Chapter Title: Minuet

Chapter Description: Preparations for the school's masquerade ball are underway, but Elliot is sure that he's not going. That is, until, he has a few unexpected visitors in his life…

A/N: Lack. Of. Updates. I apologize. School is hard. Way hard. However, I thank everyone kindly for the fantastic feedback I've been getting. It really does brighten my day to see your—usually—sweet words. Anyhow, not much to report except I've switched the spelling of 'Eliot' to 'Elliot'. Things have changed since this was last updated. Things. Have. Changed. This is the second to last chapter, by the by. The next one will be the final; it will be long. Be prepared.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pandora Hearts, its characters or anything affiliated with it.

…

There were moments when Elliot wrote music where he thought that the world stopped in order for him to do it. In the time that he returned from the skiing trip to the day that the families of students came, Elliot was filled with such inspiration that—with the exception of classes and the occasional meal—he sat in his room and wrote. Time seemed irrational; it seemed like it didn't matter at all.

Elliot's parents weren't coming to parents' week.

He had nothing against them for it; he knew that since they were such important people that they had more important things to do then to come visit their son and listen to the principal of his school make about eighty long, boring speeches then watch a polo game that the school would lose and eat mediocre cafeteria food after that. In fact, it was almost a relief that his parents would not be coming. That way he would not have to lose valuable time where he could be working or writing music on showing them around and explaining to them that yes, he could have friends, but no, he just didn't want them.

"Elliot, dinner will be over in a half hour." Reo entered without knocking as he usually did. "You should probably go get something to eat." Elliot sighed; the bastard made Elliot lose his concentration at a pivotal point in his composition. If he were to be distracted now for the sake of a meal, how was he ever going to get this bass line to flow correctly with the melody?

The artist's temperament is one that is very volatile. One moment an artist can be as happy as a metaphorical clam, but the next the artist can be as enraged as Vesuvius when it exploded over Pompeii and Pliny the Elder. However, Elliot did not display the usual artist's temperament. Instead he was apt to explode ninety percent of the time, to be sarcastic for seven percent of it and to smile for three of it. That made for rather bad odds for anyone to catch him in a good mood. Reo was all too used to that already. That was why it came as no shock when Elliot took the Vesuvius route.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Elliot shouted at his friend, throwing his pencil across the room. Luckily for Reo, Elliot was not a javelin thrower and the pencil missed his head by a good six inches. It did, however, get stuck in the wall where it hit, making Reo wonder what sort of injury he would have sustained had the pencil actually made its target. "You've broken my concentration."

"You know, Elliot…" There was something teasing in Reo's voice that Elliot did not like. In fact, that look only came when Reo knew something that would make Elliot completely and utterly miserable. Elliot narrowed his eyes, ready for battle. "Ada Vessalius is sitting at a table alone down there, writing something or another. Maybe you ought to go keep her company."

A frown formed on Elliot's features. That wasn't the sort of comment that he had been expecting, especially not from Reo. Something dark came to mind, but he shook it away. The Nightray house was noble, the Vessalius were cowards. There was no reason that he should have felt anything but hatred when he heard her name. "So?" he asked, finally, after what seemed like forever. Or at least long enough for Reo to confirm what he had suspected all along.

Reo shrugged. "I thought that you would be curious. The two of you haven't talked since you were locked outside together. I thought that maybe-"

"Can't you see I'm busy, Reo?" he muttered, looking back down at his music. "Go do some homework or something and leave me alone."

Elliot didn't scream. He didn't throw a fit and push Reo out of the room. As he walked out, Reo couldn't help but to smile a bit. Maybe Elliot didn't want to admit it, but something had happened out there on the ski trip. Something that would probably change Elliot for the better, if he let it.

…

Vincent Nightray was, had been, and always would be a creep. Ada Vessalius, however, never saw him like that. "He's an angel," she told her friends when they asked about the flowers and mask that she had received. "Just the kindest guy in the world." Any jealousy that her friends might have had towards her because of the special attentions of Elliot Nightray was now gone; since Ada had a secret boyfriend, she was no longer a threat.

It just so happened that at the same time that Ada was extolling the virtues of her unnamed boyfriend, a certain other Nightray came down to the cafeteria with pages of music to see if, maybe, a certain girl wanted to come listen to the song that he had composing. Without being seen, he swallowed his pride and walked back up to his room.

He couldn't write another note of music all night.

…

Ada's parents weren't coming to parent's week, either. Of course, her mother was dead and her father was too busy. Uncle Oscar would have come, but something came up at the last moment that kept him away. That meant that Ada was to be alone until Vincent came to the masquerade ball. Her friends all had their parents and of course she would never want to intrude upon their families. So she was to be alone with her thoughts. Normally that would have been nice, but lately—since the ski trip, actually—they had been more turbulent and strange than she would have liked.

Alone, she decided to take a walk through the mostly abandoned gardens of the campus. It wasn't the right time of year for the flowers to be in bloom, so most of the students didn't bother taking their parents to see it. However, there was something calming about the place to Ada; something that she couldn't put her finger on. When she was feeling badly, she went there frequently. Maybe it reminded her of her uncle a bit. Or at least of her home.

But this time, even the lonely garden could not console her. There was something missing, even in the crisp air and fallen leaves that usually calmed her so well. Worry clouded her mind. With Vincent coming so soon, she knew that she should be happy, but all she could feel was dread. And the thought that worried her the most came to the front of her mind. The thought that she did not want to see Vincent. "That's silly," she told herself. "I love him." At least, she thought that she did. "But…" she whispered, her voice no louder than the wind blowing around her.

"Ada Vessalius?" She jumped; frightened that someone had overheard her small conversation with herself. "What are you doing here? Don't you have some Vessalius scum to entertain?" It wasn't said with the usual malice as it usually had, but Ada could have picked out the voice anywhere.

"Elliot?" She perked up immediately, running over to Elliot, who was now standing at the gate of the garden. "It's you!" She grinned; she couldn't help it. It seemed like it had been forever since they had seen each other. She had seen him one day in the dining hall, but he had left so suddenly that she hadn't had a chance to say hello.

She could understand why he was avoiding her, he really could. After the incident on the ski trip, the entire school was buzzing about how they were seeing each other secretly. To want to keep a low profile was understandable. Completely understandable. And she had been telling herself that the entire week. But it felt so good to see him. Better than she had felt in a long time.

With the way that she had bounded over to him, Elliot was sure that she was going to hug him or something. Like she had done on the ski trip. He took a step back. "I should go," he said, regretting speaking out in the first place. He was an idiot; he knew that she went out here on a regular basis. He could see this place from his dorm window and would sometimes see her bouncing blonde hair out of the corner of his eye—no one else at school had a mane like that—on a nice day. But today was not a nice day; he had not thought that she would be here. He was just looking for somewhere to go away from the kids and their parents where he could think.

"No, don't go!" she said, her eyes growing wide. "It… It seems like we haven't seen each other in forever." Since the ski trip, she added in her mind. Since I touched you.

Elliot didn't move; he wanted to move, but he didn't move. He looked over at a pile of golden leaves at the edge of the walkway. "Where is your family?" he asked. Kinder than calling them scum, at least. That was the least he could do, wasn't it? She did seem honestly happy to see him. Surprising, since she had some sort of secret boyfriend.

She smiled, but there was something sad about it; it was half-filled. "No one could come." The false grin faded. "You?" she asked.

He shrugged as nonchalantly as he could. "My parents are too busy and my sister couldn't leave her own school to come here." He looked over at a tree where a bluebird was calling to his mate. "But I have Reo; he's the only family who I really need."

"I could be your family," Ada said, thinking this a bright idea. "And you could be mine. We could walk around all weekend and pretend to be interested in what our teachers have to say and…" she trailed off, seeing that Elliot wasn't as enthused as she was. "Sorry, Elliot, I think I just got a little ahead of myself. I just thought—"

"You're probably going to need to entertain that guy, won't you?" She looked at him with wide eyes. "I heard you talking to your friends. You've got some guy coming to the masquerade ball?"

He noticed that she didn't smile. "I guess so," she said. Then realizing what she had just said, she tried to rectify the situation. "But that doesn't mean that you and I—"

He took another step back. "I should go," he said, turning around all the way, knowing that he was not upset by this. He was not upset by the fact that Ada Vessalius—Vessalius scum—had a boy coming from God knows where to escort her to his school dance. That did not upset him at all, and was definitely not the reason that he was turning around and beginning to rush back to his dorm.

It was the inspiration for another movement in his piece that was the real push behind his sudden flight.

"Elliot?" she asked, hoping that he'd stop for her once again. To turn and smile and say that he'd love to play family and that they could hang out for the week and spend time together and make her feel as whole as she did when she was out freezing in the cold with him. But he didn't turn around. Instead he continued walking down that path back to the school. "Elliot, come back," she said, knowing that he wouldn't hear her.

Pushing forward as fast as he could, Elliot went back to his piano. The second movement was finished. Now onto the third. The minuet. The dance section. The dance section that would be like a bluebird singing forlornly for a woman who had left the nest and did not seem to be able to come back.

It was sadder than he had hoped it would be.

…

Vincent reached the school in plenty of time for the masquerade party that Ada had invited him too. Of course he had other things to do—planning with the Baskervilles was a full-time job—but to further his plans, he could afford this one night to play around with the emotions of the little Vessalius girl. It was nice to humor a girl once in a while. It kept them wanting more.

Of course, he needed an alibi as to why he was there. It wasn't as if he could tell people that he was going to go meet Ada. Oh no. He needed something better than that. That's when little Elliot came in handy.

When he knocked on his little brother's door, at first he got no response. The second time, the only noise that came from inside was that of the clanking of a piano. But the third time, Elliot's lazy servant deigned to open the door for him. "He… Hello?" he asked, adjusting his too-large glasses as he yawned. "What is it?" He paused. "Wait, why are you here?" he asked.

Vincent raised an eyebrow, but kept a smile on his face. "Can't an older brother come visit his younger brother during the week where families are supposed to visit?" He expected to be invited in. His expectations would go unanswered.

"You didn't write," Reo said, yawning again. "Elliot won't be pleased."

Vincent's mouth twitched with mild irritation. "Yes, well, I've been busy and I wanted this trip to be a surprise." The servant said nothing. "May I come in?"

The servant shrugged. "I guess so. Just be warned; Elliot's not in the mood to entertain and hasn't been all week." Since he had gone out for a walk a few days ago, Elliot had been in a sour mood. All he did—which actually wasn't that much different than when he was in a good mood—was mope and write music. Seeing Vincent probably wouldn't cheer him much, either.

Vincent refrained from rolling his eyes, though he felt quite close to. "I came all this way to see my darling younger brother and you're not letting me in to see him. I almost think that you're trying to do this on purpose to cause a rupture in the Nightray family. Are you?" Reo said nothing. "That's what I thought. Now I'll visit Elliot."

He barged past Reo and towards the noise of the clunking piano. "Brother?" he asked before barging in.

Elliot lifted his dejected head from the keys. "Who are…" He stopped short upon seeing Vincent. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Vincent smiled. He had not expected a warm welcome. It was nice to be right. "I came for your masquerade ball tonight. We got a letter a few weeks ago inviting the entire family to attend. Sadly, I am the only one who could come. Aren't you glad that someone could, though?"

"I'm not going to the masquerade," Elliot said, surprising himself. When had he decided that? "So enjoy yourself alone."

Vincent couldn't be more pleased with this turn of events. "What? You have no girl that you like, no—"

The slamming of the key cover of the piano cut Vincent short. "No. I don't have a girl," he hissed. "Because the only girl that I may possibly like has some freaky secret boyfriend who is coming to the masquerade ball to whisk her off her feet while I sit here and angst. Is that what you want to hear?" Elliot's fingers twitched; he hadn't meant to say all that, especially when it was lies. He had no feelings for Ada Vessalius; none at all.

"What an interesting turn of events," Vincent said, leaning against the wall furthest from Elliot. "I was not aware that I had any sort of competition."

Elliot looked up at his stepbrother for the first time. "What do you mean by that?"

Vincent smiled. "Say, Elliot, come to the masquerade tonight. We can see who will win, you or me. I'd say that you have a fare shot; I'd assume that you talk to her more and have less of an agenda than I do." His red eye flashed in the candlelight of the room. "Ada Vessalius isn't much of a catch, but the game may make the prize worth it."

While Elliot stared speechless, Vincent walked out of the room. He had to prepare, now. He hadn't come expecting war, but was glad to partake in the battle. Something to make the courtship a bit more worth it. And even if he lost, how much did he really lose? It seemed to him that Elliot had a lot more at stake than he did. So he would go back to the hotel room that he had and get prepared for the night. He had to win the damsel, and he couldn't do that in his traveling clothes.

"Elliot?" Reo asked when Vincent left. "Are you—"

"I need a mask," Elliot said, suddenly full of fire. "I need one now."

Reo, happy to see that his master had regained his spunk, was more than happy to oblige. "I actually already ordered one for you. It's been sitting on my nightstand for four days..."

"Good," Elliot said, breaking out a determined grin. "I have to go to a party tonight."

…

End of Chapter Three