Hanging up, Kristopherson put his own phone in his pocket with a roll of his eyes. He understood why the menace had to do what he had to do. Although he was a bit disappointed, it couldn't be helped, so there was no use dwelling on it. That just meant that he could spend the rest of the day straightening things up. His house was nearly finished, but his store could still use a little work, so he decided to start there.

The wolfman dressed warmly, choosing function over fashion for once before heading out. Stepping outside, he locked the door behind him. From there, he made the walk down the street to Andrea's, only to find his boyfriend standing on a ladder with the doorway propped open. Knocking on the door, Kristopherson warned Logan of his presence before carefully stepping around the ladder.

"Isn't it a bit dangerous to be on a ladder with nobody supporting it?" Kristopherson asked, prompting the other man to finish what he was doing before answering. He was screwing the bell that alerted the employees of the door being opened back on, and needed both hands for the job. Once he was done, he replied.

"Probably." the incubus said, shaking the bell's metal frame to make sure it was steady before allowing his power drill to fall to his side. "What's up?"

"Alois canceled on me. He's got HELLSING work to do." the wolfman stated. "They're having trouble figuring out how to kill a revenant."

"Do regular HELLSING weapons not work?" the incubus questioned as he climbed down.

"No. They don't bother them at all. The story that gets tossed around is that the guy they're after was put to sleep before by a wooden sword. Even Sam backs it up, and she's been like, obsessed with supernatural history and stuff."

"How does a wooden sword work, but guns don't? That doesn't make sense..."

"Magic, probably. They're struggling to figure it out… Honestly? It's starting to make me a bit nervous…" Shaking his head, Kristopherson walked further into the shop and began stocking shelves. "I don't really want to think about it, to be honest. I know they'll figure it out."

"How's that?"

"I just do. They always do. It's not like there's any other option but to trust that they can."

The incubus stared into space for a moment as he hummed. He had to ponder this, as he hadn't known the demons for as long as Kristopherson had. Although he trusted his boyfriend's judgment, he felt as though he should do something.

"What kind of wood?" he asked. "Is there anything specific about this sword, or is it just 'a wooden sword?'"

"Yeah, I think there was a certain kind. Why?"

"I can make a wooden sword. It shouldn't be hard."

"I'm not even sure if he's serious about it." Kristopherson replied. "I'm sure if HELLSING wanted a wooden sword, they could pretty easily get their hands on one."

"But what if they can't?" inquired the incubus, walking up behind his beau before making his way into the other man's view. "This guy's ancient, right? And the last sword was probably magic. I know a lot of witches who could help! Even if HELLSING does give him a wooden sword, there's two of them, so they should both probably have one, right?"

Pausing, the wolfman thought about this for a moment. "You're determined, I get it. Everybody is upset about what happened here, but getting involved is… Well… Really dangerous."

"I'm just making the sword, Kris. I'm not going to show up to the fight swinging it." Logan told him. "I can ask Sam for the kind of wood. She'll know what it is."

"Right..." sighed mister Miles, pulling his mobile out of his pocket. "I'll give her a ring..."

Within a matter of minutes, Logan had excused himself from continuing work for his boyfriend for the day, excitedly thanking him profusely and leaving with a strong hug and a kiss. He quickly made his way home to grab his tools before heading to the crafting center, where everyone who crafted went for resources and to use the large machinery. He hoped to whatever higher power that would listen that there was yew wood. He knew that it was occasionally used to make wands with, but he needed a large piece. When he arrived, however, he found the place to be mostly empty. Those who were there were either taking or returning tools, save for those who actually worked to maintain the place. When Logan asked them for the kind of wood he needed, though, they looked at him strangely.

"Why do you need a piece that big?" asked the handler, an elf woman whose hands were marred by work and splinters. "I don't know if we have anything like that. Most of the yew wood we keep are just branches..."

"It's extremely important that I get that wood." Logan said. "Branches won't do. I need it to be big enough to make a sword out of. Even a short one. Or maybe a dagger will work..."

"No way in hell." the woman said, putting one hand in her sawdust-covered apron pocket and shooing him off with the other. "You must be out of your bloody mind! Logan, I know you're a good woodworker, but you're not doing that in my shop! I'm not gonna report you to the police, but you know that making weapons is against the law, right?"

"I know, but it's not for me. It's for Mister Lion. He needs a weapon that'll work on the guy who organised the attack on us, and a yew wood sword is the only thing that's known to work."

That made the woman stop to think. In Gehenna, most people knew most people, and she knew Logan, since he spent a lot of time in the crafting center. Since she knew Logan, she also knew Logan's boyfriend, but she also knew the latter from entering Andrea's on occasion. Logan was dating the owner of Andrea's, who is known to be good friends with the noble Lion himself. That made what Logan was saying plausible, but she was right in being a bit wary.

Looking a round a bit, she dropped her tone down to a whisper. "You have permission to be doing this?"

"'Course I do." Logan lied. The demons didn't know yet, but he knew that he could ask if he got in any trouble. For now, he knew that it was imperative that he get started right away, rather than get tangle up in bureaucracy. "It's a matter of national security, Beatrice. I need that wood."

Sticking both hands in her apron pockets, the woman sighed and rocked on the balls of her feet for a moment. Her brow was furrowed a bit as she mulled this over. "I'll see what I've got." she finally said. "If it's not enough, I could call Pyestock, I guess."

"Thank you, Beatrice." the incubus said with a wink. "You're a doll."

"Yeah, yeah… whatever..." She began walking, gesturing for the man to follow her. They walked to the large rows of shelves that housed all of the wood. When they got to the wood section, the incubus was astonished.

"Is this it?" he asked. "There's only a couple sticks!"

"Like I said, there's not a lot of demand huge pieces." the woman replied. "It's mostly used for magic..."

Furrowing his brow, the man rubbed his chin as he thought. Seeing that he was a worried over this, Beatrice made an offer. "I can still call Pyestock, if you want."

"It'll take hours, though…" Logan fretted. "Maybe even days..."

His hand moved from his chin to his temples as the thought. "Are you sure that that's the only use for them? Magic?"

"Well, they can be used for other stuff, too. Typical household stuff… spoons… But they're said to ward off evil. That's why the church has a tree, but..."

"That's it!" excitedly declared the incubus. "The church!"

"Hang on, you're not seriously going to cut down their tree, are you?" the woman desperately question with shock apparent on her face. Before she could finish, Logan was already starting to walk away. "First a sword and now this? You've lost your damn mind, Kendrick!"

"Nope, I'm just doing my civic duty!" the man called back at her, picking up his belongings before heading out again. He couldn't run from the weight of his materials, but he made his way down the street as fast as he could. He hadn't a doubt in his mind that he must have looked like he was doing too much, but luckily, most people just assumed that he was going to do some serious repairwork somewhere.

Logan could lift weights, but he still appeared to be struggling a bit, with as much as he had strapped to himself. He was halfway there when yet another woman saw him and offered him assistance. "Do you need help?" she asked in a rather stern-sounding tone before catching herself. "With the bags, I mean. Sorry, that came out ruder than I meant it to..."

"Yeah, that would be great." the incubus replied. "If you could grab something off my left, that would be great. I'm a bit off-balance."

Don't as instructed, the woman took one of the heavy plastic cases from that side and carried it. "So, are you the tool-mule for your group, or..?"

"No, these are all mine. I'm have some important stuff I need to do at the church." Logan said.

"Oh. That's not far."

"Still, thanks for helping. My name's Logan, by the way."

"People call me 'Wink.'" the woman replied. While the man wanted to ask if it was because of her eyepatch, he thought it was rude to do so and stayed silent. He could tell that she was a witch, though. He thought he saw a magic ring on her hand, and knowing what he knew of werewolves, she didn't seem to be the type.

Upon their arrival, the former captain of the Prudentia, Wink, opened the door for Logan before allowing herself inside. There didn't seem to be a lot of work that needed to be done inside, however, much to the surprise of the both of them. Everything appeared to be completely undamaged. The pews were all in neat rows, and the religious artwork that was always there didn't seem to have any visible scuffs or scrapes. Everything appeared to be in perfect order. Even Sister Dorothy seemed to be in good spirits when she greeted them.

"Hello, children~!" the nun greeted cheerily as always as she made her way over to them. "Is there something that can be done for you?"

"Hello, sister." both the incubus and the witch greeted in unison, but upon seeing the condition of the church, the latter of the two raised an eyebrow. There didn't appear to be any damage at all, so why was this man lugging around all of those tools?

"Things seem to be in pretty good shape around here, sister." Wink noted, prompting the other woman to clap her hands together once.

"Surprising, isn't it?" questioned sister Dorothy. "I was really surprised, too! Those hooligans burst through the front doors, looking for trouble, but as soon as they saw me, the funniest thing happened. Apparently, a lot of those werewolves were Catholic and had never seen a vampiric nun before! Can you believe it? Anyway, as shocking as it sounds, some of them asked for services, although some of them just left. It was a very strange time..." Looking at Logan, she continued. "The damage to the door was fixed a while ago, so I'm afraid I don't have any work to be done here. I'm sorry if you came all this way..."

"Oh! No! That's not really-" At first, Logan was keen to explain, but then his eyes looked over at Wink, so he reconsidered. He didn't recognise this woman. She apparently didn't come through town a lot, at least not that Logna had seen. He didn't know if he could trust her with his mission, so he hesitated before saying: "Uh, I'd like to talk to you in private, if possible, Sister." he said, putting down his things. "It's a bit important."

"Oh! Yes, yes! Come this way." the nun said, gesturing for the man to come through before turning his attention to Wink. "Wink, dear, is there anything that I can do for you as well?"

"You know me?" questioned the witch, surprised.

"You know her?" Logan asked as well.

"Of course!" Sister Dorothy replied. "She helped rescue Mister Lion from the Scarlet Order! From what I hear, it was a very exciting mission. She acted on the inside and lead HELLSING right to them!"

Pausing, the incubus looked as the nun. He looked over at Wink. He looked to the nun and then back again. "You worked for HELLSING?"

"Well, more or less..." the witch replied. "I manage Phantom House now, though, so I haven't really worked with them since. I was on my way to get some forms from the Welfare Center."

"Oh..." Logan said before his mind caught up with him. "Oh! That's different, then! I actually need a witch, too!"

"Huh?" That baffled the witch for a second before Logan explained.

"I'm friends with the Lion! I'm actually on a mission for him right now!" the man informed. "I don't know how much information is secret or not, but he needs a special kind of sword to defeat the guy who organised the attack on us!"

It was difficult to explain, especially since he didn't have all of the details, but luckily, the witch was able to fill a few things in. Yew wood is a wood that has magical properties. It can be used in spells and is said to ward off evil. Churchyards tend to have them due to their ability to absorb any noxious fumes that come from graves, although burying people was an impossibility in Gehenna. Instead, bodies were burned. Even though it wasn't a possibility, the leaves of yew trees were associated with everlasting life, although it is poisonous. It is a tree of life and also death. It just so happened that this is what could put a being that is neither dead nor alive to sleep.

"I see..." Sister Dorothy said. Her cheerful tone had faded and her expression was serious.

"I was also hoping that a witch could somehow increase its power to that it might do more than just put him to sleep..." Logan continued, causing the other woman to nod.

"I can try." she agreed. "I can't make any promises, though. I'll do my best, is Sister Dorothy agrees."

Surprisingly, the nun did very little humming and hawing over the matter and spoke very matter-of-factly. "I do not approve of violence." Sister Dorothy began, "In this case, however, I believe that there is simply too much at stake to refuse. Besides, it is a bit dangerous, with young children running around… You may cut it down and use as much wood as you like. I'll even see if I can still bless it despite my condition."

"Anything helps." Logan said. "Thank you so much. You won't regret it!"

"I'll gather supplies to prepare the tree." Wink stated. "It's power will be strongest that way. Besides, I don't think you brought anything that can cut it down, have you?"

Blinking, Logan realised that he forgot to bring the most crucial tool. Unfortunately, it was one he did not personally own. "I'll have to go ask Beatrice at the craft center to borrow a chainsaw..." he said. "You work on that, and I'll go get one."

Once everyone was in agreeance, everyone set off to do their designated tasks. Logan was careful to walk this time, as he didn't want to look like a complete lunatic, running through town with a chainsaw in hand. It was already odd for him to be carrying it and nothing else. He arrived first, but waited for Wink, as agreed, so she could do her work. She grounded herself and called upon the quarters, North, South, East, and West, before asking the tree for permission to transform it into a weapon. Once her first task was completed, she allowed Logan to start his.

He wore his mask, goggles, and gloves, covering as much of himself as possible so that the poison of the wood did not get on his skin. After cutting the tree down and removing it as a hindrance to the church, he began to give it its shape. He worked in the church so he didn't have to bring the sword out in public where it could be seen. The others stayed around for as long as possible, although the hours came and went. Whenever Logan rested, Wink infused the weapon with as much magic as possible before allowing him to work again. In his focus, however, the incubus did not notice the sun going down. It simply wasn't in his thoughts that someone might be waiting for him and eventually, a knock came at the church doors.

While the incubus and witch were working, Sister Dorothy went to answer it, only to comeback with the incubus' boyfriend in tow. With one look at them, Kristopherson started shaking his head. Logan really went for it. Part of the wolfman was immensely impressed, and part of him wanted to laugh at him for being so gung-ho about it. It wasn't in a negative way, however. When Logan finally looked up, he smiled. He was wearing a mask so that he didn't breath in any sawdust, but Kristopherson could still see his eyes smiling. Immediately after, however, the gears started turning in Logan's head, but it was only when he stopped to look at a clock that he understood what happened.

"I've been gone for a while, huh?" the incubus questioned.

"Yep." Kristopherson nodded.

"So you came looking for me, huh?"

"Yep." Kristopherson nodded twice. "You're crazy, you know that? I went down to the craft center and they pointed me here. I didn't expect you to cut down Sister Dorothy's tree."

"It's actually the lord's tree." Logan corrected.

"That doesn't make it better." chuckled the wolfman. "Anyway, I snitched, so the demons know what you're up to. Also they made sure that if you get caught making weapons, you won't be arrested, so you're welcome."

"Thanks." his beau answered. "There's still a lot I need to do. I just took it out of a holy water bath, so I need to sand off the fibres and hand it off to Wink to finish it up. I'm almost done with the sheath, too. I just need to sand it and seal it."

"Anything I can do to help?"

"You can help me bring it to him when it's done. Think he'll still be up in a few hours?"

"Probably. The days are shorter and the sun's just now setting."

With that, Kristopherson added himself to the crowd waiting on the sidelines while Logan worked. He had to admit, it was very interesting. The wolfman didn't know anything about weaponry, but he had seen what anti-freak weapons were like. An anti-freak sword was very different than a sword made by supernaturals, although, seeing this sword get made made Kristopherson wonder about the process HELLSING used. They didn't employ witches to help aid in their work, which seemed like a waste. If this weapon actually works, then wouldn't it be wise to hire supernaturals?

When the weapon was handed to Wink, Kristopherson's opinion on the matter only amplified. It was interesting to see her rub salt and some kind of powder on the blade. She mumbled, causing the candles around her to flicker as she continued. Finally, she ended things by wrapping a chord around the handle, weaving beads into it and making sure that it was firmly in place. It provided grip, Kristopherson could tell, but other than that, he had no idea what she was up to. Meanwhile, Logan finished the sheath and waited for the finish to dry. When everything was done, the group wound up with a beautiful work of art.

More than that, it was a historical moment that Kristopherson would have to be sure to inform Samantha about after everything was said and done. Made from the passion of three people, the weapon was ready for battle. They carefully wrapped the sword in a blanket that Kristopherson had retrieved while the finishing touches were being made, bringing the number of people who had technically contributed to the weapon up to four. He had made the blanket, and according to Wink, that only increased the sword's power. From there, it was ready to be given to it's owner and named.

It was dark by the time Logan and Kristopherson passed through the gates of Gehenna. They both promised to clean up the remainder of the wood from the tree the next day and Logan had to shower the poison of the yew tree off of his skin before he did anything else. It was a strange feeling, having that sword with them. Both of them understood the gravity of the situation and what that weapon could hopefully do. The incubus poured his heart and soul into it and was starting to doze off during the trip to the Phantomhive estate.

He awoke to his beau gently shaking him and telling him that it was time to get out of the car. If anyone should hand over the sword, it should have been Logan and Kristopherson was insistent on it. The poor incubus… He cradled it in his arms like a baby as he walked up the steps to the mansion. It was his precious creation and he was both eager and nervous to see how it would be received.

Walking up to the Phantomhive house while bringing anything always felt like a deal with the mafia. In a way, it was, but Kristopherson was used to it by now. He didn't even blink when Sebastian opened the door to let them in and he didn't seem to be too terribly concerned when the butler lead them to the drawing room. There sat the demons, bizarrely positioned on a couch in a way that indicated that they were thinking about business, rather than a meeting between friends.

"You brought the goods?" Alois questioned, sitting in a rather relaxed, macho manner on the sofa like a common chav, while his husband sat next to him in a more dignified way.

"Are the theatrics really necessary?" his beau inquired in turn.

"Well, yeah, we hardly ever get to do exchanges like this. Let me have fun." the menace replied, prompting both Ciel and Kristopherson to roll their eyes.

The wolfman gestured to the coffee table between the two parties with a nod of his head, encouraging his own partner to set down the weapon. Doing as instructed, Logan set the sword down and unwrapped it, revealing a one-of-a-kind weapon that HELLSING lacked the capability of producing. With a look, to one another, the blonde demon said to his partner: "Go ahead. You're the sword guy, not me."

With that, Ciel picked up the weapon and slid it out of it's sheath. It was impressive craftsmanship indeed. Upon further inspection, it was also surprisingly sharp. One could definitely hurt someone with this, but there was still some doubt as to whether or not it would actually work on Abhartach. All they had to go on were legends, and as they already knew very blatantly, legends were not always correct. Incubi were not sex-crazed monstrosities that would kill people through intercourse, and werewolves were not mindless beasts with an uncontrollable bloodlust and a thirst for violence. Right there in that room, there were demons who were trying to protect the public from a hostile overthrow, so that blew the typical interpretation of their kind right out of the water. Perhaps yew wood was the incorrect kind, or perhaps wood was a silly idea in the first place. Perhaps it did work, but won't work again. After all, the revenant did wake up from his slumber after being stabbed the first time. This wasn't even the end of their doubts.

"It's a short sword." Ciel noted. "I haven't practised with short swords before. I'm also still a bit nervous about the idea of going into battle with a piece of wood."

"You're the only one of us who can use a sword at all." the menace noted. "I'll have your back. I'll distract him with a few bullets while you stab. It'll be fine."

"I don't understand how any of this works, but I hope Alois is right." Kristopherson stated.

"It's better than what we have." Alois said.

"The alternative is nothing..." Ciel noted.

"Yeah, so be grateful for your wood sword. Logan made that son of a bitch in a day because we needed help. That's pretty fucking amazing."

"Oh, I'm sorry." the bluenette said, looking away from the weapon for a moment in order to address the incubus. His eyebrows were raised as he realised what he must have sounded like. It simply didn't occur to him to monitor his tone. "I wasn't trying to be ungrateful or negative. I'm really glad to have this and it's an amazing piece of work. There's just been a lot on my mind lately..."

"Understandable." Logan said with a smile. "You're fine! You're the one who actually has to go use it! I really hope it works… I've been thinking about that the whole time I was making it..."

"You didn't make it alone, did you?" questioned the Watchdog. "There's magic infused in it."

"Yes! A witch called 'Wink' helped me! She said she knew you from defeating the Scarlet Order?"

"That Wink?" Alois chimed in with a smile. "She's really good. When I was captured, her people helped take care of me and they even helped get my wedding ring to Ciel so it wouldn't be tossed into the ocean!" he added while holding up his hand to how off the ring. "Honestly, she should work for HELLSING. We could have so many magic swords."

"One step at a time, Jim." Ciel said, reminding his spouse that they needed to win this war before they pursued any new side-projects.

From there, the conversation turned into a simple meeting between friends, talking about this and that and everything else. They were filling each other in on the latest gossip about the others, like how Daniel had been going to visit his coworker, Theodore Ravenscroft at his home rather often and how Samantha was always off asking the old people of the town about supernatural history and spending lots of time with Geraldine. Geraldine, however, was debating on whether or not to enter the international fencing championships, as she had already won the national competition several years in a row. Neither the Phantomhives or Kristopherson and Logan knew if Samantha was aware, so they decided to keep that between themselves.

Audrey was still working at HELLSING, the Phantomhives knew, as he and Revy occasionally got lunch together. Both of them were working very hard and sometimes in relatively close proximity, due to recent events relating to the Philosiphers. Meanwhile, Kristopherson and Logan occasionally went to the same gym as Travis and Patricia, so they were aware that the latter couple had released a new book each and were still doing fine, living together. Finally, however, there came a time when it was time for the visitors to depart, prompting Alois to escort them to the door and bid them farewell with a fond smile. When he returned, however, he found his spouse now standing with the sword in his hands.

"Wanted to play with it a bit?" questioned the menace, raising a brow. He had noticed that the bluenette had checked out of the conversation after a while, although he did seem to put in a sincere effort to be a hospitable host.

"I've never used a short sword before, so I want some practise." the bluenette said, now back to his typical, fussy self.

"Well, it's awfully late, but if you're that determined, you should probably go get your coat and do it outside." Alois suggested, knowing full well that he couldn't convince the other man otherwise. Ciel was obviously hellbent on it for the time being, so it was best to let himself indulge in what would best let him get out whatever nervous energy was welling up inside of him. "Personally, I'd rather you didn't break Lucifer. I had to order him online and shipping was pure hell."

Blinking, Ciel looked down the end of his weapon, only to find it pointed at the resin statue of the fallen angel that his husband had bought as an inside joke. Lowering the sword, the Watchdog nodded. "I think I'll go do that..." he said. "At least for an hour or so."

"Go on, then." the blonde said, shooing his husband out. Without a fight or any protest, Ciel did what he was told. He put on his coat and went outside to swing the new weapon in an attempt to become accustomed to it.

The bluenette's only experience with swords had been with a cutlass, so the new length and lack of a curved edge threw him off. The weight was completely different as well. It would be difficult to fight someone who was notoriously efficient in killing with short-ranged weaponry, but luckily, he did have his spouse to rely on a bit. If they attacked together, the bluenette felt a bit more confident, although he was not completely convinced.

It showed in his footwork as he fought an invisible opponent out in the snow by himself. There was a roughness that was not usually there, and a lack of confidence, too. He pushed onward, and onward, but his control was slipping. Even worse, he couldn't use his weapon to deflect any attacks without risking shattering it, so he couldn't risk it getting hit at all. It was delicate- far too delicate for combat and he knew it. It made him nervous. All of this made him nervous and his lack of immediate mastery made him frustrated. He fluctuated between being very aggressive and practically lethargic in his simulation.

As a fellow soldier, it was rough for Alois to watch from his position in the window of the master suite. As the Watchdog's husband, it was somewhat painful. Looking down at Ciel, fighting with himself alone in the snow wasn't unusual, but watching him fail was. Alois still had faith in him, even though he knew that the bluenette's mind was muddy. Harder! Ciel knew that he needed to push himself harder if he wanted any kind of success. It simply wasn't coming, however.

Heavy breaths came out through his mouth in the form of steam as he grimaced at his own inadequacy. He paused in order to calm himself down, not wanting his frustration to transform into anything more. For a moment, he stood, taking a moment to close his eyes and fade into his surroundings. The air was biting, causing his ears and nose to turn red and chapping his lips. The sound of his breathing mixed with the sound of night and the rustling of trees as the faint wind disturbed them. This was his space. This house, this land, that forest. All of it was his, whether he wanted it or not. The presence of the Phantomhives must be felt in every twig, rock, and piece of fallen snow, commanding their realm and striking fear into the hearts of anyone who may try to do harm to them. It was a tall order that he had to fill and he still didn't think that he was entirely up to the task- at least, not in the way that his forefathers were.

Times had changed. The evil house of Phantomhive had changed, too. The last of the Phantomhives was the end of their mortal line, but the beginning of their supernatural one. Moreover, Ciel cared even less about convention than his father did, not only marrying for love, but also by marrying a man. The way Ciel carried himself and interacted with servants was drastically different as well. In fact, he was the most hands-on head of the household those halls had ever seen when it came to governing the manor. This was the way Ciel liked things to be, and change was imminent. It was unavoidable. There was no use fighting it, so this is how things must be. Yet, by abandoning tradition and having been given this task before he could be taught how to fulfill it, he didn't always know what to do. Perhaps his father didn't either, and the belief that he did was just the ideation of a child.

Taking a deep breath through his nose, the Watchdog grimaced. There was no need for such thoughts to be entering his mind at that moment. He had other things to be focusing on. Yet, he couldn't help but wonder just how the previous family heads would have fared in this situation. What would they have done? Was there something he was missing?

"Be better." he thought to himself. He needed to be better than all of those who came before him. After all, he was the first of his kind. He needed to gain the skills to succeed quickly before things turned ugly. He already had a few plans in effect, but he needed to settle everything quickly.

The sound of snow compressing underneath boots behind him caused the Watchdog to open his eyes again. He didn't have to turn around to know who it was. He could sense him.

"It's been over an hour and a half." Alois said. "Let's practise together tomorrow."

"You know I'm not going to be able to fall asleep at this rate, right?" Ciel questioned, finally turning around.

"Don't have to sleep." the other man shrugged. "We can talk, we can sit and stare at each other… anything you want."

Turning around to face the blonde with his entire body, Ciel looked at his spouse with a rather sad expression and a long sigh through his nose. With that, he put the sword back in its sheath and held it laying flat across both of his hands.

"You know… I feel like a wooden sword is a good metaphor for how I'm feeling right now, but I'm having trouble finding the words to explain why..."

"Feels like kind of a silly gesture that probably won't be very effective?" suggested Alois. "You feel helpless. Like you can't do anything. It's almost like fighting an ancient evil with a toy sword."

"Gee, I wonder why..." Ciel mused in sarcastic fashion. "You've hit the nail on the head though, I'm afraid..." Pausing, he shook his head. "I want this to be over more than anything. I also don't want to start. Fighting and going on missions isn't usually hard… I'm not really used to this."

"Well, things'll be more difficult if we just leave it." the blonde said, walking forwards. "I don't really care for the idea of fighting either, to be honest. Neither of us are the type to get off on that shit. But it's just one of those things that has to be done, I'm afraid. I'm just looking forward to things quieting down afterwards, but it's not just that. I'm gonna kick the shit out of those Philosopher bastards because I quite like not having to deal with the bullshit squabbling of nobles or wannabe nobles. If he doesn't die, he'll just be back to be a pain in the ass later and then the whole thing will start over."

"I'm aware of that. I don't mind fighting for Queen and country and I certainly don't mind fighting so that my family is safe." As Ciel spoke, he leaned into the hand that the blonde held against his cheek. "But what if I fail? The possibility is usually in my thoughts as I try to avoid it, but this time? I'm a bit worried… This doesn't feel routine at all."

"You mentioned war a few times when talking about it. Think there's a connection?"

"Maybe." nodded the bluenette, pausing before the smallest of chuckles escaped him.

"What is it? You're not nutting out on me, are you?"

"No, it's just… I think therapy is starting to rub off on you a bit." Ciel stated, prompting the other man to blush lightly. "Then again, you've always been a lot more emotionally intelligent than me."

"It makes sense, okay?"

"It does, it does." Reaching up, Ciel held the blonde's hand on his cheek in place before turning his head slightly to kiss the other man's palm. He smiled into it, looking at the menace out of the side of his eye. "I think it's a good thing. You're a lot of help, even if I'm still acting strangely."

"You? Acting strangely? Sounds fake." Alois finally wrapped his other arm around the Watchdog, holding him closely. "For real, though, we'll get to work tomorrow. We'll get back into routine."

Another sigh escaped Ciel, although this time, it was wistful instead of forlorn. His body relaxed slightly in his husband's embrace as he allowed himself to feel safe. One thing that was absolute was his confidence in Alois' strength and ability. He knew that he couldn't let Alois go into battle alone, but he knew that he could rely on him if ever came a time when he was in over his head. If Alois had been there when Ciel was being antagonised by Johnathan, the bluenette knew that the fight would have ended much differently. So, he found himself capable of enjoying this.


A/N: I've been publishing chapters with the lingering feeling that "man, this shit's kinda weird, isn't it?" Don't worry, it's gonna get weirder.

This is so nice, isn't it? Good chums helping out to beat the big bad. So touching. So wonderful. Love it.

You know here at HateWeasel headquarters, we sure love the power of friendship. This can only go well for everyone.

Man, my notes are a mess...

Anyway, I got a question before I tune out and leave you back to whatever it was you were doing before you clicked on this chapter. I haven't been good about answering them at all, have I? I need to get back in the swing of doing that. It's just that it's kinda rare, so I forget, I think.

Anyways:

"I also have a question that may seem a bit stupid but, in this chapter Revy isn't mentionned once, I may have missed someting in the story, but is that because he moved out from the mansion or did you just forgot ?" By Kinja145

Oh! It's not really anything deep. It's just that he was at work! The media management department is really busy after that New Year's incident, so they need all hands on deck. I knew that in my head and just didn't remember to explain it. My bad~!

With that,

Until the next chapter, my duckies~!