You want to live like a beast, I'll make you look like one!

Grell Sutcliff stood outside the small, downtown office building, staring at the doorbell for the seventh floor, willing his finger to push it. It had been two days since his interview for the small monthly magazine, Shinigami Dispatch, and he had successfully been appointed as the new Contemporary Arts editor. They explained their last arts editor had been left some money and suddenly quit to follow his true calling as an undertaker. Grell twirled a strand of his long, deep red hair around his finger and looked down at his outfit. He had wanted to look his best for his first day, but as he looked down he wondered if a white shirt with a dark waistcoat and black trousers were maybe a little to smart for wearing in an office? He fingered the soft material of his long red coat and smiled.

No, nothing can go wrong with my lucky coat here.

He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, shaking it and letting it settle around his shoulders. He smiled, took a deep breath and pressed the doorbell. A minute passed before a friendly voice came through the small speaker.

"Shinigami Dispatch, how can I help?"

"Uh, hello. It's Grell Sutcliff. I was due to start work today." His voice, though a little stiff, sounded a lot more confident than he actually felt.

"Ah Grell, of course. Come on through. You remember your way up?"

"Yes of course." The door buzzed and clicked as it opened allowing Grell to step through through. Tall, metal elevator doors stood before him as he pressed the call button. The elevator creaked and groaned as it made its way down and stiffly opened its doors. Grell stepped in, praying the metal contraption wouldn't break as it made its way up. When he reached his destination, the red haired man attempted to open the door, but it wouldn't move. He then noticed the little silver intercom, feeling frazzled he pressed the button and it wasn't long before he was greeted by owner of the voice. He opened the door and stood before Grell. He had brown hair cut short and was wearing a black shirt with pressed, black trousers. His silver rimmed glasses were perched on top of his head and he carried folders and papers in one arm and held out the other.

"Grell, lovely to see you again, Alan Humphries." Grell shook the other man's hand in greeting.

"Yes I r-remember."

"No need to be so nervous, I know you'll do well here." Alan opened the door on the wall opposite the elevator and revealed a large, warm office. Large, wooden tables were scattered around the room with piles of papers and magazines. There were only two other men in the room. One had orange, blond hair pushed over to one side and wore tinted glasses. He was hunched over one of the desks writing furiously in a notepad, his white t-shirt was stretching over his broad back. The other man had blond hair with black underneath, his thick, black-rimmed glasses covering most of his face. He wore a black, plaid shirt over a green t-shirt and tight black jeans. He was leaning against his desk and looking through what appeared to be a selection of photos.

"That's our theatre editor, Eric Slingby." Alan pointed over to the sitting man. "And Ronald Knox is our graphic designer and photographer. Guys, this is Grell Sutcliff, he'll be our new arts editor."

"S'up?"

"Hey!"

"H-hello. I look forward to working with you." Grell gave a short bow and turned to Alan. "What is it you do again?"

"Oh, I'm the music editor and I help out the editor in chief when he needs me." Alan nodded his head towards a closed door. "That's his office over there. He'll be out soon for the daily briefing."

No sooner were the words out of Alan's mouth, the door opened and out stepped a tall man with a distinct air of authority. His dark hair was combed back and he was wearing black and silver rimmed glasses. His white shirt was rolled up at the sleeves and, like Alan he also wearing pressed black trousers. He carried on walking until he was standing next to Ronald and raised his clipboard to flick through the papers.

"Good morning everyone." His voice sounded tired as he addressed his team. "As you know, we have two weeks left and we're running behind schedule. Eric. I need you at the Phantom Theatre now. There's going to be a morning show of a new musical, The World Ends with You. I need reviews, information and the back-story. From what people are telling me, this is going to be big. Ronald, go with him. We're going to need pictures and take these with you."

The editor handed Ronald some papers and turned his attention to Alan. "Alan, there's a local band that's just been signed, I want you to secure an interview with them before they leave."

"What's their name?" Alan was writing down everything he saying.

"They're called Scotland Yard and they're an indie genre three piece. They'll be leaving soon to start recording their album."

"Gotcha." Alan finished making notes and headed to one of the desks with a phone. The editor then turned his attention to Grell.

"Are you Undertaker's replacement?"

"Huh?"

"Are you the new contemporary arts editor?" He was starting to sound exasperated.

"Oh, yes I am." Grell held out his hand. "I'm Grell Sutcliff. I look forward to working with you."

"William T. Spears, but everyone calls me Will." The two men shook hands for a moment. "Come into my office, I'll give you a rundown on how things work around here."

Grell followed Will into small office and shut the door. Will's desk was pushed up to as far as the wall as it could go and still allow room for the dark haired man to sit behind it. The shelves were packed with books, journals and magazines from various genres and years. There was just enough room to fit in another chair across from Will.

The phrase, 'to swing a cat' springs to mind.

"Sit down, please." Will sidled into his chair and moved some papers on his desk until he found what he was looking for.

"Ok, these are for you." Will handed the papers to Grell. "This is what Undertaker was working on before he left, it'll make life easier if you just carry on with what he was doing."

"Ok?"

"Don't panic. Just listen." Will picked up a copy of their last issue and held it up in front of Grell. "Basically, the five of us put this together and publish it monthly. We focus on theatre, music and art. I'm sure Alan gave you a brief outline on what we do?"

"Yeah." Grell fiddled with his glasses chain while speaking. "Eric is in charge of theatre, Ronald is photography, Alan handles music…"

"And you'll be charge of arts." Will added in. "We showcase the newest and upcoming events. New artists, groundbreaking plays. We also accept articles from new journalists. We're here to give theses events a leg up when they need it most."

"It all sounds so amazing."

"Well to be frank, yes it is." Will smiled and handed the magazine to Grell. "Is all this making sense?"

"Yeah." Grell smiled back, his earlier nerves replaced with excitement.

"Good, we're very hands on. We need you to be up to date on current events. We expect you to be willing to go the extra mile. And be prepared to work through the night the closer we get to deadline." Will stood up and gestured for Grell to open the door.

"O-oh yes of course." Grell fingered the papers in hand, itching to read what his predecessor had been working on. "So, what would you like me to do now?"

Will showed him to an empty desk and Grell sat down. "Now, I want you to read through what Undertaker was working on, a new upcoming sculptor if I'm not mistaken and read through a few of our back issues, I want you to get the feel of the magazine. I'll check back with you in a few hours."

"Ok sure." The red head smiled brightly and immediately got to work, pouring over Undertaker's notes, red pen in hand for his notes. Will smiled, already impressed with Grell's eagerness towards the job and headed over to Alan. The brunette was drafting up interview questions when he looked up to see a more than happy Will.

"Well?" He queried.

"He's certainly got enthusiasm. We've yet to see whether it'll amount to anything, but, I agree with your choice." Will lightly clapped Alan on shoulder and headed back towards his office. He looked over at the red head again before shutting his door.

"Grell?" Ronald poked the red head in the side, breaking his train of thought.

"Ah!" Grell sat up, brandishing a red pen. "Oh, Ronald right?"

"Yeah that's right. Lunch?" The blond laughed and held up bag full of drinks and sandwiches. "Alan said you haven't moved since Will left you there this morning."

"Really? What time is it?"

Ronald looked at his silver wristwatch. "About one twenty."

"Oh wow." Grell had been sat reading his predecessor's notes for four solid hours. Whoever this 'Undertaker' had been, he'd certainly been passionate in his work and research.

"Right, now drop the pen and come eat." Ronald held onto Grell's wrist and pulled him towards the centre table where everyone else was already sitting. He found himself sat next Will and across from Alan and Eric. Ronald placed the food and drinks in the middle and perched on the end near Eric. Everyone reached for the middle and grabbed something except for Grell, he was feeling apprehensive as he watched his new colleagues. Ronald and Eric were discussing the photo shoot they had just come back from. Going over lighting and angles as Alan offered his opinion. The red head was too busy listening to notice the offering of a cheese sandwich. He started a little and saw that it was Will holding out the food.

"Oh, thank you." Grell took the sandwich and pulled little bits off to eat, his nerves had returned, making it hard to swallow.

"You really need to relax Sutcliff." Will leaned across, speaking in a low voice. "Are you worried about the work load?"

"It's not that. I'm looking forward to it." He turned and smiled. "People generally tend to stray away from me, but everyone here has been so welcoming. I've never really experienced this."

"Oh." Will took a sip of his drink. "Well, Alan hired you for two reasons. One was to make sure you could do the job, the other was your personality."

Grell looked at Will, his emerald eyes querying for more information. Will continued.

"Basically, we were looking for someone who not only knew how to work in the industry, but someone who would get along with the team." Will placed a hand on Grell's shoulder and looked him in the eyes. "Don't feel you need to hold yourself back while you're here."

Grell could only nod in response as Will leaned back and started flicking through his notes on the clipboard in front of him. The red head had a feeling the other's were staring at him and his suspicions were confirmed when he lifted his head. Eric and Ronald quickly looked away and carried on talking, but Alan looked him eye and smiled. He mouthed 'told you' and nodded. He placed one of his hands on top of Eric's and carried on eating.

Grell stole another look at Will before concluding that food was the only way for him to think straight.

AN: Ok, so going for something new here…an actual plot. Set in more modern day London, England. No demons or reapers.

This is going to contain mainly Will x Grell, but with added on Eric x Alan cause I love them.

I'd like to thank Jen for her input and help with this chapter :3

Please let me know what you think.