Oz exited the room and immediately ran into Alice, but by that point he had already started acting.
"A-ah, A-alice?" Oz said feigning innocence.
"Oz. Did that man finally leave you alone?" Alice asked, her words muffled by Oz's shirt so that only he could hear her.
"You mean Jack? Y-yeah… he is gone,"
As soon as Oz finished Alice pushed him away and rose up facing him.
"Good! It seems he has finally learned that you are my manservant!"
"Well of course. You are a pretty convincing person after all," As Oz spoke he tugged at his shirt, fixing it back into place. As he stared down at the shirt he allowed himself to think, unguarded. How long would he have to act? How long would it take them to notice that something was wrong? That he was not the Oz that as far as they were concerned was the real Oz? And the most important question of all, how would they react to it all? Oz chuckled softly at the thought of seeing everyone's faces when they learned just who he really is. That was the reason Jack had probably chosen to wait before claiming the body.
"Oz, are you okay?" Alice immediately interrupted his train of thought.
"Y-yeah…"
"I only caught the tail end of your conversation with Jack. Did he do anything bad to you? Erm, I'm not concerned if he did so don't think I am worrying about you. It would just be a big inconvenience if something happened to my contract partner." Alice looked at the ground blushing as she spoke. Oz couldn't help smiling at this. He always loved this part of her.
"Hey Oz! Get your head out of the clouds! If you don't we will miss breakfast!"
Oz looked up startled to find that Alice had already charged off to the end of the hall. He shook his head smiling. It served him right for becoming so easily distracted. At once he ran after her calling out, "Alice wait for me!"
.oOo.
Oz sat at the table with Break, Sharon, Gilbert, and Alice. An awkward silence hung over them as they all continued to eat their food in an uneasy silence. Even Break was reading the atmosphere for once and stayed completely quiet. Alice kept shooting looks at him while she ate as though she worried about Oz. Sharon of course looked as always, completely relaxed and drinking tea, her attitude made it seem as though she couldn't feel the tension at all. Gilbert just sat and stared at his plate without making a move to eat. Finally it became unbearable to Oz whom was struggling as it was to pretend nothing was amiss with him.
"Hey Gil are you going to eat that?" he blurted out. Gil simply looked at him slowly, as though having difficulty tearing his eyes away from something important.
"No. Why do you want it?" Gil answered slowly, his eyes still lost deep in thought.
"I only wanted the meat to give to Alice. She has been sneaking glances at it for the last five minutes and I guessed she wanted it. Knowing you, even if she asked for it nicely, you would probably say no," That seemed to snap Gil out of his funk.
"What? You make it sound like I'm a heartless jerk that would go out of my way to be cold to that Stupid Rabbit!" Gil growled his eyes bright and alert for the first time all morning.
"I am just saying that you wouldn't likely give it to her if she asked directly, you can interpret it any way you like," Oz said mischievously before rising.
"Anyway I am done. Hey Alice let's get out of here before Break decides to give us another job!" Oz grabbed Alice's hand and started pulling her with him.
"Don't think you can get out of work that easily, Oz-boy," Break said with a smirk as Oz pulled Alice out of the room.
.oOo.
The doors closed behind them as they left. The second they got outside Oz crept back to the door and put his ear against it.
"What are you doing Oz?" Alice asked softly, her hands on her hips.
"Shhh! I might be able to find out what is wrong with Gil if I stay. The only reason I made such a deal of our exit was so that he would think we were gone for good." Oz whispered back to her. That earned Oz a sigh in return as Alice came to listen with him.
"I am not sure what to make of anything. Jack being the one who really started the tragedy of Sablier and killed Glen whom was my master… All I know is that Jack cannot be trusted! I will surely kill him for good when I get the chance," Gil's muffled voice sounded through the wood. Oz pressed his ear closer to better hear the reply.
"But you could easily solve the entire problem if you killed Oz whom Jack resides in," Break spoke coolly.
"N-no way! Oz has nothing to do with it! It is not his fault that Jack did those things! It would not be right to punish him for what was caused by another!" Gil snapped back.
Oz struggled to hold in the laughter. How would Gil react if he knew that Oz has as much to do with the tragedy of Sablier than Jack?
"If you intend to wait out Jack, how do you wish to deal with the contract? Seeing as Oz will be dragged down into the Abyss eventually, what will you do if you did not have enough time to do so?"
"It is up to Oz what he does about the contract. I could easily kill the chain and end the contract, but Oz would be upset. It is up to Oz how he wishes to handle that Stupid Rabbit. That is all there is to it. Now unless you wish to stay here talking all day we better get going,"
As Gil finished Oz rose silently and, tapping Alice on the arm, began to run down the hall with her following close behind. As he ran he couldn't help, but wonder would Gil call him "Stupid Rabbit" too when he learned the truth?
