Nothing felt quite as good as looking good.
Not that Ronald was ever not good-looking.
But when you decided to dress it up once in a while, you couldn't help but feel a certain sense of pride and faith in yourself. Setting your hair differently and putting on something nice, making yourself different from others, making a positive, bold statement. Exactly what Ronald was looking for.
Several impressed whistles followed the foxy man as he strutted down the corridor, absolutely content in the attention he was getting from all the secretaries.
He poked his head inside his shared office to briefly greet his fellow workers and grab last night's work, barely pausing to nod at each before continuing his quickly paced walk to another office not too far. The door was cracked open, meaning the boss was just in. Ronald tapped lightly on the door and swung it open once he heard a soft "come in".
William was stacking papers. His favourite pastime, Ronald was sure. He looked up from his papers and gave Ronald a blank look.
"Good morning…?"
"Good morning Mr Spears," Ronald replied, chipper as ever. He flashed one of his smiles and causally sat on the edge of his desk. His smile grew as William's face turned incredulous. "Knox?!"
"Yup, how's it hangin'?" William very nearly smiled at Ronald's improved appearance but it was quickly wiped off his face once he recognized Ronald's words.
Eric had often used the phrase 'how's it hangin' with his male friends, and would often greet William the same way. He was forced to contain his snickering whenever William replied with 'very well thank you'.
William wasn't amused. "Aw come on Spears, can't take a joke?" Ronald asked playfully. He reached up and carefully tucked a stray piece of hair behind his ear.
To further impress his senior, (his pick up lines were absolutely to die for but he opted for something a bit more appropriate) he'd slicked his hair almost identically to Will's, although a few strands would pop out occasionally, refusing the hefty amount of gel Ronald had used that morning. His tie, usually askew and lazily knotted, was now perfectly centered against his collarbone and lay atop a crisply buttoned white dress shirt. His jacket was freshly laundered and ironed (a first for Ronald) and he'd even had time to shine his shoes with a little elbow grease before skipping to work.
He hoped his efforts paid off, he'd never spent that much time on his clothes before and it had nearly made him tardy.
William seemed impressed, putting a small smile on Ronald's face. He raised a brow before returning to his papers, putting some in a certain pile while discarding others entirely. A single word popped out from all the others and caught Ronald's attention; France.
He'd heard something about the French division and how they had been attacked by a demon or two lately. Apparently they had been dangerously powerful and had managed to devour several if not most Records. Reapers and their HQ had suffered greatly. He wondered if one of them was going to go abroad to help out. What an adventure; he'd never left England, not even for work.
"Haven't you some work to get started on Knox?" William mused, snapping him out of his thoughts.
"Hm? Of course I do. Is it true that the French division had a demon break in?" Ronald queried, resting a leg on William's desk.
William's pen stopped moving. He looked up at Ronald. Why did he care? As long as he'd known Ronald he had never seen the blond pick up a newspaper. Was he making small-talk? Useless. He had work to get back to.
"What? Is there something in my teeth?" Ronald's eyebrows rose slightly.
Something very strange happened at that moment. William's heart gave a small pang. Ronald looked… endearing, for that moment. His blond curls protruding from his head, his large comical glasses and his young face confused William. Why was this happening?
William shook his head, mostly to himself but also to console Ronald. There was nothing wrong with him.
As the day stretched on Ronald's completed pile of work was steadily growing, as was his confidence for this bet. It was mid-afternoon, just after lunch really, when Grell and Ronald had a Reaping a couple blocks down. The old coot was scheduled to have a heart attack once he stepped out of his house. It wasn't an impressive death, one could say, but then again, few were when everyday was death in and death out.
They were on their way to pick up their Scythes when Grell brought up his sudden change in wardrobe.
"Ronnie, don't get me wrong, you're a charming man who'd look dashing in anything, but what on earth made you think to dress like dear William?" She raised her thin, red brows in question.
"Just felt like changing it up a bit," he replied with a sly smile. As Grell fussed over her replacement Scythe and how William really shouldn't have taken her chainsaw away just for misconduct, his smile vanished.
He felt guilty. Grell always talked about and flirted with Will but now that Ronald thought about it, he didn't know whether this was just an infatuation or a real crush. Did Grell really harbour feelings for the stoic Reaper? Or was it just for play? He felt terrible having helped create this stupid bet and taking part in it. He hadn't considered an important aspect. Grell would never forgive him if this bet worked out as planned. Worse, Ronald would never forgive himself. He might just have to call it all off and as much as it might ruin Eric's fun, he wasn't one to break Grell's heart.
The red Reaper kept chatting about her Scythe and the latest gossip on fellow co-workers who had managed to modify their Scythes a certain way or whatnot. Ronald wasn't paying too much attention, he felt horrible. He felt so horrible in fact, that he didn't notice where they were going and ended up colliding with a slightly taller Reaper.
A slightly taller Reaper who smelled delicious. He looked up, and paled.
It was William.
"Hello Knox, Sutcliff. Off to your collection I presume?" He glanced at their Scythes, sending them on their way.
"That's right darling, we'll see you later~."
Ronald winced.
He hadn't taken two steps when he nearly collided with someone else. Bloody hell! He had glasses for a reason.
"Ronald?" Came a sweet voice. He looked up and recognized the lady in front of him as Scarlett Meriweather. He'd gone out with her once or twice in the past but it hadn't been serious.
But she still looked gorgeous with her round face and curly hair piled up high. She was quite the looker, with all those curves.
"Uh Scarlett, hi, how are you?" He scratched the back of his head nervously, unsure of this situation. The man he was supposed to get into bed with on his left, his friend and 'opponent' on his right and an ex talking to him. This couldn't be good.
"Quite well thank you. I can see you're doing pretty good yourself," she winked at him, "I was wondering if you'd be up for a party Friday night. Say 'round seven? You'd love it, we're hiring a live band," she gushed. She hadn't told him where it was going to be held but he assumed her place.
Truth be told he hadn't partied in a few weeks (he didn't count drinking with Eric as 'partying') and the idea sounded fantastic but… he held back. William was probably listening to their conversation and he wanted to keep up the good act.
"Sorry Scarlett I have work to catch up on, I'll try to make it to the next one alright?"
She seemed downcast at his reply but smiled nonetheless. "Alright then. If you finish early, drop by will ya?"
"Sure. See ya 'round," he smiled at her as she turned and left. Not too bad. Taking a quiet deep breath, he pivoted on his heel to face Grell and William once more. William's eyes widened slightly in amazement. Ronald Knox turn down an invitation for a party? Never. Ronald smirked. That's right, he could be responsible when he wanted to be.
"Let's go darling before we're too late." Grell hooked her arm through his and they set off down the hallway once again, Ronald glancing at William one last time before they turned the corner.
The cold air bit at them as they hopped several ceramic rooftops before stopping on top of a sweet shop, looking down at the door where the will-be-deceased would be coming out of. Grell's hair whipped around in the wind, making her look even more deadly than usual. Ronald gulped involuntarily.
If Grell found out what he and Eric had concocted, surely she would go bat-shit crazy on them. Ronald hadn't been injured badly in the past but imagining Grell's chainsaw striking him in the chest or chopping off a leg wasn't pleasant. It sent chills down his spine.
"You all right darling?" Grell wondered.
"Yeah, just a tad cold is all."
"Hopefully this'll be over before long so we'll be right back in our cozy office soon enough." She smiled. Ronald couldn't manage to return one, he still felt dreadfully guilty.
"Oh look, there he is." Grell pointed to an old man with a cap coming out of the building across the street. He looked in pain and was probably wheezing, although it was difficult to hear from their altitude. He clutched his chest and before any passersby could ask if he was alright, he fell to his knees. With one last croak he fell over, face first into the dirt.
Ronald looked over at Grell before jumping down but Grell had been too busy examining her sharp, red nails.
Ronald flinched. "Let's go," he murmured, jumping down and landing softly on a thin coat of snow.
Grell landed right beside him, scythe at the ready. Before a word could be spoken she had already leaped forward to collect his soul. Moments later, it was done. Ronald didn't understand why William made them go in pairs.
"Well my heels are soaked. Let's head back." They turned and hopped back onto the roof, jumping across various homes and shops to get back to their warm office.
"I'm fucked," Ronald whispered in Eric's ear as he sat down in his chair. Eric's hand fumbled with his pen and he turned to look at Ronald.
"We forgot about Grell."
Eric narrowed his eyes at him. "You don't think the misses is doing it just for fun?"
Ronald shook his head. "Rather not take any chances."
"Do… do you think we could still carry on, without the redhead finding out?"
"No, William might let it leak, or something might happen. She's bound to find out—"
"Find out what?" Ronald's blood froze. He and Eric shared a look of doomed horror before he turned to face none other than Grell herself.
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