The Hare's Purr
by Rose Thorne
Disclaimer: Pandora Hearts is owned by Jun Mochizuki, Square Enix, et al.
On the seventh night, the end of the first full week since everything had been turned upsidedown by Isla Yura and the Baskervilles and Vincent, Break woke not to one of Liam's nightmares, but to something warm and fuzzy purring against them.
Something that was far too large to be a cat.
He should have been alarmed, but something about it was familiar, comforting. And after a day of storms that had left both him and Liam aching and miserable, the calming presence was something of a relief.
He rather suspected what it was, but without his eyesight he couldn't be sure.
"Liam?"
No response. Well, a soft snore, but that didn't count at all.
"Liam?"
Break couldn't shake his shoulder, but he poked him in the arm until Liam stirred. "Hm?"
"Is that the Hare?"
There was a short pause before he replied. "Yes."
Liam moved his arm away from Break's poking fingers. The purr increased and the warm and fuzzy thing actually snuggled them both with its ear-arms. Break could only assume it was because Liam was petting his chain.
"But why is the Hare out?"
"It's worried," Liam replied, his voice soft and fond. That was a tone Break was actually relieved to hear. "Worried about both of us."
Break was prepared to accept that answer, but Liam didn't stop there.
"And the painkillers make it hard to control my chain."
He could only sigh; that was the very reason he didn't take painkillers. "You shouldn't take them. What if the others came in?"
Liam huffed irritably. "Some of us actually follow doctors' advice, Xerxes. And my chain hasn't been known to make people cry or wet themselves with its mere presence."
"That was once. And it doesn't count because it was Gilbert on both counts."
And, really, he'd only been fifteen; Break hardly could have blamed him even if he wasn't a soppy crybaby. He'd long since been given far better things to tease Gilbert about, anyway.
Liam pretended he hadn't spoken. "And if you hadn't noticed, we haven't had many visitors."
He had noticed that, but they had joined the others for tea on several occasions. But Liam didn't give him time to think before he continued.
"They've likely assumed that, pardon the expression,"—was he talking to the Hare?—"we're screwing like bunnies, not that either of us are in any condition for that sort of thing or we likely would be. I think they'd be far more bothered by that than my chain being out."
After he got over the shock of hearing Liam use that sort of slang—he was starting to regret not taking the offered painkillers; they had to be rather good to mellow him out that much—Break couldn't stop the rather evil smile that spread across his face.
Danger to Liam aside, the entertainment value in being openly together was amazing.
"Xerxes?"
There was a note of worry in Liam's tone, as though he knew what was coming. Break had no doubt that he could easily surpass whatever Liam's imagination had come up with.
"Well," he chirped cheerily, snuggling closer to Liam. The Hare clearly approved of the snuggling, and happily joined in. "It won't be too long before you've healed enough. I suppose I'll just have to be satisfied with this until then."
He could practically feel Liam's suspicious glare, but really, it was his own fault for pointing it out.
Break had a fun new way to harass people, and the fact that it would undoubtedly fluster Liam to the point of incoherent mouth noises?
That was a bonus.
I blame Calliope_Love for this entirely. Her omake and talk of Liam hopped up on pain meds, and her characterization of the March Hare. It has seeped into my headverse!
An omake companion fic to "What the Dormouse Said" and "Things Left Unsaid."