[open] Now, let's all agree to never be "creative" again.

[theothermrgray]

Who: A very tired Dorian and YOU
Where: Various bars around Wonderland and the spiffy new lake
When: Immediately after the Mirror catastrophe
Rating: PG13 for trauma and booze?
Summary: Dorian would like to forget that last event please. Thank you.
The Story:

5/20: The immediate aftermath

[The first thing he does after returning to the real side is smash the mirror in his room.]

[God. If that is what the mirror world is like, he really doesn't want to be part of it. Especially after what his Mirror did. Being trapped in the room like that. Thank goodness someone got him out, but still...]

[No, he's not going to relax in his room. He's going to venture out to the closest pub and spend the evening at the bar. Maybe they have absinthe to get his mind off things.]

5/21: Lake!

[The arrival of a beautiful lake is a welcome treat. It doesn't really make up for the chaos from the past week, but he'll visit it anyway.]

[You might stumble upon him and his rabbit near the edge of the lake, just calmly taking in the view. Feel free to say hello. He loves company.]

Comments

5/21

[sweartoyou]

[a rabbit you say

Ray still hasn't bounced back completely from the depression that struck her a couple days ago, so while she wants to want to explore, her way down to the lake is more a mix of sulky trudging and a ghost drifting along. A cute animal is just what she needs.]

Oh... Can I...pet it...? Will it run away?

[You wouldn't deny this sad, tired thirteen-year-old bunny pets, would you?]

[theothermrgray]

[Well, isn't this a beautiful girl. She looks so sad, though...]

Why, of course! Here, let me hold him for you.

[He gently picks up his lop eared rabbit and places it on his lap for her to pet.]

This is Basil.

[sweartoyou]

[She kneels next to the pair with a relieved sigh and reaches out.]

Basil... What a pretty name. Basil leaves can be used to reduce pain from a scorpion sting.

[Fun factoids you just naturally pick up along the way, certainly having nothing to do with considering scorpion-based traps.]

It's a "king of herbs"... Is this Basil a king or a queen?

[theothermrgray]

... So it is. Aren't you a clever girl?

[In all honesty, Dorian named the rabbit after a human being. An old friend who isn't here and probably never will be.]

If you're talking about the rabbit's gender, it's a boy.

[The rabbit is so gentle. So fluffy.]

[sweartoyou]

[She likes it when they're gentle. Likes it even more when they're not fragile and in need of fixing. Ray lightly runs her hand along Basil's back, then back up to his ears.]

King Basil... I'm Rachel Gardner. I'm not naturally clever, like animals are. But I don't suppose that matters by the time you become clever.

[theothermrgray]

[The bunny doesn't reply, because bunnies don't talk.]

[Dorian smiles as she talks to his pet.]

Your name is Rachel, hm? That's a pretty name.

[sweartoyou]

[In her heart, it greets her. He's still got most of her focus, so Dorian really only gets a vague noise of acknowledgement. Her name was her name -- that's all. It was a bit less important than this cute bunny.]

I tried to pet some rabbits in the gardens, but they always ran from me. They were really cute... I'm glad this one is staying.

[theothermrgray]

[Uh... Are you paying attention to him at all?]

... Well, it is a domesticated rabbit. Of course he's tame enough to stay.

[sweartoyou]

[w/e dude you're not a cute animal or trying to kill her]

Domesticated... [Hmn. She wonders if that puppy was domesticated or not.] I guess I didn't think it mattered as much, when they're small.

[Bunnies are always small, so clearly they belong around people to take care of them.]

You're lucky you get a rabbit, sir.

[theothermrgray]

[Rude.]

Well, I did acquire my pet through sheer luck.

[sweartoyou]

[That pulls her focus some -- it couldn't be sheer luck... Situations fall into your lap, but it's how you react that gets the results. There has to be some sort of trick to it she can exploit.]

Really...? How?

[theothermrgray]

[He's happy to explain.]

Well, quite a few months ago, a girl here decided to try pulling rabbits out of the closet. That sort of... Backfired.

Which left her with plenty more rabbits than she knew what to do with. I simply adopted one of them.

[sweartoyou]

[omg]

I...heard that about closets. I tried to get a puppy... It's only given me toys so far.

[Which is good for many reasons, but the most immediate problem would be that whole...not telling her roommate about it, whoops.]

5/20

[mcgucket]

[Hey friend, want company? Fiddleford could use a drink too after everything this event turned out to be.]

[theothermrgray]

[Yes, he would very much like company from a familiar friend here.]

Ah... I guess we got to go out for drinks after all.

[Dorian's not in the best of moods, but at least he's not grumpy.]

[mcgucket]

Looks like it. [...] Sorry for standin' you up that time.

[theothermrgray]

... Oh?

[Funny, he barely remembers that conversation. Other than the drink offer. Wasn't there a sleeping event at the time?]

Ah, well. This is probably a better time. Less chance of us falling asleep in our drinks.

[mcgucket]

Yeah. Feels like it might be a while before I'll be able to sleep again, unlike that time.

[Maybe he should just remove the mirror from his room altogether, if that's the only way to keep them from crossing over and stealing things from his room?]

[theothermrgray]

[Oh, dear. Dorian sighs and gingerly sips his absinthe.]

What did they do to you?

[mcgucket]

Stole some stuff, mostly. Not just my mirror, but another mirror broke in as well, from the looks of it.

[... Also murder happened to one of his friends but the less time spent thinking about that, the better.]

[theothermrgray]

[Dorian dramatically groans in anguish.] Oh, dear...

You were lucky. The horrid bastard I seem to have for a mirror thought it would be funny to lock me in a cage in his room while he ran about on our side!

[That's on top of stealing his favorite book. Not that Dorian realizes it yet.]

[mcgucket]

Really? He sure sounds like a real snake in the grass to me...

[... Actually, come to think of it, Fiddleford should probably count his blessings that Dorian's mirror didn't pay him a visit, after how that last conversation went between them.]

[theothermrgray]

[It's a good thing that mirror was more concerned with the traitors, huh?]

[Dorian sighs, turning to pay more attention to the drink.]

Don't remind me. I'd rather not speak about this incident ever again.

[mcgucket]

Agreed.

[Fiddleford is also going to give his drink some attention here for a moment. He considers suggesting erasing the incident from the other's mind, but... well, he'd have to look around and make sure no mirrors were in this room first...]

[theothermrgray]

[Oh, please. Dorian would rather forget about this whole thing the old-fashioned way: Drowning his sorrows. He glances over at Fiddleford's drink and raises an eyebrow.]

That's... Scotch, isn't it?