"I can get ready myself." William said sternly for the fourth time.

"But this is yer first performance! Joker said I should help the newcomers!" Dagger whined.

William sighed. Honestly, not only do I have to live in a tent, but I also have to put up with this…thought William. Since the Shinigami Research and Dispatch Unit was short handed, a lot of the supervisors had to get there own hands dirty with work that should have been done by the temps.

William ground his teeth together to stay calm and let Dagger continue powdering his face in the dressing "room".

"20 minutes till show time! Hurry up!" Beast called through the tent opening.

"I'll take it from here then." William said quickly, grabbing his death scythe that was propped against the wall and left while Dagger was busy proclaiming how wonderful his "Sis" had told everyone to hurry.

William ducked out of the tent to get some much deserved fresh air.  But the worst part of residing in these horrible living conditions was having to see that demon everyday. William had thought he would never have to see one of those damned creatures for a long time! But as fate would have it, the demon and his contractor came striding in, fake and with each word they said, dripping with lies.

But William's unlucky cards had not finished being dealt just yet. He also had to share a small, closet sized tent with that monstrous creature. And even now, as William stood outside savoring each of his last minutes before the show started, he saw Sebastian. Unable to escape the presence of hell, William walked without haste to the performance tent, deciding to be early for his first and hopefully last act as a circus entertainer.

~X~

"Ticket, please." said a man at the front entrance.

Shinigami Dispatch officer and current escapee of said job, Grell Sutcliff, rummaged through his pockets for the ticket he had bought only minutes before. Nervously fumbling with his ticket then handing it to the ticket collector, Grell went through the crowded gates and headed toward the gigantic tent centered in the middle of the circus grounds.

Grell thought he would never have to use this disguise again. Even though it was very effective, he wouldn't find his current state at all attractive.  Consisting of long boring brown hair, a makeup less face, and a worried expression, it was nothing close to his  true appearance. But he supposed it was worth it, being under cover and all. Grell had snuck out from his work place in the Shinigami Realm, risking farther demotion, dismissal from his job, or even execution for one reason. To see William T Spears perform.

Grell already had a more than clear picture set in his mind. William, while wearing tights and a sparkling sequenced shirt, would walk across a tightrope, juggle, shot himself from a canon, make a tiger perform tricks, demonstrate a trapeze act, and so much more! Just the thought of seeing Will on stage sent shivers up Grell's spine.

Quickening his pace, Grell found a seat in the front row and sat down with anticipation as  the lights dimmed around him and a spotlight was shown on a man. The ring leader, perhaps?

"Welcome Ladies and Gents, to Noah's Ark Circus! I'm Joker! We have many things planned for today's performance an' I hope ya enjoy it!" Joker's exclamation made applause and some cheers from the crowd. Grell politely clapped for a fellow performer but was actually very impatient to see William and hoped the rest of the show went very quickly…

…Which it didn't. And after an hour of supposedly "breath-taking" performances, Grell was starting to wonder if he had even gotten the right circus. But his hope came back to him in a flash as the next performance was announced.

"Everyone give a huge round of applause to Beast an' the tiger Betty! Our next act will be performed by the two rookies taking place of our injured Wendy an' Peter; Black an' Suit will take their positions!"

And on cue, William took his stance on a tall platform set high above the audience.  Wearing a Polka dotted suit in all of his glory.

And on the opposite side of him; Sebastian stood, trapeze bar in hand.

Grell clapped and cheered so loudly that it was bound to give him a sore throat the next morning. He had expected William but definitely not Sebastian. Honestly Grell had not expected to see that demon butler ever again! But low and behold, the two were simply drawn together, as it would seem.

Turning his attention back to his two lovers, he saw William comically swinging from his death scythe as Sebastian held it and forced the act on him. Grell was getting excited just seeing these two interact with each other.

When their act was over(for some reason it seemed extremely rushed) Grell left the tent and began to follow after William. Wait…If William catches me here, I'll get into even more trouble than I already am!, thought Grell. And with that he turned to find his alternative: Sebastian.

Where is he!? Thought Grell angrily as he stomped around the now deserted fair grounds.

"'Hey. What are you doing here?' Says Wild." said a voice from behind. Grell turned around to see a rather dashing young man with…several snakes coiled around various places all over his body. Grell shivered at the thought of touching those things.

"'The show is over. You need to go home, Says Goethe." he replied, obviously referring to his snake.

"A-ah well tell Goethe that I'm very very sorry and that I'll leave right away. Haha…" Grell chuckled nervously, struggling to maintain his character. Grell really wanted to show him his true nature and make him regret telling him to go away. Instead he hurried away and returned on his way home.  

He supposed he could always see Sebas-chan another time. Anyway William did say something about going to London in a few days to research some missing Cinematic Record… That could be interesting.