Nexus: A Little Knowledge

[save_us_alice]

Alice is worried. Just a few minutes ago, Victor sent her a message via PINpoint asking her to meet him in the Nexus to discuss something "of grave importance." She doesn't know what he wants to talk about, though it's obviously quite serious. Nervous, she makes her way over to the meeting spot he assigned. What on earth could he have to say?

Comments

[deadgirlsliekme.livejournal.com]

Victor's waiting for her as she arrives. He too is nervous, though not as much as he could be. His talk with April helped immensely in that regard. (http://community.livejournal.com/dear_multiverse/5166237.html?thread=300762013#t300762013) "Hello, Alice."

[save-us-alice.livejournal.com]

"Hello, Victor," Alice replies. "What did you want to talk to me about?" She doesn't want to waste any time.

[deadgirlsliekme.livejournal.com]

Victor takes a deep breath and lets it out. "I met someone in the Nexus the other day -- someone who had met you while you were LOLed. She -- er -- accidentally t-told me about your -- m-memories of -- us. She d-didn't mean to," he rushes to add, not wanting Alice mad at April. "She was in a b-bad way. Her own m-mother had attacked her -- I was t-trying to help her when s-she -- er -- s-spilled the beans, as it were."

[save-us-alice.livejournal.com]

Oh shit. Alice never thought April would tell anybody else about that. Of course, if she were hurt and not thinking clearly. . . . "I'm sorry," she says, feeling a bit panicky. "I-I didn't know how to tell you, and it was so awkward seeing you at John's party, and I don't even know if it's a will-be or a may-be, if that makes any sense at all--"

Apparently Alice can ramble with the best of them.

[deadgirlsliekme.livejournal.com]

"No, it's all right," Victor rushes to cut her off. "I'm -- I'm glad she told me. I-I-I -- Ireallylikeyou."

Well, that could have come out better.

[save-us-alice.livejournal.com]

Alice stops, stunned. "You -- you do?" Girl, having a memory of you two getting married wasn't enough to prove to you he returned your affections? "But -- what about Miss Everglot? Or the corpse bride?"

[deadgirlsliekme.livejournal.com]

"I do," Victor says softly. "You're -- wonderful, Alice. You're like no girl I've m-met before. You're -- you're -- vital. And, if I m-may say so, quite p-pretty." He blushes and smiles weakly.

"Miss -- April can see the future, apparently. She told me that Miss Everglot will be all right. I'm sure her parents can find her another rich suitor, at least. I'm not sure about the corpse bride -- perhaps she'll be lucky enough to stumble across a corpse groom?" He shrugs. "I-I don't want to say I don't c-care, but -- I told you before, I d-didn't really want to go back."

[save-us-alice.livejournal.com]

Alice blushes herself. "You flatter me," she murmurs, feeling a spike of guilt. She still hasn't told her friends exactly what happened to Wonderland and herself when she was small. They know it was a dark time, and she's explained a bit about her parent's death, but. . . . "Not many people would agree with you back home."

"She mentioned that when I met her," she nods. "She accidentally saw the -- vision -- as it flashed through my head." She looks at him. "You're -- really all right with not going back to Burtonsville?"

[deadgirlsliekme.livejournal.com]

"Most people, I suspect, don't know you that well," Victor retorts.

"Yes," he says, with surprising conviction. "It's not really home to me anymore. I like it where I am -- well, I wouldn't mind more people, but you know what I mean. Back in Burtonsville, I didn't have any real friends, and the only life I could look forward to is taking over my father's fish cannery. Here I have you and Marty and Doc and everyone else I've met. And I'm free to be whatever I wish." He smiles. "I like it. I feel -- alive."

[save-us-alice.livejournal.com]

"No, they don't," Alice agrees. "But they know a little more about me than you do. I need to tell you something."

She manages a tiny smile. "That does sound like an advantage," she agrees. "But won't you miss your family, at least?"

[deadgirlsliekme.livejournal.com]

"A little," Victor says. "But -- I never did feel close to my p-parents." He pauses, then plunges on. "Mother's openly said she wanted a girl. And Father -- his first love was always the fish business." Yeah, not a lot of love lost between them.

He frowns. "What is it?" He gets the feeling this is going to be like when he had to tell her about his arranged fiancee and corpse bride.

[save-us-alice.livejournal.com]

Alice feels a way of sympathy. How can a mother say that about her child? "How simply awful," she whispers. Part of her wants to add, "perhaps you're better off rid of them," but that seems unnecessarily rude.

Now it's Alice's turn to take a deep breath. "I've told you a bit about Wonderland going wrong. Well, the reason for that has to do with my parent's death. Simply put, I -- I fell catatonic after they died. They -- committed me." Oh, that was painful to say. Please don't hate her, Victor. . . .

[deadgirlsliekme.livejournal.com]

It may be rude to say, but there's no denying it's how Victor feels in his darker moments.

Victor stares. They threw Alice into an asylum?? "They put you into bedlam?" he repeats, trying to process this.

[save-us-alice.livejournal.com]

"Rutledge Asylum," Alice confirms, a pained look on her face. "I spent ten years there, languishing in sorrow. It wasn't until Wonderland called me back that I started to get better." She forces herself to look him in the face. "I am sane, I promise you. Now that I've fixed Wonderland, I can deal with things again. I don't go around attacking people willy-nilly or anything like that."

[deadgirlsliekme.livejournal.com]

Victor's heard of Rutledge -- it's one of the better asylums, if a bit underfunded. "Ten years," he whispers, stunned. "Goodness, Alice -- I'm so sorry for you. That must have been--"

Wait. Hadn't Alice said her parents died when she was just shy of eight? His eyes go wide. "They put a child into an asylum?!"

[save-us-alice.livejournal.com]

"It was," Alice says, guessing at Victor's unfinished sentence. "I literally had to fight my way across the landscape. It was worth it in the end, though."

She blinks, taken aback. It takes her a minute to follow Victor's train of thought. "I was catatonic," she explains. "I don't think anyone knew what to do with me. The doctors and nurses were quite kind -- well, except for two orderlies, but I taught them a bit of a lesson."

[deadgirlsliekme.livejournal.com]

"How terrible," Victor says. "I'm glad you're all right now. And Wonderland too."

He shakes his head. "I still don't think it's right. Small children in bedlam. . . ." In a rare case of acting on impulse, he hugs her tightly. "Oh, Alice. . . ."

[save-us-alice.livejournal.com]

"Me too," Alice says softly.

The hug takes her by surprise, but she quickly returns it. "I'm fine -- like I said, they took good care of me," she reassures him. Then she looks up. "But -- it doesn't bother you that I--"

[deadgirlsliekme.livejournal.com]

Victor pats her back. "I'm glad to hear that," he says. "And no, it doesn't. It was hardly your fault you ended up in there. And I believe you when you say you're fine now." He suddenly smirks, a rather odd expression for him. "Though I don't know about fully sane. You are the girl who discovered Wonderland."

[save-us-alice.livejournal.com]

"Hmph. I'll have you know my madness is quite pleasant," Alice huffs playfully. "If you have a problem with it--"

[deadgirlsliekme.livejournal.com]

"Alice, I live next door to a man who is half-clockwork and can control the weather. Both he and his best friend were kidnapped by Faeries. Both he and I passed through a Rift into an entirely new dimension. I now have the ability to leave my body for dead and become a ghost. And before any of that, I managed to bring a corpse back from the grave by inadvertently proposing marriage to it," Victor says, deadpan. "I have to say, it appears I thrive on madness."

More seriously, he adds, "I really do want to make this work. I don't know how, yet -- I mean, you can't keep disappearing off to here, and I can't visit your world -- if I'm not the right Victor for it, there will be confusion, but it might be worse if I am -- but I want to."

[save-us-alice.livejournal.com]

Alice laughs at his little speech. He most certainly has her there. And she is absolutely relieved. "Good."

She gives him a little squeeze. "I want to too," she tells him, with a soft smile. "I really like you. And I liked that future I saw. We'll figure something out, I'm sure."

[deadgirlsliekme.livejournal.com]

Victor smiles back at her. "Well then -- would -- would you -- would you l-like to go on a d-date sometime?" he offers up.

[save-us-alice.livejournal.com]

Alice feels a warm glow all over. "I'd love to," she whispers. Goodness, if Aunt Susan could see her now. She probably wouldn't believe it was her niece.

[deadgirlsliekme.livejournal.com]

"Wonderful!" Victor pauses as he realizes something. "Er -- just give me some time to d-decide where." Whoops.

[save-us-alice.livejournal.com]

Alice chuckles. "That's fine." She gives him another squeeze, feeling surprisingly content. She doesn't know how this will all work out, but on some level, she's confident it will. Probably the level that remembers being thirty, and being his wife.

[deadgirlsliekme.livejournal.com]

Victor squeezes back, then looks down. Alice looks so lovely right now. . . . Does he dare?

Well, he can try, he supposes. He leans down, eyes fluttering closed and lips pursing.

[save-us-alice.livejournal.com]

Alice is surprised at his boldness, but it's a pleasant surprise. He really must be serious if he's doing this. Smiling, she goes up on tiptoe to meet him halfway.

This kiss is much nicer than their previous ones.

[deadgirlsliekme.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's a sentiment Victor agrees with muchly. Now that much of his anxiety has been quelled, he can actually enjoy kissing Alice.

He breaks it after a bit, smiling down at her. He doesn't regret the loss of Burtonsville at all now. So this is why people think love is so wonderful.

[save-us-alice.livejournal.com]

And Alice?

Is thinking pretty much the same thing.