I thought it would be interesting if something like this happened to William; I don't think anyone's done this, so I posted it (since the other story won't have WillxGrell until later). I was feeling WillxGrell deprived, so, uh, a later scene in the story makes this rated M, just in case.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Kuroshitsuji.

It was like clockwork, he decided.

Everyday, without fail, he would always be interrupted at the same time, no exceptions. No matter how busy he was, no matter how far behind in his work he got, the interruption was something that had worked its way into his schedule. Just the same as how the redhead had managed to work himself into William T. Spears life without his approval.

How Grell had managed that, William wasn't very sure. The other shinigami seemed very talented at slipping in without notice, until it was too late to do anything about it. It seemed just like yesterday when the redhead had moved into William's department. Soon after their first meeting, Grell had decided to take it upon himself to find some excuse to be in the other shinigami's office at the same time every day, whether William liked it or not.

Just like clockwork.

William had tried many times to get Grell to stop, but the other would merely smile then try and delay his eventual departure from the office-by his own will or by deathscythe. It was because of this pattern that had developed over the years that William almost immediately noticed that today was…off somehow. He had been puzzling for a few minutes as to why, and then checked the time. "…" Oh, so that was why he felt as though something were amiss. It was over an hour past the time when Grell would normally burst into his office. That was odd.

William went back to work, deciding that it was a blessing in disguise. Perhaps Grell was actually doing his work and had just forgotten what time it was. Any moment now, the redhead would race into his office unannounced, bring disruption into his professional environment, and everything would be back to normal. It was annoying, but routine. William didn't like his routine day being broken. It was understandable, then, that William was almost, almost concerned when several hours went by and there was still no sign of Grell.

A knock sounded on the office door, causing William to glance up from his work.

William furrowed his eyebrows. He didn't recognize the knock, but ignored it as he spoke, "Come in." William set his pen down, hoping that it wasn't a new recruit. He didn't have time for that kind of headache, since the one he was currently sporting was from the idea that the damn redhead was probably off chasing that demon again. And he'd probably have to be the one to drag the troublemaker back and dump three months worth of paperwork on... William's thoughts came to a screeching halt as soon as the door opened and the newcomer stepped into his office. It was all William could do not to stare at who had just walked in, but he did anyway.

It was Grell…at least, he thought it was, but it couldn't be. The redhead was wearing a suit similar to his own, with a tie instead of that striped monstrosity. He was wearing normal black dress shoes, instead of his usual, colorful, high heeled shoes. What had made William stare more was because Grell had tied his hair back into a loose ponytail, and instead of his red rimmed glasses with skulls, he wore black rimmed ones, minus the skulls. Looking even more closely, William realized that the fake eyelashes were absent. The outfit and solemn expression Grell wore at the moment made him seem different somehow...older...more responsible perhaps? William made sure to keep a neutral expression on his face. He didn't know what to make of this.

After taking in the other's appearance, William decided that Grell didn't look like Grell without his regular outfit and attitude. The silence was rather eerie too. William had half-expected Grell to instantly launch into one of his little speeches about how 'it was rude to stare at a lady like that.' He had actually had a conversation with Grell about that, and that had been when Grell had come back to headquarters the day after the Jack the Ripper case, still wearing the red coat. Of course, Grell had won the argument by using his pout and teary eyes at the right time during the conversation. William still hadn't forgiven himself for giving in so easily.

Despite William's expectations, Grell said nothing, waiting patiently in front of the desk and waiting to be spoken to, which was unnerving to William T. Spears. He had always wanted the redhead to follow the dress code, and be polite to a point, but had never expected him to actually do so. It was a little off putting that Grell wasn't even fidgeting or roaming the office like he normally would. Instead, he stood as still as a statue, green eyes the only part of his body that did move and they were fixed on William's, awaiting an answer. While William desperately wanted to ask why Grell was dressed like that and acting the way he was, William instead calmed himself and spoke, "What can I do for you, Grell Sutcliff?" There was no need to act irrationally until he could figure out what was going on and why.

Grell responded as though he didn't notice William's reaction to his appearance, "I was only wondering if there were any soul collections today. Or should I be getting back to my paperwork?"

William managed to not show surprise, although the world was starting to not make sense, and replied, "There aren't any souls in need of collection today." No flirting? No being loud and complaining about his work? No normalcy?

Grell nodded thoughtfully, before turning and leaving, "I'll go catch up on my paperwork then." The door closed and left William to wonder what the hell that had been about, as well as ponder why it had bothered him so much, to see Grell behaving and following the rules for a change. Except for the fact that it made William believe the world was coming to an end.

William went back to work, deciding that Grell was playing around with him. It made him feel better, at any rate.

122

The next day, William was actually concerned, even though he refused to show it. Grell hadn't burst into his office to bother him today either. He needed to get to the bottom of this, now. William would be quite displeased if he found out Grell was making him worry a bit for nothing.

Under the pretense of giving Grell more work, William headed for the redhead's office. On the way, he bumped into Ronald Knox in the hall. William paused in his brisk walk and questioned Ronald as the other shinigami passed by, "Has Grell's behavior seemed off to you lately?"

Ronald looked over his shoulder at William, perplexed, "I didn't see anything out of the ordinary. What do you mean by 'off'?"

William shook his head, "Never mind." Leaving the confused man behind, William picked up his pace, nearly running into Grell a few minutes later in the hall. Staring at Grell, who was dressed as he had been the day before, William asked, "How is the paperwork coming along?" It was the only thing he could really say at the moment.

Grell tilted his head slightly as he looked at William with an almost blank look on his face, "It's coming along fine." Grell frowned a little at William, "Is there anything else I can do for you, or can I get back to work? I am busy you know." Hearing no response, Grell walked away, leaving behind a dumbfounded William.

Grell...brushing him off and wanting to work? Grell being busy? There was defiantly something wrong with the redhead. And it was bothering William. There was no way that smiling, flamboyant, annoying shinigami would act so subdued….and follow the rules. There was no way Grell should be doing that.

Something was wrong, especially since William was silently hoping the normal, smiling Grell would be back the next day. Which wasn't what he had ever been expecting to hope for. He had thought a rule-following Grell would make his life easier. William had gotten what he wanted, so why was he so adamant about getting what he didn't want back? William was actually concerned about not seeing the other smile, and that worried him slightly more than Grell's unusually perfect behavior.

112

For the rest of the week, Grell showed up in that suit, diligently doing his work, offering to help others catch up, and generally doing un-Grell like things. It was starting to be almost disturbing, but since no one thought anything was wrong, William couldn't voice his unease. And it was getting harder and harder to deny the truth. Grell's odd behavior troubled him, and William didn't like the way that made him feel...

What in the heavens was wrong with him?

122

After nearly three months, William finally couldn't take it anymore, and called Grell into his office. It was nearly torture, seeing Grell with that blank face, and not seeing him smile. William hadn't seen Grell smile once for three whole months, and William was nearly at his wits end. Though no one would be able to tell of course. The other shinigami would merely think he was stressed from working too much. William was actually grateful for that, as he didn't want anyone to know how he was feeling about Grell and his wardrobe change. And a personality change as well it seemed. Grell had been an unstoppable force during the last three months, getting several jobs done without any problems and offering to take on more.

This had to stop today, even if William had to force Grell back into his other clothes, and demand he act cheerful...William saw Grell enter the office after knocking and scowled to himself. For the love of....he just wanted that fool reaper back and didn't care what he had to do at this point to achieve it.

As Grell closed the door behind him, William cleared his throat and got right to the point, "What are you up to, Sutcliff?"

Grell looked puzzled, "What do you mean, sir?"

William's eyebrow twitched. Grell had never called him that before. Recovering swiftly, William waved a hand at the other, "I mean…the way you are dressed, the way you are following the rules, the way you're completing you jobs without any mishaps, the way you're doing everything opposite of what you'd normally do," William took a breath, then added, in a quieter tone, "The way you haven't come into my office to bother me like you always have since you started working here."

There was a short silence.

William glanced up sharply all of a sudden, sensing a change in the environment. Then saw the expression on the other shinigami.

Grell had started to smile widely. What the hell...?

"Grell?" William questioned, staying where he was, seated at his desk. William held back his surprise as Grell walked past the desk and turned his chair away from it. William was about to ask Grell what he thought he was doing, when the redhead suddenly plopped down onto his lap, one leg on either side, basically straddling him. Grell wrapped his arms loosely around the other's neck, head nuzzling against the side of his throat, lips hovering over it he spoke,"So, Will, you were worried about me then?" A hand ran through the perfectly styled hair lightly, followed by a playful nip.

Just like that, the old Grell came back full force, and William highly suspected that the other had been waiting for him to crack like this. William, for the moment, ignored this, as well as the fact that Grell was seated in a rather suggestive position on his lap, and spoke with a sigh of irritation, "I should have known…get back to work, Sutcliff, and perhaps I will not punish you as harshly as I would like to." He didn't dare mention how worried he had been getting as the months had progressed. It'd only encourage Grell more. Of course, the other shinigami already knew, as he refused to move from where he was seated despite William trying to push him away.

Grell pouted as he dropped his hands away from William's neck, but stayed leaning up against him closely, as his right hand slipped up beneath the dark-haired shinigami's suit teasingly, "You want me to leave already? Are you saying you weren't worried at all? I thought you'd be more concerned if I didn't act like myself. And here you are, still being so...cold~."

William frowned deeply at that, though the frown was mostly because he felt Grell tracing lithe fingers up along his chest beneath the clothing, "Do not be inappropriate in my office." Things were starting to get back to normal, with the exception of Grell's flirting being a bit more extreme than he was used to. No one had better open his office door and find him in this position.

Grell leaned back, smirking and showing his teeth as he used his free hand to grab the other's tie and undo it in a matter of moments, much to William's chagrin, "So you were worried~. You wouldn't let me do this otherwise. You're so cute, Will~. Hiding feelings behind that cold expression of yours." Grell tossed the tie aside and went for the suit buttons one handed, his right hand still tracing light patterns across the other's skin, leaving William to shiver involuntarily at the touch.

William would put up with Grell's teasing to a point, and right now the other had crossed the line. Not because of what Grell was doing specifically (well, that was most of it), but because the dark-haired shinigami couldn't deny that he enjoyed the other's company, however unwillingly. The three months of not having Grell be himself had taken an unexpected mental toll on William, making him realize that even though it was nearly intolerable most of the time, he liked Grell the way he was.

The fact that what Grell was doing at the moment was threatening to change their routine into something new altogether, made William unsure if that was what he really wanted. He only half realized that his suit was unbuttoned and his white shirt was nearly off, with Grell attacking his chest with more enthusiasm and more worryingly, was now using his teeth to occasionally nip at William's ears or his neck, as the shinigami wasn't fully paying attention at the moment. Grell smiled happily, and dipped his head to attack Will's chest with his teeth, to get the other's attention and gauge his reaction. Smirking, Grell bit down a bit more harshly than he meant to, but got the reaction he was looking for.

William was brought back to reality as the particularly sharp bite drew blood and William hissed at the sudden pain, glaring down malevolently at the redhead who was smirking up at him, licking his lips and looking pleased with himself. William narrowed his eyes before swiftly seizing the other and pushing him back a bit, before Grell could do anything more devious, like finding his belt buckle or biting harder than he had, "Go back to work Grell. Now." 'Before we do something we may regret.'

Grell shook his head, smiling playfully. Disregarding the fact that William had his hands trapped, Grell leaned forward quickly and planted a quick kiss on the other's nose, enjoying the look that passed across the other's face. Surprise, annoyance, longing, irritation, resignation. William was obviously at odds with himself. Grell smiled. 'You can't avoid me forever.'

Grell thought it was funny that William didn't know what he wanted. Grell had purposefully sat on top of him, but it didn't appear to affect William as much as he had thought. He was even teasing the other a bit by undressing his upper body, dropping hints at the dark-haired man. William was apparently clueless. Or so the redhead thought. Shifting a bit, Grell landed a second kiss on William's nose, grinning widely at the other's look of sudden frustration, "Playing hard to get~?"

William twitched a bit. It seemed like Grell wouldn't leave willingly. Nor get off his lap. Seeing those green eyes giving him an amused, almost lustful look, William decided he could play…for a little bit at least. He wasn't going allow for Grell to keep biting him, however. A distraction was needed. Hands let go of Grell's and found the redhead's tie, undoing it swiftly.

"Hmm…? What are you doing William?" Grell frowned slightly at the lack of response from the other as he watched his tie be thrown to the desk behind him. The hair tie swiftly followed, allowing the red hair to cascade out like it usually did. "Will?" Grell asked again, as William ran a hand through the long hair. Grell fell silent upon seeing the serious look in the other's eyes, paired with something he didn't recognize. Well...he did recognize it...Grell just didn't expect William to look at him that way.

William took maybe a minute to examine the other looking at him uncertainly, before throwing any doubts he had at the moment out the window and pulling Grell towards him.

The redhead uttered a surprised sound at William's sudden actions, then gave a happy sigh as William had just drawn him into a long kiss that involved William trying to not get his tongue cut (and trying to ignore the fact that Grell's tongue could move in such interesting ways). Grell was out of breath when William finally released him. Smiling as much as he possibly could, Grell winked at William, "I knew you couldn't resist a lady's charm forever~."

William growled something unintelligible. If they were going to engage in activities like this, he didn't want Grell being flippant or referring to himself in feminine terms. With that in mind, and forgetting that his office was unlocked, William dragged Grell back up against him roughly, for a more heated and intense kiss, Grell murmuring encouragement against his lips as it was deepened after a moment.

William stopped a minute or so later for air, thinking to himself as Grell lay limply against his chest, attempting to get his own breath back. What he was doing right now was highly inappropriate, especially considering Grell was his responsibility as an employee. William's concentration wasn't able to last long after Grell got impatient and managed to undo his belt buckle while he was distracted.

Grope. Grope.

Twitch.

William exchanged glances with the grinning reaper, before finally heaving Grell off of his lap and onto the ground. William followed after him and pinned him down. After seeing the intense, glowing green stare he was receiving, William decided that he'd worry about any consequences or concern for his own mentality later after he dealt with Grell and his games. He tossed aside Grell's glasses, followed by his own.

"..."

"W...Will~."

"…"

"…Oh my...you're such a naughty boy~."

"…Shut up…"

121

Several hours later...

Ronald Knox entered Gell's office, and found the redhead half sprawled on his desk, clothing appearing to have been tossed back on rather quickly. His hair was disheveled, and there were papers scattered everywhere. Grell was smiling dreamily, looking quite please with himself. Ronald smiled a bit as he caught Grell's attention, "So, it worked then?" It had taken three months. Some of the shinigami hadn't thought it would be possible to crack William's cold exterior, but Ronald was one of the ones who thought Grell might, eventually, succeed.

Grell slid a glance at the other shinigami, "Mmmhmm~…and Will's forbidden me to wear this outfit to work again…" Grell slipped his glasses off and sighed contentedly, "I should have done this years ago."

121

Exactly one hour and twenty-three minutes later, William was straightening his tie again and wondering how on earth he was supposed to explain the messy state of his office.

Pfft, William, you should have known Grell was messing with your head to get you to admit your feelings. XD

FYI, this was my first time writing and posting an actual/sort of/kind of, makeout/ect. scene. I think it turned out all right? William is a bit OOC by the end, but he kind of has to be for the pairing to work. Otherwise, I tried to keep him IC as long as possible. I meant for this to be humorous, so hopefully it was. You can imagine a lemon happening in the office if you want to. Maybe there'll be one in the other story in the later chapters. Or another possible one-shot.