Order and Chaos
Rating: K
Summery: They create the perfect balance between order and chaos, which is probably why one drives the other crazy, 50 sentence challenge, a grab bag of Break/Liam, friendship, and AU speculation
Characters/Pairings: Some BreakXLiam, slight Baskerville involvement, Barma, Lady Cheryl, Will of the Abyss, Oz, Alice, Isla Yura, and Gil.
Comments: This was created mostly because I wanted to see if I could do a 50 sentence about a pairing. I'm not sure how much I really like the end result but it did end up more about Liam than Break, which was a nice vacation from the last sentence fic I did. Anyway, I hope you enjoy and please let me know which sentence was your favorite.
Spoilers: Up to Retrace 53
Liam Lunettes
Xerxes Break
1) Motion
Liam was always in motion, always so busy, always vibrating with so much excess energy that Break took a certain perverse pleasure in catching his arm and forcing him to stand still, to have a cup of tea, have some sweets, have anything that would make him stay still (and with him) for that one perfect moment.
2) Cool
Gil had never seen Break loose his cool like that night at the Isla Yura's party; but he knew exactly what was on the other man's mind and the idea of Liam wandering the cellars of the mansion alone made him worried too.
3) Young
Break had thought of Liam as young for so long he was rather surprised when one day he turned around and noticed his friend had grown up while he wasn't watching.
4) Opposite
Break wished he could have held on to the last remnants of sight long enough to see the expression on those Baskerville's face when Liam stood back up, all the damage done healed by the powers of March Hare (creating powers to match Mad Hatter's destroying ones), it must have been quite entertaining.
5) Last
As Liam, with great annoyance, finally cleaned the last of the hundred or so candies that had mysteriously appeared in his desk for the fourth time this week, he wondered if this was Break's round-about way of flirting.
6) Wrong
That fact that Liam could have been dead before he even realized something was wrong with the party made Break so angry that he didn't even care about the consequences of destroying the two Baskervilles with Mad Hatter.
7) Blur
To Break's increasingly poor vision Liam was always a blur, which rather made since the other man was almost always in motion, always doing something or other, except for when Break grabbed ahold of him and simply held him still, and, just for the pure joy of being able to see him clearly, clamped his lips over a very started Liam's.
8) Gentle
"Hey, Liam," many who knew him wouldn't have thought that Break had such a gentle tone in him, "I've dealt with them, you can stop pretending to be dead now; come on, get up…come on.… Liam?"
9) Learn
After knowing him for some time Beak learned to never underestimate Liam, he was always stronger, always more capable, always more forgiving, than Break could ever hope to expect.
10) Thousand
"Tell me a story," Break demands, mock child-like, folding his hands on top of the covers, "Keeps the nasty dreams away," with the surety that Liam would do as he asked -demanded- and Liam did so; after all he would've told Break a thousand stories if he had to, anything to keep their mutual nightmares at bay for just a little longer.
11) King
Break looks at Liam and thinks that if Barma wasn't careful he was going to find himself a king who was short a very important pawn.
12) Change
Liam didn't even notice it himself it was such a gradual change but as he became closer and closer to Break he found himself doing things -and betraying loyalties- he would have thought himself capable of; now he wasn't sure that Liam Lunettes affected by Xerxes Break's madness was quite who he wanted to be.
13) Command
Break had known that Liam would never be able to command a chain that was capable of violence; Liam, when it came down to it, was far too kind for that.
14) Hold
Liam had no wish to hold Break back; what he doesn't realize is that Break wouldn't mind it all that much if he did.
15) Vision
They were both loosing it but while Liam had resigned himself to eventually having his eyes worsen beyond what glasses could fix Break fought for his sight to the very end.
16) Heavy
Liam is a surprisingly heavy sleeper, something that could get him killed in the work that Break daily moves in, and Break takes this as yet another sign that he should stay away from him; but curled up next Liam in the early hours of the morning, listening to the steady breathing and watching Liam's chest rise and fall with each breath it was hard to remember that he should stop endangering him.
17) Child
Though he had changed in many other ways part of Liam was still that child who had tried to stop him from tearing open his wounds again in a fit of madness, he was still trying to save Break from himself even now.
18) Hide
Liam hid -very, very deeply, very, very well- the daily fear that one morning he would wake up to find that the body next to him was cold and dead; he knew better than anyone else that Break did not have much longer and the thought affected him more than he liked to admit.
19) Mad
Since he was standing right next to one of Duke Barma's illusions Liam knew the exact moment that Break used Mad Hatter to obliterate the illusion the Duke had placed on the play house and as he watched the illusion of Lady Cheryl fall to pieces he had a horrible feeling that all of it -their careful, careful plans- were going to do the same in short order.
20) Wait
Liam had waited very patiently for the day for the day that he would be trusted enough by Break to finally, finally get to know what his plans were (that underlying motivation that he had puzzled over many a time) only to find out that when it came down to it no one, not even he, was that trusted.
21) Picture
Break thought it very fortunate that Liam was so clever, it was because of this he failed to see the big picture of all the events that were happening (because, really, to a sensible person it was quite insensible, just like the Will of the Abyss' wish).
22) Need
It was a relationship based purely on need, Break needed someone to look after him, someone to care that he was dying even when he couldn't and Liam needed someone to need him, someone to use as an excuse to stave off the encroaching depression of powerlessness, they pushed and they pulled at each other until it seemed like one or the other was going to break but when one of them finally did the other didn't simply move on to another; he slunk reluctantly back to him to return The Coat and make a long due apology.
23) Attention
Liam couldn't shake the feeling that he never completely had Break's attention, there was always that tilt to the other man's head, a certain distantness, like he was so lost in his own thoughts and plots the only way Liam could get him to focus on the now, and him, was to pull him into an unexpected kiss (and even then…).
24) Careful
The wound on the side of Liam's head is already healing, but every time Break sees it he makes sure to remind himself that it is a sign of how careful he needs to be with this man from this point out; if he isn't… a much bloodier Liam sprawled on the floor of his imagination, glasses broken and skin pale (And sometimes on very bad days the figure manages to sit up and says to him, "I was… just trying to… help… Xerc…").
25) Protection
Although the last thing he wanted to do was to return to the Barma mansion with his master and face his wrath Liam let the others leave without making any move to follow, they were taking Break with them and at that very moment the farther Break got from Barma the safer he would be; even if letting that happen as quickly as possible meant he himself had to be dangerously close to Barma, he would do what he had to to protect Break while he was vulnerable.
26) Shadow
His impending death was a shadow in their relationship, but as much as Break tried to use it to break them apart ("It isn't long now, if you don't want to be hurt this is the time to end this,") Liam used it keep them together ("Then who is going to do your paperwork for you? Or find your shirt in the morning? Or make you tea? You need looking after far too much for me to leave now,).
27) Torn
It was strange, Break thought, as he lay in the bed very much not his own tracing the curve of the sleeping Liam's neck, Barma had meant to tear them apart by revealing his past; but all he had achieved in the end was to drive them closer together.
28) Goodbye
His plans had involved not getting attached to anyone -it was pointlessly cruel as anyone he got close to would be bidding their lover a last goodbye in short order when his body gave out (soon)- but, as he did to a lot of things Break had planned, Liam somehow made himself the exception to that plan.
29) Fool
That Barma had made a fool of him -stripping all his secrets away and leaving his past bare for all to see- in front of Oz and Gil and the rabbit Break didn't mind; but what made his heart sink was seeing the way Liam avoided his eyes now that he knew the truth.
30) Bother
There are times when they needn't bother with words, Liam's silent fussing saying "I'm worried about you," and Break's small smile saying "Thank you for caring," without the intervening messiness of words.
31) Ghost
The ghosts of regrets haunt him as Break takes the glasses from the sleeping young man's face -he has fallen asleep at his desk again, busy doing work not his own- and sets them safely aside; Break will never be able repay the debt he owes to this man, and at moments like this that knowledge pains him.
32) Eye
He never asked, no matter how many times his hand might curiously brush over the empty socket, he never asked how Break had lost it; he had known he would never tell him until he had no other choice.
33) Precognition
Sometimes Break can't stop himself from anticipating the day he gets him killed for being to close to his plot and to damn loyal for his own good.
34) Safe
"Accidental or not you killed him, Xerxes Break," Barma's tone was harsh, accusing, enough to made Break wince, "I agreed to lend him to you on the condition that he would be returned to me safe and well. And now he's dead."
35) Book
When Break failed to do his paperwork -which he often did- Liam had been know to throw things and he was dishearteningly accurate with a thrown account book.
36) Never
Liam's head lay in the downstairs hall of Isla Yura's mansion, several feet away from his body, connected by only a splatter of blood as the Headhunter (or sometimes it was that Baskerville girl) laughed like insanity made vocal -and Break woke in a cold sweat; it had never happened -nevernevernever he assured himself feeling the warmth of the body (live) beside him- but the 'could haves' still haunted him weeks after.
37) Sudden
With a suddenness that only real life could bring it was all over, Glen Baskerville dead, the Abyss sealed, the mystery of Sablier solved, Oz Vessalius saved, and Break and Liam, changed and wounded and tired from the battles, were mutually avoiding each other at the Pandora celebration with the enthusiasm only pure uncertainty could produce.
38) Sing
After Liam made the mistake of icily commenting on how heroes who had ballads written about them were all reckless, idiots who dove headfirst into danger because they couldn't make a plan to save their lives, within Break's hearing Liam had to go through the next three weeks trying to ignore him, because he kept popping up at random times and singing screechily about heroes who filed paperwork and slew mighty illegal contractors with dastardly clever logical thought.
39) Stop
It wasn't until Break was too far down the road of his plot to stop that he realized that if he took Liam along on this plot he was either going to get the man fired, at best, or, at worst, killed.
40) Wall
There was a wall of lies keeping the two of them apart, but when Barma broke it down in his rather dramatic way they really had no excuse for what kept them apart now.
41) Believe
While of course Break didn't believe in enter rooms through such mundane methods as the doorway when he crept into Liam's room to return his coat after that very nasty night with Barma he used the door just because he knew it would mean that Liam wouldn't be able to see him putting the coat on a chair before he crept back out.
42) History
"You have a history of using people for your own ends and then discarding them, why should I trust you?" Liam asked,
"Because you hold a unreasonable fondness for me?" Break offered,
"Not at all."
43) Time
Time, time, time, time; there was never enough to tell him what exactly he meant to him.
44) Wash
Sometimes the times with Liam are bright and happy -him irritating the man and drawing great amusement from the expressions he made when he yelled at him- enough to wash away the shadows of the past and make him really mean the smile he has almost constantly plastered across his face -and sometimes they weren't, when Liam pushes to know more, more about the things that Break wants the most in the world to keep him ignorant (safe) from and the shadows of past misdeeds wash over him, strong as the tide.
45) Power
Break has the power to easily kill the man sleeping next to him in an instant, before he even had time to feel it, but still the man slept peacefully, trustingly, stupidly away; safe in knowledge that Break would never enact the murder that he was easily capable of.
46) Lost
The moment Liam stepped between the criminal and he, Barma knew he had lost his servant, Liam was now belonged to Xerxes Break and nothing he did was going to get him back.
47) Drive
Break drove him crazy but there were times that Liam thought he could learn to enjoy insanity just a little.
48) Harm
When Liam, angry and upset and betrayed, demanded to know why he hadn't been told about Oz and the rest years ago Break found he had no good answer ready; he couldn't tell Liam that he had been afraid what Barma would do to his servant had he known anything about the plot and Break did not want Liam to be hurt -anymore than he had already been that was- because of him.
49) Precious
There was something infinitely precious about their relationship to Break, so precious that somehow he could never bring himself to say small things like "Thank you for always being there" and "I care for you" to Liam, as if actually saying the words aloud would somehow break the spell and everything would fall apart.
50) Hunger
There were times when Liam wondered if Break wasn't willing feed everything, his health, his allies, his lover, his Lady, to his hunger to solve the mystery of the Tragedy of Sablier; there was nothing about Break that wasn't subtly skewed toward his distant goal and Liam was too realistic to really count their relationship as an exception to that (except sometimes… sometimes…).