Alice Liddell

It seemed like Alice might want to ask more questions about where she was from. The blonde hoped not. Though she’d had literally her entire life to practice what she would say to people who asked baout her pasts, it seemed that when she was actually able to put her conversations to use, they faltered. Things didn’t go the way she planned them in her head – usually they were better. The world wasn’t dark and selfish. It wasn’t so cruel. But, she also found it was very hard to talk about her past out here in this wide open world – she never wanted anyone to know where she was from. She didn’t want her past to define her, or for people to look at her like she was some kind of hidden-away freak (which, well, she kind of was, but she didn’t want people to know it).  Her past was a secret for a reason: it haunted and scared her. It set her up for failure. She shouldn’t have to share that kind of weakness with anyone, right? And her hair…she knew she should cut it, that it made her a target (but for what, she didn’t quite understand) but for some reason, Rapuznel couldn’t let it go, she couldn’t bring herself to cut her hair. She found it too useful, too unique. She knew it was silly, but sometimes it felt like her hair could maybe bring some kind of magic into n her life.  She figured someone would find out about her life someday, but maybe it wouldn’t be a big deal. Maybe it wouldn’t matter to whomever she was with.  Maybe people didn’t actually care about other people’s lives that much. She figured she woudl want to know everything about a person she loved, every memory, every moment. But, could she really bring ehrself to share her life with someone else, in return? It wasn’t a risk Rapunzel was willing to take.  But, thankfully, her anxieties and worrying thoughts were washed away as Alice asked her name, instead of more questions, and she smiled broadly. 

She took another sip of the warm coffee and cleared her throat. “I’m Rapunzel, it’s nice to meet you! Thanks for being so nice, you must like your job,” she gestured politely to the diner. “Otherwise you probably wouldn’t have stopped to chat, right?”

She grinned again and took a quick second to scan the menu, though she was most confident in what she wanted. She was a sucker for omlettes, but she really had her eyes on the waffles with what looked like strawberry syrup. She didn’t even realize strawberries could be a syrup! 

 "Lovely to meet you too. I'm Alice, though the name tag probably gives that away." She said with a laugh. Alice merely shrugged at the next comment. Being kind and polite was in her nature. You'd be hard pressed to find someone who could say the doe eyed girl was mean spirited. "I'm nice because I want to be, job or not. Trust me if I didn't want to talk to you I would have politely excused myself with the excuse of I have other tables to tend to." On that she has had to employ many times. Whilst most times the conversations were either interesting or brief, there were points where she would just get sucked into the dryest conversations. Those were the ones she had to get herself out of before she was bored to tears. 

"Speaking of my job, I should probably do that. Seeing as you haven't ordered yet." She took her order pad out of her apron, ready to jot things down. "So what can I get you today?"

The laundry room in her apartment’s complex wasn’t working, so she had to use the next building’s which thankfully wasn’t too bad. A girl comes up to her and Sam responds. 

“Sorry I haven’t but I can help you look!”

Alice never stopped looking around the street, even as the other spoke to her. Though she nodded to show that she was still listening. "Thanks. She managed to slip out, which is strange because she never does this sort of thing. I don't know what got into her."

“Of course, kiddo.” He smiles down at her, hoping to instill some hope in the clearly distraught girl. “There’s only so many places a little kitty cat can wander off to around town, we’ll find her in no time. So, you have any idea which direction she was headed in? Or any of her usual spots?”

A soft smile pulled at the corner of her lips at the reassurance. It did a great deal in calming her nerves. “Thanks, it means a lot.” She said, taking a deep breath. “Oh, well I know she went off that way.” Alice pointed in the direction. “She rounded the corner and that’s when I lost her. Dinah never goes outside, which is why I’m so worried.” 

Anna couldn’t help herself, she blushed a little bit at the compliment. She’d chalk it up to the over-all nerves of a blind date, something she’d never done before, either. She listened to Alice ramble on and didn’t find it at all annoying. On the onctrary, it was nice to have been paried up with another person who sometimes let the conversation get away from them and not feel too awkward about it. 

“I’d say it’s going well so far – we get free pizza and the atmosphere is pink and heart-shaped, what’s not to love?” She offered Alice another smile. 

“So, are you from around here? I have to say, I think you look kinda familiar – do you work somewhere in town?” She couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d seen the blonde somewhere befroe, but couldn’t place it right away. Anna, unlike her sister, tried to frequent places in twon, even the smaller shops and restaruants , because she liked to feel as though her hometown was exactly that– a hometown. After spending so much time cooped up, dealing with the pressures of their parent’s company, Anna wondered why Elsa didn’t get out more. What was so wrong with wanting to experience what life had to offer? 

“I’ve never been on one, either – unless you count some of the dates my parents wanted me to go on. I definetely don’t count those. This is already much better!”

“The flowers that they sent were a nice touch as well. Funny how they managed to pop up just in time for valentines day.” A most strange coincidence indeed. The flowers themselves were beautiful and Alice hoped they wouldn’t disappear as quickly as they appeared. It would be such a shame. 

Alice nodded “Grew up here in town. I started at the diner almost a year ago now.” It did not feel like that long since she had been working there. Funny how time just managed to slip away like like that. In an instance things had managed to change so quickly. If she was being honest Alice liked where the change was taking her. “Besides that I’m always out and about town, never liked being cooped up for too long. We’ve probably run into each other in passing before, but never truly met. I glad we get a chance to change that now.” 

“No,” Maddy huffed, rolling her eyes in annoyance. “For the final time, I do not talk to the dead.  You want a séance, go look elsewhere and quit wasting my time.” She turned back to her books, making another note on where she was running low. There would need to be a new trip out to the woods soon.

The occult shop was one of the few shops Alice had never really ventured into. Her stance on the subject was firmly in the unsure what to believe category. As fanciful as she was, she could just never fully buy into the subject. Yet her wanderings had taken her into the shop today, curiosity piqued just enough that there was a need to satisfy it. She meandered through the shop, pursuing wares as the heated discussion took place. As the other customer stormed off, Alice’s eyebrow rose just a hair. “Well I know what not to ask you for now.” Alice laughed, trying to ease the palpable tension now in the room. 

he hums a chuckle, careful to lean forward and drink his tea with grace to not ruin the illusion of whatever she meant to go for in the drawing. “i am ... a jack of all trades and a master of none.” he said decidedly putting the teacup down. “ but enough of this, why don't you tell me about yourself?” james hook was a complex man, but underneath his fiery temper was a curious man such as the young lady before him. however harmless she may be it was good for him to get to know people so he might use them later.

Alice hummed as she drew, still listening to him speak. “But oftentimes better than a master of one.” She said, looking up at him briefly. “That part is always conveniently omitted from the adage.” As the conversation turned towards her, Alice’s nose scrunched slightly. “I’m not that interesting I’m afraid.” That’s what she believed at least. In her mind she was just Alice, that’s all. In the end, just Alice was fine with her. “Grew up here in Bounds Bay, I work at the diner. This is more of a hobby right now.” She motioned towards the sketchbook. “And writing. I’ll do something with them eventually. I don’t know, maybe children's books. It’d be a good mix of both talents and I think I’d be good enough at it.”

Meg knew well enough how difficult it could be to change a their mind once it was settled on disapproval. “It’s too bad you can’t bring a dessert as an offering. They probably wouldn’t appreciate a piece of their own pie as a gift, y’know?” She shrugged, unable to offer more helpful advice considering an irritated employer. Coming back from an appointment with bad news and good pastries only worked for her about half the time anyway. “If you have nothing to do at work, being bored will be the least of your problems. For me, I get to catch up on my shows, and if I’m quiet about it, I can snooze on the couch in between phone calls.”

ㅤㅤ

Alice shook her head. "No pie is quite a useless peace offering in this case. The best I could do is clean up my mess and apologize a thousand times over. That usually smoothed things out enough." She kept moving forward. Just keep her mistakes in mind and move past it. "True, I'd be out of a job if there was nothing to do at the diner. That doesn't sound too bad. A moment to relax at work is always a good thing. Moments to break up the chaos."

This is what he was going to do today. He was going to reunite Alice and Dinah. “Of course.” He have a reassured pat on the back. Alice was sort of a little sister to Erik. Of course he was going to help as much as he can. His brain went through different plans on how to find a cat. He had never owned one but they couldn’t be as different as getting a dog’s attention. “Does she have a favorite toy that makes sound? That could get her attention.”

Alice let out a sigh feeling some of the tension start to leave her body. Erik’s company was something she always enjoyed. Often reading the stories she wrote to him, she liked the feedback and more than anything she liked sharing her work. With him helping she knew it would be no time before Dinah was found. Alice nodded at his question. “I have some of her toy mice in my apartment. They’re jingly. I can run and grab one real quick.”

he uncapped a marker with his teeth then spit the cap onto the counter. “a medium vanilla latte,” he repeated as he scrawled the order on a paper cup. “you sure you don’t want something a little more complicated? wouldn’t want these guys getting lazy,” he gestured to his co-workers, hustling and bustling behind him, trying to keep up with drink orders. he tried to be subtle as he scanned the contents of her wallet. wallets were tricky. he had a strict ‘cash only’ policy, taking someone’s id, driver’s license or credit card was much more trouble than they was worth. he’d learned that the hard way. “what, them?” he glanced over one shoulder at the person he’d kicked off the register and waved dismissively, “it was about time for their break anyway. plus, what other opportunity was i going to get to talk to you?” 

Alice merely shrugged at the comment. "What can I say, I'm a simple girl." At least when it came to coffee. The blonde saw no need to complicate things with specifics. Things started to become a bit too muddled at that point for her taste. Her wallet held little of interest, id, a few credit cards, about thirty dollars and a tiny key that for the life of her she couldn't figure out what it went too. Yet despite that she knew that it was important somehow, so she held onto it. Alice quirks an eyebrow, a smile tugging ever so slightly at the corner of her lips. "Ah, so it's a win-win then."

Mahit always enjoyed her company, and he proudly folded his arms in front of him when she sat across from him. “That’s good. I would be worried the cook would burst it into flames.” Smee admitted cynically. “That’s true, especially with space. Maybe the other crew wouldn’t mess with it.” He chewed on his bottom lip starting to get nervous that he hadn’t done as much research as he had thought. “I feel like I could live off of fish or I have before… but pellets? Sounds like some new diet. I don’t think either of us needs a diet though.” He rambled on innocently. “Do you think a rabbit would get lost in the crates at the dock? Do Rabbits know how to swim? I think snails do OK if they fall in water right? Oh god. Would that kill it?”

Alice let out a hum as her gaze desired towards the kitchen. The day is still young and so full of possibilities. Could still happen." It was possible however improbable it may be. "Do you really think the others would bother it?" If they that just seemed disrespectful, both towards the little creature and Mr. Smee. "It might, but maybe that's its way of trying to take you to some far off place. Beckoning you to follow it. I'm pretty sure Rabbits can swim, I think I remember seeing a video of them swimming quite well. I don't know about land snails, but there are the aquatic ones. Those would be right at home in the water."

𐐪𐑂

Mirabel was never one to turn away a problem, no matter who it belonged to, and there was no way that she’d let a cat run around without her owner. Too many things like cars existed, making it too dangerous. It felt like she knew someone that could help in this situation, she just couldn’t get the name to the tip of her tongue. Now wasn’t the time anyway, she moved in the direction that the other woman pointed and kept her eyes open, looking high and low. “Aquí, gatita.” A clatter, a sound like a trash can falling and Mirabel perked up and picked up her step when she saw a flash of fur. “Over there!”

Alice followed the woman, a bit more hopeful in the search now that there was help. Surely now Dinah would be found in no time at all. "Thank you, I really do appreciate this, you know." Alice heard the noise, head immediately swiveling in the direction it came from. A fleeting glimpse of a tail was all she caught before it was gone. "Wait up." The blonde called, trailing a few steps behind the other. "Which way did she go?"

She took a deep breath and smiled at herself in the small compact mirror she held in her freshly manicured hands. Not that sparkly hands we’re going to keep her from dropping something tonight, she was sure.

She didn’t know what to expect from this date — was it a date if it wasn’t set up with someone you knew? I mean, she thought, there’s not even a profile picture to go off of!

But Anna wasn’t exactly nervous. She was excited to meet someone new, and she wanted to put her best foot forward. Her green pleated dress and matching velvet heels out to do the trick - but she wondered if her hair was messy, with its half updo. It didn’t matter now, too late to change, and she pushed I open the door more confidently than she felt.

Smiling and giving her name to the host, she was lead to a charming little table with an even more charming person sitting at her place.

“Hi! You must be Alice, right? Great to meet you — I love your dress it looks wonderful!” She scooted carefully into the small booth and smiled at the festive Valentines decor. “Wow they, uh, really went all out this year. It’s cute! Usually pink and red don’t really match, right —but I think it looks good if it’s all hearts and bows.”

A bright smile graced her lips at the sight of the other “That’s me. And you’re Anna. It’s really nice to meet you.” Instinctively she held her hand out to the other as introductions were made. If there was one thing her mother had actually managed to instill in Alice, it was an overt sense of politeness. Probably the only thing out of endless lessons and lectures about being a lady that stuck. “You look lovely as well. Green really suits you.” Lacing her fingers together she propped her head in her hands as she glanced about the restaurant. “I think the white accents help keep it from clashing. It’s nice though, it’s almost in the realm of cheesy. Which I can’t really tell if that’s what they were going for or not. I am a little surprised by the lack of cupids, figured they would have jumped all over that thematic design.” Rambling, she was rambling again. She couldn’t help but chuckle as she realized she was doing it. It was a bad habit she had managed to pick up somewhere along the way. She could just go on and on until she was blue in the face or someone stopped her, more often that not the latter is what happened. “So…I’ve never actually been on a blind date before. I’m really not sure how this is supposed to go.”

@ofbravery​

“Oh, um, around – you know?” Rapunzel tossed a hand in the air as if to flit away the questions, trying to play it casual. “I haven’t been around town for that long, which is a real shame – everything here is so amazing! Especially this place.” She took another long look around and smiled contentedly. The diner was whimseical and chamring, it had an air all its own, and Rapunzel was under the impression lots of different kinds of people came through it’s doors. 

She smiled at the girl’s compliment. Her nametag gave it away that her name was Alice, what a nice name! One that could lend itself to mystery and adventure. She tucked the piece of information away. People thought it was abandoned forever. Abandoned. Abandoned. The word circled round and round in her head, half a blessing, half a curse. Nobody would bother her, it seemed, and nobody would have to know she had actually grwon up there. Nobody had even bothered to check well enough, it seemed, but that was fine. It made this new life she was giving herself a bit more clean, a bit more crisp: she was just…here, one day. And that was totally fine. 

Rapunzel laughed at the tea comment, wondering why it would be a secret if it was so good, but nodded. “Your secret is safe with me, no worries here.” She took a big leap suddenly, and asked: “Would you like to go get a cup with me, sometime? That is, if it would be allowed, I mean.” She was half-kidding about it being allowed. Alice seeemed like she was joking, but Rapunzel didn’t know. Maybe some places really didn’t let you go to their rival cafes? Hopefully not, though. Alice was super friendly, and Rapunzel wasn’t sure she wasn’t to give up that easily. 

Alice could tell when someone was dodging her questions. Mostly because she had a knack for asking questions she probably shouldn't. She couldn't help but wonder why such a simple question was left unanswered. As much as her curiosity insisted she try to find out, she knew that not pushing was the better course of action. "Well I'm glad you've been struck by its charm. I think sometimes people don't see it, which is a shame."

starter for @xthecuriousonex​

The all too common tornado of being overwhelmed surrounds Nani throughout her shift, but she’s finally found herself in the peaceful lull between the breakfast and lunch rush. A moment to breathe, to retighten her pony, to give herself her daily mirror pep talk. And a moment to confide in her friend, Alice. Since the commotion had died down, and there were only a few tables to tend to here and there, she sought her friend out and pulled her aside for a moment. “Alice, hey. Crazy day, am I right?” She pushes a loose strand of hair behind her ear as she laughs softly. “Um, I was wondering if you could do me a big favor, actually.”

Alice had grown accustomed to the hurried hum of the lunch rush. It never really bothered her too much. She was the type of person who needed to be constantly moving and doing something. If left to her own devices for too long her mind would wander and she'd be easily distracted, which was not ideal when she was at work. Still there was relief as the chaos died down and all was relatively quiet. It wasn't a surprise when Nani made her way over to her. "It wasn't too bad, if you ask me last week was worse." She said with a shrug. "Of course, you know it's no problem. What do you need."