what had happened in ace's absence:

" if it makes him happy, keep up the good work!" ace bolted to the door so that he wouldn't get hit with anything by julius and left with a wink.

alice had a deep blush on her face, as did the clockmaker that she was still clinging to. after a couple long seconds, she released that she had never let go of julius. she swung her hands off of his and clasped her hands behind her, taking a step back. julius turned to face her, a bit of pink still coloring his face.

"that guy…." julius sighed with a look of jeez.

"ha…. yay" alice replied, bringing her hand up to rub the back of her neck as she tried not to look at the man before her. as she pulled her hand back down, it grazed the small clock still dangling from her ear." oh, I'm sorry, i guess i should give this back now." she unclipped the odd fashion statement from her lobe and approached julius. his face grew hot again as she leaned agents him so that she could get high enough to replace the earring to its rightful home."there, you don't look quit yourself without it! wouldn't want you missing your signature peace!" she exalted happily as she lowered her self back down and took a small step back.

he smiled down at her, face still slightly pink from the blush, and cupped her face in his hand."thank you." he leaned down and kissed her gently on the forehead. " and i think that its time for you to have a signature peace of your own."

" wha?"

"well, think about it. everyone in this country has something thats specific to them. ace has his sward, eliot his scarf, boris the boa, and even peter with his pocket watch."

" and you don't think that my dress is signature enough?"

" no, you don't were it all the time. only most of it. this has to be something that your never seen without." he said with a particularly bored tone of voice. his features softened once more as he put his hand in his pocket and dug around for a bit before bringing out a closed fist. " and besides, it would be nice if that something turned out to be a gift from the man that loves you." he blushed age an at his own words and slowly opened his hand.

alice gazed down at the object that resined there (blushing herself) and a look of compleat blissful happiness washed over her face, replacing the expression of confusion. "oh, its lovely!" she picked it up by the black ribbon it was attached to and dangled it in front of her face. it was a small opaque blue stone that was cut and smoothed out into the shape of a heart. surrounding the heart were small gears, watch springs, swirls of metal, and a chain that hung down to enhance the presence of the key that was situated to the base of the heart. all in all, it was beautiful, and alice loved it. as she continued to investigate charm, she noticed that on the back of the heart there were swooping and elegant initials that read J.M.

a/n:

yes, I'm trying to describe the charm in the picture up top. i do not own it or the design. i just found it on google (interesting what you can find when you search 'blue hearts')

" julius….. julius, did you make this?"

" that is irrelevant. do you like it?"

" of corse i like it! but i would like it more if you had made it…"

" then yes, i made it"

" how do i know your not just telling me that?"

he looked over at his desk. the spot directly in front of where he worked was covered in a fine bleu dust. she looked back up at him after letting the meaning sink in. " that heart wasn't easy to form…" he muttered (mostly to himself) as he rubbed the back of his neck and looked down at the new bandage on his left hand.

"julius! you didn't have to hurt yourself over me!"

"…..id do anything for you…" he looked directly at his shoes as he quietly (inaudibly if the room hadn't been silent) said the super sweet corny line. he started to blush a vibrant red (funny how often she made him do that). the room contiued its absence of sound for a few long seconds. alice just couldn't look away from his face as he couldn't look away from his shoes. the shiny black reflected his eyes back up at him. a sad thought echoed though his head at the sight of them. they were so unlike her's. her eyes always held something meaningful, something that he always wanted to see. he thought more about her as he continued to stair into his own eyes. so unkind, so unchanging, so cold, so- wait. their it was. that something he had seen many times in alice's eyes. so small in comparison, but there non the less. he saw it, the tiny, little flicker of something other than what his eyes usually held. what was it? love… no, it was more than that. even greater than that of which everyone else has for her. so much greater.

he finally shifted his case back up at her. she was awestruck. she had always thought that his eyes were beautiful, but now, now that they held that precious emotion, they were gorgeous. " alice, may i?" he asked as he took the necklace out of her hands. she fervently shook her head before turning around and pulling her hair off her neck. she turned back around after julius had clasped the latch in place, allowing him to see the outcome of his work. the chain was short so shen it was situated properly by alice, the charm fit perfectly in-between her collarbones. " how do i look?" she ask nervously after a second of julius staring at her. " like the most beautiful thing in the world" julius breathed as he took in the flu sight of her from head to toe. she laughed. hard. julius's face turned to shock, then hurt, then something that held a little amount of despair.

happy tears of laughter flowed down her cheeks as she tried to calm herself. " i asked what i looked like, not you! hahaha!"

"me!?"

" of course!" she sang as she happily skipped up to him and gave him a bear hug. she cought a glimpse of the jacket she was still wearing and quickly took it off and held it out to him.

"alice… you are sorely mistaken if you think that anything is more attractive than what I'm looking at right now." he took the coat from her and through it over to the desk, sending blue dust flying. she looked at him with inquisitive eyes " what are you doing?" she was slightly exasperated as he chuckled before giving out a low sigh. " oblivious as always, troublesome girl."

"?" she was very confused. julius took one step closer and put his hands on her small shoulders. it was now extremely evident to alice that she still didn't have proper clothes on. even more so evident of julius's procsimity. he took a last step forward pressing his body to her's as his hands drifted down to the crook of her back. she got it now. and boy how she got it now!

"oh…"

"yes, oh, silly girl. do you object to this?"

a devilish smile spread its way onto her face. " and why would i do something like that?" she replied as she hooked her fingers into his belt loops and tuned his hips just that much closer to her. she had never denied julius of what he asked for, why start now? could she start now? no, she couldn't. its not that julius would force her or anything, she knew he would stop if she asked him to, but she herself would not allow her to say no. she wanted this just as badly (if not more so) as the mortician.

a/n:

i think that ill just let your imaginations run wild for what happens next. *wink* plus its midnight and I'm / $#%?^&* tiered! ant i a stinker? muahahahah!

ace prov

no matter how much he hated to ask for directions, and he really did, he just had to make it back on time. he trudged his way back up the stone steps. it took him a wile, but he was eventually able to find the door to the undertaker's office. he sighed once again before he opened the door and stepped inside.

" hay you guys, i forgot how to-….!"

his jaw fell completely off its hinges. he was now staring at the most unexpected and neurotic thing he had ever seen. alice was pressed up against the wall by julius's hips. her legs were raped around him as he had his face smooshed into alice's. she was softly moaning into the very heated kiss as her arms were hung over his shoulders and her nails dug fearsly into julius's shirtless back. his arms in turn were on the wall, one with his palm pressed to it and elbow bent beside him, and the other was completely against it with a clenched first hanging over them. the only thing that clothed alice was a necklace, julius's hair (that was untied and cascading over them) and julius himself. he was in nothing but unbuttoned pants. julius gave one last groan before there heads shaped to the door. both pairs of eyes flew wide.

a/n:

ok, i sorta lied about that imagination thing…. sorta….. well what ever! back to the fabulousness that is the acquired part in the story! i love writing acquired scenes XD

"god damit ace!" julius yelled as he turned to cover more of alice with himself. her legs immediately dropped from him as she desperately tried to barry herself in his chest, wanting nothing more than to disappear. her wish was all but granted as julius rapped his arms around her. he had somehow gotten a hold of his shirt that must have been on the floor near by and put it over her. she slipped her arms into the sleeves and pulled the front all the way around her. it looked like she was in some sort of short white kimono the way she had it, her arms acting as the belt. julius opened the door that was beside them and gently shoved her through it.

"weren't you leaving!?" exclaimed a red in the face julius.

"weren't you?" ace replied with that kooky, irritating grin. julius blushed all the more.

"y-yes!" fuck! now I'm stuttering! he clenched his fists at his side and began to will the color away.(yes, he was that good at hiding his emotions and had so much self control that if he concentrated hard enough he could literally will blushes and the likes away)regaining his composure, he walked back over to his desk and slipped the jacket resting there over his shoulders and sat down.

" so much for going to the amusement park, hu?"

"shut up ace"

"you shut up, i want to talk about this!"

"...leave"

" i will when you do!" he said with another wink.

"I'm going to kill you tomorrow"

" all the more resin for me to have my fun and teas you today!"

" alice!? are you going to be ready soon?"

" how can i be!? this is the kitchen!" came a muffled voice from behind the door.

"would you like me to bring you some clothes?"

"yes! immediately please!"

julius rushed up to her room and back in only a couple of seconds. he knocked on the kitchen door, idly wondering why his kitchen has a door, and was soon given enterence. ace was watching the whole procession with that cocky grin."so, should i be expecting a wait? i could always come back another time, heh heh. you should have put a hat on the door, i would have coght your drift if you know what i mean." julius exited the room (now fully clothed) and started looking around his desk for something, trying his hardest to ignore the knight still standing in the doorway. " what are you doing? lost something?" ace got his answere as julius pulled a light blue corset out from under the desk. ace could only clamp his hand over his mouth in an effort to supres his mirth. it worked, to an extent, as he watched the clockmaker hand alice (who was hided behind the open door) the corset. julius couldn't concentrate very well on anything at the moment so when he finally acknowledged ace with a deadly glare, he looked almost as red as my nail polish(witch is a very pretty blood color). ace couldn't hold back any longer. he collapsed onto the floor, tears runing down his face, as he burst into horrendous laughter.