Break's Day Off ~ Chapter Three
"My ladyyyy!~" Xerxes Break called, pushing aside the tablecloth. "I'm back!" He crawled from beneath the table and sat, gazing back and forth with his single blood red eye. Sharon Rainsworth appeared to be absent from the room. Break stood and straightened the black scarf around his neck. His footsteps were muffled by the burgundy carpet beneath his white boots as he made his way to the door. He turned the intricate handle and pushed the door open a bit. Break pressed the right side of his face to the crack in the door. He clutched Emily in his hand, holding the doll so she could see as well. His eye darted back and forth, searching for Sharon.
Break suddenly heard the girl's familiar laughter coming from another door down the hall. He opened the door he hid behind and slipped into the hallway, tiptoeing as he moved towards the other room. He stopped in front of the partially opened door, peering in to the room.
Sharon was seated at a small round table covered over with a tablecloth. A teapot, two tea cups, and a tray now only half filled with cookies sat on the tabletop. She was sitting with her back to him, her long blonde ponytail trailing over the back of the seat. Her hands were clasped in her lap, folded over the royal blue fabric of her dress. Break couldn't quite see her guest from his position; whoever it was had caused Sharon to begin laughing once again. He shifted himself and Emily so he and the wide-eyed doll could catch a glimpse of this humorous guest.
Break's jaw dropped to the floor when he saw Miss Rainsworth's company. It was none other than Alice, the Bloodstained Black Rabbit. What was Sharon doing with a chain? The two were even having tea! He watched in disbelief as the brown-haired girl gnawed incessantly on a jelly-filled cookie. The crumbs were falling all over her long, red jacket. Alice didn't appear to possess any sort of manners.
"So, Alice-san, I never thought you and Gilbert-kun would end up liking each other!" Sharon exclaimed, giggling.
The chain immediately began to choke. The cookie slipped from her hands, sending cookie and crumbs showering down on the carpet. She banged a gloved fist on the table. "Me and-" She broke off coughing. "-Seaweed Head?" Alice shouted. She stood, slammed both hands flat on the table, and leaned towards Sharon. "What the hell gave you that idea?"
Sharon dabbed at her lips with a cream-colored napkin. "The two of you are always arguing. Arguing usually means the two actually like each other," Sharon explained.
Alice's eye twitched. "The same could be said about me and that clowny bastard Break, if that's the case!" She roared.
"Oh my, so you like Xerx-nii-san, then, Alice-san?" Sharon put a hand to her mouth. Break raised an eyebrow. Did the chain really like him? He and Emily pressed their faces to the opening of the door, anticipating Alice's response.
"Please," Alice said, eye twitching. She appeared to be restraining herself. "It's obvious you like him, anyway. The way you're all-" Alice clasped her hands together, batting her eyelashes, and said in a mockingly sweet voice, "-'Oh, Xerx-nii-san, whatever would I do without you? Don't leave me because I'm weak and defenseless and need you to constantly save me!'" Her expression immediately reverted back to a narrow-eyed scowl.
Break blinked. He couldn't see Sharon's expression. But by the sound of her steely voice as she replied, he knew he didn't want to. "I don't know what you're talking about, Alice. I have never said those things."
Alice took a seat and crossed her arms. "Oh yeah? Well that's damn sure how it's been." Alice smirked. "What about that time I was possessing Oz's body and almost slit your throat with a knife? Break was the one who saved you."
Sharon opened her mouth to reply, but Alice cut her off.
"Or when that creep Vincent poisoned you?" the chain added. "Break had to come after you. And Echo was the one who saved the antidote for you. Face it, you always have to rely on other people, especially that bastard Break, to save your ass." A triumphant grin spread across Alice's face.
Break's single eye went wide. He stared in shock at Alice. Sharon's head was bowed, her hands clenched in her lap. Break's eye darted between the two, awaiting Sharon's reaction. The tension in the air was almost tangible.
And then, to break the silence, Emily exclaimed, "Ooh, catfight!"
Alice and Sharon both visibly stiffened. They slowly turned, eyes shooting lightning, to stare at the door. Break backed away, all color draining from his face. The two girls flung open the door to reveal Break cowering against the wall, a sheepish smile on his face, clutching Emily to his chest. Break gave a tiny wave. "Hello, my lady-"
"Break!" the girls screeched simultaneously. Break turned and high-tailed it down the hall way, his long white coat trailing behind him.
"Xerx-nii-san, you're dead!" Sharon called.
"You clowny bastard!" Alice yelled, bristling.
Xerxes Break burst through the door he had entered the hallway through and threw himself back beneath the table, disappearing from sight.