A/N: Hopefully y'all didn't mind that sway into the view of an eventual character that will have a bit more to say than just "eep!". Better yet I hope you all thought he was just as adorable as well~! Hmmmm, and for the record I'm tired of writing Sebastian, he's not my favourite character anyway. So...let's see, what else? OOH! Go check out EmoMagician's story 'Can You Fix Me?' it's very awesome! Your reviews have been very sweet~! I hope to keep you all entertained~!
"Knox! My office! Now!" Ronald perked up and stared at William, standing outside with his arms crossed as best he could. He'd been none too thrilled about doing collections one-handed, or paperwork, or...well anything really. Ronald bit his lip as he slowly made his way to the supervisors office, glancing around. He closed the door and ran a hand through his hair, not willing to look at the taller man in the slightest. Instead he went to one of the bookshelves, examining it silently. "Ronald..."
"You know, you're a real bastard, Boss. Normal people don't fuck over people they have feelings for like that, you know?" Ouch. Perhaps William deserved that. He should have explained the situation better. But how could he explain to Ronald that he'd been threatened and then got drunk only to end up in Grell's bed later on? He hadn't really meant to end up at Grell's place anyway, but it was the only person he knew would be willing to comfort him, no matter how angry they were at each other. I mean don't you have any regrets about what you did? You should be beaten to a pulp for that!"
"I believe the bruise on my face and my arm in a sling is evident enough that I've been punished already, Knox. Do I regret what what I did? More than you would believe. But what I regret more is the fact that I couldn't help you..." Ronald slammed the book shut and stared at him, absolutely puzzled. What in the world- "I should have acted sooner. Maybe then that demon wouldn't have his claws in you as far...I failed, Ronald, and I hope you can forgive me..." Ronald continued to stare at him, only moving when his glasses slid too far down his nose and hit the floor.
"B-boss? What are you talking about?" William looked up, confused. How did Ronald not know what he was talking about? Not unless that demon had been changing his strategy...he sighed and looked the blond over quietly, narrowing his eyes when he saw something peeking out from under his collar. Ronald cocked his head to the side and waved in Williams direction. "Boss? Are you alright? Are you hurting?" William looked up and cringed slightly, the pain in his arm almost exploding.
"...? Y-yeah, I'll be fine. Now back to you, Knox,"
"Why can't you just call me Ronald?"
"I'm sorry?"
"You always call me Knox, but never Ronald...Why are you acting all concerned if you can't even call me by my first name?" William opened his mouth then shut it again, staring at the chip in his desk. How could he apologise to Ronald and loosen the grip that filthy demon had on him? He honestly was lost for an idea. "Could you...help me get away from what's-his-name? It scares me, I'm afraid to sleep or be alone...I don't know what it is but now its like he's in my head! Always mocking and saying this or that and-" He froze dead to the spot and shuddered, clenching his eyes shut as the demon appeared behind him and slid his fingers through his hair. William stared at him and furrowed his eyebrows, going wide eyed when he saw Sebastian appear properly behind the blond and slide his hands all over his body.
"Quite the fighter isn't he, Spears? I can see why you like him. Now that you have solid proof, I suggest trying something clever now...just watch Knoxie, you'll have proof that this fool could never give you what you need..." he purred into Ronald's ear and slid a hand across the bitemark on his neck, makng him groan.
"W-william~..." Both men stared at the blond before a smirk crossed William's face, pointing his scythe at Sebastian. He could be wrong but at this point he'd take anything he could get. Besides, they hadn't even begun to start discussing their issues. Sebastian faltered a little and loosened his grip slightly, though not enough to let him escape.
"Hands off of my subordinate, demon. Unless of course you do have a death wish..." Sebastian just stared at him, slightly unnerved by William's smirk. He brandished his scythe and pointed it in the demon's direction, quirking an eyebrow. "Go on demon. Step away from my reaper,"
"YOUR reaper? My my William, aren't we possessive? Perhaps you should let you pretty little junior make that decision, hmm?" His eyes flashed as he held Ronald tighter, making him cry out and turning him around. He smirked at William before pulling the blond into heated kiss, causing William to stare flaming daggers at them and grip his scythe hard enough to turn his knuckles white. Ronald whimpered into the kiss and glanced back at William as best he could, reaching a hand out before Sebastian pushed him away. "Now choose, reaper! Do it before your precious boss loses his mind." Ronald ran a hand through his hair and looked between the two. William raised an eyebrow and set his scythe down, adjusting the sling as he waited for an answer. "Didn't you h-"
"I heard you fine. Now leave me alone, please. Come near me again and I'll turn you into dog food, got it?" He glared at the demon before swaying a little and collapsing, slamming his head into Will's desk on the way down. William looked back at Sebastian and his smirk returned, picking the scythe back up.
"Well there you have it, demon. Now get out of my office before I end you, understood?" Sebastian was dumbstruck and simply continued to stare like an idiot. William snarled at him and extended his scythe, grazing the demons arm. "OUT!"
"Tch...Fine. But don't think this is the last you'll see of me, Spears," He vanished before William could attack him again, instead hitting the wall. He shook his head and set down the scythe, leaning over his desk and glancing at Ronald. The blond had hit his head pretty hard when he fainted, probably had a mild concussion aside from the small amount of bleeding. He made his way around the desk and pulled him up with his good arm.
"God Knox, you may not look it but you're terribly heavy," he sighed and dropped the blond gracelessly in a chair, opening the door and looking out into the office. "Hey, you! Gome here! I need you to give me a hand!" Francis looked up and cocked his head to the side, standing and hurrying over.
"Mr. Spears, what's wrong?"
"So let me get this straight...Eric Slingby, THE Mr. Slingby, playboy extraordinaire and you, Alan the bookworm are an item?" Thomas was so shocked that he hit his head on the table while searching for a dropped screw. "You've been touting this homophobia thing since before we entered the academy, Al. What changed your mind?" He finally found the screw and dropped it by his spare glasses, sitting up properly.
"How di-what? That's not the point! And...I don't know entirely, there's just something about him, Tom, I can't explain it..." Thomas raised an eyebrow and grabbed a trainee's sleeve as they passed by. "I guess...with Mr. Slingby it's ok, with anyone else the thought of being with another man is just disturbing and wrong but then I think of Eric and...and it seems right,"
"So let me get this straight. You're not gay, right?" Alan glared at him which was all the answer he needed. "Right, sorry. You aren't gay and you find the thought of being with another man to be repulsive, but...Mr. Slingby is the exception, how exactly?" Alan nodded quietly and watched as thomas paced quietly, perking up when a trainee passed by, "Where do you think you're going, Meyer?" The poor kid looked absolutely terrified, much like they'd been when they first started out. The kid was so startled that he dropped the box he was holding, sending a whole mass of lenses crashing to the floor. "You idiot!"
"S-sorry, Mr. Barker! It was an accident, honest! Please don't tell Mr. Anderson, he'll send me back to the academy if I mess up again!" Alan raised an eyebrow and Watched Thomas drag the kid to his feet and slap him hard.
"Get a hold of yourself! You want to work in here so bad then you better start acting like it. One more mess up and I'll kill you before Mr. Anderson has a chance to fill out the demotion papers, got it?" The kid nodded and dashed off to replace the broken lenses, leaving him to rub his temples. "Geez, why did he pick glasses? He's so disorganised and he screws up every day and he cries if someone even tries to tell him how to improve...grab that broom, over there, huh?" Alan shook his head and started sweeping up the glass for his friend, trying hard not to laugh. "The hell is so funny?"
"You, Tom. You used to be just like him, I bet it took him all day to figure out how to get here too, huh?"
How did-?"
"Because, it took you three days to figure out how to get here, remember? And he's probably destroyed about thirty frames while trying to repair them, huh? You forget Tommy...you used to be just as bad as him during your first few months, remember?" Thomas pulled off his oversized oval frames and sighed, rubbing his eyes. "We're turning into our mentors it seems, remember when Eric sudden;y changed around his attitude? A lot of that was from the one of the guys in collections refreshing his memory on how he was he first graduated. So give him a break huh?"
"But Alan...I never destroyed a whole box of lenses or spilled my coffee onto one of the machines or shredded one of the eye charts. I was a little bit more precise than that," The trainee took another route to get the replacement lenses to their destination, looking at the ground when Thomas looked up. "...Guess I really hurt his feelings, huh?"
"Seems like it..." Both brunettes watched the trainee bump into a few others, finally getting the box to Mr. Anderson's work area. "At least here though you don't risk a terminal illness..."
"No. Just dust allergies, and stop talking like that, huh? You're going to have a very long long life, Allie! You can be morbid when you hit your death bed,"
"That might not be too far off, these attacks have been getting worse and worse, Tom...at this rate I won't be able to even file a report without my chest burning..."
"Now now, Alan, don't get that negative! Isn't Eric doing anything to help? Still fixing you those gourmet dinners you always rave about?" Alan was about to say something when he felt a pair of hands on his shoulders.
"How do you know, Barker? Anytime I've invited you over, we never got to it..." Both Thomas and Alan blushed and looked up at Eric. The blond smirked and watched the two as well as the trainee from earlier bump into the supervisor from the death scythe department. "New recruit?" The glare from beneath Thomas's brown and bright red bangs was all the answer he needed.
"Don't even get me started...He's driving me up a wall, it's so annoying! I mean, he can't operate the machines without breaking them, he destroyed a whole box of lenses,"
"Maybe he should catch a—OW! Alan, that wasn't nice!"
"You still weren't nice to me even after I got sick..."
"I was after a while...That's not the point though. Thomas, Don't go so hard on him just because he's new. You probably screwed up just as much when you were starting out, huh? You don't want to scare him away, do you? That's our department's job, not yours," Eric leaned down and laid his head on Alan's shoulder. He did have a point, typically the collections department went through officers faster than a prostitute went through clients. Whether it was, Grell, the overtime, the general insanity, whatever reason there was, new officers made it a habit to transfer within the month if they lasted that long. Most usually had a breakdown or were scared off in under a week like Thomas had been in his third year. The collections department still terrified him beyond recognition, more so because of the exuberant redhead and that noisy...whatever it was. He sighed and pulled off his glasses, staring down at the table. "Don't stress so much, kid. He'll get into the swing of things properly. I mean none of us were perfect when we started out. I mean Alan still can't collect a soul without running for help,"
"Oi! I've been getting better! At least now I can keep it from trying to kill me," He pouted and glanced down at the table, grabbing the screw drivers and sorting them out by size and colour, even going so far as to divide them up by length as well. He didn't even pay attention to the other two reapers watching him until Thomas put a hand over his.
"Al...I appreciate that you want my work space to be organised but please...don't screw up my system,"
"What system? It's completely disorganised! How do y-" He shut up instantly when Eric turned his head and kissed him. Thomas shook his head and set it down on the table, chuckling softly. The other two glared at him and he just continued to giggle. "Tom, you need to stop hanging around Undertaker..."
"No I d—AHH! Meyer what are you thinking?" He stood up quickly and stared at the trainee crawling under the table, shaking slightly. He stared quietly and crawled out as Thomas backed away, almost hitting a wall and pointing a screwdriver at him. "Y-you...you...you...What is wrong with you?" Eric raised an eyebrow and stared silently, leaning down by Alan to ask what was up with him.
"I-I'm sorry, Mr. Barker! It won't happen again! I swear!" He ran a hand through his hair and clinged to the box of frames for dear life, swallowing hard before running off.
"Damn, Barker. He's just a kid, cut him a break, huh?" He was still standing against the wall, shaking heavily and pointing the screwdriver in random directions. Eric sighed and went over to him, taking the screwdriver and guiding him back to his chair. "Just relax, and go talk to someone about getting into some type of therapy. You can't function like this, you know? Maybe just going to the Undertaker even once a week. Whatever you can do to become less jumpy, alright?" Alan watched and smiled a little, running a hand through his hair while the blond calmed him down. Thomas sniffed a bit and looked up at them, nodding as Eric patted his shoulders gently and went back over to Alan, motioning for them to head out. "Back to work, kids. Let's go,"
"Eriiiiiic~! Can I talk to you?" Undertaker popped up behind him and giggled, ruffling his hair asthe brunette jumped. He looked up and stared at the retired reaper and blinked, a little confused as to what he was doing there.
"What do you want, Boss? I'm very busy right now and don't exa-"
"OOOOOoooohhhhh yes~, very busy...doodling is it? And a certain pupil of yours too~!" Eric covered up the picture quickly and stared at the old man. It wasn't any of his business how Eric looked after the kid, now was it? It'd only been a year and a half since he started out and so far hadn't even come close to being up to scratch. Of course he hd to factor in the three months that the kid had sent in the infirmary. Since then he'd be fine though, no signs of...what was it again?
"He's not even sick! I swear the kid's just a big gullbreak waiting to happen, I swear he goes down to the infirmary once a month, or he's wasting time in the glasses department and then he just reads or something when we're out doing collections! I mean, he's hardly got what it takes to be in this department! What the hell am I gonna do with him?"
"Well for one, you could stop trying to flirt with me all the time. It's wretched and disgusting," Alan stood in the doorway with his arms crossed, glaring at the older reaper. Eric glanced around for the undertaker and furrowed his eyebrows when he'd vanished. "Mr. Slingby, I understand that you don't like me but that doesn't mean you have to make my life a living hell. Whatever you do in your spare time is what you do, but don't come around trying to get me to go along with your perversions," He grabbed a few files and his scythe before stepping back into the doorway. Eric opened his mouth to protest but the younger brunette had already left the office, settling in at his usual desk instead.
"Jeez kid, if you only knew..."
"So you DO like him, huh? You know Eric-dear, if you really want to get this partnership to work out well then you might want to try being nicer to him...?" Eric looked back at his desk and jumped a little when he saw the Undertaker stretched out on it, giggling. "I mean, why are you so hard on him anyway? He is only a baby still..."
"He's got potential, boss. I mean a lot of potential, he could be really great...how else though am I to bring that out of him if I don't give him a little shove?" The old man shook his head and perked up, tangling his fingers through Eric's hair.
"I wonder...maybe you're treating him this way because...that's how you were treated? I mean, your mentor wasn't really the nicest of reapers now was he? If memory serves me right, you weren't exactly the best when you were young either. Now look at you, one of the best in London! Now think about this, dearie...back in the day you could barely look at a cinematic record without getting nervous. Perhaps you should think about how you got over your troubles, hmm? Being tough doesn't work on everybody..." Eric stared at him silently and leaned back, looking out towards the office. "Why don't you go talk to him dear? Now I must be off~!" the old man giggled and ruffled the brunettes hair before vanishing again.
"I guess..." Eric pushed up his glasses and stood quickly, cringing a little with the sudden change of lighting. He swallowed hard and straightened out his hair, stopping in front of Alan's desk and smirking down at him. "Hey...mind if we talk?"