Chapter 6

Gilbert looked up when someone one knocked on his bedroom door. Hurriedly, he pulled on his pants and coat and remained silent.

"Gil~bertttt!" Vincent's voice was muffled as he wrapped his knuckles against the door again. Gilbert growled softly under his breath. He had woken up feeling like complete and utter shit and he was not in the mood for whatever his brother wanted with him. He smirked when he saw the doorknob jiggle as Vincent tried to get inside.

"In a minute." He replied, not trying to keep the tone out of his voice. Apparently it didn't work as well as he had planned, because then he heard another voice thought the door.

"Oh my," said the other in a sing-song tone. "Someone's a little grouchy~"

Gilbert froze. He knew that voice. Its owner was the one who had brought him here. He went over and unlocked the door. Vincent opened it and sure enough there was Break, waving at him from over the blonde's head.

"Thank you for escorting me here." Break said, stepping around Vincent to stand in the doorway. "But I will need to speak with Gilbert, privately."

Before he or Vincent could do anything, Break was shoving Gilbert back into the room and shutting the door behind him. It locked with a soft click.

"What the hell was that for?!" Gilbert exclaimed. He had to support himself with one arm on the desk to keep from toppling over backwards completely. Why was to so hard for him to stand up?

Completely ignoring the question, Break brushed himself off and adjusted the little blue doll named Emily on his shoulder while he muttered to himself under his breath. "Stupid little brat… Still so young and already I can barley stand him."

Gilbert raised an eyebrow at these half-heard curses coming from the one-eyed man in front of him. He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could get the words out, Break looked up at him and grinned in his usual way.

Just like Sebastian… Gilbert was startled with the sudden thought of his butler. He had just remembered his existence. Where was he any way? He was there last night and…

Last night. He remembered soft lips over his, a warm body, pleasure, and then… Gilbert shook his thoughts aside. He had not heard all of what Break as been saying.

"-hadn't written in a while."

"What?" Gilbert asked. Break chuckled and strode easily past him to sit on the edge of Gilbert's bed. "I was saying how worried I was about you. You have not written to me in a while." He covered his mouth with his overly-baggy sleeve and looked away, pouting playfully. "Could it be that Raven's contractor has forgotten me already? So cruel~"

Gilbert did not respond, but sunk down on the bed next to Break. Break tilted his head to the side with his sleeve still covering his mouth. "Huh? Raven?"

"It's nothing." Gilbert said flatly. "I've been busy." He got the feeling that that had been the wrong thing to say around his guy after he said it.

"Or really?" Said the silver-haired man next to him. He reached over and Gilbert's eyes widened slightly when he felt fingers under his chin and then Breaks face was hovering inches away from his own. There was a teasing, mocking twinkle in his red eye that made Gilbert recoil. "Now I just feel left out."

"G-get away from me!" Gilbert stammered, edging quickly away from Break. Break chuckled, but complied and leaned back. "Still have that nasty habit of stuttering, I see. How old are you now? Fifteen? Sixteen?"

"Seventeen." Gilbert growled. Break's visible eyebrow shot up in surprise.

"Really? Well, time does fly." He seemed to be talking more to himself than Gilbert. Break look down at his feet, which were swinging too and fro where they hung over the side of the bed.

He took the chance of silence to get his thoughts in order. Yes, he had intended to write to Break, but that did not stop his appearance from startling him a little. And where the hell was Sebastian? Wait… Why did he care? Just habit, he guessed. Sebastian had been glued to his side since he got here… When had that been? A few days? A week? He wasn't sure.

I need to talk to him about last night. He reminded himself. Again, he had made himself seem to vulnerable to the sly butler, and again he had lived to regret it. Lived? Gilbert almost laughed at his own foolishness. He didn't really think Sebastian would do anything as drastic as killing him.

The sound of a gun shot… blood…

Then he remembered why last night had even happened in the first place.

Oz…Gilbert remembered the nightmare at if it had happened in reality.

No.

No, he himself was the monster, not Sebastian. (No matter how creepy he was)

Again there was a knock at the door, and again he looked up. Break did too.

"Young master?"

The calm, cool voice of Sebastian, muffled by the wooden door as Vincent's and Break's had been only a few moments ago, was accompanied by another soft knock. All function in Gilbert's brain stopped. Break would never let him live this down if he found out. He had to say something before-

"Come iiinnnn~!"

Damnit.

Gilbert turned his head the glare at Break's curious expression as the tall butler dressed in black stepped through the door. He was grinning as usual, and his red eyes held Gilbert's in a way that made Gilbert want to look away. But he pushed that part of him aside. He had to be strong now.

Sebastian looked slightly surprised as his eyes moved from Gilbert's to Breaks, who met his gaze with the same calm, cold superiority.

"I'm deeply sorry, Young master." Said Sebastian, turning back to look at Gilbert. "I was not informed that you were having a guest today."

"Neither was I." Gilbert growled under his breath as he glared at Break again. Break, on the other hand, did not seem to notice the eerie aura that surrounded Sebastian. On the contrarily, he seemed to be enjoying himself, kicking his feet back and forth more forcefully than before.

"Hello there." Break said, completely ignoring Gilbert's frantic jesters to shut up. "And… you might be?"

"My name is Sebastian Mechealis. I am Young master's servant to do with as he pleases."

Was he talking about what had happened during the night?! Why?! He was supposed to be in charge of Sebastian, not the other way around! Gilbert shivered and hoped that Break had not taken the last part in the wrong way.

"Ohhhhh~" Break said, turning his one-eye closed grinning face to Gilbert. "Your own servant, Raven. Someone seems to be enjoying himself."

"I-What?! No! I-it wasn't my idea!"

There you go again, blabbering on like an idiot, he scolded himself. Suddenly, he realized that these two people were not the best to be alone in a room together much less alone in a room with him inside.

It only made matters worse when Break moved closer to him and ran a finger along his jaw, smiling all the while. "Now I really am jealous. Raven has gotten so handsome over the years."

"Didn't I already tell you to stop?!"

"So, what's the real reason for why you came here?" Gilbert asked Break after he had asked Sebastian to give them some privacy. Break was kicking his feet back and forth like before, and his neck seemed to give way as he lazily looked up at the ceiling. At least, from where Gilbert was sitting, that was what it looked like he was going. He didn't know what he found more unnerving about the man; his one eye missing or the random chunk of silver hair that hid the empty eye socket from view. He could never tell what Break was really doing.

Break let out a sigh before speaking: "Like I said before, I had not heard from you in a while, and I was getting worried that the Baskervill's had found out about our little plan and killed you to get you out of the way. What an unconvince that would be, eh?"

"Hm." Gilbert nodded.

Baskerville. The very people that sent Oz down to Abyss, where he might never see him again. He wondered if Oz was even still alive.

Of course he is! Gilbert thought. Stop thinking so negatively, Gil! The last part sounded like Oz's voice.

"So," Break said in a tone that was as lazy as his posture, "I'm surprised you have not asked about your precious master yet. Or has being a master knocked him out of your head?"

"You shut up." Gilbert snapped at him, his anger rising to full tide in his chest. "No one will ever replace Oz." Especially not Sebastian. He was glad that the butler was gone from his sight.

Break chuckled. "I thought you might say that. Then, will it bother you to say that we have encountered a minor set back?"

"What?" After all this time… It had been three years since that day. Gilbert's heart pounded as his mind flew to the worst of scenarios. The silver-haired man looked over at him just at that moment and smirked. "Don't you worry yourself." He cooed. "Dear little Oz is still alive."

Gilbert let out a sigh of relief. "Then, what was this 'minor set back'?"

Break looked thoughtful for a moment, and then huffed in frustration as he reached into his coat and pulled out a piece of hard candy, popping it into his mouth. His left cheek bulged outward when it was pushed aside so that he could speak.

"The little brat keeps moving."

"That's not his fault!" Gilbert said as he barred his teeth. That was becoming a new habit of his lately, one he would surly pay for with a broken tooth later on in his life. "Abyss is full of portals; he might have just fallen into one."

Poor Oz. Gilbert knew that Oz would not be scared, since he was one to except every situation he was in no matter how scary it was. That fact alone was not enough to stop him from worrying about his friend.

With a particularly loud crack followed by chewing and gulping down the piece of candy, now pieces, Break fell back onto Gilbert's bead with his arms spread out, his feet kicking in midair in the slow, almost rhythmic pace that they had been when he was sitting up. "Yeah, but now we have no idea where he might be. It might take another year to find the little brat, and that's if he stays in the same place."

"Don't tell me you're going to give up on him." Gilbert growled. Break's feet froze in their position as he raised his head to look at Gilbert. "Of course not. Sadly enough we need him in order to stop the Baskerville's."

"Damn right you do." Gilbert muttered under his breath. He didn't really know what he meant by the words, they just sounded right. "And stop calling him a little brat." Gilbert added, looking over his shoulder at Break.

He propped himself up on his elbows and grinned at Gilbert.

There was a moment's pause, and then out of the blue, the Mad Hatter got up off Gilbert's bed and started walking towards the door.

"You're leaving already?" Gilbert asked. Break might not be the nicest person in the world to be around, (would you even call that guy a 'person'?) but still, Gilbert did not want to be left alone in this place.

Break turned around and grinned widely at Gilbert's expression.

"No, no. Telling you about the 'minor set back' was not my real reason for coming here."

"What was it, then?"

"Welllll……~" Break dragged on. Emily had been quiet this entire time, but he guessed she had been waiting for this moment:

"It's Master Vincent's birthday today!"

"WHAT?!"

_______

A/N: Hello again, readers! Sorry it took so long for me to update. I know it's not much, but I promise you there will be more coming by the end of the weekend.

As far as the story goes, there will EVENTUALLY be a plot line to follow, but for now, enjoy the random shit that I deside to throw in there.

Thank you so much for reading!

~Thorn of the Rose

P.S: And I promise the next chapter will be better written than this one. I've been suffering from cronic writers block for weeks. xP