A/N: It's been taking a while to get these chapters churned out and I really apologise. For the record if you ask why Grell was teasing Ronnie...well spoilers~! And Alan was meant to be having a really nasty attack but I don't quite know if that came across. And I will eventually bring back Tommy-bug~! Your reviews have been lovely and I really appreciate them~! Thank you so much ^_^
"Eric? Are you alright? Eric? Eric!" Alan sighed and pulled the blond off the sofa, jolting him awake when he hit the floor.
"...Huh? What happened? Where am I? Where is that spineless bottom-feeder?" He sat up and looked around with a wild look in his eyes, barely registering that Alan was there until he whacked him hard in the leg. The brunette's cry of pain and stumbling into a bookshelf brought Eric out of his daze, staring at him. He swallowed hard and ran a hand through his hair, standing up slowly and looking over at Alan. "I'm sorry, Allie. Just had one hell of a nightmare and...it was just really bad. Sorry," He sighed and ran a hand through his hair slowly, looking up as Alan inched back to him and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Is that why you were sleeping out here? Eric, if you were having a nightmare, you could have woke me up, I could have helped you out maybe?"
"How? I mean...sorry. I'm fine now, honest! No worries!" He stood up and pulled Alan with him, draping an arm over his shoulder and leading him back to the bedroom. "We should probably get ready then, wouldn't want to be l-"
"You should get ready, darling. I'm off today and if you don't hurry you'll be ten minutes late. Now hop to, Slingby!" Eric stared at him then stood up quickly, digging through his wardrobe for shoes and a tie. Leave it to Eric to keep all but his suits in a disorganised mess. "Honestly, I'm going to organise this thing while you're out. Your ties need to be better taken care of!" Eric looked up at him for a moment before pulling him down to his level.
"You're acting like William again, Allie...thought we had cured you of that..." Alan narrowed his eyes and stood back up, dragging the older reaper along with him. "What? You always think it's funny anymore, why the serious expression?"
"Because I want you to be at your best. It's no good if the best reaper in London is slugging around half asleep, now is it? Now get dressed, I'll stop by later on, huh?" He winked and nuzzled their noses together, shoving him a little before hurrying out of the room. Eric shook his head and glanced down at his clothes, trying not to think of what happened last night.
"You really think your dear little Allie will want to stay with you if he finds out? Don't be ridiculous, Slingby. No one could love a filthy murderer like you!" Eric stared at the demon for a long moment, barely noticing a young girl staring at him.
"Don't you DARE call him that! What gives you the right to judge how other people will think anyway?" He narrowed his eyes at the smirking demon, dragging his saw carelessly along the girls body and making her cry out before the two could continue. He stared over at the girl and took a step back, swallowing hard when he saw the jagged cut and massive pool of blood forming. "Oh my god...I never even saw her!" He pulled the girl up and over his shoulder quickly, cringin as the blood began to soak through his clothing.
"My my, Slingby. Now you're desperate and reckless, hmm? Such a shame your poor lover will meet the same fate as this poor girl here..." He tensed as the demon tilted the dead girls chin up, smirking. "Just think, one day you'll be carrying his lifeless body to the grave just as you are with hers..." Eric snarled and shoved him away.
"Don't come near me again. Just you wait, I'll show that I can save him! I have to, I need to!"
"Rubbish, you're selfish and that's all there is to it. You claim to do it out of love but you just want to keep your plaything around, you're too afraid of being alone, Slingby. Seventy years to win his heart...nobody has that manner of patience!" Eric dropped the body and pointed his saw right at the demon's throat.
"ooooohhhhh~ it's a dream come true~! Finally you've come to me instead of that stick in the mud, Alan!"
"Shut up, Sutcliff. There is not enough alcohol in the world to me that drunk or you that lucky. Now get off of me!" he jerked his arm away and glared at the redhead, holding his saw up when he tried to come closer again. "Don't you dare touch me again, Sutcliff. Unless you want to be shredded, understood?" Grell just stared and adjusted his coat, swallowing a bit.
"I was only joking around, Eric. You know that my heart belongs to S-"
"Say it I'll kill you before Slingby can even blink. Now get to work," Both reapers jumped and stared at Ronald and William, grabbing their death lists and scythes before they got into any real trouble. They left quickly before William could scold them anymore and hurried of into London.
"Sutcliff, what's the deal with Will and Ronald? Are they together or aren't they?" Grell looked over and scowled a bit, brandishing his scythe in Eric's face. "What? It's like hot and cold with those two, one second they're flirting like horny teenagers and the next they're like...I can't even explain it,"
"What goes on between Will and Ronald is their own business. Much as I've tried, he's so cold and refuses to say anything~!" The redhead twirled around and started moaning and bitching over-dramatically, hardly paying attention to the other reaper anymore.
"Ugh...I shouldn't have asked," He shook his head and glanced over to his right shoulder, only then realising there was a small bit of dried blood on his skin still. Of course, He'd been in too much of a hurry and didn't remember getting in a shower last night, only that he threw his clothes into the fire before collapsing. He straightened up from kneeling on the roof, glaring down at the opposite side of the street at who he thought was the demon that had been stalking him lately. The appearance was almost dead on. Black hair, extremely bright green eyes, that damned smirk. He was even positive that if he got close enough, he could see the contract mark behind his ear. "That bastard..."
"On the job today, reaper?" Grell looked over at the demon with Eric and blinked, pushing up his glasses. Was a demon talking to Eric? The man who though they were all the scum of the earth? What the hell was going on? They both stepped back when he suddenly appeared in front of them. He smirked and looked over at Grell for a moment, winking. "I can see why that idiot Sebas likes you...such a pretty little kitten you are, Red...Shame I was there first..."
"Ooooohhhh~! How sweet you are to a lady~! What's y-"
"Shut it, Sutcliff! This bastard is not to be messed with. Not even talked to, he's a spinless, soulless, bottom-feeding rat with no regard for anyone but himself." He growled at the demon and pointed his saw at him. "The hell are you standing there for?" Grell was far too into his twirling and reciting horrible romantic poetry to the demon to even care. Eric sighed and glared at him, jagged edge against the mark behind his ear.
"Won't you tell us your name, handsome~?" Grell stopped spinning and pressed right up against the demon, sliding a finger down his chest. He sneered a bit and pushed the redhead away, making him pout. "How could you~? Shoving a lady like that! What is wrong with you?"
"Ree..." Both reapers stared at him in utter shock, silent except for the motor of Grell's chainsaw.
"Don't tell me that's your name. It can't be," He narrowed his eyes and went to strike, only to fall and hit the roof hard after the demon disappeared. "Damn...Come on, Sutcliff. We have work to do," He stood quickly and pulled out his death list, glancing through it before dashing off along the rooftops. Grell pouted a little and hurried of after him.
Alan sighed and tossed himself onto the sofa, ruffling his hair in relief. He'd spent his day off cleaning Eric's flat from top to bottom and was finally finished. Now he could curl up in front of the fire with a book while he waited for the older man to get home. He stretched and pushed his hair out of his eyes, not ready to get up and get the fire going just yet. He was tired and felt a little heavy, not too thrilled about having to get up again. After a moment, he sat up and looked around the room, sliding onto the floor and crawling over to the fireplace.
"All this hard work just to get cozy...So exhausting..." He sniffed a bit and rubbed his chest, wincing a little with the bit of twinging. Couldn't be anything bad though, could it? He wasn't due to have an attack any time soon...then again, he could never really calculate for certain when they would come, now could he? He sniffed a bit and tossed in a few things, grabbing a few matches from the mantle piece and getting back to the hearth. He tilted his head to the side and shivered a little from another twinge, holding the matchbook tight. "Can't be...Don't worry, Alan. Just relax, deep breaths..." He swallowed hard and struck another match, dropping it onto the small flames before being knocked forward a bit by a horrible stabbing pain in his chest. "AAH!"
He cringed and hugged his chest tight, digging his nails in and crying out, reaching a hand out to grasp for Eric, thinking he'd appear by magic. He tried sitting up again but could hardly move from the pain, feeling another stab close to his heart, clinging to his chest and whimpering. He clenched his eyes shut and managed to sit up at least a fraction, doubling over immediately and coughing hard. He went wide eyed and pulled his hand away, feeling another painful stab at the sight of a few blood droplets. He swallowed hard and started coughing again, curling up in a ball and screaming out in pain. He opened his eyes again for a moment and cringed, feeling the edges of his vision start to black out.
"E-eric..." He looked up for a moment and coughed again. He wasn't going to die was he? He couldn't, not yet! Not like this! He wanted to go peacefully in Eric's arms, not curled alone on the cold floor while thrashing like a fish. He gasped and tried sitting up again, scooting over to the fireplace before feeling another hard stab in his chest, doubling over and letting out a choked sob before everything went black.
Ronald sighed as he made his way home, clinging tight to his bag as he walked and looked around the various cafes. They were decorated for Valentine's day and the vibe was radiating out into the streets. Couples walking around were starting to get more and more sweet. It was enough to make one vomit, really. He sighed and looked around once more before hurrying up and into his flat, tossing his bag to the side along with his jacket.
"God, I can't wait for this month to be over! All this romantic crap is getting on my nerves! God, even Eric and Alan are getting more mushy," He shuddered and threw himself onto the sofa, pulling off his glasses for a moment and burying his face in one of the pillows. "No good William, shouldn't take a year and a half to simply say 'Hey Ronald, wanna go for drinks or something?' Ugh!" He sighed and perked up when he heard something from his bedroom. "The hell?" He stood slowly and stopped to grab something, anything. A nice heavy book...perfect. He grabbed it and put his hand on the doorknob, opening it quickly and looking around. "What the...?" He glanced around and lowered the book, bad idea. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed, squeaking when he was suddenly pinned to the door, dropping the book.
"Awwwww Ronnie~! You're usually so quick~!" He cringed and looked away from the person holding him, glancing back only for a moment to see a small bit of light pass over long red hair. In an instant, Ronald relaxed and stared at the older reaper, smirking.
"G-grell, what are you—How the hell did you get in here, exactly?" He bit his lip and blushed when Grell pressed right up against him, properly pinning him to the door. The older reaper smirked and turned Ronald's head to look at him, pressing a soft kiss to his lips.
"Don't make any plans for Valentine's day, Ronnie-bug...I've got a big surprise for you, toodles~!" Ronald stared as Grell pranced to the window, sliding it open and climbing through it, waving at him and giving his signature pose before vanishing.