— DRINK ME.

It was rare for the Huntsman to get interrupted during a fight; most people knew to stay well away from the firing line or they would get an unwanted strike from his fist, but Alice was different. The way she so casually interjected was enough to prove that, and although Hunter found it difficult to take his eyes off of the patron he was fighting, her presence forged a smirk on his lips. Though it was clear she was threatening his opponent, Hunter couldn’t help but take the opportunity to tease her playfully. “You gonna hit me, Wonderland?” He jeered as he took a step forwards, but rather towards her than the man at his mercy. He didn’t mind ending the fight much, it was too dull and one-sided for his tastes anyway. His relationship with Alice was playful, as were the words he spoke to her then since she was one of the only people in Fabletown that had somehow won his favour.

In a way, maybe Alice should be thanking both Hunter and the other guy that was stupid enough to think that he’d be able to take down the Huntsman himself ---- boredom was Alice’s greatest foe and the whole fight had been a way to both test her patience and keeping things interesting. Still holding the bottle in her hand, ready to throw it if the patron decided to go against common sense, Alice looked over at Hunter with a small smirk, trying to keep any stronger signs of her amusement away from her face. “I just might if you and someone else,” she clearly meant the other guy, “decide to ruin my night off.” And with that, she quickly changed her mind about the bottle and put it down on the counter. Maybe the two guys would see it as a sign to stop. Of course, her words were a complete lie. She would never hit Hunter, not seriously. Reason number one, she actually enjoyed being alive, reason number two, she had no excuse to give him more than the occasional punch to the arm for something he had said or done and reason number three, she actually liked Hunter. 

     beast has exactly five flower orders to do today. he could’ve easily handed it to someone else but he has been locked in his shop too long. and considering his last encounter with a certain employee had him smashing a chair he thought it best he wasn’t around them for a little while. dropping one of the orders off, he marks it on his board and thinks maybe a walk to the local cafe to grab coffee could help release the ache in his bones. he knows it wont- it’s the curse putting him through this but he can’t drink and drive. he doesn’t want to be pulled over and thrown in a holding cell. beast is pretty sure wolf won’t let him live it down- nor his wife. he sighs heavily through his nostrils as someone circles around him. ❝ who says i’ll answer it ?? ❞

     the riddle is easy, his vast library in his old castle had a book of riddles. but if he answers correctly she may continue to bombard him with more. so he stops his walking and levels a glare. ❝ is- i don’t fucking care- a good enough answer ?? ❞

Alice pressed her lips together, her eyes slightly narrowed as she observed the man before her. Then, she let out a small sigh, sad that such a good riddle had been wasted; perhaps she should have looked at the person she was talking to before actually saying the riddle. Her impulsiveness and need to just say what was on her mind at any given moment had yet again betrayed her. There was grumpy and then there was Beast. There was, however, something more to his grandpa-like grumpiness that day but Alice couldn’t quite place it. To be fair, though, she didn’t care either, not truly. It was easy to misinterpret curiosity for caring. It was a curse, at the end of the day.

She raised her eyebrows, giving him a ‘are you serious?’ look. He could have at least tried but Alice supposed not everyone had had the pleasure of being given the talent to understand and solve riddles. “If you’re trying to get rid of me,” the girl began, shifting her weight to one of her legs, “humoring me is your best bet.” Though it didn’t mean it would work. 

Evie’s prone to daydreaming, it’s a habit she hasn’t broken since she settled in Fabletown and it’s a useful one too, when the reality becomes a little too dark or too unsettling, she lets her mind wanders to faraway places, filled with nothing but wonders and where no one can reach her. Of course, her daydreams are always interrupted eventually, she’s been lucky though so far as it is never anyone remotely threatening she comes across on days like these, she’s walking around with her head in the clouds when Alice startles her out of her daze. The question is puzzling to say the least and Evie has half a mind to dismiss the girl, it’s too early for riddles after all.

Instead, she shakes her head fondly and she thinks on it, entertaining the riddle for Alice’s amusement. “I don’t think there exists a creature with thirteen hearts at all so I’m assuming it’s an object. Beyond that, I’m afraid I do not know.” She replies and now the question really gnawing at her and she can’t seem to answer it. Blame that on the lack of sleep and excessive drinking. “I give up. Enlighten me, O wise one.” She continues, matching Alice’s dramatic demeanor.

Alice tilted her head and crossed her arms over her chest. “Pretty sure we have no idea what’s in other worlds.” There was a small smirk on her lips, her words coming off in a matter-of-factly tone more to bring the fact to the other’s attention rather than to have her words be something to bring Evelyn down. She was just being captious, it was part of her whole persona, really. Some people had trouble understanding when she was being nitpicky on purpose or when she was just in a mischievous mood. But for Alice, whenever someone actually brought up her attitude, it was easy to explain ----- if she was being a bitch on purpose, people would know. 

“Giving up so soon?” Her question was genuine, as was the surprise on her face as the other waved the white flag without even trying that hard to think of the answer. Well, that was a boring exchange and Alice knew it wasn’t because of her amazing riddle. 

It had been another day of frustration for Snow, popping into the various business around town in attempts of finding her new job after quitting the last. She was getting a little sick of rejection - it wasn’t her fault that she had nothing to offer to their companies. She’d been trapped in a life of luxury the majority of her life, with no need to develop life skills. Maybe she shouldn’t have quit her job as a maid. At least she had previous experience cleaning when she lived with her dwarves. 

She was sat with a newspaper in her hand when interrupted by the riddle the dark haired beauty presented to her, making her almost jump out of her pale skin as she hadn’t heard the other girl approaching. “Uh-h… I don’t… I’m not… a bug?” Her face squinted in confusion, caught off-guard by the question and not even that good at riddles, anyway. 

If Alice was a different kind of person, then she would’ve known that it’s normal for people to not know riddles and their answers. Instead, she chose to show nothing but unfiltered surprise which, for the weak of heart, would be enough to send them to their knees in shame. Alice knew most people in Fabletown were as tough as nails so she didn’t think much about her inability to filter through any reaction or words. The only time she was able to do it was when, somehow, something mattered to her. At the end of the day, Alice held little interest for anything that she couldn’t force herself to care about. 

Step after step, on her way to meet someone that she should never want to talk to again, Alice’s thoughts become untamable. She doesn’t know where she’s going, but her feet still take her the right way. They were on auto-pilot; her head was nowhere near where she was and it was way above the clouds. Alice’s mind was so hard to understand that sometimes not even the girl had a clue about what the fuck she was thinking. 

The halls of the Woodlands looked more expensive than the shitty apartment she lived in but Alice was never one for opulence; what would be the point if she would rarely be inside her apartment, anyway? Looking at each door as she passed them, Alice was looking for the one that she had found out belonged to Scarlet. It was a piece of information that always sat at the back of her mind though Alice was sure she would never find any use for it. Most of the things she knew were useless in one way or another, their only purpose is the satisfaction of her curiosity. 

Alice knocked on the door three times and stood there waiting. Boredom was already creeping up. Either that or she found herself becoming anxious with anticipation. They were too similar in a way. 

     ❝ and you’re all full of assumptions today. i’m more than peachy at seeing you here, ally. nice to see the head is still firmly on  your shoulders- physically. i’m not sure about mentally. ❞ his smirk matches the one before him. he still had not found a way to make alice crack and it was both infuriating but exhilarating. so many centuries of seeing people easily break once he finds out that one thing. but knave has tried everything on this one and yet- all he gets is smirks in return. it’s almost admirable but he’ll die before admitting that.

      ❝ ooh, you wound me. ❞ his hand goes to his heart before dropping back down on the bar.  at the mention of paying he lets out a dramatic groan.  ❝ pay for shit ?? i’m too good lucking to pay. i give you a nice view when i show up that should count for something. ❞

The words that left Knave’s mouth were always entertaining enough. Although he was the walking and talking definition of the word annoyance, he proved to be an entertaining conversation partner ------ even if most of their conversations were Knave trying to get under Alice’s skin and her not letting him. “And I guess you will never truly know that.” Alice knew sanity was overrated. “I bet it eats you up inside.” Alice didn’t believe she was the least bit important to Knave. She didn’t usually use her importance as a trading card in a conversation but the opportunity seemed too good to pass up. Whatever Knave would reply, she’d have another answer for him right away. That’s what kept things interesting. 

Alice smirked. He never failed to keep his part of the deal, even if Knave wasn’t aware there was a deal to begin with. “Sorry to break your heart, Knave,” funny, since he was the Knave of Hearts, “but your good looks don’t pay my rent so it counts for shit.”

   Cheeky met cheeky that day, though it could be said that Ruby’s cheeky nature was oft wrapped in cynicism and snark, but with certain people she could find her way to something much softer, and perhaps Alice was one of those. Her head tilts briefly, thinking back to one of her friends and letting her attention drift over the other with a small, half-cocked smirk.

   “A deck of cards… you know, I don’t think I’d have gotten that without my friendship with Knave? Is that odd? It seems odd.” A shrug lifts Ruby’s shoulders as she shifts where she stood, now instead leaning against the only solid thing nearby that wasn’t Alice, “Are you that bored?”

Alice couldn’t hold back the laugh that came bursting out of her once she heard a particular string of words put together. First, the fight that anyone was friends with Knave was funny on its own but the fact that someone actually learned something by being... friends with Knave was hilarious. If Alice hadn’t seen the impossible already, she would’ve called out Ruby on her bullshit and moved on to another topic. 

“I’m always bored,” it was a fact, really, that if Alice wasn’t actually bored she was a few seconds away from letting out a long, exasperated sigh of boredom, “but I think you should be asking yourself that if you’re friends with that nuisance of a person.” Though he did prove to be somewhat entertaining as he tried to get under Alice’s skin. She wondered if he was going to the bar that night.

Merlin spent the majority of his time alone in his shop unless he had visitors, so he made the effort to get out of the building every now and then when he would start talking to the walls and actually begin to hear them talk back. He knew that he wasn’t crazy but his mind was fragile, it always had been since he had been the bearer of such a power as sorcery, but now that he was without it he could have easily passed as a man who was just a little bit out of sorts. He was window shopping outside Nod’s, completely drawn in by the titles his gaze flickered over even he’d read them all a hundred times before, when the voice beside him roused him from his trance. “Busy?” Merlin queried, wondering how one ought to make oneself look busy. The promise of a question made his eyes light up and he turned to give her his full attention, eyebrows raised in curiosity. “Well I don’t quite know,” Merlin frowned, wracking his brain for the answer. Given no pretence, he assumed she was enlightening him with some fascinating new knowledge. “I’ve never heard of such a thing. What is it? You must tell me.”

All too often these days Beauty found herself getting lost in her own thoughts and paying less attention to the world around her than she should be. It somehow felt easier to let herself get sucked into what ifs or memories rather than face the harsh reality that Fabletown had become since the murder. When someone startles her out of her daze she supposes that she’s lucky that it was a familiar, friendly face instead of someone more dangerous to her. “Not too busy for your questions, Alice.” In truth she was glad of the distraction that their interaction would no doubt bring when the younger woman had such a knack for finding something out of the blue to discuss. It was refreshing and while she had taken to looking out for her, Beauty knew that their conversations were far more than simply checking in on her. “Oh 13 hearts you say?” A soft smile plays on her features immediately indulging her riddle and even humming slightly as she thought. It wasn’t something that came to her right away but soon enough she felt satisfied that she had solved it in at least one way. “Would it by any chance have thirteen spades, clubs and diamonds?”

Alice knew there were at least two things about a person presenting a riddle to someone wanted to feel: they either wanted to feel superior, by asking a riddle and crossing their fingers the other party wouldn’t know the answer, or they wanted to entertain themselves and whoever was around. Alice was the selfish version of the latter, wanting nothing but something to keep her mind occupied, whether or not the other person wanted anything to do with it. “Deck of cards.” Alice added absentmindedly, her voice soft with both admiration and surprise as those words escaped without a warning; there was a small smile appearing on her lips, relieved and taken back by the fact Beauty knew the answer ---- not that Alice thought anything negative about the woman but more so the fact that her riddles were often met with annoyance and not an actual answer. “I knew there was a reason I liked you.” The Fable spoke, letting a small smirk appear on her lips as she crossed her arms over her chest in a nonchalant way. “Did you just think about it on the spot or was it your second rodeo with this riddle?” 

Barely able to remember how the throwing of punches had began, Hunter held his breath with his eyes locked on to his opponent. Blood was already trickling from his eyebrow and his ears rung from the blows he’d already taken but he’d never felt more alive. “Is that all you got?” His balled fists were ready in front of him and he gestured with his fingers for them to come closer if they dared; he still had some fight left in him. It was all he really had left at all.

For the first few moments of the fight, if someone looked at Alice, they would only see her burying her face in her hands and shaking her head with every hit she heard. Her mind kept wondering, second after second, why the hell she was still at the bar even after her shift had ended. Letting out a sharp sigh, the tiny girl went behind the counter and grabbed one of the almost empty bottles on the shelf before, nonchalantly, making her way to where the two were fighting. If it wasn’t Hunter, then she would’ve just left. “Next person to take a step towards the other gets hit in the face with this goddamn bottle,” tiny Alice spat, tone both angry and annoyed, her eyes landing on Hunter’s opponent and staying there --- anyone with half a mind knew that Alice wasn’t about to hit her co-worker in the head.

       knave slips through the door of the bar, sleep always a scorned mistress to him. but why waste hours away doing nothing when he could be drinking, or committing a crime. the former wins out tonight but he he might change his mind a few drinks in- or many drinks in. he does know one thing however, there’s a certain bartender he has yet to break and he plans to figure out how before someone eventually throws him down that damn witching well.

     he hops up onto the barstool with the grace only a thief could have before resting his arms on the bar. at her words his grin simply becomes sharper and he chuckles. ❝ me ?? carrying weaponry ?? i’m nothing but a man that believes in peace, ally. ❞ he aims for an innocent expression, but the small knife tattoo above his eyebrow and the light in his eyes begs to differ. ❝ now, what’s a man of peace gotta do around here to get a decent beer ?? ❞

Alice feigned sadness, an over-the-top frown appearing. “Guess you’re not that happy to see me, then.” Alice teased, looking at Knave with an ever-present smirk on her lips ---- he was just one of the few people to almost never see another expression on her face. And she knew that’s why he kept coming back to the same place, to the same situation, knowing exactly how it would go and how it would end ----- wasn’t that how mundanes defined insanity? It was silly, at least for Alice, because she believed no one was sane, especially not in Fabletown. 

And then, a moment of silence just to add unnecessary dramatics. “What has 13 hearts but no organs?”

Alice was bored at work and she had begun to wonder if she truly needed it, especially since she never spent any time at home ---- wandering the town and not sleeping was a whole lot better than lying motionless in a shitty bed for five hours, anyway. Dreams did not satisfy her; they were inconclusive and, for someone like Alice, not having a proper end to an epic adventure was some sort of torture. 

Just like a snap of fingers, however, the whole night became a lot more interesting. 

A small smirk appeared on her lips as she used an old cloth to wipe the counter, her eyes never leaving who she knew would be her company for the night. “Welcome to Trip Trap” Alice began, a subtle and devious look on her eyes as she eyed Knave up and down, “I hope you left your knives at the door.” The Fable teased, knowing full well he wouldn’t be Knave without his knives.