Just a middle-aged man

[maddeninghatter]

Who: Xerxes Break and Phancyhive
When: September 24th
Where: Under a blanket
Summary: In the aftermath of this (squick warning), Xerxes Break is hiding from the world. Unfortunately, the world can find him pretty easily.
Warnings: References to eye squick

[ Break had spent the first few days afterwards recovering: sleeping mostly, and occasionally poking at his NV. But now, as he's feeling better, the enormity of what happened is beginning to sink in…

Not so much his eye popping out in front of everyone at dinner, that could happen to anyone (that his erstwhile eyeball has been marauding the mansion is a detail of which he is, as yet, blissfully unaware).

But that Gilbert, of all people, had chastised him. And he'd deserved it. Even worse - the way he'd been behaving for weeks and weeks, so much foolishness, over something that hadn't even happened! He's been so public about it, so obvious…

Well. He's… he's just going to be here in his room. Under his blanket. ]

Comments

[retraced]

[As much as he would love to continue to ignore his boss...

He can't. His conscious just won't let him. He's had enough time to sit and pout on his own, right? Right! Later on in the night, after the sirens have gone off and the sun has long since set, Gil knocks on Break's door. He has tea made with safe water and some sugar cookies. Be grateful, boss.]

Break? Are you awake?

[maddeninghatter]

[ Gilbert is the person he wants to see least of all.





However. He's hungry. And Gilbert probably has food.

Ambivalence! ]

...maybe.

[ It's a faint, muffled voice. ]

1/2

[retraced]

You're awake enough to answer...

[retraced]

[Sigh. He shifts the tray in his hands, so Break can probably hear the teacup rattle sightly if he's listening close enough.]

May I come in?

[maddeninghatter]

[ tinkle tinkle tinkle tinkle...

The sirens song of tea. ]

F-fine.

[ He really should fling the covers off and make himself more presentable. This is Gilbert, after all. But the blanket is warm... and soft... and comforting. He's going to stay under it, for now. ]

[psychopath]

[There is a very persistent tapping at his window, Break would find.

Tap tap tap tap tap!]

[maddeninghatter]

[ What the... What is this? Some sort of bird?

No. An amorous robin would thump irregularly. A woodpecker would rat-a-tat-tat insistently. A tree branch, perhaps, blowing in the wind?

Too... too insistent. This is a person. A person tapping on his second floor window. Someone must have climbed a tree, to get to his room, on purpose to tease him. But who? There's only one answer.

Break tosses off his blanket, flings open the window and calls: ]

Whyyyyyyyy~! Oz. How lovely of you to drop by~♥

[psychopath]

Ah- not quite, not quite!

[There is suddenly one (1) Jack Vessalius up in your face, Break! He's balancing precariously on the sill and the nearest branch, basket of assorted eclairs slung over his elbow.

Please don't slam the window in his face ;_;]

[maddeninghatter]

[ What--?

He was so sure. Oscar had told him about Oz's propensity for climbing trees - and falling out of them. Break even has his hand out, to pull the boy inside, lest he break his neck.

He could pull his arm away and shut the window (that is his first instinct); however-- ]

Ah, my lord Vessalius. You look so alike, I mistook you. Come in, come in.

[psychopath]

If you don't mind-

[Oh well, too late; Jack climbs into Break's window easily, like he's done it a dozen times. He appears to nearly trip, though, if the way he tries to stabilize himself using Break's shoulder says anything.]

And please, it's just Jack. I'm not a lord at all. Are you - are you all right? How are you feeling? Did you sleep well?

[AND SO IT BEGINS.]

[maddeninghatter]

I--

[ Hang on, hadn't Jack picked up his eye? ]

Why did you--

[ On the other hand, how does one exactly ask a person whether they pocketed one's escaped organs? And then there's the sweet smell of eclairs thoroughly confusing everything. He hardly notices Jack's hand on his shoulder. ]

Er. Yes. I'm all right, I suppose.

[psychopath]

[Jack steps away from him and sighs, relieved, before practically shoving the basket of treats into Xerxes' hands.]

Oh! I sneaked these out of the kitchen, since I - think you like sweets, do you like sweets? I figured it wouldn't hurt, dear, just drink lots of water afterwards!

[He's talking over Break, really. He'll deny having that eye; he'd already implied that he never picked it up, to Gilbert.

Besides, he'd lost the damn thing, good riddance.]

[maddeninghatter]

[ ...did Jack really steal his (latest) left eye? ]

Aaaah, thank you~♥

[ People don't typically bring him sweets like this. They chastise him fretfully, or hit him with fans, or resent him intensely whilst helping him at great cost...

He's suspicious, even as he seizes an eclair and bites into it. And yet, Jack's fabled charisma is undeniable. ]

Gilbert made these, I suppose.

[ His other left eye... ]

[psychopath]

That boy is quite worried for you, you know.

[Yes, Jack is still going to refer to Gil as a small child. Because.

Also one of the reasons why he's here is to look around Break's room. Not that he's stalking the other man or anything, but he wants to know as much as he can about Break without being too obvious.]

And- especially when you...had the same eyes as his brother.

1/2

[maddeninghatter]

[ Apart from a small pile of trinkets purloined from Lord Barma, including a stuffed pheasant stuck full of pins, the contents of Break's room is entirely unremarkable. ]

Ha! Ha! Ha! Gilbert can do little else but worry, and--

2/2

[maddeninghatter]

[ !!! ]


...what?

[psychopath]

[LONG PAUSE.]

Erm, wasn't...the eye that you lost gold?

1/2

[maddeninghatter]

A-ah...

[ ...and suddenly, Gilbert's odd behavior is explained. ]

2/2

[maddeninghatter]

[ There really are no words. ]

Ah! Ha! Hahahahaha!

[jokesonthem]

[Reim (infamously not dead) has, naturally, taken it upon himself to check up on Break... whenever he feels like it. It depends on how annoyed he is at a given time.

The reason for today's visit is that he had been tapping his pen so fiercely against his desk that he inadvertently flung the cap across the room, and at that point decided he needed to do something else. So rather than socialize with someone he can rely on to be responsive, he goes to check on Sir Sleepsalot.

Which has led to this moment, the one where he walks right into the room without introduction. And stops just as suddenly in the doorway. Ah.]

You're up.

[maddeninghatter]

[ He's up. Sort of. He's got the blanket protectively over his head, still. ]

Uh. I mean. Er.

Mister Reim~! Why yes - I'm up. And how are yooooooou, this lovely day~♥

[ Nnggh. AWKWARD. If Reim had bothered to knock, he would have tried hiding somewhere--

Anyway. He'll try to brazen through, but it's... it's hard. Even he can tell he sounds unconvincing. ]

[jokesonthem]

[Typical. Now Reim is at a loss; he was just going to wander around and irritably tidy the same few items he's already tidied about four times. Conversation did not occur to him.

At the very least, he can be cross about Break's painfully forced casualness.]

Fine.

How are you feeling?

[maddeninghatter]

[ PAINFUL AND MISERABLE AND ASHAMED! ]

Good, goooooood~!

[ Flap flap flap wave. Somehow even his pajama sleeves manage to be floppy. ]

I want some candy.

[jokesonthem]

[It's so awkward and obvious that he's finding it hard to muster the will to shout about it. He shuts the door and produces a piece of candy from his various stashed pockets, but doesn't do anything with it.]

You should eat some real food...

[maddeninghatter]

[ He hears the cellophane crinkle and sits up, positively Pavlovian. ]

I...

[ Is Reim really going to make him beg? His shoulders slump; and then he drobs back down onto the bed, pulls the blanket down completely over his head.

His voice is muffled: ]

I'm not hungry.