Chapter Text
To say Grell was unhappy with how her life was currently going was a bit of an understatement. She didn’t like to complain. Her job was good enough when she was allowed to do field work, paperwork was more tedious than anything. But she shouldn’t complain. She was lucky. Right?
Reapers are simple creatures really, work comes first, and once the work is done, a reward is given. Reapers loved to socialize, to sleep with coworkers, to party, to go to a bar, anything to get their minds off of their very grim occupation. Of course, reaper morals were looser than the typical human in London society, but even they had limits. And publicly, Grell was one of those few limits. Especially with William as the lead supervisor for Sutcliff’s branch. Grell was know for being loud, flamboyant, an annoyance, a fuck up, a burden, unhinged, unnatural. Grell could hear the whispers, the way people stared at her, they way they called her “him”, venom dripping from the word.
But still Grell stood tall. Her flamboyance was her armor, her unhinged tendencies her weapon, her loudness a deflection. Few, if any, would ever get to know who she really was. No one care to ask what her dreams were, her desires, and quite frankly, the random few people who dared to sneak around to get into her bed certainly weren’t the ones she wanted to spend the rest of eternity with. She wanted what books described, what art depicted. She just wanted to be loved, to feel beautiful, cherished. Was that so hard to ask for? She had crushes, sure. But… Sebastian was more of a fun plaything to annoy and William… well we can come back to that. Sebastian had been fun, but there was no warmth…it was all a ploy to get information from her. She may put on an act of cluelessness, but she was one of the smartest damn reapers in the Organization. People always underestimated her, and she would rather keep it that way.
William. Oh dear, dear Will. Grell had been stuck on him since they were in the exam stage of becoming a reaper. And Will had seemed to like her back. Of course, that was before she had started what little transitioning she could. Longer hair, makeup, clothes that flattered her figure instead of hiding it. But then, things had changed. He was promoted while Grell stayed his subordinate. He became cold, distant, boring. But by gods, did Grell hope that her William was still in there, just lost behind his mask. The harder she tried to pull him out, the more harshly he would treat her, being downright abusive at times. Grell just wanted a relationship and they had one but then it changed, and she wasn’t even certain what William thought of her anymore. Surely he didn’t hate her…. right?
Grell sighed heavily, signing off on yet another stack of paperwork. Two hours prior William had come into her office, dumping the tower of paper on her desk with a “Finish this tonight or you’ll be demoted,” and left before she could protest. He didn’t even care that Ronald had invited her out for drinks for the first time in actual weeks. She knew it was easier to just sit back down at her desk and get to work. The office portion of the building was empty, quiet, lonely. She tried not to look on the dreary side, diligently working through the stack for hours on end. Hopefully she was understanding the business English properly this time. She dreaded William accusing her of not paying attention to what she was doing. She had always struggled with this sort of wording, even as a human all of those years ago.
She gathered the papers into the appropriate files, adding a cheery note on top in her best script. She stood and stretched, joints popping one after the other from hours of sitting like a Dendrobranchiate for hours. She grabbed the stack, grunting at the weight before heading to William’s office, opening the door while balancing the stack precariously. She placed the stack neatly on his desk, hoping the note that she had left would make him smile. He seemed so stressed since being promoted a few decades ago. It was only a small sketch of a rose and a bit of encouragement to help him through his day. Nothing too serious, just a small bit of hope. She yawned, checking her pocket watch. It was already nearing 4 am, and her shift starts at 7 am. Grell groaned, tomorrow was going to be hell. She trudged to her living quarters, the other reapers long since retired to their own quarters. Her heels echoed in the hallways, reverberating in the lonely darkness.