[tickinghearts]

rosepetalmafioso​:

It was a relief to see that she was still able to joke around after all that. Humor was always a welcome distraction in his book, even if it was at his own expense. He wouldn’t take offense if it was Alice. With a completely blank look, Blood slowly turns to her with his hands up, echoing the shape of claws.

“Blehhh,” he plays along. “…Now that you mention it…I’ll also need to find someone willing to lend me their neck. Would you be so kind to volunteer?” He winks, and his deadpan expression cracked for a moment.

But then she fell silent again, lost in her thoughts. What he wouldn’t give to know what she was thinking about. Was she worried for the others that were left behind? Was she thinking she was closer or even farther from home? Knowing her it was a world of worries.

“Me…? The Outsider?” Blood drawled, careful that he didn’t trip up or react too strongly. In the sudden flurry of memories it seemed that she still didn’t truly process what Vivaldi said to him outside of the carriage. With any hope it would stay that way. “I can see your point. It has been disconcerting to be in the minority here. I’d wager you can rest a little easier knowing you’re not the center of every Role Holder’s attention too…no longer caught up in our territory wars. For however long this shift lasts…”

Blood flicks his wrist in a blasé way. “But everything is temporary, so we should just have fun with it, don’t you think?” 

Alice scoffed a laugh at Blood’s suggestion, teasingly pushing him away. “No way. I need my blood more than you do, you’re gonna have to find some other neck.” She gestured in front of them, suggesting he had the pick of any passersby he could possibly want. A vampiric buffet.

She sighed. “It definitely is a relief. But it’s almost strange, now, being... not strange. I really am just a nobody again.” Now Alice laughed again, a little self-derisively. “Hopefully you won’t be bored of me now that the novelty of having a beating heart will wear off.” 

Though, she couldn’t say that was a true fear of hers. At least, not one at the forefront of her mind. Alice had spent enough time with Blood now that they were certainly friends. 

Still, it was difficult to resist doubting herself.

“I think so too,” she mused. “I have no idea what a place like this has to offer. It’s like being back at square one.” Alice still had that weird glass bottle with her, but she had no idea how it was supposed to work here. Or would it be the same? “I can’t say I don’t miss some of the others back in Wonderland... Elliot, the twins... Maybe it’s selfish, but I’m glad you came with me.”

[umbreance]

He doesn’t know what compels him to enter the new Mirror House stationed in the amusement park.  Neither does Noah understand what he was expecting when it advertised “come and see your other half in real-time!” in big, bold letters. 

But when he steps into the crystal hall and witnesses the man in white pacing beside him, it no longer feels like a place of amusement. 

“Harque!?”  No, it can’t be; it’s just a trick of the mirrors.  He knows this, of course, but the image— the person on the other side of it— looks so real.  So alive.  From the silver-white hair down to the gentle blue eyes that twist into an expression of utter shock, echoing Noah’s own.  

Enthralled by the act, Noah reaches for the reflection with an open hand—— Harque, or what appears to be his older brother, does the same.  And he nearly makes contact but then recoils at the memory of the assassin, who also wears his sibling’s face. 

Noah pulls away abruptly, almost smacking someone else in the hall with his hand.

“I’m… I’m sor…”  He half-apologizes, only sparing a fleeting glance at the older woman in the mirror beside Harque.  “This is—— This is a lot.  I… My brother…”

@tickinghearts​

[tickinghearts]

Oddly enough, a confusing maze of mirrors made Alice feel irritatingly right at home. Going to an amusement park like this by herself felt a bit lame, but she didn’t know many people very well here anyway. The claim of seeing one’s other half in this hall of mirrors made Alice want to scoff, but after passing by mirrors shaped and angled in different ways that made her look strange and made her head spin, she finally faced one that showed her Lorina.

“Huh...” Alice felt cold, suddenly, and tasted copper on her tongue. That’s not funny. That’s really not funny. She spun around to leave, eager to get out of this mean-spirited place, her eyes glued on the floor in front of her so she wouldn’t risk looking into her sister’s haunting, judging eyes. Unfortunately, she almost bumped into someone as a result. 

She gasped and stepped back, still clearly on edge. “Wh-what?” Pulling herself out of her thoughts, Alice glanced at the mirror the boy was fixated on. Just like before, the person reflected there was someone else. His brother? Her eyes darted to her own reflection. But it wasn’t there. Standing beside the other boy was Lorina, her face deathly pale.

Alice shook her head, refusing to look anymore. What an awful, awful place. “He isn’t there,” Alice told the boy. He seemed as rattled as she felt. “It’s just you.” This she said almost as much to herself as to him. 

On impulse, Alice grabbed his wrist and turned towards what she hoped was an exit. “Come on, this place is terrible. Let’s find a way out.”

[tickinghearts]

hikkanade​:

“A band…? Well, it’s not like each of us played an instrument or something like that. We just all did record vocals for our songs! But else each had their own field that was unrelated to playing an instrument. Like there was someone who did the art for our album covers and music videos, another friend who edited those videos and of course one last one that did write the lyrics…“ A music-circle definitely was the more accurate term, but to most people, a band would describe this just fine too.

Once Alice asked Kanade if she used the dog noises from earlier in her songs before, she couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed. 

“O-oh, you heard that? Sorry, that’s kind of embarrassing. I never included a sound like that so far, but hm…” Nervous fiddling with her long sleeves. 

“I’m aware of how funny it sounds, but I was thinking if it possibly could mix things up… And make the listener relax? Lately I’ve been struggling with my music sounding the same, it’s a hassle, when your progress is stagnating like that I mean…” 

The more the girl next to her talked, the more Kanade could tell that Alice also struggled with her own insecurities though. Hopefully she was doing okay?

“There’s no need to be embarrassed about playing in front of me though. Really, I mean it. Or perhaps there is a different hobby you’re more passionate about?”

“Ah, I see. So it’s like writer’s block, kind of, huh?” Alice hummed. She could see why adding something as strange as dog noises to a song might be appealing if everything was sounding the same. But still, it’s just too weird. “I get what you mean, I think. If everything just stays stagnant around me, I get kind of restless, too...”

She had to at least partially blame that on living somewhere as wild as Wonderland for as long as she had.

As for other hobbies... “Mmm, maybe it’ll sound boring, but I do like reading. That’s not something easy to share I guess, heh.” Alice considered it for a moment. “Though I guess music and reading can go hand in hand, huh? Something that’s quiet and relaxing can make reading more enjoyable. As long as it’s not something really distracting.” Like dog barks.

[tickinghearts]

rosepetalmafioso​:

“True enough…though people do find ways to mourn even in Wonderland.” His smile was hesitant. It wasn’t that he was too concerned that she would glean his former living status from just that statement. Books made reference to various funerary practices in fiction and just because there was an absence of a physical body did not mean that vigils never occurred there. Life being as fragile as it was, not many ever actually attended. It was mostly a private affair that most thought was a waste of time. After all, the departed would soon be replaced. Time kept on moving whether one liked it or not. Still, the talk of funerals was an unpleasant topic, and he hated to be too grim in general. Especially around her.

“Yes, that’s how it appears to be…I suppose stranger things have happened before.” Clichéd as it was, altered memories and pathways were nothing to blink twice at in Wonderland. It was still infuriating to him how he had become a victim of it, but he tried to play it off cool and collected. People moving without their territories was a cause for concern though.

“Tch…It’s dreadful to have day and night be so…expectedly monotonous.  I have to endure the wretched sunshine if I want to go to any store now because so few places are open late!” He grumbles, melodramatically, sinking back and staring at the sky in disgust. 

“Mmm. I woke up in some cardboard box pretending to be a house not too long ago, yes. The area is called ‘The Chronolium’, and seems to be cut off from the greater world. There are territories here but as far as I can tell no leaders with extraordinary power. It might as well be…a country of Outsiders.”

“Yet somehow, even entire territories vanishing in a move feels mundane compared to this.” At least then, some things were still familiar. Here, Alice had to get used to an entirely new map and set of rules. Though, at least it was significantly less dangerous... it seemed.

She couldn’t help but laugh a bit at Blood’s dramatic whining about the day cycle here. “Right, now you have to actually wear sunscreen when you go out, lest you suddenly burst into flames in the sunlight, Dracula.” Wait, that was other vampire lore and not Dracula, right? Oh well, whatever.

“A country of outsiders, huh...” Alice took another look around. For all intents and purposes—architecture aside—this place did look remarkably like home. Her original home. No weird trees and mushrooms growing everywhere... Most importantly of all, everyone here had a clearly distinguishable face. It was probably likely they all had normal hearts as well. 

Alice turned back to face her companion, her close friend from Wonderland. From here she couldn’t hear it, but she knew that, within his chest, instead of a heartbeat there was the faint tick, tick, tick of a clock.

What would happen if Blood were badly hurt or even killed here...? There was no Julius here, was there? Who would repair his clock? Alice shook her head, trying to dismiss that dark train of thought.

“I guess here, at least, you’re the Outsider, huh? I mean, I guess we both are, but... Welcome to a land of literal hearts, Blood.” She frowned. “Though, it’s definitely not the one I’m familiar with.”

[tickinghearts]

hikkanade​:

“Haha… I don’t know about that, I’m sure you can play the piano much nicer than I would…” A gentle smile, because the compliment of the girl was nice to hear.

“I mainly work with a synthesizer like this, just one that is connected to my computer at home. I even used to have a muisc-circle back home with three other friends… We were a great team, creating our own songs with each doing their part… But now, that I’m here… even on my own, I have to…” 

No, that wasn’t the normal way to phrase that: “I mean, I want to keep creating music. What about you though?” 

To demonstrate what she’s going to say she played another note on the instrument. 

“You have to posses a trained ear to know a real piano really does sound better. I’d love to hear you play sometime… Maybe we can even collaborate, if you feel like it. Ah, by the way, you can call me Kanade, what’s your name?”

“Ahaha, I don’t know about that. I’m very out of practice.” 

“Synthesizer?” Was that what this was? Not a regular keyboard, then... But, that was obvious, given the number of switches and buttons on it. “Oh, so you were in a band, then, it sounds like? That’s pretty cool!” The way the girl described it, though, was kind of odd to Alice. It felt a little roundabout. Maybe they were different from a normal band?

She blushed a bit when the girl suggested Alice play for her sometime, waving it off a bit awkwardly. But she introduced herself then, and Alice politely reciprocated. “Nice to meet you, Kanade. My name is Alice.

“And... I think ‘trained’ is a little generous, haha. It’s just that the difference between a, um, mechanical keyboard like this and a real one is pretty big.” Anyone could notice that! “I only really took some piano lessons years ago... It might be embarrassing trying to play it in front of someone.” She’d played piano a bit in front of Gowland a couple times, but only so she didn’t have to listen to his playing. Even the embarrassment of clunky piano playing was better than enduring that...

“Hmm... What kind of music do you make with a synthesizer? ...Do you really use stuff like dog noises??”

[tickinghearts]

rosepetalmafioso​:

How familiar it was to lead her on like this–like when he first introduced her to the his rose garden. It seemed to be working, her counting acting as a welcome distraction, and the sound of rain slowly subsiding. Before the scenery drifted away Blood couldn’t help but look behind him. At the gravestone, the man hovering above the gravestone suddenly looked behind him–not at them, no, but staring into the void of where they once stood as if her memory could tell that something wasn’t right. The tape had unwound and been cut clean before it was supposed to end.

Blood sneered at the figure, almost an afterimage of the body that it used to inhabit. But…when a gust of wind revealed the man’s face, the Hatter was shocked to see that their faces were not the same after all. This whole time he had swore to tear down the man who shared his appearance…just to find that Alice’s memories had been altered this whole time. The caterpillar would be first on his list to get a piece of his mind whenever they returned to Wonderland.

The rain stopped and their vision blurred as they walked down the road, and soon enough they found themselves back on the bench. When Alice squeezed his hand, he let out a sigh of relief and he bowed his head. Of course it went without saying he felt the same. What a nuisance to be dragged into something so harrowing. No matter what…the past didn’t change. Not truly.

Blood wore a solemn smile in return for her gratitude. She still didn’t know that the funeral wasn’t her mother’s. Was this for the best…? The denial of the truth would keep her closer to him, but also closer to trading in her heart. Maybe for now though…she could stay in this blissfully ignorant state…for a little while longer. Maybe it was cruel of him not to tell her, but he never claimed to be a saint.

“…Very few funerals are.” It was obvious that she was just trying to fill in the silence, though. She had nothing to apologize for, but knowing her…pointing that out would just make her feel even more guilty. “I’m not interested in putting the past under a magnifying glass, or making you rip off a wound dressing.” Lackadaisically, Blood reaches towards her face and brushes his pointer finger underneath her eye. It was as if she hadn’t been crying at all. “Let’s just hope that was the last of it, hmm? Besides, seeing you smile is more than enough to remedy such an exhausting day.” This moment, now, was the only thing that deserved focus.

“Besides which…are you…” Blood paused, his face looking somewhat conflicted. “Are you alright young lady? You haven’t had difficulties since waking up here, have you?” Besides this, of course.

“Very few... right. But, it’s not like there ever are any in Wonderland, anyway.” How many could Blood have been to to know? When death happened at the drop of a hat, and so frequently, even if death were a final thing in Wonderland, there would never be any time to do anything else if they held a memorial every time. For dying to be so mundane... still made Alice feel so cold. Life was something precious, something to be mourned when lost. 

...I guess that’s a good thing. I never want to be that callous. But... The mourning was still such a heavy thing. 

Regardless, Alice was content enough to leave it at that and move on. Blood brushed a finger gently across her face, wiping away tears that were not there. She released a breath, and offered him her own small smile in return.

“Huh... I-I’m alright, I suppose.” What exactly here was, was still a bit of a question to her. Alice shook her head. “I guess I woke up here in the middle of some kind of memory problem everyone’s been having. This place is really strange... Even the regular day and night cycle feels really odd to me. I keep expecting it to suddenly be night or something. I can’t believe how used to that I got.”

“...What about you? Did you just suddenly wake up here, too? Do you know anything about this place...?”

[tickinghearts]

ninjartsy​:

Mikey watches her while still resting lazily on his ladder.  He is well aware that using aerosol paint is considerably more difficult than it looks like. His first attempts were plenty of messy doodles too until he got the hang of it. It’s all about enjoying something though. And a little practicing, of course. 

“Ohh, you made a fishy~ I’m so proud of you!” He chirps happily. After all, she gathered the courage to paint something into his mural, despite having been hesitant about it. And one challenge of being an artist is to incorporate different styles together and work with these little mistakes, rather than trying to eradicate them.

“Please don’t worry about it. Just let your creativity flow. It doesn’t have to match to the rest or have any forms, just go with what you feel like.” He finally sits back up on his ladder (but not without performing half of a breakdance move on top of it and getting up straight in the most complicated manner somehow possible). He’s going to color one of his own fishes like one of these clown fishes. But maybe with different colors? “Say, what’s your favorite color?”

“Haha, thaaaanks...” Alice couldn’t help but feel a little patronized. But, he clearly meant well, so she didn’t call him out on it. 

“No forms, huh? I don’t know if I’d be any good at abstract art.” But, Alice wasn’t great at any art, so the bar was already low. Her brows shot up at the way he moved on that ladder. Hey, be careful—!! But, Mikey seemed fine... For the moment.

Crazy! The people here are also crazy...!

“Oh! Uh... I don’t know if I have a favorite color. I guess blue?” It was the color she wore most, anyway. And the color of the sky on a sunny afternoon... Yeah, she supposed that was her favorite. 

“How come?” She asked. “Do you want me to hand you one?” 

[tickinghearts]

rosepetalmafioso​:

He was irritated for not being able to find words that felt right. Every time he tried to open his mouth he stopped himself. Waiting for her response was lying in agony. But after a long silence, she started to recognize his presence. When she grabs his collar and leans forward he can’t help but reflexively stiffen his back and shoulders. Alice did realize who was in front of her…right?! 

Whatever, that’s not important right now.

Blood released a breath that he hadn’t even realized he had been holding in. The hand on her cheek moves to the back of her neck while his other hand wraps around her back. He rests his chin on the top of her head, wavering indecisively somewhere in between flustered and miserable. 

The honest truth was he didn’t know how to get out of here. In his memory, it just ended when Vivaldi’s carriage left his sight. Would it be the same for her if he just got her away from here. But that desperate plea for home…where did Alice really want to go? She always talked about returning to her original world. Unlike him she still felt like she had a duty to do so. But for the both of them…there wasn’t really anything to return to, was there? He feared that the truth might be too much for her to handle.

“Of course. Don’t apologize.” He ultimately says. Anywhere was better than here. “Can you stand? All you need to do is close your eyes and count. Focus entirely on that…and where you want to go.” Hell, if she could try to remember the melody of one of Gowland’s songs to distract her, even better. 

“I think so.” Alice felt like her consciousness was starting to return to her, but everything except the man in front of her felt distant and fuzzy. She continued to cling to him, taking his arm in hers to help her stand. 

“Okay... okay.” Away from this funeral. That was all she wanted. With Blood’s help, she turned around so their backs were to the headstone where that person still mourned. She closed her eyes and took a deep, shaky breath, trusting Blood to help her along.

One... two... three...

She counted her steps, focusing on the numbers and on the warmth of the man walking beside her. Her lips moved as she counted in her head. Eight... nine... ten... Alice had no idea how far they would have to go before they left this memory behind.

Her hands, clinging to Blood, shook. Her fingers clasped tighter to try and conceal that a little, at least.

Somewhere around twenty paces, the ground seemed to change beneath her, and sensations changed. There was no more rain, no more heavy feeling weighing on her shoulders. Her entire body felt strange and light, as though she’d just finished crying deeply.

When Alice opened her eyes, they were back in the park they’d started in.

Involuntarily, she shuddered, then let out a long sigh. Alice squeezed Blood’s arm gently before letting go. 

“I... never want to do that again.” Even now her memory felt a little vague, like she’d just stepped out of a dream. What had that experience even accomplished? Nothing, except embarrassing her in front of Blood.

But, thinking of him, she turned to face him, her face still red. She gave him a curious look.

“But... um... Thank you, Blood. ...I don’t know if I would have been able to get out of there myself.” Even that much was difficult to admit, but just in remaining calm and speaking softly to her, Alice had felt grounded enough to be able to leave and stay relatively calm herself. 

Even now, the parts of the memory where she hadn’t focused on Blood were slipping from her like a dream. Her brow furrowed as she tried to hold on to it, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to. “I’m sorry you had to see that. I mean... my mother’s funeral. It wasn’t exactly a happy time...” 

Saying mother’s funeral out loud sounded wrong, but Alice couldn’t pinpoint why.

[tickinghearts]

[To: Blood] According to this thing on my phone, it’s International Tea Day. 

[To: Blood] I bet you’re celebrating, right?

[tickinghearts]

rosepetalmafioso​:

Things were much too complicated. Were it the Hatter that she had first met, maybe he wouldn’t think twice about going up to that man that dominated Alice’s thoughts and giving him a piece of his mind. Alice’s grip on his shirt prevented him from moving forward for the time being. Dutifully silent while holding her umbrella, around them trees swayed and the wind hissed in the rainstorm. Blood looked back at her and swallowed a lump in his throat. She was weakened and in a daze. The light in her eyes seemed all but snuffed out. 

It was easy to see what was happening to her. She was in shock. Blood’s brows furrowed in unease and anguish. How could he help her right now, when she was barely cognizant? Not that he was too good at dealing with feelings to begin with. He had been burying his deep down for as long as he remembered. If it was the same for the memory she saw of his…this was the moment that Alice really lost a piece of her heart and the truth that she ran from.

Blood stood still while this girl, her sister apparently, twisted the knife deeper. He scoffed, astounded that she had the gall to say such a thing. Could she not see her sister now for how upset she was? She was still a child. In Edith’s mind a grand display of crocodile tears and the mutual wound-licking of other funeral attendants was the only way to grieve. Anything else was unacceptable. He moved against Alice’s back, about ready to snap at her for her lack of tact and empathy when Edith revealed this wasn’t their mother’s funeral. The only one Alice ever mentioned before was her mother’s.

So whose…?

Glancing back at the tutor pitifully weeping at the gravestone, Blood had a feeling he knew exactly who it was. The grave was still too far away to read, but unless he had made a habit of falling for every woman in the family…this funeral must have been for Alice’s older sister, Lorina. Blood inhaled a surprised breath and his chest ached as he tried to reach for the right words, the right actions, or anything to bring back her smile. He knew better than anyone that it wasn’t that easy. Sometimes all you can really do is stand by someone. When her legs finally gave out, he kneeled down beside her.

“She’s wrong– speaking out of line and out of hurt. One day your little sister will grow up and realize the world doesn’t revolve around her.” He speaks in a raised voice, hoping that Edith will hear him as she walks away. “Don’t listen to her. You’re anything but, Alice. You feel things more deeply than anyone I’ve ever met. In this world…or any other.” He didn’t know if his words would reach her, but he couldn’t just let her be alone in her thoughts. Sometimes that was the scariest place you could find yourself.

Blood left the umbrella on the ground. It was of little use anyway being covered to the knees in mud. He shuffles across the grass and steps in front of her. Gently, Blood places his hand on her cheek.

“Hey…did you hear me? If it’s too painful, just leave everything to me. I’ll find us a way out of here.”

Alice was hardly aware of the person beside her, being so lost in her thoughts. It felt like at any moment the ground would give in beneath her. She felt like she was right on the edge of realizing something important, something she’d forgotten that ran deeper than she could reach, like there was a wall of something preventing her from doing so. 

Preventing her, or protecting her?

Alice distantly heard someone trying to comfort her. At first she instinctively tuned it out. More empty platitudes, she thought bitterly. Empty words that meant nothing and changed nothing. But halfway through, she realized that wasn’t it. You feel things more deeply than anyone. 

Was that true? You’re just trying to make me feel better.

When she felt a hand placed on her cheek, Alice was finally able to focus on the eyes of the man in front of her. Her tutor...? No, he would never. Alice blinked a few times as she came out of her dreary stupor and he sharpened into focus. 

Blood. Blood was here. 

“Blood...” How embarrassing, for him of all people to see her like this. She wanted to snap back up, stand on her own two feet, and stop looking so pathetic. But Alice felt so heavy, so tired. This memory happened so long ago. That’s right, this was just a memory of hers replaying. She shouldn’t still be so affected by it. But Alice felt like she was on the cusp of something...

Too exhausted to move, or cry, or say anything, Alice leaned into Blood’s touch. She reached a hand towards him, looking for something tangible to hang onto, her fingers loosely gripping the collar of his shirt, the sensation of it helping to anchor her to reality. 

She leaned forward, then, resting her head on his chest. 

“...I just want to go home.” Home, wherever that was. Her home in her original world wasn’t here, and neither was the Hatter mansion. Nothing in the Chronolium felt like a home, either.

Blood was the closest thing to a home that Alice had, now. Realizing she relied on him for something like that made her feel so weak. ...I really am so pathetic, aren’t I.

“...Sorry. Can... you take me...?”

[tickinghearts]

ninjartsy​:

“Ooo, carrot dishes? I made a carrot cake once!"  He just remembers how skeptical his brothers were about it. Carrots? In a cake?? They liked it in the end, though. He followed the recipe of another starred chef known for his desserts, and it was really delicious.

"But against your will doesn’t sound fun. Cooking is art too, and artists need creative freedom. You should get to cook whatever you like to. Eating the same kind of meals over and over doesn’t sound very healthy, either.” He now drapes himself all over his ladder, visibly not too concerned about falling down.

“Hmm, I only read comics. Normal books don’t have any nice pictures and they take me too long to finish. But, Donnie likes to read a lot, too.” He would certainly like to talk about books for hours as well. Mikey on the other hand? Alice would be right with her doubts. Her request on the other hand elicits a big smile from the teen now. “Oh sure! You can paint into my mural too, I don’t mind. Don’t worry, there’s no right or wrong in art. Go wild~” He vaguely gestures at the cans, signaling it’s okay to pick up whichever she’d like. After all, he doesn’t mind sharing.

“You’re right, it’s not healthy! That’s what I kept trying to tell him...” But alas, her protests had always fallen on deaf ears. 

“Oh, seriously? Are you sure?” Alice hesitated. She had been afraid he wouldn’t want her ruining his artwork, which was starting to look really nice. But Mikey was encouraging of her to add to his work in progress. Well, if he was sure... 

Alice approached the array of cans Mikey had placed near the mural, and after a few moments of thought picked up an orange can. Maybe her mind was still stuck on carrots. She grimaced at the thought, but she stuck with her first choice.

She’d seen Mikey using the cans earlier, and tried to copy what he’d done. Shake, shake, shake. Alice pointed the can at a clear spot in the mural, pressed the button on the top of the can, and drew a very simple outline of a fish. Unfortunately, in addition to looking very rudimentary five-year-old’s scribble, there were several spots marred by accidental splatter and larger spots where she’d hesitated in her drawing.

It’s... bad.

“Oops... well, I won’t be mad if you decide to paint over it, haha.” Despite that, it was weirdly fun.

[tickinghearts]

rosepetalmafioso​:

She was right. This was unlike all other moves they’d had. Even if Wonderland was unpredictable, it was predictable in that it was always weird. But this place was almost more threatening because it didn’t play by those rules. Still, he would not ever want Alice to know that he struggled to understand The Chronolium. It was for the best that she continued seeing him as the overconfident and aloof man he was. Was he really doing just fine…?

Any anger that festered over her entering his memories dissipated at her words. There was no way that she would know what had become of Vivaldi, but her assurance that she was glad he was here struck him where his heart used to be. Slowly, his body moved on it’s own. Guided by a squeamish feeling in his gut–he really wanted to ruin this friendship of theirs. His face hovered mere inches from her cheek before the air went still and silent again. 

Blood froze when he saw the skyline melting away again, and then the downpour began. Alice slipped from the bench onto her knees in the grass. An open umbrella appeared beside her as the bench vanished. Blood crouched down to take her in his arms and pull her back up to her feet. Despite the world slowly populating with people dressed in black around them, none seemed to pay them any mind. For a moment Alice seemed to be in shock, leaning an arm on his back as he wiped the dirt off of her knees with a handkerchief.

At first he was horrified at what they would see next, delving deeper into his own memory. Only…it wasn’t his this time. This was a funeral.

“Young lady,” He says, trying to get her attention. But her focus was so far away from him now. She was getting soaked by the rain, so Blood slipped his hand around her back to take the umbrella from her limp wrist. It wasn’t big enough for the both of them, so he stood under the downpour and covered her head.

Finally, he observed the crowd of mourners and the grave they gathered around. Who was there at the front but a dark-haired man in a black suit. It must have been him.

Alice’s stomach churned and her head spun. She wanted to stand back up again, but she was afraid the ground would give out beneath her if she tried. Her focus was entirely on staying conscious even as parts of her memory seemed to fade away from her and melt into the rain hitting her back. 

Before she realized it, she was standing again. Her arm was around someone beside her, dusting off the dirt from her knees with a handkerchief. Subconsciously, the hand around him gripped him a little harder, his shirt wrinkling into her fist as Alice stared straight ahead.

The mourners surrounding them faded in her peripheral vision as she focused on the headstone several feet in front of her. Someone was in front of it, obscuring her view of it. 

Everyone seemed to be dispersing. Perhaps the funeral was over. The only ones lingering were those not yet finished saying goodbye to... to who? Her mother? That was the funeral Alice remembered. Contradicting this thought caused a piercing headache to threaten her head. She blinked to try and disperse it.

Suddenly a girl a little smaller than Alice approached her—Edith, her younger sister. Before Alice could even open her mouth to speak, Edith’s sharp voice cut through the fog in her head. 

“Cold,” she said. “Sis, you’re so cold.”

Alice was still catching up to whatever was going on, and at first she thought Edith was referring to the rain. Edith’s grip tightened on the handle of her umbrella at the same time Alice realized there was one over her head, too, but she wasn’t the one holding it. 

She opened her mouth, but Edith continued.

“Your expression hasn’t changed at all. ...Are you even sad? Sis, you’re so cold.”

Edith looked hurt. The expression made Alice’s chest tighten. I am sad, Alice wanted to say. I miss mother, too. But Alice was used to being called cold. Edith was young, and deeply upset, so Alice knew she was only lashing out. Alice wanted to comfort her younger sister, but she felt too numb to speak.

“You were like this at Mom’s funeral too. Are you even sad at all?”

Alice’s stomach dropped. The feeling of sadness was entirely replaced with an even colder fear. 

Edith, finished scolding Alice, moved past her with tears rolling down her red face. I know I don’t look like that right now. It was a realization that brought Alice shame.

“...’Too’?” The word spiraled around inside Alice’s head, and the more it did, the worse she felt. Her heart plummeted. “...Cold. I’m heartless.” The words left her mouth in a small, nearly inaudible mutter. Alice was barely aware she was even speaking.

Her knees buckled and she collapsed onto them into the wet grass beneath her again. Alice hugged herself. Are you going to cry? Are you going to say anything at all? She knew she wasn’t.

The man at the headstone turned his head to the side. Tears were also on his face. He wasn’t looking at her. He was never looking at her. Even my tutor is mourning my mother more than I am. But that didn’t make any sense. 

Why was nothing adding up? Her tutor never even met her mother. You were like this at Mom’s funeral, too. Why did trying to unravel what that meant make Alice too sick to even think?

[tickinghearts]

rosepetalmafioso​:

“Hooo~ooh? You think so?” He grits his teeth, a grin looking quite ticked off spread across his face. She pushed his buttons like some kind of challenge. He couldn’t just let her win so easily. “Maybe you’re right, Alice. It was exhausting to keep myself together while you slept there so vulnerably~ and cutely might I add. All of that self-restraint drained the energy right out of me. And now, well, look at me…” He frowns, really playing it up with a pout.

He takes a step forward after she steps back. It was almost like a dance at this point, to see which one would bow out first.

“Where do you think you’re going? You did this to me~. It’s only fair that you take responsibility and carry me to the door.” He manages to get close enough to lean an arm on her shoulder and tilts his head expectantly. He’s just asking for his foot to get stepped on now.

“Oh, really? That’s all it took for you, huh? You’re sure easy to please...” Alice knew he was just messing with her, now. Even if she hadn’t said anything in her sleep, she’d almost definitely snored, or drooled, something gross. Blood was just making fun of her, calling her cute.

Even worse, he just kept going.

“Quit mocking me. I didn’t do anything to you,” Alice said, jerking her shoulder to shake Blood’s arm off of it and throw him off balance. She didn’t step back this time, though. “And I definitely can’t carry you to the door. Looks like you’re on your own.” She matched his clearly fake pout with one of her own.

[tickinghearts]

alchemistwhosurvived​:

Mariela ties the apron to her waist and then rolls up her sleeves. Thank goodness she could find some cheap black casualwear to lounge around in so she didn’t have to get her normal tunic all dirty.

“Ohhh, you’re talking about that tea-crazy guy Mr. Dupre! Don’t worry, he’s starting to be one of my best customers over at Sunlight’s Canopy… You both lived together? And in a huge mansion like a bunch of aristocrats?! Cool. So that’s why he’s always asking for you.” Things were starting to make a lot more sense. They already sounded really close, so of course they had to know each other from before Alice moved in. Truthfully she couldn’t really picture what a place decorated like how he dresses would look like. All Mariela knew was that it had to be…fancy? Expensive? She couldn’t keep up with modern trends anyway.

“Your tastes definitely seem a lot quieter. It’s a nice calming shade.” She was guessing that Alice wasn’t going to be adding any patterns. Mariela takes her own paint roller and starts working on the other side of the wall. They’ll get this done in no time. “Hey, if you want, I’ve got plenty of potted plants to freshen up the place. I can show you how to take care of them when we’re done.”

At like a bunch of aristocrats, Alice couldn’t help but laugh. “Oh, he would hate you saying that,” she said, after taking a breath, “but yeah, kind of. Though I worked there as a maid, eventually... They let me live there because I had nowhere to stay, but I didn’t like just sitting around, you know?” From what she’d learned of Mariela living with here for a while, Alice felt that was something she’d understand.

“So, yup, that’s why. He’s... a little clingy.” For some reason.

“Oh, thanks! Yeah, I wanted something kind of gentle,” Alice said. That stark white color they were painting over was almost unsettling. 

Alice took a glance around the room and hummed in thought. “A couple of plants would be nice,” she decided. “Maybe something that’s a little low maintenance. I’m not really much of a gardener...” She didn’t want Mariela to give her something that Alice just wound up immediately killing. And also, she wanted to decorate her room a little, but she didn’t want to overdo it.

[tickinghearts]

hikkanade​:

“I’ve never thought about using that setting for a synthesizer like this… Interesting!” As if Alice wasn’t talking to her, she kept nodding to herself and gazed at the device Alice just tried to play a tune on.

“While the dog barks sound ridiculous to most, I wonder if used in the right moment in another wise rather serious soundings song… could it make the listener laugh? Would a humorous effect as that be enough to help someone… to save them…?”

She kept mumbling for a while until she recalled where she was and that the girl just talked to her. Oops, She must seem like a weirdo to them now.

“A-ah!” Her cheeks started to flush from embarrassment before she finally locked eyes with the girl that didn’t look much older than her.

“Sorry, I got sucked up in my own thoughts. If you want to sound it like a normal piano though, you can just switch the setting here. I think the customer using it before you changed it to this, to make fun of the next person who would try playing it…” 

With quick and experienced hand movements, Kanade tuned the instrument just right, before pointing at it again with a soft smile: “Try again now, if you like!”

Alice’s eyes widened at the girl’s response. Why is she so passionate about dog sounds...? Save who?!

When the stranger finally seemed to recall where she was and resumed eye contact, Alice was too confused to come up with any coherent way to respond to any of that.

“Oh! Uh, it’s okay...?” But Alice’s half-hearted protest was interrupted by the other girl expertly flipping some switch and moving some dial before backing away once more. The number of buttons over the keyboard was a little overwhelming to Alice, but the stranger barely had to glance at them before fixing it. She looked from the girl to the keyboard again, and shrugged.

Oh, well. I’m committed now.

Alice pressed a key. For a second she wondered if the girl, after mentioning a prank, might have just changed it to some other funny sound to trick Alice a second time, but this time the key produced a familiar, if a little mechanical, middle C note.

“It’s definitely not as nice as a real piano, I think,” Alice said. Pressing the keys also felt a bit different. Nevertheless, Alice repeated the small measure she’d attempted earlier, and this time it sounded as she’d intended. No more dog barks. But, probably its earlier setting might have amused or even inspired her musician friend from home. She couldn’t help but laugh a bit at the thought. 

“Thanks,” Alice said, looking back at the girl with a pleasant smile. “You were pretty good at that. Do you play?”

[tickinghearts]

rosepetalmafioso​:

It wasn’t difficult to keep the phone out of reach, no matter how much she jumped or tried to pull down his arm he was able to evade her. When Alice asserted that the man hadn’t even crossed her mind Blood’s thoughts of petty revenge completely blanked out. He still went through the motions of keeping the phone out of her hands but he was clearly taken aback. He blinked at her a few times and then looked back at the device, bringing it closer to his face. He scrolls around to make it seem like he was deleting it, but the truth was he just couldn’t look her straight in the eyes.

‘I’m here with you.’? Huh.

“How unusually forward…You know just what to say to drive me mad.” Blood mumbles, looking what could only be described as pouty. Don’t give him false hope now. “It’s no longer fun when you sound that sincere… I won’t.”  He just couldn’t keep up teasing her after being so thrown off. He wouldn’t agree to delete it, though. Blood slides the phone back into his pocket.

“Saying you want me so close is enough to cause a misunderstanding.” Blood reaches to hold Alice’s chin on top of his pointer finger. He better diffuse this situation with humor so she wouldn’t point out how weird he was acting! “You can barely keep your eyes open, young lady.” He insisted. “Go rest before I have no choice but to carry you to bed myself.” 

“Excuse me for killing the fun for you.” Blood seemed unusually frazzled now, bewildering Alice. But, he had apparently deleted the photo, which was all she had wanted. She had nothing to complain about anymore. 

Blood kept insisting she was clearly exhausted. Even when he finally looked her in the eye, guiding her face to his with his finger on her chin, he seemed somewhat rattled. What was wrong with him? “I think you’re the one who needs rest. Your face is all red just from the effort of keeping your phone away from me.” Well, ‘all red’ for Blood was really just a little pink.

“But fine,” she conceded, backing away out of his touch, “I can carry myself to bed on my own. Can you make it to the front door okay?” I’m not tired, YOU’RE tired.

[tickinghearts]

ninjartsy​:

The center of Mikey’s work is a colorful turtle. He is about to create an entire undersea world all around it on the previously bleak wall. While the turtle itself is finished, the outside of it is still a work in progress, with the seaweed, sea stars and fishes being outlined and only partially colored so far. But it’s definitely about to turn out very vivid. It is the colors for the fishes he’s currently contemplating about and makes him put his work on halt for a bit. While he used all the colors he has available on the turtle, he’s not sure if he should make the other sea dwellers all equally colorful or let the turtle be the center of attention in his art. He’ll decide that later.

“ I’m Michelangelo, but you can call me Mikey. It’s nice to meet you, Alice.”

He beams happily over the given compliment. “Why, thank you~! Actually I also strive to surpass Rupert Swaggart’s cooking skills one day, while we’re on it! But what about you? What do you like to do?” Apparently not art. But maybe she likes cooking too?

“Michelangelo? Really? I guess it’s suitable that you’re an artist then,” Alice laughed. “Nice to meet you, Mikey.”

Rupert Swaggart? No idea who that is. “Oh really, you like to cook, too?” What a multi-faceted turtle this was. “I’m pretty decent at it too, I suppose. My specialty lately is carrot dishes... against my will. My friend I lived with before I came here was obsessed with them.” 

“I like reading most of all, though. It’s been interesting, seeing what’s available here since there’s so much more to choose from than I’m used to.” Though, Alice wasn’t sure Mikey would be interested in reading very much. Her attention returned to his colorful mural, and the cans of paint arrayed on the ground in front of it.

“Hey... do you mind if I try painting a little?” It couldn’t hurt. “I won’t do it on your mural, I don’t want to ruin it. I’m just curious.”