To say that the sight of Gehenna was "overwhelming" to the new folks from Phantom House would be a severe understatement. The world of supernaturals was completely foreign to them and never before had they seen so many inhuman looking supernaturals before. In fact, some of them had never before at all. There were tiger people and people with goat legs. There were elves, and goblins, and orcs, and ogres, and some strange dog-looking people who weren't quite werewolves, but looked like something in between.

Tentatively, the group walked through, taking in all of the sights and doing their best not to be rude and stare. The sensory overload was getting to them, however, as they failed to notice the entirety of their surroundings. Suddenly, the sound of shouting, followed by a bicycle bell ringing pulled them from their trance.

"Out of the road!" shouted a man from the sidewalk. "It's the midwife!"

Turning around, the group saw the bicycle approaching and scrambled to move out of the way. Riding it was a woman in what looked like a purple witch hat and a matching cape. On the front of the vehicle was a large basket holding a suitcase and on the back was another. Frantically, she was waving for the newcomers to free the streets.

"Midwife!" she shouted. "Let me through! Midwife!"

Like a shot, she flew by, stopping her bike and getting off of it a few blocks down. The Phantom House residents simply looked after her in confusion as they tried to wrap their heads around it. Looking around, they saw a few spectators shaking their heads before casually moving on to go about their business, all the while their chaperon held her face in her palm.

"Okay, important lesson," Wink began, taking a deep breath. "The streets are okay to walk in, but you have to keep your ears open for cars and bike bells, alright?"

"Was that a witch?" Lilian asked, but the other woman just shrugged.

"A lot of midwives are witches, so it's likely." she said. "The hat and cape is just a uniform. You have to move out of the way for them. It's the same as if an ambulance comes through because she has to go deliver a baby." With that, she shook her head and gestured for the group to follow her as they moved down main street.

She showed them the graft shops, a restaurant or two, and where the police station was. Somehow, the newcomers were shocked at the fact that there was a police force with uniforms and everything. They even saw some in their long coats they wore when the weather grew colder. There was the library and one of the biggest hubs of the town, the crafts studio. People would go there and pay a fee to use crafting tools if they didn't own there own. Some people set up entire businesses that way. There were stalls with all kinds of things made there for sale nearby, as well as many, many more inside the building itself. While they carried on, a few people from the group broke off to explore some, but the young werewolves were looking for one store in particular.

"...And this is Andrea's." Wink informed, gesturing to the building. It was stylishly decorated with the name written on the sign in cursive. The lights that illuminated it were off during the day, but the lights were definitely on inside. If one couldn't see around the posters in the window, one could certainly see it through the glass window of the front door.

"This is where everyone goes to buy clothes and sewing supplies in Gehenna." she continued. "It's an essential store, since it is the only store in the entire world that carries clothes designed for supernatural beings. Werewolves, if you don't want to stay in your rooms during the full moon, you might want to consider going here and finding something that'll fit your other shape."

This is where Lilian got off the train at. She and a few others too up the offer and walked toward the door, ringing a bell when they opened it. The sound summoned the attention of the woman at the counter, prompting her to flash a smile in acknowledgment. She had bleached blonde hair and black lipstick, contrasting with the large, white, pointy teeth that she revealed with a grin. None of the youths could tell until they walked to the other side of her, however, that she also had a tattoo of sunflowers on her neck.

She wasn't alone in the store, however. There was a man there, too, standing on a step ladder while he restocked shelves. His hair was only partially bleached, as ashy brown hair grew in, replacing it and leaving only tips. He was muscular and had an unusual, but meticulously maintained goatee. Looking over his shoulder, he smiled at the group as well.

"Welcome!" he greeted. "Are you looking for anything in particular?"

"Just some cheap clothes." Lilian sheepishly replied. "I don't really know what I want, yet."

"That's alright. Feel free to ask if you need anything!" Kristopherson said, just as ignorant as the youths were to the fact that there was a common thread by the name of Jim Phantomhive connecting them. He finished what he was doing and climbed down before folding up the ladder and bringing it to the back of the store. When he returned, the group was still browsing. He paid enough attention to tell if someone was lost, but there were a few things he missed. Fortunately, his employee knew about other things to look for.

Also fortunately for Kyung-Soon, her boss actively encouraged her to look and to step in if she could. Then, when she spotted something, she chuckled to herself and shook her head before stepping out from behind the counter. Making a beeline to her target, she gently tapped the young woman's shoulder, prompting her to turn around. Brittany looked to her, obviously on edge about something. Her eyes were wide and she focused really hard on Kyung-Soon, but the vampiress only smiled.

"I'm sorry, miss, but I'm going to have to ask you to remove those items from the inside of your shirt." she said cooly, but keeping a bright grin on her face. "If you would like to purchase a shopping bag at the front for you to use, you can, but you can't carry them like that."

"I didn't want to hold them." Brittany replied, already knowing how ridiculous she sounded, but having no other options.

"I've just offered you an alternative to doing that." the worker stated. "You can buy a shopping bag, carry them, or you can put it all back and leave. Those are your options."

"I don't like those options. I also don't like the way you're treating me. You're acting like I'm a stealer and I'm not, so you don't need to worry about it."

"Tough titties." suddenly, Kyung-Soon's smile fell as she ran out of patience. When that happened, her true colours often showed. The limit was very low, although it has grown immensely since working at Andrea's, but her fondness of the store was exactly what was driving her actions to protect its assets. "You're getting treated like a thief because that's a thief thing to do. Even if it isn't, what happens if you decide not to buy them? Then we've got wadded clothes that have been in somebody's shirt and we have to go clean them, iron them, and fold them on the shelf again. It's a pain in the ass, so do things the easy way and just carry it, alright?"

That was not how someone in customer service spoke. It was shocking. Brittany stammered, struggling to find a response as she tried her best to wrap her head around what just happened.

"Yo-you!" she began, slowly piecing things together. "You can't talk to me like that!"

"Yeah, I can." Kyung-Soon scoffed. "Just take the clothes out of your shirt and the accessories you put in your pockets and everything will be alright. If you don't, when..." She paused to shrug as she sucked air through her teeth. "We'll have to call the police."

Lilian, on the other hand, didn't even bother to look as she simply continued to shop for herself. She wasn't surprised. She was actually wondering how Brittany was going to pay for her purchases, having made no attempt to earn any money. Turns out, shoplifting was the answer. It wasn't any of Lilian's business, though, so she just took her items up to the counter and paid for them.

"Did you find everything alright?" Kristopherson asked.

"Yeah. I think so." Pausing, the girl hesitated before saying: "Sorry, that girl over there is always like this."

"It's fine. We can handle it. If she does get away, she won't get far." the man stated while ringing everything up. "Kyung-Soon over there is dating the chief of police, and have you seen that tatoo on her neck?"

"The sunflowers?"

"Yeah. She's a member- well, former member of the Girasol vampire coven. She's still on good terms with them."

"So covens are a thing..."

"Yeah, but for the most part, they're kind of obsolete now. They were necessary for survival a while back, but things have changed for the better since then. You still want to be polite to them, though."

"Why's that?"

"Because they do a lot of good work for the community." the wolfman stated, undermining Lilian's expectations. "They're also quite tough. I wouldn't pick any fights, if I were you. Vampire and werewolf politics are different here than in the movies, so it's important to try and pick up on as much as you can."

"How did you know I'm new here?"

"Because I've never seen you in my store before. Also, us werewolves just know other werewolves. It's a thing." With a shrug, Kristopherson cheerfully gave her her total, which she paid before going on her merry way. She bought a coat which she definitely put on and left before finding out what happened to Brittany.

Other money exchanges were going on elsewhere in Gehenna and one of them actually involved a member of the Girasol vampires. It took place at the bookstore and looked perhaps as suspicious as utterly possible when viewed from the outside. Baldassare stood in front of the counter at the store and placed a metal suitcase with a lock on it on its surface. Opening it up, he gave the clerk an order.

"Put the money in the case." he said, but shockingly, the ogre didn't look bothered in the slightest. In fact, she smiled!

"Alright, sir. I'll go get my manager to open the safe. You wait right here." she said cheerfully.

"Thanks, Primrose." Baldassare replied, leaning on the counter while waiting. He looked around, allowing his eyes to wander to the books on the shelves. He thought he might actually browse today once he was done getting the money he was owed from his own booksales. He hadn't in a while.

There were other authors besides himself with their works in the shop. Most of them were also very good. Some of them also weren't at all, but they had books, just the same. There were novels about fictitious supernatural towns and historical tales about what supernaturals were doing in Britain and Scandinavia during the middle ages. Baldassare remembered reading a particularly good one about a family that was fleeing from Southern Ireland to the North from Iscariot. Some were stories set in a future where supernaturals lived among humans in harmony. He didn't like those as much.

Hidden among the shelves were customers that did their best to ignore him. He knew most of them or at least recognised them. The rest he would learn in time, as he made it his business to know everything about Gehenna. Part of it was his position on the city council, but the rest was his fascination with the supernatural community and its culture. In fact, his love for both of those things led him to write several books on the subject! Yes, the foul-mouthed "Babyface" Baldassare wrote a book on the different types of supernaturals in Gehenna, as well as another on the supernatural history of Britain. He worked to update the latter quite frequently, in fact. It gave him purpose.

It would appear that someone else shared his sentiment, as he spotted someone hovering near his works very closely and carefully, picking up books, reading the summary, comparing prices, and putting them back before repeating the process again. It seemed as though they weren't sure what to get. Thus, while he waited for his money, he allowed his curiosity to get the better of him and started to walk over. As he did, though, he was surprised as he recognised that the young woman was human.

"Are you looking for anything in particular?" he asked, disregarding the fact, as there were a few humans that did in fact live in Gehenna. As long as they didn't cause any problems, he didn't particularly care.

"I'm not really sure." she confessed. "I was wondering if there were any more supernatural history books. I already have 'The Supernatural History of Britain and Southern Ireland,' but I guess there aren't any."

"Yeah, this stuff is really hard to track." Baldassare nodded, realising that this lady had absolutely no idea who he was. If she did, she would be nervous, but no matter. This made things easier. "Most recorded history gets mistaken for folktales, so it's hard to tell what's true and what's not. I've never heard of another history book like that before."

"That sounds reasonable. It really is a shame… History is an important part of culture, so a massive piece has been completely lost." she shook. "Maybe historical fiction, then? Do you know if Girasol Frescobaldi wrote anything like that?"

"I think he did." The man's assumption was right. She really had no idea who he was at all. It wasn't exactly a secret that Baldassare was in fact Girasol Frescobaldi, but it wasn't obvious, either, especially given people's perception of him. He figured that people probably saw Frescobaldi as some sort of "professor" type person, while he was but a mere thug. "Do you like his stuff?"

"Yeah, he's my favourite author right now." the young woman smiled. "I love his descriptions. He has a serious mastery of subtext. Practically everything that involves saying something without being blunt about it, he can do really easily."

"Huh. I guess he does." Baldassare said, taking a few steps back from the shelf to look at it, but also so that the other wouldn't see the pale shade of pink that had begun to spread on his cheeks. "Oh, there it is..."

Having recovered, he stepped forward and plucked a book from the shelf. "This is about a famous guy named 'Laignech Faelad.' He's a character who shows up in several medieval texts like the Coir Anmann, but here in Gehenna, he's believed to be a real person. There's a few books in this series, so it's kind of an investment, though."

"Thanks." the woman replied, eagerly taking the book. "I think it's better if it's a series, actually. That way, if I like it, there's more to it!"

With that, she politely excused herself, happy with what she picked out. She walked over to the counter where Baldassare's suitcase was still sitting. Standing behind it was the manager of the shop, counting money and filling it with money.

"Sorry, miss. I have to count finish this before I can serve you." the manager stated, but the woman just shrugged.

"That's fine. He was here first." Taking a step back, she waited patiently, making room for Baldassare to approach the counter again. Something was bothering him, though. Turning around, he looked at the woman again, arching his eyebrow.

"Aren't you a little weirded out by this?" he asked, but the woman shrugged again.

"Everything in this town has been 'weird' since I got here." she said. "This is extremely mild. Besides, I see you do it all the time and you've never hurt anybody or caused any harm, so it's not really worth worrying about."

"That's an interesting way of looking at it."

"I've sort of adopted my friend, Gerry's philosophy. 'If it's weird but harmless, it's not worth worrying about.'"

"Good idea." the vampire nodded. "I'm Baldassare, by the way."

"Samantha." the other replied, holding out her hand to shake. She found the man's hand to be somewhat cold, but that could be explained away by the fact that it was cold outside. It was either that or he was a vampire. Either way, it was fine, although she admitted to herself that she was intimidated by the latter.

The suitcase was eventually filled with the correct amount of cash, so Baldassare closed it and locked it fast. Then the man did something that Samantha had only seen in movies, and handcuffed the handle of the case to his wrist. Had she not known that Baldassare did this regularly, she would be concerned. She didn't know why he did it, but decided that it wasn't any of her business, since the shopkeeper didn't seem too terribly concerned. Even if there was a problem, however, it wasn't as though there was much she could do about it. All that would happen is her getting bitten and as tempting as the prospect of immortality was, she didn't really want to become a vampire. The idea of only being able to consume blood was not appealing to her.

To some, it was. The temptation was something that a lot of humans who were aware of the existence of supernaturals grappled with daily. Some felt as though it was a fair trade off for being able to live forever, while some simply were keen on the prospect of power. A HELLSING operative can't be stopped from intentionally infecting themselves with vampirism and there wasn't much was of proving it, given their occupation. Luckily, Ciel was confident that none of his recruits were willing to take that risk. Even Private Carl Henderson knew better- at least Ciel hoped he did.

The next night was the night that the recruits would finally be graduating from Boot Camp and entering the HELLSING Organisation as members. They would settle in after that and do menial tasks until after Christmas, but the lads didn't need to know that. It was a measure for their own benefit, after all. With December fast approaching, Ciel didn't want any of them to die before they could spend the holidays with their families. For some operatives, their fellow soldiers were their only family and they celebrated accordingly. Ciel knew that for these lads, however, their family was outside. It was something that he couldn't quite relate to, but knew that it was important.

"Well, recruits..." he said, walking into the barracks. "Tomorrow's the big day. Don't think any of you are going to get out of inspections in the morning, though. I'm still going to give you hell up until the moment you receive your badge and patch."

"We'll be your coworkers, then." grinned Private Cooksey. "You won't be able to boss us around anymore."

"Both are true, but the latter is true within reason." the Phantomhive smirked. "I still outrank all of you and you might end up back under my command for a mission someday."

"So that just means we need to achieve an equal or greater rank than you?" inquired Private Withers, earning a bit of a chuckle.

"You'll need to work fast, then. Focus on your real job, though. You can't do that and daydream at the same time."

"I'll have you making tea for me one day, Sir Phantomhive."

"You should have goals that are more realistic, Private Withers." Ciel paused and chuckled before shaking his head. "I don't doubt, however, that if you work hard and work smart, you'll all go on to do great things. I am immensely proud of all of you. You are all fine soldiers."

It was all smiles in that room as the troops looked up at their leader and listened intently to what he had to say. Reading the room, Ciel continued. "Knowing how I operate, all of you are aware that my expectations of you were not low when you arrived here. From then until now, however, you have gone beyond them and became better than I could have hoped. You are not the men that you were when you arrived. You are intelligent, proficient, strong, and dare I say, actually have a bit of manners, now."

There was a titter at that last bit as the soldiers recalled what they were like before. They were a bit embarrassed, but also impressed at themselves that a team of geeks who thought they knew everything became men that their mothers could be proud of. Their so-called "philosophy" of "Sir Ciel Phantomhive wouldn't do this" aided them well as they did learn to become better people in addition to learning how to become deadly soldiers who could do the tasks that were required of them.

"I'm proud of the men that you have become." the Watchdog continued. "I am honoured to have the opportunity of being your commanding officer. Good work, everyone."

The troops applauded him. Some of them were kind of choked up. They had been here fore several months, now. This was their home. These were their friends. Ciel was their commander, the one who watched out for them and taught them everything. If each of them were on the hero's journey, he was the wise master that helped them on their way to become better people. The next day, they would see their families for the first time in what was a long while and show them what they've achieved, giving them a glimpse as to what was to come. They were proud. They were happy that their leader was proud. They felt accomplished and for good reason.

"I'm gonna miss you guys." Private Young said with a sniffle.

"Aw, come on, Tank, we can always hang out after work!" answered Cooksey, patting him on the back while the others concurred. Looking up at the Phantomhive, he added: "You'll come too, right?"

"I can't get drunk, so there's not much point in me drinking." the Watchdog replied.

"Then come hang out!" suggested Private Withers. "You can leave if we get too rowdy."

Pausing, the bluenette thought about this for a moment. He could always use more friends apart from the ones he shared with his husband, especially since he didn't always get invited to go places. Then again, he didn't really consider these lads to be "friends," but rather, "proteges." Still, if he was no longer their teacher, it wasn't "unethical." It was just a bit awkward.

"I'll think about it." he finally conceded, but as far as the others knew, they considered that to be the equivalent of a "yes," coming from him. He thought that was going to be the end of it, but that was not the case. He was immediately asked if he would go to the NAAFI for drinks with them to celebrate their graduation, but he had to refuse.

"You shouldn't do that the day before an important event." he scolded, instead. "What always happens is people get drunk and feel like garbage the next day. The last thing I want is a bunch of men whining and complaining about headaches and throwing up at graduation. Drink tomorrow."

"We're trying to have fun and you turn it into a lecture?" Private Withers asked, completely failing to check his tone.

"You've started whining before drinking, I see." Ciel pointed out. "I'm still very much your commanding officer and tonight, I say 'no.' You will do no such thing. If I come in here tomorrow and a single person is hungover, I will beast the lot of you!"

"You'd beast us on graduation day?!" gawked Private Henderson.

"If you don't learn while you're still here, then what is the point of being here at all?" the Watchdog inquired. With that, he began to walk toward the door. "I hope you will have made good choices by the time I see you tomorrow morning. Goodnight, everyone."

"'Night." the others replied, or at least some variation of it. Those who were particularly respectful added "Boss" on the end, but Ciel didn't care either way. He left the room, closing the door behind him as he headed home for the night.

He was both tired and excited. He was tired from shouting all day, but incredibly enthusiastic about his troops graduating. Partially, it was because he wanted to see them when all of their hard work pays off. Then there's the simple fact that he could now spend time at home and with family and friends. He hoped that his troops would heed his warning, however. That was a genuine worry. He thought about the possibility of his troops being completely sloshed on the day of their graduation and the idea filled him with dread. When he got home, however, there was a new mess of thoughts that came to him. They came to him in the form of Jim Phantomhive.

Looking up at the bluenette as Ciel walked into the office, Alois smiled at him from behind his desk. "Welcome back, dear~!" he said, causing the Watchdog to smile. "Did you have fun at work."

"It was about the same as usual. We discussed the merits of not having a hangover during graduation tomorrow." Ciel replied, walking over to the other man in order to lean down and peck his lips. "What about you?"

"Not have to worry about my underlings being drunkards." snorted the menace. "I checked my bank statements today, so I've decided to donate to a few charities."

"How much?"

"About a million or so." Alois casually stated. "There's this really cool homeless initiative in London. I'll send you a link to their site. They're very elaborate and organised..."

"Really? I'll match whatever you send them, then." answered the Watchdog, resting his hand on the back of his husband's chair as he looked at his screen. Pausing, he pointed at it. "What are those?"

"Care packages. You put stuff that's useful to homeless people in them and give them out."

"That's a good idea… There's not copyright, is there?"

"Why would there be a copyright on it?" chuckled the menace while looking up at his spouse incredulously.

"I don't know. That's how businesses usually work. If there isn't, that's a good idea. We should do that."

"For real?"

"Yes?"

"No cruel, business-man reason?"

"I might have to spin it that way to get the people I'd have to call to do it to feel confident about it, but no, no malicious reason." Ciel stated, patting his husband's shoulder before standing upright again. "I'll do some more research on what all that would entail and then send out a few messages."

"Have I ever told you how unbelievably attractive you are when you give away money for good reasons?" playfully inquired the blonde, grinning while resting his elbow on the desk and his cheek in his palm as he tilted his head and looked up at his spouse.

"That's a serious bonus." Ciel replied back. "I think you're very handsome when setting up entire economies."

"It's not a massive structure, so it's fairly easy." Alois humbly stated. His eyes wandered to his husband's hand, however, as Ciel reached over the blonde's desk toward the cookie jar that sat on top of it. "Really? I complement you and that acts as permission to eat my food?"

"I'm glad we're in agreement." the Watchdog playfully answered, taking out a biscuit and putting in his mouth, only to scrunch his face. He continued to chew, but spoke with his mouth full. "Ugh, Jim… These are really stale."

"Seriously? I just put them in there!"

"How long ago?"

"It was only..." Looking up, the menace thought about it for a moment. "Uh… Let's see… Last month was September..."

"Jim… The point of having biscuits is to eat them..."

"I'm not used to having so many. You used to eat them."

"Only because you never did." Ciel brushed crumbs off of his fingertips on his jacket. "You really don't eat them as fast, do you?"

"I like to save them in case I want them later. I just save them for too long, sometimes." Alois stated before standing up. Picking up the lion-shaped jar, he tucked it underneath his arm and begun to walk out from behind the desk. "I guess I'll just take these outside, then."

"Why?"

"I'm gonna toss them into the woods. Animals will eat them."

"Why not just throw them away?"

"Because it's a waste." the menace insisted. "This way, it's still useful to somebody."

Ciel watched him curiously as the man briefly set down the jar in order to put on a coat. Alois looked a bit silly, as he was still wearing his pants meant for running around the house tucked into bright-coloured socks with pineapples on them and a T-shirt that simply instructed the person reading it to "Eat Dirt." Once his jacket was on, he slipped on a pair of shoes shoes that he hadn't bothered to untie when he took them off, messing with the tongue a bit so they would sort of fit, at least temporarily.

"Can I come?" inquired the bluenette, watching Alois as he picked up the jar again.

"Why? I'm just gonna toss some biscuits into the woods?" the blonde answered, only to receive a shrug and some strange facial expressions that indicated some hesitancy on his husband's part.

"I don't know." Ciel said. "I sort of want to hang out, I guess."

"Dork." snickered the menace before gesturing with a turn of his head toward the door. "Alright. Come on, Pooch. Let's go for walkies."

"No need to be sassy about it..." his husband mumbled, all the while putting his hat back on and following him, anyway.

"There is, though! I'm going to need all of the practise I can get if I'm going to compete against Kris for the title of sassiest gay friend."

"But you aren't gay?" Ciel questioned with an arch of his brow, but his husband only looked around a bit with a knowing sort of semi-smile on his face, obviously thinking about how to answer that. "Jim..."

"Yes, babycakes?"

"Your bisexual pride shirts won't fit me. You'll have to donate them so they aren't wasted."

"That's all you have to say to that?" Alois inquired as the two of them walked into the hallway. "I mean, you're right, but still."

"Say to what?"

"I'm gay, Ciel." the menace stated, a blush appearing on his cheeks. "I don't like girls."

"I love you, too, darling." the other Phantomhive answered, all the while his husband could practically hear the smug grin forming on his face.

"You're fucking unbelievable..."

"Really? What I can't believe is the fact that you didn't tell me about your feelings. This isn't an overnight thing, is it?"

"No, it isn't. I've been talking to Kris about it for a while." Alois confessed. "I'm sorry I didn't talk to you about it, but it's not like I can just go up to you and say: 'Yeah, when I look at girls who I'm not married to, I don't think they're hot. Am I still bi?'"

"True, true." Ciel nodded along. He kept smiling, though. When Alois glanced over at him, he saw it.

"You're not weirded out or anything? No, 'you lied to me!' or something?"

"Nope. I'm happy for you."

"Really?"

"Really. It isn't as though I'm going to divorce you for not being bisexual like you initially thought. You're still attracted to me, right?"

"Yes. I am. But what's with the smile?"

"Oh, nothing." Ciel answered. "Just wondering if you realised… that you implied that you look at other men that aren't me and find them attractive."

"I-" Instantly, Alois' face turned red and he stammered. He suddenly found himself with the bluenette's arm around him with his hand on his shoulder, pulling him closer as they both walked.

"Jim..."

"You know that's not what I meant at all! I mean, yeah, but that's kind of normal, isn't it? You're impossible to beat and I love you, so-!"

"Relax, Jim, I'm teasing." Kissing the side of Alois' head, Ciel rubbed the man's shoulder. "I know what you meant, and it' s perfectly normal to think other people are attractive."

"Really?" questioned the menace, looking to the other man as though he didn't quite believe him.

"Yes, of course. Just so long as I'm the most attractive one to you."

"Definitely."

"And the most handsome."

"Duh."

"You desire only me."

"Ciel, I have literally never thought about wanting to fuck anyone else." Alois stated surely. He was not completely and utterly certain that his husband was attempting to be cheeky with him. "And you?" he asked, attempting to turn the tables.

"No." bluntly answered the bluenette. "I've been around for a long time and you're the only one that I've ever wanted so intensely that I've actually made a move on you. You drive me absolutely insane."

The menace laughed at that. "So you're saying that I've driven you mad with lust?"

"Oh, more times than are countable." Ciel said. "You're very good at it. Sometimes, all you have to do is sit there."

"You've got it so bad for me..." the blonde shook, grinning from ear to ear as he laughed at his spouse.

"I do… You were there the first time I wanted to be kissed!"

"At the costume party?! Oh my God, Ciel..."

"I've told you that before."

"I know. I know all of it, but still… Jesus… You're such a dope..."

"Laugh it up, Jimmy. I still made you my bride."

"Yeah, yeah..." Rolling his eyes, the menace still continue to laugh until it died down a bit. From there they walked in silence.

Alois looked over at his husband, smiling the whole time as they descended the stairs and headed toward the back entrance that led to the garden. From there, they would follow the darkened path through it to the forests that surrounded the mansion. It was pleasant. Although there was no sun, the lamps that lined the path close to the ground gave it a soft glow, making the garden still beautiful, but in a completely different way. Even though hardly anything was in bloom and what there was could not be seen in the light, it was still nice, quiet, and calm.

And cold. So cold. It was night time in November and the temperature matched accordingly. Alois was glad that his husband kept his arm around him, even though the warmth had a few layers of fabric to get through. He looked over at the bluenette again and this time, his smile widened.

The change in light did wonders for the bluenette's visage. Ciel was glorious in every light, yes, but like the garden, the change brought out the Phantomhive's beauty in a way that was perhaps not seen every day. It was a cool light that had a blue tint, despite not being coloured, and it brought out a certain vibrancy to him that might dull anyone else. His skin was paler than usual under its harshness. It was almost other wordly. Ciel hadn't yet taken off his uniform, so the green of it was complimented handsomely and the blue of his hair and even his earrings seemed deeper and more alive, somehow. Then there was his eye. Ah, that eye that Alois himself complemented the beauty of at their first meeting. He envied it at the time, wanting it to himself, but now he wanted it to himself in a way that was completely different.

They hadn't walked far, but the blonde felt breathless and his heart fluttered. He couldn't be exhausted, yet. Finally, the other man looked at him with a light smile, causing what felt like a jolt of electricity to run through Alois.

"Are you alright?" Ciel asked, having noticed the other staring. His husband's mind stalled for a moment, however, so he didn't answer right away.

Blinking, he finally came out with: "Oh, yeah. I'm fine." His cheeks became tinted again. With a pause, he added: "It's just that… You look really pretty, is all."

"Oh?" questioned the bluenette, his smile turning into a smirk as his grip on the menace tightened. "Is that why your eyes have been burning a hole in my cheek the whole time we've been out here?"

"...Yeah." Alois answered. Although slightly embarrassed at being caught, he knew that confidence is what would drive the other man mad. Therefore, he said the very first thing that came to mind without a second thought. "You look lovely."

With three words, the smirk on his husband's face fell completely and the paleness of his cheeks was replaced with a pink that was all but drowned out by the light. Reaching up, the bluenette covered his mouth to conceal his expression somewhat and averted his gaze momentarily. He was bashful, but do understand. He was taken completely off guard. "Handsome," he had heard before and less frequently, "beautiful," but "lovely?" That was new and for some reason, it made the Watchdog feel absolutely giddy.

"I don't know about that, but..."

"Ciel," the blonde began, moving his own arm so that it was wrapped around Ciel's waist with his hand resting on his hip. "I don't think I ever really tell you how absolutely gorgeous you are."

"You do."

"Not like you talk about me. Even though I know you'd like to hear it..."

"Prose isn't really your thing, so it's fine." The light from the garden had long since faded, but the bluenette's expression could still be seen clear as day by the other. Clearing his throat, he gestured in front of them with his free hand.

"So, uhm… Is this far enough out?" he asked.

"Huh?"

"The biscuits."

"Oh, right…" In truth, the blonde had forgotten. He and Ciel released each other so that he could take the lid off of the container. He somehow held both in one arm while reaching into the jar with the other and threw it's contents outwards, scattering them to land somewhere in the forest to be found by whatever still resided there at this time of year. He did this several times until the nearly full container was nearly empty before finally, something occurred to him and he laughed.

"I must look absolutely barking mad, right now." he said to the other. "Don't mind me, just some bloke dressed like a basic white girl whose just come back from yoga in a trenchcoat, scattering biscuits in the middle of the woods. Feast, woodland creatures! Feast on that which is too stale for demonic consumption!"

"I've seen stranger. This is really tame, to be honest." his spouse stated. "Just a regular Tuesday night at the Phantomhive residence."

"You married a keeper." the blonde jested before wiping the crumbs on his hands off on his shirt. He smiled when he looked back at his husband, but seemed to freeze when he saw the way Ciel was looking at him.

"I certainly did." the Watchdog answered rather sincerely. He chuckled while the menace put the lid back on the jar and walked back over to him. Stopping in front of him, he reached out with his free hand and cupped Ciel's cheek, looking at him for a moment before shaking his head.

"Fuck's sake..." Alois said. "I can't take it when you look at me like that."

"Like what?" Ciel questioned, arching an eyebrow, but the other's expression only softened.

"With such fondness." the other Phantomhive replied, looking over the Watchdog carefully. "It's so gentle… I never thought anybody would ever look at my like this. You're just… beautiful. I mean that. The way you make me feel… The only way I can think to describe it is 'I love you,' but no matter how many times I say it, it'll never ever come close to making up the difference..."

He averted his eyes, looking down and furrowing his brow in order to think of something else to say. He struggled as he tried to think of something clever- something that would woo the bluenette. Yet, Alois felt himself be forced to look up again as Ciel's fingertips tilted his chin upwards.

"And you claim to not be good with words." gently mused the Watchdog, shaking his head lightly. He leaned closer, guiding the other in until the menace got the hint and Ciel could remove his hand.

It was freezing cold on the edge of a dark forest, but somehow, that made the kiss a bit more interesting. Their breath would be visible each time they came up for air if they ever stirred from their dazed state enough to open their eyes. For a while, they outright refused, even when Ciel somehow found his back somewhat uncomfortably pressed up against a tree. They never stirred all the way up until the sound of thick plastic hit the ground.

"What was that?" Ciel whispered as if they were being spied on, but his husband had a shameful explanation.

"I, uh… I dropped the cookie jar..." he said, prompting the other to look down. "It's not ceramic. It's plastic, so it should be fine."

Looking back up at the blonde, however, Ciel laughed. "Oh, that's fine, then, I suppose." That was really cute. Alois was distracted enough to forget he was holding it. That freed both hands, however, and he brought them up to Ciel's face. He smiled at the bluenette, gently stroking his cheeks with his thumbs. That same smile widened into a grin when Alois felt the poor man shiver lightly.

"Bit chilly out here, isn't it?"

Swallowing, Ciel tried his best to nod while in the other's clutches. "Yeah..." he said. "Maybe we should go inside?"

"Maybe..." The blonde was somewhat half-hearted in his reply. "It's kind of a shame… I've got you all alone out here..."

Pecking the other's parted lips one more time, he slowly began to lower himself into a crouching position in front of him and immediately, Ciel's cheeks darkened about three shades. His posture stiffened and he held his breath, only to release it when the menace came back up again with the cookie jar in hand. Brushing it off, Alois pretended to be oblivious to his husband's incredibly flustered state.

"Shall we go, then?" he asked, gesturing in the direction of the house. "It's bloody cold out here."

"I- uh… Yeah!" nervously answered Ciel. "Lead the way."

"Good idea." Alois said, but walking past him, he had to get one last jab in before they went. "Right now, the only direction you can point in is North..." he muttered, prompting the other man to stammer as he watched him walk away.

"You-!" huffed the Watchdog, puffing out his chest and balling his hands into fists while he briskly walked after the other man in order to catch up with him. "As I remember correctly, you were the one who was so enamoured that you dropped your jar!"

"Don't walk so close." the blonde shot back. "Don't jab me."

"I am nowhere near you!"

"Liar. The distance had closed by several inches."


A/N: It's six in the morning and I'm fucking dead. How are y'all?

I had a question... where is it?

Fuck I can't read

good knight everyone i love u

until the next chapter my duckies~