Chapter 5
Party Like a Shinigami
Ronald sat at his desk, reading over the last report of the day. He found his mind wandering every few minutes, and it was difficult to keep his concentration on his work. He had to repeatedly bite his lip to keep from breaking out in a wide grin. There was a party going on later that night at a club he liked to frequent, and he was itching to get out and have a good time.
Alan, the only other Shinigami in the room at the moment, noticed Ronald's excitement and smirked.
"It's gonna be one Hell of a party tonight, eh?" he asked, whispering so William wouldn't hear him.
"Killer. Are you going?" Ronald asked just as quietly, grinning.
"You know it. Eric's going, too. We wouldn't miss this for the world."
"Awesome. Is Eric still talking to that girl in the HR Department?"
"Yeah, I think she's going to be there as well. Speaking of which, why don't you take Ashling with you? She's not been to any of the parties yet, and she certainly must know that Shinigami can "party hard", as they say." Alan suggested with a smirk.
"Why don't you ask her, then?" Ronald asked, his face a light shade of pink.
"Because you wouldn't like that, would you? You can't deny you,re interested in her." Alan replied with a wink.
Ronald shot him a slight glare before sighing in defeat.
"Alright, you caught me. I'll mention the party when she gets back from her reapings." he said softly.
"Good man." Alan chuckled and returned to his work.
Ever since Ashling's confrontation and successful ass-kicking of the demon, William had been sending her out to collect souls almost every day. She hadn't seen another demon since then; it was rare that Shinigami came across them. Ashling had gotten pretty good at collecting souls; even Grell, who prided himself solely on physical skill, couldn't deny that.
A low creak alerted them to the door opening, and Eric, Grell, and Ashling walked in together. Eric grinned when he saw Alan and Ronald at their desks, and he dropped his files onto his desk before sitting on it. Grell pranced immediately to Will's office, only to be thrown out with an annoyed yell. Ashling simply dropped her files to her desk and sat down, using a rag to start cleaning dirt off of her Death Scythe.
"You guys ready for the party tonight? I've heard it's gonna be awesome!" Eric asked happily as William walked out of his office.
"Hell yeah. Are you going, William?" Alan asked with a small smile.
"Actually, yes, I am." William answered simply.
"I don't see why. You're such a wallflower at parties, my dear William. It's that chilling cold nature of yours~!" Grell teased, leaning against him.
"It's a good way to unwind after a long day." William answered, shoving Grell away from him.
"At any rate, why haven't you been to any parties yet, Ashling? There have been plenty since you arrived. Hell, there's one almost nightly." Eric chuckled.
"I usually just go home and work on learning how to better play the key-tar, honestly. Plus, I'm as much of a wallflower as Will, though probably for different reasons." Ashling replied, keeping her concentration on cleaning the instrument.
Ronald cleared his throat somewhat nervously.
"How about you come with me to this one tonight? It'll be fun!" he asked, ignoring the grins of the others.
Ashling looked up at him in surprise, then looked out the window at the darkening sky thoughtfully.
"What's tonight's moon phase, William?" she asked softly.
William blinked at the odd question before remembering her employee report.
"Ah, right. It's a waxing crescent, I believe." he said plainly.
Ashling nodded and looked back at Ronald.
"Alright, Ronald, I'll go. Meet you in front of the building at, say, 8:00?" she asked.
"Yeah. Yeah, sounds awesome! See you then!" Ronald grinned as the young woman brushed by him and left the room, humming softly to herself.
Once she was gone, Alan grinned and high-fived Ronald.
"Victory, my friend!" he cheered, earning a wide grin from Ronald.
"Alright, you idiots, that's enough of that. Just don't drink so much you're too hung-over for work tomorrow." William sighed, and the others smirked at him.
A few hours later, Ronald waited anxiously in front of the building, glancing repeatedly at his watch and forcing himself to be patient. It was a few minutes before 8:00, and he was eager to head to the club and party. He was fairly well known as a party animal, and was at that mischievous age where he went out of his way to have a good time. He wanted to show Ashling a good time as well. She spent most of her time alone, and there couldn't be much fun at all in that.
He looked up with an impatient sigh, then smirked. Ashling was walking toward him from across the street, smiling softly and waving. She no longer wore her usual blue business suit, but a pair of jeans, a gray shirt, and a baggy blue jacket. Her headphones rested around her neck, and Ronald could faintly hear music playing as the woman drew closer to him.
"Hey." he greeted her, grinning.
"Hey." she replied, casting a quick glance at his own attire; jeans, red shirt, black tie, and a black jacket.
"Like what you see?" Ronald teased.
Ashling smirked at his overconfidence.
"Come on, you goob. Let's go." she replied, earning a chuckle from the other Shinigami.
"Of course, my lady. If I may?" Ronald offered her his arm playfully.
Ashling giggled softly and took it, allowing the gleeful young man to lead her to the club.
It was a rather large building, and different colored lights flashed from the windows. They could see the forms of people inside dancing, and music boomed from inside. Ashling turned off her own music quickly before allowing Ronald to escort her into the club. They were greeted with shouts of welcome, and a few whistles from some of the other Shinigami in their department. Ashling's face went blood red, but Ronald ignored their calls and dragged her onto the dance floor.
"Can you dance, Ashling?" he asked, shouting over the music.
"Well enough." she yelled back, doing her best to avoid being shoved by other Shinigami in the crowd.
"Then come on! I'm not going to let you be a wallflower like Will tonight! Let's party!" Ronald shouted and immediately started dancing to the heavy bass of the music.
Ashling chuckled at his wildness before joining him. As the night progressed, the pair spent most of their time in the crowd, dancing and laughing at one another. It was one of the first times they had seen Ashling letting go and enjoying herself. Eric, Alan, Grell, and William watched them from their seats at the bar after a couple of hours had passed. They had already gotten tired and decided to take a break, but Ronald and Ashling were still in their places, dancing the night away.
"I think I see something there." Eric yelled, grinning.
"Yeah, same here. How sweet! Love is a wonderful thing, hmm, William-darling?" Grell asked, leaning toward the irritated Shinigami.
"As long as it doesn't affect their work, then it's fine. And I'm not your darling, Grell." he hissed, trying to mask his disgust.
"Ah, you're still such a meanie!" Grell pouted, and the others chuckled at him.
"Besides, I wouldn't go as far as to claim love yet. It's still a bit soon for that. Give them more time and see if this continues, then we'll see." Alan commented, nodding toward the two.
The others watched them for a few more minutes before Alan finally got up and stretched.
"I dunno about you guys, but I'm ready to get back out on the floor. There's a group of young women over there that look like they need company." he said, grinning at Eric, his usual partner in crime.
"Oh, Hell yes." Eric returned the grin before getting up and leading the way toward the group, leaving Will and Grell alone.
After a few minutes of silence, Grell ventured to speak.
"Hey, William, do you want to-" he began.
"No way in Hell." William growled, not even letting Grell finish.
"You're really mean, you know, Will? But that's part of why I love you~!"
"...ugh..."
Woo-hoo, ain't no party like a Shinigami party! The song I had in mind for the dancing was Reptile, by Skrillex. Yeah, I was listening to them again. I thought Ronald and Ashling deserved a kick-ass first "date", I suppose. I didn't want to ficus solely on them, though. I hope you guys like it!
~Silver