The Deep Crimson Forrest Is My Wonderland

@varias-mist

It was good to be home. Or a reflection of it, at least. Kitty was well aware that this was not the Wonderland she had been born in, nor the one she would, eventually, return to. Sure, she missed having a roommate and the general Chaos of Ever After High, but good Godmother, if she had to hear another speech from Apple about friendship and destiny, she’d choke on her next hairball. 

“Not that I have those,” said Kitty beneath her breath. “Obviously.” 

…Lounging atop a streetlight, leg swinging as she soaked in the afternoon sun, she debated on whether or not a catnap was in order. She’d have preferred the forests, herself, but there was the sticky scent of dog versus cat all over the branches, and it felt crowded. She had no desire to get in the middle of that, thanks. Unless, of course, she could sneak in a prank or two along the way…

Speaking of. There was a morose looking youth in a funny looking hat. Kitty observed him for a moment or two, an eyebrow quirked. Whyever was he not smiling? Not that he had to, of course, but it was a little strange that his face didn’t even twitch in the slightest. Where was the emotion? Where was the fun?

A smile, hm? Well…if you insist.

She balanced on the balls of her feet and pounced, shimmering out of sight as she landed soundlessly behind the young man. Ever so slowly she prowled forward, her visible grin growing. If she could just…position herself just right–!

There! Now it looked like he had a particularly sharp smile. Not her finest prank, by any means, but it was pretty funny to see in the reflection of the window, if she did say so herself.

    Fran had been on his way home from a small errand when he had suddenly sensed someone watching him from a distance. He had glanced back for a moment to the strange girl, but shrugging off any worry towards her. He had sensed to malice from her being and if anything she just seemed.... mischievous.  That was something he knew well so who was he to get on an instant defensive.

    Instead he just took a slight detour. He would hate to have someone follow him and learn where he lived. He’d wait it out and see what plans she had and then perhaps take some action. But, even as she jumped from her perch and began moving about around him, he never once sensed a need to react. What was she even doing?

    His question was answered the moment he glanced up to the windows reflection. That was an interesting trick if he was honest, but annoying. 

☽ Starter for @varias-mist!!

     United Sanctuary was a nation of rich history; deities and holy dragons presided over the land as guardians. The knights protected the holy land earnestly, and King Alfred governed fairly and wisely. A beautiful land, if in constant turmoil due to personal grudges between clans. Yes, Rias loved her home dearly.

     But home didn’t have an amusement park, and that was a damn travesty.

     Since she couldn’t use her magic to make herself regular human-sized, the number of rides Rias could actually go on was rather slim. No biggie, everyone knows you go to places like this for the greasy carnival food. Funnel cake in one hand and a soda in the other, the witch strolled along the paths of Amusementland with a smile on her face. Even if she was getting weird looks from passing patrons.

     A gathered crowd catches her attention, and being a woman of curiosity she had to know what the hubbub was about. For once her height served as an asset, allowing to gaze over the heads of the tiny humans. An illusionist, huh? This would be interesting to watch. How good was he compared to the Pale Moon troupe?

    Working was a drag, but he needed the extra cash for food. At least it wasn’t something like customer service or some shit. He was doing something easy, something that was second nature to him and it made good practice and Mukuro couldn’t kill him for ‘slacking off’ while he was here. How he hadn’t gotten kicked out of the park he still didn’t know. It was obvious that he wasn’t employed there since he didn’t wear the employee uniform but it was whatever.

    The crowd around him consisted mainly of children so it was easy to save his energy and do minor illusions. Right now he was entertaining them with bubbles dancing around them, rainbowed lights dancing between them until he made them all pop at once and the lights rained down around them. The small cheers from them bringing a small smile to his face. 

    He leaned down in front of one of the young girls, reaching behind her ear and revealing a small rose that he handed to her. Her father instantly dropping a few extra coins in his giant frog hat he had placed on the floor. He really did like to milk the performance when children were involved, their parents always payed a little more if he succesfully made their day. 

“your feet are cold.”

“movies are made for watching, not for asking questions.”

“you’re hogging the blankets!”

“we should cuddle… for warmth.”

“is that your hand on my leg?”

“scoot over.”

“can we watch something else? this is scary.” 

“are you shivering?” 

“if you start snoring, i won’t be responsible for what happens to you.”

“did you eat all the popcorn?”

“your hair keeps getting in my face.”

“are you even wearing pants??”

“stop kicking me!”

“you’re a good pillow.”

“do i look like a foot-rest to you?”

“do i look like a pillow to you?”

“i’m cold.”

“You don’t know what the fuck happened, so I suggest you shut your mouth before I make you eat your words.”

Squalo had been taking his time getting to know his new area, making sure to learn every twist and turn, scouting it out like he used to scout new cities and villas he would go to for his missions with the Varia. To survive you needed knowledge, you needed to know the ins and outs, and though he hadn’t had to do anything like this since he had defeated Ty years ago, he hadn’t lost his touch. He even easily mixed in properly with the citizens of this new area.

While working on his scouting, the long haird swordsman didn’t expect to find anything familiar in this place but as he was starting to learn, this place was full of surprises, and those surprises included an annoying brat who had been missing for awhile now. It was hard to miss the stupid frog hat that Bel had made the brat wear, Squalo was just surprised that the boy was still wearing it as if he had nothing to hide from.

With practiced silence, the Varia second in command made his way over to the illusionist, avoiding bumping into anyone and placing a strong grip on the boys shoulder as he spoke in a quiet but firm voice.

“Voii….is this where you’ve been hiding you brat? Do you know how much trouble you fucking caused?”

@varias-mist​

    Fran had been enjoying his life as of late. He liked not getting stabbed almost every hour of the day and the silence he’d come back to. Though if he was honest he was greatly missing messing around with the Varia and Mukuros gang, but at least he had Cheshire to continue to poke fun at in replacement.

    He’d been taking a stroll god knows where when he had suddenly felt a strong grip on his shoulder and he instantly knew without even knowing who it was that his play time was somewhat over. He felt no real fear and could only really let out a soft sigh when he heard that famliar and a bit annoying ‘voi’. The captain had somehow ended up in wonderland with him now and he could only imagine the mess it was back there. 

    Eh, it was future him’s problem.