#enduringreaper

     W hat a terrible condition Elizabeth had been brought in. Disoriented, frightened, and a trembling mess she was. And that was only her person. Oh, it had gotten much worse than that when one examined the girl closer. Her attire, once so beautiful and perfect, had now been dirtied and bloodied; especially around the area where she had been stabbed repeatedly in order to save her precious fiance’s life.

     E lizabeth couldn’t remember what happened between the time that she had sworn she had ‘died’, to when she awoke to a blurry vision and the feeling of people taking her somewhere. She had been in no condition to walk, and that would only show as she had glanced around trying to get a grasp of her sight, tears strolling down her cheeks as the new young reaper had been placed in a chair.

     P anic had stricken her when she felt a foreign object-what were those, glasses?-being placed upon her person by one of the strangers that had brought her to this place; fingernails digging into the chair that she sat in as her sight adjusted according to the glasses she had been given. What was this place that Elizabeth been dragged to? A cult? Or was this some poor excuse of Heaven?

     W himpers had left her lips as she finally got sight of William sitting in front of her, arms wrapping across her terribly damaged frame, the tears continuing to stream down her dirtied face as she tried to get some words out of her system.

     ‘ Where am I? ‘ She nearly cried out, body trembling more as she looked about the room for ways to escape. ‘ What am I doing here? Please take me home! '

     Grell had always been able to easily spot the ones most likely to succeed and she had zeroed in on William years ago now. The Gryffindor had never been especially gifted in potions, as unfortunate as it was, but she knew that she could be proficient under the right circumstances. They had a simple understanding in this class, she would do whatever he asked and he would help her pass the lesson. 

     Of course, she always suspected that the didn’t particularly like that little plan of hers. Well, as long as he wasn’t going to flat out refuse her it would be alright, agreements could always be reached one way or another. 

18. “It’s okay to cry…”

     Friendship was still somewhat strange between them, both William and Grell were set in their ways and often they couldn’t agree on much, but somehow it still worked for them. Of course, Grell always thought she had a slightly better handle on the relationship than William did, she was more in touch with her feelings than he seemed to be.

     Still, at least she could see when something was weighing on him, even when he wouldn’t admit to it. As stoic as he might’ve been, he always had tells that she’d learned to pick up on. His natural reaction to anything always seemed to be anger or irritation, but she was certain it was usually something beneath that he was trying to avoid.

    Then again, she was often a good reason for his irritation, but that wasn’t likely to change anytime soon.

     Today had been one of those days, he’d been short with everyone, but even Grell was concerned by the frequency with which he barked at everyone. She made an effort to stay out of his way, not wanting to add onto something that was likely worse than anyone realized. Still, her concern grew as the hours went on and eventually even she couldn’t ignore the nagging feeling of something amiss.

     As everyone started to filter out she made her way to his office, not even bothering to knock or announce herself before she slipped inside. There were his usual biting remarks about protocol and privacy, but she ignored them with a roll of her eyes. Her arms crossed as she came closer, standing in front his desk as she looked him over.

          “What’s wrong with you? You’ve been acting out all day.”

     William was clearly affronted, expression going hard as he glared at her. His hands slammed against his desk as he stood, telling her that she was no one to talk. However, that didn’t deter her at all. Shaking her head she looked at him again, taking in the strange bit of trembling along his eyes and lips. Was he...sad?

     She looked a little more carefully, taking in the little bit of his appearance that seemed out of place on closer inspection; there was a shaking in his hands that wasn’t the same as his rage movements, his uniform seemed less pristine than usual, and even his face seemed to have a different kind of red in it. Perhaps his version of sadness was just strangely similar to his version of rage.

     Her motions were careful as she brought herself towards his side of his desk, lips pressing together as she looked at him. Her eyes met his and she was almost certain that she saw the sadness he was hiding. She placed her hand on his shoulder but it was quickly smacked away. That wasn’t going to stop her, though. “Will, you can tell me if there’s something bothering you, I don’t want to force it out of you -- but you know I will.”

     He pushed her back, only earning and irritated growl from her, but she stood her ground.

     She thrust her hands out to grasp his shoulders tightly, staring at him before she spoke. This time, her tone was firm but devoid of her usual arrogance and banter. “It’s okay to cry...and to feel saddened, trying to not feel it is what got us here in the first place, you can’t keep doing that forever.”

     He seemed shocked for a moment, blinking at her before he closed his eyes tightly and moved her hands from his shoulders. Without saying a word he went back to his chair, sitting there and resting his forehead on his interlaced fingers.