Paperwork.

It was the bane of Xerxes Break's existence.

Oh, how he loathed the odious ordeal of sitting glued behind a desk, reading through a never-ending stack of parchments that usually contained nothing but misery.

Usually his good friend Reim would ease his suffering by taking care of whatever work was assigned to Break, but unfortunately this time the man was down with the flu. So, Break was left to fend for himself against the endless hoard of top-secret documents that a man of Reim's rank shouldn't even have access to in the first place.

"I hate my job," he thought sourly for the umpteenth time that day, as the scowl on his face intensified along with his headache. Since Reim was out for the count, Break had to take care of his share of paperwork too. But he would never complain about that since it was the least he could do for his faithful friend. What he could and would complain about to some non-existent being of higher authority, was his own paperwork load which he couldn't delegate to anyone else since Reim was the only one he could trust with these documents. And so, for the next fifteen minutes or so he began muttering dark curses under his breath to his imaginary higher-authority figure.

Now, Break wasn't the type to get angry so easily. When he did, he would usually hide it behind a mask of cheery disposition. However, it was rare for him to get this mad, where he would scowl a scowl so intense that it could send the miserly Chains that brought on his woes in the form of paper back to whence they came from. Normal people never really interfered with Break at all no matter what mood he was in. Most people who knew him would avoid him when he was angry, but even those who were close to him would think twice of bothering him without a valid excuse when he was visibly annoyed, even Reim.

However, there was only one man on the face of the planet that had the guts to approach Break without needing any reason whatsoever; one man who could stare Break in the eye while not giving half a damn about his bad mood, even going as far as arguing with the fearsome ruby-eyed male and getting away with it with all his limbs intact and his sanity still present.

That man was Gilbert Nightray.

Said man was currently making his way towards Break's private study while pushing a large cart that was nearly overflowing with various covered dishes. The dishes were all for Break, who had locked himself in his study since last night and had yet to eat a single meal since then. Gilbert, who had been thoroughly traumatised in the past by Sharon's horrid tale as to why Break looked so weak, was naturally worried about his health again (not that he'd say it out loud). And so, since the Clown refused to bring his stubborn behind down the dining room, Gilbert would just have to bring to food to him.

The food would have to be nutritious, realised Gilbert as he stepped into the kitchen an hour before lunch time. Normally the other servants would take care of meals while Gilbert insisted that he would take care of Oz's. Ever since his Master's return, the former had very little chances to serve him which was why preparing his meals was the very least he could manage to do. But today, Gilbert would personally handle Break's lunch as well (once again, not that he'd ever let that big-headed imbecile Clown know or he'd never let Gilbert hear the end of it).

He simply could've told the servants to do it, but this was something Gilbert wanted to do himself. After all, Break was the reason why Gilbert had learned how to cook in the first place. Apart from professional, certified chefs, Gilbert was the only exception; his cooking was the only other that Break would not hesitate to eat after the tortures he endured in the past (Gilbert shuddered upon recalling Sharon's descriptive account. How did she even know all the details anyway?). That trust was something Gilbert took pride in, which was why he would not let any opportunity to cook for the elder male pass.

Without bothering with something as basic as knocking, Gilbert conveniently ignored the concept of privacy and let himself into the study. And why should he knock? It wasn't like Break ever respected his privacy. That man practically popped out from behind Gilbert's shower curtain once. He wouldn't take a shower for at least a week after that but was forced to after Sharon gave both him and Break a good beating with her harisen. The raven-haired male still suffered from extreme paranoia for almost a month until Break took pity on him and offered to sign an official agreement which stated that there would be no unexpected appearances from him in the bathroom. Gilbert framed and hung that agreement inside his bathroom as if it were a charm to ward-off bad luck... which it sort of was. It still stood 'til this day.

Break briefly glanced up from his paperwork – it was unnecessary, really, since there was only one person that would bother entering without knocking – and his glance would've remained a glance too if it weren't for Gilbert's getup. The man was sporting his usual black pants and white, long sleeved dress shirt. He had probably just arrived straight from the kitchen because his sleeves were rolled up and his hair was tied back with a sapphire silk ribbon, but those weren't the things that caught his attention.

No. It was the man's frilly pink apron.

Gilbert noticed where Break's eyes were trained to and looked down.

Needless to say, his cheeks instantly darkened in mortification.

"Aaah! I can't believe I forgot to take it off! The thought of how many people must've seen me on the way here is bad enough, but it's nowhere near as bad as him seeing me!"

"U-um, this- this is...! I can... It's not..."

"Should I lie...? No, he'd know if I did. The truth? He'd make fun of me if I told him. But if I lie it'll only make it worse because he'll know I was expecting him to humiliate me, which will only make him more determined to do so...! The truth it is."

Gilbert stood straighter, trying his best to look as dignified as a man could while wearing a frilly pink apron, and blurted out the truth in one go in what he hoped to be a defensive tone.

"Th-this was the only spare apron the maids had. I h-had no choice!"

Break promptly snorted, doing his best to choke back the sudden onslaught of laughter that erupted within him, and Gilbert visibly deflated. "Silly Raven~" sang Break while raising his hand to conceal his smile. "You should know by now that the maids were only teasing you."

"He's so gullible!" cried Emily who was, as always, perched upon Break's shoulder. "A twenty-four-year-old gullible man. How lame!"

"Now, now, Emily~ It's not good to go around spewing out the painful truth like that," said Break, lightly mock-chiding the little doll.

"Both of you just shut up!" wailed a distressed Gilbert.

"Fine, fine~"

While Break and Emily did their best to bottle up their laughter, Gilbert sighed before picking up one of the dishes. Break noticed this and in that very moment, the image of Oz flashed in his mind.

All traces of humour withered just as quickly as it emerged, and strangely, he felt his bad mood begin to resurface once more. But like nearly all other instances, he prevented it from showing by keeping his nonchalant smile in place and his tone, light and teasing.

"Goodness; and I thought my eyesight was bad. Is all that seaweed hindering your vision?" asked Break, while raising an eyebrow. "I'm not Oz-kun, you know."

"Huh?" Gilbert placed his free hand on his hip while his other hand held the dish perfectly upright in the way a waiter would. "I know that. What does that even have to do with anything?"

Break put his pen down and swivelled on his chair so that he could properly face Gilbert. "You should be serving lunch to Oz-kun, not me," he said, and though he had feigned indifference, he could not hold back the hint of irritation that slipped into his voice when his voice faltered at the word 'Oz'. Luckily for him, however, Gilbert hadn't noticed.

"I have," retorted Gilbert plainly.

Break's eyelid drooped while his lips titled upwards to form a faint smirk, which was more out of habit than actual amusement. "Oh? So, you came all the way here just for me?"

Gilbert blinked in surprise and upon seeing the strange expression Break wore, he felt his face warm up again. "Wh-what? No! I-I was... S-since you weren't going to come downstairs, I took it upon myself to bring lunch to you. Th-the last thing I need is Sharon on my tail for letting you die of starvation when I could've prevented it."

Break gazed at Gilbert, who looked away once his outburst was over. He knew very well that the raven-haired male was lying because this was not the first time Gilbert had done this for him. In the past, Gilbert would always use Sharon as his excuse when Break questioned his motives. He nearly believed him at first but when he had gone to confirm these claims with Sharon herself one day, she said she had never asked Gilbert to do such things and obviously, her words were absolute to Break.

It would've been fun to point it out; to let Gilbert know that he knew he was lying, but Break decided against it. Instead, he opted to see how long it would take for Gilbert to notice it himself, which could very well take the rest of eternity but it was still worth a shot. Better to tease the man for being unbelievably slow and lying, he reasoned.

There was also one more thing that Break expected to come out of all this, and that was to determine if Gilbert felt anything special for him. Of course, he was very uncertain that this was the case in the first place but there was simply no other way to explain his actions. Why else would the younger man go through such painstaking lengths and deliberately disobey Break's teachings of self-preservation, just to care for him during times like these? The only other person Gilbert bothered caring for was Oz, but it was to be expected since the boy was his Master... What was Break to him? No one special in particular, that's for sure.

But maybe he was special, in a way. That had to be it, right? All the little things that Gilbert didn't think Break noticed could only be explained if that were the case.

Such as how Gilbert would always cook for him and serve him at times like these. Or how Break was always the first person he turned to when Gilbert had any troubles. Or how Gilbert took almost every piece of advice from Break seriously. Or how sensitive he was when Break, in particular, teased him. Or even how Gilbert was always particularly touchy when Break, of all people, made fun of him.

With a start, Break realised he had been lost in deep thought. He had never really pondered about such things for so long, and the fact that he was doing it now bothered him.

"I guess that means it's time to clarify a few things..."

"Hmm, I have a feeling that Raven is lying. Don't you think so too, Emily?"

Gilbert's attention immediately snapped back to the demented duo.

"He's obviously lying!" cackled Emily; her permanent grin of glee looking all the more ominous for some reason. "He did it out of loooooove~"

"Is that so?" gasped Break in mock surprise, before turning back to Gilbert with an all-too-innocent smile. Inside, however, his heart was thumping erratically in his chest. He had not expected Emily to say it out so boldly like that... "There you have it, Gilbert~"

Gilbert's mouth was opening and closing but no words came, making him look like a fish out of water. His cheeks were starting to colour as well (again), though it was hard to tell whether it was from embarrassment or anger, or both.

"I... I-"

"See? I knew you came here all the way just for me~ I just never thought you did it out of love!"

"I did not!" rebuked Gilbert, looking as though he was at the verge of tears. Who knew the Clown and his stupid doll could be so cruel with their teasing?

A hint of a smirk slowly spread across Break's face before he could stop himself for a little plan was forming in that devious head of his. He quickly banished it before Gilbert noticed and put on his best disappointed frown.

"Eeeh, you didn't?"

Gilbert was taken aback by Break's seemingly sudden change of mood. Most of his anger instantly dissolved, only to be replaced by concern. He took a few tentative steps forward.

"Break?"

This time, Break did not bother smothering his smirk.

In a split second, Break had grabbed hold of the front of Gilbert's shirt and yanked him forward. Lidded mischievous ruby met wide startled gold as their eyes met briefly, and then Break's lips were on Gilbert's. The latter felt all the bones in his body turn to jelly from the shock and he nearly drop the large dish tray he had been carrying. Luckily Break had predicted such a reaction and expertly caught it with his free hand, before gently setting it down on the desk behind him.

With a teasing nip of Gilbert's lower lip, Break slowly pulled back with an impish smirk, drinking in the young Nightray's flabbergasted expression and tomato red cheeks. Poor Gilbert just stood there stuttering in disbelief, utterly shell shocked for several moments before he suddenly snapped back to reality and slapped a hand over his mouth.

Break couldn't help but laugh at the comical sight before him, prompting Gilbert to glare at him with teary eyes, doing his best to look angry and offended.

"What the hell, Break! What was that for?!" he exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger at his violator.

The Mad Hatter grinned and began spinning on his chair slowly, completely unfazed by Gilbert's outburst. "I was just checking if Raven has feelings for me~ And it looks like he does! What a surprise, eh Emily?"

The doll began jittering on Break's shoulder, apparently laughing hysterically. "He did it out of love! He did it out of looooove!" she sang, much to Gilbert's chagrin.

"Wh-what are you idiots saying?!" he spluttered, brow furrowing in irritation. "It's nothing like that!"

Break pursed his lips in contemplation. "If so, then why didn't you push me away?"

Gilbert stiffened. Break's grinned triumphantly.

With an exaggerated sigh of exasperation, Gilbert turned his back towards Break. "Whatever" he grumbled quietly, refusing to let the man see the red blush dusting his cheeks. Then, to busy himself, he began unloading some of the dishes from the cart onto Break's desk. The older man pushed his chair away and watched in silence, eye constantly switching from Gilbert's expressions to the distracting apron he wore. He seemed to have recovered already, engrossed in his task of clearing Break's desk to make space for all the dishes with a collected expression.

"You know…" began Gilbert all of a sudden, making Break start. The young Nightray finished placing the last dish and turned to regard his mentor for a moment, choosing his next words carefully. "There's no need to pick up the burden all by yourself. Yeah, you have Reim, but it's unfair to dump everything on him all the time. That's why…"

Gilbert turned away from Break and reached out for the cart, ready to leave. "…You should rely on me too. Y-you know, for Reim's sake I mean…" he trailed off, stealing a quick glance at Break from the corner of his eye. "So finish your lunch quickly, then let's get all that paperwork done."

Break blinked in surprise, not quite believing what he was hearing. "Raven… But… wouldn't you rather spend time with Oz?"

The raven-haired man sighed. "True, he and I have a lot of lost time to make up for. But… if it weren't for all your help, I wouldn't be the person I am today. We may not have been the ones to save him as planned, but at least I'm in a position to protect him." Gilbert looked over his shoulder, lips quirked up in a small smile. "I just don't want to be indebted to you!"

Having said all that he wanted to, Gilbert pushed the cart out of Break's room and then quietly closed the door behind him, leaving Break alone with his thoughts. The latter couldn't help but stare at the door, replaying their conversation in his head again and again. He honestly hasn't expected such words from Gilbert and he couldn't deny that he was a bit touched by them.

"So he can be honest with himself sometimes, can't he?" thought Break with a smile, spinning his chair back towards the desk and beginning his meal.

"Thank you, Gilbert."