A/N: HEY GUYS!
I just wanted to say THANK YOU to all my readers! To everyone who has been supporting me, so far. Especially to my new followers, GaarasLegendaryEyebrows and theghostlytimes. Thank you guys for your support!
So, we are returning to the mortuary. I probably won't be having a long 'arc' at the Phantomhive manor, again, like that. Honestly, I was going to add a bit more. Even end the week by saying goodbyes, but the arc took… 13 chapters. So, since I did EVERYTHING I wanted to, at least for now, I decided to move the story along.
But, it takes a bit longer for the plot to pick up. Considering I left the manor and didn't really know where to go with the story. So, there is a bit of filler, but the story will pick up in the plot soon enough. I'll tell you, I'm currently writing chapter 45. I am a bit of a novel writer… but I'm thinking… hopefully, I won't have to make a pt. 2 to this story? I've done that to stories before, and then I feel rather bummed when I notice no one is reading that story, but when I've reached past 100 I tend to get discouraged, too. I'm not sure… But the plan in, I'll be staying with this one story, at the moment.
But I was thinking, so considering the mood/tone I've put in this story, a bit solemn and serious at times, with hints of laughter rolled in, while pushing this 'plot' about time travel along, if I was to pursue sexual encounters and lemons and such, maybe I'll start a different story. Maybe… an alternate story to this one? Or just a continuation? I may add the 'first time' and stuff like that, in much later chapters, but yeah. This isn't exactly a 'lemon/fucking' story. But, I did want to write about kids. I really do. I'm just not quite sure HOW I'll do that…
There's a story someone made a very long time ago. Where Undertaker and their OC had… I think 4-5 children? And he/she went over every sexual encounter, but also things like baby names and raising the kids, and stuff like that. Hopefully, that story is still there. Or maybe, a 'future' story with their kids? But I kind of want to write a story with 'raising' kids. I think that'd be rather fun… Though, the story will be VERY hypothetical. I'll have to ignore particular events in the manga/maybe anime, just to make the assumption that Undertaker survives. I have this sad feeling our dear Undertaker is either going to vanish or die at some point, considering what's happened in the manga with the twins. And with this story, even I'm not sure how I'll end it, but I will try to! I most certainly will try!
I'll tell you, I like to try to stay with the stories in which I take my materials. That's why writing fantasy is so difficult. Making up my own cultures and societies to place my characters in… by the time I'm done, I've given up on the story, already, because world building took too much energy out of me. Anyways, I may just have to end this story how I want to. There are some older stories that I've enjoyed to read, with Undertaker of course, which have ended in a way I enjoyed. I know it won't be how the manga ends, but sometimes I just have to bite my tongue and accept what happens.
Hmm… well, I think that's about it, honestly. Well, how about this? I'll ask you guys this: should I start a new story, with the assumption this story ends happily [I'm not even sure yet] and Undertaker & Clara both end up having children together, or should I just spend my time solely on writing THIS story? Trust me, I haven't stopped writing yet! I have more then 10 chapters worth to post, still, and a lot more to go! Just… should I? I haven't decided, yet. And there's a lot of time to decide, but for now, that's where my thoughts are.
Also, there is a poll on my homepage, right now. A poll about 'lemons or no lemons' for this story. It'd be great if you guys quickly take that poll! Right now, I have 1 for lemon, and 1 for lime. Of course, at the end of the day it's my decision to make, but it would be nice to notice just what my readers want! Considering there's still time to write that sort of stuff… I may add some 'lime' in before I reach more plot driven chapters, but we'll see.
OKAY! THAT'S IT! You guys ENJOY your upcoming week, and if you're graduating soon, CONGRATS! Enjoy your upcoming summer breaks!
! #$%^&*())(*&^%$# !
Time has passed since your trip to the Phantomhive manor, and at the moment you were sitting at the desk in the parlor room, reading over a letter in your hands with a smirk adorning your face.
Rachel, Angelina, and even Francis have been writing you letters since that day, and while it takes a while to get a response, at least it's something that keeps you connected to the outside world. Before, you had tv, your laptop, cellphone… just about anything would connect you, but now… you have to rely on letters to keep updated on people, and the newspaper to hear the daily news around the city and country, and listening to the gossip on the streets, as well.
It's a lot of work, but it's something to occupy your time.
Sure, there is always the dead to take care of. Funeral arrangements, attempts at restoration, as well as looking for lumber at the pier or in a large trash heap or simply buying a specific coffin or casket somewhere else. It's… work, but just that. Work.
And besides, after a few hours, everything quiets down and there's time to sit and do something.
Being lazy like this, sure it bothered you at first, but you've learned to accept that this is how life is going to be, for now. Just… slow. So slow.
And you suppose you won't complain about that.
This is… different then your previous life of running around, praying that you wouldn't drop dead, and the hope that you'd make it into the next day. Filling out paperwork for the souls of the dead, crying about everyone you cared about that had died… yeah… This life is ten times different to that mess.
Slowly, you began to open a drawer in the desk, taking one piece of paper from a stack of clean printed parchment paper, a bottle of black ink, and a quill. It took you a while to get used to writing with these things, but you have to admit, it is a bit of fun. Though, you had to relearn how to write in cursive. You wasted a lot of paper in your sketchbook trying to relearn that. Sure, you could just write in a pencil, but it's not as fancy and as fun as doing this.
And besides, you have time to think about every letter, every stroke of your quill as it touched the ink, the paper, and then the ink again, and how your message looks.
You're sure there's something called an ink pen that exists, but this is what Undertaker had lying around, and for the documents you have to fill out for the guests, that's when you use an ink pen… or a pencil. He has a ton of pencils.
But you had time to kill and responding to another letter Rachel has given you was certainly something to do. She sends a lot of letters, you've noticed, and you wonder if that's because she's cooped up in the manor, all the time. You've only seen Vincent roaming about, and you rarely hear about Rachel's presence in the city. Heck, you don't think you have.
Yet, as you began to finish your letter, signing 'Lady Clara Graves' at the bottom, and quickly adding your signature icon at the bottom, you felt arms wrap around your shoulders, causing your movements to stop. "Whatch'a doing~?" you heard Undertaker ask, letting out a light giggle while you sighed roughly in response.
"Trying to finish a letter to Rachel. Can you let me go, for a moment?" you told him, but you blushed as you felt the man peck your cheek with his lips, letting your arms go and standing behind you, looming over your head to look at your letter, as you finished your little drawing at the bottom, before you set the quill back into the ink pot, grabbing an envelope so you could write her address, and your own, on the front of the envelope.
"A skull?" you heard Undertaker ask, quickly followed by a giggle, and you simply sighed, smiling lightly to yourself, as you finished writing on the envelope before you put the quill onto a rag covered in splotches of ink, used for this sort of thing as you closed the ink pot.
"Yep. What do you think? I mean, I can't use the Phantomhive seal, but I like skulls so… why not?" you smirked, turning to look up at him, only to freeze as you felt his hands wrap around your face, and his lips gently kissing your own.
You looked at him wide eyed while he let you go with a grin, and at his mischievous grin you scoffed in response. "W-what?! Don't fool around, Undertaker!"
"You're so adorable! I cannot help myself –"
"Well, restrain yourself! Geeze!" you scoffed, throwing up your arms in annoyance, only to sigh as you felt his arms wrap around your shoulders again, and his chin plopped down onto the top of your head. He's been like this since the two of you returned to the mortuary. All… lovey dovey. At first, it flustered you and made you nervous. Now, you're just getting annoyed.
Maybe annoyed isn't the right word, but that's certainly how you're feeling, right now.
"… The skull is cute, I suppose," he decided to say, and you glanced at him, giving him a curious look, as he continued with a grin, "but a human~ skull? Wouldn't it be a lot more fun to use a different sort of skull?"
"Meh. I mean, it's hard to draw with ink anyways. I thought about a bird skull, but it always looked… off. Besides, look at what I found the other day!" you exclaimed, your excitement and flailing throwing Undertaker off of you, but only his head and his grasp around your shoulders remained as you reached into the desk, pulling out another drawer, before taking out a metal stamper, for wax. "Nina pointed this out when we were walking around London. Found this in one of those mourning shops," you giggled, handing it over to Undertaker so he could take a look.
Only for a snicker to leave his breath.
"Seriously? A human made such a thing?" he responded, with a sigh, bringing the bottom of the stamper closer to his face so he could see the image. "A human skull imprint?"
"Yep! So, I'll use it as my signature logo thingie. What do you think? I am a Graves~, after all," you grinned deviously, only to receive a gentle pat on the top of your head. "What? Not impressed?"
"You certainly are a strange human," he decided to say as he handed back your stamper, and you scoffed in irritation.
"Woooww~. Talk about insulting me –"
"Do not take my words as insulting, dear Lara," he told you, grinning as he slumped back down, wrapping his arms around your shoulders and plopping his head back on top of yours. "It's a compliment."
"Yeah. Right," you scoffed in disgust, but you set the stamper back onto the table, slowly sinking back into your chair as you let the man's grip around you slump further onto your body. You closed your eyes.
This… is nice. It's not every day you get to sit, like this. Sometimes your days are chaotic. Other times, too quiet, but this… is nice…
But of course, before you could fall asleep in this position, you heard the front door open, and in an instant Undertaker took his arms off of you, grinning to the new 'living guests' while you calmly placed your letter and envelope to Rachel into a drawer, careful to not let the ink smear, before you put the stamper back in its proper spot as you stood up and began to make your way to the guests, with a smile adoring your face.
You could tell the widowing wife and her son were staring at the two of you questionably, probably more at Undertaker then yourself, but you completely ignored their leering stares, judgmental glances. After all…
Those who need to know that you're with the Undertaker, already do. If people haven't caught on, then that's their problem. So be it.
! #$%^&*())(*&^%$# !
The two of you sat contently in the living room. Undertaker, with a book in his hands, with his boots propped up onto the coffee table as he leaned his arms against the armrest and upon your own leg, and you laid your body across the couch, with your sketchbook and pencil in hand, occasionally using an eraser to clean up some of your sketches.
On a quiet afternoon such as this, when the skies are overcast with possibilities of heavy rain, this is where you've both found yourselves, waiting for dinner to finish cooking. Today, it was another simmering stew, and while the smell was overwhelmingly delicious, you did have a quick little snack before settling down in your current spot.
Your eyes occasionally glanced over at the Undertaker, watching him read, his book up to his face while you smirked to yourself. "Do you need reading glasses?"
"No," he scoffed, but you shook your head at him, causing his head to turn to you while you smirk deviously at his sudden whininess.
"I mean, we can buy you some, in your prescription. My reaper buddies still owe me a few favors. I can certainly own up on one of them, for you," you decided to say, but he shook his head before giving you a light smile.
"Thank you, love, but I'd rather spend my days blind as a bat then accept defeat," he stated, and you simply gave him a curious look, before you returned to your sketchbook.
With that out of the way, the two of you grew quiet, concentrating on your tasks, as you began to sketch the man. The thin lines of his chiseled face… the perfect scars, his hair, parted just slightly, so you could just see past his hairs to his beautiful shinigami eyes. The high cut of his collar, covering his neck scar, and… of course, his top hat. You cannot forget that top hat.
But… you flipped the page, trying again to get the man just right, starting from his head and working your way down to his robes, only for the two of you to hear a rough knocking downstairs. You sighed, taking your legs off of Undertaker's lap, while he smoothly stood to his feet, placing a black, gray, and pink bookmark into his book before closing it, and you watched as he swiftly made his way out of the room and down the stairs, causing you to pause for a moment… before you placed your own belongings on the wooden coffee table and decided to follow him.
You crept, hoping to not make a sound, and hearing the raspy, giggling voice of the Undertaker caused you to smirk, slightly, before you stopped in the hallway and peeked into the parlor room, to see what was going on. "We would be grateful if you looked over these –"
"Geh ehehehe~! And, what will I get if I do~?" Undertaker grinned, deviously, and the man in front of him, soaked to the bone, sighed to himself.
"Undertaker, sir, please. I would rather do this work for the Yard myself, but even I'm unsure of how these people died. I know the Earl Phantomhive speaks highly of you… so, could you?"
"Give me some first rate prime laughter~, my boy," you heard the Undertaker respond, snickering darkly while you heard the man sighing to himself, and you calmly made your way out of the hallway and into the parlor room, taking in the sight with a curious eye.
You noticed a man who seemed to be in his late twenties, perhaps early thirties, wearing a very similar getup to the Undertaker. Minus the large black top hat and overly baggy clothes, but his own attire was black, with a gray sash across his chest to indicate he was also a mortician, of sorts. He had messy looking dark brunette hair, with dark forest green eyes and freckles all over his sunburnt face. The moment he noticed you were standing there, he began to blush, madly, his face ten times redder then it is, at least from what you could tell in the darkness of the parlor room, but your awkward stare-off was interrupted by another cackle from the Undertaker. "Ah yes~. You have not met my new assistant, have you boy?"
"A-ah… N-no. I just… have heard you have a new assistant," he stated, simply, but you narrowed your eyes in irritation as you felt the man's eyes glancing you over, top to bottom, but before you could feel fully creeped out by the situation, you felt a comforting hand upon your shoulder as Undertaker tugged you to his side. "Clara, this is one of the many undertakers that happen to be in London. Richard Grieg, who dwells on the other side of the city. The west side. Grieg, this is my lovely new assistant, Clara Graves."
"Graves?" he responded in a slightly confused tone, but you ignored him as you continued with the pleasantries.
"Hello, Mr. Grieg. Now, those bodies. What's wrong with them? –"
"Nuh uuuh~. They are our new guests~" Undertaker smirked, but you rolled your eyes, your eyes turning back to glare over at the man as he pouted, suddenly smacking his face slightly with his hand, before he continued with a slight huff.
"Yes. I apologize. How about we, at the very least, come to a quick agreement? The corpses are sitting out in wooden caskets getting rained upon," he stated, and you nudged Undertaker roughly in the shoulder.
"Come on, now. Let's get on with it –"
"Alright, alright~~ –"
"And because I helped you out, you owe us two free caskets from your mortuary –"
"W-what?! –"
"Say yes or get out," you stated bluntly, scoffing as you continued. "We were enjoying our afternoon, and showing up past nightfall is improper. So?..."
"… Fine. I'll agree to your terms, now, Undertaker some help?" the man asked, and you huffed in annoyance at the obvious 'rejection', but Undertaker snickered, noticing your distress and shook your shoulders, slightly.
"Don't worry about it, love. Could you make sure we don't burn our dinner?" he asked you, and you simply nodded your head.
"Fine, but I'm helping the moment the stew is done," you stated, but you couldn't stop your slight smile as he kissed your cheek, snickering as he left you and went out into the rain.
And you could tell that mortician was judging you… the both of you…
You just groaned underneath your breath, deciding that you should probably change out of these clothes into something a bit more manageable. Who knows how long this night will be, and you refuse to let Undertaker do all the work, again. Plus, you're curious.
Just… what happened that the humans need a reaper's eyes to see it?
How interesting…