+ Chalk it to me! - Mingle Log +

[vitaelamorte]

Who: EVERYONE!
Where: Anywhere outside on Real Side, but mostly in the gardens!
When: 3/14-3/20
Rating: PG, warn if going higher than PG-13
Summary: Alice has invited everyone, Reals and Mirrors alike, to come color outside in the nice spring weather with magic chalk. Surely nothing could go wrong with that plan, right?
The Story:

Outside, the weather is absolutely beautiful. It's not too hot, but not too cold either, and no one would have ever realized there was snow on the ground yesterday if they hadn't been here to see it. The grass is green and everything is dry - no sign of melted snow anywhere at all. Flowers have begun to bloom and it truly looks as though it's been spring for some time already. The season has changed abruptly and now Wonderland's decided it's time for it to be nice out.

There are many paths through the gardens, the vendors, and the hedge maze that can be drawn on, but as Alice demonstrated in her post, there's no need at all to stick to pavement only. Even the air can be decorated with living drawings!

This is a log for people who want to come color outside or people who want to check out what others are doing out here. It isn't strictly to interact with Alice, but she'll be around and will have a top level.

Comments

[curiousher]

"I don't think I'd mind a life like that," she says. "It sounds nice to me."

Her smile falters when Louis mentions the sisters out of seemingly nowhere, but she tries her best to keep her calm.

"Oh?" she says, very curtly. "I'm sure they had quite a lot to say."

Or specifically, a lot to say about her. They seem like the type to be gossipy like that.

[teamfun]

"There's worse lives. I, for one, would welcome our Kitten Overlords."

He keeps his smile on, trying to reassure. He doesn't want to spook her, or worse- make her feel like he's accusing her of anything.

"They sure did," he waggles a finger at a kitten, to try and break some tension. "Something about you not believing them about being stuck in a well? And then...one of them hit you? Or...all of them? It's kinda hard to get around the whole treble-speak thing they got going on."

[curiousher]

"Tillie did," she clarifies. "She's the eldest, though she doesn't act like it."

The other two just watched, and Alice doesn't mind that so much since it gave her the chance to fight back instead of just taking that sort of treatment.

"And no, I don't believe them," she says. "Have you ever even seen a well in Wonderland? Because I haven't, and I've been here a very long time. I haven't even seen a normal well, much less one full of treacle."

[teamfun]

"Yeaaaaah, picked that much up speaking to them."

Louis is used to difficult kids, though- hell he was a difficult kid. Ericson was filled with them.

"I honestly can't say I have, no treacle wells, nope," he cants his head, trying his best mediator tone. "And Tillie sure as hell shouldn't have hit you for saying it- but maybe something happened to make them believe it was true- even if it might not be. This is Wonderland, after all. The Land of the Batshit."

[curiousher]

It's an interesting point, and probably a valid one. It's enough to make her pause.

"Maybe," she says. "Or maybe they're just like the Cheshire Cat and the Tweedle Twins, and the rest of the people of Wonderland. I don't think they've ever been outside of it, and I certainly don't think they've been around as long as they say they have. The people of Wonderland, the ones who say they're from here, tend to show up very suddenly - like they did. I just don't appreciate that they're trying to make everyone think they've always been around."

Especially when she knows perfectly well that they haven't. She sighs though, and rests her chin in her chalk-covered hand.

"Though, I suppose there are people here who would think that of me..." she says.

[teamfun]

"Maybe to them, they have been here for that long. Could be that Wonderland is messing with their memories- maybe wherever they go when they're not here runs on a different time than here," he shrugs. "Or maybe they're just making it up to feel more important. Who knows. It's almost impossible to know for sure one way or the other."

He offers her a gentle smile, encouraging.

"Maybe, not me, but maybe some people would, and I'm sure you wouldn't like it if people got angry at you for it," his tone remains even. "Basically what I'm trying to get at is that is Wonderland's already doing everything in its power to screw us over. Being at each other's throats isn't gonna help that."

[curiousher]

"...I still think if they'd really been here that long, I would've heard about it. I would have met them," she says. "I've been here so such longer than anyone else, so I would have noticed if someone else had been here that long too. I...I would have had company."

But she didn't. They just turned up all of a sudden, and the whole thing was suspicious.

"...Wonderland could be ruining their minds though, I suppose," she concedes. She'll give him that much. "It does tend to be cruel that way."

[teamfun]

"...Guess there is that much. You probably could have used that too, huh? The company, I mean."

It sucks that she was left alone. He wishes she hadn't been. No one deserves that.

"It's always a possibility. It could be that they're just fucking with us all...but there's also a chance that they're...not. It only seems fair we'd look down every avenue, right?"

[curiousher]

Alice nods.

"There were always people around, but...everyone comes and goes," she says. "No one's been here as long as I have. It's rather lonely..."

She still makes friends and still gets close to people because she would really go mad otherwise, but...it's not the same as having someone who's been with her through everything.

"They still shouldn't go around gossiping about me," she points out, with a pout. Even if they can't definitively say whether or not the girls are telling the truth, Alice will still insist on this point.

[teamfun]

"I'm sorry. It has to suck to get close to people and watch them go home."

Sometimes even come back with no memory of this place- or her. That, he imagines, must be the hardest part. Being a stranger to someone you know well. It'd drive him crazy, he'd hate it. He nods understandingly.

"I agree, they shouldn't. That sort of shit doesn't help anyone out. Not when we're supposed to be in this together."

[curiousher]

"It...really does."

She's quiet for a moment, thinking about that. Then, she concedes.

"I suppose I could try a little harder with them," she says. "As long as they try a little harder with me."

[teamfun]

He offers her a smile, a little thumbs up.

"That's all you need to do. Meet in the middle, y'know? Life's too short to be at each other's throats," he arches an eyebrow. "I think Wonderland does enough of that for all of us, huh?"