home to grapes and foxes

     Accompanied by the eccentric and the estranged, Sophie Hatter dared not to contemplate the routes in life that she’d chosen. She had only wished to follow the predestined marks of a dull and uneventful life meant for her position as the eldest daughter of three. However, a resistance surged in her, amused partially by the arrangement of new faces that she crossed paths with. Yet, the other half marveled at the vitality of these relationships and cause; surely, these were matters extinguished easier like a moth that finally kisses the flames as it’ll disappear like smoke and leave a terrible smell.

     “Then so be it, raccoon,” she reiterated to the ex-thief once more as she snugged her hands deep into her pockets, her eyes scanning through the clothing racks and tables that were preoccupied with her own works and much more. Mannequin heads worn hats, many turned in their direction. While she hadn’t fancied a glance over to the blond, she cleared her throat and continued conversation.

    “Don’t josh yourself; no one owes me anything. It’s a simple invitation,” she rolled her eyes at the promise in their voice. “Besides, that sort of nonsense I’m far too old for.” Her hands slipped out from her pockets as she finally brushed the tip of her middle finger against the table. Spotless and no dust. –You don’t even know half of what I do.

    “Since you were so invested to break-in, I expect you to be forward on what caught your interests. Were you just that bored or were you really inclined to take something? Either way, it is poor manners to do such a thing.” 

Vrai doesn’t exaggerate her laughter- she tosses back her head as she sashays over the merchandise, eyeing some pieces closely. Might as well cut right to business, after all.

    “Oh, you’re funny orsetta. And smart. I like that, not that you care.” He was a stranger to her, after all. That bit about owing her, was it just dramatics? He would decide later. Maybe.

    “Breaking in is fun, every once in a blue moon. I’m...” They frown, fingers inches away from a certain hat. “I probably should be more careful, but... it’s history now. No harm down.”

They reach into their pocket and take out a handful of crumpled bills that add up to around one hundred ninety dollars and begin to smooth out the folded corners.

*  A VARIETY & MIXTURE OF THE SHOW, CHANGE PRONOUNS AS NEEDED / FITTING .

❝ The next time I see you I’d like you to be wearing a necktie. ❞

❝ Get rid of the mouse, and get your act together. Now. ❞

❝ I see what you’re trying to do, but it’s not gonna work.. ❞

❝ Wow, looks like he hates you even more than me. ❞

❝ God, you must have been the worst fourth grader ever. ❞

❝ Giving him a name makes him human. ❞

❝ I’m fairly certain you would be caught. ❞

❝ What’s the most valuable thing in your office? ❞

❝ You mean my job as an amazing detective/genius? ❞

❝ Did you tell her we slept together twice? ❞

❝ I’m not gonna lie, that turns me on a little bit. ❞

❝ I’d wondered why all the birds had suddenly stopped singing. ❞

❝ You’re going to leave my precinct and my task force alone. ❞

❝ Come on, who wants to take this seriously? ❞

❝ I bet she tucked herself in the bed too tight and got stuck.  ❞

❝ Where have you been? We’ve been worried sick!  ❞

❝ Oh, is he sore from high-fiving criminals he’s gotten out of jail? ❞

❝ Did he get a murderer off who then murdered him to celebrate? ❞

❝ A cop and a defense attorney sleeping together? That’s highly unusual. ❞

❝ It’s a personal matter, involving a personal friend and his personal uncle. ❞

❝ So you remembered to turn off your signature, right? ❞

❝ I promise you, as soon as they tell me, you’ll be the first to know. ❞

❝ You won. Go ahead and gloat, you toad. ❞

❝ Look, I promise I won’t tell anyone, alright? My lips are sealed! ❞

❝ This is a secret. Do you understand me? ❞

❝ You do know what they do to witches up there, don’t you? ❞ 

❝ Well, I think we handled that with dignity. ❞

❝ Are you making fun of my stutter? ❞

❝ Oh. Uh… Sorry. I think I’m feeling a little awkward. ❞

❝ How do we make it not weird? ❞

❝ I just realized I’m never gonna be able to say that to his face. ❞

❝ You know I’ve made a lot of improvements since you left? ❞

❝ I know we just met, and I don’t wanna be too forward… ❞

❝ I’ve got that feeling about you. I like you. I think tonight we- ❞

❝ They just gave me ten years in prison.. ❞

❝ You can’t do anything except disobey orders and screw up! ❞

❝ Why are you dressed up? You look like an idiot. ❞

❝ What’s up? How can I help? ❞

❝ Well, we’ll just break you down to nothin’ and see what time it is. ❞

❝ Speaking of which, I’m getting hungry. What’s for dinner? ❞

❝ Why do people like these things? They’re just shiny rocks. ❞

❝ We’re gonna talk to a lawyer and get a professional opinion. ❞

❝ Looks good! Can barely tell you hulked out in here. ❞

❝ I just threw a bunch of popcorn on the floor. It wasn’t that hard. ❞

❝ All I did was be the only person who believes in you. ❞

❝ Somebody’s tryin’ to kill me, and I need protection. ❞

❝ I can smoke as much weed as I want. ❞

❝ It’s this kind of bickering that makes us such an adorable couple. ❞

❝ I saw an opening and I had to take it. ❞

❝ But this isn’t over! I will hunt you to the ends of the earth! ❞

❝ What?! But we saw him throw them in the garbage! ❞

❝ Nobody’s ever gonna see that footage; the case was cut and dry. ❞

❝ It’s not like I’m dying to tell anyone I saw your- ❞

❝ I’m dating my son-of-a-bitch ex-husband; who am I to judge? ❞

❝ I’ll let you guys talk! I’ll just close my eyes. ❞

❝ I’ll let you give me a spray tan! Any shade you want! ❞

❝ Massage! I’ll give you a massage! ❞

❝ I’ll also give you full control over my hair and wardrobe. ❞

❝ That really freaked me out and I just want this to end now. ❞

❝ The cheese is amazing. It melts in my mouth. And in my hands! ❞

❝ Come on, you can be honest. ❞

❝ I want old, expensive books. I’ll send you a list. ❞

❝ The tow truck just got here, so that’ll buy us at least an hour. ❞

❝ Tow truck?! What the hell’d you do to my car?! ❞

❝ What we need in here is an armored personnel carrier. A tank! ❞

❝ Well, I’m gonna go follow up on a lead right now. ❞

❝ Woah, no! What’re those morons doing in there?!  ❞

❝ Why is everyone just standing around? Get back to work! ❞

❝ What’d you do? What’d you say? ❞

❝ I hear you can smuggle in crap from outside. ❞

❝ What’re you lookin’ at? You got a problem? ❞

❝ I like you. You got balls.. ❞

❝ I hate to rub it in, detectives, but I told you they’d find me. ❞

❝ Well, he keeps yelling, “Disability for life!” so I think he’s fine. ❞

❝ Who hired you? Who do you work for, pizza man?! ❞

❝ You look out there and see a problem, I look out there and see an opportunity. ❞

❝ What have I become? Was this whole thing even worth it? ❞

❝ All because we shut down a foot massage place. ❞    

❝ Oh, my God. The City has no mayor now. ❞    

❝ Put your magical hands where I can see them! ❞    

❝ Did they make their bust? Did they save the precinct? ❞  

❝ I was behind the bar the whole time. ❞    

❝ I bet they have some awesome name for it. ❞    

❝ Can a paring knife remove a human heart in under a minute? ❞    

❝ I think you guys might be our best option at finding this guy again. ❞    

❝ You know, a bunch of us are going out drinking tonight. ❞    

❝ How did you get over there? Who are they? ❞    

❝ I’ve been calling you. Why won’t you answer your phone? ❞    

❝ We’ve been onto you for weeks, and we finally got you. ❞    

❝ I’ve never seen them before! What is going on? ❞    

❝ We’re on the money trail, and we just found a new lead.  ❞    

❝ Okay, this is bad. This is really bad.  ❞    

❝ Wait… What? Did you say “eat people”? Are you a cannibal, [ Name ]? ❞    

❝ I’m always gonna be one step ahead of you. ❞  

      “Mhm,” the woman plainly responded as the crook finally locked eyes with her, golden honey meeting bark brown on such a clear moonlit night. While her lips had remained neutral, with the shadows made by the lamppost shading most of what she saw, no doubt she caught onto the Cheshire grin on the other.

       For one already having been caught so easily, they had taken the luxury of turning back, picking once more to the lock of her store. Had they mistaken her for a common thief? She already has plain looking as is, most confusing her status as a simple seamstress than a high-rise CEO (not that she minded getting no attention, it only suited her better). 

     Once their fiddling was done, the blond stranger rose back onto their feet and Sophie was reminded of her place in the world – shorter than most and might break her neck if she looked up anymore. She bundled her hands into the depths of her cardigan’s pocket, tiredly blinking at the inquiries sent her way. 

    “Please don’t refer to me as ‘doll,’ raccoon.” While she spared most from the bite behind her words, her status hadn’t nullified her state of awkwardness around such particular names or implications. “Well, there are many things I can do like reporting to the officers, fighting you personally…” She began listing and shrugged at the possibilities. 

    Though, the woman redirected her attention towards the door and taken three steps forward. She raised one hand, twisting the doorknob and held opened the door with her right foot. She easily turned on the lights as an emergency light switch had been between a shelf and the wall beside the doorway. 

      “But, that’s a bit too much for me tonight. I’m just here to check over my store. Would you like to come in?” 

Vrai very nearly laughed doggishly in the strange lady’s face. It was just that kind of night, but they felt maybe hysterical laughter could be saved until a more unreasonable hour, like 3 AM.

She was small and many might mistake her for plain looking, but now that they weren’t dividing their attention between multiple subjects, they could really appreciate her subtleties.

And her utter dismissal of the current situations potential dangers was... comforting, almost. A week or so back, Vrai had met someone trying to break into their apartment and had invited the poor dude in for tea. Such was life.

    “No doll, then. Topolino might be more fitting, but let’s go with... orsetta.” They bear (heh) their teeth in what could be mistaken for a smile and dipped their head, politely.

         The faces of the strange and unpredictable were like moths to the faintly lit life of Sophie Hatter. She had been among the allies who had mask upon mask of their false selves, to the twistedly grinning and fleeting type. She had been under the villains who wore red for hair and titles for fun, keeping their gimmicks in the realm of the uncomprehensible and vile – those like Lily Angorian, or, better known as Fireheart. Yet, that was among the dust particles of the dust that covered the back of her mind. She fussed not to speak of it, only to keep herself from relapsing back on these waning memories. 

       Yet, she hadn’t been the face of persistently healthy insight. What were the marred remains on her body meant to reflect? Stability? Ha! All that was kept away, stored in that little mind, wouldn’t ever manifest beyond the irritation, depreciation, and thinly-coated apathy that came with her existence. 

      With her hands bundled into the depths of her pants’ pocket, an evening stroll among the phantoms of her memories had been like any other day. Her copper irises observed empty streets and they wondered past the light posts and asphalt. She dug the heel of her white flats against the floor and bundled with her cardigan. Once she had taken a quick check of her store, she would’ve returned her way back to Central Apartments. What she did from there was beyond her, but, she knew sleep was fleeting for the remainder of the night. 

    A thick brow rose in suspicion as she spotted a hunched figure squatting at her door front. In her 14 years experience of handling greed and wrath underneath most who came her way, she wasn’t all too surprised at the display. Disappointment seemed to ring in her mind, but, her head tiredly tilted to the side. 

       As quietly as a moth drawn to candlelight, she had taken her paces lightly but fast towards the figure as she crossed the street towards them. “Le Bijou de Ouvara” was clear on the sign hanging over the door front as she marveled at this week’s work rests at the back of the storefront’s window. What had drawn this criminal to come to her store, of all places? Perhaps he was struck with the realization that his wardrobe needed immediate change? Maybe he found himself needing a new hat to cover his messy blond hair? Maybe he had been an affiliate of Fireheart’s, wanting to make havoc rain down in her life once more? Maybe all of her worries bundled up in one.

     Leaning forward with her hands resting on her knees, the brunette’s loose locks flowed over her shoulders and her red-rimmed eyes observed the handiwork of the thief. Feeling the key to the store in her back pocket, she glanced at the side-view of the crooked person’s face, to the door once more. 

     “Have you tried turning it on the left?” 

Logically, Vrai knew that breaking into a store as high-end as this one wouldn’t necessarily go unnoticed, but he was still a little disappointed at being caught. She missed the days where someone was there to watch their back, to warn and advise in the heat of the moment.

They blinked up at the brown-haired beauty, amber eyes looking brown with the moon at their back, and managed a quirky smile. A troublemaker’s expression. If they didn’t look like a disaster waiting to happen before, they probably did now.

  “Haven’t been at it that long, but I’ll take it.” And with that Vrai turned back to the job, making quick work of the lock. They nodded, satisfied, and placed their thieves’ tools back into their pocket before standing.