Ch. 8

After the nightmare incident Undertaker went back to Ciel and requested he give Theresa the rest of the week off. Ciel wasn't thrilled at the prospect, but Undertaker insisted. "That last assignment gave her nightmares. Reapers barely dream, let alone have nightmares. I'm sure she'll bounce back from this, but she needs time." Eventually Ciel agreed to let Theresa off for the week.

When Undertaker went back to the shop he found Theresa in the main viewing room talking to a customer. "Ah, there you are Undertaker," she said with a smile. She introduced the person she was talking to. It was an elderly woman who was looking into purchasing a coffin for her recently deceased husband. "I was just keeping her company until you got back."

"Your assistant here is really a gem. You're lucky to have her." Undertaker smiled.

"I really am. Now, how about we start discussing funeral arrangements?" Theresa left the room and went back upstairs while Undertaker talked to the old woman. She had nothing better to do so she cleaned her room. She organized the papers on her desk, hung up clothes back in her wardrobe, and straightened the bedsheets. After she finished, she saw a pile of bloody bandages on the floor just beneath the bed; picking them up made Theresa feel a little strange. It wasn't because she didn't tolerate blood, it was just the memories that came back when she looked at them. Theresa wanted to leave it all behind, but something told her that wasn't going to happen. She needed to take this as a learning experience instead of letting it haunt her. These things were going to happen, it was part of her job.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. "Come in," she said as she threw the bandages into a nearby basket. The door opened and Undertaker stood in the doorway.

"The young earl's here. He wants to speak to the both of us." Theresa followed Undertaker back down the stairs and saw Ciel and Sebastian waiting, just like Undertaker had said. They both nodded their heads in greeting.

"I've come here to extend an invitation to the both of you. The Phantomhive Manor is hosting a ball at the end of the week, and I would like the two of you to be in attendance." Ciel said.

"Why?" asked Theresa.

"Consider it a gesture of gratitude for your service," he replied. He nodded to Sebastian, who pulled two envelopes from his coat pocket and handed them to Undertaker and Theresa. They each took one, and Ciel and Sebastian left the parlor. Theresa looked at the envelope and tossed it aside. Undertaker gave her a puzzled look.

"I'm not going," she said flatly.

"Oh come on deary," he said, "This will be a good experience for you. A nice social event to take your mind off of the past few days."

"That would also mean spending a whole night in the same place as Sebastian; the more I see him, the more uneasy I get." Theresa turned around with her arms crossed. Undertaker chuckled and spun her around to face him.

"I know that's not the real reason. Now tell me, why don't you want to go?"

Theresa gave an exasperated sigh. "I…. don't know how to dance." Undertaker paused, then burst out laughing, which earned him a punch in the arm. "I'm serious. No one ever taught me how."

"That shouldn't be the only thing keeping you from going to a ball. Besides, when it comes to dancing, the gentleman does most of the work. Here, let me show you." He took Theresa's right hand in his left and he placed her left hand on his shoulder. When he set his other hand on her waist he made sure to be careful so he wouldn't hurt her. "Right. And one two three, one two three." As he counted he spun Theresa across the shop floor, carefully avoiding the scattered coffins. She quickly got the hang of it and began to step in time gracefully. Suddenly Undertaker spun her in towards himself and dipped her downwards. He expected a gasp, but instead he got a lighthearted laugh and a genuine smile. It was as beautiful as he had imagined.

When she stopped laughing she looked up at him. "Since when do you know how to dance?" Undertaker stood her back up and leaned in next to her ear.

"I am a man of many talents, Theresa." Their brief lesson ended and the day went on as normal.

When Theresa wasn't spying on people for Ciel, she would help Undertaker with floral arrangements for the coffins. The rest of the week she did just that. It was actually a rather intricate process; it was tradition to place lilies in the coffin, but sometimes other flowers would be added, usually by request of the deceased's family. It was Theresa's job to incorporate all of the flowers in a design that was pleasing to the eye.

While she was working on one such project she felt slender fingers on her shoulders. At first she tensed, since the whole ordeal with Alfonso had made her sensitive to anybody touching her, but when she realized it was Undertaker she relaxed. For some reason he was the only person Theresa was comfortable being touched by. Maybe it had something to do with the night she had that bad dream. He had made her feel safe and…loved. 'Snap out of it Theresa.' she told herself.

Undertaker smiled at Theresa and inspected her work. "Nicely done, as usual. I'll admit, it's been nice to have a bit of feminine touch around here."

Theresa raised an eyebrow at him. "I thought you said I wasn't feminine." Undertaker's smile disappeared as he stuttered about, trying to respond to Theresa's comment. She laughed and playfully hit his arm. "I'm just messing with you. I was actually grateful for your honesty."

"Oh." Undertaker's smile returned. He looked at the pile of flowers that Theresa had yet to put in the arrangement. He picked a random flower and placed it in Theresa's hair. "That flower suits you; it compliments your hair nicely." He brushed her bangs behind her ear. "You know, I don't think I've ever seen anything as white as your hair. It's whiter than the purest snowflake…. That's it!"

"What?" asked Theresa.

"My nickname for you. You see, I've known plenty of Theresa's. The name suits you, but you deserve to be called something unique, it's just I hadn't figured out what your nickname should be until now."

"And what is it you're going to call me?"

"Snowflake, of course." He put another flower into her hair before he walked away. 'Snowflake' would do nicely for Theresa. His precious snowflake, not like any other woman he'd ever met. 'Don't get ahead of yourself. She's not yours.' That voice was getting rather annoying, but part of Undertaker believed it. He had been trying for the past few months to show Theresa his affection, but so far she hadn't seemed to notice. He decided he just needed to be patient.

"Undertaker? Shouldn't we be getting ready for the ball?" Theresa called from the next room. She was right! Tonight was the ball that Ciel had invited them to. He went back to the room Theresa was in and told her to stay put. He ran to a storage room and pulled out a dress; he usually had a decent stock of nice clothing for his guests, so he figured Theresa wouldn't notice this one as a dress he had custom ordered for the occasion. When he returned he asked Theresa to close her eyes and hold out her hands. She complied, and he placed the dress in her arms and told her she could open her eyes. When she did she gasped in surprise. The dress in her arms was royal purple with a faint shimmer in the material. Holding it up, she saw that it had a v-shaped neckline and slits in the shoulders; the skirt had two layers, the first one gathered at the waist on one side so it formed a diagonal cut; the sleeves went to her elbows and draped downward. Theresa had never seen a dress like this before. "How did you-"

"I had it special ordered for you to wear to the ball. I made a few alterations so it would be more to your style."

"I love it," Theresa said. "Nobody's ever done something like this for me." She went to her room to put on the dress. The fabric was soft, and the skirt reached the floor, even with her shoes on, granted they didn't have very high heels. While she still wasn't entirely comfortable in dresses, she was happy to wear it because of the thought behind it. Undertaker was so sweet to get a dress especially for her, and it was even her favorite color. She went to the washroom next door and took a look at her reflection; the dress really was flattering on her, and the silhouette of the neckline and sleeves mirrored that of her usual outfit. For a moment she thought about letting her hair down, but decided against it. She went back downstairs and saw Undertaker waiting downstairs. He had changed into a black suit with a dark purple waistcoat and a silver tie. He had a white lily on the lapel of his jacket, which was to be expected.

When he saw Theresa, Undertaker thought his heart had stopped for a moment. "My dear, you look stunning." She brushed a piece of hair behind her ear and blushed at the compliment. "But why didn't you do something with your hair?"

"I thought it would be too much effort. It's really a hassle when I let it down."

"Oh come now, it can't be that bad."

"It's all right, I'm fine leaving it up," Theresa said. Undertaker was a little disappointed; truth be told, he really wanted to see what her hair looked like when it was down. Suddenly he had an idea.

"Theresa, I left the invitations on that counter over there," he said, pointing to said counter behind Theresa. "Would you mind grabbing them?" Theresa turned toward the counter to grab the envelopes, surprisingly oblivious to Undertaker's plan. Once her back was fully turned, Undertaker ran behind her and pulled the pins out of her hair in less than a second. Before Theresa could stop him he had all of the hair pins in his hand. He watched as she turned back to face him, which only helped in shaking out her hair, and he saw the most beautiful locks of pure white hair cascade down her shoulders, past her hips, and all the way to her ankles. Undertaker felt his jaw drop; he had never imagined this.

"Well," Theresa said. "What do you think?"

"It's gorgeous." He came closer and slid his hands through her hair, feeling the soft strands caress his calloused hands. "You have to let me do something with it. Sit down, sit down." Theresa sat upon a nearby coffin and Undertaker stood behind her. He picked up a few strands and started braiding. His hands moved quickly and quietly as he wove Theresa's hair around itself in a complicated pattern. As he worked he felt something was missing; inspiration struck when out of the corner of his eye he saw a pile of purple orchids nearby. He grabbed some of the blossoms and inserted them into Theresa's hair, along with a few other flowers. When he was done he let Theresa go back upstairs to look in the mirror.

Theresa was astonished; Undertaker had braided and pinned so much of her hair it was nearly half its original length. The flowers were incorporated beautifully in with the braids, the purple of the orchids matching the dress and… "Where on earth did he get blue roses?" she wondered aloud.

"There's a florist in the countryside who's experimenting with dyeing flowers" Undertaker said. Theresa jumped, not aware Undertaker had followed her. "I thought the blue would work nicely with the purples, both in the dress and in the orchids. So, what do you think?"

"I never could have done this on my own. Thank you."

"It was no trouble. Now, shall we go, my snowflake?" Undertaker held out his arm and Theresa linked her own around it, and the two of them were off to the Phantomhive manor.