This is my first attempt at a Heart no Kuni no Alice fanfiction and pairing so I hope I did the characters justice. I absolutely love the dynamic between Ace and Julius. It's such a strong friendship that even without turning it into a pairing, it's a satisfying pair of characters to write. However, I did explore them as a pairing and I was pretty inspired as was my muse who created this little scenario. I fear Julius may be a bit OOC but the circumstances of this fic hopefully justify that a bit. If not, I apologize but this fic wasn't working any other way.

This is unbeta'd so please alert me to any mistakes I may have made, please. I do not own anything but the plot.

Please enjoy.

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~Help Me Hear My Heart~

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Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock

Pale fingers picked up a delicate piece of equipment and with the easy precision that he had honed as his task of role-holder dictated, Julius pieced together the clock in front of him. Scattered parts and tools lay on the workshop table in chaotic organization that he had no trouble navigating through. He didn't even have to look away from the clock's inner workings to pick up the object he needed next. Hour upon hour he poured into the clocks. Checking one mechanism of its workings and then rechecking. Completing another step and repeating the checking process again. He had never erred before but the last thing he needed to happen was for a clock to malfunction because of the one time he hadn't checked.

Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock

Julius held up another finished clock and rotated it. It reflected the soft light of the lamps mounted on his office walls beautifully on its smooth glossy surfaces. Satisfied with its completion, he set it down in the third row of five clocks; fifteen in total. Julius sighed softly, rubbing the bridge of his nose as he leaned back and desperately tried to ignore the ache in his shoulders that he had been able to ignore while working. He had been working for nearly twenty hours straight without pause. Not as long as some other occasions –not nearly as long- but it was still a hefty amount of time without a single break.

Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock

Julius lowered his hand and looked up, staring out at his empty office with weary eyes. Uncrowded except for a few chairs, his desk, a couple of bookcases, a table in the center of the room, a wardrobe behind his desk, and a few dressers that he kept various tools, parts, or other likewise items in, his office was empty. Others had mentioned -Ace and Alice- that his office was boring. Though he protested generally to such comments, it was times like these that he knew to some extent they were right. Empty, boring, barren of life, but the worst label that Julius could conjure for his own home was… silent.

In all its floors of rooms and hallways the Clock Tower was silent. It was the worst thing he could think of but not because of silence itself. If the Clock Tower were just quiet then Julius would not think twice about it, perhaps even compliment it that way. Unfortunately that was not the case. The silence made a noise usually so soft, loud and maddening.

Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock

The clocks. The duty of his role and ruler of his life. The ticking of each clock in his home vibrated in the air, plaguing him with their near-silent noise. They never ceased. Of course they didn't, it was his duty to repair them if they did. Clocks, clocks, clocks… was it possible for one to go mad because of such an insignificant thing as the ticking of a clock? He had lived like this for so long, why was it that the sound was haunting him now. Years must have gone by since he began his work but it was only recently that some unknown barrier had crumbled and subjected him to the echoing, ceaseless ticking.

Perhaps that wasn't the problem though. Perhaps it was not so much that the clocks he repaired were ticking that bothered him but the fact that he couldn't hear his own. Julius pressed an uneasy hand against his chest, directly in the center where his clock tie lay in parallel with the clock that kept him moving. He had no heart… no one here did; they had clocks. A heartbeat was a 'tick-tock' for the people here. So he could not reassure himself with feeling his clock like Outsiders could. He had to reassure himself with the sound of his clock… which he could not hear.

Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock

Subconsciously his breathing slowed.

And he listened… and still couldn't hear it. But he had to hear it! If it wasn't ticking, then…

More and more, he slowed his breathing, pouring his attention inward at the source of his panic.

Panic? Yes, that is what he could call this sensation. The suddenly painful grip he was subjecting himself too by his own hand as though he could expose his clock by digging deeper in to his skin and then, then he could hear it.

Julius felt a tight pressure in his throat, spreading through his chest as he desperately tried to distinguish the ticking of his clock against the numerous others in his office, in the Clock Tower, in the entire Country. Was he even breathing anymore? He didn't think so but he didn't have to breathe right now… not yet. He was still listening. If he could just manage to hear it, then he could-

"Julius! Sorry I'm late!"

Air slammed into his lungs like a bullet and Julius blinked, clearing away the black hazes in his vision he hadn't even noticed appearing. Stunned and more than a little dizzy, he stared at the rambunctious being called Ace. The knight merrily slipped into his office with a familiar go-lucky smile. He was speaking… but Julius couldn't hear him.

Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock

He inhaled sharply, throat still tight and flexing painfully, as crimson eyes fell on him with some unreadable emotion that did not match the glee on his face. Julius struggled to regain his breathe as Ace approached, still smiling and still watching him with that odd look in his eyes.

"You still working?" Ace questioned, planting two hands on his desk. Julius found himself looking at the fingers splayed on his desk, calloused and deadly. Yet they took care to not hit any of the parts that lay hairbreadths away from them. One of the hands formed a fist and drummed against the surface of his desk, the sudden noise jerking his narrow focus outward again. "Are you still working, Julius?"

"…Yes." He answered though he would be hard-pressed to say it was anything but a rasp of a whisper.

Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock

"Did you know it's nighttime right now?" Ace asked as soon as Julius had spoken.

Dizzy but finding Ace's eyes again, Julius answered again, "No."

"Hmm, I didn't think so. Hey guess what?"

"…What?"

Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock

"I managed to piss off Elliot on my way here. Know why?"

"No…"

Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock

Julius listened to a dramatic tale, each word spilling from Ace's lips a ringing sound that filled Julius' ears. On occasion, Ace would ask him a question and Julius would answer and then the tale would continue. And as Julius listened, he realized that with the silence broken the sound of the ticking had broken as well. He couldn't hear it anymore.

But…

Tick Tock

Julius' breathing stopped for an entirely different reason this time. The ticking was back… but this time it was from inside of him. Julius loosened the grip of his hand slowly, letting it fall into his lap as the sound of his clock ticked away, soothing his panic and allowing the tenseness in his body to relax.

It took him a minute or two of listening to the sound of his clock to realize that Ace had stopped talking. It took him another few seconds to realize that his eyes were closed to enhance the ability of hearing and that his breathing while leveled out was still slightly impaired though this time it was not of his own doing. A firm pair of lips were pressed against his and when Julius' eyes opened at that realization, he saw deep pools of crimson and nothing else. Except for that glimmer of emotion he could not classify earlier. The pressure was removed and, relaxed, secure, Julius breathed in and out. Then he pushed up his glasses and asked calmly,

"What exactly was that for?"

Ace's smirk didn't waver and he laughed lowly. Julius prepared himself for some sort of mocking idiocy at the sound of it. Then Ace's smirk melted into a smile, "Feel better now, Julius?"

When the knight left a few seconds later it was at a giggling run to escape a thrown screwdriver by a furiously blushing Clock Maker; a certain Clock Maker who couldn't contain the smile from appearing on his lips and the blissful sigh that followed as he sat down to work again, the sound of his clock ticking in his mind and body soothingly.

"Idiot..."

So yes, just a little one-shot (since apparently anything over 100 words is not a drabble but this isn't very long either...) of my two favorite characters in Heart no Kuni no Alice.

Review please?