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Teeth	By : Chopstick_Chick Category: > Black Butler (Kuroshitsuji ???) Views: 1489 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Black Butler, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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"Oh honestly, I just don't understand this question at all!" Grell cried. His frustration with the practice problem they were working on was evident in the tone and inflection of his voice.

Irritated, William pushed his custom pair of rectangular glasses up the bridge of his nose. He'd only just received them from Anderson, legendary Director of the Glasses Department at Dispatch Headquarters, and he was still getting used to them. To Will they seemed far heavier than his wire-rimmed training spectacles, though he honestly wondered how much of the weight difference was physical and how much of it was metaphorical. The value they carried couldn't be equated in any currency that he knew of because, much like his death scythe, the glasses he'd earned represented a lifetime of dedication, study and unrelenting perseverance.

"I don't care if you understand it, you just need to solve it."

Will pushed a bright red notebook across the table at him.

"Check your notes again, I'm going to get another cup of coffee."

The mismatched pair of reapers had been assigned to the London Branch a few months previous upon their graduation from the Reaper Academy (William with high honours). Though they were technically no longer students, they were being forced to study together once more for the procedures quiz that was to take place during their first quarterly review. Though they had each earned their reapers spectacles and had graduated from the Academy, it would still be some time before they could apply for and obtain their official dispatch cards. They had to first complete a one year collaborative practicum under a supervising officer and then pass both a solo and joint field trial, this time at the advanced level. Only after completing these final steps could they submit their applications to the Licensing Department and receive their dispatch cards.

Will paused in the doorway. Turning his head back he snapped, "And you had better still be here when I get back, Sutcliff."

Grell groaned wearily in response to this more-than-obvious order to stay put. Once his task-master of a partner was out of the room he slumped down pathetically over the table and stopped breathing. This was something he often did when he was feeling stressed, as though pulling air into his lungs, a function necessary for scenting targets, but not useful for much else, required too much effort under the given circumstances.

He sighed out his last breath dismally and pouted. The review they were facing was fast approaching and the closer the date got the more anxious Grell became. It wasn't that he was nervous about the review, or the quiz for that matter; what he was really worried about was letting Will down.

After what they went through during their first field exam he'd come to feel a great deal of things for the relentlessly driven young man; Respect, admiration, curiosity...even attraction; a feeling he was sure Will shared, though was too stubborn to admit.

Though Grell was older by over a year they had been paired together when Will was skipped ahead just 6 months before the upper classes final examinations. His superior test scores had been severely throwing the grade curve of his entire class for years, but it had gotten to a point that his classmates finally started to send formal complaints to the Dean of Administration. At that point the Academy had had no choice but to move him ahead simply to stop the near constant inflow of letters.

Grell had hated Will then, but he'd hated him even more when he found out that he'd been paired with him for their final exam. Grell had always been naturally gifted in the field, far surpassing any of his classmates abilities in the judgment and dispatch of even the trickiest souls. Because the work level was considerably heavier than what he had been used to in the lower class, Will's marks evened out to just above the upper class average before the final. Grell's marks weren't as consistent as Will's but his overall grade average was still higher. The worst part for the red-haired senior was that he felt he was being singled out for some sort of test. Again. Why else would he have been forced to work with a junior on a senior level exam?

Didn't they know who he was, or rather, who he was going to be? Everybody knew, so how could they possibly expect him, a successor-class reaper, to work with someone as ordinary as William T. Spears, someone who was obviously making up for a severe lack of raw talent by studying every free hour he had. That was cheating in Grell's books and he wasn't about to let some mousy little junior make him look bad by showing him up on the exam.

He'd told himself the reason he was so upset was because Will was under-experienced and was going to bring his mark down, but he really didn't care all that much about his marks. He never had.

Secretly, he knew that Will was smarter than him an he was jealous; that was the real reason behind his inability to accept the situation. He was furiously jealous of his younger classmate's ability to learn and adapt, to compensate for what he lacked.

Though Grell had protested furiously about the arrangement it hadn't amounted to anything, and after the exam was over he was very glad that the board hadn't given in to his demands to be switched with someone else. They'd both received very high marks, though that wasn't the only good thing they'd brought out of it. The red-haired reaper was sure of that.

"You know you really shouldn't do that."

Surprised, Grell gasped a painfully large breath into his empty lungs as he bolted upright off the table. He'd been so lost in his memories that he hadn't heard Will come back into the room.

He clutched his chest. "Will, you scared the life out of me!"

William set the coffees he was carrying down onto the table and smirked.

"Actually, I believe I scared the life back into you."

He pushed one of the cups of coffee across the table to Grell.

"And it serves you right. You shouldn't stop breathing like that, it's not good for you."

The older of the two ignored the scolding and blinked at the offered cup being pushed in his direction. Will had brought a coffee for him too?

He cast an awkward glance at the floor as he timidly picked up the cup to take a sip.

One sugar with double the cream; it was bitter yet smooth, just the way Grell liked it. How Will always knew what he needed without him having to say a word was something the older reaper still hadn't managed to figure out, though he was none the less grateful for it.

"Thank you." He mumbled, slightly raising the cup to indicate what his thanks were for.

Will nodded his head dismissively and went back to his text book, sipping lightly from his own cup.

Grell opened his notebook as well, but found he couldn't concentrate on the hastily scribbled words written inside. Instead, his yellow-green eyes wandered across the table to study the man sitting across from him. Will had recently gotten a hair cut and had since been combing it back and parting it rather than letting it fall naturally across his forehead as he used to. It made him look older, more mature, but Grell liked it. The look suited the studious young man very well.

Will felt Grell's eyes hovering on him and flicked his gaze up from his book. Startled, the red-head hastily looked back down at his notes, though it was pointless; Will knew he'd been staring.

He waited for a reprimand of some sort as he kept his eyes fixed on the white pages in front of him, but it never came. He waited several minutes before chancing a quick glance back up at the man sitting across from him.

Will's gaze met his and Grell promptly looked at the floor.

Why is he staring at me like that?

Will cleared his throat to get Grell's attention off the ground.

When he looked up, the younger man spoke. "Why do you do that?"

Grell looked at him quizzically. "Why do I do what?"

It was William's turn to avert his gaze. "Why do you…look away?"

The question had not been 'why do you stare at me?' because Will already knew the answer to that. As much as he pretended to be cold and uncaring, his partner's feelings were not entirely lost on him.

For once in his life, Grell was speechless. What was Will trying to tell him?

He touched his fingertips together gingerly. "Will, I've told you before how I feel about you…"

"And I've told you how I feel about that."

Grell was thoroughly confused. "I know, and I don't mean to stare I just can't help it!"

Will sighed angrily. His own feelings were getting the better of him and it was maddening.

Grell put out a hand and waved it at Will. "Oh fine, I'll stop if it upsets you so much."

Quietly, Will said, "It doesn't upset me that you stare."

"Well then I don't understand--"

Without warning the taller man leaned across the table and placed a gentle kiss on Grell's mouth.

Pulling back he whispered, "It upsets me that you stop."

Blushing profusely, Will quickly gathered his books and hurried out of the room, leaving Grell frozen in his seat like a statue, his breath stolen from his lungs.
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Teeth