Hi, everyone! I'm alive! Sorry it took me so long to update, but I've been really busy for the past few months. And the two latest chapters of Pandora Hearts depressed me to tears.
Anyway, I'd like to thank those of you who have reviewed, favorited or subscribed to this story or myself. You guys make it worth writing! So, here's the result of a stupid plot bunny that's been gnawing at my brain for a while. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Pandora Hearts, its characters and such are all property of Jun Mochizuki. I own nothing except the plot of this story.
Closet
It was very late in the afternoon and the sun was setting, casting an orange glow through the halls of Lutwidge. Eliot and Leo were on their way back to their dorm room. The two teenage boys were discussing different ideas for a piece that was a work in progress.
"So," Leo began, "in the next measure there'll be a ritardando, right?"
"No, there's going to be an accelerando," said Eliot as they reached the door to their room, his eyebrow twitching. The young heir had already made up his mind on how he wanted the piece to sound, even though they were working on it together.
"But it would sound so much more emotional if the tempo slowed," his brunette servant insisted.
Eliot gripped the doorknob tightly, his temper flaring as he opened the door. "We are not slowing the tempo and that's…!" Eliot trailed off as his eyes stared into the room.
Leo, confused, peered into their room. In the middle of the floor was a creepy, little doll. The doll had blue skin and wore and flowing, pink dress. It had wavy, brown hair with the bangs tied up in a magenta bow. White, beady eyes stared at the boys in a way that seemed piercing as it sat there motionlessly. The Cheshire cat smile that was spread across its face was ghastly. Stubby fingers were attached to its fat arms and it had tiny feet.
Eliot was first to snap out of his puzzled state. "What the hell is that thing?" the ash blonde asked as he walked into the room and crouched down to stare at the doll.
Leo crouched down beside him and took out his pen. "It looks like a doll," he said. A very creepy doll, he added mentally. He poked it with his pen in the head. It shook and made a clattering sound as its head went limp, but what happened next was something that neither of the two friends expected.
The doll's head came back up with clatter. "Hey! Watch it, pal!" it said in a surprisingly male-sounding voice and their eyes widened.
Eliot's expression became a mixture of agitation and confusion. Dolls don't just talk, he thought. He was about to pick it up when he heard a creaking sound.
Eliot and Leo turned to see the closet door opening. Out of the closet stepped a white haired man in an odd purple outfit. They recognized him as a servant to the Rainsworth dukedom, Xerxes Break. The strange man looked about the room until his eyes landed on the doll.
"Ah, there you are, Emily," he said, a smile spreading across his features as he picked up the doll and placed it on his shoulder. "You should know better than to wander off by yourself."
"But I was bored," the doll whined.
Now, Eliot had had it. He had come back to his room to find a weird, talking doll, and now the Rainsworths' eccentric servant had walked out of his closet. He blew a gasket and drew his sword from its case, shouting angrily, "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?"
The albino man turned to Eliot, just noticing him and Leo, and blinked. He flashed them an eerie smile and said, "Oh, hello, Mr. Nightray and friend."
Eliot glared threateningly at Break and took a protective stance in front of Leo. "You didn't answer me," the heir said seething.
Break just merrily hummed as he strode back to the closet. As he walked back in, he turned to them with a creepy and began pulling the door shut. "Well, I bid you adieu," he said, the door shut with a crisp click.
Eliot lunged at the closet and flung the door open. The man was nowhere to be seen! Striding in, determined to find the bizarre man, he began throwing coats off their hangers. He's got to be in here somewhere.
Leo watched his master's antics and sighed. "Eliot, please come out of the closet."
"…Shut up, Leo."
Yes, that was my lame attempt at humor, but I hope you enjoyed it.
