Chibigal4: I'm going to apologize now to fans of the series for including a lot of information I didn't need. I wrote this with my friends in mind. I don't think any of them have read the series, and I don't want them to be (completely) lost if they read this. Also, I had to give this a K+ rating because there's a swear in the next chapter. :0 Haha, I'm such a potty mouth.
Disclaimer: I don't own Alice in the Country of Hearts/Clover/Joker (or Joker/Clover/Heart no Kuni no Alice as it's listed on here).
Although the clock tower was large enough to house several people, Julius lived alone. His bedroom was on the third floor; ever other inhabitable room was on the second floor. He fixed clocks in one room. Another room functioned as a kitchen and there was a bathroom as well. There were many other rooms, but all were completely empty. When Alice arrived in the Country of Hearts, Julius allowed her to stay with him. Julius was introverted and spoke bluntly, so most people said he was mean. He never imagined she would accept the invitation. Without a guest room, Julius instructed Alice to sleep in his bed. Truth be told, he never used it much anyway. Julius typically fell asleep at his desk.
She made coffee for him several times a day to help him stay awake. Alice had the habit of asking if he liked the coffee she brewed. To be objective, Julius gave her a score based on a set of criteria. He never told her what the criteria were. Frankly it was because he made them up; he was by no means a coffee connoisseur. Julius also gave her bonus points most days because he knew she was trying. Of course, he would never tell her that either.
Today was no different. Julius was engrossed in his work. He didn't notice Alice standing to his left until her heard the sound of porcelain on wood. Julius looked up as the familiar sound of his coffee mug touching the surface of his desk reached his ears. The corner of his desk was empty, but Alice soon occupied it. A habit, Julius assumed, she picked up from Ace. It used to bother Julius. However, his self-proclaimed best friend seated himself there so often, Julius stopped caring. To be more accurate, Julius didn't particularly care if people sat on his desk provided they didn't touch anything.
He held the mug to his lips, but his glasses fogged almost immediately. Pulling the cup away, he couldn't help thinking Alice made the coffee too hot to drink on purpose; it forced him to converse with her as he waited for it to cool. As uncomfortable as small talk made him, Julius didn't mind when it was Alice.
Before she had the chance to start what was sure to be an awkward conversation, they heard Ace yell from upstairs, "Julius! Alice! Come camping with me!"
Julius sighed. Ace always paid him fairly frequent visits, but the young knight seemed to be stopping by more often lately. The clock master stood, crossed the room, and opened the door of his workshop. "No, I'm busy!"
"But I brought the camping to you!"
Julius squeezed his eyes shut. He knew he had to go upstairs now to see what Ace had done. He just didn't want to. Begrudgingly, the master of the clock tower dragged his feet up the stairs. A delayed echo told him Alice was following closely behind him. Julius reached the top of the stairs and opened the door immediately to his left. He stood in the doorway. One sapphire eye twitched. Ace had propped his tent up on top of the bed and was sitting by a campfire roasting a marshmallow. Julius sighed. "What are you doing?"
The knight smiled at him. "Making s'mores."
Julius took a minute to rephrase his question. "Why did you set up camp in Alice's bedroom?"
"She said she didn't want to go camping because she wanted to sleep in a bed. I thought if I set the tent up around the bed there wouldn't be a problem. Besides, last time I set up camp in the kitchen and you kicked me out." Ace stated cheerfully as he rotated the marshmallow.
Julius rubbed his left temple since his left hand was free. "That's because you built a fire in the middle of the floor."
"I was hungry." Ace didn't seem bothered at all.
"The stove was right behind you!" Julius could feel every vein in his head throbbing in annoyance.
Ace's smile never left his face. "Your stove's electric. You know I need a flame to cook." He pulled his marshmallow out of the flames. It was a perfect golden brown.
Julius poured his coffee on the flames to extinguish the fire. "Go home, Ace."
The knight laughed. "Okay."
As Julius exited the room he looked to Alice. She was frowning and staring at the floor. He hadn't gotten a chance to taste the coffee she had worked so hard to make. Julius murmured, "One hundred points," as he passed her. It may have seemed like he was being kind, but the coffee's use was to put out the fire. Which, it did flawlessly.
"I'll help with the tent." Alice offered.
Ace put the marshmallow on top of a piece of chocolate resting between two graham crackers. "No thanks. I can handle it." He stood and handed the s'more to Alice before walking over to the tent. He had a feeling she would somehow know it was meant for Julius as an apology. A mischievous smiled crossed his face as he mused aloud, "That was an interesting slip of the tongue."
"What do you mean?" Alice asked, still standing in the doorway.
"Everything in this tower belongs to Julius…I wonder how long he's been referring to this room as yours."
~The End / Sort of To Be Continued...~
Chibigal4: I didn't stick this fic in the romance genre, because I thought of two different ways Ace's comment could be viewed; one has implied romantic undertones and the other doesn't…I'll let you decide what Ace meant. ;p I'm stuffing all the flames in Blood's hat because it sounds like fun.