Thwunk.

_ hid her grin behind her hand as a fork sprouted from the wall just above Vincent Nightray's head. It seemed as though her knight in shining armor had finally come to her rescue.

The blonde ignored the silverware, which was still vibrating with the remnants of the force behind its flight, as he continued to smile at _. "So? What do you say?"

"Mmm..." _ tapped a finger against her chin as if she were so much as bothering to contemplate Vincent's absurd idea with a raging hatter nearby. Tilting her head in the direction of said hatter, who was standing strangely silent in the doorway of the room, she chirped, "Nope!" before turning to leave. A rough hand caught her wrist, eliciting a low, feral snarl from the room's entrance and a tear in the elbow of the blonde's coat as a butter knife joined its partner in the wall behind him.

The hand pulled back sharply, anticipating further onslaught, forgetting that it was still connected to _'s wrist. The h/c stumbled, falling into Vincent as he moved to escape his attacker. Tripping over _'s dainty form, he crashed to the floor, dragging _ down with him.

Sprawled ungracefully on the wooden floor, Vincent flushed deeply when he realized the situation he was in. _ was straddling his lap, looking thoroughly confused and annoyed. She looks a bit... cute like this. He tried, and failed, to push the enamoring thought from his mind. If I could just-

The first thing he realized was that the uncomfortably provocative weight on his lap was gone.

The second was that something very hard and very loud had hit his face.

Vincent slowly lifted a shard of a ceramic dessert plate off of the floor by his head. Looking for confirmation as to who had thrown the offending dish, he met the scorching glare of a certain candy-addict who had _ cradled in one arm and a slice of cake perched in the hand of the other. The fury burning in his sole crimson eye spoke volumes of the various punishments Break would have in store for the dormouse should he remain within his line of sight.

Instead of giving Xerxes the satisfaction of watching him flee, Vincent smirked as he pulled himself to his feet. The hatter was out of ammo and as long as his hands were occupied, he was harmless. He would make the sugar-devourer pay for tearing his coat. And what better way than to twist and distort what is most precious to him? It would be amusing to see Break become fluster and jealous over _, the dormouse reasoned.

Oh, how grand it would be if he could actually drag _ away from the hatter! Vincent could only imagine what would happen to the silverette if _'s love was stolen away. He might not even have to tolerate Break's existence anymore. Now all he had to was was to come up with a plan.

_ had been chatting with Xerxes, reassuring him of her safety. The two fell silent as Vincent ambled toward them, smiling pleasantly.

"I was just asking _ here if she would like to join me for a walk through the gardens, but now that you're here, Mr. Hatter, why don't we all go out for a stroll?" Vincent cooed, gesturing toward the sunlight streaming in through the window.

Break hesitated. The last thing he wanted was to go for a walk with the Nightray sewer rat, but he was not particularly inclined to see what would happen if he refused, considering that it was apparent that he could get _ alone and thus do almost anything he wanted to to her. He would have to keep a closer watch on his dear _. Perhaps this little stroll would provide Break with an opportunity to get rid of the rat. If anything, it would be nice to look at the flowers and sculpted trees with _, though he much preferred for them to be alone.

Before he could respond, _ turned her e/c optical spheres from Xerxes's face, where she was carefully monitoring his expression, to Vincent, where they glittered with thinly-veiled mischief. "That sounds lovely! Don't you think so too, Xerx-kun?" She placed a hand on Break's shoulder, unable to keep her lips from curling into a grin.

The hatter raised an eyebrow at this, but, speculating that she had an idea in mind that was quite similar to his own, nodded his head in agreement. He wondered what lethal scheme she was planning on carrying out.

The sun was shining brightly on the well-manicured gardens, sparkling where water still glistened on the topiary leaves from their morning shower.

The trio walked slowly and silently down the rose-lined path through the center of the gardens with Vincent dueling Xerxes for a space to fall in step between the candy-addicts.

As they neared the gardens' main and magnificent fountain, _ allowed a slight smile to grace her lips. Her plot, however, was halted when Vincent suddenly stopped and stepped to the side of the path. His attention, and the blades of his scissors, were focused on a single red rose. Having severed its stem and stolen its life, he twirled the rose gently in his fingers before smiling amiably and turning to _. "A lovely flower for a lovely lady."

_ and Break both visibly tensed as Vincent placed the rose behind her ear. _'s smile was stiff, but she was unwilling to abandon her facade, not when her plan to completely ruin the dormouse's expensive clothes was so close to fruition. "Why, thank you Vincent!"

The blonde bowed deeply in response. _ couldn't deny the fact that for the briefest of moments, she saw Vincent smirk evilly at Break as he returned to walking, the albino and h/c reluctantly following.

Five meters.

Four.

Just a few more seconds... _ told herself. This absolutely delightful stroll would end in a few more moments.

Vincent twirled to face them with a flourish. Approaching _, he gently took her hands in his own. Break's slender fingers flittered over his cane warily. The dormouse leaning in close to the unaware girl as she was momentarily distracted by the tearing of the air as Break's cane materialized between them.

Taking advantage of the two sweets-addicts' fixation on the movement and placement of the cane, Vincent swiftly hooked the toe of this boot around the silverette's and pulled sharply. Break was too agile to have lost his balance completely, but the slight wobble of his form and the retraction of focus on his cane was enough for Vincent.

The red-and-gold-eyed man shoved the cane aside as his lips connected with _'s. He was surprised to notice how soft her lips were, tasting of sugar and parted in surprise. Ignoring the rising bile in his throat as the sugar drowned out any other flavor that may have existed on the velvety gateway, Vincent slid his tongue into _'s moist cavern, grazing the backs of her teeth.

There was a simultaneous squeak of shock and a roar of rage that came milliseconds before Vincent pulled his tongue back into his own mouth and there was a loud click of teeth on the other end of the kiss. Several hands pushed him away sharply, causing him to stumble backwards and trip over his own high-heeled feet.

This was not quite going as planned.

Vincent's backside cushioned his fall as he came to sit on the ground. Lifting his gaze upward, he was met with two equally livid faces. Xerxes moved forward to confront the blonde when he was met by an outstretched hand.

_'s fierce eyes glared down at the dormouse's even as she gestured for Break to place something in her empty hand. Her voice a low growl, she said, "Give me that sword. I'm going to neuter this sewer rat." The mad hatter obliged, happily handing his cane to _.

There was a woosh of cloth as Vincent leapt to his feet, the pounding of boots on stone as chase was given, the metallic screech of a sword being unsheathed, and two harmonious battle cries overlapping a squeak of terror for one man's genitals.