind of think that the others sort of model themselves after you in a weird way. Kris sometimes goes on about 'well, Alois said this, Alois said that,' and it's all great advice."
"But?"
"But..? Well… Maybe I feel a bit like he should ask me, sometimes. I happen to know a thing or two, y'know? It's not that big of a deal, though. He's sweet."
"Have you talked to him about it?"
"No, not yet."
"You should. It's the only way he's going to know." Ciel informed. "Kristopherson should take to it pretty well. He's not stubborn in the same way I am, so he should learn fast."
"Were you hard to deal with?" the incubus inquired with a smile.
"Kind of. I kept doing stupid stuff like trying to protect Jim from danger that would affect both of us by not telling him. I would also take his insistence that it's perfectly fine to do something and then believe that he was just saying that to be nice."
"I can believe that." Logan nodded, trying not to arouse any suspicion in regards to what he knew and did not know about the Phantomhive. While Kristopherson occasionally passed on a few tidbits from conversing with the Watchdog's husband, Logan could pick up information about the man simply by interacting with him. Yes, he did find all of this probable and wasn't surprised in the slightest. "Sorry, not… like you were difficult or anything."
"No, I was rather difficult. I do hope that I've improved at least somewhat since then." Ciel said, his eye turning to the door that led to the stairs as the sound of swearing grew louder and louder. He and the incubus both stopped and stared in complete silence as they confusedly watched the door. They looked to each other, and then back to the door again, only for it to violently swing open and for the blonde menace to start backing out of it.
"I'm out the door!" the fair-haired demon shouted. "Turn it to the side a bit and watch the rail!"
"I think I know not to damage my own fucking couch!" Kristopherson retorted, huffing as he shifted his feet. "I can't move while you're standing there, so go!"
"Alright, alright!" Alois grumbled, continuing to back out of the doorway. The pair bickered and argued all the way down before setting the couch down in order to take a short break.
"Shouldn't we help them?" Logan asked Ciel, but the bluenette shook his head.
"No." he shook. "This is funny."
After a minute, the blonde and the faux-blonde gripped onto the sofa before counting down from three and lifting it. They seemed to be moving fairly quickly now that they were on a flat surface. As they got closer to the truck, their two blue partners moved out of the way. Logan hopped down from the truck while Ciel stood up and held out his hands, prompting the menace to give him his portion of the sofa to carry up while helping Kristopherson push it the rest of the way. The two demons rearranged things so that everything would fit and got the large piece of furniture inside, but they still weren't done yet.
"How are you not tired?" huffed and puffed the wolfman. His face was red and beads of sweat collected on his brow as his boyfriend playfully fanned him. "Do you lift?"
"According to HELLSING, I can lift a little over four tons." Alois replied. "I just couldn't keep the couch stable on my own. If I did that, I'd have to grip it really hard and it would probably break. What about you? You're a werewolf, so why are you tired?"
"So many stairs..." Kristopherson wheezed. "I've never gone all the way up or down before..."
"What good is all that beef, then?" the demon scoffed, gesturing the his friend's muscles. "Don't die now, ya big baby. We've still gotta get your mattress."
To this, the wolfman groaned and appeared as though he wanted to collapse. With a roll of his eyes, Alois added: "You ask for my help moving your stuff and you make me do it all by myself? If that's gonna be how it is, you're gonna have to owe me two lunches, now."
"Wouldn't it be faster if I just helped this time?" chimed in the bluenette, jumping down from the truck. "What else is left?"
"Beats me. We haven't been back up there since all of us split up."
"Oh, then there isn't much. Just a few bits and bobs." Ciel informed.
"Good! Me and you will go get the mattress and Logan and dogbreath can get the rest, then."
"Don't call me names..." complained Kristopherson.
"Suffer."
Eventually, there was enough of a gap in the banter for Logan and Ciel to remind them that they needed to get back to work. With that, the demons entered the elevator and ascended to Kristopherson's flat again. There, they found the mattress propped against the wall. The bedframe had already been disassembled and moved out by the time the demons arrived in the first place. Both of them grabbed a side and easily carried it out of the virtually empty flat. It was easy for them as they kept it perfectly balanced even as they opened the door do the stairwell and made their way down. The two of them were naturally in sync and were used to working together. That meant that both the weight and the maneuvering was nothing.
"This is a million times easier." Alois said while looking over his shoulder to back down the stairs. "I don't have to bark instructions at you."
"We've become that married couple haven't we?" his beau chuckled.
"Yeah, I'm afraid we have." the blonde answered back. "Even though I bitched the whole time, this is kind of fun, though."
"Yeah? Why's that?"
"I've never done this before, y'know? It's kind of a hassle to move shit from one place to another like this, apparently. It must be kinda rewarding once it's all there and arranged though."
"It kind of is." Ciel stated before pausing. "We didn't get to move in together like this, didn't we?"
"Nah, but that's okay. I got to move into the master suite and the office. I also get to help make the house, now, and that's fun. I think for a lot of people, there might be a little bit of symbolism, there. Like, instead of it being 'mine,' it's 'ours,' because we're a team, now. That's kind of how relationships work."
"It's sort of a rite of passage, isn't it? I'm glad you're not too disappointed, though. I actually quite like joining aesthetics, too. I want you to know and feel like the house is yours too, because it is."
"Yeah, I still sometimes have a hard time wrapping my head around that." the menace confessed, looking up at his husband again. "Me? A commoner? Being one of the heads of an estate?"
"Traditionally, you wouldn't have been, but I don't want to have a relationship like that. I want to be involved."
"Why? What usually happens?"
"Well, usually- and this is in the most 'traditional' sense, so it's usually a woman marrying a man..."
"Right."
"Usually, what happens is the woman sort of manages the estate and the décor and all of that as a sort of 'homemaker.' If our relationship went by those rules, you would be doing all of the work without any of the status. I don't want that. I want you right there, by my side, managing the Phantomhive household with me."
Honestly, Alois was rather touched. Apparently, the bluenette was never one to abide by convention, according to their butler, but as he had come to learn, the Watchdog was rather sentimental, still. Ciel knew of Alois' true status and didn't give the slightest bit of care. He was always a noble in the Watchdog's eye.
"I love that." the blonde said. "I'm not just your 'wife,' am I? I hope I'm doing a good job."
"You're doing a fantastic job as my spouse and partner." the Watchdog smiled. "I'm the happiest I've ever been. It's also fun, going out and picking out things for the house with you. I remember my mother choosing between sets of drapery from her bed."
"Huh… Did your mum have trouble doing all of that while she was sick?"
"Not that I can remember. The mansion was always well-kept and refined, just like any other. When I first took over, it became a lot more dreary..."
Suddenly, Ciel's attention was captured by a yelp in front of him as his husband's foot slipped off of the step he was descending to. Instinctively, Alois grabbed the railing with one hand to catch himself, while desperately trying to keep hold of the mattress in the other. The balance was off, however, causing it to lean toward the railing, but Ciel caught it and held it upright from his end.
"Are you alright?" the bluenette questioned while the other recovered.
"Yeah. I'm fine. I was too busy listening, so I wasn't paying attention to where my feet were!" Alois replied.
"We can stop until we get down." the other suggested.
"No way! You never talk about your parents and I know you won't talk about them at all in front of the others!"
"You really want to know this?"
"Yeah! Of course I do! It's part of your history, right? So of course I'm curious."
Chuckling softly, Ciel answered him as they started moving again. "Sorry to disappoint, but I honestly don't remember them that well. I remember little things about them, but I can't remember what they sounded like or anything. If there weren't portraits of them, I probably wouldn't remember what they looked like, either."
"Understandable." Alois replied, much to Ciel's surprise. Normally, people who knew him and his story would gawk at the idea, finding it too unbelievable. "I haven't had as much time pass, but I can't remember what my parents looked like at all. I've never met my mum and honestly, I don't have a lot of memories from back then, in general."
"I see..." the bluenette said with mixed feelings. "I'd say 'I'm sorry,' but I know you won't accept it."
"Nope. You're right. It's kinda sad, but I can't really be sad about what I can't remember. It's fine, now, since I have a family now, anyway."
"Jim..." Now it was the Watchdog's turn to feel touched. As sappy as it was, both of them were family and shared the family that they found together. There was Sebastian, Elizabeth, Luka, Revy, Integra, and all of the Midfords as well. Both of them also knew that the family growing was inevitable. It was welcome, however, and both of them genuinely found joy in what they had. The past was one thing, but there was always the present and future, too.
"Oh, I'm sorry!" Alois said, his face lighting up for a moment. "I started yammering on when I said I wanted you to talk about your family!"
"That's pretty broad, though. What do you want to know, exactly?"
"I dunno. Whatever you want me to know."
"That's tough…" Pausing, the Watchdog stopped to see if anything in particular came to mind. "Well, if it's about my mother, she and I were both kind of sickly. We both had asthma, but in personality, we were pretty different. She was very outgoing and seemed to always have something to say to the other women at church. I remember wanting her to finish up so we could go home."
"You? Going to church?" his husband scoffed.
"You had to back then. People talking about you was considered to be the worst thing possible. There's definitely a lot worse, though. That's probably why I stopped going."
"I only went when I was a nobleman. I hated it. It was so boring."
"I think kids are just naturally bored by church."
"When we have kids, we're not taking them." Alois said, grunting while readjusting his grip.
"Agreed. Although… I don't think I'd mind having them christened."
"What's with nobles and christening?"
"It's a thing you do. It's not just nobles. I don't really care for the religious aspect, but it's another rite of passage. It's a naming ceremony."
"Why not pick a name before the baby is born? Isn't that what most people do? After all, you have like, nine months to pick a possible name for both."
"In our time, people didn't always name their children right when they were born in case they died. The infant mortality rate was horrible. It's kind of amazing I survived at all."
"You're hearty." stated the menace with a smile. "So, what other 'rites of passage' would you want our kids to go through?"
"Well..." There was hesitance in Ciel's speech as he knew what the answer was most likely going to be. "What about breeching?"
"Seriously, Ciel?"
"I had to do it even after I became Earl! I'm old fashioned."
"You're dumb."
The conversation carried on until they were finally downstairs again. It took them approximately a quarter of the time it took to carry down the sofa. It was pleasant and with the addition of the mattress to the load in the back of the truck, the task was complete and they were finally able to pull down the door and pile inside of their cars in order to set off for Gehenna. Kristopherson and Logan hopped into the truck while the demons followed behind in their car.
They passed through the security gate and drove slowly down the streets of the supernatural town. People waved at the black mercedes, having recognised it as the Lion's car and Alois waved back in spite of the tinted windows making it impossible to peer inside. Both vehicles parked in front of a pleasant-looking building in what seemed to be a nice enough looking nieghbourhood. It was two stories tall and had an apartment on each.
"The bottom one is ours." Kristopherson said while climbing out of the truck. "We'll just get the stuff inside and from there, Logan and I can arrange it."
"It's nice." Ciel replied. All the while, the incubus walked over to the door and opened it.
"The basement is ours, too." Kristopherson said. "There's a washer and dryer down there. It's also nice enough that I can use it as an extra workshop! There's somebody living upstairs, though."
"Are they home?" asked Alois.
Putting his hands on his hips, the wolfman looked up at the windows above him and stated: "I have no idea… Well, we'll say 'hello' soon enough. Right, Logan?"
"Right!" Logan answered while also opening up the back of the truck. "Chances are, we probably already know them, though, with both of our jobs."
"Yeah. Still, it's the polite thing to do, isn't it?"
It wouldn't take long for them to meet their neighbours of course, as at least one of them was indeed home and started watching them from the window as they carried furniture inside. For several minutes, they watched while the quartet of men carried in the mattress and that infernal sofa before eventually stepping away. The neighbour traveled down the steps that led to her front door and opened it, peeking out before stepping outside.
"Kristopherson?" she called out before seeing the two demons. "Hello, Sir and Mister Phantomhive."
"Hey, Samantha." answered Alois while helping his husband carry in a chest of drawers. "How's it going?"
"It's good." the Westley girl replied. "What are you doing?"
"I'm moving in to my new house?" Kristopherson answered for the menace while arching an eyebrow. "What are you doing here?"
"I live upstairs?" Samantha said while gesturing to the upstairs windows. "Does Dan know you're here?"
In that moment, there was a mix of emotions in the group. Alois snickered the most mischievous snicker while Logan rationally contemplated what it would be like to live a floor down from his boyfriend's ex. Meanwhile, Kristopherson, the man who orchestrated the whole venture, made the horrible realisation that he had made a fatal mistake. Immediately turning to his flunkies, he gave an order:
"Everybody pack it all back up! We're going back!"
"What?!" demanded Alois. "No way! Fuck you! I carried that sofa with you down a million stairs! I'm not carrying it back up!"
"Kristopherson, it's not that bad." Ciel chimed in. "Be realistic."
"Babe, it's going to be fine..." said Logan. And, after the initial shock, the wolfman calmed down and the rest of the move went well, along with the help of Samantha, who joined in. Once everything was moved, the group parted ways, leaving the Phantomhives to go on their date, and Samantha, Logan, and Kristopherson to wrap their heads around the idea that they were all going to be living near each other from now on.
A/N: We're extremely close to reaching 1,000 chapters of DLTD. What the fuck? I need another hobby...
I really don't have a lot to say, this round. Partially because I'm tired, but also because I'M TIRED.
So, I think I'm gonna leave it here, tonight.
Until the next chapter, my duckies~!
