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a mishmash of psls
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sevenvices, but this amounts to "Pandora Hearts AU where Break lives because he's a fuckin cheater."
Also since I just tossed us all together, feel free to start your own threads too! this is a post not a cop
sevenvices, but this amounts to "Pandora Hearts AU where Break lives because he's a fuckin cheater." Also since I just tossed us all together, feel free to start your own threads too! this is a post not a cop
for gilbarto
[ It's been a busy few days, to say the least. Whether it was fate or providence, Break didn't care to dwell on it too much. For anyone else, this would be because they would know to take their chance as a gift. Break had been given a chance that few others were, because just like that, everything had been repaired. He had his eye back, his contract with the Mad Hatter was gone (though quickly reinstated when they had returned), but most importantly, his illness was gone. He had been given more than another chance at life. He had escaped his death sentence.
And he absolutely hated that.
There was no small part of him that was grateful for all the chaos that quickly followed upon their return. Everything was as he had left it, after all. They were preparing to take down Glen, since this world, however flawed it was, well... It was still theirs. More than anyone, Break knew the dangers that came with changing the past. So they had fought for it. In a way, they had succeeded. Their world was still here, but it wasn't unchanged. The past remained, but the present was what Break had always anticipated. He just hadn't thought he would live to see it.
It's troubling, of course. There are absences so great now that the void weighs even on Break. So he knows it weighs heavily on others all the more. There are people like Reim and Sharon that he worries about in his way, but he's not who he extends his concern to first. It's even a surprise to him when the thought dawns on him, but it makes sense. Reim and Sharon cared, certainly, but they hadn't lost in the same way.
He does give it time. It's only a few days, so it's not much, but that time is a quieter sign of the way that Break is a bit more careful towards some peoples' feelings than he seems to show outwardly. But after a few days, he doesn't want Gilbert to be alone either. It's odd to think about what had happened in that stupid town, since it feels like a dream more than anything now, but for better or for worse, that's what it had taken. Just like Reim or Sharon, Break considers Gilbert a true friend now too.
...Though, of course, this doesn't mean he'll express that in any reasonable way. ]
Gil~bert~! ♥
[ Which is to say, wherever Gilbert is, Break will be quite literally twirling in. There are teacups and saucers balanced on his head clownishly, and in each hand, he holds something different. One hand carries a tray of sweets, and the other has a large, steaming teapot. ]
Why, what are you doing in here looking so gloomy~? It's tea time, you know.
why do i love to die
...
The problem is, with no four dukedoms and no Pandora left, there... really isn't much work to be had, either. So really, it's more like the entire housing staff of all of their estates could probably be let go with the amount of work Gilbert's been doing. Sure, he has his place among the Baskervilles and new duties to fulfill now, but he's basically The Glen That Got Away - not as relevant to their workings as Leo or even Vincent. It leaves a lot of free time, and as we all know, Gilbert does not do well with even a little free time.
When Break twirls into the room, Gilbert appears to be in the middle of carefully re-threading and hand-sewing a barely tattered corner of a seat cushion. It's probably from a parlor room that barely sees the light of day...]
What—? [What is this foreign TEA TIME, he hasn't taken a break in days!!] I don't really have the time for that right now. --And I'm not looking gloomy! This is just the way my face is.
no subject
[ Does Gilbert ever sound proud of anything other than serving Oz, though? This is irrelevant. Because Break is definitely not taking "I'm busy" for an answer, as evidenced by how he sets what's in his hands down on the small table, and he quickly starts to divvy up what's left balancing on his head too. ]
Be~sides~. That cushion is perfectly fine, first of all, and second, you can take a break for tea. When was the last time you even had tea?
[ A beat, and then he adds: ]
Preparing it for other people doesn't count.
no subject
[OPENS HIS MOUTH.
CLOSES HIS MOUTH... He hasn't had tea in - how long has it even been? Probably sometime after Elliot's death, when Sharon bullied him into it...
Though of course, remembering that just gets him all gloomy again. Gloomier? GLOOMIER. A lot of people are dead and he's tired, okay. ...Tired, but maybe also at least a little grateful for Break. He sighs, carding a hand through his hair, and sets the pillow down on his lap. That's the biggest concession he's about to make, okay.]
I'm not proud of it, that's just a fact. [OBVIOUSLY.] ...And I'm not in the mood for tea, either.
no subject
Well, you never will be, so long as you have any choice about it. I insist.
[ He places a playful stress on that word, but then twirls one of the saucers under his hand. His back is turned to Gilbert at this point, but his voice is at least a touch more serious. Not completely, but those light variations in his tone tend to mean a lot. ]
We haven't had a chance to really talk since we came back. I thought it might be worth it.
no subject
It's that way for Break, too, he knows. That's how he can identify the care in the way he sets the plates and saucers out (even though it takes him a second or two longer than most who know him well to actually catch on, as usual). The serious tone is something he recognizes much sooner, however minute the difference is, and he sighs.
The cushion is set off to the side.]
...Things have gone very quickly since then.
[He's not even sure where to start.]
no subject
[ He motions with an elegant, if clownish, sweeping gesture towards one chair. Clearly, that one is meant to be Gilbert's, since Break sits down in the other one. He'll wait before digging into the sweets and tea before them, which is probably surprising too. In fact, Gilbert might realize within the next five years or so (approximately, given how well Gilbert tends to notice things), that there's a bit more ceremony to what Break is doing here that's shown in small gestures.
He wouldn't say it, but this is his way of paying respects. He may not have the same sort of bond with Oz by any measure, but he wouldn't exactly forget that optimism of hoping for a scene just like this. ]
I did expect that they might, though still... It's not an outcome I could have anticipated either.
no subject
For now, he just shuffles over to take the offered seat, and the tiredness that he feels but tries not to show is apparent in the heavy way he sits. He moves as though still in mourning when he doesn't have appearances to keep up, but that probably won't change for quite some time.]
...They made the decision that worked best in the end, I think.
[There were other options, sure, but every single one of them came with pretty immense sacrifices. Even Gilbert logically knows that this was the path to the best possible resolution with the fewest lives lost.
Still...]